- Speaker #0
Do you have more than one passion? Are they in two completely different fields? Have you ever tried to pursue them both at the same time just to get told, quote, pick a lane or just choose one or worse, the demeaning question of, so what do you really even do? Well, what if I told you you don't have to choose? What if you could be everything you want to be all at once? Today's guest might just be the most creative person I have ever met. He is both a practicing doctor and a professional rapper, and he is doing them both at the highest level. He's a shining example of what it's like to navigate the demanding worlds of both music and medicine with grace, resilience, and unwavering dedication. And he will teach you how you can do the same with your passions, whatever they are. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm an award-winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and creative coach. This show sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, self-development, and spirituality, and it is meant to give you tools to trust, love, and know yourself enough to claim your right to creativity and pursue whatever it is that's on your heart. Today marks the final installment of Unleash Your Inner Creatives collaboration with my alma mater, Michigan State University, and their student-run radio station, the Impact 89 FM. Each week, you've heard from a remarkable MSU student or alum who is out there doing great creative work in the world and or on campus, and our grand finale guest is no exception. These episodes air both on the Impact 89 FM as well as on the usual Unleash Your Inner Creative feed. So if you're listening on the radio right now, hi, welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative. I am so happy to have you in the creative community. If you like what you hear, you like this podcast, you can go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to learn more about the show and hear more episodes. You can also leave us a rating and review. If you're a regular Unleashed listener, you can check out the Impact at impact89fm.org for more info on the station and to listen live. Before we get into the guests, I want to share some amazing news. We won not one, but two Webby Awards, both the one voted on by the Webby judges or the Academy and the People's Choice, which is the one that was voted on by you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I cannot thank you enough for supporting this show. Five years ago. I started this show because nobody would give me a chance as a host. And this Webby win is just proof to me that I was right to take a chance on myself. Let this inspire you, whatever your dream is. I don't care how many times you've been rejected. If you believe in yourself, if you keep going, if you have a vision, you will see a reward at some point, I promise you. So believe in yourself. I believe in you. And I just want to thank you for believing in me. Okay, now to our amazing guest. His name is Cameron Kahn, aka Dr. Kahn, and he's also known by fans of his rap music as Lazarus. He's a rapper, songwriter, and board-certified physician. He often raps about both his Pakistani ancestry as well as his experience as a doctor. Some career highlights include the Discovery Channel shooting a documentary about him at Michigan State when he was in med school, getting his medical degree from Michigan State, signing with Russell Simmons in 2013 on his YouTube channel, All Deaf Digital, touring with the Wu-Tang Clan, who literally were the ones that made him want to be a rapper in the first place, being on the front lines of COVID in 2020 and 2021, and releasing the first song ever to premiere in outer space in 2023 with the chief scientist of NASA, James Green. So yeah, he's pretty amazing. And I think it's pretty clear why I wanted to have him on the show. He is unbelievably creative. So from today's chat, you will learn how to balance all your passions, how to build two concurrent different careers, the power of resilience, how to deal with naysayers, how to recover from trauma, and the through line between music and medicine. Okay, now here he is, Dr. Khan, aka Lazarus. Dr. Khan, also known as Lazarus, I am so thrilled and honored to be here with you today. I really think you are the most creative person that I've ever had on the show in almost 300 episodes. So thank you for being here.
- Speaker #1
I don't even know how to reply to something like that. I don't, how is that even possible?
- Speaker #0
I mean, listen, I, let me just say this much. I've never spoken to a doctor and rapper who is concurrently not only pursuing both careers, but fully embodying both careers. So that's pretty amazing. And I think you're going to give a lot of people hope and inspiration today who think they just have to be one thing. Before we get into your unbelievable multi-hyphenate path, I want to go back to the younger Dr. Khan, because I know one time there was a little boy who was sitting in Detroit who felt very othered. who felt like he couldn't see himself and anyone around him. And then you heard something coming out of your stereo and you're like, oh my God, they're talking about me. And that was hip hop. So take me from how we got from that young man feeling seen to then you doing rap battles. How did that trajectory happen?
- Speaker #1
You know my story better than I do. It's just really crazy how... this whole process has even happened and why or how I'm even here today as a doctor and a rapper who's concurrently doing both professions. I never, that was never like the initial vision. The beginning of it was never like, okay, I'm going to become a doctor and a rapper. How that even happened over time was just, it was just the way the journey came about. But in the beginning, it was just young me going to school, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life like anybody else. You know, I got good grades and stuff like that. I studied and got my A's and it was just kind of like me kind of going into it and then developing a passion for medicine because I started seeing like my grandmother, she died of diabetes. And then I started getting inquisitive about like, you know, how blood sugars and insulin and how that works in the body. And I was really young thinking about these things. So I just started to go into the medical side of things. And I'm like, yo, why don't I just pursue medicine? And I started shadowing doctors at that time. And eventually I went to Wayne State where I was doing pre-med. And that was after high school. I got a presidential scholarship to Wayne State University. And then I just kind of put myself on the pathway to become a physician. What kind of physician? I didn't know at the time, but that was where I was going. Hip hop interjected. It just like came in at a right angle into my life. And over the years, you know, just as a young kid, hip hop, like you said, it definitely was an outlet for me because especially being Pakistani American and growing up in Detroit, I always did have this feeling of not belonging. Like I felt like. you know, I don't really know where I fit in because like, you know, when I, when I look at everyone else that's here, I'm like, I am the minority. So it just kind of psychologically put me in this kind of weird space where I didn't always feel like I was welcome to all the parties. I wasn't welcome to all the gatherings and I was kind of like left out, you know, outcast. So when I listened to hip hop and I listened to kind of the type of things that the hip hop artist was talking about, it started resonating with me. And to the point where, when I would listen to their music and their rhymes about their struggle, and I've also... getting acceptance in the world, it just started to make me feel like kind of, you know, like, this is a way that I can channel that feeling I had and actually let it out, you know, when I listened to it. So that was initially how hip hop became a part of my life as a consumer, as a listener. And then it was also at the time when I was at Wayne State or late high school, early college years, when I really started to venture into rhyming and actually writing rhymes myself. And then things took a big twist in my life.
