And his Drink Chas motherfucking podcast. He's a legendary Queen's rappers. He's is your boy in O R. He's a Miami hippoper, mioneer. What up is d j e f N? Together they drinking up with some of the biggest players in the most professional unprofessional podcast. And your number one sorts for drunk back rich Mother is new Yez. That's his time for drink Champs. Trick up mother Mother? Would it goold be? Hopeles would sooner be? This is your boy in O R? What up is d j e f This is drink Champs?
Yapp y'all gonna make up now now Eve. When it comes to entrepreneura, he spell. Don't know when it comes to a person. When I've read that his first job was handing out flyers, I've read that the man the rand worked in Red Love Stuff. Why he was owning a very fortunate company. He has grinded. He has continue non stop board in Brooklyn, but raised in Queens and we and Queens, we claim him, we claim him, quote and um. He's relentless. He's has one of the biggest
shows that won the Emmy Emmy Award. Run We got at all. And if you don't know what we talk about, we're talking about the shop. Take first person. Thank you for being here. You're definitely one of the people that when I think of arentrepreneur, I think of you. I think of how devin there you are, like, you know what I'm saying, how uh put together? I think that I think it should be more of you. You know what I'm saying, Like, I think you're like a great
role bottel for us. Thank you, brother, appreciate that. So would that being said, Let's take it from the beginning right, because I read that was that really your first job handed out flyers had on hand on flyer Colosseum hall, so that years old, but that the Colisseum hall was was being opened up, so hand out flies. I mean, I don't, I don't hold along. So you're telling me the Colosseum wasn't even open, wasn't even used because like Mazee,
that didn't went Bankruph. So I was hand out flies to that and I did every job I could write, you know, like during the winter, I shovel snow in the in the in the in four rake leaves. But when I was shoveling snow. I had so many people that wanted me to get to the sidewalk that I
would give the other kids in the neighborhood. Half the money that I would make to go and shovel the sidewalks, I could sit at home and you know, so, um, then I's going to find bike watch on the street and before you know, the two months, i'd have a fully assembled bike through they through the shot out. So, I mean, I've been trying to hustle ever since. And then I started working the churches, ride chicken, and then I worked at the popcorn stand, and then I worked
through a lot. Do you remember church? Some suicies about churches. So so I've been working since day one. So so, um, what was your first successful business, like besides food? Obviously, what was the first one that you just like, you know what this is busy business is where I belonged? Or even what's probably the better questions, what was the first business that failed to help you learn what you
need to learn for the first successful? Even better? I think I think those are those are those are both great questions for two different reasons. Number One, the first business I got into was I had this idea about buying crash cars because at that time, we buy a crash car, your boys will find a pause for it, you know. And buying in the auction. I don't know how they found the problem. They just so and and then you would put you so you buy there into
it and you sell it in fifty right. So I had the plan, you know, I was about sixteen, seven years old, and I like to say that, you know, I did my numbers, and I looked at at sixteen. If I keep doubling down on that, i'd be a millionaire by twenty. However, Mike Tysons, you know, he has that saying, you know, everybody got a plan until they get punched in the face. Life touched me in the face and about you know, six months and um, and I didn't have any money. Now. The reality of what
I realized was I didn't like to fix cars. I don't know how it was. I was so busy thinking about the money that I didn't like what I was doing. So I had no urge to get up or I wouldn't want to do it again. All right, fast foward. Now what I started to do. I get this this vand this piece of crap jump ye over and a fifteen passenger, and I started running up and down, guy, are broad of Merrick Boulevard and Rockaway picking up people
for dollar driver in the world. So listen to this inspire and I was it was you that was the driver. I was the driver show. So I'll show you at this point right at that point about seventeen, trying to start off at Parsons Boulevard, go down god Rod at the Rose, all the way Rockaway Beach one sixteen. And so let me just explain, because keep you let me
just think we're talking. Yeah, I don't know. This is a sertain part in a certain part where the trains don't go, and there's certain parts even busses don't go. So what happens is it's these vans that they come and they pick up a whole bunch of people. Yea, we call them dollar vans because it would be a dollar at the time, and then they would take it to the parts that the trains don't go, especially in Queen's Queens a big barrel. So so you got a person on there for a dollar. By time, you know,
you have fifteen people on. By time people go on and off you go all the way down. You could have forty fifty dollars. You can have three hundred dollars. During the course of the day, however, I'll go to areas where a lot of the band drivers do wouldn't to go. I'm going deep into far rockaway. Why you know, my man had the ratchet on the side because security. Let me tell you something the first time. Here's what
happened about fifteen people in Bend. I picked him. The fifteen dudes I picked up from the subway, they just got came from tunnel or something like that. Right, they're getting the van and I get always last stop. And you know, we all got nicknames in the hood. So one was like, gets out the bed, your crime got it, Your crime got it. Your crime got about trying got there, but you're crime, you got He was like your ho crying no pain. And I realized I needed that. I
needed a catch yourself. Yeah you know, so we're gonna we're gonna salute to you. I don't know, I don't know a ball our show. Our show was about salute with a legend, like to give you your flowers while you hit. Because a lot of people want to say how great people are when live when they're gone and they passed away, we want to tell you how great you are. We gonna until you doing anything than you then just supposed to make some lawyers. Man, let's do
it again. So hold on. So you did the dollar ban now and thenn't and you got crying paid that time? So what what? What? What was your next after that? So so that one is actually successful one. But I looked at three or four years of doing it, and I realized that I didn't actually make money. I didn't net anything because after paying for it was a junkie man. They after paying for it, breaking down the tickets, insurance, I was netting nothing. And I had to physically be
there to make a dollar. I mean that dollar wasn't ringing when I was sleeping. So I go back to a lobster. I take that ban, I take all the seats out of it. I started putting t shirts in it. I started sleeping in it sometimes. Right now, I'm not I'm going to other people get anything for them. Actually, the first printing company, the first thing I ran off really was a shirt that said, um, what they did
to Rodney King, they would do to you. That's the first one I started selling on the treats um and I was working to Red Lobster. Now we're working the van. Now I we're using the van uh to carry my clothes around and all that kinds of like the Rodney King Churchy. You're investing into what you're doing, and were
lots of money. I'm chilling at the moment, and then then all of a sudden, the idea of food who comes around because I started hearing the brands didn't respect whether hip hop African Americans in our city kids, and they didn't value them. And it wasn't Mad the main company at that time. They weren't on They're not don't want the same one now. Also described that at the time there is no rocket wear them to exist and
they had already inspired me. However, they were very West Coast and a lot of times growing up, you know in our community, if you wanted to show without saying that that you were wearing something of African Americans, it's great. Ship used to be used to be the rooms that you've been flowing off. Were you respecting and sure you had love for African African Americans. It was always can take colors, even cross colors. It was always purple green yell, and I was like, yo, man, why do we why
do we gotta be that? It was last super loud, I can'tn't wear something cool and then cats know that that it's us. So so that's when I came up with food for us bias right and then okay, and that that was four of y'all correct. It was always five of us originally, but the fifth member never stayed around. Oh wow, that's why you see big go five on all the jerseys. But that fifth member would never say. It would be like, yo, just work for six months and put in putting uh ten hours a week, but
nobody ever saw division. So five years we ran through five separate all though the fifth member was our else no no, I always wanted to access just question, okay, so GAT has this commercial right, it's a GAT commercial gap, but it's got the right. Is that the first like and he said in it for us by us on the low. So it was that the first time like
foodoo got national recognition. We had already had a little bit of national recognition because I think a couple of people a warden won their video videos, um CODB Mrs Jones, TODB um, who else Method Man and a couple of people have already warned all brand Nubian. So so they had already when they warn an ice cream video and
a lot of a couple of other things. And I think ll Award in the Hey Love of video, he's sitting on the rock and queens and then but that's when we had already had our distribution deal and Gap called of LLL and he didn't really he didn't value them. He didn't like the way they spoke to him. They spoke to him pretty much like listen, LLL, whatever your name is or what are you? What do you want of those rappers? Right? So we we need when we didn't get to a little hippy hopper kids, you know,
and I know that you know that. I remember the dude say something like, Yo, I'm white. My daughter sixteen years old and white. She's running around house talking about fight the power and after police. So I think we're big enough now hip hop is big enough, So can you come in and do this, uh this commercial. That's why I always say something about L meaning like you know a lot of people want influencers and brand, you know, people like that, but you can't have somebody your PEPSI.
You can't have them drinking Coca cola. L L live right. Um, now, how how did that? How did that come from you? You're l didn't grow up together? Oh? Was was that? Like? Was that like your person? You thought of the model? Now we we we all grew up in the same neighbor So we're all working hot okay, okay, And the funny story is else from Farmers right on pharm But but I lived on Farmers, Billboard and Queens, so you had obviously L Salt and Pappa run DMC s fight
d all of the job. We all live in the same neighborhood. And it's funny. I used to be a roadie and we used to always skip out of school or like fourteen years old to go on tour and raising hell and all and pushed speakers around. He went on those tours, one of those toys, and I had three other friends. When the tour's that's we're gonna But I always say I was, So I had three other friends. I was like, Ye're gonna be the biggest dude in fashion. My other dude was like, I'm gonna be the biggest
dude in movies. My mother dude was like, I'm gonna be the biggest dude in music, and my mother dude said, I'm gonna be the biggest drug dealer. The dude who it was so with me. The other dude who said movies was Hype Williams. The other dude who said records was is IRV Gotti. And the other dude ended up becoming the biggest drug deal because Hype wrote a movie about him called Belly and he's still in jail. So at fourteen years old, we kind of all had had
this desire. We didn't know what it was gonna be, but we all, you know, aspired to be the top of our industry. You know. Now you get these brands out right now right, Um, it's a big controversy right now. Got product. Yeah, you got Gooch who was very is very disappointing to me personally because of the Dappa Dan association. Uh and who else is it? Mount Clay? I believe
is it? Is it? So? How how does a person like you who has so much success and you you could probably a person could probably say that you can be out of touch because of you know, how many how do you like? How does how does the person. How does the coucci you boys ship like that? How? How? How do how do people even make mistakes like that? I guess you know. I I have two hats to
put on that one. There's about fifteen steps to go through to make a make a garment, and it's hard figure And normally when we make a garment, like see the poem piece wearing, I have the same piece with the big cat on it. You make you can make what we call a capsule. Okay, just the shift team or twenty pieces. You don't just make different you know.
