EYL #131 E-40 on Owning a Wine Company, & Investing in Startups

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All right, guys, welcome back e y L. This is Legends only, another Legends only edition. This is a fact. You know, it's always fun for us to talk to legends in the game, and when we say the game as far as hip hop, but entrepreneur game as well. But you know, we grew up on music, so coming from New York, you know we was heavy East Coast influence.

That's a fact.

But you know, a lot of people from the West Coast really changed the game and really got up y. So of course, you know, you think about the obvious name Snoop and Dre, but you can't talk to West Coast without forty Rally sprink.

That was the first time I asked you, it's crazy. That was the song that got me. It was that shug.

My brother played out.

Like who's that were like, it's that news vibe. It's called forty. I'm like forty, I dig it, I dig it. So he needs on introduction. E forty, you know, legendary just in every aspect of the game. He's actually been in the hip hop game for thirty five years. That's crazy.

It's crazy.

I was born in eighty four. He came out in eighty six. Yeah, so that's crazy. The long Jemmy is just that might be the Guinness Book of World Records, Like yeah.

Short, is it too short? Too short?

And like iced tea, you know, but you.

Know, I came out, My actual first project came out in nineteen eighty eight.

It was music on the shelves and everything.

I haven't rapping since I heard sugar Hill Brand Gang when I was you know, in nineteen seventy nine. I was eleven years old. Everybody was kids back then, you know, for my age group. But anyway, you could just say I start. My first official album came out in nineteen eighty eight, so that's thirty three years.

It's still a long damn time and lifetime. But I mean I was rapping at college in eighties, in eighty six.

That's where you got eighty six from Okay, talent shows and stuff like that, you know, in college at ground State University.

Yes, yes, yes, So let's get into this. Let's get into this. We we always love to talk from a different perspective. Most people they give interviews, and if they're entertainment or their sports, it's always about their career as far as the musician or their career as an athlete. But I feel like, you know, people have way more to offer than just you know, what meets the eye. And e forty to a perfect example this as far as being an entrepreneur. So we'll talk about all the

Him to really you know what I'm saying. You can see the similarity.

Yeah, so what let's take it back to the beginning stages. What made you go to independent route and how did that look in the late eighties early nineties.

Well, you know, being in the Bay Area, we kind of built for that kind of stuff. You know, as a teenager, you know, you know, I had a clothing store man, you know, on Solonno Avenue in Millersville, in Vale.

California, and I knew I was on my way.

To be an entrepreneur then, you know.

And you know with music, when we you know, we actually had to you know, we ain't had no choice, bro, We didn't have the opportunities that at a lot of other rappers, especially New York rappers.

Bro, like New York rappers, that's where it's from.

So you know, they had a little easier, no disrespect, just like we just I'm from a small city, so I had it.

We had it kind of harder than any city in the.

Bay Area we from. I'm from Vallejll, California.

Not Oakland, not San Francisco, not Richmond, Layhell, you know what I mean. But we vlailed rock with all soils. But anyway, you know, it was by force, not choice.

Man.

You know, if I had.

Opportunities other rappers had back then, maybe I would have did it, you know. But then again, I was always a businessman, and my uncle Saint Charles taught me, well you know what I'm saying, So I always if it made sense. If it didn't make good business sense, it don't make sense at all. So that's what I was always told, you know what I mean. So we did it the right way man. You know, started off selling the tapes out the trunk of the car on consignment.

Ahead and order from this.

You had a barcode of our albums on there and have like a detailed how would you say this, like a bio of everything that we had going and where we were from and all this and uh. And he put it together like the weather man and so you know us with the great music we had, you know, because you know, all the soils was rocking with us because we were speaking.

Everything we were speaking, they was living.

You know what I'm saying, So curve, we were just the curve commentators you know that actually was in it.

You feel me not not no fake shit, you know.

So that's how.

I'm unfolded in the late eighties obviously for the hip hop area that this is a different, different type of sound Laos obviously a lot different from other parts of California. Who who was the musical influence that you're pairing your game after at the time, as far as us CEO's are just rappers at all, but just rappers.

See, yeah, rappers. I would have to say, too short, Big Bro, too short. Uh empty Hammer, I would say, uh uh, Magic Mike and Calvinty out of Richmond, California. If you're looking at style, the style of rapping, the game that they were spitting and you know, and all that stuff combined.

You know what I'm saying that that all unfolded Hammer with.

His you know, taking things to a whole other worldwide stage and just being from the band, just letting the whole world for everybody know MC Hammer to short his game and you know, his selling making customized taste for dudes in the hoods, you know. You know what I'm saying, stuff like that, and then you know, and then it's circulating and everybody dubbing it just double the uh the conssed just like Calvalti and Magic Mic and they style and you know what I'm saying, it's like it was,

How it came up.

Ice tea really is and really was back then to this day. Bro too, you know what I'm saying. So it's so it's many, it's many others man. So that's that's what I was, you know, that's what I was watching.

Uh.

I love Luke Skywalker, Jay Prince, you know for their uh you.

Know, co status like being the owner of companies and they you know, they was up against a lot like government was trying to like everybody, like the States and the in the States they were in, there was a lot of people against hip hop and they stood strong on the front line about the about this culture. People like that mean a lot, you know what I mean.

You know what I'm saying. So you know that's how I go.

Man, So at what point one, I want to talk about your spirits business? But even before that, at what point did you realize you diversified? Because I believe correct me if I'm wrong. You had a fat Burger. Change, that's the first stop I ever heard of it as a fat Burger.

So at what point of wingstop that was in motion?

Too?

It didn't get it didn't get built due to the fact that at that time, it was two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine, we was in a recession.

And I'll tell you.

About that story one on a whole nother note, but it we I had. I was in the at least for five years. I went to Texas, you know what I'm saying, and got and got the contracts done and everything. I was locked in, like, had the plans already built out everything, you know what I'm saying for for wingstock.

For wingstopager Flatburger was up and running for three years along me and my business partner on that was my man, the lake Chester Mclockton. Okay, yeah, and then so you had a fat Burger and then you was gonna get a wingstop and then the recession came and then they just pulled the funding as far as like bank bank financing, but.

Now the bank financial At that time, you know, it wasn't about the money. It was just I had spent like six hundred thousand dollars on my own cash money on wing on Fatburger, and so you know, instead of I had that on the next round. When I was getting the wings, I was like, man, let me try to get along.

It was the wrong time. It was during the recession.

It was giving loans no matter how good your credit was, no matter what you had, no matter what.

And I was like, I couldn't get the loan.

So I just I just I just backed up and just brought myself out of the lease, the five year lease, and just had to pay a few dollars and to get out of it. You know, it was it was money. It was money spent that I didn't gain no profit from. But it's okay, you know, cause I you know, I got bounced back abilities.

You know.

I also had also had a club, you know, out there in San Jose.

It was called the Ambassador's Lounge.

Many people came to visit that, you know, from all over many many stars and my man Big Big von Johnson cam Yale was the DJ there every Friday, so we had that thing cracking.

Man, it was going down. Was the energy drink happening around this time?

So forty one is during the time of the fat Burger and the Wings South potential.

After you said.

Energy drink, oh youre talking about forty water. So I did that with my man Kobe. Kobe. Kobe got in me.

So first of all, before that, when I had my cloth, when I have my club, the the Ambassador's Lounge, I was working on like a hypnotic h kind of duplicate. It was called it was gonna be called Cloud nine, but that fell through that we didn't I didn't get that going because I didn't have all the avenues, you know, licens.

It was a lot of things I didn't know. I wasn't seasoned like I am now.

And then uh, Kobe had got in me because he already had high fee Hyphie energy drink popping during during the Hyphee movement, and he was like.

Fody, man, let me let me show you something I want to I want to sit down with you.

He sat down with me and he showed me the artwork to forty water, which is a kind of like a vitamin water at the time, and we and we did that, we made a few dollars and uh, you know that kind of you know went its way, you know what I'm saying, because we was getting kind of like I ain't even lie, it was kind of getting kicked off the shelves by other company, you know, ship like that happens, you know, your shelf space. They're like, man,

I love to talk.