- Speaker #0
So how did these battles come into play? And why did you like doing those? What happened for you in your body when you got on the stage and you were like, I'm about to battle this person with rap?
- Speaker #1
Right. So rap battle culture is really big in Detroit. So I was doing it even before then. The thing about the rap battle thing is that's how you earn your stripes as a rapper. So I was just rapping. First, it was just a hobby. And then I just started getting crazy with it. People started to react to the raps that I was writing. And they were like, yo, why don't you push this? Try it. You're good at this. At that stage, I wouldn't consider myself good, but it was something there where it's just like, I actually have an ability to do something I never thought I had. So when I started to kind of venture into it a little further, the first thing that an artist in Detroit has, a rap artist has to then figure out is the rap battle is kind of like how you earn your stripes. So when I started looking into that and I started seeing how rappers were earning their stripes in the city, I kind of got pushed into the rap battle world. And I remember particularly. an event where I was rap battling or it was a location I was rap battling at. And the guy that was battling me, he was just relentless. Like he was going after me. He's talking about my race. He's talking about my ethnicity. He's just like trying to tear me apart in every possible way. And at that time, I didn't really have a rebuttal. I just kind of walked away from the situation. I'm like, wow, this is intense. But there was something that happened to me afterwards, right? It just like allowed me to build thick skin and a defense mechanism to it, so to speak. And then I'm like, you know what? I'm going to go back and I'm going to have a rebuttal. I'm going to figure out how to combat this and how to figure out a way to strike my opponent. And it just became like a sport. When I was at Wayne State, we'd go into organic chemistry, biology, and all my different classes. And there would be little ciphers of battlers just outside on the campus because it's downtown Detroit. So you have everybody out there rapping. So I just started just venturing into those. As I started doing it more and more, I became more skillful at it. I started entering radio competitions, competitions at different venues around the city of Detroit, to the point where now it's started to become very scary to everyone around me that this guy's really pushing rap more than a hobby. He's actually trying to do this for real. People started coming to me with, let me get you a mixtape. Come to my recording studio for free. Let's record a mixtape. all of a sudden I'm like, wait, I'm pre-med going to biology, chemistry. And all of a sudden, like I'm doing this on the side. So it was really confusing.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. You know, when you were talking about it, it made me think about when I was at Michigan state and I went there for undergrad, I don't have any graduate degree. So I went there for the only schooling I've had, but I was getting a BFA in acting and a BA in communication. And I remember I was in this class called auditioning and literally We had to go in and audition for our grade every day, and it was horrifying. It was so, so difficult because you were just getting destroyed every day for how you auditioned. And I remember going into my communication classes after that and being like, oh, thank God, all I have to do is study, and if I study hard enough, I'll get an A. Like, wow, what a blessing that is. Now, chemistry is a little different because it's much more complicated than the classes I was in. but did you ever have a feeling of that when you were going between these battles? Like people were trying to destroy you in these battles. And then you, all you had to go to do in chemistry class was like a plus B equals C. That's how chemistry works. Was there any feeling of that for you?
- Speaker #1
Yeah. I mean, it was, there was definitely, you know, stressful in the sense that you're like going into a competition, like a sporting event or a boxing match. Like, you know, I'm going to go in there, I'm going to get beat up. But you know, my whole thing is if somebody punches me, I have to have to count it. and if I didn't have the counter, I got to build the counter. It allowed myself to, if I did fall or if I did get hit and I did look like I got destroyed, I allowed myself to pick myself back up and figure out a way to get back at that person or whatever it was. So it was just kind of, it was a building process. And as I started doing it more and more and figuring out the tricks of it, then I started becoming more passionate about pushing hip hop as a career. And I didn't expect it to start reaching boundaries that it started to reach. For example, the big radio station in Detroit, WJOB, they started playing one of my songs on the radio station. I could remember, you know, I just riding in the car, like on the radio and then playing my song and the whole city's listening to it. So it was, and then things were different for me when I went back to school, when I went back to campus at Wayne State, everybody started to be like, oh, I heard your song on the radio and this and that. So I started to become like a celebrity in the campus. And I was such a, not antisocial, but I was just kind of like a quiet kid. I never really had a big circle of friends or anything like that. So when I started going around Wayne State, there'd be people like 10, 20 people around me at all times, just random. Sometimes it would be a completely different group of 20 people than it was yesterday than what it was today. And they're like, yo, the rapper, the Pakistani rapper, that's him. And then every time I just walk, I just go from class to class. And then I'd have all these people around me. They're like, yo, start rapping. Let's do a cypher. Let's see you do a cypher. And then sometimes... it got to the point where I would be rushing up to, you know, I go to the student center and I'd be like, yo, where are all the rappers at? Come outside. I'd initiate the cypher. I'm like, come, let's do a battle. Let's do a cypher. I'd gather like 10 people. And then we just start rapping. And it was just the everyday thing.
- Speaker #0
So then how did you go from that to actually releasing music? Like how long was the period between the battles and then releasing?
- Speaker #1
So it was the early 2000s when I started doing the battling and all that other stuff. I started putting mixtapes out. So it was just like music I'd record in a private studio and I started putting that out. Then I got connected to a engineer producer named Ivy Duncan, who produced music for Royster Five Nine. He brought me to his studio and he told me he wanted to do like a professional album with me in like a huge studio that they were at. So that's when I started working on like my first solo album. And this was around the same time where I'm getting ready to graduate from undergrad and I had just got accepted to Michigan State for medical school.
- Speaker #0
So you're putting together this mixtape, you're putting together an album while you're also taking, is it called the MCATs to get into medical school? Yeah. You're taking the MCATs, studying for those, and then getting into Michigan State.
- Speaker #1
I remember that, yeah.
