Episode 177 w/ Paul Wall

J e F And this is drink Champs? Yap Yapa makes up. When it comes to Mr Texas, Mr Houston, it's the sideways, the people's chance. The brother has been out here stopping doing what he gotta do, not on the other culture, but he even married into the coature. God damnit, he's done what he gotta do, been been been been out here from switching house from him, his his tastes for a millionaire and to nowadays is still out here, still doing what the hell they gotta do.

If you had to get ice out in your mouth, you had to go see him. Your mother flippers in case you don't know to flip. I'm talking about my motherfuck game now, Paul, I want to. I want to start from the beginning, because, um, other than bumbye, this is our second in Houston rapper correct believe. Yeah, yeah, we had Scarface, but I got him sick at fucking my food show. I had to because I was filling

my food show. And then he's supposed to do drink Chaps that night, and I brung him to a restaurant. You know, it's funny as hell because he kept going to think annoys like that, so you know, scar Face is funny. So I thinking scar Face is making fun of me and Ship the whole time. This motherfucker's really

get second. But anyway, I want to so, um, I want to take it from the beginning because obviously all of y'all are from this like the switcher House movement, right, So in the beginning, because um, I heard you used to write uh pepsie letters and things like that. But in the beginning, how did you get started? How how did you find your love for the music? Me and Comedion that we grew up together on the same street.

I know in my whole life. We both was introduced to hip hop around the same age and around the same time, through the same era, especially if Texas artists didn't inspired us, you know, because at that time there wasn't if we look on the TV or turn on the radio, there wasn't a lot of people from where

we're from that we're professional in music. Yeah, even then, it was like, I when you're living in Houston and you see like you turn on the other you turn on TV, whatever you see kind of like how people treat rapple out. Sometimes we always kind of felt like we got the short ended this. We're being kind of Houston like maybe being there, we're so centrally located at

the South, at the bottom of the Midwest. You know, we're in the South, but we're far west on the South, so we're kind of removed from kind of what goes on sometimes in Florida, Georgia. Yeah, so it's like, you know, although we have a lot of similarities, it was like, man,

you know, we stich a part of the South. Like sad he said that he considered he considered that the South like the Texas because of different time zone, right, right, do you do you agree with that statement or just I mean personally I never looked at the time zone is being a reason for where being in the south, because there's plenty of people in the central time zone. Is you know, Chicago's the central time zone and it ain't your solveth but you know, it's just it's just

more the Southwest. But even then, you know, California is the Southwest. Texas teams so big, it feels west coast. And the one thing that gets lost to is it inside of Texas, we all got our own culture. So Houston and Dallas is a lot different. And if you add in San Antonio and Austin, all four of them,

places are four distinct different cultures within Texas. Some of the stuff we do share, you know, some of the same similar only for top well, but imagine growing up in Austin where once a year is the biggest music festival ever, and then the rest of the year, it's like what's going on? There is events they go on

there like throughout the year. Like there's some called Texas Relays, which is like a big slab of in a big car event where we're all we're all go there to to Austin for the Texas Relays for that and there's other events to you know, throughout the year and the Austin got a dope same period musically, not just you know all over musical for sure, specifically in hip hop, but you know, just it's a different culture, it's a

different being there. It's a capital being it it's a college town being that they have the you know, it's considered a lie. They call it the live music capital of the world. So the rappers coming out of there, you can tell they're influenced by that. Then you go to San Antonio. San Antonio is a huge military uh town basically, so it has his own culture separate from the military. But the fact that there's all these military bases all on in San Antonio around San Antonio all

the way to ford Hood, which is clean. But you have people to come from around the world and grow up in San Antonio, but they kind of like from New York, but they're living in San Antonio because their parents stay in santon Antonio, California. Man, it's a you Also, San Antonio is you know, the first like major major city when you come up the from the border, from

the Mexican border right there. So there's you know, Brown's vill McCallen all that, Corpus Christie and in San Antonio, which is the big city is where you know they got we got a basketball team there, Spirs, We got the you know, the the Oilers used to do their pre games preseason out there. The Texans, I don't know if they don't think they do them, but the Oilers used to. They got you know, in Corpus Christie right there, which is right there with Selina's from Rest in Peace Selena.

But they got the you know, uh in around Rock all around there. They got the different minor league teams for the Astros. So it's like it's it's different than like major, big city type of operations stuff they're going, but it's still big city things are going. So yeah, So if you're a producer or your artists coming up in San Antonio, you got more of a I would say a global influence growing up there because there's people that I mean, it's like that everywhere though, even Miami's

people from all over the world right here. But you know, it's just when you when you're in school and everybody in your class their parents are from somewhere outside of Texas. It's like it just gives you a different perspective when you are growing up as a rapper producer. So they got a dope hip hop scene is you know, it's differently so each one of then we got other other cities like al Paso, which is right there on. You know, that's the piece of what happened. Man for show thoughts

out to all the prayer Man Rising piece. But two thousand and five you were signed to Atlantic Records, right and the they boot on that was the people's chance, right didn't follow by getting money and state troopers. How can you compare being on a major uh too because you went back to the Independent. Now what do you like more than how do you compare? I mean the differences I would say is when you're independent, you gotta fund everything, uh and it's a lot more. The Independent

is grindwork. Its relationships did either you or people in your inner circle have built on through years, you know what I'm saying. So that that's what the independent grind is all about. It is, you know, doing the footwork, doing legwork, just going out there, really touching, interacting with your fans, really giving the people what they want consistently.

And when you go to a major label. You know, some people can continue that grind inside the major system, but it's a different It's like college sports versus major league sports. You know what I'm say. It's similar, but it's different. I mean the major. When you're on a major labe, when you got all their resources, money, you ain't got a called no whether they're calling for you.

So it's you know, it's I would say being also that I sell grills through and when I was on a major label, I still had independent, multiple independent albums I was getting collecting money off of that was selling more. Now that I'm on a major and I'm selling grills and I got a teacher online, so I got other multiple businesses that are all benefiting from the eposure. Yeah, so I for sure it would say I would like the major better, buddy, if I'm just an art independent. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You gotta be built well, you know, definitely. You know, it's it's a if you if you have a great business mind and you you can take the bluss when tears, and you can hustle and not give up and tap out, then that independent is for show the way to go because you still the staff. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's what that's what getting lost to is it when you're independent.

It's like some of it works where my manager, who's my manager is he's been my managers, the only manager I've ever had, and he's my home where I grew up with. And he didn't go to school to for management. He was doing something else when I was like, hey, man, needs you to come on the road because I need help, you know. And the reason why I went with that route instead of going with somebody who has a you know,

diploma degree. Yeah, I wanted to go with somebody that I personally can trust where they have what I feel like, they have my best interests at hard They come from where I come from, so they share some of the same perspective. They want the same things for me, where when some of them managers they just there for their money. They don't care for you and your wife stay married. They don't care if your whole hood turn on you and don't care about you and call yoursel out. They

don't care about that. They were like, well, yeah, letn't call you said out. Were getting you these checks. But them things mean something to me, you know, Like it means something to me to be able to go back to why I grew up and for people to be proud of me to be from there as opposed to go back to why I grew up in them to be like here seilout man, we're gonna You know that that means more than meeting whatever the check might be, because you can't buy that type of love or respect.

And also just you know, the music. For me, this is like this is a love of passion for me. So it's my dream job. The only other job I would want it would be to be a DJ. That's why I started out as DJ, because to me, that was something I've seen a career path and being a DJ where I didn't see a career path being a rapper because it just ain't that many rappers from our neighborhood.

And then eventually when you start seeing people and come in there doing it for fun, and you know, we were going to school together, we and whatever grade you know, the second, third, fourth grade or whatever. Whenever you know we we're being on a on a munch table, we're on a school bus, whatever. And a lot of times it came from seeing other people doing it and me thinking it was trash man. I could put some words together and then someone maybe call me out what you got?

You see what you got, and I'm like, all right, let me tell you what I got. And then you know, then the reaction of people, oh, damn, you're really good. It's like ship maybe I am kind of god it let me try to do this. But it was never you know, even up until because me and Comedia were wrapping for a long time before we saw any success and then when we got when we came into the Switchhouse. Even before that, I was doing I was DJM for the Switchhouse. I was carming Michael watch Crates, I was

passing out flyers. Me and my boy T Ferris was in the in the office pressing up the CDs before they the same CDs that you buy out the store. We were pressing them up. So I was doing more background work as opposed to just being in front of the microphone. And I'm on the you know, on the mixtape. So I really worked my way into the Switch House. So even becoming an artist in the Switch Out that was like back then in our neighborhood was like every

yeah yeah. Some of that to me was the street team was working for Dead Jam or working for a No Limit and then Cash Money, and then that's how I got on with Switchhouse. And then at that time too we switch House. Everybody wanted to wrap and switch out, like in Houston on the North Side. So it was like ship, how cannot be? And I've seen how Michael Watts when people start blowing his phone up to get on the tape, you know, eventually like, don't answer. I

ain't answering that ship. But he fussed with me. So I'm like, now I don't want him to if I ask him, I don't want to turn that off. And I can't get on the taping on. I can't get you know, He's gonna be like, I don't come around. And so I said, okay, I just you know, work my way in doing other work, doing other work. And I actually got on with switch House with Michael White because at one time I've seen him I'm doing I'm putting up I'm putting up posters for a deaf gym

artist somebody. I see him at one of the record stores and I asked myself, watch man, how come ya don't never wrap on the cash money? Many fresh beatau I should love cash money and many fresh beat hard and they would never whatever freestyle and he was like, well, the artists choose the beats, and they just didn't choose the beat. And I'm like, man, they tell him they tripping, they need to wrap on this beat that beat, and he just caught them out. Was like, well, what would

you do when I just freestyle something? And he was like, come on, let's go. And then we took me to the studio and watch. Um he died off a lean or now you're talking about j screw But even then, um, I mean, it's like a debatable subject. I mean, he did have coding in his blood, but I don't think that's what killed him. He had a lot of he had other stuff and you know, the lifestyle be will kill you, I think more than Lane now. I mean, you know, it's very touch of subject. And then and

also try to I like some of it. I try. I try to be respectful or not only him or whoever else. But at the same time, it's a lot of miseducation that people talk about there, like you know, fake facts about lean Like I mean me personally, I'm never seeing ever anyone in the history of drink ever die from coding. Now, is it possible you could die from that. Man, I might be drinked out and then getting a car accident, but the lane would kill me. You know, if if I said drank and I mean