You better know it from the bay and.

Don't say so let's let's let's let's get into this as far as one hundred percent ownership you all right, So, yeah, you're from northern California.

The same the same as the Emerald Triangle in the in the uh in Napa and in wine country Nappa Napa Valley.

Now you're right next to you, right next to the Napa which the wine country. That's where you know, a lot of wine is harvest and it's well known for line. But we don't really see a lot of black entrepreneurs in the spirit space, especially in the Wan space. Wine it's like one of these things where it's like a high end, you know, it's luxury. I so, a how did you get into the wine space? What made you because most rappers it's champagne is you know, it's like

Like I said, I'm right next to Napa. It only made sense.

And not only that, but I've always everyone knows, everyone that's followed my music for many years, from the beginning for thirty three years.

Know that's all I talk about.

Out as wine.

I mean all the time, like even if it wasn't mine.

Uh, Gallo makes a wine called Colorassi, big jug of wine.

Everybody has seen it.

Every family has had a big jug of wine at the at the house. You know what they're saying during gatherings and stuff. So I used to you know, uh, my mom used to keep Colorassi around. She had the Rhine and she would have the Burgundy. Uh and and maybe sometime that should bleed. But I took a liking to the to the to the uh to the to the Rhine and the.

Burgundy.

And so you know, at parties and the gatherings and everything, I'm bringing a drug with me.

You know. It was to the point where you know, I'm so soil.

You know, I'm saying, I go to Ruth Chris back in the days, you know, I pay the corkish feet the fifteen twenty dollar crookids free and.

Bring in a big ass battle of wine. Uh col ROSSI red wine Burgundy and uh and and and drink that and they and then my cat all my dudes be like, man, you got bread white, you just don't get some.

Some high power.

I would ask why, And I say, right, now at this moment, I won't this. You feel me. I haven't drunk, I haven't had drunk. I haven't drunk.

Carlo Rossi and I loved them because they had a big influence, you know, Gallo. But I got my own wine now, so you know I haven't drunk. And since I made my own wine, which was twenty thirteen, I got Earl Stephens selections. You know what I'm saying. I'll be on this right here. You feel what I'm saying. This is not you know Earl Stevens selections. You know function red blend.

So I think that's brilliant. Man.

A couple of things you did. Obviously, you branded it and you named it after yourself. Well you're Pep, the world is you as he forty.

They didn't know Earl seeds and probably some people still don't know what el seeds right?

Why you specifically named it after that?

And number two, you went straight to online was selling it before you even hit shows.

So what was the playing behind that?

Well, you know, straight to consumer is like the best thing right now, Like you know, you're cutting out the ason. It's like it's beautiful, you know, and you know it's good to have your stuff in the retail stores and all. That's fine, that's that's better too, But stretches, I mean, you're cutting out all the hard costs, all that stuff, you know, when you go straight to consumers. So I started off like that and the demand got really big.

You feel me.

So that's why I did. That's why I did that. But uh, getting back to uh, you know, selling it online. The uh did it online and it just starts flying, like flying, flying, flying, to the point where the de man got so big with all retailers was accent. How do we get it? How do we get it? Thanks to the power of social media, you know, thanks to the power of social media. I had those requests coming in from all of my fans all over the place, you know.

And so also.

When you sell it on wine online, you can get it delivered directly to your door, you.

Know what I'm saying. And you can be anywhere that accepts.

You know, shipping.

Some states don't accept.

Shipping, you know, shipping wine and then liquor, you know what I'm saying. So that's how I went man. And so the demand got so big where I had to put it in the retail stores. I had to I had to get a distributor and send it out.

So what is the process of actually having a wine company? Like, because it's like wine, like you got to crush the grapes and all that. So it's like do you just go to Napolo and say, okay, I want you know, I'll take you three whole freights of wine.

They like how they do it?

Like, is it like a wholesaler that's wine and just sells it to different companies and then they just label it.

We got tanks man, we got tanks. They don't do the stepping on wine with your feet no more.

A newer process. But you know, like I said, you got to go sit. I went to go sit with them. You know.

Of course you have to get your license and stuff like that. That's another thing.

You know, your first first start off with my California license. You know, that's the first thing. Everybody that sells adult beverages.

Really, no matter even if it's a dope beverage with whatever you is, you want to tap into California first. So I have to take care of that first.

After that, I went from state to state to state, the state to state, the state, the state states all.

These years, That's what I've been doing. People don't know why why we have it? I here now I just signed this a major distribution company. I just Scientist national distribution deal with Southern places Wine e Spirits.

Now everyone will start seeing you know, at least forty one states for now, forty one states.

That's a lot for a man that owns his own brand. You understand me, one, you feel me. So that's that's that's how it unfolded. Then you got to go you know what I'm saying, you start from. You gotta know some You gotta ask questions. All this stuff was not easy, and I make it look easy.

You know.

You gotta find out, Okay, who is the best person to go do my packaging? You know?

So if you look at my packaging, I ain't gonna get no just anybody. This is somebody that actually does packaging from major h adult beverage companies, several of them, some that you.

May have may not, may may not have heard of. Some you've heard of several times, you know what I'm saying. So and I have him. I had that company do all my my, my, my packaging.

Then you got different manufacturers. You got your wine manufacturers, you know what I'm saying. Then you got your distilled disteled liquor. You know what I'm saying, which is my hurricane Hurricane, my coypra belt, stuff like that. Then you got your sparklings. That's a whole other facility. These are these are pieces and puzzles that I put together. Then I go to Then you got last Goomxico. You know the distillery out there from my equad Into tequila, the Blanco Repo and the nail.

You understand me as soon to be extra in nail with the tall bottle.

Then you got your you know, then then you got your coniac, you know, your tycoon coniac from from Corneac, France, my VS and my vs O P and.

Then I assume to be XO. You understand me. So it's just so.

Many things and you gotta be focused, you gotta be dial in you.

This ain't This is a real business. It's lucrative and and it ain't. It ain't built you.

You can't. Everybody ain't built for it. Man.

I'm built for this because I've been on my entrepreneur you understand me ever since I was about four.

Hello, yes, I mean.

A fet fetcher, a real feti fetcher. So all I've heard is that you're super involved. So you're actually taking trips to Mexico. You're actually taking trips to fans, Yes, sir.

When you get to these places, are you like sampling tasting and saying you know what, nah, this needs something else?

Like what's the process like when you take these trips?

You know, I haven't had to do it too many times?

Like you know, well, I lock it in and then you've then from there you send it samples, you sent samples.

Okay, we find tuning it. We're making sure every that we're doing blind taste. We tasting them against other brands. You know, it's called blind tasting or you don't know which one you sip it. There's been times I've tasted my coniac and my Pottners. They was right here at this bar when I put this together, like the weather, you understand me right here sitting here, and we was

It was mine. Mine was the best period, you know.

So and that's the same with my tequila and all the other brands I got.

Yeah, so I want to go back just a little bit. You said Southern gladi is obviously that that's the largest wine and spirits distributed in the country. Yeah, how did that connection happen? Because that is the process where you're now going into the retail space and they're putting on ourselves.

So how did you can act with them? That's for me.

So so basically I was a I was with a company called Landy Koniac as a brand ambassador for about a year or two, right.

And actually Landy they out of France.

They needed somebody and I got this excuse me, I got this plug from my from when I had my my from my mammnessa that had to be hive and had he also had. He was also my business partner at the ambassador's lounge in San Jose. And so you know, when you're dealing with clubs, you know a lot of bartend you know a lot of liquor companies.

So this liquor company, Landy, was like, hey, we need to we need.

Somebody to help us get this out there in the United States because they were just in France, you know what I'm saying.

So and so we need you know, we need a better look.

And he was my Manvanessa was like, you know we need I got eat forty and they hooked me up. So they came down. We had a meeting and then they was like, can you get Snoop? So I called Snoop, put Snoop in motion with it, me and Snoop snoop and rocket for years. You know, you gotta realize this, like two thousand and two, two thousand and three, two thousand and four, somewhere around there, you know what I'm saying, Like many moons ago, you know. So that's when I

They didn't work social media like they should have, you know, like they should have been able to do it.