- Speaker #0
What is happening for you at this time? Are you just like, all I have to do is just keep pushing? Was there any part of you that didn't want to do both?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, it was. Because there was a circle of people that were studying to pursue medicine, like my circle of future doctor friends. and they were continuously not getting accepted to any medical school. So it was just kind of like, it was so difficult just to get there. Like it was to the point where like getting into medical school was just like, the odds were just so slim and so thin. And when I got accepted, I remember there being other people in the group that I was studying with that did not get accepted. And they were telling me like, if you don't take that, that would be my worst nightmare, to get that acceptance and not take it. and so like you should put the music to the side so I had this internal conflict with myself and trying to figure out like what do I do like I got accepted to med school but now I got this passion for rap I want to pursue hip-hop and then I had to really fight with myself and try to figure out what it does I want to do my engineer the same one that wanted me to record my album he was like no you got to drop that and just focus on this like you got a future in hip-hop I was confused hip-hop and medicine pulling me in direction both going both going in great speed so I accepted to go to medical school So I was like, okay, I'm going to go to medical school and just pretend I don't rap. it's just like you know it's like you just have to pretend it's not there and just go in there and then it's like every time i try to do something like that the hip-hop door would keep knocking on my on my head and what happened when i was in first year in med school in michigan state i was in anatomy just incredibly demanding i would be in there like studying day in and day out in the cadaver lab studying all the muscles and where the arteries and all that stuff right and then i get an email from the discovery channel and that was back in 2005 and they're like hey like We just heard your song playing on the radio station. This is after 8 Mile came out. And so we are looking at like three rappers from Detroit who we want to do a documentary about, about like what's really happening in the hip hop scene in Detroit. And I was one of the rappers they wanted to work on. I was in medical school at the time. I'm like, you guys, I'm in an anatomy class right now. I really have no time. I mean, I want to do this. So I talked to my team. I talked to my friends and family back home and they're like, dude, you got to do this. So they actually came to Michigan State. And they actually had me like freestyle into a, like a skeleton. That's amazing. Yeah, they came over there and seen what I was doing. And then they brought me back out to Detroit for a weekend where I actually got a chance to show them the hip hop side of me and how that came about as well. So yeah, that's actually on YouTube. You can watch that. After that happened, my engineer who was, I was like halfway done with my album before I started med school. He's like, you got to finish your album now. So I started taking time out from whenever I could in medical school to finish that album. I had Worst to Five Nine on the album as well. Detroit legend. as soon as I finished that, I put it out. And then I got calls from music directors. Anthony Garth was a big director from Detroit. He shot my first music video, big budget music video. It was for Let the Game Know. Yeah. That was a big breakthrough moment for me. That was in 2007.
- Speaker #0
Oh my gosh. Dr. Khan, so much to break down from what you just said. What an incredible story. And I know we're only at the very beginning of it.
- Speaker #1
Very beginning. Very beginning.
- Speaker #0
But there's so many people listening right now who are in that same dilemma that you're in, where they've gotten this big opportunity that is truly something that they're passionate about and something they want to do, but they feel like in order to do that thing, they're going to have to take a scalpel, a metaphorical scalpel, and cut off a part of who they are and put it to the side or maybe throw it away. And I know that that has serious, serious repercussions. I mean, if you are an artist, if you are any sort of creative and you're pretending like that PCU doesn't exist, a PCU starts to die. So what would be your advice for that person listening on how they can incorporate both parts of themselves?
- Speaker #1
I think that, you know, there's always ways for people to fit certain things into their life, especially things that you feel make you who you are and are a part of your everyday kind of like just maintain your equilibrium. And I think it's important for those people that are chasing multiple things, or let's say that they have to focus on one thing more than something else. Don't completely throw it away. Make time for it. and whether you want to make time for it and consider it a hobby or if you do have dreams to pursue it there will come opportunities and times for you to let that part of you grow as well there's people that always they give me the counter to that and they say that if you have two passions that you're following you don't have your mindset on one you're not going to put your all into it you have to put everything on one or you don't really believe in yourself to become that like give like for example if you're going to pursue hip-hop don't do medicine just go fight or flight do or die with hip-hop because that's how badly you want it. Eventually you're going to get it. But I've grown to have a different philosophy. My philosophy is do everything. Keep your feet sturdy on the ground. Look out for all opportunities. Manage your time precisely, and you'll be able to figure out how to fit it in. Because it might not be next year, the year after, where that great grand opportunity comes, but allow yourself a window for that opportunity to hit you so that you have a chance to do something at that time.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. and the thing that I think you've done so brilliantly, which we'll get into all your amazing music, but you really follow what Martin Scorsese says, which is the most personal is always the most creative. And you bring your medicine into your music. You're constantly writing songs around being a doctor. You're using medical terminology. You're bringing these terms to people like me and people listening and actually making us more intelligent just by listening to your songs. Why is that important? Like, why has it been important to you to rather than like cut that part of you out to actually bring it to the music?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, I think it's really important because even with discussions I've had with record labels and stuff, one of the things that they never understood was the integration of being an educated person and a physician into music because it just doesn't fit them all. So my whole thing is I always like to incorporate and tell people about my background as a doctor instead of hiding it, which has been what's been recommended to me by esteemed record companies. you should be able to show the world who you are because that's how people are going to be able to connect with what you bring that's unique to the table. And obviously it's like saying like, why does Wolverine use claws? Because he's got them, you know, so he's going to use this. So it's like, you know, why does Cyclops have an eye visor or any comic character have, this is my, this is what I have that I say other rappers don't have. So I'm going to use it from time to time to let you know that I got this ability too. Like I could throw these medical terms out there. when people start questioning it, like, why is he saying medical words? And what does that mean? And oh, he's a doctor. But I don't want to go over people's head to the point where they're like, oh, they just think I'm just a medical dictionary.
- Speaker #0
No, but it makes me feel smarter when I listen to your music. I'm like, oh, I have to set my game up to listen to this. And I like that. Like, I like that you assume your audience is intelligent because it makes me feel like you believe in me, which I appreciate.
- Speaker #1
And I feel like a lot of the people that like really like love hip hop, they love. research and stuff. So he just mentioned something like, I'm one of my songs that talked about a zygomatic arch. What is he talking about? But then they look it up and like, oh, he's talking about the jawbone. And okay, that's why he said this. And then I teach integumentary. They're like, what is integumentary? Oh, it's the skin system. And then this is, okay, so now it makes sense. People do that now, especially with people doing reaction videos. I just dropped Scalpel, which is my latest song with Mr. Porter, Danone Porter from Shady Records. people, I watch people do reaction videos and they didn't necessarily know what some of those words meant that I was rapping about, but they looked them up and they were like, let me research this. It's also fun for, for the fans to decode it, so to speak.