fry foods every day, I'm not drinking the water. Only water I'm drinking is the ice in my cup. I'm not exercising it all. I'm staying up, I'm not getting proper sleep. Everything else I'm eating and putting in my body. And not only fried food. But there's some type of track is sugary, right, and then and then you mix it with some is that like a big part of it? Uh? You know, I have seen long term people who see

drink long term they teeth might get sucked up. But you know, a lot of it is just it ain't like meth where if you smoke meth, your teeth gonna get sucked up. With drink. If you sit drink and you don't brush your teeth ever, and you still drink every day, every every day, then you might get cavities. But that's this ain't could be said for the soda. And most people that I've heard talking about it, they say it's the soda that funs your teeth for not

to drink. There's sugar in the drink, but the sugar in the soda is what's really what it is. Now. The thing that I think, um most people, I think the most valuable information about any type of recreational drug consumption is that, you know, it's kind of table, like the way he said it, recreational drunk, do you know some of them taboo to talk about. But at the same time, the fact that we're keeping it private is

what's causing people to die. Like some of this like you know, if you're taking norcoles or oxycoton or anything like that, or any opioid, yeah, and you're drinking alcohol that she could be deadly. If you're taking the opioids and the xanax and other things, the combination that ship

for shows deadly. So it's like you know it ain't because you know, yeah, you know it was ill almost that when they said that they found pimps that that he couldn't he couldn't breathe like so like like like um, like I think he rolled over or something like that, I forget, and like he couldn't breathe, so that they didn't say it's lean they said that like sleep Yeah, he had for show. He had rest in Peace man to he uh, he he had sleep apnel and the

doctor told him, you know he's watching ours. She'll say this when she come on there. You got ask if she'll tell you when the doctor say you got sleep apnel, you have to have the masks. If you sleep without the man. Yeah, he told him, if you sleep without it, you're gonna die. He slept without it. He died. Did he have drinking He did have drinking his system. I think they said he had cocaine and system to it, you know, but you ain't never hear knowing saying, oh

he died from cocaine over those. But they had cocaine in the system. They said, oh, you die from drink over those. The doctor didn't say he died from drink over those. Doctor said he died from heart respiratory failure or something which came from the sleep avenue. But lean is a dangerous because I see so many people like so addicted to it, Like I know people who don't

you wake up and that's what they do. Some of it is I mean me, I think the lifestyle is the most dangerous where the lane is so expensive, so people will get caught up in sipping lane and then they sucking their money off. Now, it ain't like to the point where people is breaking in their mama houses, pawning TVs to go buy a drink, but they will, you know. I see people off a lot of money on the drink. And and to me, it was dangerous

about it. The absolute most is the fake drink. When they be playing talking about it, he was breaking down all the fake stuff. Yeah, that ship is the most most most dangerous because man, you don't know what you're sipping. So what are they doing when the man, they need to stop doing whatever they're doing. Man, they need to stop. But this I don't know. I don't know if they're whipping it up in their garage like you know, or if it's something they just they don't brow this ship. Man,

I don't know what they're doing. But it ain't drunk, you know, it's maybe whatever they don't I don't know that ship. To me is what's the dangerouship though, is when they said the fake drink because you don't know what you're sipping. It's just like when they when you got pressed up pills. You know that when pressed up pills are dangerous man. You know, one little grain of fitting all more than you're supposed to have would kill

you. You You know what. The activist still floating around don't know. You can google this. They stop making activists in two thousands, like Levin. So someone has activists right now it's fake. Oh they it's real. But then if my mama had activis right now, I'll tell a quick plane that ain't real. Is it possible? I mean this the this the scam I got my I got all this fake drink. I come to you and I say, hey, I got a homeboy in Kentucky, his grandma on the pharmacy. They ain't

sell this ship. They ain't never get rid of it, and we got a stoppile of it. It's the real ship. Man. I can get it to you whatever. I don't know. I'm I'm going off what you're saying. You know, you're completely scamming me or somebody scam you, so you really believe it, and then it's that's the thing is that man, I can tell you, you know, that's that's what they say. It's came from the Midwest somewhere or somewhere like that, where if something came from a pharmacy in Iowa. How

can I verify that I'm in Houston. You know, if it's come from anywhere, can I was the first? I don't know who the first ever come back here. We need to make that who is that? You know? Yeah, I take the rest of the ship out of here. It works. It works. The other thing they'll do is they'll say, oh, I know somebody who used to work at Activists, so they know how to make it. They got they can get the chemicals online and they can make it. They know how to make it. It's the

same thing. Man, that ain't the same thing, and they ain't work used to work at Activists. They send the fake drinking. They just need a story to sell it. Another thing they'll say is, oh, well, okay, the the okay, we got the pharmacies in the Middlewest. We got to somebody used to work at Activists. Then they'll it'll be just things like that, or I know somebody who can create it, or I used to have it, or my

homeboy just got out of jail. This smoke kicking in, so I just got a jail, or my my homeboy just got out of jail. He had these points at his Mama House and he want to sell them, you know, but it'll be what you got a hunted points because you've been selling them the same points for months now. Ship like damn. But you know they the scams on the fake drink on how it's real is just man,

It's it's ridiculous though. But you know we pick up papers, pick up to Smoke Channel, pick up to two Miami and uh, you know, pick up to people with cherry and like I said, Sean papers and all that. But all right, so switch house now, but go before that because I want to go back to when when Screw and then started making the taste that was all based off of lean culture as well, right, I mean it was a part of it for sure, you know what

I'm saying. But it was like it's like when you make a club song, it's not you know, the alcohol have something to do with the alcohol, go with it. But you can make a club party song and you don't even drink to slow down music. Wasn't because for sure that was part of me. You know, you know I think if you were sober funny, I mean, what is going up? Well, I mean I grew up and I didn't smoke or drink growing up until I was older, so I grew up appreciating it. To me, it was

the greatest music on earth. So you know, you can still appreciate it, you know. I think without there, but I think in the moment of creating it and all that. And I created it too before. I you know, I was slowing music down DJ and like that, before I was really like leaning, what do you actually do to slow it down? It's different now now it's like now it's a plug that was just a Houston thing or

like because you know, back in those days. It's funny because I'm there was a DJ in Florida who would make mixtape too slow down, but he wouldn't they wouldn't chop him up. And I think Flori a lot of them maybe, but it was it was like a pretty because when I think, here we speed it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember I came down here in like nine, uh for something that was going on and with my Jamaican partner, and it was like, oh, you know, it was going down.

It was all up tempo, you know, and then we passed by one person. I hear somebody jamming screwed and I'm like, oh, ship, they must be from Texas. And then that's how I found out, like, now, no, we were that, But since we sped it up out here, it was like, how the fund do you listen to this? Because everybody's doing cocaine? So think about it. I mean, I just made it up, but I think about it. Kind of makes sense we're sped up out here. That sounds a little better some of them in Texas. I

you know, I thought about some of them Texas. We spread out, you know, so we got you know, you gotta have a car to get from point A to point B or whatever. You gotta have a car, whereas you know, it's like that in a lot of CITs as well, but you know it's also not like that in a lot of seats, so we spread it. You gotta have a car. A lot of people take better care of the car than the house. So we're gonna make sure we have mute. You know, there's based in

the trunk. So didn't that leads to there being based in the music because when you're artists too, you're like, they ain't playing my ship if they got on base in this. And let me make sure you got a lot of base in it, then as hot as fun, so you know she's slow like that. Then the swing and all of that. The driving slowly really traditionally, like in the car car wise, came from the streets being

sucked up. They're being potholes. Whatever. Man, if I'm in this car, ain't my rooms up, I'm gonna drive slow. I'm gonna swing around them. And then it became like a tradition or fokes on your ms when the wheel yourself that that's for nigga's not to come close to your car. I mean, this is the style for the Over the years, they've gotten wider. You know, they originally when they originally came out in the eighty four, they

was they didn't stick out past the fender. But just you know when they as time went on, they got the technology got better, the rims got improved from going from alumium still, so you know, they don't get then up as much. They don't fall apart like they used to it. So you know, it's like it just didn't got upgraded updated with the times. But because we'll drive right next to each other and be looking like we're about the crap, you know, take it, definitely take a season.

Veteran driver, you gotta kind of hold you nuts when you're driving. You know some of that would have been at the same time. You gotta kind of be you gotta be focused. You can't be on your phone all that kind of ship. You gotta you gottau But so that's the you know that that candy they dripped that wet yourself house inside of the House of Colors, Shout out the House of Colors. You know, that's that's something man.

You know, car lovers around the world. That's funny because uh, a lot of people, a lot of the car cultures outside of Houston don't funk with the poking rims. They're like, like, man, they don't funk with the yeah, car clean, but the rims look like trash, so they really don't. Man. Especially, it's funny, like all my brothers in California, they'll be going at it with all my holies to Texas, where it'd be like ship because the cars be a little

bit different. But car car lovers everywhere, you know, they got a love for that candy paint. Man, when you got that that paint is so well to look like a jolly rancher. The painting look like it looked like you just sprayed it with a with a water holes. You know what I'm saying that, Man, it's just it's just something about that, especially when it's clean. You got candy paying this dirty man, I'm the definition of riding dirty. Man. I should be so dirty. But man, when when that

should be cleaned up and you're looking good? Man, ain't nothing like a wet candy car. Man, Ain't nothing like a slab on candy man. For so, now, how did you get into grills? Because most rappers, no one is thinking like that, Like how did you? How did your mind? Even like every business I got into, it was I want that. How can I get a cheaper? I can get a cheaper if I sell it. Then if I'm

just a customer, so how can I sell it? And then let me, you know, let me learn the game whatever anything any business I have or have ever had, so with that, it was always wanted one. I wanted to grill. But you know in the South, it was always permanent grills. You know, you would go to a Dinnis to do the grills and then you know you couldn't get no removable grills, nothing like that. That's what we would always see and ship everywhere period. And then all of a sudden we see Wu Tang on the

videos taking the grills out. We're like, man, what's going on? They did they do that? I won't want new grill. We ain't have nothing like that, Yeah, perfectly. So then uh, you know, my boy crime came from Brooklyn. He came with the removable style grills to Houston. He's still selling grills to He like a traveling grills salesman. He go all around the country, out around the world selling grills.