This is the this is the theme right now. So the half that I have one that said that they didn't know what they were doing is the hat saying that, you know, we can't be conscious of every single sensitive thing to every single person because these people are in Italy.
It's like me if I decided to put Indians and call redskins on something, and all of a sudden, because I Native Americans have been prosecuted and treated so bad, they take offense to it, or I put up I put something on these or something like that, or yeah, you know what I'm saying. Uh, and so so the in sensitive part in some aspects. I I don't know what they were doing, but I don't know if they knew what they were doing. Some people say, well, they
only came to the Japanese. Well, I've been to Japan when I've seen I've seen the Japanese kids wear black face. Where next Jersey's Yankee has and breakdance because of homage to the clouds where they go dressed. They go there and they are saying we want to be black. So I don't know on that side. However, if you usually make a capsule collection and you only make one piece, okay when you say capsule pieces in it, because you're gonna like, you know, like my line is a hundred
and fifty pieces. This year I got fift team capsule collections. One's going to be Army, one's going to be whatever, whatever, you know, VOTs whatever. If you only put one black face on one item, that sounds like I need somebody to talk about this. So I don't know really when the intent was a company of white issues, it's someone
that green liant that one particular item. That is because I can't say that question again because I just guess don't want to just say something, but because I can't see Gucci as a as a brand that knows, like you know, rock Camp has been you know, rocking it since the eighties. I can't see them being that. But after saying token, why is there is people on the board like, well, the board don't get to see it. I mean because when the board is thinking right now
about how many stories are we gonna open globally? Who else? So we're gonna acquire how our sharehold is dealing with it. The designers are usually probably going to be young kids who are designing for a while. Then they go to a design director. The designed director sends it to a manufacturer in Italy, most likely in Japan and Hong Kong. Stuff like that. You probably didn't run across African Americans throughout that whole process if you're an Italian company, so
it may have slipped through. Okay, And what was I mean? You kind of answered, I'm saying, is it is it a company wide problem? Or is it one person that green lit that one particular item? Didn't the one green land? You know? And when I saw it, isn't it wasn't it like a rolled up here? How do we even know they ever saw the turtle that rolled up. I don't know. Now however you got product going now on the running way with a noose hanging on a shirt?
Who was that? That was Burberry losing Berberry product? Burberry bad. I don't want, I don't want to brush the product with the wrong brush. But it's it's not often contrived and really thought well out when you come into art and design, it's really not right. Um what what? What? Damn them? Kind of kind of guy? I mean, but should should? I don't think that anybody in within the hip hop culture should be surprised at those companies making those kind of mistakes. I don't think we should be.
I think I think I got to my personal opinion, surprise day of time been showing that much love to those companies. It should be more of your companies and companies like yours in this day and time. I mean, you know from before too. I don't know if you know, but we call ourselves. We say were the digital food. We've been saying that, and why is it? Why is that? Like? Because again when I Google you, I don't know if it said that you got spent six billion dollars worth
six billion dollars, But we we we sold. Over the course of our existence, we sold six billion dollars worth of retail sales. So thank everybody that help. So why isn't there? Why isn't there more brands? Like? Why isn't there? Like immediately, like one thing that I did like, uh not one thing. This is amongst many things that I like. Is when jay Z went and stepped to a um Chrystal Christal gave Brazilion resistance. Crystal didn't want to be
down with him. Immediately, jay Z had alternative, Let's go with a space. A space is a lot of a lot of people's budgets. I realized, how, why why everybody couldn't switch from Chrystal Ace. But at least there was an alternative. Right now, what is the alternative to Gucci? What is the alternatives the product? What is the alternative to mont Claire? Oh, there's They're there is plenty. Like I'm seeing it. I'm seeing it more and more every day.
I'm seeing a lot of young people of various different shades and colors. I'm seeing them create small lines. You know, you know, back then you have these brands with the huge numbers. You know, when I got into the business, I think Levis was doing like eighteen billions. I think they're doing now three billions. And why when you've got a lot of kids that you see at home making their T shirts and sweatshirts and they're doing a million of piece, but they're doing it off their iPhones and
you got a meal your kids doing that. So it's there in some way, and you know in the street where and the akator, it's still there at some level. You're just seeing a lot of the heavy advertising and marketing by the only the couple of brands that are lasting these days, because look at retail, retail is almost dead, right, where's anybody going to buy retail? Correct? Yeah? So I'm line right. So you're only seeing the advertising and in the branding by them, and it doesn't just happen an
African American or or or colors of mine orn. I mean, where is Benetton these days? I don't know. I don't know. I don't let's say teeth at least, you know what I mean? Like, where are those brands? So a lot of time we want to we want to act like you know, it's only one way or another, But it happens to everybody in one way. Or another. And when we look at Goucci when we were talking, we're talking about the unicorns, Nike. You we're talk about unicorns, man.
But at the end of the day, you know, it really happens. And trust me, I'm not this whole. I'm not trying. I'm not trying to fight in Gucci's defense. I'm just laying it down. So when we're walking the room and we talk to other people with don't have that chip on our shoulder like everything's happening us know what's happening to other people too. But you're just feeling it more. And I respect that, you know. And you guys got a new deal poople, Right, Well, um, who
is it? You go? We have a we have a lot of you sent me. We just did something century Century twenty one. I think we're doing also a Ladies line with Forever twenty one. Um, and these are all small collaborations, you know, we're just trying to get with whoever.
We like. This cool because the resurgence, all brands come back twenty years for a little while, and a lot of people just want to feel about the field the nineties and the two thousand's, Right, did you ever get slacked for acquiring the Cougie brand, and because you know the reason why I say that probably bugging like slack, because everyone kind of looked at Cougie as like Italian brand, right right, you know what I'm saying, because originally that's
what it was, right, Italian and in Italy and Australia. And now now they gave us love. I mean because initially when we when we purchased Cougie was in bankruptcy and you can only they only had eight hundred dollars sweaters. And then we started making more affordable stuff. We still have that was heavily woven sweaters because there's only two
machines in the world that can knit that sweater. However, we started to make other stuff and and actually Cougie ended up becoming really really good for us, so we never got slapping and that stuff. Okay, yeah, you do you do on Cougi And how what year was that that was? That wasn't what Biggie was. We Couji no no no. We around two thousand and three, and at
first nobody wanted to wear it. And I was doing all the product integration for these three girls named the Kardashians and nobody knew about And I remember going around all the brands. I feel like you love that floor, love that flaw. I remember going around all my friends with the brand. I was like, yo, s they'll wear your clothes for the whole season for seventy five thousand dollars.
And it's like, now, it ain't gonna be nothing. So if you look at the first three seasons of Sin when they just launched the real yeah, when you look at the first three season Kardashians, they weren't all cooji because I was like, man, I'm sorry, girls, I can't really you know, getting all the people behind you, but I got you here you go because I knew you're gonna be something. How how do how do you how do you determine things like that? How did how did
you you know? Because l L is like a different type of person, like you know, for you to allow yourself with l L. And this is a guy who's you know, been around for thirty thirty five years. Yeah you know what I'm saying. So how do you allign with people like that? How do you see star is m in a person? Well? L was always a big star to me. He was he was already a huge star show. It wasn't me having an opportunity in regards to me helping him out. It was him reaching down
and helping me out. Um. And like whenever we go after mentors or other people, it's what's in it for them, you know. I had to make it very advantageous to him. So what I had to do was dress everybody around him. First. I dressed all the bodyguards, the big dudes with the five exits who would never nobody ever made anything flo show. All of a sudden, they're wearing it now, and they're wearing it more because you dressed a little skinny kid
with the funny mustache, you know, the skateboard. He throwing it away a week later, but you dressed the big dude who can't get nothing. He winning it for a year straight after that. And then he always in front of the club or pushing somebody out the way to walking Bill. Yeah. So after that, L was like, hey, yo, baby, what's up with me? And I didn't want to bother you. Baby. I didn't bother but I got a couple of shirts you right there. So I had to make it really
flopped at him. And then I went after you always go after the local lead. I went after round me getting everybody always sorry, yeah everybody, Yeah, don't worry about I don't make sure the law of that. Everybody always wanting what's that? What's hell? Partner was? He was? He a Parker. That was the little part of my spokes first and who who who are who? Who got to partake in any profit afterwards? And it was because he's a smart businessman. He was like, I don't want to
be around with the losses there. I won't only be around in the case apart deal kind of like rosy deal on the upside of stuff. And he and he that's why he went out and busted his ass. And that's why obviously, um we were very beneficial of that because after he wore everybody want to wear, everybody want to rock out? You know that was Flatform and Russell involved at any point or did you ever trying to get through because Platform was a company to that. Flatform
also existed first. But Russell came to us and was like a man, you know, I know the rector business. I don't know this business that well. And because Russell's a legend to me, you know, we um we actually distributed his clothes and in Europe, and then we hooked him up with the guy who would end up really helping him so um so, and then we were obviously
very happy about that. We always wanted to see other cats who were part of the world be able to benefit off of it, you know, so so we would because you know, you know, listen, man, you can't stop anybody already got dried, and you know you always want to be part of the bridge if you can. That's what all the hate is out there. Who don't realize that. Was there any rival reason amongst these these brands that
were kind of competing for the same market. Absolutely, and you know, so we were able to really you know, cross colors and Calk and I broke around for us. They inspired us, they opened the door. We came in and took it to another level. And we came in right after they were slowing down a little bit, right before Paul Russa really got to blast. So we had
a really good run at it. But when we really saw it going and they saw to get going, of course, there's only limited space in any store for any brand, right, so of course they would they would be the rivalry. It wouldn't be a rivalry in the streets with us. We wouldn't have no issues. You know. We wasn't like y'all caps will be like yo man, East Coast, West Coast. You know, I would be like extra sec. I'm not, but you know, but of course it was a friendly robbery.