- Speaker #0
I wrote this question down. I feel like I want to get back to your story, but we need to go into it since you mentioned Scalpel. You pack more into three minutes of a rap song than most people can put into three to four different songs. Like lyrically, it is so rich and there is so much coming at you. So can you describe what your approach is to lyrics and why it's important for you to leave it all on the operating table, pun intended?
- Speaker #1
I come from the school of lyrics first before everything. And I'm just like, you know, as a lyricist, I love having fun playing with words and how like still because on that song, particularly like I was doing 12 syllable rhyme scheme. So I'm figuring out ways I could, you know, string words together that just rhyme and rhyme and rhyme rhymes inside of rhymes inside of rhymes. So that's just, you know, it's just like an artist who just they love a certain type of texture that they love putting on their paintings. I love being able to put layers upon layers upon layers into the music. I don't want to just rap. I want to like really, really give you art. And I want to be able to, you know, have the audience be able to decode the lyricism that's there. Like I put love into it. A lot of love into the music. And I'm a big, huge fan of just lyrical hip hop.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. You make it very personal somehow, even though it is so, it's so personal to you, but it feels like you're just talking to me. And there were so many, kind of like the way you felt probably listening to rap. You know, I'm also a multi-passionate creative. I'm a singer songwriter and. I'm a podcast producer and an actor and a public speaker. But even with those things, they're kind of like related. I've gotten so much flack over the years. They're like, what do you actually do? What do you do, though? And it's like, well, I just like making things. I like connecting with people through my voice and through what I make and helping people use their voices. But... I felt so much connection to you in that song because you were talking about how many times people have come at you and been like, so what do you actually do? What do you do? Are you a doctor? Are you a rapper? Right, right. And so many people, I think almost everybody feels boxed in. Everybody feels like the underdog. And somehow through your making it extremely personal to yourself, it feels very personal to me.
- Speaker #1
Yeah. I would say that all this, all the struggles that I have. undergone throughout the years of people not being able to accept that a doctor and a rapper could be one in the same. Like a doctor could be a respectable rapper and a rapper could actually be a real physician. I think that that has been so perplexing for people to really comprehend that I just love being able to say, well, here it is. I would say the biggest driving force for me is that here it is. I mean, it's like, I can't explain to you how many times over the course of my life that people said, no, can't do it. When someone says that enough, like if somebody says like, okay. you can't go and touch the cloud. You can't get in the sky and actually physically touch the end, like hang and ride on the cloud. Like you can't physically ride a magic carpet like Aladdin, right? But it's, that's how people said, you can't be a doctor and a rapper to me. And they said it so much that I felt like it's factual. It's a code you cannot break. You cannot become both concurrently. It's just not humanly possible, but it's. really crazy. I get this ecstatic feeling knowing that I'm doing it, that I am that I'm a personification of that, which everyone said was no. Every time I get on a track or anytime I get anywhere publicly, I'd be able to say like, this is it. There it is.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. It's so inspirational. And it's, it's also so amazing that you didn't let those people brainwash you because it does start to become like a hypnotism after hearing those same words over and over and over and over again. You strike me as someone who has incredible mental strength. What do you attribute that to?
- Speaker #1
I just try to maintain peace mentally, physically, spiritually. And at the end of the day, like I just, I just know that, you know, the brain is such a powerful thing that it can be used in a way to block out all the distractions and really be able to just put your mind on one particular thing that you're focused on. And when you focus on that one particular thing, whatever it is that you're focused on, you're going to get there as long as you don't let anything sidetrack you. you just stay focused. It's really about focus and time management. I'm a firm believer in time management. I get up every day and I figure out what it is I have to get done in that time period, because in the beginning, it'd be like time would be going by. Time's not slowing down for anybody. And you're going to miss this. You're going to miss that. You're going to end up delaying this, procrastinating here, procrastinating there. And before you know it, nothing gets done. Whereas if you just set a schedule up where you can actually know what you're doing from this time to approximately from this time to this time, this will get done, this will get done. You're not going to stop until it's done. And you're determined, then you're going to get everything. That's how my life is now. Like, I'll see like 60, 70 patients in the hospital, but then I still have to record in the studio. That's not going to happen if I'm just carrying out my day, like, okay, I'll get there. I'll get to it. I'm like, no, I have to be done at this time. I got to be in the studio at this time. And that's just what it is.