But he came to Houston to our neighborhood selling New York style grills, you know, removable grills, and it was cheaper than the other grills. We're like, man, what's going on. He's some flea market grills. He's some like beauty shop grill win shot grills. What's going because you know you can get the one little tooth to come on? Come on, we ain't talking like we're talking about like the custom

removable all of that. We're like, man, hold on. Everything he had was just some next level of different ship. And I would always see him was at that time too, I'm passing out flyers promoting that clubs. And then I bam, see his flyer on the car, so I bump into him. He see me. He like, oh, you're the one who've been passing out these flyer And I'm like, man, you do one who selling grills and you're like I just straight up total. He wanted me to work for him

doing promotions. I'm like, bed, I want to work for you, but ship, I need that wholesale price. You know. I ain't gonna start my own store without you. Nothing like that I needed for my own personal use. So he hired me to promote, had me promoting for me, actually had me running the store selling grills, and that's how I got my first set of grills. Was you know how to make grills yourself? Oh yeah, oh yeah, but you you know finish from yeah, from taking your mold

to casting the gold. I ain't now now I ain't. I ain't. I can't front if you if I say you, if I get your grill like your grills, you ain't give me the verse. I like to take your mold, let me take your over trying to set before Hey, Sue said the man you know so yeah, yeah, but man from there was boy corn. He had me up onund of him and then eventually he just he brought me to Johnny where we was just salesman. Johnny made

everything from scratch. At that point, Johnny was, you know, on his rise to start him, you know, being a grill maker and hen like, man, you know what, it's about time for me to get a story. That's right around the time when we linked up, and then we just kind of took it to another level. And then him being a Vietnamese immigrant, it'd be tough sometimes. Man. The story this is, this is like one time I hung out with t V. Johnny is one of the

motherfucker most you know, he got the Ellis Access. Yeah. So I had just said, l A. I was with sip TV and I think we just hooting the video for these people mastercraft. So TV Johnny comes, Johnny Dade comes to h I think he was filming in the Roxy in l A on the sunset. So I'm like, yo, I'm mad happy. I went to Watts, I went to Carpton, I went to Inglewood. I went to all these hoods and um l A. So the whole time, I'm saying, man, I just went to all the hoods in l a TV.

Johnny looked at me and said, man, there's no hood. They eat my dog. Yeah, yeah, Ship. I'm trying to identify what the fun is being hood and eating his dog somebody. Because I said, you can't just tell me something like yeah, just move on. I need to know why you just said that. He said, Man, I had my pet one day. I said, said, yeah, my dog. I went to the store. I leave on my side take him And I said what? And then later on and he said, they gave me and play the fool

I eat my dog with them. I said, that's the story I heard. Never forget it. I'll never forget it. We went to Ever. We went to We didn serially. We was in the village and he was like, oh, I should remind me that we say this is from He's like, hey, this is ship. Yeah. He's like, man, it's just like being on you. Well, Tago got the room and went to the actual. Man. It was so dope, bro, just like you know, first of all, going over there, going to Africa, it's something that's like, Man, that's the

mothers going to Africa tomorrow to enjoy. Brother, they enjoy. You're gonna man, You're gonna love it. Man, every everything period there was like just just being there. It was just a whole experience, breathing in the air. I'm taking it all and you know, I'm man, see this is where the people got one hands from, Like the I don't know what I keep saying that, you don't know what I keep coming out with. It was crazy. Man.

When the Raquel, when she came to us to do it, my boy Te Ferris was like, man, I don't know if we want Paula to go to Africa, you're gonna come back with the Daishiki even had no grill, He's gonna take Ain't gonna be on the same, gonna be a different because everybody always you know, think about Dave Chappelle when he went to Good then he turned down fifty million, so that's what he said, You like, man on with that fifty million, come we need to sign

the check, you know. But I was just like, now, whatever it is, you know, even if it do transform me personally, and also being at the time when I just had I just had my son, So it's like you put it just puts the whole world in perspective, you know, just especially growing up in Houston, leaving Houston to go to other cities and then going to other continents and other a little completely different worlds. You know, it's it's it's an amazing thing that I this is

my dream job. Man. I appreciate every second and all of that. Then to really be educated on the diamonds and all that things I ain't know about it, So to put us on what did you learn out there? Okay, First of all, the ships corrupt as fun, just like it is everywhere worldwide, you know, ship and man, people

being exploited. All the stories you hear about Africa being exported for their resources, that should be real talk like people don't be understanding that this this is a world where every human came from and now it seems like every other country and continent has exploited it in a long way or continue to so. Man with the diamonds specifically, okay, they had a civil war in the nineties where it was you know, it was it was crazy and like a lot of they of course they got the movie

with Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond. He kind of talks about explaining some of it, but you know, it would be basically rebels who would take over the diamond mines and then trade the diamonds for drugs or trade them for guns or things like that. And there was some crazy ship child soldiers out there, you know, like thirteen fourteen, fifteen years old soldiers, and you know they would come in and you know, completely destroy a village and can

out the kids. Then put the cocaine in the coffee of the kids and and drug them and brainwashed them into thinking somebody else did it as different. Oh, completely sure. First of all, you know, things I didn't understand what the Kimberley process where if you buy a dim If I'm a jeweler and I go buy my diamonds wholesale, it needs to be registered through the Kimberly process. Now what that means is when the diamond is mind in

the mind. And they got different minds. They got like flint stones looking minds, just like a big gass pit, and they got these big gas machines, and then they got the watermines where they're out there sitting in the mud. Yeah, so there's there might be more, you know, our caves and us, but what we saw, that's what I saw. So they are and when they mind basically everything from who own the on the mind who's actually mining. There's it's like labor laws, Like a lot of this ship

is corrupt, so they'll pay. Man, they would get like a dollar a day. Some ship thirty ninety cents a day and a bowl of rice. That was their pay for being out there in the mud sitting through the diamonds. They ain't write the ninety cents a day. And you know, so things like they where you know, there's there's not like labor laws on that type of ship. You know, it's it's crazy, man, to see that it's like this.

And then the crazy perspective is just just living in this civilization, Western civilization where you're taught that you know, the diamond is you know, that's a symbol of success, that's a symbol of achievement, of pride to show off. But then to see when you try trace back where it came from all the way and not all diamonds are mind like that, through child labor and things like that, but the ones that are, it's like it just it just makes you think about all, like, man, what is

it really worth it? You know, who was getting paid off of this? And then you see you know. So that's why for me going out there, it was important that Johnny came with me because I'm like, bro, we gotta come out there because there's certain things on the business and that I don't know. I don't you know the people that you know, he the businessman when it comes to negotiating all that type of ship. I'm the marketing person where I'm the face of the company, you know,

So he do what he do. I do it. Don't change anything you did based on how you off Top before that, we you know, we didn't even know of the Kimberly process, so all of that, you know. And then of course Johnny being from Vietnam where it's the country, the life that it was the same, it was a lot similar to what we saw, it touched him as well. So for sure, off Top we switched our diamond hostel up and make sure they were going through the Chimerley process the ones before. Now let me say this and

what the Chimley process. Let me finish it. When you mind it, you know, when you mind the diamond, you have to you find the diamond. You gotta you know, if I own the diamond, mind, I gotta get it. Each diamond registered. Then when it's sold whoever it's sold too, there's like a it's got a number registered to it so it can be tracked where exactly it came from.

Now it's you know, with anything on the black market, you can you're diamond when I when we were when we out there at people in the hotel, like you need some diamonds, And I'm like, man, ain't just like damn that? Like, man, that be well, I'm just tripping to myself thinking like, man, what type of person like

the flood on the diamonds. I'm glad we weren't out there to get the plug on the diamonds, were out there to try to understand or you know, it's I think it would be kind of like I mean, I can't say like we can change the world and we can change it, but we personally have to make a change, you know. I think that's what you doing. Yeah, that's where after that. Oh yeah, the holy experience out there, bro, it was everything you know of Uh, you know, we got the U n escorting us. You met all the

mutilated kids also thinking we met some of them. There's like a village to it, like it's it's some of it's it's just you know, you see kind of like growing up here, man, you know, we first you taught that everything is perfect, and then you realize it's all lives and bullshit. And then later on you realize the whole world is like that. You know, that's kind of how it was for me. Like I grew up thinking it, oh, America is great, and like, damn, this is funked up

how it happened or how it still is. And then you go out to other places in the world, you like, damn the world. It really the world really fucked up. How we treat each other man's crazy. Man, So let's take it back, right, you and Johnny, you link up. He got crime, links you up with Johnny, right, all right, And Johnny's already doing it. He's already. He's already Johnny was at that time. This is Johnny's basic story. He came from Vietnam. Johnny actually has a crazy story within

his personal family. His uncle was a general in the army in Vietnam. The commune side or the side is down with America. His uncle escaped from Vietnam. He was in jail. He escaped as a prisoner a war. It took him eighteen times. On his eighteenth time, he finally escaped and made it to America, got a political stylum everything here, and then one by one his family would come over. Johnny made it here when he was young,

I think just out of high school. Um, like he might have just graduated like some time around like that, and he went to school. He started off doing jewelry repair. He was man. His first six months here. I think he said he made five dollars his first six months, and he was like, man, this is the greatest in the world. It was like, you know, as a as a community, like has going back to Vietnam, saying a few times I tried to reach out when we did,

I also went to Vietnam. We did a film out that I was trying to reach out to them to be in the film. You should have win, Yeah, I mean I just wanted to get like an interview from him about going. Yeah, it's already done, but I mean I want to go back. Man, maybe loved it. So what's it called coming home Vietnam? Thanks a lot, buddy, coming Yeah, that's what we got checked out. Back in the days they used to have to say, who is Mike Jones right now. It was where is Mike Jones at?

Where is that nick guy? Man? Yeah? Man, your guests might be as good as mine. Maybe the number still works, call it the number? What happened? They don't? I think he actually, I think the phone company actually like tried to sue him because of that number, because they like, man, he don't have it no more so whoever has like they can't use it as a number. You know what I'm saying, because they whoever it is like right now is people texting college. It's dumb. Shout out Mike Jones away. Yeah, man,

we wish you the best man ship. You know, what's what's up? Man? What it is? Got slimmed up bun y'all got you, you got you got z, We got my boy and trade the truth. We got Agan Stallion. Shout out Magan Stadion. Lizzo, uh Lizzo from Houston to Travis Scott, Sauce twins, Travis Scott, none of your niggers niggas from Yeah, that's what's ill about it. You know he definitely from move yeah yeah, and he gets the

biggest tribute though. Yeah. I think about that too, because you know we've Throughout the years, there's been other artists that have come out of Houston that didn't come with the traditional age town sound, you know what I'm saying, But he for sure took it to another level. But I think, you know what his style he has more of like you know, I think he's a kind of affected.

