Druski is, for all intents and purposes, the internet’s favorite funnyman.
Known for his viral skits, streaming sessions with celebrity pals like Kevin Hart and Kai Cenat, and his satirical record label, Coulda Been Records, he’s become a comedic powerhouse. But beyond the punchlines and personas, Druski is also an entrepreneur and, in many ways, a regular guy.
“I have to experience real life in order to continue to be funny,” he told Complex. “The more sh*t you go through, the funnier your material is.”
His everyday environment, which Druski insists on keeping as normal as possible, includes sharing a house in Miami with his friends—one of whom walks into the room midway through our call. It really doesn’t get any more normal than that.
Druski's down-to-earth energy was on full display during his recent Instagram Close Friends Only episode with Lil Yachty. The duo shared a hilarious conversation about DM sliding, dream collaborations, and their latest projects, blending staged antics with spontaneous moments that highlighted their natural chemistry. Druski’s ability to effortlessly connect with others, whether it’s his celebrity friends or his massive audience, is a cornerstone of his success.
We chatted soon after the episode’s release, and I was admittedly surprised at how enlightening our conversation was. It became clear to me that there’s more to Druski than just the jokes. As a self-made entrepreneur, he’s built a massive following by staying authentic, reinvesting in his craft, and never settling.
“I’ve always been down to earth before the fame, and I think a lot of people would say I’m still the same,” he reflected.
While his peers might splurge on luxury homes and cars, Druski is focused on the future: “Any money I make from endorsements—Nike, Google, Raising Cane’s—I always reinvest it back into everything I’m doing.”
And that grind never stops.
“Even on vacation, I’m going to make sure I figure out a skit or something to post while I’m there,” he shared. “It’s always work; it’s never not work for me. I just constantly try to outdo myself.”
It might not be the most balanced lifestyle, but Druski is proof that humor and hustle are a winning combination.
(This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.)
Where are you calling from?
Druski: We're still in Miami right now.
Hell yeah, that's the place to be. I'm in New York, and it's freezing.
Druski: Oh, damn. Complete opposite.
Well, speaking of the cold, cuffing season is in full swing. You've been known to dish out some hilarious but insightful advice on how to slide into the DMs. So for people who are looking to lock in a Mr./Mrs. Right or a Mister/Miss Right Now, what are your top Dos and Don’ts for sliding into the DMs?
Druski: Man, I'd probably say dos is definitely, I think, like I said on [Close Friends Only with Instagram] with Yachty, I think it’s more-so about the work you have to do first before going to the DMs. It's less about the dos and don'ts; it's more-so just about, you got to do little sneak attacks here and there. You don't want to go straight into the DMS right away. So it's kind of like you're leaving little hints here and there, like certain pictures, but of course not the pictures at the pool and all that, or at the beach because then you're giving off oh, that's all he wants. So you got to give little sneaks here and there if you're interested.
Like I told Yachty, if you're looking to indulge, that's a whole ‘nother situation. That's when you open up the, what do they call that? The side where you slide it up and it goes ghost mode or something?
Vanish mode.
Druski: Yeah, vanish mode. So yeah, if you're looking to indulge, you go to vanish mode. But I'm not one of those guys that even get into all that. It's not me. But I have friends that often do indulge in using vanish mode. That's just not me.
Yeah, you’ve just got to kind of breadcrumb 'em with the likes.
Druski: Yeah. You just got to leave hints.
And what's the best opening line, once you've breadcrumbed and you've left hints and you're ready to open up the conversation?
Druski: That's when you start laughing at stuff that ain't even funny. Start laughing at stuff. Maybe she posts her cooking and you just put a laughing emoji. If she laughs or says anything back, she's interested. That's just my tactic, it might not work for everybody else. It is kind of like a conversation starter—It’s so dumb, but it works.
What's the worst DM you've ever received from someone who's trying to slide into your DMs?
Druski: Jesus Christ. I don't know if I can say what was said.
That bad?
Druski: Yeah, I've found out through looking through my DMs that women are very aggressive. I can't quote the craziest one I've seen, but depending on how much of a fan the female is, it can get pretty aggressive.
Alright, we'll not talk about it to protect the innocent. When you're scrolling through Instagram, what makes someone's fit pic catch your eye?
Druski: I think usually the location will catch my eye. You could wear anything in a picture, but sometimes where you're at may matter more in the outfit at hand.
Your fit check skit popped off. It's so funny. What was the story behind that?
Druski: Just living in Atlanta and being around a bunch of weirdos out here in the streets. Like I said, being around Lil Yachty and the guys he brings around to the studio and stuff, it's just like, what the f*ck, man? And I just can't tell if they were raised like that or if they're intentionally trying to be weird. But it's a little bit of both, maybe a little bit of being demonic as well. Atlanta is an interesting place. There's a lot of dudes who may not be demonic that want to be demonic.
What does that mean?
Druski: I have no idea. That's the question behind it all. We all want to f*cking know.
Amen.