- Speaker #0
It's amazing. So wait, let's get back to your story. Cause it's just so great. I really want to tell it in full. So you do graduate from medical school. Yeah. Then you go into residency. Yes. Okay. During your residency is when you signed with Russell Simmons. Is that correct? Or at the tail end of it?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, exactly. I knew that. Yeah. So it was in 2013. Yeah. In 2013 was my final year of residency. And I will definitely say the first two years of my residency was so busy that I don't think I did much of any hip hop at that time. So it was a couple of years. I didn't really do much at all. 2013, I'm getting ready to graduate. It was in March of 2013. I was actually graduating in the summer. remember I was telling you about the music video that I shot? Yes. When that music video came out back at that time, I had developed some new fans. And one of the guys that was following me for quite a while, he had started working with Russell Simmons on his board. He's in a committee called the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. And so he was kind of like peace between religions, between Muslims, Jewish people, Christians, like everyone kind of coming together. So that was kind of what their organization was about. And when they seen some of my work, they actually were like. inquisitive about bringing me to perform at their event. And I didn't know the event was going to be at Russell Simmons'house, but I was actually at his house in Manhattan. That's also on YouTube. And so they wanted me to do a spoken word, just kind of about humanity and bringing people. It was a song I did. It's called I Stand for the World that Russell Simmons had liked. And it was, I was talking about just kind of people coming together all walks of life. So they wanted me to do like something similar to that in a spoken word fashion, which I did over there at his house. It was in March. And then Russell Simmons, like, you know, he loved it. He stood up, started clapping. and then after that, he told me he has an imprint on YouTube called All Deaf Digital. He wants to start producing content for me on there. So that was a big, huge breakthrough moment for me because that was right around the time I graduated. So I let that fizzle out until my graduation. So I didn't actually start producing content until after I was done with residency, but it wasn't that long after that. But as soon as I got done with residency, now I'm a fully certified, full-fledged physician. I reached the goal. I have this opportunity with Russell Simmons right there. at the same time. So it was just the timing just worked out so perfectly. I reached back to my people in Detroit. I reached back out to D12, Bazaar, Roysta59, and let them know the good news that I'm working with Russell Simmons now. So all these people from my younger days, the OGs and the legends in the city, now getting behind me to support me on my endeavor with Russell Simmons. So we started releasing content. I dropped a song called Open Heart Surgery with Bazaar from D12. And he's the bigger guy. And I'm rapping about doing an open heart. So it was like... Russell Simmons wanted to do something that was medical related, the first track that I did. So that was the song. It was just like, okay, I'm going to do open heart surgery on Bazaar and rap about the surgery while I'm doing it on them. And that song actually earned us an award at the Underground Music Awards the same year that Joyner Lucas was up there being nominated. So yeah, it was a big deal for me at the time. Then we released Underdog, which is a song I did with Royce Da 5'9", who's him and Eminem are the two biggest lyricists in the city. So when I did Underdog, that was a huge moment for me. So we dropped that on All Def Digital. and then I just had become, you know, just comfortable with being able to balance. Now, I'm no longer under the constraints of medical residency, where you've got people looking over you and you've got to commit to these hours and these times when you're training to be a physician. Now, I'm a hospitalist physician and I get to have whatever kind of schedule I want. So, I was in a group. So, I moved out to Las Vegas right after residency. So, I came out to Vegas, which is where I'm at right now. I had started working with a hospitalist group. and I'm working like X number of shifts, but then I can take X number of shifts off as well. So this is a new thing for me in my life. And now I'm like, okay, well, I'm going to take some of this off time I have, and I'm going to commit to this project I'm doing with Russell Simmons. And that's where it started to build. And I just started figuring out how to balance being a doctor and a rapper and plugging and chugging it both.
- Speaker #0
You're amazing. So you're building, building, building, and then 2020 hits.
- Speaker #1
Well, before that, I did want to mention something really, really huge happened to me.
- Speaker #0
Tell me.
- Speaker #1
this was in 2018. So as I'm building and I'm putting out music and putting out all types of content, I link up with the Wu-Tang Clan. Yeah, the biggest rap group ever.
- Speaker #0
And the ones that inspired you to be a rapper.
- Speaker #1
Exactly. Those exact people that inspired me to pick up the pen and started writing. In 2018, Ghostface Killer got a hold of my music and he was one of my favorite rappers growing up, invited me to his show that he had out here in Vegas. So I went to the show and we just instantly just clicked. and started working on music, did a track with Ghostface Killer. And then I started opening up for him on his shows that he started doing all around. So we went to Canada, various different places. I opened up for him. And then I did so well that then I got plugged in to open up for the entire Wu-Tang Clan. Now we're talking about 20,000, 30,000 arenas. I remember the first one was 2018 in Washington, DC at a place called The Anthem. It was incredible. It was the first time I got in front. I did a huge show with Ludacris before, like in 2000. 16 or 15 or something. But that was a huge moment for me because then I was that now was the lead opening act for the Wu-Tang Clan. And after I got done doing that show, they brought me to the next show. And then they said, come to Australia, New Zealand. And before I knew it, I was touring the whole world with Wu-Tang.
- Speaker #0
when you're in that moment, does it ever become reality to you? I mean, it must just feel so surreal to go from being like, wait, I was listening to these people and then now I'm opening for them. Like, does it ever become real?
- Speaker #1
I mean, those moments hit you. I mean, especially when they first happened, like the JZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, he was always rapping about science and stuff in his raps. And that inspired me tremendously growing up. And if it wasn't for his music, I wouldn't even pick up with them. And so... you could say the people that made me who I am as a rapper, I'm on a plane with them, literally right next to them. And like my relationship with the GZA is so crazy right now that we text each other and he's always telling me how inspired he is of me. So it's just like a full circle. It's insane how that works. And I mean, just like I open up for him constantly, like GZA, whenever he's doing shows, like I'm always there. So yeah, it's just perplexing. It's just unbelievable. Like when you look at it from the perspective, if I was to tell the younger me that this was going to happen, I'm like. forget about it. It's not possible. Even to this day, it's, it's unbelievable how that all happened.
- Speaker #0
It really is. I mean, it's amazing. It's the power of a dream and you having relentless vision toward your dream. Even when people were trying to bring you down, you just had clear vision. You have to.
- Speaker #1
And even Chuck D was a big supporter and mentor of mine too. And he, he was always like, every time I'm like, yo, they say I should hide this or shouldn't talk. And he's like, and he's like, no, I'm the godfather of hip hop. you be yourself and let the world know that you could be an educated physician and you could kill people on the mic.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. It's what makes me love you. It's what makes people love you. People love people who are who they are, who are authentic. When someone's trying to hide something, I always say that about podcasting. Like you can hear when someone's lying. That's why they don't want to listen to certain shows. Like the person could be very talented, but if they're not actually like being open and being honest about who they are, nobody wants to listen to someone who isn't telling the truth of their lives. Yeah. I feel like that's the one requirement for art is truth. And if you're not doing that, what are you doing?