It's you know, I have a bias being from Houston, so I'm gonna look at him like, oh yeah, you know, he god, you know, but because he's yeah, yeah, because he's successful. So I'm rooting for him. I want to see all these for sure, but you know, just seeing just you know, just how you do his thing with the production and the rapp and then for him to man, man he on Saturday Night that Kardashian sex bring you right to the top with shout out to the kardash

We've seen him on Saturday Night Live. Oh DJ screw in the background, them type of things. It's like, man, you know, and that kind of just goes to show. Like, you know, even from Houston or whatever wherever you're from. You know, if we got a wide variety of flavors, you know what I'm saying, we do have our best selling flavors but we got a wide variety of flavors shout out yeah yeah, And I wanted the people to know that. Paul Walter said he's not drinking today, So

I Am not drinking up. It's going in and expect that. So because you know, some people come out here and they don't don't drink it like they drinking some time, and you know, I don't like that. You know, I want to join my guests. Now we have guests that don't don't come on or don't smoke or drink. But it spa corse like Joe. But we had Joe button on I'm saying his name right nine because they was both they both felt like they were acn um well

not Acon voice and um Joe. They felt like they were addicts at one point and that's the reason why they don't indulge anymore any time I want, right, so you don't still with or do you? Or do you huh?

Or do I mean? You know? It's when you get older and then being a parent and then being a role model and actually seeing kids and then also having conversations with other artists and CEOs from Houston, from the eras that raised me and having them type of talks with them and get you a different perspective on the influence, where if I talk about it in a rapp or even if I make a whole song about it and I'm wearing a activist shirt or something, you yeah, but

shall still got it. But even then I don't. It's at the jury store. Some of it is, Like, man, how much of it is it just representing the culture or how much when is it turned from that to promoting the culture and promoting the misinformation of things? And then you know, it's like, man, we got parents on

there trying to band boycott us. These kids that get on the internet and day like this, they look like and they can't stay up Like that's like, yeah, some of it is, but I mean, you know, I think most of them not sitting drank though I think most of them is taking someone's and popping pills and others. But you know, and that's the it Definitely at some point it went because it's it's so funny man, being

in you know, have grown up music. Leaving my musical career or when I signed to a major or whatever, you're going around the country recience drink. We asked you know, what's drinking or whatever. And then I just you know, certain places I'll go. I remember being in places and there was some very high powered people in the room and we sit and drank. They're looking at us like we're complete crackheads, and I'm like, damn, they're looking at

it like we crackheads. But they was snorm cocaine, like yeah, and we just like damn. It's just funny to see, like how drink has just globally become accepted now, you know, like it's rapping. Like I was looking on Instagram's rappers in Africa talking about sit and drink and I'm like, damn, man, it's going down. And it's the other things like I got a homeboy from Poland. I went to Poland. He's like, I got a present for you. What's up. It's some

Poland drink. I'm like, damn, what's going down? And for so anytime we go to Mexico, we always you know, and my farmer see you know, but you know, it ain't and they make it different all around the world, you know what I'm saying, But it is it is cough serve all around the world. You know, you had one song to represent your your whole career like like like everything just once on to represent Paul or what would that song be? Uh? Man, that's a good one

man ship, dude. It's definitely been a journey of career, man, my whole my This is my dream job. So I look at this as my career like ship, every aspect of whatever, even if it parlay and the other businesses. This is my dream job, dream career. I'm gonna do this as long as I'm able and capable, man, you know, So I don't know, I think, you know. For so I would maybe say drive slow because you know it's not not friends would say maybe drive slow would be?

And what what artists from the town inspired you? And then from outside of the time. For sure, Lott Kiki was my biggest inspiration. He um. You know I grew up on the era the screwed up Click everybody screwed up Drake talk about no no, no, you know these little look crazy you know what I mean and everything? You know what I mean. Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

So yeah. Look, he's basically the originator of a lot of the Houston culture, especially when it comes to rapping about the culture, putting on you know, having him, you know, I'm sure he'd be a incredible guest because he can give you know, all kind of background history. You know,

it was it was him. It was him fat patting DJ screw started off and then you know, there was definitely it was people involved, like you run see what to do for sure, those people involved, like in the streets like Corey Blunt, who was like a key figure where he you know, the cars he was, you know, one of the people in the streets making the money. So he had his cars right, so it was like an inspiration for everyone. You know, the way we do our cars now was all of you know, he inspired

me for show the most. He was my favorite rapper still is he the greatest rapper to me still is you know, his wordplay, the things he would say, also just representing put it on for the for the Houston culture, being that he was somebody out looked to. He was from where I'm from, from the city I'm from. He represented where I'm from, where I looked at him as being somebody you know, up high, who who's professional, who made it, whose elite? You know what I'm saying. Where

ship he from where I'm from? Ship that's that's exactly who I would want to be. You know, definitely he's my favorite, But he didn't answer from side who was murder from outside the town inspired, I would say maybe b G Um Maybe yeah, how boys? For sure BG was my favore. B G and juvenile there was my favorite, uh b G for sure. I think because I had the best collection, the biggest collection of his music. For

sure that that was. Even though I maybe didn't pattern my rap style off of him, um, he definitely inspired me a lot. Just a lot of that too, came from the locality of where he You know, any any local rapper, they're my favorite rapper Man Snoop Dogg. They don't get more local than that. He long Beach Light, but he's global, you know, you know any local global, Yeah, I understand, But you know, all the local rappers are

always are my favorite. You know, when you when you ascend with your career, they want you to be more mainstream so more people can funk with it. But sometimes you lose your local news. But the local rappers are always the dopest to me, many my favorite. Now you got like the eminem past. Like what I mean by that is like you know how most people they will be like, oh, logic is dope, But then they'll say, logic is dope for a white white boy, you know

what I'm saying. And then they'll say, uh, you know MC searches dope before a white guy. I don't hear people say that about you, like I hear people say Paul Walls, and I hear people say Eminem is dumpe, like like, how does how does that resonate with you? I mean, I'm I'm very grateful to people appreciate me in any capacity, and they say, are dope for somebody to wear a hat? You know? Even that, you know, it's like at least they think I'm dope because you know,

I got bullied, I got picked on. So I'm I'm glad I got friends. Now I got my real friends. Shout out to my real ones, man, Hey, what's up here? Shout out to my boy Perier out there? Google, what's up? Google?

Ty Fair, all my real ones out there. But you know it's funny because we'll think about it, like, well, like me and my boys will laugh about that, like when they had like the top ten greatest white rappers ever and I ain't on the list, Top twenty, top fifty, and we'll be like, damn, I know I'm better than some of them. But you know, it's like, okay, I said, I don't know how we traded you A long time ago. I forgot I got traded you for I think Grave

Brady my man. Yeah, but they hey, but man, you know, I don't know. Some of it is like dogs sterling, just ting. I don't know. I don't know how I should feel being you know, like I never cared. I never wanted to be a white rapper. I never wanted that. And then growing up in Texas, a lot of times people thought I was, especially with a low hit because they like, oh he Hispanic, or he mixed, or Frenchman from Louisiana. They is one of the three Frenchman. Yeah yeah,

but they called him Frenchman. That's what I want to be, a Frenchman. I want to be a Frenchman. Mixtape Frenchman. I think I think some of that too, being on the Switchhouse mixtapes. My voice is slowed. It's pre Internet, so you can't google what somebody looked like, so you didn't know how what I look like. You hear my music, it's already slowed down, so it's already got effects on it, so you really didn't know what I will what you know,

what I looked like. And then I think sometimes people make excuses up like that just because to give me a pass, like or not here he got to be missing. No, no, no, because it's funny. Man. One time I was in Florida, had the show and start six nine uh Roy Jones Junior Club in Pensacola. Uh And it was like one of my first shows, me and come in there, and I was at the bar before I'm about to go on. It was a sold out show. It was you know, it was because we was rocking it back then, just

even on the mixtape. Sold out show and I'm just at the bar getting to drink. Somebody next to me say his homeboy, hey man, when I went Paul Walk going on, Man, how long we gotta wait till Paul Walk going on? I turned to him and said, oh, what's up, bro, I'm going like fifteen twenty minutes. He looked me up up and down my head like he's about to steal off on me. I'm like, oh, you know, I'm like whatever, you know, all right, that's what's up? And then I left. I'm like whatever. Then after the

so he came up to me. He was like, damn, I didn't know that was you. I mean, I he just straight up to him. He's like, man, I don't mean no offense, but I hate white people. Man. He told me. He was like, I hate the white people. He said, so, he said, but really you're my favorite rather so when you told me that at the bar, I'm like, who then is that? And I'm like, he said, then I come on stage, so he told me. He told me, I mean, I'm torn between two words like

I like you because you're my favorite rapper. I hate you because you're white. And you know, I'll just that just man. It was so whoever that was man, you still out there. Man, ain't much love to you. I get a discount on the grill. That's some, but you know some of it too, man. I just personally, I

don't like think back. I think because sometimes I see white rappers and they'll come to me like man, a lot of times, man, you know all man, all the time, white rappers come to me for advice on different things. You know, uh rappers are always coming, you know, they come me to say, how do I be a white rapper? I don't want imagine did they say that in so many words? You know, it'd be I get asked some some questions, it will be I think, how could you

ask somebody that? Or how could you even think that? Like, you know, my advice to anybody you want somebody like you just be really yourself because if they don't like you. For me and faith, yeah, but so so I mean, but it's funny sometimes. But at the same time, I don't know, because growing up I had friends of all races. For sure, most of my friends were black, but I had Asian friends too, had a lot of Messican friends or Hispanic. I had friends who were other Dominican other

things too, were not just mixing but Guatemala, uh you know. So, but for sure, most of my friends were for sure black. I had some white friends, but the white boys in my neighborhood were the ones that would beat me up, bullying me. So it was ship. It was, you know, that's just how it was for me that coming in there, like I grew up coming in my whole life. So me and they were friends, you know, since the kindergarten.