I mean, I put you know, I introduced Paul to a guy named Jeff Tweete who runs his company, because you know, I knew I couldn't take Jeff Tweete on and I wanted him to help up. I didn't think Puff was gonna be that hot. But again, you can't stop. You can't stop people. But yeah, of course it was always a friendly business. I'm showing your businesses, who's selling a song? This is my man, but he's killing it, you know what I mean, on my own evil what
she's killing it. And it seems that these brands, the brands you mentioned, they learned off for you guys, because the partner's stores weren't carrying like hip hop clothing until like tail end of the nineties, early two thousand. Because I had a clothing store, and I remember I had to I went out of business once locally was bird Iss and then became Macy's. When they started carrying it, I couldn't even compete with those marks happened. So so first of all, a lot of those big stores wouldn't
carry our brand. I even heard something like, Yo, there's who are black guys on the hang tag? People don't come and have shootouts, they're gonna start shoplifting. But a local store like, yeah, we would support always the local entrepreneur. Because the local entrepreneur, they it would tell they why ambassador they were, They would as soon as they sell stuff in one week they called back, I need more Macy's or one of the big guys are gonna call
back every quarter or whatever the case it. What they found out is like two years into it, they found out the guys like you, who had one store now had six, and they were like, yeah, we're missing the mark. And that's why they kind of let us all of us kind of in at the same around the same time, because they were like, we need this section because we can't have the kids going down the block or staying
in the hood and not coming here. So that's how you know, everybody gets on everything and something like what cryptocurrency today and see today everybody's gonna it's gonna take a while to bubble and then you know they're gonna they're gonna get on it. Now, what did food will Ever do? Like because you see how like if we're a rocket where they sold like they say they sold it from like two hundred three hundred million, like the food Boever soup never, So we never so we always
we still have the brands. Yeah, so we know we never sold a brand. We sold. We sold the territory of China. Know in Japan, I think China and Korea that just the territory like that means we can't distribute those, just that those so they can make whatever they put that only that specific area and that area. Poolble was more like a skate type of brand. Oh god, they
reinterpreted a different way over that. You you ever looking at that and be like you look at you know it probably see like where it goes and be like because essentially it's like it's like an album. It's like it's like how we make an album, like after we give it to the world, it's not ours. No thought we would be more than maybe a little closing store where well my friends and I, you know, we can all work together and feed out families. I never thought
we have anything bigger than that. What was the moment where you was like, holy ship, we're here. Um. We had just opened a couple of store in South Africa. And I remember I didn't go on that trip in South Aba. I didn't go on that trip because I always saw at the first hit pop pop like yeah, we're done year three, we're done year four, and it lasted probably about eight years. Super hot, right, And I remember I didn't go on that trip. I had to
do something else. And I remember Mandela calling my partners, Okay, y'all, y'all right. One of my only regrets. Man. You know, man, we can slow down there. You get the clubhouse, I'd all those Yeah, the real chair colongs with me bad bring so bad calls, called my boys and they're going me Mandela and I never got to meet him, um, but I realized at that point, yeah, we're making some noise. Wow. Did you ever get to be tupac Na? Damn me neither. When he got super hot, I was, I was East
Coast dude. And the only time I almost it got to meet him. I forgot what happened, you know, we were throwing a big party on the West Coast and think for like Lenny slewis for somebody, and I was I was dressing, you know me, I was dressing everybody. But all of a sudden, you know, a lot of East Coast castle I forgot if it was Grammys or whatever, and I had to make a decision that I wouldn't
allow um death row at the party. And just because we were dressing everybody, we didn't want the last we want the thing to be heard that something happened at the foodal party. And that was the only time that I don't want him. Did you Detroit from Pop thousand and one that work for footballs? No? No, no, not
Troy no more. He Actually Troy did work for all of us in some sense, because when we would do these seventh or six fashion shows that we've never had an opportunity to do, we would need somebody to make the clothes in a week and just front like that was the new line coming out, and Troitan Potots the one wouldn't make all the clothes and we'd be like, yo, that's a new line, and then we'll see who we get press off of. And then we would run the line.
We wouldn't actually be designing that line until we see how many times we get pressed off this one piece of that piece, and then we make like I said that capsules. It's like um with me, right, It's like I got kind of like two different life, right, I got the Wrapper life Love the Rapper life, and now I have this after Life after rap uh uh, this podcast. Like we're doing around and often people always ask me,
like what what which one you like more? If you which one you like more, the shock Tank Life or the fool Boo Life Shock Tank Life. Okay, damn you said that, mad fast. You're gonna take some time, you know, because when when when food was really had, I had three hundred four hundred employees and then globally I had about twelve hundred. And I think it's supposed to make
some noise for that. And when you become a shrink shrink opose Okay, okay, when you said you shrink, where we've come, fri you've been you've always you've always been concerned with why you didn't get to make it where you thought you deserve, whether because you were female, because you were personal color, because you didn't have a regular education. So I would go out and I would want my employees to know if I had to fire them, I had to fire them, or I had to give them
an advance. To give my advance, but I wanted to know it was on the merit of who they were, not the color of their skin. And I never wanted to hand it down to other uh mental management, because you don't know how they were going to convey your message. So you become a shrink, right you you start to worry about why people are working or not working. Now, shark tank, I get to invest in other companies who they already were founded a year or two years, five
years before they even met me. Ten years with those companies, right, I'm I'm a minority. Uh stay colder. I get to just work and deal with you off your performance and the DNA that you had already set for your company was none of my business. Also, I think that you know Sartank one of the top shows watched UM Kids and Parents Together, that's one of the top shows watched
or network kids five to fifteen years old. And we don't often see people like us who are successful and they didn't have this great education and they didn't go out in the streets and do some crazy shit. And if I can, if I can let it. If the next Damon John, excuse me, and not even Damon John sque me if the next Oprah was Steve Jobs or Bill Gates is in their house and their little pajamas, eating some cheerios, watching me on TV. Like I did my job, right, So I think that that. And I
don't have any inventory. Before I used to worry about moving a million pairs of jeans. Now my inventories right here and right here, all right here, that's my inventory. And um, you're in the food come putting right now right food company, al Baba Bagas Bonus rips. That got that? That's a time twister. You try that after three more? Well? So was it ever like an investment? You can't brush over it? Like the beginning of Shark Tank, Like I want to know, Yeah, did that whole this show even
start like it was? Mark Cupids? Are there? No? No? Not? Mark Burnett produced like he had he has survival practice all that, And it was already a number one show in Japan, in London and Canada. It's called dragons Den and they and they brought the format over here. It's a Sony format. They brought it over there. Mark is a brick so he loved it already from London, and then he brought the show here and renamed the Shark Tank because I think they had it in another country,
I think Australia. At first they had it under dragons Den, and the way knew what the hell of dragon was in that country, And if you would have brought it here named the dragons then it was already hard enough. The name of Shark taking exactly show. So absolutely, that's how I started. They called me if they saw me, I think on Donnie Deutsch or CNBC or MSNBC talking about business, and they're like, yo, you know this guy knows how to break down the pitch. He has a
couple of bucks, he's an investor. I want him on the show again, something else like Booble that I thought would never work. So they approach you with this idea, now that you gotta shoot the pilot first, or you guys go straight into the season. Now we go to shoot the pilot. But first they tell me I can't be on any of the show. And I already promised the Kardashians I'd be on the show. So I told him, no,
I wouldn't do it, and then I get uh. Then all of a sudden, the produce of the Kardashians like, yeah, we don't want you to show them more. You don't really appeal to the people, you know that we're trying to get the hell out of. So you get cut out of the Kardashians. However, you know what I found out, Chloe found out that I was going to turn down Shark because of her ah and then she says she would never get in my way. Let's make some noise for Chloe got I think that's noise and at all.
Two three A sweet story. Man. I'm glad to hear to hear a person like you of your statures come on here and speak, you know, uh, positivity towards that way, because it's I just don't hear it. I don't know what I'm me listening. They're screwed up people out here, and they you know, there's a lot of foul people out here, but you got to give it up when you know somebody's doing it the right way, you know, and Christiana doing the right way. And I ain't mad
at them. You know, they're getting their paper and why while we getting mad at them? Right exactly. You have opinion on Kanye and like sometimes his thoughts being out of this world, you know, not really, Um, I think that you know he I think he's already said everything he needs to say about himself by emotionally he goes Shuler. I think the man is a genius. Um. I think has he said some wrong stuff that I've been offended?
That absolutely? But you know what if the cameras were on me all the time, of course I said some wrong stuff too, right, But but I'm not one of the biggest stars in the world. You know what I'm saying. So you got a motivation, you know album coming up? I got a motivation the track I got someone like spoken Wren. I do a couple of speeches or people scorting. I'm not gonna insult true artists or somebody that's you. I mean, I'm doing my speech because you know what
I think. I think a lot of times when I'm when I'm doing the tracks, like when I want to do these speaking engagements. If you hear it once, you've heard a million times to me. But I remember I was driving down the street one day of mlk's birthday, and I heard obviously one of the greatest speeches that I ever been written. Somebody did some crazy beat to it, and I was like, I can hear that Mark Luther King's speech on the treadmill train. I'm driving the car.
It's getting me amp you want to kill it? That day, so I gave a bunch of producers a lot of my speeches and it's obviously never gonna compare to m okay, but um, they put some stuff together and just started getting good responses and people like and I give them away with my books or you know, the people people perchasing, whatever the cases. But I always wanted to add more than just my books. You know that Obama appointed you
the brand ambassador. Yeah, Obama appointed me um Presidential Ambassador Global Entrepreneurship. Okay, but how did this happen? They did he call your phone? And did you hang up when you say it's Obama? Because you like, come on, I would like I wish I could play a big time like that. It was his band's man, Man's Man? Who are me? I was removed? What you what you're damn? But I did get to go with him to Kenya. I want him to Cuba, I want with him to
another conference. Um and yeah, in in California. And my job as a presidential abassador is to let people understand and they can pick up their iPhone and make a million dollars or or if you're in Kenya, you need only twenty five dollars a month to keep the lights on. If if we can show you what entrepreneurship is and how to how to do it, then domestic violence is
going to go down. Right if you need twenty five dollars a month, Like if your wife keeps telling you, listen, I need money to take care of the baby, to take whatever case, and you and you stress you ain't got it, a lot of things gonna happen. And then also the people are gonna pray of for you. They're gonna be like yo, just like they do whether it's in the gang in New York City or in California. It's like, Yo, you need some money, take this and go down the block and do this for me. They're
gonna do that too to other people. Right. So, but if you show people there's real ways to make money, then they don't become liabilities, they become taxpayers. They become mentors in the community. We see it happen all the time. So that was my job globally to to to do that for the president bottom and so you you you, but you got to be them. Yeah yeah, traveling, traveling, getting smoking blog with them like no, no, no, But now you know, random bastard of Spotify to how are
you getting music money as well? Spotify? Yeah that's Shopify, shop by that Spotify, oh ship. Yeah, definitely I wrote it wrong. I was like, you know all the music nig Yeah, you know, I used old mistakes to president like yo, yo, you know what Shopify the platform, anybody had to have something when they're trying to sell something that's that's like the on store Shopify they can open up, Yeah, shopping for Holy ship, you are just getting money from everywhere?
