LIL' FIZZ - Frito Chilli Cheese

Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host Colen Witt, and today we have very special guests in the building, recording artists actor. Most of us all know you from your multi platinum selling group B two K. Yes, ma'am, it is an honor to have you here today.

Thank you. I appreciate you having me.

Tell me what you're gonna have me eating today.

All right, so today we're gonna take the famous Freedo Lai bag, Fredo's original corn chips, and we're gonna pop in a pot some hornmale chili. Okay, We're gonna heat that joint up, and then we're gonna melt some cheese in there and we're gonna pour it into the Friedo bag. We're gonna mix it up, and we're gonna have chili cheese fritos.

This sounds really dope. I've never ever had this, So I was you heard me. I was really excited. I was like, wait, what, Yeah, that's what we're gonna go with. This sounds like something you'd eat like after school.

Yo. So the way this came about was I used to me and my friends after school, we would always go to West Chuster Park so and just playball. It was an open gym there, so of course, you know, we didn't have no money. As kids, we have like some change in our pocket. And the ice cream trunk used to pull up and he would have these small bags of free thos and chili and cheese that he made. He would just dump a little bit in there and give us a plastic spoon. We mix it up like not your us.

Oh so that's how okay, okay, I didn't even know that. I wonder if all the ice cream trugs so that I feel like in La that happens. Yeah, I don't know about New.

York, but then you know, it transferred over to us. Leaving middle school to high school and stopping at seven eleven, getting the bag of Friedo's, opening it in the store and then hitting it with the chili and cheese instead of doing nacho chips, because then you get more chips in the bag, you know, so then you could get fancy.

You're like kind of big too, Yeah.

You could get fancy after seven elevens through some jalapenos on there too, you know what I'm saying. And then they just charged you like a dollar for the Chilian cheese.

Oh really, okay, I thought you guys were like kind of sneaking it.

I mean yeah, it was the initial thing, you know.

Then they were like, no, kids, you're gonna pay a dollar. Okay, we'll go ahead and whip up this chili.

Start.

What do you call this, Freddy Freedom?

My name is the Freedo Bang.

The Freedo Bang.

Yeah, okay, because you whip Freedo up with little shebang, you know what I'm saying. So it's the Freedo Bang. Yeah. Yeah.

Teachers.

Teachers were gonna pop open this can of chili right now.

You don't add any seasoning or anything.

I mean, if you really want to get fancy like that. But we're talking about being broke. So when you broke, you ain't got no seasons, you know what I'm saying. You gotta work with what you got.

How'd you find the can of chili? How'd you get onto that?

Well, it was down the street from my house. I stayed on Slosson and uh it was a grocery store down the street called the Bootle Market. It's still there in the Booto Market. This was the chili they gave us. You know what, I'm saying, this is our options chili. I'm gonna take a little bit of this water.

And you're fron You're an l A native, right, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, Well I was born in New Orleans, so I got got creole winding. You know what I'm saying. I could really throw down. We was really cooking, and we wasn't no no broke. You know what I'm saying. I can make some real real fire up in here.

But so if you didn't have to cook a broke this what dish could I expect from a good Like if you were trying to impress me, like, what would you do to what meal would you cook for me?

Well? First I would ask do you are.

You allergic to anything?

Nothing? Okay? Do you like spicy food?

Not really?

Not really okay? So I would probably bless you with like.

Some bless you are you in the kitchen?

Okay? I would bless you with some chicken and shrimp pasta jumbalie.

How long would that take you to cook?

I'm quick, so I probably fixed that up in like an hour.

No way, damn. We should have had a special addition for you. So take me back to what was going on during this era, like take me all the way there so I could be there with you during this broke here in middle school? High school? What's going on?

Say mostly middle school? High school is early be two k you know, so I was on the road at that time. But high middle school, you know, I would catch the bus home. Like I said, I stayed right there off Slusson in like over heal, so right there. I mean we used to have Ye's Cafe, I mean Ye's Chinese restaurant. We had Sachi's karaoke, Tariokey chicken bowls, we had another little Mexican restaurant right there.

But you know, what was your home life was like? Was it like a single mom? Two parents house, single mom? And then what did your mom do she like as far as work and how did she support y'all?

She canceled counseled at a junior college West Los Angeles community House. She's a counselor up there. Well she was. She retired. But man, I got so many kids that used to see me and would be like, yo, your little fizz, And I'm like, yeah, they will be like, man, I know your mom, Like he helped me through school. Tell miss Frederick, I said, thank you like, Yeah, so I used to be like, man, my mom's more famous in the hood than me, because literally, like everybody that

So the kids in school they would call you a little fits. So your name was little Fitz.

Before I got the name in the group.

But you're saying, after you was superstar B two K, they were still coming up to you about your mom. Yes, that's pretty awesome.