Druski: Nobody knows why these dudes are doing this. They want to be weird.
This is an investigative journalism piece that I would love to assign you.
Druski: No, seriously. They want to be weird to the point where they're forcing themselves to be weird. There's some that push the boundaries more than others with the horns and all the key chains and everything clinging off their body and hanging off their shoulders and shit. I don't know, man. It even changes the stature of the way they walk and stand and shit. It's weird, man.
Oh yeah. Because then you're hunched over because of everything you're wearing.
Druski: Yeah. I'm saying like, eyes rolling to the back of their head. What are you doing, man? You're not naturally rolling your eyes back.
Did your mom ever tell you if you got hit in the back of the head when your eyes were rolling back, you're going to get stuck like that?
Druski: No, actually I've never heard that. What you talking about?
My mom growing up, if I would roll my eyes, she would say, 'Someone's going to hit you in the back of the head and you're going to get stuck like that.' Anyway, speaking of Yachty, you guys have been friends for a long time. How would you describe your friendship dynamic?
Druski: I'd say I'm closer with him than the majority of other people in the industry. With the industry being how it is, it's like you can be around a lot of fake energy wherever you go. So sometimes you don't know what some of these fake friendships may—what's the word I'm looking for—what may be the motivation behind some friendships when you're in the industry. But I can say with him, he's a hundred percent thorough. He's a real friend and he's not clout-chasing or trying to hang around somebody to maybe up whatever he has going on. It's an actual friendship.
I think you can really tell that in the Close Friends episode. It just feels so authentic.
Druski: Yeah. We kept sliding a bunch of jabs in there.
Yachty's one of the best-dressed rappers right now. Has he given you any styling tips or gifted you anything cool?
Druski: Not one of the best-dressed rappers. Who the f*ck has said this?
Complex Style!
Druski: They said this.
They sure did.
Druski: All right, well, I need to talk with them.
I'll put you in touch. So you're saying you need to give him style tips, not the other way around?
Druski: Yeah.
You and Kevin Hart have teased doing a movie together, and he sent you to voicemail in Close Friends when you tried to call him about it. Can we put the rumors to rest once and for all?
Druski: He's just a busy guy. He still hadn't called me back yet, but I know they probably have his phone. He is probably on a month-long movie shoot or something.
A little hiatus.
Druski: They probably confiscated his phone on set, so I know how that goes. I've been in a movie or two, so I know how it is. He's just super busy. He always doing something. He'll call back.
I believe he'll call back. Is there a movie on the books for you guys yet?
Druski: Like I said, he'll call back. I'm not sure about the movie; it’s supposed to be with me, him, and Kai [Cenat]. I talked to Kai as well and he also said [Kevin] hadn't called him back yet. So we're both just waiting. We know he’s a businessman. Super busy guy as well, so me and Kai are just taking the backseat.
Last summer, Complex named you the number one funniest person on the internet. How does that feel?
Druski: Actually appreciate y'all for that. I think, I don't know, man. I'm very competitive, so that was one of the ones I was actually proud of. Yeah, that was actually a great moment. I appreciated that a lot.
In terms of all-time comedians, who's your number one?
Druski: Man, that's hard. I get asked that type of stuff all the time. I'm not going to lie, I really don't know. It is a bunch of them with Eddie Murphy and Kevin Hart, and the Kings of Comedy. There's so many of them that you look back and just...Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey....I've always been a fan of comedic acting, so those would be some of my top people. But none of those in order, just throwing them all out there.
Where would you rank yourself, all-time, today?
Druski: Hopefully I'm approaching the ranks at some point. I'd say I'm not there yet, but at some point, I'd hope to be remembered as one of the top guys in the game at some point in my life. I got a lot more to do though, I'll tell you that.
Some of my favorite skits of yours are the sports ones, especially with Roll Tide Willie. As a former second-grade football player, what position do you think you would've played if you'd made it to the league?
Druski: Damn. Probably ass back because I'd be sitting my ass back on that bench. Seriously, I had no chance at that at all.
[laughs] That's hilarious.
Druski: I just don't think I had that much discipline, man. I was too goofy at practices. I was always joking around and farting and doing stupid sh*t on the football field. You just need a lot of discipline and a little less personality to do stuff like that. You know what I mean? The lock-in.
Yeah, I feel like you ended up where you were supposed to be.
Druski: What—Can you get the f*ck out, man? Sorry, one of my homies just walked in.
No worries.
Druski: Living with the homies, right?
Do you have a lot of your friends around all the time?
Druski: Yeah, that's helps with all this comedic bullsh*t, man. You got to have funny people around. You got to be in real life situations and you got to surround yourself around some crazy sh*t to continue to keep the ideas flowing. So yeah, that's kind of my everyday environment.
Is it mostly homies from the neighborhood or new friends?
Druski: Yeah, ones I grew up with, friends I've met as life progressed, and my family as well. My cousin also lives with us. He's 22. He is a d*ckhead. He doesn't know what the f*ck he wants to do with his life, but he helps out with the skits. So hey, I'm appreciative. And he's actually a great actor.
