How Anderson .Paak Flyer-Hacked His Way to the Super Bowl

Anderson .Paak is sitting at home, smiling (presumably, because he always is?), when he sees the announcement on social media for Dr. Dre's Super Bowl halftime show.

It's a big announcement on a number of levels. Dre helped bring him up, for starters. They'd actually just finished some serious album work together too.

Part of him felt like he'd be included in something like this? That part of him was feeling pretty hurt by not seeing his name on the flyer. Especially since his name would have been next to a nearly endless list of other incredible features.

So, for a moment, he was upset. Then, he did what creatives do. Nothing particular surprising here - he got creative.

He said on Drink Champs, "I hit my people. I'm like, look, you got to figure it out." They didn't know what to do, so he made a flyer for the halftime show and put himself on it. "I threw myself on there." He sent it to Dre and, "I was like, 'Yo, what's good?'"

Dre saw it, laughed, and that's how .Paak ended up on drums for one of the craziest, largest, and most iconic halftime performances in Super Bowl history.

There's a wrinkle in this story I can't shake, because my partner Jack Forehand and I talk about it all the time: Making something easy for someone else is more powerful than making it important to you.

I know this story looks like it's about celebrities performing on the biggest stage in America, but stop for a second and remember this detail—he put himself on a flyer and made somebody laugh to get the gig.

Famous people aren't there to worry about your dreams. Famous people are there to worry about their dreams. And protecting them, re: not messing them up.

Your dreams aren't part of theirs. Not because they're being mean (though I'm sure that happens). Just because we're all human.

The good news is - you can flip it.

Jack and I talk about this constantly for our YouTube stuff. When we're pitching a new guest or a new guest-host, Jack always asks the Tim Ferriss question: "What would this look like if it were easy?" And we think it out, together, from the guest's perspective first. We don't stop talking about it until it feels turnkey.

We know - from experience - that it's easier to say yes when the lift is low.

In podcast terms, that's the calendar invite, meeting link, and how the details are handled. It's the promotional lift after the event. It's the "you don't have to edit or worry - because if you say something you need us to cut, we'll handle it."

Anderson .Paak put himself on the flyer and made it turnkey for Dr. Dre to visualize what it looked like to have him on the gig.

Yes, they still had to figure out what he would do (play drums) and where in the set list he'd fit, but - it all made sense. The decision became easy.

And that smile you can see watching it back? Now that you know what it took to get himself there, it hits even better.

Steal that page from his playbook. Make it turnkey. If you can make them laugh along the way, even better.

NFL won’t let you preview it so just click that link - but at like… 9:40 in, when you know it’s Eminem coming on next and then the drum riser starts comes up through the floor, HOW MUCH BETTER IS THAT SMILE NOW THAT YOU KNOW THIS STORY?!