And social media wasn't that big. They didn't have Instagram back then. I don't think they had just got it in. It was a few things. So anyway, they that didn't work out. So what I did was when I did my wine. My man Mike, he used to work for them. He was like, I got a wine, got I got a spot in Napa that would love to you could do, build your wine from the ground up, all yours whatever.

Woof the wo. We put it together.

So he went from working at Landy to working at this winery, you know what I'm saying.

So then we went from there to uh, when I said. When I was selling it online. Remember I told you that the demand got so big I had to hit the retailers.

So in order for me to hit the retailer, I said, let me have a meeting with my man, Steve Harton over at Southern Gladis of wine Spears. So Steve, he brought me in and I knew him from Landy, from Landy Kneyac.

See that's what that's one thing about when you're brand ambassador. So that's why I'm mad at none of these cats is brand ambassadors. You can't be mad at them. They getting their feet wet, They analyzing the game.

You know what I mean. That's what I did.

I sat back, you know what I mean. I was a student of the game, and I soaked up the game like a beach town, you know what I'm saying. And I and I stayed with my connection. I told Steve years before I was, before I got my own stuff. I said, I'm gonna be back to holler at you man, I'm gonna have my own stuff one day, you know, I'm having my own stuff.

And I did bro and he accepted.

He came in.

I taste.

At that time, I only had three s k's. I just had the uh, the function red Blend, the moscato and the mango Scholar.

That's all I had.

I brought the slurri Ken in later, like about a year or two after. But when I brought on me and he tasted them, he was like, let's go. I showed them to our own line sales.

Let's go. I started off with a palette.

I got my palate, went to the first palette, went to uh uh Food for Less in Vale, California at the time, Food for Less. And then after that, everybody they took I took a picture. They took a picture and sent it to me. I posted it online. Everybody was like, oh my god, food for that just got it.

Woo we move.

Everybody else started calling Costco all the stories, all the retailers, all the on premise, off premise, Unsteady, the general market, the clubs, everybody, they was all they wanted all my product.

They wanted that. They wanted the red wine.

They want the muscatto and the mango scott and the mango Scotto was a big hit off top and it still is.

It's it's in the class by itself. It's one of one and I just took it there. Bro So anyway, so then next thing, you know, uh my man, the guy that's in charge of my portfolio over at Slept Southern Glad, his name is Kevin.

So Kevin was like, Earl, we're gonna see you. You're gonna bring in We're gonna bring in a truckload one day.

Watch.

I say, well, what's the truckload? He said, twenty one palace. I say twenty one palace.

He said yeah.

I say, that's a hell of them right there. He said, yeah, that's a truckload.

It's fifty six cases to a palette and it's twelve twelve bottles and in a case.

So you know what I'm saying, you bring it in a truckload.

You're gonna bring it. He really broke. I really brought it in a truckload. He said, we come to pick up a truckload, serve that shit all through California, because it's two branches in California. You got your you got your Northern California, then you got Southern California chapters of Southern Gladies of Wader Spears. So then they ordered a truckload Southern California. You feel me. So that's how I went.

And that's that's how I get excited when I talk about this, because really remarkable and incredible, and I'm very grateful and thankful and shout out to all my fans who've been having my back.

Like a massousse for sure.

Shell.

So all right, so being.

One hundred percent on you're owning one hundred percent, does that mean that all of the finance, like how you finding Are you financing everything out of your pocket since you don't have any business partners or do you have bank financing? Because if us financing and out of my own pocket, then once once that happens, it's.

A well oiled machine, it pays for itself. You know, you got to continue to buy product, you understand me. You got to make sure that you got some terms involved, whether it's thirty sixty, ninety one, twenty, you understand me, so that you can flip your money in time. You know what I'm saying. You know I get paid every thirty days, man, you feel me. Sometime I might get seven or eight checks in one day. Every day for

I'll do it all you feel me.

So I want to get to the I want to get to the Angel investment. Before that, let's let's take a hip hop moment. So you you've you've started a lot of trends and people might not be aware of a.

Lot of language, a lot of slags.

Your favorite ra.

Yolo, that's the model, that's the model yolo. Like so many different words that you came up with, like how did.

How did you.

How did you come up with language? And have you ever thought about actually making like a dictionary?

So wait, I might either have got this. I'm glad you just said that because he bonics, I feel like that man did that? Comes to me? Up? No, No, just to work he BONDINGX.

I don't know who came up with E bonics, but you know it do start with the E, so it might as well be me. Hell nah, So you know, man, let me tell you something I'm not doing I got.

I'm just a unique person.

Like even my people out here in Northern California trip on me. I'm comedy and I and I'm from the streets. So I just put my own ship to ship. You know what I'm saying. I make up a lot of stuff. Don't get a twisted but a lot of stuff I do get from the soils.

Not no rappers like the soils. And if I do get it from a rapper, I always get that rap. That rapper some dapper. You know what I'm saying. I always let him know, like my putting like such and such shit like this, Scott said, you know what I mean, that's how.

You cover he asked with that ship. You know, But for you know what I'm saying.

You know, you know how that ship so anyway, But far as me being from the bay.

We out here with that ship, man, we out here with that is them motherfuckers. Motherfuckers got my mouth pieces. Man, they you know they we spit them l rps. You know what I'm saying. Like it's gamed up university out here. I'm not the only one. You should hear some of my O g's. They they man, they sharpened than a porcupine spine.

You know, they extremely gamed up.

You know.

But but I am a unique person in as far as this rap game. When it comes slang, it's me. Everybody know that hands down, that's a sack, that's a physic.

You feel like that so Yolo thing was just so I respect that drink. Actually, now, Yolo ain't me. I say Yola, Oh Yolo, I thought Yola was you?

No, I say Yola.

Yola.

Yola means Yola means candy, ice cream. You know, Yola mean yolder you get my drift. Yola mean bugger sugar. You know what I'm saying. Yola mean, Yola.

Mean nasal Caddy made the yellow mean globa.

You know that's that's Yola. That's what we call.

That's what we call white lobster. You understand me. You know what I'm saying. I'm trying to talk over you.

Know what I said.

I'm trying to throw the twist and the thing you did. So it's just another word for that. Yeah, y'all you feel me. I thought yo, because he did say, like pea mac dremna do for the bag.

I think it was it was how much I saw that.

He had.

He was just showing a homage to mac dre on that. No, Yo, the word yo yolo is not me. I'm Yola.

You understand me.

Ice cream candy man, that year be coming in handy, you feel me?

That's me.

How was how was it coming from the like I feel like you know, like you you just when you're speaking of the bed used to speaking a forty, You speaking forty like he's like the king of the bag. So how is it coming from a smaller town? Did you ever get any pushback from Oakland or being that you wasn't from Oakland? But I feel like you still get associated with Oakland, like I mean like forty, like it's all a Bay area. Like, how was that coming up. Well, what it is in Oakland, we got so many I

A lot of people knew my my crew, you know what I'm saying. And so but but don't get it fucked up. We had to pay our dues. We had to let people know Balael is here to stay. And yeunderstand me, you can't ain't nothing, Ain't nothing gonna stop us Valayl. We we got test afford, the two you know, self self esteem.

Bro.

We was ambitious.

We was ambitious and and and you know we knew, we knew we had talent.

You know what I'm saying.

And I'm not just saying me, I'm talking about the whole b. I can go on and on and on and on and on and on and down. The lift of so many great rappers from Valail.

But her, yeah, who was that her?

Oh yeah, hell yeah yeah, her doing her things. She's straight from the feet too, and she read. She let people know she's from You understand me.

I love that because we are small now. You know, I'm gonna be honest with you, bro. People like Confunction, uh myself, Matt Dre, the Click, you know many others we made c C. Sabathia. Uh you know what I'm saying. People like that, We her, you.

Know, it's so many bro, we made it you know, really uh really good to say I'm from Valaale with your chests out like you understand me, like you ain't you you know it's the V like we.