Do you like? Um? How how because they say a millionaire has to have seven uh forms? Is that something you agree with? Yeah? I mean I do. I don't know a counter like what's the seven? I always say, how are we maximizing what we're currently doing here? You know? So? Um, give example, like if the books are doing really well, then I'm gonna come out with the curriculum to follow us up with the books that I'm also put the
tracks to follow up with the books. I'm gonna do hopefully some kind of dock or show off of it, and then you know, I may do one all the or all the two things off of it, but we're gonna try to maximize. You know, this is open that that brand I was trying to say, But don't don't forget we have some future entrepreneurs. It takes you're wanting, no problem. They both white, they both fights. Got damn it because we all celebrate whatever that was. Yeah, yeah,
that's the brand new one. Go ahead, dad, god damnit me your wait, hold on, hold on hard okay, okay, hold on, hor because I'm gonna do it more a real one. This is a real This is a real one. I don't believe in these nicks at all. They're gonna embarrass the whole attack of you on this show right now. And we all know this. This is a real one right now now, now listen, please, this is something that
I've been working on personally. Right I didn't want to go to anybody for help because I just wanted to do it on own, just like like a record there, so you got it. So what I proposed this this I wanted to come out with my own sneaker line right, my own, my very own, that's my prototype, that's my very own. These are called the Hamptons because this is what you now. It's not gonna be black, It's gonna be white because in Hamptons, you know, the Hamptons. That's
version of mallible. Right. So, but it doesn't stop here. This is obviously a no repair of sneakers. But I want to be like the first company. I want to be Nike, meaning I want to give I want to give everybody who's not gonna give people a deal, but who has hundreds of thousands of fans, um like like like a Jim Jones. I don't see Jim Jones ever be and it will be in a Nike being or with new Balance. But guess what what if I give him Jones his own sneakers under my brand? Yeah? I
like it, you know what I'm saying? Like label deals in a sense, ye, like I would imprint imprint, Like do you think that could exist in this day in time? Absolutely? Absolutely? But you know the question is gonna be you know, how how are you going to do that? Right, like, how are you going to set up the supply chain? And who's gonna fund that supply chain? Okay, because you look at it today. If you look at the sneaker, you know, sneakers on like they're not like T shirts
a T shirt. We can we can all put You can put obviously something on the T shirt and it really means a lot to people because they follow you put two parts there. You go, right, you can make that T shirt in two days. You can go print it and ship it over to you that you can't that's gonna take ninety days. You don't know if you can customize it. And then your inventory is gonna be massive because how many eights, eight and a half nines
against colors. So now you gotta look at how much inventory you're gonna have to have, and that can suck up a lot of cash because the more inventory you have, the more you gotta pay for warehousing and quality control. And if you put out this, because we all know the sneak crowd, if this sneaker is hot for ninety days or one season and it is cold, now, if you paid whatever three dollars a unit and you've got
three million dollars worth of units in your warehouse. If it don't become a collector's item, then when you go and try to sell them, people are gonna pay the normal price to pay for They're gonna pay half the price. So you just gotta really set up the supply chain in the right way where you can deliver it faster to people at a time. Like my idea was, instead of me coming out with one, I wanted to come out with three at a time. I wanted to come out with the nor like a Jim Jones and a
bad Joe. Right, So this way, so this way, I COO are putting all the revenue into it. I'm I'm playing for everything, but no one knows. It's all under one company. But no one knows who owns this company or whatever the company is. But I got got Joe out on the Bronx promoting, I got Jim Jones in Miami,
and I'm in l A or something like that. So so the flip side of the best way to do that because you have such a great relationship with them, and they have such a great relationship with their audience. It's it's a pre order situation exactly. That's what I was thinking, You guys, so don't even don't even make the product until we get that order. Don't make it until but but you have to have a customer who's ready to wait for Yeah, we're only were rocking out
with five thousands. If it goes round when you're not gonna have a loss because you know now you just gotta be reduction is good because you already got a dance on pre selling right now now, he was It was, uh, this is all serious, Like I'm not even none of this was I was like playing around with But one of the things I was going, I'm actually going to l A this Wednesday, is I got this all done in China, right And I had to go to China because I didn't know no other wound and I didn't
want to know health to tell the truth, I just I wanted to do something hundred percent on my own, like like for real, and rad Alan helped me, you know what I'm saying, But nope, we're not with no money though everything was on me. So what I thought about it was I had running can ye and I'm supposed to meet with Kanye this week, and I think he thinks I'm going to meet with him for drink chaps.
But one of the things that I want to meet with him as for Yo, listen, I want to pay you the same ship I was gonna pay China to make my sneaker. I just want to make it here. Would would that make a difference if it's American made and then it's made in Calabasas or some ship as opposed to China. Yeah, it is, but the pricing may be different because we don't even know if they have too main factories set up here to make to make footwear. You know, technology sometimes been in those areas, or you
can get components made. You can say I'm gonna make the soul over there, and you know, make the upper over here. You know what you know when you want to really make those sneakers, you know, like those they they're like car builders who make those thnaks like we own the Brandy Tonic and to take a long time to make apparent sneakers. Yeah, okay, wow, okay, I didn't know what t is still out Yeah I still wanted
about six years ago. Okay, okay, god you know money tic Oh no, I do, I do, actually, but I do so now shock take right, they come to you with this idea, and I imagine one of the things that could have been a turn off at first as they're saying, you invest into your own money? Do you all day? Because you have to say, that's what I want to understand. It doesn't make sense to me the financials of that. How does that work? Like there's no
match processing it and products nothing. If if they will, maybe if I would spending ABC money, everybody in this room have a deal because the show, I'm thinking maybe it's a match situation. You know, mad nothing right, So this is a one of them. Then when this is what I'm asking you. So when they approach you, they say we're gonna make a show and you're using your own money, Like and I thought these dudes was crazy, but it was. It was oh eight when they approached me.
I had ten brands and eight of my brands with dead and nobody. When people in old eight couldn't pay their morgan, the last thing they were doing was buying a new T shirt or sneakers or jeans. They were their jeans forever. And I was like, yo, I'm only getting pitched or the cloning companies because you know when people think who we just thought that they think you know nothing else. And I was like, but yo, the skill set that I have is not making clothes. The
skills that I have is selling products. So I want to be able to go to a department store and say, yo, you know me already. You know I'm in the men's section. But I got some lotions that I can say can take some real estate up in the lotion area and the bedding in the kitchen area. So I said, I'm gonna be a diversify my portfolio, So let me go on the show. And that was the main reason I did the show. Are the are the different people that pitch? Is there a vetting system that make sure that you
know they're just they're just not full of ship completely there? Yeah? So, but the betting system has changed, right, you know, Like, um, so, I think there's forty thou applicants online for the show. I think that they end them narrowing it down to
a thousand. They see they're seeing me in outside castings, or we don't know anything about them, or they'll they'll they'll they'll see him on the news, like you know, a little Timmy gonna lemonade and stand you know whatever, um, and then then they'll bring us one and we'll finally see two hundred people, and only I think a hundred will air. And but the vetting process has changed over the years. The sharks have gotten smarter and the casting
directors gotten smarter. It's like, we do a production in here right now, right there's a lot of smart people in here who can walk me around the block ten times when I'm talking about angles, cameras and equipment. However, the first season, when cast is talking to us and they were like, yo, doing about thirty million dollars sales, and I got one employee the casting director was a casting director. They didn't know to ask the question like, Yo,
what are you selling crack? You got hot right now? You know what I'm saying. Like, but after seeing all these pictures, just like America has gotten smart and find out what the word royalties is in marginal retribution, the casting directors have to seeing hundreds of pitches. Now you go to them, they sound like me, Kevin Olire, you know, They're like, yeah, come on, man, you know what I'm saying. So um so, so that's the real deal. And the
show you see eight minutes of a two hour pitch. Yeah, there's two the pictures two hours, and it takes us anywhere from six to nine months to close the deals. And we and we and we generally close about eight of the deals. You see us, do mhm? Have have um passed on something that it was like fuck? You know what? At first couple of years I I thought like that right? And then I'll tell you what happened, Laurie. This guy walks in, falls on the ground as part
of the skid. He gets up. He has his little pin that he puts his glasses in it, and he says, I got this pen ten dollars. You put your glasses in it, and you can put it on all your shirts. I was like, it's garbage because I've been putting cold on my shirts. There Tommy Hill doing that, I mean Tommy like a Tommy Bahama. I'm like, yeah, I don't know, we're gonna work. Laurie goes off and there's a seven
million dollars in sales and that stupid ass pen. You know what, I realized She've been selling reading glasses for fifteen years on her show. She has millions of people that mess with her because they're reading glasses and that's who she sold it too. So I realized that chasing money like that is like back in the days when I was trying to chase that car game. If I don't have the customer, I don't know the business, how
do I know if it's gonna sell. And that's why I'm doing really good and baby back ribs because I know baby back right. Is there anything that you invested in that that you personally believed in that it didn't work? Yeah,
every every single thing that has failed. Oh wow. But I just generally I don't talk about the entrepreneur wire's failed because a lot of times the entrepreneurs are going to a different stage, like, um, it may not be working right now, and then two or three years later may pop. But I've learned I was behind the camera
with food for the most part. I learned that if I go out and say, well, yo, this entrepreneurs sucked and this company sucked, that person may not get an investment or a job later on for various different reasons. Because my, my, my, my words bring them up to the top of the search. So um, and most of the time, entrepreneurs who have done more own by us.
They don't have that intent. They just don't have enough knowledge and they go out there and do wrong things, you know, because some of them think, listen, I got it, and it didn't happen to me, but it happened to one of my guys. They I think he said he invested five hundred thousand dollars. A woman went off and paid off all her bills and brought herself in you call. Now. She didn't intend to steal, but her theory was, listen, I'm paying interest in all these bills. Well it's credit.
