Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
The nattily-dressed actor, producer, writer, gadget purveyor and TV host is one of the busiest entertainment figures. As ever, he’s on a tight schedule, but does not appear almost preternaturally relaxed. When we realize we're bumping up against his next call, he tells Devon to push it, who just shrugs his shoulders and makes it happen.
Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
As we talk about a variety of entertainment, tech business and, even, personal topics, the nattily-dressed Cannon, who serves as the 2015 CES Entertainment Matters Ambassador, manages to mention his own nascent Android tablet, the Ncredible, at least 10 times. Even though Cannon sat still for 30 minutes to give this interview, his multi-level empire is constantly in motion.
Overall, though, Cannon’s biggest and most compelling brand may still be “Nick Cannon."
Radio shack brat
I know the primary reason that you’re out and about is CES. Your official title is CES Ambassador?Yeah, I mean, I guess Entertainment Ambassador more than anything to bridge the two worlds of technology and entertainment. To me, they’re really synonymous when you think about just the structure of everything today. Because you can’t have one without the other in this day and age.
I guess because I’ve kind of been a tech entrepreneur in recent years. I’ve been going to CES for the last five years promoting my headphones with Monster and launched my tablet last year, which we made available on QVC this past year. You know, just kind of going into more ventures in that space, everything from apps to actual hardware and things of that nature.
Were you always into tech, even as a kid?
Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
I was a Radio Shack brat. I was one of those kids that would just hang out in Radio Shack from my first microphones and my first DJ equipment, keyboards and all of that stuff. I would take them apart and hook them together. I remember I hooked the telephone up to my turntable. I’m sure your mom must have been thrilled.I was a Radio Shack brat
She was, actually, because I could play records on the phone. I thought that was pretty fascinating. I’m like, “Mom, I can make hold music.” I just took her whole stereo system and hooked it up to the phone, it was pretty cool.
Do you feel like conventions, conferences like [CES] are still relevant?
Oh, absolutely. I mean it’s kind of like the biggest meeting of the minds, more than people displaying a product. It’s really getting a lot of innovative, creative people in place, watching them share the things that they’ve been working on for however long. It’s almost like the dog-and-pony show, but in the biggest way possible.
Who’s the coolest person you’ve ever met there?
Other than [Monster CEO] Noel Lee? I would say him, but I go with him. I mean there’s so many people. Usually the upstart guys, the engineers that you get to meet that have been working on a certain app or a certain product — they get to come out and display. But then you get to see other type of people from Shaquille O’Neil to Fifty Cent.
It’s kind of cool where you get to see the different worlds come together.
What's in your pocket?
Are you wearing a smart watch?[He gestures to his wrist] I’m not. I actually do own one but I didn’t put it on today. I was kind of rushing up.
What do you own?
I have a Samsung smart watch.
The Gear. I guess by now it’s the Gear 2 or 3. You sport the [Samsung Galaxy] Note 4.
I have three phones
What are the other phones?
Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
Oh, you got the [BlackBerry] Passport.
So this and I'm obviously going to go with the bigger iPhone.
You'll get the iPhone 6 Plus?
I'm gonna have these big, giant flat a screens in my pocket.
In the tablet game
You said that you're looking at working on apps, too.
Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
One of the things that I'm really excited about — it's more than just the app, but it has app form — is the Ncredible Network.
I launched the Ncredible Tablet, but the thing that's interesting is the tablet comes with an actual platform called The Ncredible Network that kind of acts as almost like a dashboard for all things: You can open up your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in one spot. But more than anything, it's a content-based app to where you can submit content and also judge content.
It's a community. We're trying to create, I call it "The Ncredibles."
It's just young people that are these producer, editor, director, talented people that are entrepreneurs that can all have this meeting place where I can curate their content, but also at the same time they can mingle and meet with each other and a lot of other entrepreneurs who have made it, who are kind of like my peers.
It’s kind of like in your own image. You kind of just described yourself. Entrepreneur. Out there creating stuff.
I always say, all these other people, from Diddy, to Oprah to Ryan Seacrest want to have their own television network. I say, hey,
I want to pay attention to the screens that this generation is consuming their content on. So I said, hey, let me create a network for mobile tablets and online and that’s kind of the thing we’ve been working on pretty hard, pretty diligently for the last two years to build the Ncredible Network.I want to pay attention to the screens that this generation is consuming their content on.