Damn there you know what I'm saying. So you know, not only him, but all our friends from that area. We all you know, came up together. We are very similar and everything we do, you know what I'm saying. But and we all had friends of all races. But being white sometimes it's like, you know, when they don't have me on the list, it'd be funny like ship then at the same time, but like, well, that's I don't want to be seen as a white rapper or none of that. I just want people to see me

for being dope or whatever. But definitely you know, being white, being dope for a white rapper or being dope. Are you dope for such and such? You dope for a girl? You don't do that? Yeah, so I wouldate to Yeah, it's uh, you know, I mean, it's good to be appreciated to be considered dope, but it's also you could be dope, not just for one aspect. Ever had a beef.

I'm looking at you and I'm thinking, like, you know, you're you're always been positive, so I'm thinking like, like, I know you don't commit that, but y'all y'all beef for a little while. But like it was more it was a lyrical it was more like just personal, but with him it was real. It was personal because we were best friends and then we took separate paths and you know, but it's very great. Shout out to pen c Man. Pence has had a huge He's a huge

reason why we reconcile. He talked to us individually. I'll also shot to Eforty, the two biggest people it was. You know, I mean some of it is like not worth talking about because you know, bringing up all ship, but you know, it's just we had different views on certain things or you know, sometimes money might have been involved or whatever. We just it was meant for us to take separate paths. So when it was meant for

that to happen, that happened. And thank you know, thankfully we kept it off Wax so that you know what I'm saying. You know, some of them this is you go back even when you're cool. You're like, damn said that about me? God, you know, so uh, you know, it's like, man, you know, we thank god, we thankfully,

thankfully we kept it off Wax. But Eforty was the first one to say, man, y'all tripping you know, how much money y'all can make and by the time you realize that that opportunity is gonna be gone, nobody's gonna care no more, or they're gonna be on to the next or something like the forties. Always tell us man, because Eforty fused with both of us, he gave us both advice. We was cool anyway, we was friends, but he was like a effort for sure. It was a

big mentor in the game. But specific league, Man, you and Commed are tripping. Then pm C said it too, it's like legends. And then pm C like he came to he spoke individually to both of us, Man, what's up with you? Commed there, man, what's the problem. Okay, you're tripping? He tripping to funk that y'all making y'all tripping? His money out there, y'all can be making all this money. Y'all ain't got to get along, e man. Before they I don't know if they talked before they talked to us,

but they both told us the same. You know, it was like man. And then when he put us in the song Knocking Doors Down, he shot us out. Then even before that, you know, the public will come, what's up with your COMMUNI it, what's up with you? Commit? What's up with you? Comman? It's cool whatever. Then eventually sometimes people will the public will die down, like we always to touch yourselfject if don't ask him about that,

even when it ain't touch yourself, you no more. And still they'd be like, oh, I don't respect, I don't want to ask you about this or that. You know. But then you know, pm C put us in the verse. Everybody he said commit still eight talking oh money speak out that boys keep walking. He basically caught out all the Houston rappers saying, y'all tripping with each other were beef and we need to come together. But he say uh. When he said that, then every all the public say damn, man,

what you're gonna do? Damn and everybody like it's like it made it cool to come talk to us about it. And then it was and it really forced us to come together. And especially when PIMPS passed away, it was like, hey, we gotta do this for pim C. Man. You know you know it's it's for pim C. You know for sure that he had It was a huge reason why we came back together. Squad stuff B and we used to pimp let us um and jail. You wasn't You

wasn't yet I was. That was kind of like it was like during my attension, you know what I'm saying. And then there's different levels. There's you know, you could be a one hit one, that you could be an underground mixtape, you know. Person Once you get on the radio is different. Once you're on TV and the magazines is real different. And it's an era before the Internet,

before smartphones and ship. So you know, you didn't you couldn't find out about other artists unless it was put in front of your face, you know, unless you go to that CD and go to a record store. You know, ship. The only way you hear it is if if they played on the radio, which is somebody else controlling, or they played on TV, which is somebody else controlling, or there's it ship. You know, you it's tough to hear about you guys. Address and just said let me just

addresses man, big bro who to dude. She're a big fan of course. And at that time too, you know, I was, I was already making a name for myself with Switchhouse, and then some of it too is you know when you say somebody, Hey, free pm C. You' say it on a rap. You know you ain't trying to be like false claiming saying that you know. Some of it yeah, you know, and some of it is people who they reached like a motherfucker. So it's like, if I don't know him, it's better to say, man,

I ain't never met PIMC, but free him. I love him. But if you act like, oh, that's my PENC, free PC, but you ain't never met him, it's like, what are you faking like a motherfucker? So you know some of that too, is you know, is how can I represent hold it down for him out here while he locked up, and communicate with him so that I can't represent, you know, not like I'm speaking for him and spokes for something like that, but just at least to communicate let him

know that we're holding it down for yet. If you need something from any of whatever, we ship whatever here and it's you know, it's funny, you know. The type of advice he would give me would be like with messing with girls on the road, a man, she strap up them host dirty, you know, she like they don't leave your money out in your pockets they're gonna go through your pockets when you were taking a shower, watch out, you know, ship like that, Like but that's real talk.

Like you know, I ain't got you know, I ain't had to lose the role legs to learn that lesson. You know what I'm saying, Ship, you tell you for I'm not a smoker. What are you smoking? Without smoking? I smoke backwards and these these papers not they're not lighting up these you gotta show. That's why I said, Man, I feel like a new ship like you just lighting in the smoke just hit you. He's killing Now what the fund comion there invested that? Now? They is the man?

I don't know, but put your boy down man on it. We need to told me he invested in lift. Somebody told me, yeah he Somebody told me he's with a hedge fund or something. That's you know. Anytime I talked to him, abody he telling me he's doing he's doing something involving a hedge fun. Yeah, they take your money, they invest in a bunch of ship. Yeah, what are you doing? I don't know. I'm going to get in

on it, but I don't know what he's doing. But it's working for him because and he always tell me, man, I ain't retired, but what am I gonna do for other than for the love? So he'll still do verses like he did the verse for me on Swinging in the Rain remix. Anytime I ever asked him to do verse for me, you always did it. And you know, but for sure, you know, I'm sorry I pay. A lot of it is you just gotta let it go. If we bring it up and talk about it, we're

gonna fight, We're gonna argue. We've got different opinions, perspective, we might both be right on whatever we're saying. But a lot of it is, hey, we went through what we went through this the past. God let us on. Now we're here. What we're gonna do about it. We're gonna go forward with this, be positive about this. So we're gonna you know, And then some of it, too, is taking the responsibility of publicly beefing with someone else

from your city like that, like you know it. It just sends more of a message that this is how to make it. Like people think, oh, if I troll you, you will respond, because if I compliment you, you're not gonna respond. And whatever they can do to get a response is cool because no one's they're getting overlooked. So it's whatever they can do to get some type of attention.

So I don't know, you know, I think a lot of it is just letting it go and you know, appreciating the fact that God took us, like I said, brought us through things to make us who we are. And you know, I apologize for my own he apologift here or whatever, even if we ain't wrong. Man, look we we saw. Man, Let's make it work and then should go from there. Where was you at when you found out Bush with Bills? Because I know he had

to be a legend to you as well. Man, I got crazy a couple of crazy stories about Bush with Bill just in dealing with him. Man, I got a man. Yeah he was, Man. I remember I met him. I was like twelve years old. This is like the first time I ever flew on the plane. It was in the airport around like one o'clock, I don't know, two o'clock noon. I don't even remember this because I met Bush Foo Bill and it was the first time I

ever flew you know. So I'm a kid, so I'm like, I remember a lot of that you know, and so anyway, I mean in Houston Airport, Hobby Airport, Um, some of these too. I know from fact checking with my mom. Hey mom, who was that? Oh that was Hobby. Yeah, I remember the extrememember. She knew Bush will be there too. So anyway we we. I see him in a uh I'm I'm a kid, my mama doing something. My twel

years old, so I'm, you know, almost a teenager. I see him sitting there with a bunch of luggage around him, in like a lounge area of a restaurant, just like you know, a restaurant whatever, just sitting there with a bunch of luggage and knocked out off top. I recognized him, but he's by himself. I'm like this bushell bill, Why ain't got a security rapple out mab with him? Everybody like, why are you by myself? I'm like them, Should I go talk to him? Count talk to him? Man? What's up?

So I just said I'm gonna go talk to me and knocked out, passed out in a chair and I just go to him, shaking tam. You know, I looked back and I you know, I had I had an opportunity to telling me the story too before he passed away, you know. And but uh, you know, looking back, I realized, man, you know, now I'm a kid. I ain't know. People

need their space, you know. I'm like, damn, I was mad, just respectful, like coming up to waking on about to sleep, talking to him, but why and he like, or what's up? He wake up? Get up? Like what's going on? And I'm like, and I'm what's up? Man? You Bill You're like, yeah, man, man, that's what's something. Nice to meet you man. And I'm just asking them like a kid questions. You ain't even asked for Instagram before. But I think I might have did get his autograph, and if I did, I still

have it because I have. I got Big Boys autographed to one time. I see, I got a story out to them. Okay, but yeah, but I met uh, I'm a man man. Yeah. But anyway, I'm a big fan of hip hop, especially back then. If someone would come to concert, it could be somebody I've never heard of, and I'll go I'm too young, just to see what they're looking like walking into the club or whatever, or see if I can meet him. You know, I never heard them just because it was hip hop. To me,

it was dope. But anyway, uh, butcher Bill. I started talking to him and I'm like, you know whatever, having a kid conversation. Eventually I realized, like, I'm kind of tripping right now, man, and I'm thinking eventually people are gonna come back and they're gonna be like, what the are you doing? Talk? You know, you gotta go. So I was like, damn, all right, bush Man, I'm ill let you and I left, you know, And I was there and okay then when I work, you know, and

it was just a great positive interaction. But I thought that's how all rappers were. They want to talk to you whatever they'll work up about. They I'll just sleep to talk to you. So then I'll go to the later on in life when I'm working for Death Jam. It was an artist that I'm promoting the hardest funk for bringing his records to the DJ's, putting his posters up,

passing his flies out. He come to town. I try to highlight him, thinking he's gonna be bush with cool ast fun, thinking he knows what I'm doing for him. He was rude as fun like man. It was a complete opposite interaction. Is what was Bush With? And it was like, damn, you don't know. I'm working my ass out for you. You won't he ain't even rapping. I don't even remember what. I'm sure if I go back to whatever year it was, I can think back the and ex off the list. It wasn't him wonting him

on him. Okay, it was him, but whoever it is, he ain't rapping no more. But then that that led me to be the people's champ because I'm like, I want to be like bush With. I want my interaction to be positive. When someone walk away from seeing me, they like, damn, they got smile on, They're facing, They're like, man, I'm I'm at Paul. That's real. Then he cool as fuck. I don't want it to be man, fuck him. I ain't never listen to his music again. I should have

stole off on him. Damn, man, I'm gonna go at him on a song like That's how people be like you, man, you shoot on people like that. So I'm like, man, I want to be more like bush With. Now let me tell you when I'm made a big boy. It was like a few years later, maybe like I might have been still a kid I was still a kid. I might have been like I might have been like sixteen seventeen. So it was around the same time as I was working for De jim Me and come in there.