Made it good to be from Valayale. Everybody scream that now when you're from the F I'm from Valale. I ain't from nowhere else. I'm from the V. You understand me. We made They accepted us, Oakland, all the other cities accepted us because we all rocked together.

That's what we do. You feel me?

So you know what is that when we were just talking about I'm glad that you brought him up because people forget how legendary he was. But for us growing up, it was I feel like, especially in the East Coast, it was like I ain't Wrap, but I would be who was who said that?

Like play with him if you want here, gonna bust.

Your ass like like outside of Wrap Street.

Oh yeah, he's by far not no suck at all. I ain't no sucking man. Just because he wore you know, baggy pants when he danced. You know that was You gotta remember that was thirty five years ago. You know that's okay, that's that. Don't mean that don't make you a break you man. Let me tell you something, man, A square would beat your ass.

I'm not calling a.

Hammer a square. I'm just saying a square will beat your ass. You can you know what I'm saying.

You just are that quiet person that don't bother nobody with the wonders on you boy, You know what I'm saying, blenders on you.

Mix you up real good. You feel me.

Everybody that's watching in the huddle, seeing them seeing this sweat, whoever square is, and you know in this bully trying to bully him. Man a bully man. Bullies get bull get.

Get the ass kicked all the fucking time, and just always remember it's always somebody out there tougher than you. Don't give a fuck how many hot ones you got up under your belt, there's somebody that got plenty more. And what I mean by hot ones is bodies. You feel me, it's always somebody tougher than you. Trust that buddy anyway. But Hammer Hammer is a great guy man,

Man, it's because you file bank reps. It don't mean that you broke.

Just know that job protecting your businesses, your LLCs, your escort, whatever you got going on, your personal you know, uh, you know your personal state stuff like that.

You know what I mean.

And so you know this man, you know when he when he when he filed for that, you gotta remember how many people he was taking care of.

His crew was about fifty people all get per diem and ship. When he eat they gotta eat like hotels all this. You know what I'm saying me, he was man, he did a great job man worldwide. He did his thing, and so you know, and right now to this day, people you know you can you can pocket watch the motherfucker pockets. You never know what Hammer got because he ain't broke. Don't get it fucked up. He's backing all kinds of shit. You know what I'm saying that.

I mean, he's a legend.

He had to remember when he went on. He was like one of the first dudes to get a deal with Pepsi. He had his own cartoon, I.

Think Taco Bell. He did a bunch of stuff, man.

I think it's That's why I brought it up, because it's very interesting to see a big legend look at him obviously another big legend and still give them homage at the time where it was like him, is that real?

But that's dope. Though I appreciate that.

I used to see Hammer coming out of Felton Pilot Studio when I'm coming out of me be Legiti and d Shot and Sugar, when we're coming out of Felton Pilot Studio and James Early Studio out there on Solano Sonoma Boulevard and defeat hammer would be coming in and he always treated us cool.

What something waiting? Woo woom woop him.

And his crew coming in with truth jackets and shit, and we're like, oh this hammer man, what's up man?

You know what I'm saying. And he going in for his for his studio session, you know what I'm saying.

So you know, it was always love man, he always and that's when we just like some little dudes on the total pole. You know what I'm saying. We ain't dead yet, you know what I'm saying. We recording, So he always been solid, not salad. And I hope that other rappers pay homage to other rappers in the future, you know what I mean, Because that's the thing. People don't want to give up, no doubt. They think that they're gonna be on forever.

You know.

Uh, some of some of the some of the youngsters, some of the older ones, like a lot of older rappers from my class, you.

Know, they just they kind of got they didn't keep their foot on the gas. You know, you gotta keep you can't never get, you can't never be relaxed. And another thing don't call nobody. And I'm not saying everybody know I'm a half a hundred man, but I carry it well. Man, you know I said I'm the best. I'm the best thing since the washing machine.

You did, you know, but but but but I'm just.

Saying, don't say oh man he oh, cause nigga in a few months, niggas in a few years and five six years.

Ago about down the line, nigga you old to the to the new rappers.

Nigga, you feel what I'm saying, like it just go like that, you know, So stop saying don't say that.

Don't say that because nigga, You're gonna be ancient one day.

Nigga.

But see if you can see if you can you know, have that longevity. That's the thing.

Now, I feel like we're like the only culture that looks down or old. But it's like it's a blessing to become elder, Like being an elder is actually a blessing and to grow old as a blessing. And like we always referenced that. But that's a huge line that she Gluke said, You're gonna be older a lot longer than you're gonna be younger.

That's just the fact.

So it's like even with hip hop music, you know a lot of times we devalue the legends and the people that come before because it's like, oh, they're old. Like how does that devalue the music? That's like saying Diana Ross, No, not even even R and B, like jazz, every every other genre of music is still celebrated.

How do you feel about that?

Like, I feel like it's starting to change now, But like Na's winning the Grammy. Shout out to Escort, like you know what I mean, Like, that's dope to see him win a Grammy after all these years he should have been one one.

But get about that. How do you feel about that?

Seasoned veterans are getting more money than ever, getting more popular.

I'm probably bigger than I ever been in these days.

And then I'm older now, you know, I mean, I'm you know, like I said, I'm a half a century you know what I'm saying. Plus you did, and so you know, I think that now that that that world old was hanging around for a while, Like when I turned forty, they're like, oh he oh, I didn't think I was that. People thought I wasn't I was gonna stop after that. But it's like, ain't no limit to this because I ain't slacking in my mac and on my on my microphone candy the way I spin it,

I don't.

I don't look ancient. I don't carry myself ancient.

You know?

You know.

And as long as you you got to turn with the times, are the times gonna turn on you?

When you when you want to keep your vintageless, you can you You're able to do that if you kind of like keep your eye on the ball and find a happy medium to rap over certain beats, you know, like I like my song I stand on that with joining Lucas and t I.

Y'all go listen to that.

See the sick ass gas I got on that every floor, wrote everything to it, you understand me. Matter of fact, I was the one who started to flow off. Then I sent it to Joiner. Joiners say, fouty, nigga, you killed this ship, and they made Joiner evencome harder, even though he already hard did TI I? Then then we said to to t I, TI I got a hold to it and killed that ship. So it's like I set the bar. You know what I'm saying. My verse set the bar for out mind was first, I let

Joyner killed that ship. He got a cold fan base and he got that's a cold man right there. That's gonna he's gonna be going down one of the greats. Trust me when I tell you that. Anyway, I'm just saying that you gotta be versatile.

Man.

You gotta turn with the times or the time's gonna turn on you. But you gotta also beat you. And that's me you did.

Let's let's get this Angel invest In conversation. So all right, you have an impressive portfolio of companies that you have invested in, one in particular that people might have hurt her baby Clubhouse early invest in Clubhouse, So let's talk about let's talk about I want to talk about Clubhouse specifically. But before that, when did you get into angel in the place Actually I'm just thinking about it, Napa Valley, Silicon Valley. So when did you get in to investing

Was my first I put like one hundred thousand in like I think five companies and I did that.

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And partner Supreme Syndicate, Supreme Partners Syndicate with me.

Chamillionaire, Big Boy, Trey Songs, many others.

Right, we got one syndicate and we've done we've done that same thing a few times.

So ended up being you know right now as of right now. Like my man Chamillionaire, he could have brought the whole syndicate. He could have got in Clubhouse two, but you know they would have had him. He didn't want to leave out the whole syndicate. My my my personal relationship. Uh you know how I got in with Clubhouse was my own situation.

You know what I'm saying, because you know, when you when you move around and you because it's all about it's not it's all about networking.

You know what I'm saying.

And if you're around certain people, things like that.

Happen to you.

You know what I'm saying. You know, and it ain't it ain't uh, it ain't.

Uh.

It ain't about who you know. It's who know you. You did what I'm saying, That's what it's about. It's about who know you?

You know.

So anyway to make a long story short and short story.

Long, I had got into me like.

I'm in so many startups like I'm just waiting.

We just wait.