You’re a tech-savvy guy. Apple’s got their iPad Air 2 — super light and thin — Samsung Galaxy Tab S, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9. These are all powerhouse tablets.
Absolutely.
How does Nick Cannon squeeze himself in there?
Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
And the same thing with like my headphones.
I wanted to make a tablet that was affordable for the young person who probably couldn’t afford all those other tablets, but to have something that was just as cool. And to even focus on the concept of having content already on the tablet and having an experience that you didn’t have to go looking for, and that’s the Ncredible Network. It was more to launch the network more than the actual hardware.I wanted to make a tablet that was affordable for the young person who probably couldn’t afford all those other tablets
How much does it cost?
$149
So you go out on QVC and how’s the tablet doing?
We did great on QVC. Every time we went on there we sold out. The first time we went on I believe we sold … we hit some number in 15 minutes that was extremely impressive. I think it was like $200,000 in tablets in 15 minutes, so you can’t be mad at that. Really now it’s just figuring out which retail partner to launch.
Tech, family, Tinder
You have two kids, twins.Yes, two kids, a boy and a girl.
So what kind of technology are you exposing them to?
They love using the Ncredible tablet, reading a lot of the interactive books and apps. Also, they keep the same apps on my phone so, they love using Daddy’s phone and they’re been on that for quite some time, since they were like one they were tablet savvy.
Any concerns about them being exposed to technology?
Not me. I think you limit the time and almost even treat it as a reward. I actually believe, especially in this day and age, it’s needed. If they’re not exposed to technology in a great way, they’ll be behind.
You don’t want them to be so consumed with a device or being online that they become anti-social, but at the same time, you wanna make sure that they’re in the know.
The socialization part is a big deal. And your kids are how old?
Three and-a-half.
So you’ve got really young ones. It gets more intense.
Oh, I can imagine.
But that’s the thing, it’s all about balancing. You make sure that they have books and reading time and social time, physical time. And when you can, you also give them the freedom to explore and figure out who they are through technology, as well.
I assume, you being a bachelor … are you one of those people using the apps. Andy Cohen, I’m listening to him on Howard Stern and he’s talking about using Tinder.
Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard
I don’t know, it just seems that it’s weird. It creeps me out. I respect it. I’m all about the accessibility.
So for you, it’s all about meeting women the old-fashioned way.
You just gotta get past the creep status for a moment. I need some time to suss this whole thing out.
In your family, where did you get that great business sense?
I don’t know.
Man, I come from a family of hustlers. My dad’s an entrepreneur. I come from the idea that you gotta keep cooking while the iron is hot. I feel blessed to be able to wake up each day and be creative. As long as they allow me to create, I’m gonna keep cooking.Man, I come from a family of hustlers.
Taylor Swift ethic and the music industry
I want to talk about the music industry a little bit. You’re super involved with it. What do you see happening? Obviously, you saw the whole thing with Taylor Swift where she’s like, “I’m not putting it on Spotify.” Where do you see that going?It’s all about controlling your own footprint. In the sense that I commend Taylor and her organization so much because she has such a connection with her fan base that she can drive where she wants her fans to have that interactive experience with her. And if it’s not on Spotify with her, it’s directly with albums through sales.
They did it extremely strategic and clearly successfully. What was it, a mil-three the first week? I mean that –- it’s inspiring and it’s a message to other artist to say, “Hey, take control of everything you’re doing.”
If you plan it the proper way, your fans are going to support you. I mean that’s what the music industry is all about right now. It’s really engagement in a sense to where people who want to support you will support you. If they feel like there’s a real connection, a real interaction, they’ll be there for you. If it feels fabricated or if feels like you’re promoting something else that has nothing to do with the actual fan experience, I don’t think — there’s too much out there of people — if you don’t have a real engagement with the fan, they’re going to move onto something else pretty quickly.If you plan it the proper way, your fans are going to support you.
Have you seen in your own corral of artists, is there anybody who you think is doing that well, sort of standing out?
I have an artist really excited about it. She started independently as a teenager and I kind of empowered her to go on the Internet and do your thing. Her name is Kehlani. She’s someone I actually discovered off of America’s Got Talent. A few years back, she was in a group that came in, I believe, third place. She was 16 then, she’s 19 now. Just her social engagement and the way she’s created a fan base in such a short period of time. The girl is a singer-songwriter, but at the same time, she’s an entrepreneur on her own. To watch how she has taken her brand and started a clothing line.