Yes, Still to this day, I'll see people like, man, your mom helped me through school. Man, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have went to this school and started working here. Yeah, she put a lot of.

People on like, so she was like very inspiring.

Yeah, she was a counselor. Then she became head of a transfer center, so she started helping kids figure out, you know, all the credits and everything they needed to get to their desire university.

Wow. And then did you have sip? It was just you my older sister. Okay, So did you guys grow up with her busy busy? Because a lot of single moms. I'm hearing that like barely.

My older sister, she's seven years older, so she played a big role in my life most of the time. I can remember in elementary school my mom was working graen yard shift for some computer computer company, and uh, it would be me and my sister. I would come home. Times have changed, man, I would come home from the bus in the second grade by myself wow, and do stuff.

Like this really, Like, so you learned learn how to cook like simple meals early, yeah, super early, second grade ten?

How old is it was making all of that super early? But like I said, my family was from New Orleans, so I had an uncle who showed me how to chop up green onions. Take some uh some hot sausage cut up, put some a couple of empowdered garlic powder, some garlic clothes. Cut those up and put it in the in the noodles, and that'd be tasting like a whole different. It ain't regular top raman. You know.

That's how you did your raman.

What crack, what fire man?

We should have had you a damn You could do your own eating while broke special So you started with B two K kind of early So take me through, Like, I guess how that transition happened from being raising a single mom, you know, household with an older sibling that's seven years older to you, kind of getting signed right out of high school or I'm guessing during high school.

In high school during our ninth grade year actually ninth grade?

Yeah, what were you doing as a kid?

I didn't finish the full ninth grade year. I checked out and started doing independent studies.

So what were you doing that led to a record deal on the ninth grade? I have to know what you were doing when your mom wasn't watching you.

Well, we were being rehearsal a lot, you know, as a group, we were together in studio sessions, rehearsals mostly mostly rehearsal and.

Performing for different labels.

So while you were a little kid, though, but who was helping you guide you when you're a little kid, Like obviously you didn't Just like how I need to know how this group came together because I'm so lost. You were so young?

Yeah, I was young. I was eight years old when I joined the group.

Was it like you and your friends?

It was me actually, uh, friend of mine still to this day, Jane Aiko's older brother, his name Jahi. He was in the group. It was me and him were more of the original like first two. We went through a lot of different members until it got to me, Jahi, this other guy Trey, and Bull and Rats and that group got split up because Sony wanted to sign us, but they wanted to sign just us three with another member and take the other two Jahi and Trey and put them in another group, which became Final Four.

But how did you guys get in front of the labels at that age?

We had management that was that had originally put the group together, you know, was finding all the members. A lady by the name Akisha Gamble and choreographer Dave Scott. They found us in all different places. I was at a Black HICs Black Expo downtown LA and my mom took me down there as a kid, and there was this group on stage and I was looking at him. I was really into ABC Criss Cross at that and they had on like the big jerseys and the baggy jeans,

Okay, and then what was your mom's thoughts during this whole process? Oh?

My mom was like, yo, like, don't have your heart set on this, you know, she wanted me to finish school and live a normal life, you know, live a normal grow up in the normal how normal kids do. She didn't really see it. Between the four of us, we had an idea on what this was really going to be.

Like you were you personally were really invested.

Yeah, all four of us four, you know, we were destined on getting in to where we saw ourselves. And I was being the biggest group in America.

So and you saw that from a young age. And did you tell your mom that?

Yep? And she wanted to take me out the group at a time and I was like, no, not not, Nope, this is happening. And she was like, but you don't want to give up on your you know, I want to play basketball. I wanted to do the you know, sports things. She just felt bad. She was like, I don't want to you know, discourage you or anything, but I still want you to have your you know, your childhood. Like prom he didn't come in graduating from high school. So when it happened, I just promised her that I

But did you ever end up going to like prom and all the high schools?

So we did an MTV prom or something, but it wasn't like a real problem.

Okay, do you feel like, looking back that you missed out or.

Not that I missed out because I got to experience.

With, oh watch out that bad boys hot.

Okay, I got to experience with you know, nine percent of the world.

So I'm sure you were touring at a very baby age, right.

So no, I don't regret it. But you know, now that I'm like, my on is here, I'm like, nah, I wouldn't let him do this, you know, I wouldn't do entertainment unless it just was God sent for him to do it. But I want him to have that normal child life, you know.

So you kind of see now that you're a parent, like what your mom's perspective was.

Sure, Wow, you don't ever see it as a kid, you know. Yeah, So this this this chili cheese ready ready?

So I opened the bag. So guys, just so you listeners are listening, he heated up the chili in the pot through some shredded cheese on top. We're opening the bag of Fredo's I've never had this, so this is going. It's very hot, and he's pouring it directly from the pot into the bag. He looks like a professional, like he's been doing this his whole life.

