Send us Fan Mail

Peter Collins didn't set out to be a viral artist he set out to not do music. His family pushed the immigrant plan B of doctor or engineer, and he actually started college for industrial engineering before something pulled him back to the thing he says he "can't not do."

In this episode, Peter takes us through the full arc: a musical childhood in Newark, classical vocal training, posting beats and covers with zero master plan, and the moment things took off on Vine. He's candid about the perfectionism that drives his craft — 500 to 1,000 takes per song — and the lesson that even a perfectionist can't predict what listeners will connect with. He closes with the one piece of advice for any artist afraid to release their first song: post it.

In this episode:

• Growing up in a musical family and being "discovered" by his dad
• Why making music feels less like a choice and more like a sixth sense
• The immigrant "plan B" and the pull away from engineering
• Finding an audience on Vine, YouTube, and beyond — with no strategy
• Newark roots and the arts-school path
• The moment he decided to pursue music full time
• How a Kehlani repost changed things
• Why his most-labored takes flopped and a "flawed" one went viral
• His advice for artists releasing their first song

Connect with Peter Collins: @petercollinsmusic

Enjoyed this episode? Follow the show, leave a review, and share it with an artist who needs the nudge to hit post.

Support the show

🎥 Connect with Us: https://linktr.ee/57.fam

📧 Contact:
For collaborations or inquiries, email us at fam@fiftyseven.nyc

Send us Fan Mail

Comedian Dan Yang built a huge following on the driest takes on the internet — abusing robots, the Grammys, the Wasian meetup in Central Park — all delivered with zero expression. Live from Brooklyn, he sits down with host Johnny Hwin for the story underneath the feed.

In this episode, Dan talks about:

• Growing up in the East Bay with Chinese immigrant parents — and why he "didn't work hard enough" to become a doctor
• Being a latchkey kid raised by the TV: Simpsons, Conan reruns, and translating Comedy Central sets for his grandma
• Why Park Slope kids will grow up "well-adjusted but annoying"
• Discovering comedy through improv and open mics ("the bar is that low")
• Moving to New York in 2015 and the slow climb in stand-up
• Finding his deadpan voice and going online around COVID
• His first viral video and the philosophy of "post and touch grass"
• Robots having a big year, the trash can that broke his heart, and Trump's tax-funded Knicks ticket
• Real advice for anyone chasing a creative life

Recorded live in front of a Brooklyn audience.

Follow Dan Yang: @realdanyang
Subscribe and leave a review if you enjoyed the episode.

Support the show

🎥 Connect with Us: https://linktr.ee/57.fam

📧 Contact:
For collaborations or inquiries, email us at fam@fiftyseven.nyc

Send us Fan Mail

Grammy-nominated producer. Multi-platinum artist. Harvard grad at 19. Tech founder. Financial educator. Ryan Leslie has lived several careers in one lifetime — and this conversation covers all of them.

Ryan traces his journey from a Caribbean-rooted Salvation Army household to Harvard at 15, from sleeping on his dad's couch to producing Beyoncé's track on the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack on his first night in New York City. He breaks down how he used early Google AdWords and MySpace to send Cassie's "Me & U" viral before anyone else saw it coming — and why he eventually walked away from the entire major label system.

The pivot point: discovering that even after selling records on iTunes, he couldn't get his fans' email addresses. So he put his phone number on the internet instead. 35,000 texts later, he had a $2M album cycle, a database of his most loyal fans, and the seed of what would become SuperPhone.

Ryan and host Johnny also get into Wealthplan — Ryan's investing and financial literacy platform for artists — and close with a masterclass on relationship equity: why the most valuable investment you can make at any age isn't in stocks or streams, but in the people in the room with you right now.

Topics covered: growing up Salvation Army · Harvard at 15 · going all-in on music with no Plan B · the Beyoncé break · MySpace SEO · pulling from iTunes · SuperPhone · Ben Horowitz · Nipsey Hussle · Bad Bunny · Wealthplan · relationship equity · advice for young creatives1

Support the show

🎥 Connect with Us: https://linktr.ee/57.fam

📧 Contact:
For collaborations or inquiries, email us at fam@fiftyseven.nyc