It was like, well, we was just old enough to drive, but we ain't had a car. So they had a concert come through Houston and it was outcast I believe it was Air Cobato and it was The Roots and Cypress I believe, yeah, it was. It was Ship. It was crazy, but it was at the time when all of them were new artists too, so it was like quest Love opened up that I mean on that question, Love or the Roots. I met quest Love there too.

He was cool as too. He's just standing at the you know, one of the Witch Boost and I'm going up to him like, oh ship that you want to say, then that's crazy that I'm going back. Me and community, Okay, Me and comedy was at the show. We're sitting at the the Okay. It's the center of Mitchell Woodlands Pavilion

where it's outdoor pavilion. They got a lot of these all on the country, not the same name, but they got these type of venues where they got like front row seating and then they got like lawn seating in the back grass. Okay, so it'd be like it'd be like a chair seating, and then it was a walk away and then it was like a six foot up chaired seating. So me and then behind that was all the grass. Okay. So me and Coming that's sit in

the front row or the back chairs. So where the walkaway is in front of us, we're bouty like six ft up, eight feet up, but we're at the edge front row. So people walking so outcast before and they get off stage and they walked, they walked through h I see a big boy of walking and I'm like, he's walking with two security guards. I'm like, oh, ship, come in there. They'll go, big boy, damn, what's man? We gotta stop and we gotta like what are we gonna do? We way up here where like we gonna

racing time. And also me and Coming are very different in these perspectives. Comed There has more of a Houston mind frame when it comes to celebrities and especially rappers. And this is the mind frame. I ain't gonna be on his dick. I like them, but I'm not gonna ride his nuts. So that's like Ship the Houston mind frame would be a sold out show. Everybody mean mugging you. But they love you, but they just mean they don't want you to know they love you because they want

to be embarrassed. So you know, they whatever, they don't want you to thinking they're on their nut. So I'm more of a man. I love that person. Let me go tell them I love them, you know. Come in is like, yeah, I love them too, but I ain't gonna be on. So we're sitting there and don't we like just sit on the front row. But I'm like, man, come in a big boy or whatever, you know whatever. Man I said, fucking I gotta go. I gotta say what's up. I just hop down, jump over the thing,

just like I'm running from the cops. Jump over the fence. I hoped down, jump down by the six eight feet I land takes me down. Him and his bodyguards was like, WHOA, what's going on? What's going on? I'm still like somewhat of a kid. You can tell. I was like fifteen sixteen, so I might have looked adult tish, you know, I might have had like a little baby whisker mustache. But they can still tell them young, like I ain't gonna

come up like fight him or nothing like that. But and they're like, what's going on, Like, man, big boy, MA, I'm a fan. I'm just a fan, my fan, I'm a fan. Well, you know, can can you take can you sign something? He signed something for me? I still got that autograph to this day too. Uh, I said I would collect things like that. Like that's what I'm saying. I can't remember specifically now that you know, I for sure I got to go back and tell bush With.

I mean, I go, I gotta go see uh if I got that bush With autograph, I think I still doing it because I think it was on like a napkin. But in anyway, I know a big boy signed in the actual ticket I still got there. But anyway, that was my big Boys story. But going back to Bushwick, when I saw Bushwick, I mean later on, and I see him all the time, like I would see him at shows. We were you know, sometimes we performed together

and we'd be kicking the backstage, chommling it up. He also has a son always I connected with for a while me and was was always real cool. We still you know still all but like over the years, you know what I'm saying. So I got to know him

and his son, you know whatever through the years. But more recently when it came out that you know, he had stage for pancreatic cancer, that was kind of like where, you know, they kind of did like a kind of call to action, you know, you fun with Bush with kind of let him know because clock kind of kicking, you know what I'm saying. So it was like one of the things where you know, I was, you know, for sure restopped just to tell him, man, how much

you know, I appreciate him, you know whatever. I love for him, and we always you know, we had a you know, we had a you know, I always had a great connection over the years. But then he told me, was like, hey, I'm working on the album. It's gonna be basically my my last solo album, you know, you know whatever. You know, you don't really want want to say it like that at the time, but it's kind of like how he was saying, like, you know, I'm doing another solo album is basically gonna be you know,

is it? You know you're down to get on it. Of course I'm gonna get on I'm a professional rapper. And its icon legend, somebody I look up to inspire me from my very first interaction with a rapper of him, me wanting to be like him, to be a people's champ. So of course I don't get on there. So you know, I went to the studio with him, got to kick you know, chopping up with him, and really you know, you know, I did my verse. It was cool that,

you know, I actually did two songs. But you know, I'm kind of quick in the studio, so I did my thing. That's cool. But after that, we just chopping it up for hours upon hours, you know, And like I said, you know, he's somebody I've known throughout the years, but are it would be we backstage at the concert, so we still it might be chopping it up for a couple of hours, you know, getting ready to go on. But it's a group satting kind of you know as

a party atmosphere. So this's like real intimate want to you know, just me and him, you know, his son, a couple of other people, to engineer, a couple of people. You know, he just in there just chopping it up, talking about all kind of it is. And I got to tell him, you know, before I went to the studio, I told my mama, said, Mama, gets on going the studio. Bush Bill, No, man, for real? You member when you met him in the airport. I'm like, hey, that's my man.

When I'm trying to figure out to get like a real win. Was that you remember? That was? She kind of tell me when it was, that's when we did this, and that that's the first time he flew. I kind of you know, so it kind of you know, we remember that kind of thing. So when I I told b I said, Bushell, I'm gonna tell your story. Man, I tell him a story. Shout out to Bushoo, Man, I tell him a story. He say, I said, bush, I met you when I was twelve. He say, all

the way there, I tell my whole story. Say, oh, yeah, that was the Resurrection tour or whatever tour. Yeah, it was a hippy airport in the summer. Yeah I remember that. You said, uh, were you wearing summer clothes? And I'm like, remember that? But he said, yeah, I remember. So I don't know what that was you, but I remember meeting the youth in the airport in the We're in summer clothes, you know. Was that you I'm like, man, you remember that.

That's crazy? But no, I don't know he really did remember that, or he was just kind of putting on. But still, you know, I definitely, you know, I'm glad I got to share that with him, to let him know how much you know, he said, hold on, let's let's all give let's all give him a moment the size, what's the piece push with bills? Definitely that most people that most people I see what grills when they smoke or they eat, they take the grills off. You don't.

You don't take the grill off when you smoke or eat. I mean when you when you're on the jo I get to cheat. I can cheat, you know what I'm saying. I got the jewry stoy. So so why why don't people do that? What is it messing up or something? Well? Think about it. You got you know, your chain right there, and you you got to eat. Let's get you know, we're getting designing. You ain't gonna dipping in with design exactly. And you gotta let me get a coffee, dipping in

the coffee. Let me get a milkshake, dipping in the milkshade. Let me eat a hamburger. Or whatever, let me whatever, you know. So it's like you think about you don't you wouldn't do that with that. It's grills, it's your teeth. But it's still precious metal and jewels, so you know, you gotta some of it comes with, especially the smoking. It will tarnish the metal, making, you know, change the color a little bit. Well, when you buff it out,

it's brand new, back to new. Uh and in different qualities of the gold will get dirty, quicker, same munch of diamonds, you know. So when you gotta hire Caret gold, you can smoke. It's not a big deal. But you know, just it's just properly grill care um Me, I don't you know, you know whatever, I don't really tend to take my grill out too much. You know. I'm actually about to get some I'm about to go permanent on there and get some get something new. Obviously those the

ones that don't come out. Yeah. So, um so, is there a difference between regular gold and dental gold, Well, the dental gold, I think when they say that they mean like the higher quality of the carrotter gold. So typically there's like ten care Ago, four teen Carego eighteen care ago. Now there's twenty two care ago, sometimes four care ago. Bruno Mars made a song about it. So, but when you go to buy jewelry, it's typically tin carrot spoorteen care or eighteen care, eighteen care being a

higher care of being the best. But also it's boys whipping that gold up. Man. Boys are whipped that gold up with silver some other things. You tested, it'll be six carried goal or whatever, and they'll dip it to look like eighteen caret or dip it. I actually got a song called what they tell will called eighteen care go no deal because boys will get tin cared and then dip it to look like eighteen carret or fourteen care ago. And yeah, but yeah, it's uh but I

think I think, you know, I don't know. I could be wrong, but I think when with the dental goal, what they mean is a two care or order higher higher care, but which is usually I think eighteen care. All the dentists I know to use the eighteen care ship. We do the goals for all the dentists and is eighteen carre. Uh. That's that's actually how Johnny start, how he started with the grills, was he was already doing drewelry repair, already doing a few custom things like for

Drewry stores, not for customers, but for Drewry stores. So then it got to be the dentists would come to a I'm making you know, I need you to make these gold teeth for a customer who was getting them permanent. And then Johnny like, damn, I could do that on my own. What they can come to me? Why are they going to you? It can come straight to me,

see it? And then basically what it was, what was the was the first order because because obviously you was a wrapper, so that this was your side house of the grills, right it was when was the same time, you know, and if I first started rapping with the Switch House my first mixtape with the Swish I was in nineteen nine and nine before that, I was rapping with comed there doing talent shows or whatever, just trying

to make it. But you know, basically what no rap career was, you know, we was just you know, it was the first order with you and where you He was like, you know what, I could make some money off of this ship, Like you know what I'm saying, Like I actually, well, this is what I'm doing. I was working for Crime where I worked out of y Yeah, I was working for him, and it was at a

store where we sold switch house tape. It was like a hood store like you know, uh, you know, like a bodega kind of, but we don't call it that. It's just like just a store, corner store where that we sold switch House mixed taste. We sold hood t shirts that'll just had a name of your hood type ship on their north side or whatever, this type of sayings type of s on there. Then we've been there selling grills, selling gold teeth. But after a while, you know,