You know, you kick back because it's a dice game, you know, you rolling the dice. And you know, just that one.

Company that you think ain't gonna be the one that you ain't even studying.

You know most school. I mean, I ain't studying that one.

You know what I'm saying, That one you ain't even studying, right, can end up being the one that golf of you know, three four five, you know, ten billion, you know what I'm saying.

And you put your imbles in that thing. You feel me and next thing you know, you get that call and you like it's time to drink up the whole bar behind me.

You dig.

So this is what it is, this is what it's about. So you know, uh, Clubhouse is a good one. You know, Clubhouse is a good when I think that, uh many people.

It's a new platform audio platform for people to just you know, get some game, you know, get some game because you know, but everybody on Clubhouse, ain't that everybody? That's that's all?

You know?

You got some You got people that really know the business like you had. They had Eli on there. You're like, must you know what I'm saying. They got real top pats and taccoos on that motherfucker. You got some people that just like like get on there and just talk that ship like they just know everything. It ain't got shit going on, but that's everything. That's Twitter, that's Instagram, that's Facebook, that's all that shit. But club House is the new the it's the platform.

Man.

I can't see it going no other place.

It might be other companies that's out there that's trying to probably duplicate it. I mean, have anybody duplicated Instagram yet?

You know, think about it? Oh no, So I'm wondering.

Obviously it's a club out started as a Silicon Valley way for tech people to talk about ideas.

So were you close with.

A founder or somebody on the inside because it was invite only at that time, how'd you come in contact with it?

To apisode?

Just being around it?

Man, let me tell you some when you go, when you when you call you, when you when you were being people use a.

Trip like folks.

You know, somebody called me one day and say, photy, hey man, who's your contact over at the Warriors?

Man?

How do you? Uh? You know, how would I get complimentary seats? I'm like, I don't know.

I don't know, brother, what you mean complimentary? I don't get complimentary sipts? Brother, I said, I pay for mine. So while I'm.

Spending all that money getting these ceased, you understand me. I'm from remote myself.

You know.

It's if you can't get you can't get no better marketing. I'm court signed. I'm having the time of my life, me and my wife. You understand me. I might bring my partners, you know what I'm saying. You know, and you know we were running into everybody, billionaires and all kind of You understand me, don't you?

Just especially when you're a good person like me.

Man, I you know, you know I hugged folks, I kissed you know, I kissed, I kissed the babies, you.

Know, shake hands, you know. Just I'm a loving person. I'm a people's person. You understand me. So I'm the you know, I'm the thrill of the party.

Man. When out when I stepped being, people gather around me like a you understand me, like a tackle truck.

Hello. You know.

During those two thousand and six trip trip or referee, yeah, it was called you chamelionaire.

I feel like them boll all, y'all. I mean you could not.

But Eve forty was a staple because it was when they was playing No No. It was like him ver somebody and they was like it was when we when we used to play Houston Travis Scott.

Now.

Yeah, so them them dudes traps will be talking big brocco, you know what I'm saying, and ship like that. It's like we are warriors. Don't wait, you feel me? So camus my camevus my folks, so camps. I got cam to come. He wouldn't he wasn't he Man, I don't want to be all atribute on that. I said, I know you low key man, but you know we in this, we in this, we we in this tech world.

Bro.

This where it's at this where this this, this where.

Everybody at and you can have fun and you know you're gonna be able to you know, promote your promote yourself so they can see you on a you know, when you when you see somebody course side, like when I've seen top Dog top Dog from TV. I tell top Dog this all the time. I wanted to see him at the games and Clippers. You know, he'll be over there with the TD hat just being hisself court side.

I'll call him top Dog. I see you, my guy.

You know what I'm saying.

I was choosed.

I it was joiced.

You know, so I imagine the people that seen me several times sit right next.

To the Warriors bench.

Now me what you can bring up a good point that I never really thought about before. But it's a great marketing tool because even Chamelionaire, you know, when people saw him courtside at that finals game and it was like the tickets is like twenty thousand dollars. It was crazy, and they like it was a joke of like yo,

That one game that brought.

Up to the game I brought to the game. We see when you when.

You a lot of times when you buy tickets, you got to buy twos and threes, you understand me. So you know, if it's a Houston am I say going to get those two tickets, i'mnaly out there.

He'll buy them, and then I just pay him something that I put in as a bank account. I'll just give him, give him to him right there, check or whatever.

You know what I'm saying right then and there, and I do the same when he said I'm gonna come out there, going to give me to see.

Now I get in and then here reimburse me.

That's how you gotta do. You can't just go buy one individual seats. That's very rare, especially to sit where you want to sit court side. Then understand what I'm saying, So he he was with you, that he was with.

You, Yeah, all the games when we was together. Yeah, change the game. So we gotta have we gotta have course, that's what I'm thinking, Like, we gotta be sitting the courtside because not only.

Is it ad to, but it's a networking too, because I said, you bumping shoulders with billionaires and millionaires and the team will treats you like you part of the team.

I see everybody running over to you, especially if you're in these cities like San Francisco, yeah, or Miami or New York or you know like l A, Atlanta, Like there's a lot of stuff going on and a lot of movies and shakers in that in that.

Realm su stamp sustep you know what? That what I think? Did it? It?

Actually I felt like after I saw a millionaire there, then I felt like tech became a thing in the NBA.

And so now it turned me.

On to the knowledge that Andre Engadala had and it was like, wait, this guy's digging the text space and he's in the Warriors and then Steph got into the text space and I was like, oh, okay, just from seeing you guys.

There at the game, So that's dope.

So my question is, is there a criteria that you have when you when you're looking for new businesses, new startups to invest in.

Will you got it?

First of all, the main thing is it Cam taught me this a long time ago.

Make sure that there's.

Some reptical people that's already in the investment, some people that most likely have some experience in being in the tech world, whether they're you know, starting it up, being the you know, the owner of the particular app or whatever it is, or the company you know what I'm saying that you're getting into, or you know, just it just has to be an idea, uh, something that has changed the world. Because that's the West Wi too. We're trying to be in the companies we're trying to get into.

Is always the best early stage, you know, it's always the best I got we we Uh, people don't.

Even know I was in Ring. Me and Cam we was in ring.

You know, we.

Was a ring.

We didn't get in early on that one, but we did. You know, it's great from our portfolio, and we did well.

We did well.

We got in just a few months before they, you know what I'm saying, got acquired. And but I wish we would have got in earlier. Let me ask you, a lot of companies like that that we.

Are in early you hit a lot of you had a lot of artists that's getting into the text bage, whether it's nives with Queensbridge Capitals.

I've been in it. I've been in it. J Z Marshy uh Fincher or something like that.

Uh yeah, but put you you guys, Yeah, you have a you have a syndicate.

This is interesting.

So right she said you clean their trade songs and a few other people were big boy. So what's the name of it and how did that come about? Like how did that come about? As far as like putting a syndicate together? Yeah, how'd that come about? Cam Camillionaire, that's who, that's who.

That's who.

You know.

When I first got my you know, uh, when I cut my gums into the tech world, you know, it was.

It was I mean Cam that woke my game up to it, you know what I'm saying.

And and so he put the send syndicate together and was like, and it's others too involved, you know, and we all put our money in the pot.

We go for it. Mm hmm.

How do you do you have like a said amount of deals that you try to get every year with the syndicate or was it.

Just like we got we get updates every Cam give us updates. Man, we in so many companies I won't even reveal the.

Companies that we are in early stage and great companies, companies that billionaires are in, like and you know, and.

You know, I let I let Cam. You know, do he he's he's the one who driving the car because he got that. He's focused this all he fold. He don't want to even he want to do music. I got a verse from him. I got a verse when he came to the crib about a few months ago, a few years ago, a couple of years ago. I got a coal verse from him. I might put it out, but he ain't even tripping on no music.

And Cam, you got to realize Kim never stopped doing music when he was at the bottom.

He was already he was still on the top.

But he chose to, you know what I'm saying, This boy chose to, you know, do do this other thing. This thing you know that's still a Combe Valley thing, this tech thing, this, you know what I'm saying.