- Speaker #1
I agree. I agree. And I feel the same way. Like, why am I even putting all this time, effort and energy towards my passion? I'm not creating what I set out to do in the first place. It doesn't make sense to do that.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. So, okay. Tell me about being on the front lines of COVID-19 because I know you went through it during the pandemic. You worked more during 2020 and 2021 than you even were before as a physician. Yeah. How did you make it through it emotionally and how are you doing in recovering now?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, I'm fully recovered now, all the way recovered. But at that time, it was pretty dramatic. So, I was just going full force with the Wu-Tang. We were actually getting ready to do a whole other world tour. 2020 comes around March. we start hearing about the COVID. And then I just like, okay, we got to work extra shifts. We got to music back to the side and I'm back here now. And then once I started seeing what was happening to my colleagues, nurses that I was working with, how sick people were getting. And at first I was like, okay, well, I'll be fine because, you know, I'm not in an age range where people are dying and things like that. But then I started seeing people in their thirties and their forties, no medical health conditions at all. I remember actually having conversations with so many people. I'm like, you're young, you know, you're going to fight through this. You're going to get this taken out. You know, we're going to, we're going to make sure you're good. And then one, two days later, they're dead. And that was really, that hit me so hard because I had conversations with them and their family members, assuring them they're going to be a hundred percent. Okay. Because they don't fit the criteria of a lot of the other people that were going into the ICU. But then I'm like, I just told the family that they're going to come home today and they died. And the time, the, uh, family was not able to come to the hospital to see them. So they was all through FaceTime, whatever communication they were having with them. So I was constantly on the phone with family members and meeting with family members. And it was just like heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak, because it's one thing for you to have somebody that you know is like sick or elderly and they're on their deathbed, so to speak. But for like your 32 year old son or your 28 year old daughter. who's in college or wherever and has the whole life in front of them. And there's no sign whatsoever of them having anything wrong with their health, dramatically just dying all of a sudden. Those are the most difficult conversations I had to have with family. And then at the same time, knowing that this could happen to me too, because I'm around this constantly. So it was just like all of that together. It was just dramatic. It was very stressful, very stressful. And I did work more in those two years than I ever did my medical career before and after.
- Speaker #0
I mean, it sounds like something that could really give you complex PTSD because you're literally seeing horrors every single day. Every day. Yeah, getting traumatized every single day. We talk about mental health a lot on this show, but like, how did you recover from it? Did you put it into your music? Like, what were your coping mechanisms?
- Speaker #1
I did. I actually released, I released some songs or a couple songs during that time where actually I did a song with a big artist named Cassidy. where I actually talk about my experiences on the front lines. I did another song with the artist who then passed away from COVID as well, you know, which is just how ironic is that? One thing that happened to me that actually gave me strength at the time, I really got put on blast. The gift of the curse was that I really, really, really was placed in a position via the elders, via the Wu-Tang, via Chuck D, Vlad TV. He's a huge journalist, DJ Vlad, and he's got I think he's got the biggest platform for hip hop. So he brought me on to his show to interview multiple times during the pandemic to speak about it. So once I started going on Vlad and a lot of I did a podcast with LL Cool J. I did a podcast with Fat Joe. I did a podcast with Chuck D. So, and then like Ice-T, Redman, like the whole hip hop community was basically starting to listen to what I have to say, because I'm the guy that's got his foot in both domains, in the medical world and in the hip hop world. And people were, especially in the hip hop world, not very trustworthy of everything that's being talked about in the news regarding, you know, how to manage COVID and things like that. So it gave me a voice that was, I feel much needed at that time. I use that as also a way to kind of keep myself strong because I was just kind of like, whatever I'm going through, whatever I'm seeing, whatever I'm experiencing, I have the ability to now take this information and give it to people and they could benefit from it. So it kind of made me feel like I can help so many with this. So why don't I just go through whatever trauma I'm going through, but turn the trauma instead of like allowing that self to let myself drown in it. Why don't I pick myself up from it and help people with it?
- Speaker #0
Yeah. And I highly recommend you listening, go back and listen to the interview you did with Vlad. Yeah. You did a freestyle rap on that. That was so incredible. And it really took me back to the feelings of that time. Cause I feel like a lot of us have repressed for frontline people, especially, but whether you were on the front lines or not, that was a very traumatic time in our history. And I think we just kind of repressed it and we're like, okay, we're just going to keep moving, but there's feelings that cut themselves off.
- Speaker #1
like it never happened. We just cut those two years out of our life.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. Like we literally lost two years with our loved ones and that's pretty screwed up. But listening to that, actually, like I felt like it helped me process some of how I was feeling back then that I've repressed a little bit. So I recommend you listening, go back there and check out the rap.
- Speaker #1
I did some, some raps about COVID and, um, it's just crazy. Cause I feel like everything is a domino effect. Everything is a domino effect. And to me, that's like. that's the real like takeaway point for me. Anything you do is going to lead to something. A lot of people, they say, Hey, like I'm working on something right now, but it's not going to really lead to anything. It might not be tomorrow. It might not be the day after, but eventually whatever action you're taking today is going to lead to something that takes you to another pathway. And what I'm leading into is how I met with the NASA people.
- Speaker #0
Yes. Take us to space, Dr. Khan.
- Speaker #1
So now the COVID wraps that I did on Vlad allowed me to get on this Clubhouse event that was for, you know, it was just kind of dedicated towards victims of COVID and just things that people can do. It was a big event.
- Speaker #0
And Clubhouse, the app?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, it was the app. It was a big venue, you know, and they had a lot of people in the chat room. I just went in there. I started rapping about COVID. I started talking about COVID and just talking about my experiences on the front lines. And then after I remember after that got done, one of the associates of. the chief of NASA messaged me. He's like, Hey, I work with these guys over here. And I just think it's really cool how you were able to mesh the science with the rap. And we wonder if we could just talk to you about that. And so I talked to astronaut Tara Rutley. She's the first person that I spoke to. And then we just started talking about different ways that arts and entertainment can mix with science and things like that. And then I got connected with James Green, the chief of staff over there. And James Green actually the was involved in the Martin, you know, the movie, the Martian with Matt Damon. They went to James Green, the chief over there to get his input. So he helped blueprint that whole movie on how, what things would really be like on Mars. We were trying to terraform. He has an act for mixing movies, entertainment, and kind of mixing his knowledge in with that type of thing. So when it got brought to his attention, he's a rapper, you know, who's raps medical stuff and he puts it together. And so like, I went out, I went there, I got invited to DC to meet with James. and it was that was just a crazy experience now I'm like having a dinner with this guy and he's just telling me all types of stuff he's like yeah this is when we're gonna go to the moon this is when we're gonna go to Mars these are things we're working on to try to get I'm just like listening to all this I'm like yo let me know because I'm going when are we going to Mars that was just so many conversations that were taking place about that but he's like it's gonna happen it's gonna happen in our lifetime this and this and that and then he just starts giving me all this information and then they're like okay well hey we have this astronaut you that's going to the International Space Station. And they gave me a time that was in last year. It was in 2023. So this was, I linked up with them in 2022. So they're like, yeah, so he's going to the International Space Station and he's got this cube and we are planning to actually play music from that cube. And that's going to play from space. And so then the conversation became, could you make a song about space? and then we could launch it from the International Space Station. So that's how Hail Blue Dot came about. And me and Jim sat down. He helped me concept the record, just talking. Because I was like, you know, if I'm going to do a space record, I don't want to just do like, hey, we're in space. And, you know, just some cheesy hat. I'm like, let me do something that actually has like a bearing to what was really happening with astronauts when they traveled. It's a realistic approach. Think of it as kind of like a lose yourself for an astronaut. Yeah. Like, this is what I got to do to go to space.