Let me pay that down and I'm gonna get around this old piece of ship car. I got wow. But the theory was the wrong thing to do for the business, of course. So you know, it's pretty hard when you when you when you when you're in business dealing with a lot of different personalities, egos. You know, is it every anything that you ever like invested in that you
didn't believe in personally? Like you said, like I I but I can see the other people that were funk with this, like like like, for instance, if I was an investor, like I give you a better example. I know for a fact, lies don't eat pork. But if you go to his restaurant, sweet check. There's a lot of pork or that man, So you know what I'm saying, Like, it's like he don't believe in that part of it, but he um is there something like that. Yeah, there's
two guys. They have a company called Bomba's Socks, And I like the guys personally, but the socks is trash. But the socks I was like, know, the socks themselves are good, but I was like, yo, I got a million dollars worth the old football socks in the warehouse. You wear them, nobody can tell what you're wearing because it's on your feet. They in buckets at five dollars a piece at the store. This ship is never gonna
work exactly. They're doing a hundred million dollars a year now a year and direct sales to the to the to the customer. And the best thing about him is
that the most comfortable socks I've ever won. But every time you buy a pair of socks, they donate a pair to the homeless shelter because that's one of the biggest challenges the homers have or complaints they have, and they've proven then you can take anything in the world and if you do with the right way, listen and the end of the day, I should have known better. I just made a T shirt. I didn't put three
sleeves on the T shirt. They made a suck. One of the biggest company in the world today is something that sells a sugary, sugary bubbly water. It ain't another heart vowel they're selling. Simplicity is some of the best things ever to sell people to. All these people are here trying to create, you know this next heart vow Sometimes they should think about the simplistic things that everybody can require every single day. We want to try to do a tack of bone. But I want to I
got another question. I want to hear what's ahead. So let me ask you something. Right when you see these big companies like um a Gucci hiring a Dapper dam and then a Louis Bitton hiring like a virgin, Like, is that something you ever wanted to, like, like to do like with one of these higher in brands, and like, yeah, I would design robolex food watch. Yeah. I mean I think, yeah, absolutely, I mean I think that if I felt that if I just as some fly ship, I don't even know
how fly that was. I just said, remember my bad, my bad, Okay you no, Absolutely if I think that, I think it made sense and I think that it could be authentic. Yeah if they if they just slap somebody name on it, then it's not gonna happen. But the way they messed with Dappa, they're letting Dappa be Dapper Dad. You know what I'm saying. We've seen brands that having work because they slapped some name on it,
but not absolutely. Yeah, if it was something that would set you to maybe something that was you will be looking forward to, Like if someone called you some of you, it would have to be branded our support. So I love I love y three, um tom Ford, but he too talented for me. Man, you know Tom Tom run service around me. But I love Tom Ford. Um um, let me see why cell that I said, why three pooma? Definitely I'm already hy three and XEL is not the same thing, right east Link you mean he said, or
why three y three? That's not that's that's the deeds uh high in the high Oh okay a cool cool. I definitely watched brands. Um yeah, like you ever like you ever see like um, the cars like they're like they have like like the Eddie Bower Edition, Yeah edition like that. Yeah, so I would love and the artists have done didn't Jay do something? She wagons and stuff like that, because I don't know what the artists that have had some signature vehicle thing. No, I don't really cool.
I don't think we have Jay designed a huge blow or something like that, and he designed like, were you gonna do something with Pitt? What? What about? What? You know? Who You're gonna do something though? Right, that's my product. We've done a lot together. That's my that's my man stuff Togeah, we worked together. We still have working relationship. You know. I think he's um again, like you're talking to me about artists and people that I've worked with
in the past. You know, the same the same, you know, l Pitt and part Ashians have the same exact model. Lennox Lewis think we wake up before it way they go and sleep after everybody. They over analyze their customers, they think outside the box. They don't get related with two many things. That's super particularly they're they're extremely well
versed business people. So um, you know, you know when you know you know, you know, you know when you know the type to Pete, I think you'll feel that way about Mr Lee when you talk to a right right now now. One thing that before we because this is the second part of the show. We gotta get it. But one thing that I wanted to ask you because um, you're a black man. I'm a black man. Uh, you're from Queens. I'm from Queens. My wife is Latino, you know what I'm saying. And your wife is his wife.
Have you ever like received any type of criticism for that because because of the whole for us by us, you know the thing and like people try to like you know, yeah, you know the funny thing. Um, I posted a picture for for a birthday or waiting photos and ninety five percent of the comments for extremely We've been together twelve years, have have a three year old
little baby girl and um. But but you know, I was always proud of the negative commons because the negative comments came from people of color, like always, and it's funny. You know, you don't really know my history. My history is that my father left when I was ten. My stepfather came into my life where I called my stepfather. Happens to be of the Jewish faith, his and and they had nothing to do with this whole thing in
Foobo in South Africa. But his brother was a lead attorney over here in America for helping to free Mandela Um. And he always told me one thing you always said, you know, David always be pro black, but never I anti anything else. And I learned something about him. I loved. I learned that love doesn't come into color or agenda. And I learned that white people are just as fucked up as all of us, right, they had the same problem,
the same challenges. So my first wife is Dominican. I've dated a lot of females of all colors and races and religions. And when I found that that people people they're so busy trying to fight to avoid racism, prejudice and things of that nature, but they're becoming the person they're trying to fight against. And and I was fascinating, not because I was fat, you know why. I was fascinating because why does that person care about who I love?
And every single thing, every time changes happened in our country and most likely the world, it took people of all colors, all right, There was a lot of people of all color in every match that Martin Luther had those white people with in those marches. But then again, I'm trying to be the optimistic person. I think the people that don't have access to people of other colors
and cultures don't know what they don't know. So what you're carrying a tiki torch down in charles Ville or whatever the cases, or you're hating on me online because the person that that that I happened to love, who has now a half the child of color whatever, and then they're sitting there yelling at me. I'm going, do you think that she ain't been called the nigger LoVa? You know what she's been through as well, and do
you want that? Damn? You? Like, we're in the room here and there's a whole bunch of people a lot of color here, and you probably work with them because they're the best, and they work with you because they believe you're the best. What the hell is who I got to do with anything? So I was finding fascinating and I learned from the people in the army when they said, do I really care who that man don't want to praise to God? Or who they have sex with when I'm on the front line and I need
them to have my back. So I find it fascinating. Don't try, don't hate something and become the thing that's So that's the really thick because it's like, um, I got I got six children, most five five of them are you know, I want to say mostly blacks, mostly said most of the most. I mean because you know, my my new wife, she's very light skinned, like she's buried,
and people get that missing. Yeah, But what I'm saying is, and I understand that the thing is you fall in love with who fall in love, but you shouldn't have to explain that or you know what I'm saying, Like at the end of the day, I see human being and then I see asshole after that, And did I see your race? So I see you as a human and did I see you as a person and then I see your race? You know what I'm saying. So, um, if you're a great person, I probably don't it probably wasn't.
Probably your race probably won't matter, just doesn't. But if you're a dick, if you're if your race don't you know what I'm saying, You're just a dick. You know what I'm you also when you don't even getting happened to be you know, in talking about an intimate relationship, you expand you you expand your network and your access to things when you work with people of all colors. And that the whole issue we say, Gluci is having
a challenge with me. So when you're open to everybody, like we all we listen, man, I'm not trying to be all or woman fun. But we we got we got more things that we talk, more things all over the world in common, and we have against each other. We just want to feed our families. You know that we don't get judged prematroity some ship we ain't do
and work hard. It's just like it's just like you know when I go through the airport, like now, like what the Gucci thing and you know what the Trump thing. It's like I get nervous immediately when I see somebody with a Trump had, you know, because I know they might play for the other side. I know they might not they might not funk with me, you know what I'm saying. Like, so I immediately just you know what
I'm saying. But when you see like I don't remember like we came to me the Russia at one time, and it was crazy because me and fam we had to deal with this soth. It was somebody can't pick us up in Russia. And they got buttons on their shirt and it says Russians against racism. Now you know where you at if they got to where that on a motherfucking shure, like we was dead meat, Like this is how racists they counted. It literally say how racists
they were. This is how you know that racist there is when they didn't even look at me in my face, like at least look at me in my face and be like fuck you, like they looked they looked away like they was like, oh ship, nigger, nothing, just like I was like, oh ship, you separated for like five minutes compa, you know. And this is like when the phones like like they didn't know how to connect to in the Moscow you know. I mean, so, I mean
it's real life ship, you know. Um that happened. So when you see like I follow you on Instagram and I got to see your daughter playing with a bi racial baby dog and and um I thought that was dope because I mean you gotta spread that. You gotta spread what happens. You gotta spread you know who you fall in love with. This is your business, you know what I'm saying. But you shouldn't hide that at all. Exactly. You should be how you want to be and continue
and continue to do that. You know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying. Because because um um Dre got a white wife. Isn't she white? Dr Dre? She's nice? She white? What's she white? Though? And he said she's back and there ain't nothing wrong me. Like, listen, man, as long as we because sooner or later we're all gonna be one race. We keep sucking each other, I'm just gonna all gonna be one race anyway it's gonna be called that's not race, It's gonna be you know
what I'm saying. So hold I'm going to a break because we're gonna take it back from break. We should live and then we're gonna let do their page all right, cool? Hold on, let me go to take a brack. Do you need to mike them? Guys? We're back like a half time crap by umt man, she's just going down before we get into continuous pictures. Because I've been the detecrity of the show's gonna go right out to window right now. I think there's a billion dollar deal. We're
gonna be a shot too. But I'm gonna be honest. I'm investing. If I invested, it's gonna be my my money out of the monopoly money, my kids. But I believe you because I don't trust either one of these guys. Right. But before we get into that, I want to get I want to ask about Damon on Demand. Now, Now, what is that? How could the consumers and the people
be a partner show? Show? Damon run Demand is as I was talking about my books I have with a digital curriculum and it's eight hours of basically all the things you need to know about starting the business. How do you get funding, who's your target audience, and all those things you need? What do you do when you go to the bank. When do you need funding? Because the main reason why small businesses and startups fail is
actually overfunding. They raised too much money too quick to sit there and say, you know what, I want to open up a bakery because my grandmother's cupcakes with the best in town, and I'm one of a bakery. I'm gonna go get a hundred thousan dollars and I gonna open up a bakery. But they never sell a cupcake ever, right, So they go and open up a bakery. They got the register look like a damn cupcake, the couch looks like a cupcake. They got everything looks like a couple.