Step five. You know what I'm saying, Take that blinky right there at them an up, got your fork right there ready, yep, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're feeling in a bag right there. You know it's oh yeah, that's that. That's that nikki right there. So when you get about here, you're gonna like start like, all right, I need some more, and then you can put more if you're not. If not, if you're done, you know, you can go back to it. So yeah, yeah, and we'll let you all see that.

That looks really gooey and messy, and all right, here we go. I got my first I mean this, this looks crazy.

Yeah, get ready, because you know, I don't know what this is doing to the stomach these days, saying as an adult, this might not agree with me. This is eating while broke.

We got the bags rolled back just the way business teaching me how to do this. So I got it on my fork right here, steaming hot.

Yeah yeah, let me get a little bit with you know what I'm saying.

Here we go for the taste test.

Come on and we go.

Oh there we go, ready one the three. Listen, How you still don't do this?

How I still don't? You can't do this every day? Now? You know I'm not in.

My age, no, no, but you know what the texture on this this is. This is awesome. The texture from the crunch and then the Melsey gooey and the hotness this is. I don't know why I didn't know about this.

Yeah, I have to put you all on man, this is that got real, l A.

I would be eating this every day, you feel me? All right, guys, I'm gonna stop eating in your ears, but this is I would kill this. This would be my everyday snack as a kid. That's highly addictive, really good. And by the way, this meal was like three dollars I think, like seriously, like three or four dollars cheap, like for multiple servings, Like it's like maybe five. But this is an amazing Yeah.

Like you know, if my son is having a sleepover and his boys is over, they want a snack, I can get the little bags of the free doos make this bit yep and they're like, this is.

Fire you like daddy other year off.

Yeah yeah, yeah, you know, I got all the snacks.

Let me tell you, this is a great snack. This is a great I don't even know appetizers, Like this is amazing. So now your your story is so unique because you're young and you literally went to the Promised Land,

So in high school, ninth grade at the time, I started school kindergarten at four years old, so in ninth grade I was thirteen. I was super young. My schedule was a normal kids school schedule. I played for the football team at the time, I was trying out for the basketball team. I made the team but didn't ever get to go to the first practice because I had to check out before then.

Okay, but your schedule also included like rehearsals and trainings, right.

Not as much while school was going on. More so on the weekends because yeah, we were in school. We hadn't checked out your ship. But prior to ninth grade starting and that summer, prior to ninth grade, we were together all the time.

Did you guys go to the same high school?

None of us.

Now, did you tell your friends at school or your pears at school that you were doing this when they support it?

When I came, I cause I went to Bishop Montgomery, so it was a Catholic school. We had uniforms. So I came to school one day in regular clothes. I was checking out and everybody was like, where are you going? Where you go? I was like, yeah, I'm leaving. I'm about to be famous. Like all right, what are you talking about. I'm like, yeah, I'm checking out. I'm about to be famous. So I just got a deal. No, I'm trying to be real cool. I used to wear a fake rolex with a tape on it holding it

That has been pretty incredible feeling now as because that was the first time and the only reason why I'm trying to find this out was that the first time this is before you're really really be two K. So this is like a the snippet of what your life is about to becoming.

And you liked it.

Yeah, okay, So then what's the next milestone like between you being signed now you know you're getting these interviews, your people are starting, you're starting to get all this pr behind you, Like, what's the next milestone before before money, like more of the fame, Like what was that next transition? Like when did you realize Like, oh.

Shit, I would think it was when we first heard our song on the radio. We were in New York and like Times Square and we were about to do one on six in Park for the first time.

That's a big show at the time, I would have been and that's it was the car the song playing in the.

Radio and on the radio in the car.

It wasn't the one on six in Park.

What And because it was like, Yo, we're actually on the radio. You know. That's like now it's like we got streaming absence and stuff, so it's not like anybody can go put that song on the app and you can hear it. Back then, to have your song on the radio, it was like you made it. You was like, oh my god, there the world is listening to us right now on the radio, you know. So that was just a big, a big accomplishment and the milestone for us for sure.

Okay, and then the song what was the song at the time, because I know all your songs pretty much just blew up. I just remember beat Too Gay everywhere it was uh huh, okay, yeah, Tricky Stewart. So your songs playing on the radio, you're doing these interviews, you're no longer in school, you're still in high school, and your mom is she on the road with you or she letting you.

No, we're on the road with road management, but she's calling you know, I'm making sure I do my parts. My mom was before she got the counseling job, she was a substitute teacher. She would sub in at different schools. So I never got a break like to just say, fuck it, I ain't doing homework today. What I'm saying it was like, did you do your work? What is it? Let me see it. So it was like, you know, school had to be done, okay, yeah.

And then what are your pockets looking like during this rise to success?