It’s like it’s this young girl and okay. I like when I can give somebody direction and they take it and they do it better than me. Her Sound Cloud numbers are crazy. I’m asking her. I mean, yo, I need to get my Sound Cloud game up.
Image: Mashable, Lance Ulanoff
The next big thing
Do you spend time on YouTube and these platforms and Vine looking for the next Shawn Mendes.I do. I spend time on the Ncredible Network looking for the next Shawn Mendes. I mean, that’s the whole purpose why I created the platform, honestly, to be able to incubate and find talent and to incubate television shows and movie ideas. Still be the Chairman of Teen Nick and dealing in that world of young people at Nickelodeon, I’m well aware of the Shawn Mendes and Jake Millers and Kalin and Myles, all of these guys who built their fan base off of the Internet and online engagement and now their numbers are insane.
You’re now, you’re in your 30s and you work at …
I’m no spring chicken.
Right, you’re not as young as you used to be and do you look at these kids…you mentioned how, “look at what they’re doing” and it kind of outstrips what you were doing. Do you feel like now you start to step back and do a little bit more of the pure-play mogul while all of your minions …
You know what it is, I definitely feel like I was one of the mavericks, one of the trailblazers in the early days. Before YouTube, I was the kid making videos and trying to figure how to get them around AND just that concept of, hey, do it yourself. I was just doing it with a big-ass camcorder, now you can do it with your iPhone. So I look for new talent and sort of want to be that mogul in that sense to where I can still help take those kids off the Internet and give them a broader landscape to play with. At the end of the day,
all those kids on the Internet, however many fans they have, they still want to be on television, they still want to be in movies. And the fact that I’m in that world and produce in that world, I feel like now it’s about not curating from a ground level, but curating from a place that I can give you that stamp of approval, “Okay, come on up, you can be in this world,” and watch them flourish in that world, in film and television, and consumer electronics and products and stuff. It’s like, “Alright, let me show you how to move around.”all those kids on the Internet, however many fans they have, they still want to be on television
Bearing the breakup
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Man, you know what, I can’t be one of those who’s like, “Oh, I don’t pay attention,” cause I’ve been in the middle of plenty of battles online and I love it, to be honest. I love everything that the entertainment industry is and has become.
I love social engagement I love being able to find out who these people truly are. So whether it’s somebody, you find out your favorite actress is sexting her boyfriend or taking pictures or you find out your favorite rapper may not be as tough as you thought he was and people battling and calling.I love social engagement I love being able to find out who these people truly are.
It’s a way to get to know these people. That’s what social media is all about. You know, I might go on a 50 tweet Twitter rant one day, but it’s like, hey, I’m expressing myself. And that’s what it’s all about. As someone – when I take off my businessman hat and actually get to be an artist at its true core, I love being able to say, “This is who I am. This is my expression.” That’s what everybody gets an opportunity to do.
It does get hard, obviously, when you go through a divorce with one of the biggest singer-stars in the world. That’s gotta be a time when it’s hard.
Yeah, when you deal with stuff like that whether, you know, it’s personal family issues, loss of a loved one or, like you said, separations, anything, that’s always going to be tough. But that’s tough when you’re dealing with it in your own community. Yeah, I gotta deal with it on a bigger platform, but I know what I signed up for when I became someone who is in the entertainment industry.
So, of course, I wouldn’t want to talk about it with, you know, my neighbor, you know what I mean. But it’s one of those things where you have to deal with it.
I believe because of social media and technology, it’s allowed me to deal with it in an easier way. I don’t want to get out there and kind of incriminate myself or do anything in that sense. But it has allowed me, because it is a very amicable and respectful situation, I can say, “Hey, I’m trying to do what’s best for my family. You know, I love Mariah [Carey], I love my children, and both of us are great parents and want to put our children first.” So to be able to get out there and say that and try to just be the best human beings we can possibly be, at the end of the day, you can kind of get through all the drama that others may want to create because they haven’t been given enough information.I believe because of social media and technology, it’s allowed me to deal with it in an easier way.
What’s your biggest failure – of your career, your biggest failure?
Man! I wouldn’t call it a failure, but lessons, but I have learned so much. Probably investing my own money into things. I want to use other people’s money now.
Ah, and now the lessons of business are complete.
Yeah.
You biggest success?
My children.
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