So that's what he focused on.

And that's and I was like, man, I wish I was in some of the ones he got early. Then I would have listened, you know, But I you know, a little bit before twenty sixteen.

So it's been five years.

I've been you know, I've been.

I've been. I've been on it.

And that's not bad from a dude from magazine Street the thirteen hundred block.

You understand me, lay Hell, California, Maine.

You dig I think I'm taking notes.

So if I see the name Earl Stevens, I'm gonna get Chamelionaires real name. If I see those people as angel investors, probably a good space to get into.

But you won't see it.

All the sudden. Yeah.

Well that's like John Henry he told us with the CAP tape, and he was like, if you see like a sequoi Capital, Sequoia Capital is a real big player in space. He's like, if you see like people like this already in the in the company, that's like a green, like that's like cold green, like go code, because you already know that these people ain't They're not stupid, They're not just gonna be to spend the money with nothing interesting to you.

I got a shout out because I used to see them at the games as well, being at Felicia Horwitz. They yeah, Yo, they top Pats and this ship and they you know, and they was days.

They always been cool. And you know when you greep you see people like that, you know what I'm saying.

You meet people like that at the games, and you know you're with the owners like I hang out with I was hanging out with the owners at the games, and you know, just a little bit of everybody in the Silicon Valley world and being there, I mean, you know, you're just around it.

How can you not get in it? You know? Now, that's a fact.

Networking is extremely important, and especially if you are privileged enough to have, you know, that type of access where it's like a lot of artists, entertainers. I remember Floyd said this once. He was like, you know, I hang around the billionaires. He's like, it's not just good enough for me to hang around a billionaire and put him put me on his jet. I want to know how did you get the jet? You can't bring me around just as a token, you know what I'm saying, Entertainer,

Like? Why why do we have a relationship?

What you got to ask? You? You're supposed to ask.

Questions when you're around greatness and when you're around billionaires, And however you want to say it. You know what I say, it's because you have to be a student of a gang. And a lot of times they don't even have to teach you. You could just learn just by being a student of a game, observing a lot of in terms are millionaires because our billionaires because they were student of the they were students of the gang. They they kicked back and soaked up game like a

Do you guys have a.

Name for your syndicate or is it just like I just do the prime partners partners?

I think I did see that. I like partners. I like that.

Let me ask you this being from the Bay Area, we introduced somebody shout the Meal Bran. He's an actor from Oakland. He was saying as far as like the gentrification that's going on Cifical, he's from an Oakland but like and he had a theory that like a lot of the sports teams that's moving out of Oakland, that's kind of like done intentionally to kind of like disrupt the city, kind of bring them more round down a

Because it's right next door, which is the highest.

The highest real estate market in the country, even even higher than Manhattan, and it's it's a very small area. So what is your thoughts on gentrification especially in the Bay Area? And what is your thoughts on sports teams leaving the band? I know you're a huge sports fan, so what is what's your thoughts on that? So you know, uh, you know, everybody won't you know.

Now we have.

Chase the Chase Center now in Frisco Warriors play, which is a beautiful stadium, but we all wish it was still at the.

Oracle, you know, in Oakland, you know, because that's where the great.

Times we're at and those can be come back. But the access to all of Oakland fans, they used to be at them games, you know, they used to you know, it was closer to get there. Now you got to go over the bridge, and it's a lot of traffic and this, that and the third.

But that is what it is.

And you know, you know, as we as todays go by, we'll get used to it and you know, things to get back, you know.

But at the same time, gentrification.

That's that's been happening for many years before we were even born.

You know, y'all know that, you.

Know what I mean, And it's it's it's crazy because you know, if your pockets ain't all the way, like like my house on Magazine Street, I remember, I checked up on the house I.

Grew up with, grew up on I mean grew up in on Magazine Street on the thirteen hundred block.

I remember that thing. In two thousand and nine, it was like seventy seven thout.

Wole three bedroom, very small, very twelve hundred square feet of some shit to total you know what I'm saying, It was like seventy seven thout wound, right, and uh I looked at that thing. Now that thing's worth like dan near half a ticket man. And it ain't nothing, it ain't nothing big about it. Just held the trees in front of it. Yes, stand what I'm saying. And that's it.

So it's like seventy seventh thout wound and now that motherfucker up to half a ticket.

So it's crazy. Even in the soils of trenches, the octagon, the smudge, it's still the same thing.

You feel me now.

They it's like it's the prices are so high, like, come on, man, it's a million dollars?

Really worth a million nowadays? No, it's about six hundred, six hundred and thirty thou wou huh? Probably you know they think about it, think about you know what I'm saying. Well, you you're talking before. Don't buy eight thousand dollar talk for you by house.

Don't do it. Don't do it.

Get you some property, man, Get you some property, and it don't have to be a brand new home.

You can take you could you could buy something cool, you know, just something that you can fix up. A lot of people got talents. They know how to you know, refurbish and remodel homes. They can do it on your own.

You know.

They might have an uncle, that's that's what they do for a living to come do that ship for them.

You know what I'm saying, you're flipping house. I got a few problems that flip houses.

Man. They doing well. Man.

They their money is working for them.

Man, you know their money is working for their money.

Man, you feel me.

They this is a real wild machine, and real estate is some of the best stuff you can get into.

Man.

Always buy a proper piece of the earth. Man, that's always yeah, that's always a plus.

You know.

Can we can we continue on with your diversification? What are your passion? You know they maybe people know about that is cooking the good fool himself?

Uh so, can we can we talk about your your venture into the rest of our business with the company or your company?

Yeah? Man.

So in the Bay Area, there's many, many, many, many many Filipinos out here.

Many and we grew up with them.

I mean I played sports with them with school Filipinos, like some of my best friends is Filipino. Like, this is just how it go man out here in the baker we're very diverse in the Bay Area. You understand what I'm saying. And you know, so I had an opportunity. I always liked the Olympia. I used to always tell my wife, you understand me. Since I was a young mustache, I used always tell you know, we all love lumpey. I one day I want to get a company, you know that sell lumpia.

And I wanted to be either a walk up or drive through, you know, because one day I wanted to be a drive through.

Keep them, keep them menu limited. You understand me, and just pull up. I want a twenty piece.

I want a fifty piece and that's all you can get a hundred that's the family size whatever.

You understand me.

So Woopia, lupia, lupia. Let me tell you what lupia is. Lupia is like an egg row, but it's not an egg bro It's a certain rap very known and the Filipinos, you know, you know this is a Filipino dish, and you know traditional Olympias with pork. They got to shange hai Oswell, they got pork beef. You know, you canna do shrimp and pork like you know, we do non traditional and we do traditional Olympia. We got you know, we got Pepperoni piece Olympia. We have Philly cheese steak Olympia.

We got my my Olympia mind is called the Earl Special, which is ground turkey with veggies in it.

You understand me. Yeah, And you fry it for four minutes at three point fifty.

Get your grease and grease high three feet all you can air fright, you know what I'm saying.

They don't take but a high second.

Main.

Then you understand me, and you get you different dippings you use the main. The number one dip that can fit any Olympia is the sweet Chili Sauce.

Was gonna say, I ran into that. The ta Chili sauce is great on that. Yeah, exactly, my god. You know.

So you know, and it's we're doing very very well for one spot, small spot, but you know it's going to be a franchise very soon. And I got connected with my man Alex with Toto chef Alex from My My, My guy E Rock, which is a DJ from the Bay Area. He he got one of the ease. He gotta sick with the tattoo everything. You know, I watched him grow up as a young as a youngster. You know, you can find e Rock. You know, he about to

So we've been around.

We've been around these cats for many moons. But anyway, make a long story short, DJ I was. I told DJ e Rock, I said, I called him.

I said, man, I need to get something walk get some lompia, ad man, you know what I'm saying.

And he hooked me up with Alex. He said, Alix had got me some ompia.

It was.

It was phenomenal, you know what I'm saying. So from then I was like, hey, man, let's let's let's let's let's do some stuff.

Now.