Well, we got our little advancement, which wasn't crazy. You know, most of it had to go into a trust account because we weren't eighteen, so I couldn't spend it like that. And I think the first little money I had, I might have had like five grand to really touch and I think I spent it all in the mall. In like two weeks, it was gone, those shoes, just everything you wanted. You know. It was like I got money, Now, two.

Weeks it was gone. Did your mom know you blewing? In two weeks?

Oh?

Nah? No, See, my mom gave me access to really control my own money, the money I could touch, you know.

Oh, so she didn't touch it at all, she let it. Oh that's nice. A lot of parents don't do that.

Nah. Nah. And sometimes I'd be like, I wish you would have took all my fucking money.

Well, you know what, Now when you handle your money, do you handle it different?

Because especially because I have a kid, you know, I always have to put something to the side for him. So when you know, whenever he's eighteen or something happened, you know, he's he's good.

He's so don't caring. Yeah, yeah, I know that. Like now I feel way more parental responsibility after having a kid. I'm like, first of all, school tuition, priority over everything, okay, number one thing, you know. And now I'm like, okay for future, you know, generational wealth, house, whatever, you know. Trust.

Yeah, well all the time, all the time.

All right, So back to your story. So you you get your five thousand, that's your first taste of money while being popular. Right, then what's the next monthslone? Like, when do you do you blow up and actually have money a lot of money at the same time.

No, because like we were still under eighteen. So, like I said, majority, I know, my money was going into a trust account, you know where I couldn't touch it till I was eighteen. However, really your parents worked, it was how you was you see your money. So I was maybe seeing only ten percent of my money.

That I was getting good job, Mom, I was good.

I wasn't seeing a lot.

So but then what happened when you turned eighteen?

I ain't got my crib, pay my car off, the responsible stuff I should do at eighteen, you know. But then from there it was like figuring it all out again because I wasn't doing the nine to five. I did check back into school because Mom she was still at the junior college. So I was like, I think I was maybe like twenty four and I checked back into school for like a year.

But where was B two K when you were twenty four, like I was.

We were broken up before we turned eighteen. We broke up, oh before you before I turned eighteen. Yeah, we broke up when I was seventeen.

Really, but so when we was watching you on TV and all that, you was a little kid.

Yeah, I was from thirteen to seventeen.

What it's so weird because I think maybe because I was younger, I felt like maybe you were older or something.

No, thirteen to seventeen, and then love and Hip Hop came about twenty fourteen. By that time, I was going on thirty.

Okay, okay, so you're in the so the band gets dismembered, you go back to regular life. But is regular life normal for someone that is a super star? Well no, yeah, So tell me how that was that transition tough.

I would say not. I didn't. It wasn't tough for me because I'm an introvert. I already don't like to be out, so I'd rather stay in the house. So I was just very secluded most of the time. It wasn't until I had my son when I was twenty four that I like started to step out again. And you know, I have to play the parent roles. So now I'm meeting other kids, parents and talking and being more social and out. So that's what got me out of like Michelle was having my son.

But when the band justmembered, did you say you're gonna stay in music or did you say we tried?

I tried, but it was just so much politics and people that we were dealing with that keeping certain things in place to where we couldn't really do much. So I tried to do what I could, but yeah, it wasn't much.

Did you end up trying to get a job or open, No.

I was never going to get a job.

That was never good.

I was not a Nope. I'm like, no, I'm fizzed. I'm not getting no job. I'm gonna figure it out.

What did your mom say when you were saying that, She.

Just told me keep going. She pushed the dream.

You know, how did you survive? I guess from now from that point, I mean before loving hip hop.

So before hip hop so eighteen to twenty four when I was eighteen. Now you're about to get a breakthrough story nobody ever really got. That's what I.

Help me, help me, help you help me, but help me, Yes, tell me.

I did some. I did some smart things, you know, win my money. But prior in those years, I started a business. I had a cannabis dispensary. I had dispensaries, uh that whole time and even past that time. Uh, but yeah, that was my main source of income. I had met a guy who really knew the business inside and out, and we were neighbors, and I had a little bit of money, and I was like, yo, I smoked at the time, still do. And I was like, yo, I want to start one of these, Like what like

Guys were you guys? Was he a part black too?

Or was it was a Jewish guy?

Oh, Jewish guy. I was gonna say. Because the cannabis industry, there's rumors on the street that it's notorious a little bit slanted away from the blacks, like to get their licensing and being able.

To know the stories that came in place, like you have the it's a license that's available for people who have been to jail for selling marijuana or traffic in marijuana. Yeah that I forget what it's called. Man, it's been.

So long, but there is there is a system that helps to get them, Okay. Yeah, because I remember thinking at some point, like, man, you got to think of how many people are doing this before it became legal.

