As media. So look, for some reason, the News decided to ratchet itself up to just crank the gain to like just unimaginable levels. Whether it's McCarthy had asked, whether it's the Matt Gates of it all, whether it's Trump's trial. You know, government shut down, and we still ain't even talked about the freedom fight in Palestine. You heard what I said, freedom fight, y'all. Listen, I'm gonna get into it. But remember like I told y'all when we first talked
about the Israel Palastine stuff, Nigga, you wasn't outside. You don't understand. You think anybody using a term unprovoked, it means you ain't been following this series. Like it's just bro, this is like we're in like season twelve episode. If you really, like if you jumping in now and you think that this this war just started, just yeah, you
ain't been following along anyway. There is so much for me to cover, But I still have so much in the can because I was being responsible and making sure that I had enough episodes in the can so that I'm not stressed out every week. Anyway, I'm on here to tell you that I got all that coming. But also, yo, I don't know if you know. Last week me and Matt started dropping some music podcast so we drive we made it. There's a Hood Politics mixtape. It's called The Wednesday dropped this first.
Off, you want to face it up point in the course of patience given reward to wait and listen the hooker informing y'all my mission.
I'm clear on my mission. Yes, y'all don't know. There's like five six more we're gonna drop a monthly man, Like, go to any of your streamers, you know, Apple, Spotify, all the things. Some of y'all use Amazon, I guess, and man, yeah, it's under my name propaganda, it's under Matt Alsowski. We unfortunately aren't allowed to drop music under the Neighborhood Politics because iHeart has that and for some reason, the streaming systems don't let the two worlds mix like
music and podcast world. They don't. You can't. It's not allowed. Look, I don't make the rules either way. Check it out, man, the Wednesday Drop. We got more songs come. I got a song called Yemenise Beans. I can't wait for y'all to hear that. Yeah, Nah, it's fun, man, Matt be making these beats, we might as well might as well wrap on them. All right, now, let's talk to Jake han Rahim. There we go, all right, we in the game,
ladies and gentlemen. Another special politics situation. We go call his hood oligarchs because listen, man, listen, if you know anything about just like I asked one of my New York homies, Jake first of all, got the homie Jake Hanraham on here, you know, live from the UK, say what's up to the folks? Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh. I asked some of my New York friends, like, because there's this thing with like the just like like New York has its own sort of like we all know, its
own like sort of like street culture. And I was like, what's the history behind the like track suits, Like when did that become like a hood thing or even like you know, like New York dudes, if you look at like the guys like from Griselda, like you have, yeah, you know they do like Conway do that like side mouth kind of like you know what I'm saying, Like that's just that like side mouth gully thing. And I'll be like, yo, where did that come from? And Mahmie
was like the Italians. Yeah, yeah, like you said, it's like they just got it from them. It was like you just look at the way that they've perfected you know what I'm saying, like street entrepreneurship. It was like a lot of time, that's where we got it from, you know what I mean. Yeah, so I think too, like what was now we didn't have out here in LA We didn't have that as far as like Italian
kind of mafia stuff. The only like organized crime we had that wasn't just like street level stuff were the Russians, you know, Like that's who were like the most organized out here, Like you know that are like Chechean like up yeah similar, yeah yeah, like up in the valley like and we just knew that they were organized and remarkably violent, just exceptionally violent, you know what I mean.
So you would just try to set up your like basically your supply chain, you'd have to run through either them or like the or Mexican you know I mean.
But anyway you have to get that permission.
You have, you have to go through them, Yeah, because that's where the product comes from, you know what I mean. But anyway, all that to say we're here to talk about one Jake Show said are the Oligarchs, which is on Network If you don't already know, Jake is is if you don't know, also one of the most fearless people, just like you just not scared. I'm scared of flying.
That'll make no sense to be Jake, I'm scared of well, I guess, like I guess, like I guess it's like I don't know, maybe in Europe because y'all, y'all can take trains and drive everywhere, you know, the turbulence. It just yeah, yeah, I feel you, But y'all could be on the ground and get to like you could be you know, you can get to another country in a couple hours, you know what I'm saying, Like, yeah, that's that's not our life.
You feel like, you know, you can't even get across the country like that fam no your own country and like you have to get It's crazy.
Bro, California. Tip to tip. If you're driving, that's like eleven hours, you know, so like, yeah, like it's a long time. You know.
From the tip of the top of England, well at the top of Scotland to the moment of England is about eight hour drive.
Yeah, yeah, a.
Little bit more than that, like maybe like ten hours, but you know that's it's the whole country.