- Speaker #0
It is like that. Yeah.
- Speaker #1
You know, it's like, like, I want to go into the nitty gritty of what is the experience of space travel and not in a fun, happy way, but in a way where it's almost scary. Like, whoa, this is what an astronaut has to go through? Because Jim was like, yeah, there's people that died in the process of trying to get there to space. So I'm like, I'm going to capture the dread, the fear. But then as you get into the second verse, now you get into the awe and the wonder. This is what you see when you're actually in space. and the third verse is what we can actually learn from being out in space. Once I put that record together and I let Jim hear it, he loved it. And he's like, this is it. Let's do this. Let's launch this from the ISS. We got press behind it. And then that became the first song to premiere from the International Space Station. That was April 7th, 2023.
- Speaker #0
How do you reflect upon that when you think about it? What comes to mind?
- Speaker #1
It just makes me super excited because that's my vision for hip hop. My vision for hip hop is being able to go places and do things. with my background that other rappers can't do. And that song is just like the open heart surgery song I did with Bazaar. It's like a prime example of there's no one else in the hip hop industry that could touch this because you have to have a science background to do this type of a song, to actually venture into this direction. And I feel like it's important for hip hop because it also expands the boundaries for the music and for the culture. And to be able to be able to have that ability to say, like, I want to take hip hop. to space. And I want to take hip hop into the operating room where I want to be able to do things that I can do with hip hop. That's unique to myself. It just makes me feel like, just gives me a lot of gratification to be able to do that.
- Speaker #0
I'm going to ask you a weird question, but I'm very excited about the potential of there being extraterrestrial beings and aliens. And I don't know how you feel about it, but if aliens exist, what would you want them to know about hip hop?
- Speaker #1
That's such a big question. I would definitely want aliens to know that hip hop is the most powerful genre of music because it actually got all these different entities of human beings on the planet to come together in a way that other music may not have been able to do. I mean, there's been music that's brought people together. You can go back, Michael Jackson and all types of stuff in the past. But I think as far as the youth and the young people, young generations of people are concerned, And that's the most beautiful thing that I see about hip hop is that when I go to these Wu-Tang concerts or I go to, you know, and I see like the crowd and I see every diverse group of people there and they're all just rocking together. There's no conflicts, no racism. Everybody's just hanging out with each other, just loving each other. And to me, that is the most important thing. And I think that Alien came to the earth and wanted to know what was so powerful about hip hop. I would say that that it brought us all together when there's wars and fighting and all people, all this other stuff going on in the world where people want to. kill each other. Now this is something that actually brought us together.
- Speaker #0
I know you've been so open about your faith and how important that has been to you and how it's guided your creativity, your rap or your medical career. What role has faith played? Because I think spirituality and creativity are intrinsically linked. I mean, God was the first creator. Yes. And so for all a piece of God, it makes sense that creativity is everybody's birthright. But What role has your spirituality played in your creative journey?
- Speaker #1
To me, spirituality is a key element for you to maintain focus because there's so much stuff distracting us on a daily basis. As a Muslim, we pray five times a day and I try to pray five times most of the time that I can. And when I do, it just allows me to just kind of stop everything that I'm doing and remember that, look, whatever problems, whatever issues, whatever stresses are going on in our life, at the end of the day, there's a greater being. you know, a greater force that's just, you know, just holding us down. And, you know, just to have that connection with the creator when it's all said and done, we have to make sure that we remember that, you know, we're not just here for nothing.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. Is it true five times a day in the direction of Mecca?
- Speaker #1
Yeah.
- Speaker #0
How do you know what direction Mecca is?
- Speaker #1
Yeah. So we have, I have a compass will tell you which direction it is. So yeah. So actually there's an app that Muslims would usually have on their phone, even in that, in that tells you the direction.
- Speaker #0
That's so cool. I've been worried about you all all this time. Like, how do they know what direction Mecca is?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, yeah. No, we know.
- Speaker #0
That's beautiful. Okay, cool. I might have to download that app so I can see.
- Speaker #1
For sure.
- Speaker #0
Hi, creative. If you love the show and it has meant a lot to you, think about sharing it with your friends, family, and anyone you think would love to hear it. Podcasts are spread person to person. And I know the number one influencers in my life are my friends and family. So if you know someone who would love it, you can think about passing it along. Unleash Your Inner Creative can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. New episodes drop every Wednesday in the Unleash podcast feed. Remember, during the month of April, you can also listen to Unleash on the Impact 89 FM on Wednesdays live from 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Okay, now back to the podcast. so here's the thing. I think there has to be some sort of through line between hip hop and medicine because it must be the same purpose that's driving you through both or else you wouldn't do it. You're a very intentional person. Yes. What is the commonality between medicine and music?
- Speaker #1
Saving lives. Saving lives. If I feel like I can listen to a song of mine and it's not therapeutic, then there's an issue. It's always therapeutic, even if the song is talking about doing crazy stuff. But it's therapeutic in its own way. When you listen to anything you listen to, when you listen to music, like music is medicine. And to me, there's no better way to calm somebody down or relax somebody than to put on music and just to be able to vibe to that. You know what? I'm in a good mood now. it's teaching. Like I use my music to teach. I have given seminars where I'll rap about medical conditions and I'll put it in rap form because I feel like they might not listen to the lecture, but they'll listen to it when I rap about it. So it's all fun. It's all, it's entertainment, but at the same time, it's educational. It's benefits therapeutic.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. I know you've been at this for about 20 years now. That's a long journey, but also you're never going to stop because it's part of who you are. if there's somebody out there who's been at something for a similar amount of time and is like, I don't know how much longer I can keep going. What's your advice to them on how to re-inspire themselves and keep going toward their dreams?