Yeah, all their experience and to my situations for sure, because you know, I mean it came out in what two thousand and twelve, one shop I have for like, I had it for like three four years. It was on Robertson. It was called Little Amsterdam. Sold it to these other guys and they never took It's part of my fault. I never got the least out of my name. So when the city came down on them and raided them and everything came back on me because the building was in my name.

Oh wow.

So yeah, it was all on TMZ and everything. Little Fizz caught selling marijuana. I'm like Jesus Christy, Yeah, but yeah, that was that was mainly what I was doing for.

So you were on and you were you weren't just an investor like you were hands on yeah.

Yeah. People will see me in the shops like, bro, what you're doing in here? Yoh you the plug? I'm no, man, it's a business. They didn't see it like that back then. Like now you see it and you see it and you respect it as a real business. You know. Back then it was like everybody felt like I was just trapping. But I'm like, man, I'm putting money into this, you

And is there a reason why the life expectancy on those business was To me, they sound a little short because it's like you said, one year or four.

Years, or because at that time it had no federal guidelines. It was legal with state but not federally. So once you got too big, like I remember when a shop I had downtown got so big, I got a letter from the US attorney telling me to close or they were going to send the DA and in two weeks to raise me.

What so I thought, But I thought it's still not legal on a federal level because I heard that that's why those shops can't have bank accounts.

Right, Yeah, so many loopholes in it. Now I'm out of it.

Now, Okay, what made you end up closing up shop? And then I have to know anytime an entrepreneur walks away from a business or industry, you have to wonder, like what happened?

It was time and I think, you know, God put certain things in place for me to see and say, you know it's time to move on. You're not the answer you're looking for.

No, I would say this. Okay, a lot of people don't know this. I may have said it on the show a couple of times, but other guests that have participated in this activity. But during the pandemic, I was like freaking out and my business. I have a corporate events company, and my business it was a pandemic. It got annihilated in minutes, like it was like end of my business instantly. And so I saw a lot of

Oh yeah, I was quick, man.

I was nervous the whole time. And I was like investor, way back here, way back here.

So imagine being hands on over ten years.

Well, I will tell you this. The stuff I was doing. I can say this because nobody's ever gonna but some of the stuff I was doing was a little illegal. But during the pandemic, I would fly look over at the cameras like do you want to say that? I would fly money, not over over on the airplanes or whatever. But now I you know, I travel. When I had a baby, I realized when you travel with breast milk,

Yeah, I was during I promise that people don't know me know that.

I was like, yo, I'm getting on this plane and I would you know, I would be nervous as hell. But I never flew with like nothing crazy like one hundred k, but it was it was still enough to be like, you know. But then I had a baby and I realized that I was an idiot because with a baby, they like test your breastmoke. They're like all like swabbing everything, swabbing the child. I'm like, yo, only they knew like before the breast smoke, you know, and if they would have done that, I would have, we

For the minorities and the people that do want to try to get in. It's called social equity license. Oh really yeah, social equity license. So if you look into it, you can you know, I don't know if they're still doing no more, if they're still available to apply for it, but that's what it was.

So if you have like a beard to entry, you can go there and they'll help you get the license.

Yeah, you gotta go down to the city City Hall.

Social equity license. Thanks for remembering that. So after your entrepreneurial thing is that when hip hop, love and hip hop enters the scene.

When what love and hip hop enters is when what you said.

When you're exiting, because you said there was no space where.

You were still still there.

Oh you were still there.

I didn't. I didn't fully get out till twenty eighteen, and I had a whole case.

So that was right before the pandemic. Yeah you said you had a whole what case?

Yeah, I have my lawyers and everybody did a great job at keeping that, you know, keeping that off off the news and blogs, because I really did that was I was. I was in court the whole time I was on tour, the reunion tour. Oh really, yeah, yeah I was.

Oh wait, so B two Kate was back. So you were investing in these business, You were doing this business, but you ended up going back to beat You guys reunited for the.

Were reunited in twenty nineteen. So summer eighteen is when I had my whole situation happened, and twenty nineteen is when I started going to court for it. And I was in court for like a year.

Ok.

Yeah, So every time I'm on stage, I'm like, am I going to jail tomorrow? Hold on?

Man?

So my dad's move is like faint, like this might be my last show.

But and you weren't a dad at the time yet, right.

Yes you were, Yeah, my son was nine years old.

You were really like stressed, yeah during the reunion. But you're now at this point, you're also generating money from the tour, and I'm sure that's going to.

Court court yep, yep, lowyer all that.

Dang, So what are your pockets looking like during that era.

Still good, Still good. Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know I had a lot going on from TV, the shops.

It sounds like you're also good at managing money at this point.

Yeah. Yeah, So I wouldn't say I would like, I have never really.

Went broke after after that age. You never went broke.