Yeah place. Yeah, Kelly's Kelly's a drive bro. That's funny. Yeah. So Jake Jake B. If you guys don't know, we've had them on the show already, but Jake B Jake has show popular front is kind of how I got hip to him, and we had it like if y'all remember, we had him to talk about like the different sort of conflicts across the world and to kind of just put us on game there. What I want to talk about now is just the just just the proof, like like the see that I told you about. We've had this, Jake,
We've had this. I mean we're talking all the way back to like before Hood Politics was on Cool Zone, before there was a cool Zone, before were on iHeart, like our our principal was, you know, especially when you're talking about like when when Trump kind of became a thing and he was, you know, sort of interfacing with Vladimir Putin. The stance from Hood Politics was like I know a killer when I see one, you know, and I think Trump knows he's a killer, you know, because
of That's what I'm saying. Trump knows Putin's a killer, which is why he'd be so like Rudy Pooty, like kissed this man's ass every time you see he's like, that's a killer. So you could talk tough as much as you want, but you already know that little man that's a foot shorter than you, like, you know, saying you're scared of him? You scared of you? I said, like, you're not fooling us, you know what I mean? And and to be honest, you should be like you should
be scared of that man, you know. And and again you know the premise of like if you understand sort of street life, kind of like you come from that sort of violent sort of background, you understand politics, and he is the embodiment of that, to where you looking at this man and him looking at you dead in his face after you watched him commit some sort of crime and then him be like, I ain't do that. What did you see? Did you see anything? You ain't seen nothing? What are you going to do? Yeah?
Fuck, you don't do anything. What are you going to do?
Like exactly nothing? Hey how about this? Shut the fuck up? I'm saying. Set the fuck down, you know what I'm saying, and give me my lunch, you know, so exactly.
Yeah, he's like, well, I will cool like an opera are and I don't get in the military sentence like he can operate. Not to say he's good, it's horrible, but he's an operator in that sense and always has been his whole career.
Yeah, and that's yeah, and it's so clear. Like you said, so the premise of your show said, oligarchs, go ahead and tell tell them about that, and then we'll get into what we're gonna do for this show. Yeah. Yeah, so sad oligarch.
Basically, in the space of around twelve nine to twelve months, over a dozen very rich Russian tycoons died. Now they're not all necessarily start up oligarchs, but you know, the Western media always just says oligarchs. So we were like, okay, kind of tongue in cheek, we'll just say everyone's the
oligarch's easy to understand. And then the sad part is because these people would die of mysterious circumstances and then the Russian authorities would be like, oh, yeah, they were depressed, they killed themselves, they fell out of the window, and you know, and it got to the point where I was looking at it and I was working on this with my friend Sergey slip Sergey slip chen Koi he's a Ukrainian reporter, looking at this, and it was like, Yeah, this is too weird.
There's too many happening. We started connecting the.
Doors other reporters that also covered these like individually, and they kind of put two and two together. But when we kind of put the map together, we were like, wow, that's a lot of people dying in very similar communities. You know, a rich Russian often involved with gas electric ties to the Kremlin, and they're dying in the most mysterious ways, like one guy got poison with frog venom.
Three of them all in a circle, killed their whole families and then themselves, which when we spoke to a expert on that kind of stuff, she was like, yeah, I've never seen that happen like that in my life, Like this is very rare, So I guess the short The short thing is, it's an investigative podcast series looking into the deaths of very wealthy Russians who all have died in mysterious circumstances over a dozen of them in the last year or so.
Yeah, and that that term, that term mysterious is doing a lot of work in them. Yeah. Yeah, you know, because it's almost comical, like it is. It is point, it's yeah, it's silly, you know, it's yeah, it's on yeah. Yeah. And I remember when he first, you know, started sort of like demanding lunch money from the Ukraine. We started saying over here, like at some point, I thought, at some point the oligarch, you know, that community is going to be like, all right, bro, you fucking up the money,
you know what I'm saying. And if you fucking up the money, yeah, like now we got nigga, you need to stop. And I thought the only people that could possibly do, you know what I'm saying, put some sort of like brakes on this man, are those because they like, you fucking up the money, like you know, we've been here way too long.
That's what happened, kind I mean, yeah, that's exactly the way it went. Like a lot of these people, for example, like lou Coyle. I think it's the second biggest oil and gas company in the whole of Russia.
Oh.
The board members released the statement very early on being like, hey, we don't support this, you know, we hope that this can be settled quite a strong word than considering there in Russia and within the space of six months, two of those people were dead in mysterious circumstances, and a lot of other people that came out against the war also got very sad and killed themselves or died at
the bottom of their pool. And yeah, and like yeah, basically what you said you think would happen happened when it stopped, because people start dying. Yeah, because because fully gloves off. Yes, because he is exactly what we think he is.