I love So you started a filipudo restaurant. Will He started it and I came in. It was it was a perfect match. And I came in, I put my guda in.

And and you know, and we and we was off off to the races.

I love that.

The reason why I love that is because it's like sometimes a lot of times Black people we get boxed in like we can only do soul food.

We can only do like.

If somebody from Asian can have Kennedy's Fried Chicken and sell us fried chicken, why can't we sell Asiano?

That's right, That's right.

You know. So you know, along with the Olympia Company, also have the goon with the spoon. That's my handle, the goon with the spoon, you know, and I got there's some soil ship. You know what I'm saying, Like if you can you can imagine a dude from in the trenches, you understand me fucking around with the spoon and the gumbo pot. You did what I'm saying, Yeah, you know, with the man, I got all kind of

He said, Man, they.

Say, my man, my wife was like you a chef and the good I'm gonna sit up here looking at forty page.

And why you don't make this for me.

Because my food looked good? Man.

I make food how I wanted, how I wanted to taste, you know, and people, some people might say.

Man, you're gonna eat all that food?

Man?

This that the third man. That's not man, Dude, I'm cooking. Man, you don't leave me alone. I'm mind your business.

Bro.

I don't even I don't go back for twos and threes and thirds, even though my food that good.

But I'm when you get older, you don't eat as much as you used to.

You know, when we was young, you know, our appetite was sick, playing sports and shit, we'll go get three and four back three or four times.

Here I come again.

You know what I'm saying. You know the only thing keep waiting on me. Man, it's just this adult beverages. That's how that's I'm really a skinny man inside. You know what I'm saying, I'm really supposed to be skinny. I went to seventy five in high school dripping wet. Yes, then what I'm.

Saying, then I ended up getting the ball er belly man.

Yes, thet me having that taste. And we be remiss if we didn't mention this. But you you have your your your own noodles, alumna massive.

You know what we got ready, as of course we got the noodles the only way, the only way we got the noodles.

Yeah.

So so my man, so that's my man going on for years.

Huh your so, so here's the deal. No, that's so, here's the deal. My man p you know him and my man James, they got rap snacks. They've been having it for years, and so they wanted to do noodles. So they was like, I'm gonna do they want to call? They wanted nothing but icons on there. So James had asked peace, who you want to put on? He was like people was like, man, put faulty on there. He say, put a little boozy and put me You know what I'm saying. And I love people for that, you know

I have my own products coming out under the goon with the spoon, So stay tuned.

You should start seeing that pretty soon. It's not noodles, I'm not. We're not in this for competition. We ended to you know, broaden our you know, everything, our portfolio. So I got other things coming in. More is mine is more or less like.

Frozen foods and stuff like that.

Shit you could heat up in the microwave.

And stuff like that. Yes, stand me, so stay tuned.

You know, Like I.

Got the goon with the spoon, that logo. It's a reason. It's always a method for my madness when I'm cooking all that kind of stuff. I'm just really pretty much branding myself, showing people getting them subliminally, like when you see a McDonald's sign.

Checked this out. My little niece many years ago, she was with my mama. I'm in the car, me and Mom's we in the car. We had it somewhere and my niece's in the back seat. She ain't number one years old. She can't she can barely talk. She see the McDonald's sign. She like, eat eat, eat, eat, And.

Mom, I said, moms, what she talking about? She said, she see the McDonald She wants some French fries. She see the McDonald's sign. She just seen the logo. That's all. That's all she knew. She just knew was that's what she wanted to eat. So that's why I'm putting that that logo goon with the spoon on all.

Every time I cook, you gonna see that goon with the spoon logo.

Therefore, subliminally it's gonna be self subliminal in everybody's mind. So when they start seeing my products in these convenience stores, and when they see them in costcos and Walmarts and Sam's and Saved Ways and Alvason's and so on and so forth, they gonna say, that's forty ship.

Right there.

Before we wrap a lot to ask you a question about another Bay Area kind of a Bay Area legend, bay Area transplant, but a legend that you were friends with Tupac Shport. I believe he's the first person that we haven't spoken to that actually had a relationship with Pop.

Right.

That's Tupac. How did you meet Tupac? And how was Tupac? Like we just you know Tupac god when we was young, but we just you know, he's a legend and we just admire him from afar. We never got a chance to actually, you know, meet him or anything like that. You see so many different personalities in one body. How was Pap as a as a person?

Man? He was cool? You know pop.

You know, you know the.

Terminology real recognized real. Yeah, that's how Pap was real recognized, real brother. So just by you know, my music at Tupac, you know, being from out here and being gamed up, you know, we popping back.

In the ninth early nineties.

Uh, I forgot what albumals that was. I think it was strictly for my neiggas one of them albums.

And he had shouted out forty in a Click, e forty in a Click, which is a group that I'm that I started off with and still instill in because it's my family.

It's my brother, is my sister, and it is my cousin. Be legit, you understand me.

So we we called we called the Click, so he said, he shouted out, he said, shout out to he forty in the click you understand me before I can even meet be fighting met y right, so you know, not too long after that. I believe this was ninety like ninety two.

Uh, Richie rich from Oakland. He he been new Pop, you know what I'm saying.

And so rich I've seen rich and I think it was June teenth out there and Dix my Davis somewhere out there, and uh, he was like, fody, Man, I meant to tell you Pop wanted me to get his number, I said, he said, He.

Said, twop, I want me to give you his number.

He said, call him.

I said, for real.

And you know, I just always thought that was just hella cool for Richie toes just to give me that number and to you know what I'm saying, to start that dialogue, you know what I'm saying.

And so I was like, right on, folks, And I called him the.

Next day and we talked and we just started building a relationship.

Next thing, you know, we met up.

And next thing, you know, for every time I go to the studio, he there, and when I'm in La here and now when he and the baby were kicking it like it became solid, not salad.

You know what I'm saying, we started doing music together.

I'm on he on my my biggest album, which is in a major way.

I'm on his biggest album, which is all eyes on me.

That's why we got it up. That's why we got it up. You go right there.

Yeah, you know so, man, it's a blessing man, you know. And he did, like I always say, he did so much in so little time. He died at twenty five. Just imagine all that stuff he did outside of the vocal booth. You know what I'm saying Like this, dude, imagine the movies and how much he would be making a movie if he was living.

Because he was.

Good in acting. Yeah, great, good actor. You know, dy be getting twenty thirty million in that movie or something. You know, you never know.

So I got I got one last thing, one last thing.

So the spirits industry, I know, you got the wine, you got the ready to make drinks. I saw a tequila and I saw kanyak. I saw a bourbon Is vodka in the in the in the horizon.

Jin was yeah, yeah they're doing that.

I had I have I had a molde made for my vodka and I didn't.

I wanted to I wanted to be frosted, not you know, I didn't wanted to be I wanted to have a different frost to it. And so that's in Europe now. So those bottles are about to be on the way. The vodka is called Tycoon Vodka. I have all the closures, everything already ready to the shippers, already ready at the warehouse. All they need to do is just get here and uh set up a product to date with my distiller and uh and and bottle them things and you know, get my pos uh from my distributor.

And uh we rocking and rolling.

Baby. Then second, I want to take a look at the shelf.

Man, it's there's still space for uh.

Man, I don't make me fill up that whole, that whole chef, Man, have no.

Room for nothing. I gotta get y'all some of this equot into tequila, the best tequila in the world. I'm not playing anybody that tastes my tequila. If you don't like it, you just a straight out, flat out hater because you don't want to like it. You just don't like me for no reason.

You might like.

You might not like me because one of your partners is a rapper.

And you want me to go away and it's your your your partners still might not make it.

You know what I'm saying.

It's how that shit be going bro for real, Like I did nothing to nobody. Mind my business and stay out the way so I won't get away. Understand what I'm saying. To make a long story short, I gotta get y'all some of this type of bell bourbon too.

You did to the noodles.

Put it right next to the noodles, scotto, Hello, any of this? Man? Cop can'ty sparkling wine? Man? You know we're going to go on and on forever.

Man, Slurricane hurricane.