Again after sh I never really went bro thank god. But no, I mean there's there's still struggles, you know what I mean, there's still struggles, and there's there's just like you said, it's being smart. It's knowing when to to start trimming down, you know, trimming the fact. You know, if there's bills that are over here that are necessarily you got to cut them off. You know, can't go out to go to eat at mass Stros every weekend, you know what I mean, You got to scale back,

So were you the youngest member in the group. Okay, yeah, I feel like it's hard sometimes when you're that young and you get exposed to money. I feel like there could be a double edged sword where you end up never really understanding how money works because you're used to it coming and then maybe disappearing and coming, and it's in lump sums versus like little.

Well see, my mindset was I was getting the little increments and all the money was going in the trust. Then the group broke up and it was broken up for a few months and my trust open. Now it was okay, I have money, but I don't have this group. So what am I going to do? I have to invest. I have to make my money work for me. So that that's when the conversation came with my neighbor and what we're doing with the shop, and can we open it? Can I get in? Can I be an investor? How

Very smart, very intuitive, natural entrepreneur.

I would say thank you.

So during so the twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, you have the reunion. Take me to the next milestone in your life.

The next milestone would be, uh, coming off tour. It was funny because it's like, now I'm done with the whole cannabis business, right, and I'm coming off tour and I'm still in court. And after I would say maybe six months of being off the road, I had my sentencing and I got off with no jail time, gratefully, but I had probation and some work release, which is like community service, but like you know, working on the size of the freeway, chopping free. You had gotten island

Okay, but you were at that point you had already taped it. You had taped at least one season of it.

Of Love and Love and hip Hop started twenty fourteen. Oh, so you were all I had done seven seasons of Love and Hi. So in twenty twenty, when the pandemic was going on, twenty yeah, twenty twenty the pandemic was happening. I was trying to figure it out, but you know, everybody was in the house. So I just started kind of diving into everything from trying to figure out how to produce shows, acting more. I ended up filming a movie which is actually coming out next month, November twenty second.

Oh yeah, I've seen it on your social media. Yeah, so Run Nixon.

I did the movie, started acting more, learning how to produce. I actually produced on the movie as well. And I was still doing music here and there, filling it out more of like a hobby. And then I opened a restaurant. I had the opportunity to get to open a restaurant.

This is before the pandemic.

This is during the pandemic.

During the pandemic. Yeah, oh my gosh, take me to that.

So I a friend of mine, my lawyer, a friend of my lawyers had a restaurant. He had multiple restaurant and being at the pandemic had happened, he didn't want to close them all, but he had to trim down. So it was an opportunity for me to take over one of the restaurants, which I did. I rebranded it called it Druze Louisiana French Quarters. It was in Westwood, beautiful location, right by UCLA.

And.

I just kind of jumped in it, you know, Like I said, it was during the pandemic, so I jumped in it, like let's just see what it does. And early I had a lot of people coming in, but of course it slows down. It's a restaurant, you gotta like, it's so many different things that go into a restaurant with marketing and getting people to come in from Yelp reviews, and it's just a whole lot. So I'm going through it and trying to figure out how to make turnover

Break even wow, or will even create that stability of understanding that flow.

Right, And so my brain and working how it works like very fast and always trying to figure out the next idea or the next move to keep it going. When I opened the restaurant and I put the restaurant on grub Hub, uber each door Dash, I started seeing it like one of my dispensaries. So with the dispensaries, I would always promote and put my shops on weed Maps. Weed Maps is a website or an app that gives all the patients and customers access to where each of

Oh, I didn't even know that.

So when I seen that, I said, that's how I do it. So I basically created five virtual restaurants. One was called La Soul Tacos. I had Trus Louisiana, of course, which was the actual standing restaurant. I had Maxwell's Polish Dogs. I had Veggie Buns, which was all vegetarian food, and then I had, uh, what was the last one?

And you came up with all this on your own.

Yeah, and damn what was the other restaurant? It was one more restaurant I had, Oh, uh, go Wings, now Wings stop go Wings. So I had those five restaurants and I had them all on grub Hub, door Dash, Uber Eats. Uh, what's the other one? Grubhub, door Dash, Uber eats, and.

Door Dash.

I said, door Dash, grub Hub, uber eats, and it's one more.

Basically all the food apps.

So I took all the food apps. I put all my restaurants.

And these are all ghosts most of them. All four of them are ghost.

Kitchens except one. So now not only are you going to these apps to order food, you're ordering from five of my restaurants. So now I'm not banking on one restaurant. I'm banking on on five different ones with five different.

Foods, and then five different ghostly one location, but one location, but the ghost location could be anywhere, right, I mean like when they pull it up on the map, are they is it close to their house?

The ghost location gives you an address to pick for the delivery drivers to pick the food up. They would come to Drus Louisiana.

Wow.