Yeah, it was like his moment with Limbad in Ukraine.
I really feel it was like, I mean, there wasn't much of a mask there anyway, but it was the full the last remnants of the mask is off now, you know.
Yeah, let's go. Yeah, like no ever, like this is our theater for me to actually like I remember his last like his last election when he said that he got eighty percent of the vote, Like eighty.
Bro, you got eighty Yeah, eighty in a country of like was like six hundred million or whatever.
Yeah, country that's like this the like a six of the Earth's like land Mass is Russia and you're telling me eighty percent of them, Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's yeah, it's hilarious.
So there's a lot of stuff like that as well, Like you read it and it's like the thing is Russians no, it's nonsense as well, but they have a different mindset. I've always referred back to a book. One thing I really learned from it. There's a book called Nothing Is Real and Everything Is Possible. Very good book about the kind of difference between Western I guess, like culture of understanding their government versus the Russian and the Western It was like it was more so like American
and Britain. It was like when their government says we didn't do that, the Americans go, wow, we really didn't. But then when the Russians say we didn't do that, the Russians go like, yeah, sure, we didn't do that.
You know what I'm saying.
Yeah, So they know it's true, they know they're being lied to, but it's the this is where is the other side they actually believed the bullshit?
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, Like like what is it? Is it trust? But verify? Is that the that? The thing? Yeah? But yeah, no. It's like and that's that that sort of understanding is like something that I sort of know very well of like where it's just like, well, no, we want to liberate and we're like, oh word, okay, you know what I'm saying, Like.
Yeah, that's a very American thing. Yeah, we liberated the oil from the ground.
Yeah exactly. Yeah. You know, they were being they were being oppressed. It was a communist regime.
We had to stop moving, sure, man, Yeah, we can't let them decide.
No, no, no, no, it's not like not like they don't know what they want or need. Yeah right, so yeah, yeah, totally you know what I'm saying. And and I feel like, you know, you you you grow up in the type of like cities that I'm from, and it's like, I mean,
it's this. This is again, this is why I felt so equipped to do this show, because it's like, you know, when yeah, when like you know, Wan comes in with like a big old shiner, black eye, you know what I'm saying, and you know, his backpack stolen, and then the and then like the teachers like what happened, Like we're all we all know what happened. You know what I'm saying like you have to be there, but we all know, and you like, He's like, yeah, you know, Michael.
Michael's like, I don't know. I ain't seen nothing. You've seen anything. It's like, I don't I don't know. Maybe he failed. I don't know. You know what I'm saying, Like, we all know, we all know what happened. You know what I'm saying. But if Michael say he ain't doing look, I ain't gonna challenge him. I know what he did. You know what I'm saying, we all know what he Yeah, but it's not my business. It is what it is.
I'm gonna keep the heat off myself. So with the with the again surprise accidental air quotes, uh death of pregosion. I would love to This is where I want to do this. I would love to without knowing any like, without knowing very minimal actual factuals. I just would love to do this. I want to say what I think happened, from from their friendship to him trying to do a coup, to him getting exile, to him dying, just essentially from if this were if this were to happen in our neighborhoods.
This is what I think with Dow and then what you can what you could do after that, Jake is come in and be like, Okay, this is what actually happened, like or like yeah, this is it. Got that right, got that wrong? Got that you know, kind of close feel me, I'll get it. Yeah, definitely, okay, all right, so here we go. So to me, it's like, okay, start from the beginning. You got you got two guys young before they got put on. From what I understand,
Progusion was already a street dude. He was already rough, already like hustler, knew how to get it out the mud, you know what I'm saying, Like he was already there. Meets meets a young upshot who chose sort of the like in some ways had that in him, but went the corporate route. He's like, I'm gonna do the I'm gonna do the you know, I'm gonna play the game. I'm gonna do the suit. You know what I'm saying.
Play nice, but like, don't get me wrong, like I'm about this life too, you lounder it, Yeah, exactly, Like he's a pretty boy at a group, you know what I'm saying. Like one's the muscle. The other is a pretty boy. So they link up right knowing that you know, again, pregosion not a game. They understood each other because they clearly come they're clearly cut from the same cloth. So they understood each other right. And again it's like, yo,
it's it's the no new friends situation. It's somebody that you knew when y'all was in the trenches. You know, when we was out in the field, was in the trenches. When we when we get on the come up, we're gonna look at it. We're gonna look out for each other because we've been down since day one. That's my day one. So Pagaulsion, he gets this, gets this hustle with like the hot dogs. He's got, Yo, this the lick.