They never sold a cupcake though. Then they got software, the bad software. Now every time they opened up and they try to sell a cupcake. The little kid, every time he sells a cupcake, he sticks the other one in his pocket. They find out that, you know, there's a little kid in the preschool or down the block. They got a peanut allergy. They gotta close off half a block for And they find out there's a little grandmother that work in the church that she sell cupcakes
like crack every week. Now they got a hundred thousand all alone, and they haven't figured out how to move their business. You see, because when you start with business, or whether you whether you're in the music business, whether the podcast, and you got to build a customer base first. You can't. Money only highlights your weaknesses. If you got crappy advertising, then go buy a million dollars worth of more crappy advertising. You got ship as shirts, go buy
more inventory of shitty as shirts. So that's what usually happen because people think that money is the solution when it's really building an audience and people who are gonna go out and fight you the LLL who's gonna put your name in the gap at the people that used to come from Detroit to Queens to my shitty house and Queens and go back to Detroit and be like, Yo, I'm the fool dude, I'm the fooloo girl in Detroit. You need that army the same as the people who
are listening right now. Those people become smarter every day after they listen to the podcast and they share it that information. They're the smartest person of the watercooler Monday morning. So that's what Damon the Man is showing you how to navigate and go through those mistakes. But it's not something you just watches on the computer. So what happens is you feel out of you, you feel out think. So it's just like, Yo, you just took this test.
Do you need this funny? Because this is that if you say no and it's supposed to be yes, it kicks you back to you start old again, because repetition sinks in, it sings in. Are you starting to learn the mistakes? You don't just go, oh yo, I read the book. I'm done because you may have interpreted that book a hundred different ways wrong too. It kicks you back.
And so so I'm gonna end up. We're gonna do something together with We give people a special access code only for checking us out here, and we just want to empower people. That's make some noise for that man. Now again, we're s some noise for how many of those are called blunts? Yes? Yes? How many mother that? Yeah? Yeah? Now listening with the joints right there. I totally don't know what's going on right now. I'm totally I just know that we we we were big fans of shark tank.
We was trying to create drink tank or tring tank or it didn't work out like that, we did. You know what we go from? Two of them are craziest, two rightest, brightest, shouldn't say brightest s failure. So I'm gonna go with the Haitian guy first. HATI guys about saying that I used the microphone ware here? No, no, no, we got to play some you you were, Mike du Bluddy, we're here. Yeah, welcome to Chin Tank a K drink tank. Okay, you gotta say your name and where are you from?
Sudden they be to you right here? Goddamn you call your people. Yes, I gotta like there. It's a little he asked you the question. Yeah, your life. He has to pitch your head. God, we don't even know what the I you just saying with your art? Hey man, what you got here? What is here? It's simple, like the concept of it's kind of like a uber but it's um but it's uber. Listen the dogs walking uber that might example with their dogs. Oh no matter what's city,
anywhere in the world you are. You hit the uber and there's already someone there that he was ready to walk your dogs then use at your hotel. Exist. I think that exists. I don't know that it exists. I don't think so. I haven't seen it. Does it? Does it? Yea? Yeah? Like T shirts existed at that. It's just how how are you gonna how you're gonna build it? It's not a bad idea, right, You're gonna create a better mousetrap, But how are you gonna build it. Well, I haven't
thought about all that. You've got two languages. You're here. It's like I said, it's already is this call wag, So let's speak the languages in every other country. You gotta go back, don't you go? Liten shrug industry right now there to go back to the listen man. You gotta give it up the people who standing there, and you all just save him a lot of money represented happy happy at her story of all follows, say your
name and what you fun? But I'm miss something. I'm from New York when I leave in my hand man Miami right now the Latin from the Latins. See how a lot of the thing those like guys they're doing the eyebrows. Now, I guess there's a lot of money there to me. You can't so you get your eyebrows done? Does that's true? It's true. We gets the eye eyebrows like you coming with us with something that they can you know, for guys to come here like girls go to the barber, I mean the pet part of the dude.
They get their hair done, they get the eyebrows. So I said, they just do it. Funding up to those for the guys, so so shows the purpose that you feel a guy doesn't want to really go into the shop and you want to do it at home, so simple ways that he's not looking feminine when he's doing it. Yeah, I really don't think that's what he meant. Did you get that? Because I would think, here's a guy I want to go into the shop. But I mean some
of them are embarrassing. No, but in Puerto Rico, and in his defense, in Puerto Rico, if you go to a barber shop, that's one of the first things they domatically, automatically go to your eyes. Okay, so you want to do it at home and they were like coming to your Oh they're doing at your crib? You really been? Okay, that's a good idea, runner, dude, but I ain't gonna start it. I mean, that's no. What's the name of your business? On my own job? What's what's your name
of this business? Man? The creative rum? I tell you the best and bright shot? What's your head sales? What are you listen? You know what? You should have pieced too? Because I look like you got hit easy in your net. You see you should you should have remover? How about that? About but about the eyebrows ship, I'm not gonna lie. You know, it sounds like it's best. Huh. I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. How to go to commerce your break because I'm thinking
about that, I'm lacking a lot. That's one thing about the Latino race is they get different type of haircuts, like they come like like if you go to the Black bobber shop. They're not touching your fucking eyebrows. You know what I'm saying. Most of the time, I don't even touch your nose heads. You got accidental touch about nose here, you know what I'm said. But with that, but but but but but usually successful entrepreneurs of people that see a need in the market that's not being
fully addressed. Again, going back to when I I did the car did the cars. I wanted money, but I did food because something needed to change. And he's seeing a need in this show. I'm not being funny. It's you see the ship. They got face on their eyebro Caesar's baby affron thrown out. Yeah, we'll think about yeah, yeah, think about that. I'm yeah, I'm not how could you do that? One? That now onto the side, like aside from sneak, I was serious, but you know, my guys
are playing. But how many how many? How many times a day are you walking on a day like people just coming up to Yeah, I get you wouldn't elevator and somebody get patched. Probably about I was eight times a day. Probably about that one was that catch your attention? Not at all. I'll tell you how you don't catch They don't have my attention because they may have good ideas, but they don't wonder how the first is gonna execute. And I don't have time. If I had time to
make everything hot, then people would be Nike. I only have a limited amount of time. Show I can't do it because then I'll draw on an opportunity. So you know, it's just it's challenging. But I don't get mad at people pitching me because all they want to do is they want to do is change their lives. So I ain't mad at it. But yeah, I get pitched a lot. Yeah that's that's funny because I'll be like walking through when Dixie and publics and people but he can run.
I'd be like, they don't even wait for me to say I'm busy, they just start spitting. I'm like, so like that's that's MC. And I can imagine like people were like look at you like they're gonna think it gonna be a big person in president. Let me I got any times in person, it's about twenty or thirty and then all the stuff, the emails calls and okay, has has um uh? Has it got every boys at one point or you you still look at it like you know, this is your job and this is the
nine never gets unbearable. I know the cameras are there. I have the opportunity to leave Shark Tank about one um. And again it's not like in your situation or you know, somebody want to be a model or somebody want to be an artist, and they just start builting out songs like these people. A lot of people really have well through thought out ideas. They may be good idea, Like you've said, how many investing I just don't have time,
But you have to meet some people that haven't. Their ideas can get I mean I mean some, I mean some like that is frustrating to a degree. We'll know it's frustrating when I go how much time on money you put into this and they'd be like, no, I'm here for you to do that, like they just did. I don't know who, he would saying, I want you to direct me, but I'd like, yo, but don't you think I came up with my own ideas today? You know that's it. I ain't got time to do. You know.
That's the funny thing about even even us, as people think that there's a they think they're putting on as a button. They didn't like, I put you on, and like but yeah, and then they just put on No, I can put you on. You still have to work for you to be there, you know what I'm saying. And a lot of people just don't get that, you know what I mean, harder even when you get put on.
I see the other day, you know, I seen the other day it was Lebron meet mal and they were all talking about how they had to like, you know, give things to certain people or certain people felt like that that that that that they deserved it. Because it's like right now, right if I was to ask, I was to ask my man right here right as just saying what was your name again? I'm so sorry Alex, I would say, Alex, can you want me to the store, right, I want nobody. Alex doesn't give a funk, he would
never bring up me. Welcome to them the store. But I become this big popular a guy. Then two years from now Alexe is like I remember he had to want to walk with the shore and now Alex because I'm famous. You know, like have you ever had you know that level of successful? People just feel like because you slept on a girl's couch one night in sixth grade that you know what I'm saying that, like you older girl now like oh yeah, you know there's a
old saying what's the old said? Success? Had had a lot of parents bail years in offing, right, And you know I hear it all the time, and I give thanks to all those that help me, Like you won't see me here front of like there wasn't calling on a cross cold before me. L didn't l reached out to help me because he didn't need me around me Daniels over here. I don't mind doing that, but yeah
it a random cats who as tidn losing it. We're doing the Puma collection, releasing the Coloseum probably about six months ago, and the three dudes and then I don't even know these dudes. I ne's running around the starts one like yeah, yeah, who cats can make the hood. I had him shook, you know, I used to have him under pressure, so you know, and I think you know my executive security grim next Naci, look like he breaks for breakfast. You won't go here? What you just
saying on him? Like no, no, no, I don't want to know what to dude. I never really met him, you know, but they were just walking around. It's like crazy for new reason, right, So it'll cat we just brushed by. You wouldn't say, you know, I remember that cat. But you know what, man, listen, man, it's an opinion. It's a theory. And I always say everybody got two things in the world, asshole and opinion. They both stink, right, So you know they're gonna say about you, and this
is what it is, you know, goddamn it. Now. One of these things is um when you like Google, Like, you know, you're very successful, man, very very very successful, and you don't really wear a lot of jewelry at all. Yeah, Like is that purpose or is that because you're just not into it? You know, I grew up in that world and I wore it a lot, and I loved it. I grew up when I saw I used to hear it riding to the top playing Supreme Team with the walking like you missed a t And I was like,
I can't wait to be in that world. And I work for a long period of time. And then I started walking into the other rooms where there was people with substantial wealth. We're talking about Mark Cuban talking about Bill Gates, and I know this Cuban dressed bumby to everybody in this room, pancake battle on and joining everything. I walked and I was like, yo, I mean they do shoes is curled up, you know, looking like Peter Pan joints. And I'm like, and you know what I'm saying,
I pay a hunted dollar for this watch. And I realized that they don't care. They don't care about that stuff, you know. I'm yeah, I'm not a lot of rules of people. I've been in one room where a lot of calfs do we know and may have even more money than me, have been talking about how much money they spent at a party. When we travel the president, you were around a lot of billionaires and you in a certain group they don't sayd much they spend on
the party. They say how much they were able to give away this year, And it's way more than the cats that was I was talking about hearing on the party. I'm talking talking about we raised and gave away five hundred million dollars this year. And what we're talking about the chain I got on. You know so, because they're looking at you and they're saying, how close you know? How are you thinking? Because I'm not saying anything better than you? They may even say I like what you think.