Ship started picking up. It was like, Okay, I gotta, I gotta move out of here. I gotta you know, I could get money in other ways, but I would really Originally I started out working for Crime doing the promotions. That's the first time where I actually ran a shop, ran a grill shot and then even then it was still working for Crime. He paid me a salary and I would sell grills and I was a salesman, but

he did everything. He took everything, and then eventually he was like a look, I'm gonna do something for you man. I may introduce you the Johnny Man it's you know, and he's like all right. I was like bed ship, yeah, yeah, and he basically gave him. Yeah. But crime had different people to crime had somebody in New York that was making on me as somebody and uh, you know, but Johnny didn't majority because it was local in Houston. But he had multiple year he got all kind of stuff

going on. But it wasn't It wasn't like a celebrity who came to you and like and then he was like, you know what this is, this is something I want to invest my money in. Well, I think it was just no, it was more like just the hustle because Little John was the first celebrity I did. But before that, it was just I was making money, man. I was making a kind of money selling grills, and I would The hustle is you pass out flies with your number on it, with the prices on it, and people will

see it. You go to all the different cities or towns that in the three or four mile RADI three or four hour radius, you know what I'm saying. So I would go to Dallas, Santonio, Austin the same places I'm going to sell switchhouse tape because keep this in mind too. I was selling Switching House mixtapes. Before I was rapping on them. I was promoting and distributing. I

would press up this. I would press up the CDs and the tapes, and I also would distribute them and go to the stores, fulfill the orders, take them back to watch ron clg Dash. That's what T Ferris was doing too. We came in at the same time doing that before I was wrapping the Switch House. So I got to see in Ship the same grill hustle in Houston. I can do this out of town, So I go to Dallas all these places, put my number down with

flyers of the prices. They already were traveling to Houston or places to get grills, go or to whatever whoever. Their local hood didn't but it was it's like it ain't a good selection of people to go to. It's only like one or two or maybe three in Houston at that time they were doing permanent grills. They were like, hood didn't like doing that. So it's like, ship, where can you go? So you know, doing that it was

just working. And I would go to Louisiana, same thing. Lafayette, like Charles Appulus is on the baton ruge and then even in every direction, you know what I'm saying. So it just it got to be a real hustle for me. But little John saw it was like he knew who I was as I was at that time. I was a d J. I was DJ, and I was an artist, switch house, a freestyle artist. But I kind of a lot of people, you know, I kind of got more

recognition as a DJ at that time. At that time, DJ Paul, the other artists, I think a lot of they more respecting me as a DJ because I wasn't hound hounding them for versus and all let me act like I'm friends with you and all that. It was more like I'm a DJ, I play of music. They respected me for that because I really will support people

I funk with. And whereas the fans sunk to me as being a rapper, they didn't give a funk about me DJ and the fans with me was being a rapper, but the the other artists, they sucked me as being

a more DJ. So it was a lot of other the artists I sunk with, I sunk with t I real tough, real heavy, you know, even as I was rapping with the switch house and you know, you know when twenty Folks came out and you all around then, But it was more as me being a DJ and then as an artist thing came it was like, oh, ship, you rapped. Two ain't know you wrapped. And then it also let me just you know, it just it worked for me because I saw how people You know, man,

everybody is a rapper or a DJ or a producer. Everybody, so everybody who's seen any type of success, and there's all types of different levels. You get everybody coming up to you, Hey, I want to be where you at? How can I be there? Can you? How can you put me on? Put me on? Put me on, put me on? So ship this man, I would just see how you would get turned off shut out. As I'm a rapper, they put me on, put me on, and they on want the funk with you? But I'm a DJ.

Oh you Hey, I'm ana DJ. I can play of music. Then they oh you can play my music, let me with you. Ship. It just was like reverse psychology. And then when they when they when they would find out that I wrapped, it would be damn, you ain't even tell me you wrap. But it would be like yeah, because I ain't trying to put you out like that where you ain't want to suck with me no more, because you know, you see how that goes. It worked for me, you know what I'm saying. I just I

let that. I let my other side hustles, you know, grow, so they when I had an opportunity for me to be an artist or a rapper, you know, I had all kind of money wise monetarily, I had my money, so I didn't rely on record sales. My network was already strong because I was already distributing in other people music, and I was a salesman selling grills and selling music, so I knew what, you know, just sell my own music. Being an artists with the kind of took I knew

being a salesman who distributed to Switchhouse tapes. Sometimes I can tell which, you know with the fans, they work with this artist or that artist, so they like when you say this or that and then right right, so yeah, I could adjust, like okay, they like when I do that. Partners on the whole Jury Store, just the grill part, all of it, all of it your jury store. We're actually we were branching out. We're about to branch off.

We still got the Sharpstown store of course, got the new and uh C too for rich in Houston, the big one, the two story. He Johnny got his own. He Johnny went from doing jury repair in his garage to selling grills in the mall to having his own mall. Man. So you know, man, you know it's it's definitely how does the want to but somebody wanted to start getting the jury business? How do you how do you even begint? This is why I love Johnny bro He changed my

life as beat me being a hustler. I can sell anything, I can hustle anything. So when you got that type of skill, you know, how can you do that without going to jail? How can you do that it with integrity, to respect when you're not selling something this whack of corny or how can you do that and make a career out of me? How can you do that? You know? Just all that. So for me it was a whole lot of you know, I love grills, I want grills,

so I want to sell them. Then I can make a lot of money off of this because a lot of people at the time who was selling grills were charging too much money. Or we're doing bad business where they take your money and your grill mold, but you wouldn't get your grill and you got a hound them for their grill, you know. So I just saw myself as men, if I can do a good business, I'm gonna win, all right. And Johnny gave me that opportunity. That that's what Johnny started off as he would give wholesale.

Did you did you? Did you fund him first? How did he like? How did like like you know what I'm saying, like, no, no, he's done it. It was all Johnny. Okay. So me, I would when I'm working for crime, doing grills, doing selling grill modes whatever, doing anything I'm doing crime, I would be like the driver drop off the mode. So I'm at Johnny's dropping off the most picking up orders things like that. I'd be

in there. It was a small shop, and every time I ever went in there, he would always be getting into somebody. He got this thick Vetnamese accent and then't be somebody who is from the hood of any race. There was from some type of hood so they had a hood accent, or there was from out of state. So he didn't know what the fun they were saying that what he was saying, and it would just be

a translation. No, no, he's saying, it's this, No, no, Johnny, he wants this, no this, And then you know, after that, eventually it got to be a while I'm in there dropping off grill most ship people say you like outside, I didn't know you. I'm a rapper too, and he's like, you're a rapper and you sell grills whatever, and I'm like, yeah, well, you know what whatever, And then it got to be a ship. We can do this together, and we're way

stronger together. And Johnny always from the jump Johnny got a part of my music too, just like I got a part of the Jews. Johnny told me from the jump Man, Hey, look the same way you love JR. That's how I love music. I can't make no music. I don't know how to make music, but I want to be a part somehow, whether it's doing concerts, you know, just investing something. I want to be I want to

be a part. So that's why we always had kind of messed the way we have the juror is this thing I do the marketing, I do things like that in terms of the marketing and outreach. Uh. Big part of what I do. Yeah, A big part of what I do is customer service. When people and there's problems. Of course, that's when people don't really call me unless they got a problem and they the problem because we're gonna spoop it over. That's all I think, too, is it?

You know, customer services number one to us. But the business run itself. He running so I'm able to do my music and collect the check at the same time, cross promote and everything I do. But it just it just was like, why why not we got a team up, Let's do this together. And me, I'm a very loyal person, so I'm not the type to let me do this on my own without you to x you out so that I can make a little bit more money. I'm

more of a let's build this up together. You got kids, I got kids, will pass this on to our kids together. You know I'm more of a builder than I am over let me go do it on my own. No man, stop, even you got your girls, little girls like you get those girls, Charlie Hey. But this is why, this is why I love Journey because now but it might be you're looking good, but this is why I love Johnny because the same opportunity he gave me to go hustle and make a living and make money off of this man.

He get that to We got thousands of wholesale clients around the world, so that you know, instead of him franchising off and having a Johnny Danger Company in every city, there's like ten Johnny Dann company people who are getting their wholesale from us, but they're their own business. So yeah, I appreciate that he empowered you to be your own hustle, to to build your own business for your kids. You know what I'm saying that That's why I love Johnny

because he get an opportunity. I've seen him time and time and time again, get that opportunity to what's the first thing approachon to do if they want to get into the well? I mean, because you had I would say this, No matter what, it's very easy to get tempted to run off of people money or charge them more and get them. Uh, they paid ten thousand, but let me act like they paid nine eight because I

need some new rooms or something, you know. So I think good business and customer service is key a one key to long term business. Now, if you want to go out and hit licks come up real quick. That's a completely different business structure. You know. My business advice I can give you is for long term careers or something you can pass on to your kids and make millions of dollars off. Yeah, if you want to make a couple of thousand real quick and go here licks

and burn people on their orders. But you want to make some millions, yeah, you can't do that type of ship. But that's what man. You know we're talking though. If you want to sell jury, the best advice I would get to you if you like, man, go talk to Johnny. We gotta. We have a whole department. This a wholesale department. This is just as big as the gold casting or diamond setting, or shipping or any other department we have those. That department is huge, man, And that's also why we're

able to sell four hundred grills a day. You know, it's it's crazy to be to be able to do this much. But it's not because they you know, we got you. You know, we got in a movie called um you hope they served Ben Hell? Oh yeah, my boy Tuckle Max. So how the hell are you getting a movie like that man. Uh it's a yeah, man, it's a you know, I'm not that good at active,

but I think that might be where it started. They put me in the in the movies that they not the not the mainstream successes, but that was they didn't make some money off of that. It's based off a book. My boy. It's a real person named Tuckle Max. He got a book. It was on the New York Times best seller for like teen years something crazy, like I think he might have broke a record or something. He was.