I'ma I'm gonna start. I'm gonna start doing this food lick, you know what I'm saying, Like and that that'll be kind of how I'll get put on. Like we said, Vladimir goes the you know, the KGB route, sort of the politic route. And then once Black gets put on, he's like, all right, I'm gonna look out for my folks, finds us, finds his homeboy again, doing this cooking thing. How about this, I'll hire you for here. Get your bread,
stack your bread. You know what I'm saying. Make sure so that when I come up, you come up right. And then also from what I understand that Progosion was, was he in charge of like like gambling, like gaming for a while. Uh? Probably?
He was involved in so many different businesses.
Yeah yeah, but like in the government, like he was in charge of like the ministry of something.
Nah he was he he well, he kind of got involved with the private military contractors.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So so eventually, you know, lad moving up in the ranks, bringing his boy with him, who was in the mud with him. He's like, all right, we're gonna always be togethered on trip. They believe in each other. They feel like they cut from the same cloth. Progosion probably thinks like, no, man, like I knew you when we were sharing this, when we were sharing borsch my nigga, Like you know what I'm saying, like nothing of like don't don't stunt on me, homeboy, like I
was in the streets with you, you know what I mean. So, like I feel like Progosion probably always felt one because he was the brawler while Vlad was the pretty boy that it was like, I'm pretty sure, like he don't want to smoke with me. We we kind of been you know we we we've been in this together. Me and you got this understanding. Gojian gets this idea of like, yo, I could actually make money from this, from this fighting shit. You know what I'm saying. Puts together, this puts together
this army. Right, goes to his boy that's got a job in the government and he's like, look, we could run this play, you know what I mean. So they start running the play. Vlad is now all the way up. They making money everywhere, you know, they you know, he got wars everywhere. Vlad I feel like he probably believes again it's stuff. I don't know, you can feel the same.
I feel like Vlad in him probably like you know, both of them knew had all the like the books were open with both of them because they because they've known each other for so long. It's like, not, it's what we're doing, you know, mask off this what I'm doing. Here's the move. Let's do this in Africa. Yo, if you do this, send jojo dudes. You know what I'm saying I could tell these people this, this will be that, and we just and the money just rolling in money,
rolling in money, rolling in everybody good. Power is always good, and everybody's thought could always be just like, well, that's just the chef, you know what I'm saying, Like you just cooked mad And I imagine Progoson being like, yeah, keep thinking that, yeah, just keep yeah, I'm just the cook.
You're right, I'm just the cook. Right. And I imagine once the Ukrainian things starts happening, now let's move it into this and again my antennas, I imagine once the Ukraine things started moving in, Progosion thought it was a bad look. He was like, again, fucking up the money. But I've known you forever. Let's just do what we
gotta do. I'll do what I gotta do. I feel like you setting me up for failure here, and I don't like taking ls because it got me making look because then it sucks up the moves I'm making everywhere else. So you got me looking like a herb out here. And then this bullshit ass military commander you got that actually worked for you, he don't know what the fuck he's doing. Nobody in y'all's army is trained. Y'all got
us looking like herbs out here, you know. And I imagine he probably telling Vladimir all this the whole time, where he's just like, what the like, you gotta stop this shit, like this shit is not working either that, or tell your train your boys or tell your boys to get the fuck out our way, like let us just do it and we'll just finish, you know what I'm saying. But also fam like I'm running like seventeen other missions for you all over the world, like come on, gee,
like why is this shit so important to you? You know what I'm saying. But again they they once, so it's like no one I'll ever know this. I'll never tell nobody what I think about this because I'm never gonna make you look bad in front of these people. But I think in his harder parts, he was like, this fool's tripping and I don't know, like he's fucking up the money. I don't know what we're doing, but
I'll go do this now. I think at some point Progosion started realizing like, wait a minute, this man is not He's a different person now, so I can't really talk to him the way I used to be able to talk to him, and I probably I better make sure if I disagree. I don't know how do I make sure that I still don't look like a bitch and I don't make you look soft. So my thought was, I'll just blame your minister, your minister, your commander. I'll
just blame that, you know what I'm saying. And so he's like, your boy don't know what he's doing, because again I don't want to look bad, but your boy don't know what he's doing, and he's fucking up our mission. He got us all looking like chumps. And then eventually he was like, all right, I feel like what we would call progusion was feeling froggy. You know what I'm saying. When you feel froggy, I mean you jump, you know what I mean. And he's like, all right. So he
was like you know what. It was almost like he had his own come to Jesus moment where he's like, wait a minute, I got a whole army, you know what I'm saying, Like it just clicked one day, like wait up, wait a minute, I don't have to stay for this shit. You know what I'm saying. So he was like, all right, I'm gonna make my move. Your military soft you can't really fight back. I've tried to use our thirty years, forty years of friendship to try
to talk some sense into you. Clearly, you need to know what the fuck it is you like you went to the you You You've been sitting on your ass over here. You've sending other people to poison fools, like You're not really about to smoke no more. I'm still outside, you know what I'm saying. So like So, so I get I get the way you move. I get it, nigga, but you're not ready really for the smoke, you know what I'm saying. So, and I tried to go to nights read. I tried to blame your homeboy, and I'm
gonna do it. So he makes his move. The move don't work. And like we always know, if you shoot at the King, you bet not miss. But this fool missed, and it's missed it a big way. And I imagine, now I'm gonna turn both of these men into black men, because that's the language that I understand, right, So I imagine when they finally set sat down, putin was like, what the fuck do you think you are? Like, what the fuck you think this shit is? You got me again?