And you're younger you in this world? You know when when don't we talk about what we could do together? You know So, I've just been in different rooms and and it just educated me. It's relationships. Um So one of the most important things in this game, in the game that the relationship is the most important game period period. No matter what I told you. The number one reason why entrepreneurs failed, the number one reason they succeed is
they all have a mentor. That's the one that's the number one real mentor who is not part of their business. Because mentors are gonna do three things. They're gonna tell you not to take in capital too soon, they're gonna tell you not to spread yourself too thin, take your money to can't give you example why in a minute. They're gonna tell you not to spread yourself too thin, meaning you know, I want to make a thousand different
styles in my world. And they're also gonna tell you not to scale too fast, meaning all right, I gotta order for a hundred, but I'm gonna go and buy a thousand pieces. Don't jump ahead, don't jump ahead. And that's what that's exactly, um what mentors do. Not I said something earlier. That's something we get back to one something. But the way it huh, first, we're not taking money too soon, because I'll show you example another way that
people go broke. If you want to open. And let's say one of you when you guys, I think we really like the business. And I said to the guy right there, to the eyebrobbins, yo, I'm gonna give you fifty tho dollars fiftyent of that business. All right, I'll give you gut around. So but let's say let's say and I got fifty percent in business. Let's say that business he starts to franchise, that license it out, that thing he comes to the next to dry ball for males, right,
and now he's doing a million dollars in business. Now, who wants to go and open up a bunch of locations or a bunch of software or now and he needs four dollars. Now, I ain't giving him a piece of my fifty percent that I just got. So now
you gotta go raised four hundred thousand dollars. And maybe that's another before you know that after you keep raising, you keep growing, you want five percent of the business you work for everybody else, So don't take in capital too soon because you're saying that fifty thou already gave you fifty percent, so you're taking money. He raised more,
he's selling more shares more. But if he would if he would have went out and just did a hundred thousand dollar worth of business over three years and said, listen, I need you to help finances or the bank finances, he may have been able to go out and get a get a three hundred thousand dollar alone at six percent interest, not six percent of his company, because you already have proof of sales. So these are the things that we grew up in the hood. We didn't know.
We were to our Listen, don't trust the bank. Go to the go over to the check cash in place. You pay six or eight percent for them to cash your check. That's eight percent of your salary. You're getting recovery. Cash your check, right, Hide all your money underneath your bed.
Don't trust anybody with your money. If you would, if you would, if you would have buried a hundred thousand dollars the nineteen seventy five today and can barely buy you a g wagon, right, But if you would have taken that money and bought a diamond today, that diamond would have been worth two point seven million house. You see, money is a depreciating asset. Unless you put it to work for you, then you're gonna lose on right. So the other thing we talked about, damon the man. These
are things that the hood is. We grew up, they didn't know any better. So you said, you're saying a hundred twenty five in the bank is always gonna be worth more than a hundred under your bag. Of course, yes, because you're gonna get interest in and a hundred twenty five dollars that you went and put on a house, and now you have a house for three hundred, four hundred thousand dollars that something, and the morning you're joined that house is about But somebody's paying you thirty two
hundred a month to stay in that house. Now it's gonna make you way more money after you add depreciation to it and over the course of the year. You know, you know real people who will make a lot of money and invest a lot of money. They have other people paying for their assets and making a profit off of it. Like you're in the real estate as well. I'm in the real estate a little bit. Yeah, absolutely.
You know those are the people who instead of going and buying a big house, they buy four small house an airbnb or rent them out and then they rent the house they staying. They own what they rent out, and they rent what they staying so they could write that off. He's like, that's what this is, is what he's doing. I'm trying to like because I'm trying to get these properties in Vegas and Airbnb m just just for that, because um Vegas. You know, I actually know
they were recreational with marijuana. But the thing about it is they kind of you can't you can only smoke cigarettes indoors and they're not allowing you to smoke uh cigars or so I figured, y'all get an Airbnb crib and I allow that, like you just just I promoted as that, like you can smoke in this crib because it's not something I want to ever live in. You know what I'm saying, I'm just gonna be out. But you just posted child smoking this ship. God, I was
thinking about even saying this is Norriy's crib. You know what I'm saying, like like, yeah, this is Nor's baby, Yeah, Norri's crib because you can smoke as much as the funk you want. And this motherfucker it should be called the cataracts. And now is there anything that you ever wished? First off and four before? Because I was like a
super ending type of question, what did you want? L L you guys all relationships standard at this point because good, my own, my three partners, my other three partners amazing dudes, um and we're like brothers. I met my first I met one on when I was six years old. Other two I met one out twelve. Um Ella talked to him the other day on the phone, and you know he was like, YEO, I see the heat on the brand,
what's up? And I was like, listen, I don't need to call on the big guns yet, you know, because I know you got to TV shows. You're l cool. J Let us get to this point because no matter what, no matter what lever are, you still got to prove your market. Let's get to this point. Let I follow him, get strong enough in this day and eighth, there's gonna be a new following. And then if I need to call you in, can I call you and don't use that? Don't you let me not let me call that. Don't
put Jordan in the game. Don't put Jordan in the game because we're still we're still play in high school game. You know, we're still in high school right now. So that's really humble of you actually going to talk that way. Well, thank god it is. However, let's look at let's look at the other side. I can't call him for no more papers if you use use this up. Yeah, you know, every him where man in my life, everybody will pick up the phone for me once I don't come through.
You're being very helpful people people on the phone for you. Five steps now have to mess up the bag. You know that's what I'm saying right, because I'm a call for something real and I'm a call for it really and now I'm at and you know what's gonna happen. They're gonna call me back for another favor. On the flip side, is there any time you have mess up in the bag? Like you you've invested in something that didn't and you kept going. Yeah, listen, I am, I
did keep going. I messed up. I missed it the bad a couple of times here and there. Um, but thank god the black I I messed up. We had already made a lot of money prior in barrious different areas, you know. But um, but some of them are calling me now, like yo, I got do remember when you had that night? You gotta answer that call alright? And is it over? Is it worther? Uh? Absolutely? Man. You
know I questioned myself a lot of times. You know, when my first marriage, I got two little to two baby girls with the twenty five now and and that didn't thank God, right and that didn't go right. But because I was working so much on foobu second marriage to yeah, yeah, you know, my first marriage and a little while and out a little bit you don't give you don't give a guy thirty years old a couple
of million dollars in the bank. You know what I'm saying, flying over the Asia and coming over, you have got that good. But then I say to myself, if I was doing a city job, if I was working in red lobster, I still would work like that. I still would have felt like I gotta keep going to make the best right. So because you can't, I can't keep going pull with regretting what happened. So yeah, but but is it worth it? Absolutely? Man, God is good. God It's got the goods. Now you have bolted horse in
the cryptocurrency race. What do you need thoughts on that? On that whole, I think crypto was gonna come back. I think it had a bubble exactly like it was going to have a bubble. I think you should buy it now. I do think so. I think I think it will be a digital currency. Um, But I don't think it's like how people said credit cards were that when they first start. Yeah, I say, don't bet the farm on it. I mean the theory and the theory and investing is putting money up whatever you can afford.
If the money doubles. Take the money off the table. So then you're playing with the house is money, and if it's affordable. Now, if you feel, I don't know where you're sating down training the four thousand or three thousand or two thousand, whatever it is, buy a little bit of what you can, but make sure it's money that you are able to lose. Don't put your last on it. You know, how about is a restaurant a good business? Have your restaurant is the worst possible business
to get into. Everybody keeps saying that, and I need to understand why have you invested in the restaurant? And if I never had? But I worked to Red Loster, and I tell you something, my soul everything nothing. I got a bottle srimps, You just throw them in the guard at the back pool, but beat up the bad round pick those bottles, shrimp up something to the Chinese restaurants. Don't know, man, waits yourself, redines the shrimp to the
Chinese restaurant. That was all that was all. I don't I don't not mean you do doing I was like this, So you know, when you're work in the in the in that business, man, it's so many people with your hands in your pocket, right, and everybody's not gonna have a good experience on how to you know, you can make the safe for a hundred different people as a hundred different experiences on that. So that's one of the
people that I was one of the business. If a person asks you to recommend you number one business that fails, Wow, how about a bar bar right in the same area. Man, this is the same but not as bad because you don't have all those perishables, room the food. Yeah yeah, you can get here on the time you're gonna be there. Yeah, right, that that's the question on you know, a bar bar
is not as bad now like a startup company. H what is probably like for a person who wants to be an investor, person that has a hunde grand or something save they they job money or save whatever money they had, got a honey grand, still making money? But how does the hunt grant to invest How would you recommend that day? Go about? Um, you know, trying to live the life that you live. What do you what do you do for free today? You get paid off
and whever that is, educate yourself in that business. So if you like, if you if you got a crew like us, a friend of people may know you'd like to talk ship and blow your brains out like that, no problem. You want to do a podcast and people gonnau with you or invest in Cannada because that's my next thing, because you want to smoke everything. You got no right, by the way, he's very right. But that's the reason why I invest in companies like I don't
even invest with like I invest in companies. I don't even want to say that thing because my side partner on one and then I have my other companing. I couldn't. I did not sign a contract again, but I didn't want to blow that up that you have like that, you know you you blow, you blow, you say, yeah, man, I got a business with them, and they're like okay, and someone else coming and yeah, you know I've done that. I've seen that, like you know what the craziest ship
in the world is I've done. I can't again, I can't say these companies. I've done great business with this company for two years, right, but it was d a middleman. Right, it was due to middleman and this company, big Hollywood company that can't say who that and they contacted me directly. Yes. He said, yo, yes, Tod. I said, yo, you know I heard you got this different show. So I said yeah, dude, And they said we would like to meet with you. So I said all right, cool, and this is they're
a big company. He was like, but we're meeting with you, not with these these guys. And I was just like I expected that from nickas holy Ship, like I kid, you know. I was like, damn, like this is some street. Like they're like, yo, you know what we did business. They broke you us. That is That's basically what the conversation was. They broke you us. We had a successful running with them. Now you have something else that we're interested in, but we want to deal business directly with you.