But the book is like a story he wrote which is basically like adventures of getting sucked up and and fucking girls and just reckly ship three girls in one night and I ain't wear I got so drunk and I threw a ball over the floor here and there. Oh ay, one time I had to ship in. This girl gave me head while I was shooting, like it's like this, yeah, but it's all true stories and uh, you know of him and I had asked me. I was like, hey, bro, these all can't be your stories.

They gotta be like you and like four or your homeboys, and you all put them together with he like, well, it's just me. But anyway, I made him through some of the else When the first time I went to iraq Um with the U s O, I went with my boy Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone and Jamie Kennedy, you know, the actor comedian. He had a book out and uh, Tucker Max, Uh, he's the one who wrote it. He like CO wrote it, you know what I'm saying.

So anyway, I was he was talking to him and he's like, oh, Ship, hey, my boy, Tucker Max, say what's up? Man? You know he could helped CO wrote my book. And I'm like, oh, Ship, tell him myself. I'm trying to write a book too. Anyway, he wrote a bunch of he co he helped Tiffany Hadds right with her book. You know, I don't you know, I wouldn't in on their writing problem how they do it, but a lot of times when they write books like that, you like do an interview and then it to be

kind of transcribed kind of or whatever. I don't know, but whatever. Anyway, but if you look on the book The Last Black Unicorns, like Tivy hadas Tucker Max, I'm like, oh, Ship, my boy, I've seen I've seen that. I was wired up when I've seen that. But yeah, he that's how I made him. And I'm like, damn. He's like, yeah, I wrote a book is on the New York Time best seller but you know he like co wrote like a bunch of other books. So we got to be cool.

And he's like, hey, they're gonna and I talk. I was like, hey, bro, if they I can't act for ship. I ain't been him with like three or four movies, but say, man, if you make the because he said they're gonna make a movie out of the book, A bro put me in the movie. Man, I try to get in that movie just because I'm trying to get a movie credit. So that's how that's how it basically happened.

He put me in the movie. He basically wrote me in the movie, which was like a parody of myself, kind of like my you know, my name in the movie was Grillionaire. So but yeah, shout to my boy. What's up now? Now you got a real you got a real you married a real system. You ain't married like a faith black girl, real real black you have? What has been like like that? Because what does that life have been? Because obviously we know you're white and you married a black girl? Like, has that been pluses

for you? Have that? Have people critiqued you for it? Like? You know, different people have different perspectives. You know, it's she's my dream woman. Anything now but anything I can ask for or could want and a partners, you know, see that for me, So I don't want nothing else. I would now. I never you know, I never been married and nobody else or nothing else. So I like that. So I never even you know, been this is she really the first serious, serious relationship that I had ever

been in a long long term like that. Even we got married on our two year anniversaries. So should I don't know for me, you know, we get it different ways. Of course. If you look at the comments on the post or something, you'll see all kind of ships sometimes. But I think, you know, if you're racist, then you're gonna find some racist out of it or whatever. You know, there's there's definitely people on both sides who got a problem with it, you know what I'm saying or whatever,

But hey, man, I wish them the best. I hope they'd be happy. You know, I'm I'm happy, I'm I'm I'm proud to be married to. It is is what I wanted as being and my parents with divorce, and you know, this is what I wanted, Man, I want

to be married ship. I'm not trying to be like rapper married where I'm married but I'm working on the side, or or just just or just just entertainer married where you don't tell nobody married, you know, just you know, hey, I'm because it even you know, as a child growing up. If I want to think about what the rappers, you know, from being whatever age I was when I first heard hip hop? What what? What a you know? Who's married? Who talks about being married, who's proud to be married?

Or any of that? You don't hear none of that. The only thing you see is scandal side bitches, baby Mama's Dog and girls out love songs broken. You know, Hey, that's difference the love spectrum of the interactive spect you know whatever. It's big, but you don't hear too much of y'all married and you know ship like that or you know whatever, or just see people talking about it or all you'd be like, they mightn't even know he's married to. You find out somebody who got divorced, you know,

got divorce. I don't even know they're married, Ship, but you know, so for me, it was like who do I look to as a role model to be you know, to be married and entertainment or be a rapper that's married or inter racial. I never really looked at any of it like any of that. But who do I look to for just to be a marriage role model? Especially in rap music? You know what I'm saying. Like Ship,

it wasn't a lot at the time. Now he's gotten to be more, you know what I'm saying, So I you know, it's a brotherhood all the other married rappers, you know what I'm saying, and should be it's cool, you know' parenting to now people more proud to talk

about being parents for sure. Man, It's something that it goes a long way in us a lot of us, you know, like growing up having bad experiences, or coming from a broken home, or not having a father, having a father addicted the drugs, like you know, all of the things. Was like, Okay, who do I look to, you know, as a role model and rap as well? Like Ship? You know, it's something that to be proud of being a father and all of these things to be married, it's something to be proud of. To be

a father, something to be proud of. So it's I try to do, you know. It's what I wanted. It's my dream. I wanted to be married, had kids and be happy with my dream like a motherfucker. Now you went on tour with tchech mind Yeah, my boy like and l Bill as well. Yeah, yeah, how was that it was? We actually toured twice once. We toured in like two thousand and three, but it was just like, I think four or five shows. It wasn't a whole

lot fourth probably the labels. Yeah, yeah, well maybe like at the beginning to being even then it was a weird experience showing up to the first show. It was I think it was in job. I don't know if it was the first one of the first shows. Yeah, yeah, he was. I remember we did a show in Joplin, Missouri, and it was like we should be pull up and there's people waiting there, but they got on black trench

coats as hot as they're gonna black trench coats. Yeah, they got their face painted, and we like, man, what's going on? It sat We wasn't something we wasn't used to when we go into Yeah we like technicians. Yeah, so it was something he wasn't We didn't know what to expect, and it was it was a dope interaction to see the combination of his fans and my fans, you know, because you can see some people were there for me, some people there for him, some of there

for both. But then for sure, it was a dope experience that first time we did the first shows and that was my first interaction with juggalos like that, and it was dope, just saying, you know, I thought that was so dope to have fans that, especially in hip hop broke because being a fan, it's not cool. You can't be no fan you're Dick Rider. They ain't no

fan as you're Dick Rider. Yes, I haven't been to the crazy, but it was it was It's dope to me to see people that are proud to be a fan of you and they and if you don't like it, they're ready to fight you. That's like what That's how Zero is to me. His fan base. Zero has my boy Zero from Houston. He got a fan base where if his fans, if you talk bad about Zero, you say, man, they're gonna fight you right there on the spot when

you're tripping. So you know this. They don't paint their faces, but they yeah, and so you know, I was, you know, happy to see that for show when our experience that, and that was the first time. In the second time we went on tour, it was like a sixty city show, sixty day sisty city tour. It was crazy like sisty shows back back to that. Yeah, but it taught me a grind like that, Like damn okay, I see the

long time run every estate. He's killing man. He pulled up in the may back when we went to when we went to Kansas City, and we didn't always say I want to bring you bout my compounds studio. You pull up in the may back, you know what I'm saying.

They pull up to the multi acre compound and we get buzzed in by security and you see the back warehouse where they got there hundred or different yeah, different sets from show sets like they you know, you go to the other side where you see the warehouse with all of their merch over the years, everything from socks to Jersey's T shirts. It's like then then you see the other side where they got the studio, they got the paperwork everything. It's like, damn, that's the real independent.

That's the dream right there, the way they got everything. It's just it's very let's make some he he be wrapping his ass off to be boy you collaborative Silicone Valley based company jump Shot Media to create a battle Wrap game. Battle Wrap Is that still lit? I don't know if it's going, if it's still active right now. I think gets another one. I've seen another one that Bernard did. Um, but yeah, it was kind of dope.

It was like, you know, this is the early stages of interactive apps type, you know, interactive type of things like that. But it's just dope to be a part of that. You know, growing up in Houston, I wasn't a part of the battle rap scenes. So it was like it was something that I was Eventually there's gonna be like FaceTime Texas. And you know, some of it though, is the doing it, because the in the battle rap,

you know, it's a performance. Yeah, that face to face disrespect in your face in front of all your people, that's you know some of that is that because if you if I'm just in my room with all my homies. You know you're holding your nuts a lot. Yeah, I'm really holding you face to face. It's like you might steal off only right now. So you know everybody, you gotta be ready for all of that, these people with anybody, you know. But that'd be what that battle rap is

all about. But that also is why I never really personally got into that lane, because man, somebody talk about me like that. Man, I'm gonna be ready to fight. I'm saying of it. Of watching it and you shout out to my boy to Jack arrest in piece to jacko. Man, he really got me on too watching Have you seen this battle buon up battles on YouTube? Have you've seen this battle You've seen this bat all he went in. Yeah, Yeah,

we were that's my that's my boy. We actually did, uh we man, big rest in peace man, we uh we we actually did. We went on tour to Sweden. We did a festival over there and it was a big it was a battle rap going on, like a battle rap concert going on. It was like fifteen countries here and keep be all over the world. I gotta come,

I gotta sw Yeah. But that was my first time being at a battle rap live in person and seeing all of it, meeting these artists, seeing how they see the nigas that try to jump asap Rocky did you, I don't know it. It was a few years ago when we was there. I thought about that that when I've seen it, I'm like, damn, I wanted it. Was they there on it, but they looked like they was a little younger niggas yesterday. The two niggas, two niggas. Yeah, I see them today back as the bars Kiden. I said,

niggas trying to jump that rocket. That in my mind. Yeah, but um, you're listening to Paul Wall. We started this to pick up our legends and tell people to their face that you know your grace and so many people are and our culture that they we don't salute our culture. And this is what we want to change. You want to change the narrative of that. We started drink Champs in order for us to give people their flowers. Why

they can smell them. They thought so when they could tell them they drinks where they can drink them, you know what I'm saying. And they smoked while they could smoke up, you know what I'm saying. And we want to tell you, man, you know you've been out here. You know, represent the hip hop in the right way, playing the game in the right way. And we want to tell you we appreciate you. We want to tell you salute. We want to tell you, man, keep doing

your thing. I want to tell you I'm ordering a new grill, my son and grill and I'm all all three of my sons are grill and um. But man, we want to tell you, thank you, Man, I appreciate you. Man. It's just drink Champs and man, give your flowers right now. Hey man, anybody get anybody called Tony Manning and get a grill with a hashtag on whatever, telling drink Chance, giving that you drink Chance discount. Man will give you attempts in off top. We'll take a picture in the drop