You got me looking like a bitch out here, and you know I can't have that, you know. And I imagine and I imagine the Belarus guy being like, well, hold on, fellas, okay, guys, hold on and come on, guys, come on, guys, we're friends. And then because again the Belarue dude trying to get in good with Vladimir anyway, and he's like, look, man, yeah, yeah exactly, and and and Putin being like, all right, get your boy, get
your boy. You know what I'm saying, And then him looking him in the face and being like, okay, okay, I hear you. If I even smell your cologne in my airspace, you know what I'm saying, like and proges to be like I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Right, and there's this click because I know this look, and I'm telling you, I know this look when somebody goes all right, man, we'll squash it's cool. Just just don't come around here. It's like I've been yelling, exactly,
it's not you already know it's not. Squashed. I've already decided I'm gonna kill you, like you've already decided it, you know what I'm saying. But this dude says you can come over here, and he goes, huh, all right. He's so the play was already ran in his head. He's like, Okay, I'll get out there. I'll not look like a dick by not killing this man immediately, right, So I'm gonna give it some time, you feel me. I'm gonna show some mercy. You know. I'll even tell
your army because again, they can scrap that. He's like, look, if y'all want to no questions asked, y'all, could you me It's not like you guys weren't doing a thing. Your leader just kind of lost his mind for a little bit. But we've been friends for so long. I'm gonna let this one slide because I'm a good man, you know what I'm saying, and like and then and then looking at him being like, okay, sure, yeah, go ahead and live over there. But he's like, nigga, you
better take up farming. You better forget all this shit disappeared. Change your name. I don't care, leave your family, leave your children, do not come listen, do not? I better nobody can't nobody have your initials. If somebody say the first letter in your name in my presence is up, you know what I'm saying. And then this food, and then Progoson has the nerve to be like, hey, bro, I'm gonna plane. I'm on a plane. I just got to finish a few things. I promise I won't stay.
I just need to finish some whole things. And I imagine Vladimir leaning back in his chair being like you need to get what now? You need to come get? Okay? Yeah, yeah, come on, you know what. You come to your drawer, no problem, no problem, come through. You know what I'm saying. And they're just like leaning over to it on me and he's like it's time, homies, Like yes, you know what I'm saying. And they were done prep the missiles. Where'd you come in? Oh, I guess it's today, fellas,
I guess the end of the day. You making it easy for us. I thought i'd have to send somebody. I thought i'd have to send someone of the bellar roots, like you know I'm saying, because because you put him in belaruts, because I ain't Finnah, stop you like you said you scared of me anyway. You know. So when I decide, hey, homie, I'm gonna come kill that guy that I am out here, and you're gonna shut the fuck up and watch me do it, that's what you gonna do.
Yeah, I mean it's kind of like that. I'm kind of not but a lot of it is. I think a lot like that, but a lot.
Of it is.
I mean it kind of is like that. It's just different timeline.
So, okay, proversion and progosion and Putin didn't know each other when they were like young, right, I mean they when they were younger, but not like from day one or anything.
Like.
Okay, So progosions like this mad criminal. He gets like a load of suspended sentences and that didn't deter him. He's like, yeah, no, I'm a lunatic. I don't care. Yeah, goes and like strangles this woman, goes to like rob her with like three other criminals, and instead of robbing her, he's like, this total fucking sadist. You're not like the nutty guy that you just don't don't bring him around, Like, yeah, he turns.