So instead of banking on Drews Louisiana to do what I needed to do, Now I'm getting five calls for this restaurant, twenty for this one, fifteen for this one. And it got to be so much that I overwhelmed myself. And now I'm in there helping the cooks cook myself. No. Yeah, and I'm like, bro, I didn't sign up for this. Like it's a great ideas, doing what it's supposed to do, but this is a lot of work. I'm going to the restaurant depot buying, running out of this sour cream

Yeah. So, but what an amazing Okay, I just have to highlight this pivot because my favorite person the interview on this show is entrepreneurs. Believe it or not, If choose between celebrities, influence and entrepreneurs, I'm all, I'm all about entrepreneurs. But your pivot game being hinted like taking over this business but figuring out a way to create

Not everybody sea food, not everybody eats veggie food, not everybody's not impressed with your own works like this.

But were you not sitting there, like I would have been called like, yess not much of a g I n look what I did, Like, you don't do that?

No, I do that.

If I have a simple hack and I feel like I like somehow crack the cold on geniusness, I would be texting all my friends like, yo, you'll never guess what I was able to accomplish. And you didn't do that, That's amazing. I'm the opposite. I wasn't fucking Billboard of the Year.

I'd be right, my circles real small. And then it's like if my boys hit me and it's like, yo, man, what you're doing with this? This is super dope? Can I get in? I'm always yeah, come on.

Wow, let's do it. But that was that. It was probably the most dopest pivot game I've ever seen. And it was during the pandemic. You really had to think out of the box. Some people will quit, believe it or not, a lot of people will quit under that type of pressure, and a lot of people wouldn't be running around, you know, trying to find the sour cream or whatever. So kudos to you. You're so extreme entrepreneur, so exciting. I did not know that about you. So

Man, there's so many things after that. I had a home that I bought in in Porter Ranch, and I leased it out because I was running everything. Like with the restaurants, we ended up closing that down, and at that time, I have my home, I'm helping my mom's with her home, and now I have to figure out ways to scale down, trim back. So I leased out my house, got something a little smaller, and I was in a space of trying to figure out what was next.

So what do you mean, scare me? Tell me, what does that mean?

Every day? Of course, there's school, but then after school there's basketball practice, after practice or before basketball practice, there's basketball training, after training, nurse practice. Then we're back home. Then we're homework and study, then dinner, cooking dinner.

And then I'm like a single dad, right, Me and a mom are joint joint custody. So mostly every other week, you know, he's with me, but I'm the dad and he's in puberty stage, so he's with me, now, you know what I mean, Like, yeah, you can go.

Mom wants to see you. You want to see mom, hang out, go y'all, do y'all thing. You know what I'm saying. I'm never gonna not let you see your mother. You know what I'm saying. You always see your mom, but in these crucial stages, you need to be with me. Yeah, you know. So every day from the type of school he goes to a prep school. I drop him off at the gym in the morning. They train for three hours, then they get busted to school in the sprinter van

He's definitely controlling your life, is him? Just to backtrack a little bit, I know we talked about your mom.

You are very.

Much even when you watch love and Half Hop, but you see your very vested dad. Is there? What is your relationship with your dad? Is there a reason why you're I'm not saying all men aren't vested, but I'm no, it's definitely noticeable.

Well, I didn't meet my father until I was thirteen, so I always had this thing where I had a vision of what a father looked like and what I wanted my father to be like. And I made a promise to myself, you know, if I ever have a kid or something, he's never going to experience what I experienced growing up in wanting and trying to imagine what it's like to have a father in his life. So when he got here, I just I was already setting stone, like this is my son, you know, regardless, Like I'm

Youth Got Game and they can get it on YouTuber.

Yeah, okay, so our first episode is be coming out in the next month or so.

Okay, But.

Got into that and started networking, got the right people on the team, and now we'll be hosting like all the top Nike tournaments. Wow, all the So it's like May Hoops camps will be hosting those.

Is your son really turns like crowd and excited about what you were able to do? Just it's kind of like he inspired this, right, So does he say it or does he talk about it or not?

Really, he's just focused on playing the game. You want to see hisself on the show. He knows that with me, he's gonna have to work really hard and do what he's supposed to do. It's not gonna just be oh, you're and my son, I'm putting you on. So it's more of a challenge.

Now.

I put him up to the challenge. He accepted it, you know, So you got to put in the work.

Okay.

But yeah, so put together that show. We got a couple of big things coming up for us. We're doing a camp in Charlotte with this company, cyber Athletics.

You're doing a basketball client camp camp.

Yeah, we'll be hosting it our podcast.

Wait, the show is a podcast, and I guess I'm kind of visioning like reality slash.

It's a live podcast.

It's a live podcast.

Okay, got it. And we have guests on the show, you know, from younger athletes, to coaches, to referees to professional past and future and players.

I love it. Yeah, that's pretty awesome.