- Speaker #1
It's a part of your life. It's just like the same way you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm doing hip hop. And to me, it's not so important. Like if I'm performing in front of 500 people, 5,000 people, 50,000, at the end of the day, I'm doing something that's a part of my regular routine. So we might not be eating at a buffet or a big fancy restaurant today, but we're still going to eat something. We might go eat at a fast food. join or we might eat something at home, but we still got to eat, right? So to me, it's just a part of what keeps you who you are and what keeps you nourished. So whatever that passion is, make time for it. Make sure you don't starve yourself of whatever it is that you love to do. Make sure you get it. And you just never know when opportunities come. It might be next week that I get a call from some big part, like, oh, I want you to do this big 30,000 people show here, whatever it is, I'm doing hip hop regardless. So it's just a part of who I am. So I'm going to do it. opportunities come great. I'm thankful if they don't, I'm still doing it because that's what I love to do.
- Speaker #0
Beautiful advice. And since this is airing on Michigan state's college radio station, impact 89 FM, I got to know what was your favorite part of being a Spartan? And how do you carry that with you and what you do today?
- Speaker #1
it's like once you're at Michigan State, the culture and the stamp of being a Spartan, it's just, you basically got a tattoo of that movement, regardless of anything. You just have no choice. You're a Spartan from that point onward. But I always recall the years that I was at Michigan State, and those are vital, important years of my life. It was crazy, to be honest with you, because I really went from, at Wayne State, I was just very, very, I had 30, 40 people around me. I'm rapping, I'm cyphers. Michigan State was completely different. I was more of just a the years there was just like, I'm in front of a book, I'm reading, I'm reading, reading. It was like that kind of like softer, quieter medical development happened at Michigan State. So I wasn't really so much in like the party guy at Michigan State. That would have been more like Wayne State time. But Michigan State was like where the doctor was nurtured. Every time I think of being a Spartan and think of being from Michigan State, I just think of like, that's where Dr. Khan really was fully built up.
- Speaker #0
That's important.
- Speaker #1
not the Lazarus part, but the Dr. Khan part was really built in Michigan State.
- Speaker #0
I mean, they're interconnected. So in a way, Lazarus got a new groove at Michigan State.
- Speaker #1
Yeah, he did.
- Speaker #0
I love that your Sparty has like a stethoscope on, you know, that's how I was picturing your Sparty in my head.
- Speaker #1
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
- Speaker #0
And final question. I want to go back to your younger self, the little guy who was like listening to rap music and was like, oh my. if he and you today were standing in the same room looking at each other, what do you think he would say to you today and why?
- Speaker #1
He would say that. where have you been my whole life? Like, this is what I always dreamed about. This is what I always wanted to see. Like, I always wanted to see somebody who's able to be of my ethnicity, my background, get respect from the hip hop community and be able to boldly say, hey, you know, you could go to school and be a doctor. All the things that everyone else was saying, no, you're over here telling me I can do it. It's so crazy you say that because now I do have youngsters that message me and DM me and they're the young me. they are the young me and I'm able to be that person for them now. So it was like, if anything, it was, I was able to provide that now for the new generation.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. You gave them a roadmap. Yes. Little ones. Yeah. And what would you say to him and why?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, I would just tell them there's going to be 100,000 times where you want to give up or you want to just say, hey, look, you know what? This is just a working for me. It's not meant for me. And, you know, everyone's saying I can't do it. Or you might just be a bad day and you might just be feeling like just giving it all up or just not following the path. I'm like, look, don't worry about that. All that all that other stuff. Don't worry about the little stresses that happen in life. Just know where you want to go. Stay focused. You're going to get there. Like you are going to get there. So don't worry about. having insecurities about not being able to accomplish it. You're going to have to redirect your focus from time to time, but you'll get to where you want to be.
- Speaker #0
Dr. Khan, Lazarus, you are truly an inspiration to all of us because I believe everybody is actually a multi-passionate, but a lot of people unfortunately listened to the people saying, you can't do more than one thing. You can't be more than one thing. You can't be yourself. You are an inspiration to all of us on what true authenticity looks like, what it really means to embody all that you are and to go out in the world and just go for it. So thank you for unleashing your inner creative because you are a great example for all of us on how to do the same. I really appreciate you.
- Speaker #1
Thank you so much. It was an absolute pleasure being on the show. And anybody listening out there, I would just say the same thing again, like stay focused. Don't let anybody deter you from what you want to do in your life. If you have multiple passions, follow everything, you know, just kind of organize how much you want to focus on what particular time. But if it's something that you feel makes you who you are, and it's something that makes you happy in your life, keep it there because you never know when you'll have time to build on. And when you do, you never know what's going to grow from there. So just keep your passions alive.
- Speaker #0
You just inspired me to put out my next single. I'm going for it.
- Speaker #1
Let's go. Let's do it.
- Speaker #0
Thank you for listening. And thanks to my guest, Dr. Khan, aka Lazarus. For more info on Dr. Khan, he can be found at Laz, L-A-Z, Detroit, and at lazarmyrecords.com. And again, thank you. If you like what you heard and want to support the show, Unleash Your Inner Creative can be rated, reviewed, and found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's also great to share the show with a friend and post about it on social media. You can find me at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative on all social platforms. Thanks to Rachel Fulton for editing and associate producing this episode. You can find her at Rachel M. Fulton. Thank you, Liz Full, for the show's theme music. She can be found at Liz Full. My wish for you this week is that you take the leap to pursue whatever career or goals you have in your heart. Whether it's one, two, or many, you can do and be everything you want to be. And the only limits in life are the ones that we put on ourselves. Use Dr. Khan's journey as inspiration toward balancing and interconnecting the multiple lives that you wish to live. I love you and I believe in you. Talk with you next week. And thank you, Impact 89 FM, for this beautiful collaboration.