Up to the party.
I'm gonna go, you know what I mean, even though you don't know me, I'm just gonna go because I know Somethingeah.
Yeah, yeah, he's that kind.
Of guy, I think. So he strangles this woman, nearly kills her, like you know, she passes out whatever, robberies arm robberi's house breaking and that the court said, right, you're going in for ten years. So he's in prison throughout the like kind of end of the Soviet Union, the whole of the eighties. He's in prison, gets out, the Soviet Union's collapsing, and you know, he's a criminal,
so he he knows how to make money. He's learned loads of stuff in prison now, and Rush has a very especially back then, had a very tight knit, secure network of like criminal businesses even in prison. It's just I mean, it's just like the same imagine in America, the same in England. Like for young lads in England. People go to prison, it's like crime university. You know, you're good. They come out with like one hundred new contacts.
So whatever that happens, it's the most perfect storm. The Soviet Union's falling apart, all the gangsters are now suddenly able to loaner their money and make legit money.
They get rich very quickly.
So he does that and he's involved with all these criminals and he gets a loan from one of the criminal networks and he opens up a restaurant, right, and he's like, right, I want this to be real fancy, and he does make it fancy. You know, he has the money and he opens another one and he opens in it opens it on the river in Saint Petersburg, which are like a beautiful spot, calls his place New Island, right, that's his that's his restaurant.
Okay.
So however, you know, word gets out. Vladimir Putin is doing his thing, you know, on the side. The whole time this is happening. Blad's in power, he's getting to power, and Russia needs a loan from the i M F right, the International Monetary Fund.
I mean we all know what they're like.
Yeah, but them times they were like, all right, we'll give Russia some money. So they were unsure. They come to they come to Russia to be like better not be the USSR anymore, Like yeah yeah yeah, and they're like no, no it's not, we'll take you out. They take them to this fancy spot and they end up through knowing people. And I think what you're saying is right, Like Putin is like that, they're like the pretty boy. The more he's like more like string of bell, you
see what I'm saying, He's like more stringer belt. And then Progosion is like, I.
Don't even know, I don't even want to. So who's the other guy that the main.
Guy on on why anyway? I can't remember his name, But so he's like the other guy, like the more like gangster guy, and yeah, Progosian is that guy. And then you know, like like Putin is more in like you know, doing things legal, but he's got that in him, you know what I mean, he's definitely I don't think
it's so much the criminal element. I think that he Prutin's so ruthless that he realizes that you need people like Progosion to stepping stones from things that you don't want to do, you know, Yeah, you need that rule about us side. Okay, I'm not gonna he's not gonna learn the boxing, but he's gonna have a guy that is you know what I mean, and then turf him as soon as he needs to so he kind of sees I think you're right, Like he sees like this, you know, he's like.
I see this guy, I know who he is.
He Okay, yeah, he's got a nice fancy restaurant, but he can do dirt, you know what I mean.
I know he's done dirt.
So it takes the if there to Progosion's restaurant and everything goes well. They get this huge, huge loan and kind of off of that. That was not just that, but that was the start of like Russia being able to rebuild into this, like, you know what was a really thriving economy after all after all the hell that it put everybody through. I should say thriving, I mean thriving for the rich people. Well you know what I mean. Yeah, for like in his class, everyone else got absolutely screwed.
This is the thing, like there's I mean, certainly I'm not fucking pro USSR or pro Styling or anything like that, but the way we get told the history of how like oh yeah we just had to get rid of East Germany and that and then everything was fine. No, it was terrible, Like it was really bad for them for everybody, the poor people, you know, no matter what side that they lost. So anyway, so well they won freedom,
you know, okay, but they still were broke. And so anyway, that's all happening, and you know, Progosions then he's real, real cozy enough to putin.
Puot's like, all right, you know, he's a guy you can rely on. He made things right. Yeah.
So then he's like, okay, well we got some contracts we need you know, we need the food. The schools need food. You got a catering You've got a restaurant, and by this time Progosion had started a catering business, you know. Yeah, so he's like, okay, well you you know, you do food and that. All right, here's a contract.
So Progosion, you know, he was never actually in the military or anything, but he wanted to get into like, you know, doing the food and stuff like that Ford for the Russian military.
I don't you know. I mean, it's it's a hazy thing.
But eventually, long story short, they get that deal for the food to the military, and just through them dealings, I mean, the food stuff is kind of irrelevant. I think it's like you're saying, it's just the circles they're in Putin's like.
You are that guy.