And it was just so it was so mind boy bobbling to me because I'm like, that's kind of like that's how the streets go, like like if you're sunk with me, these guys ut me to you. I don't really need these guys. Yeah, losing the connect and they
did that Hollywood just now. But I would wonder why they want to deal directly with you because I would say, well, what is the purpose, because I may have to say they may go listen, you don't know about all the stuff we dealt with with the situation, And I would say, okay, or why am I gonna believe you? So let me go back to these cats over here. If we do a deal, if you don't want to deal with them no more, we gotta cut them a little something, something,
would do something right by them. You gotta find out that all the side of no, if they just snakes, you be like, nah, yeah, you know what I mean. The other side is that they know that they could communicate with me, and they felt like I think it in the beginning, I was just wild. You know Porto Rican black guy that you know smoke sweed and one's around with you know, twenty five guys. They don't understand that I have a sober life. Yeah, I wake up
in the morning. And when they didn't realize that, they said, oh, we could do with them direct. Yeah, but then they're trying to cut the guy out of it's not right, It ain't right, yeah right, whatever said it was right now. I never said it was like, oh I said it was no, no, no, you tell you something. The corporate gags all of them are white, way way worse. Should Yeah, when I got out of you know, when I got
out of you know, really dealing with the hook. You know, the uh so cat at really measured me when I was coming up because in eighty nine where eight eight, You're like, yo, I'm gonna start being a designer. They was like yo, you're like man, you know, because that time designers are usually flamboyant cats didn't want to see this. Catch was like, I don't gonna be around these cats.
When that BIB article came out and said food did three hundred and fifty million dollars, this yere there dumberhood dudes, was like, yo, we didn't get to get our clothes on these Something is trying to escape that world because I was never trying to be like that. Yeah, when I saw more in the bathroom, when I found out the Italian mob was there, I found the triazz is over in China. I found out all the gangsters that were in that world, I was like, yo, just I'd
rather go back to the street. This is worse than the street. If they don't come at you the same way she's doing the street come at you would have gone. They come out you and say something. You in that world you find out something random, you just already gonna say. I'm not gonna say that would happened to me, But you got ten million dollars worth of clothes coming in for the season. If somebody you know called, you'll be like, yo, you won't miss two million dollars worth of those clothes
on on the water. They're gonna disappear. And I don't want you to say nothing. You better call the insurance company. I ain't never happened to me, But that's the stuff that happens. They control the ports, they control the ports the company. It's called organized crime for so the corporate gangster is away and a lot of things I found out five and ten years later happened. I don't even know that the gangster was going on like that, which
is what we have. This is why you always get this guy that comes to the hood that's a real official Ja Vinci and real official Gucci. But this ship is eighty dollars. I mean, so, how many times in the business when they talking about advertising and promotion for a record you found on that advertising promotion wasn't a billboy. That was somebody had to get kicked off somewhere. Yeah, it was terrible. When are you serious? You know even I'm gonna tell you something. I never knew the ugly
truth until a week ago. To the week ago. I know, I'm talking about someone emailed me something by my stake and I'm talking about the ugly truth was so written on it as he was emailing someone trying to blackmail someone else and emailed me wrong by my stake. Employed our copy and paste, damp motherfucker. I don't knew how to copy and pat that moment I copy and pasted said oh what Wow? Did it made that noise? Right?
I was? I was like, oh, ship and I got to see like how it was most of the DJs that you know that you have integrity for people that you think has love and respect for this game. Oh, I'm messing up. I funked it up. I was separate there alright, bad um, that you have love and respect for this game. Um, and when they was on that payroll list, that should kind of sucked me up, the kind of suck me up. I'm gonna tell you. I'm
gonna tell you who super impressive. I know I can't tell you the list because I might need to pay that as well. I mean, but I'm gonna tell you the super impressed me. Flex wasn't on need not one list at all. Now I'm telling what I was. It was three of them, not one. And I'm looking because I'm like, you know, I'm expecting when the Flex is my man, but still like I'm expecting maybe this is false documents. So if it's a false document, you would put the guy in there. And he wasn't on. No, No,
that's impressive. And I was like, you know, Flex has integrity, you know, so yeah, this's the end of the day. We may call it the hustle it. Maybe it may be corporate gangster, but what's going on and when there's a lot of money going around, well, any money going around, someone's trying to skim it. Somebody somebody trying to skim it. Have you ever been like approached to like st Street dudes like saying, yo, you know what, could you help me with my street clothing line or something like that,
You mean, like trying to put me into pressure. Yeah, because I had already gotten already gotten covered and already had the circle around me. And I also never really moved like that, you know, I wasn't on that dude. Um, so no, but I got a lot of people who ask me to help. I'm like, I can't help me, man. But but I only had I beat honestly, Oh, probably my last twenty five years, I've probably only had two or three people that came at me a little sideways.
And then because I knew a lot of people growing up in the streets, some of you know, pull the coach him like yo, man, he's good people. He part of you know, he family leave alone. So God has been really good, you know. And um and and a lot of I'd be like a lot of the hood had in my back. God bless you know. What's your favorite thing about this whole game? If you if you could, if you could adolize one thing and just say, you know what, if there wasn't for this, just it wouldn't
be here. I'm just showing people. Um, you know I already said, already kind of said man being able to influence people. Man. And then we went come to me like you thought I've seen you. I didn't, you know. I wanted set of my own business. But also like I was, I went to the Oscars, the Bandy Fair Oscars after party the other day it was a big noise for the flaws. Don't you know you have to spend that back a little bit for a second. I
went up there. My name wasn't on the list, but my boy and we don't know the chance he know everybody and they actually knew what I wasn't, like, you know, and I've been told about three times. But every time I go up, I'm in the call. I leave the window walk because I'm like, you know, so they go sorry, you know, you're came like drive off expecting his ride walk because you know, like John Travolton and Captain and say to jump like everybody. Everybody's in there. It's the
harder party to get into. But one of the great things. I walk into the Oscar Awards or the Vanity Fair party afterwards. That means a party that only holds two hundred people spit and I don't know so much money, you know, I'm not getting because I don't know what the funk you're talking about. Book walk in there, Kobe and then Jade and Beyonce. I see a Taylor Swift, I see all these actors and I'm walking up to that. Spike walks in with his with his his his oscar,
you know this year. I'm talking about the days ago and he walk in and I'm like, and some of the people you know older, so I love Spiking. I'm like, Yo, Spike, you know, let's take this picture, let's get this done on this part. I like the what the crazy dudes that be in the in the commercial, let mean, will be in in a movie like Operating the Fries or
something like that. But like, yo, I know you. And the fun thing is like I woke up to other really well known aim lists of everything they'd be like yo. Like Katherine Data Drones said to me one time, me and Michael Douglas watch your show every night. I'm like Wall Street, it's wreckonable, you know what I'm saying. And I think that is one of the things that surprised me all the time. It's like huge, yo. But it's surprising to me because I'm just doing TV, doing what
I normally do. I'm having a negotiation. I can't put words together, I can't harm not I'm not an actor and actress. And I walk up to these cats and they're like, yo, I know you, but I got an idea. That's when I like, I ain't with your I steel like movie. That's what it is. Ship man. Let me just tell you something, man. I want to tell you how how real. Um the homie is right here. I happened to come to a party. I've seen them. I gave him a five and I said, Yo, man, he said,
I got here. I don't even think you. Let me. Let me finish my sentence, because you already knew what I was asking. I was like, Yo, think I got you. We exchanged numbers. You're a man of your word, superman your world. And let me just tell you something. I've been in this game for going on twenty one years. Um, anytime I've ever reached out to fool Boo, you guys have held me down. Anytime I've reached out the Coolgi,
you guys have held me down. So I want to personally thank you because because not only for you being a part of hip hop, but for you holding down hip hop because it's it's it's a it's a one hand you know, watch the other bo and wash the face thing. Because one of the things that I admired about when I first saw a fool Boo was the fact that I was seeing fooboo like damn that sponsor
people with videos. Yeah, so you you guys were coming in and we're I don't know, I don't know how you were doing it, but you guys were getting to people to wearing it, and it was it was a part of the culture. So the culture had grown together. And the thing about it is, uh, what I mean by that is the clothing and the music. So I'm so proud of your brand. Like I said, we we when we when me and E f N this is
a DJ, I'm you know, a rapper. When we put this together, we wanted to say, you know what, we wanted to control hip hop. We wanted to control the media of hip hop. When people think of hip hop, we want to you know what, you hear it from two people who who is legitimate to twenty years in
peace and we wanted to do that. And one of our models is we all the fool boo how this ship and what I'm saying that that's always the big you are and your brothers up all the other three and l L and there's quite five when we go, we gotta do a documentary about this. But um, I want to personally thank you. I want to personally Thank you for being a man of your word personally. Thank
you for everything you did personally. Thank you for uh being an inspiration for people to know that you don't always have to be in front of the camera, even though a part of your job is is in front of the camera. But being you know that clothing line, being that brand that buying other brands and and and showing people that you don't have to be on the mic is whatever. You know what I'm saying. You don't have to rap, you don't have to wrap you, and
you don't have the DJ or bi a producer. You could be something and be a part of the culture. I love the culture, and you're the epitome of that, my brother. When people look at the word are entrepreneurs, they should see your motherfucking face. I'm calling the dictionary myself. They do that, and my brother, I'm so proud to know you. I'm so proud for that that you that every time I see you, we always smile at each other and we're always having fun. And I really appreciate
the fact that you pulled up. I appreciate my man, big homie. And then always every time I see him holding me down, I appreciate a foo boo period. I appreciate what you did to them for the coach. I appreciate shark Tank. I appreciate you're not shutting down my sneaking because I'm really serious about my and I appreciate you coming to that holding down drink Chap. And just so you know, this Saturday, for everybody in the room, we got drink Champs. Appreciate your day. From eight to twelve.
We gotta do eight to twelve, not six to nine, eight to twelve this Saturday, not se twelve. We got because we got daylight self at six at six, right at six six six. So yeah, man, we love y'all, Thank y'all, good night. You got, damn it your great interview, my friend. Yeah, you got