Uh you know Earl Stephens Prosecco, Earl State, Earl Stephens proscco rose straight from Veneto, Italy.

Hello, So.

Are you gonna put out a dictionary at any point?

No, sir, No.

You know they were trying to get me to do that for years. You know, slang just keeps coming. It's just like it's I always say I'm probably doing app but that's time consuming, and things just keep switching.

It's like it ain't no need for me, and I'm like, you know, it's cool.

I'm just hey, man, the game is to be spreaded, man, so I spread it out.

I just thought about, you're up on the NF you in you in the text fings, You're up on the NFT wade.

I'm assuming you know about that for NFTs. Yeah.

Yeah, that's been brought up a lot in my interviews lately, and uh, you know, I'm we're still trying to work that out, trying to figure out that, you know, that whole NFT thing, and see what I want to do, because I know I have a lot of interesting things that can probably you know, go crazy with the NFP in the NFT world.

If you had a.

Scroll, a virtual scroll of like ten or twenty sayings with the with the sayings actually mean and having like.

A virtual scroll.

And then on the other like having rotate and have them actually translated to pronounce it correct.

Yeah yeah, I.

Mean, man, our culture, our culture is Our culture brings up all evaluations period.

You hear me, cuncture brings up all evaluations in anything, because we are at the trend setters.

You see how you just came up with that idea.

A light bulb popped up side of your head and he was like, Oh, I got an ideal.

You know what I'm saying that light bulb right did, Like, you know, that's just how it go. We steady thinking. You know, that's a fact. We're very creative people. And yeah, the way you come up with slang is like it's more than just slang. It's actually like a brilliant like it's not easy to like you really like kind of making the language Shakespeare.

Yeah.

Other fact, I'm gamed up.

I got so many sayings and what not.

You know what I'm saying, I like the grit.

Don't quit with me.

Man, you know it's all gas, no breakpass man, didn't steal but a motherfucker.

Broken down Bonaville and an old ass heel.

Uh, I'm gonna keep it pushing baby for they water then Fonzarelli. It's been a it's been an eye and a pleasure. Man, thank you for for gracing our platform. Sprinkling, Sprinkling before salt Man, don't don't don't don't ever get itself.

Before salt based, salt Bae, Saltbay don't know, he don't know, I don't.

I don't get mad at nobody.

Man.

I'm like, I'm the first of many things, slang and all. I don't trip on that. But I hate when other people try to claim something and then they argue with somebody else that they claim it. And when it all came down from oh G forty wader that don't never say nothing about it. I don't even I kick back, and just like, oh man, these dudes. I don't want these dudes.

Arguing over this word when they.

Just don't know. This ship been around before they was born. I've been popping that ship man, you.

Know, man, like I don't even know, don't. I don't get but heard, I don't.

I know that a lot of people get mad at me, like a lot of these young dudes fans, because if I say I came with a certain word or something, they get mad at me, Like, bro, it.

Ain't my fault. I've been saying this shit. What you want me to do?

Like, don't And I don't even have to speak on it. It's other people that speak on it for me. They'd be like, man, forty came with that.

They'd get to quote in the words and the ship I said on platinum and gold albums. These ain't no little low ass albums that I said the song. These are impact albums that I said certain shit on.

You know what I'm saying.

So they really did fan me that these youngsters they be getting, they fans get Maddy.

Well, so what he made it better? He made it better than with like come mom, man, ain't nobody tripping on none of that ship made. If I had, if I had a dollar for every word I made up, I'd be a zillionaire. Hello, because that fizzle and all that, that's you, that's you, right. I was the first Me and two Shirt was the first rappers saying for CHEEZI you know, take doing all that for Shizzle, Forshezi and

I mean.

And then I gave a credit to three Times Crazy. I said my niggas three times Crazy. Last he told me how to stay for Chezi because I was in the studio with him one day and Bart was like.

Bart was like Eve, but it's for Hezi, not for Hizzy. That I was saying it wrong.

Twice was saying Forshezi a couple of nights before when I was in the studio working with him, and then so I said, I said it like that.

Bart was like, but it's Forsheezy. So I was like, let me. It wasn't Keith that did it.

And I love Keith.

It wasn't Keith that told me. You know now, it Spasheezi. It was Bart from three times Crazy. You understand me. That's a group out of the out of the open, legendary group. So that's what that And I gave him that.

That's what I'm saying.

I show, I give the motherfucker's death. I just I tell people, I just told that. I said the whole group. I said my niggas three times crazy instead of just saying Bart, my nigga bort you know, lace me, I said.

The whole three times crazy, just to include everybody.

That's just how I do it. Man.

You know what I'm saying, Like, I'm from the bay when this shit originated at the game, originated in the base, so I'm surrounded by just all kind of slang and lingo.

What he's getting lingo from you?

This is the truth, is the truth.

Bro. I appreciate that.

Dame Dollard's dancing somewhere this interview. He's gonna Dancena be shout out to man.

He the he's the guy.

He got that's the that's the Oakland days. They day, That's that's that's they dance right there.

The town.

I'm jack a little bit.

Yeah, you own it, Jame Dollars.

He gamed up.

Man.

He's from the town. You know, Hellow Town business. Understand that's a fact. Man.

What would you like to tell people?

How can they find out information about your Spirit Company any other uh adventures that you have going on in your restaurant.

All the information or what would you like to You can go.

To Olympia Company Instagram.

It'll give you the times we are open, location, how you could order it.

You can go to my Instagram and go to my.

Go to my bio and push the Lincoln in to say Uptown Spirits where you can order all my you know where you can order it. Used to be just wine back in the days where you sitting direct to consumer. Now you do liquor now like actual ship, you know, the copper buildings of the world, Copper Bourbon ship like that you feel.

You know what I'm saying.

You can order online, you can go to your and what I asked all y'all to do, go to your local store and say do you look at my Instagram, on my Facebook, on my Twitter, and say do you have this?

And what that.

Local store gonna say is we've been getting a lot of requests for that. I'm gonna order it from my distributor that that sells it to them, you know what I'm saying. And that's just how it's gonna go. And that's how you build that demand, that the demand. That's how it happened with me with my music. You know, it started local. Then next thing you know, it's in the north, the Northwest. Then next thing you know, it's in the Midwest. Next thing you know, it's on it's

Man, it's all over the.

Place like space.

You know.

So if we if we, if I tell people, man, if y'all keep on buying it. I'm gonna keep supplying it and for as music if y'all keep on streaming, and I'm gonna keep on bringing.

It period, period. That is a fact. That is a fact. I appreciate that.

I appreciate that because, like I said, but for us, we take a little bit from everybody. It's like gumbo and you know, it's just dope to hear different people's perspective, like sitting with Jim Jones and him talking about Hall them and everything, and you know, sitting with like somebody from Massape from Louisiana and his perspective, or even like our god domn Keith from Houston, Texas to screwed Up Click, like you know what I'm saying, Like that's their culture.

So it's like we.

Watched I remember reading about you in the Source, man, shout out to the source and to meet these people, speak to these people who are living legends in our lives and hear them outside of what they're you know, particularly known for music, but in business, it's just it's incredible Man, this was fun.

This is really thank you man thinking off for having me. Man, I enjoyed myself. You know, it's always a pleasure when fixtures get together.

That's the fact. Man, we gotta link up. Corona is over. Definitely got a link up in person, man, and we got a game. We gotta go to the Warriors.

So now we know we gotta say yeah, yeah, yeah, I gotta get Hey, let me tell you something, y'all be right with me.

Course side.

If it wasn't for the plandemic, get di so hopefully you know what I'm saying, they'd be over soon a week a tycoon.

Hello. That is a fact, that's a fact.

But pleasure, pleasure having you, brother. We appreciate it. Keep up the great work and anything that we can do to support. It's never a problem. Let us know, like any updates that you have in the company, any updates that you have with you when they need, you know, press to get out there.

You know that's that's what we're here for. Hey, no problem.

Thank you all for having me mane all.

Right, love appreciate you, bro.

My graduates from my school being forced back drop bag drop, my drop, backdrop drop.

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