You know, as bad as Progosion was, he was that guy. He will do the most horrible stuff, and he has no conscience, he has no morals, he has no qualms. So they kind of have this friendship kind of partnership. By his point, both of them are a billionaires, you know, like like Progosion was a billionaire by the time he
died through various dodgy dealings and whatever. So then in Syria at this time later on, there's like loads of years later, like when when you know, or decades later, there's this like kind of mercenary unit and they go and try and take on some Jahadis factions I believe,
and they get absolutely wasted by the Jahadists. But the few that kind of leave and like get out, you know, the Russian military is like, all right, that's maybe someone recognized that we could use we could use some mercenaries. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, they can do some day you work for us, So they all right, come here. Basically they formed Wagner, the kind of the Russian government form Wagner, you know what I mean. I mean they found it themselves. But it was also this idea like oh no, it's
nothing to do with us. It was everything to do with them.
You know.
Yeah, I guess said, like the first Wagner base was literally on like a Russian special Forces base, like physically they had the same building.
So that all happens.
And at this point Progosion gets involved with Wagner and he was the guy that because obviously he's a criminal, but he's got loads of money he has with the shell companies, you know, like any politician would. He wasn't a politician, but like any politician has both in the West and in Russia. And he's like, look, I can help fuel, I can help buy fuel, I can help buy.
Vehicles, body arm or whatever.
So he starts becoming kind of a financier of Wagner denies his involvement for years, and then at some point he becomes like the guy like you know, he's like, yeah, okay, actually I'm the Wagner guy.
And so he I think two things.
I think he was such a brutal person that this actually there was a personal interest in He wanted to be in this club.
It wasn't just financial. It's like I want to.
Be in these are his people, you know, like mercenary people that want to and Wagner were never that good at fighting.
There's this myth that they're like special forces.
It's bullshit. They've never been very good like on the battlefield. What they're good at is doing the most nasty ship. They're just so if you say, oh, well, you know, we've arrested ten prisoners of war, but what do we do with them, I don't know, give him to them guys, they'll probably execute them, all okay, cool.
Hey, just yeah, so like that's that's interesting. That's an interesting wrinkle on them because I knew that, like the list of war crimes under their belt is insane real.
And they you know, there's a famous video where they kill a man in Syria with like a combat shovel, like cut him to bits with a shovel, and they're just like laughing about it. Famous video where they smash I think it might be a part of that video, like smash them in the head with a sledgehammer. And whilst you know, obviously military's every militias, factions, whichever politics, they will do war crimes.
Trust me, yeah, of course, you know, it's a very funny thing.
I'll be at war with like you know people, You'll hear people online and they're like, oh, well, the leftist militia don't do war crimes, Like oh.
Yeah they do, yeah, oh yeah they do. Yeah everyone at war, Yeah, everyone war crimes. But these they just have no code. There's no right.
These guys are like the like you know, the Michael Jordan of war crimes. You see what I'm saying, Like that on top, and not only that, they start wearing it as a badge of honors. So they smash a guy in the head with a sledgehammer and then they start using the sledgehammer iconography almost as like a logo. Yeah with them guys, Like, that's how dark they are, you know, that's how fucked up it is.
That's interesting. There was this guy out here in in Uh he's passed away now and he's reformed, but his name was Monster Cody and he wrote a book. He was a original. Like there's there was two big crip gangs out here in LA that one still exists. Well, they both still exist. But uh, there's Rolling sixties and there's eight Trays, which is eighty third straight Rolling sixty.
That's a nifty hustle. You know what I mean, that's that's very big U. And then there was a Trays which is on the East Side and they've historically beefed, but them they're they're like sort of like star Like one of the biggest names that was the guy that was all on the news and stuff like that when it was just like was this guy named Monster Cody And what they used to say about him was that was that that type of violence was so fun to him, like just just over the top, like you know, yes,
and and was like so he you know, you just beating people mercilessly and smiling, you know what I mean, And then at the end of it being like y'all, y'are trying to go get a burger, like just didn't like, you know, it's he wrote it. He wrote an incredible
book about this and about what he's became later. Like so it's not like I'm breaking no code by saying this because it's in his book, but like that dude, that's just like yeah, yeah, you know, And I feel like, yeah, you know, I'm pretty sure you know, you probably know a guy when you were in high school that you were like, dude, if nobody grabbed a hold of this dude. Yeah yeah, yeah, you just be like, don't fight him. Yeah, no, it is something weird. Now he might try and pull
your eye out. Leave that alone.