Oh, amazing. Does he do any cooking? Who's the house cook?
Druski: Cook? I don't think anybody cooks, man.
Does anyone clean?
Druski: Nope. Nobody does any of that sh*t.
Classic house of men.
Druski: Yeah, we got maids though, so that's all good.
Love that. It's Complex, so we have to talk sneakers. Have you been back to the Nike campus since the Drake video?
Druski: Yes, actually we had a big meeting there this past year with all the reps that I work with on the Nike side. Just trying to develop and create more ideas for me and how I can grow the brand with them. We'll figure something out to the point where you'll see some stuff for me, just promotional things, more-so what Druski’s world looks like with Nike.
Right, because we've seen some Coulda Been Records and Nike teases in the past. So, can we expect a little more of that?
Druski: Yeah, I think we've just done teasing collabs where we're just messing around with ideas and seeing how things could look. Nothing set in stone yet though. They have a great team over there and they're actually very supportive of everything I do, so I appreciate them a lot.
You've built a massive following, blending comedy, entertainment, and relatability. What would you say is the secret to your success?
Druski: Oh man, that's a hard question. Holy f*ck. I don't know, man. I think the main thing with me is I don't really give myself enough time to try to enjoy something. So anytime I'm actually pursuing or grinding or doing anything, I'm always thinking about the next thing. So it seems like I may not be enjoying it, but really the good things that happen motivate me to want to do better than that.
I may have real-life issues with that right there, but it's good though because it brings more success. So yeah, you can even ask my managers, they're sick of my sh*t. They're like, 'Yo, we're trying to do everything.' But it's not in a chaotic way, it’s very organized.
We barely have any time for breaks, and if it is a break, it's not really a full break. I'm still going to make sure I bring content to the fans. Even if I'm on vacation, I'm going to make sure I figure out a skit or something to post while I'm there. So it's like always work, it's never not work for me. I just constantly am trying to outdo myself. So when I say I'm competitive, I sometimes even try to compete with myself and try to do better than the last year.
I think it's really interesting that you say you weren't disciplined enough for the league, but it sounds like everything you're doing takes an incredible amount of discipline.
Druski: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just say actual physical discipline. I mean to actually take that serious and not be goofing around. I think, yeah, I was a great athlete. I did karate. I did basketball, soccer, football—I did everything. But I think to get to the NFL, you got to really be locked. None of them goofing around at the workouts and sh*t. They're a hundred percent there. There ain't too many. That's why you don't find too many people who play professional sports with crazy personalities. You can find some here and there, but nobody's really—I don't know. It's almost like it sucks the personality out of you grinding that to get to a professional sport. They don't go to parties, they never went to no high school sh*t. You don't see them majority all those number one players or top 10 players from high school and sh*t; they're not going to anything. They're locked.
No, for sure. I mean, that's how you are right now with comedy.
Druski: I'm locked. But I think you got to be passionate about what you're locked in on. I have to continue to live life and enjoy real-life moments in order to come up with more material.
A thousand percent.
Druski: I have to experience real life in order to continue to be funny. And some people lose that when they become famous, but I try to still cause the more sh*t you go through, the funnier your material is. So yeah, I try to still be normal in a sense.
Yeah, and what's all this for if you can't enjoy life a little?
Druski: Exactly, exactly.
You're the nucleus of the Druski operation. What is that like?
Druski: It is very different. It’s good and bad: the good part is being able to own everything that we're doing. We self-produce all of my shows. Anything we're doing, auditions, any reality shows—all self-produced. And I'd say that's the good quality about it, is just being able to own it.
The bad is like, you're never really able to sit and put that money that you're making in your pocket. You're always reinvesting in yourself. So it's not bad. It's good, but it's like, damn, I want to enjoy some of this money. it is good for the future me. So I try to—any money that I make from any endorsements we have, if it's Nike, if it's Google, if it's Raising Canes, anything, whoever we work with, I always try to reinvest it back into everything I'm doing. Whereas some of my peers, they like to go buy a bunch of cribs and cars and sh*t. I try to be smart and reinvest everything.
I feel like people don't talk about you being the entrepreneur that you are. Is there anything that's maybe stressful about that, and being the one holding the strings?
Druski: I think no, it's not really hard to do and I actually love doing it because I'd be mad at myself if I wasn't. And I've also never really been the type of person that's been materialistic either. So if you even look at my wardrobe—you could probably tell from all my shoes being like Birkenstocks or just regular Nike Air Force Ones. But I've just never been super flashy.
I have some cool clothes and stuff, but I really don't care about a bunch of materialistic stuff. I was driving a Jeep for the last six, seven years. I recently got a new Hummer EV, just for branding purposes. I painted it camo and put Coulda Been all over it. I've always had the same swag, same style, same interests. So yeah, it doesn't really hurt me to reinvest back into myself and not really splurge that much.
I've always been down to earth before the fame and I think a lot of people would say I'm still the same.