So that's that's what I've been on now. And in the process of that, I actually took on a team. I created a travel team from my son because we were doing all these games and we were with a couple programs that I felt like could be doing more and not necessarily be much as much of a money grab. So I ended up starting my own team and got all my son's friends who I know could really hoop, and one of my friends who coaches high school basketball,

And when to get behind East West.

Yeah. Wow. So one of my friends and I knew since I was like seventeen eighteen, he's cousins with Paul George and he runs the program for Paul George Elite, and we had talked and we was like, yo, man, and I want you to bring your boy, Like how much it's gonna cost me to get your boy back over here? Talking about my son? And I'm like, man, let's you know, let's have a conversation. Let's talk and see what we can come up with. Basically, he gave me the keys to run the seventh grade program at

So, but does your son leave your East West team.

To So East West is now Paul George.

Okay, So now it's official. So you guys have been accepted as an official under that umbrella. Yep, okay, So son is still on the team. Damn, I want to watch these games. He got me hyped.

So yep, we did that, and you know, constantly filming on them as well, highlighting now and then.

Is it hard to get all those parental clearances or is it like everyone you you built such a good rapport with everybody that everyone just sign and releases. As for what, oh, I thought you're you highlight the kids on the show.

I will if they're doing they thing, you know what I'm saying, But that anybody can be highlighted, it does. I don't need parental Oh I don't know. Highlight somebody's kid that's doing what they should be doing on the court. You know, that's just giving them more exposure. Yeah, and we're not charging you know for that, Like this is Hey, if I think you're hot, you're doing what you need

Wow.

You know, like we're diving in deep from everywhere across them everything.

Wow. Okay, okay, So you're even getting the ones that like can't afford to be in the clinics. I love that. And then I know you're thinking about opening your own clinic down the road.

Right as far as like camps, yeah, camps, Yeah, we'll probably do something.

Yeah, I definitely see that in your future.

It's definitely gonna.

So what's the next milestones for you after that? Because I think we're current, right, you brought me so.

Now that's where we are, and some more exciting things. Putting together a podcast along with Bug and Rats.

What Yeah, yeah, yeah, where got you guys should come here and take you. Yeah, I'll take care of you.

Yeah, I'll let you. I'll let you see when we when we when we dropped the teaser on.

Okay, oh you guys already started recording it and everything unless you see, I'm gonna call like you don't tell me enough he called. I think calls me almost once a day now, I'm not even gonna lie, it's probably five times a day.

Man. I talked to I talked to him and Book every single day, you know. And they've been on their journeys as well, right as it's super smart networking and tied into a lot of different things that brings so much value to what we're doing.

And he's also done the I feel like he's also been teaching me a little. I mean, I'm not good at it. But he also worked on his mental health and he'll be like dropping like like smart gems. I mean, i'd be like I wish I was like that. He'd be like, you can be like that. Well I'm not there yet, but you know, but yeah, he's worked on his mental health too, which I think a lot of people don't talk about working on that.

In addition, that's really big of him, man, I salute him for that. Sure, he's doing really good. And you know, and Bug is still working in films doing films. So us all coming together and creating what we put together, it's pretty dope.

So it's like, B two K coming back. Should we be anticipating because you're talking to.

Lines, we're gonna see some you Okay.

Okay, Well, I'm pretty sure your fan base is still rock solid and loyal and uh, they're gonna be anticipating in the days to see the reunion for sure.

For sure.

Bless you, bless you? Now, how can everybody keep up with you? We could talk directly to this camera. How can everybody keep up with everything you have going on? And then break down the youth You got game, youth got game everything individually?

No, for sure? Well, first and foremost, you can you know, check out my instagram air fizzle, same with the threads air Fizzle.

It's Ai R Fizzle.

Yeah, fi z z o. Check out my movie coming to AMC theaters November twenty second run Nixon. I'm really excited about that. I think y'all are really gonna.

Enjoy that, And what's run Nixon about?

I'm a single five Well, no, I'm sorry. I'm a father of a ten year old boy who has a heart condition. His mother is a stripper and one day she drops him off to his game. I get there. He plays basketball. I get there and he has a heart attack on the court. He's suffering from forget what the heart disease is called, but basically he needs a heart transplant immediately or he won't survive, and our insurance

Oh wow.

He gets home, he puts clues together, figures out who did it and why, and he kidnaps our son and I have to figure out how to get him back.

Oh this sounds crazy intense. We gotta see this movie in theater and then what else can we look forward to it?

And then look forward to seeing you know me my boy CJ. Y'all can follow him on Instagram Coach CJ Underscore twenty three. We'll be highlighting all these kids. Man, youth Got Game. Check out Youthgot Game dot com. You've got game Instagram page. Yeah, it's gonna be crazy, man. You might be the next kid on youth. Got game, you never know. I yes, ma'am.

All right, guys, Well, thank you for feeding me. I can finally finish this bag Frido without tuning in your ears.

Yes, yes.

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