Yeah yeah yeah, I mean if I remember reading once about you know James Whitey Bulgier, right, like the head of the Irish mob in Boston. Yes, there's a horrible anecdote from one of his like underlings where he says, they're in this basement, there's this guy. They think he's been snitching, and he pulls the guy's teeth out of his head like.
You know, like jaws them out. Yeah, pulls him out, kills him, like beats him.
To death with like I don't know, like I can't even remember what, but like kills him like brutally. And then they said he like he did it covered in blood and he's like I'm tired, and then he just takes a nap right afterwards. Yeah, it's like how like yes, next level, Yes, inside there he's like, you pull the guy's teeth and kill him. Adrenaline isn't even up, Like I'm just tired. Yeah right, I'm tired. I'm this is boring, like you know, just weird.
True.
Yeah, yeah, like uncomprehensible, like viciousness, and from all accounts like progosion, even himself. People have said, like even before Wagner, he was a sadist, like he was known as that. Like I said, he strangled a woman unconscious for no fucking reason, just to rob her.
You know. So he's a bad guy.
So he you know, And and Dmitri Utkin, who was like the kind of founder, kind of head commander of Wagner. His call sign was actually Wagner, named after Richard Wagner, Hitler's favorite composer.
Because the head of Wagner is a neo.
Nazi, complete with SS tattoos and swastikas on his chest, which is ironic because they were sent into the Nazifi Ukraine.
Yeah yeah, yeah, right.
Yeah, load loads of the there's so there's a hell of a lot of neo Nazi groups in Russia that are now fighting Ukraine to the Nazifi it but war is a strange thing. So yeah, So so he you know him and can get on great. You know, they're both like evil motherfuckers. They're both like ideologically like horrible and and they both want to do with his power. It's like what they want to do. It's less about building up Russia and more about building up this fiefdom
that they have. It's like this is our gang. And honestly that's what Vagner was. It was like like yeah, like you're kind of saying like a street gang, but on with the weather, whether what's at risk, what's at stake is literally global.
Terrorism, like global conflict.
It's crazy, you know, like they've done war crimes in Africa, Syria, Ukraine.
So then yeah, so then yeah, the African ones is where they where I first heard their name, you know what I mean? It was just howful who? You know what I mean? And yeah, yeah, well you'll.
Love this, right, this was very funny. So after, you know, we'll go back to it. But after Progosion got smoked in the plane, some pictures of Progosion with some like African guys. I think he's in Mali and you know, like they're doing his selfie and the like. They have no idea who was clearly the like who's this random Russian? Yeah, and then they put out there and they're like, oh uh, Progosian was a good friend of you know, of the
African people. Many there called him the new Nelson Mandela, no joke.
That's what they said.
Firstly, Progosionism was an ardent racist his whole life, Yeah you know what I mean.
And he was the head of.
Fucking neighbors country, yeah right, Neil Natzien. And he's literally been killing Africans. Yeah yeah, so that's the kind of nonsense there on. But yeah, so he goes. You know, eventually Varda gets deployed to Ukraine clearly to do dirty work. There's a lot of very strong evidence they've been committing more crimes, and there's some reports that from the very top, from progosion himself, gave the order kill everyone, and then
the soldiers as well. There's kids and aces. I said kill everyone, right, so they're killing kids, and I've been out there. I've been out there. Kids are getting killed, trust me, like women, children, loads of corpses with their hands tie behind their back.
You know.
Rush has been doing some serious nasty stuff out there. So they're doing all this stuff. But then clear it becomes clear in the battle for Bakhmu that like you know, Ukraine are not backing down. They've got spirit, they got hert and they've got a lot of weapons from America. In the West, so it's not going to be the walk in the park. Theyfore and as I said before, Wagner.
Are not that good at fighting.
You know.
They've always been put in as like to be the guys that go through the meat rind up.
That's what they were always used for.
They're not military, and Rustans just go, well, it's not our guys. They chose to be their Arerea. So that happens and something in we don't really know why, but you know, because Progosion has seen this happened before. But there's a big difference between fighting a state that has millions of people that are volunteering to protect their country and also have weapons from the West and you know, jets and tanks versus killing some Jahadi somewhere, you know.
So obviously Progosians men start getting fucking slaughtered and they're trying to saying to the Russians like, hey man, we need we need some assistance, and the Rusians like your vagumer, like this.
What you're you're talking about? Yeah, that's why we.
Say, like you guys, yeah, yeah, you're you're here to get killed basically, So not that explicitly, but I think that was what was understood basically, yeah, basically, and then it gets to the point where, I mean, we don't really know why something happened, but I think I was talking to PFO great research, and it was all about this stuff. Something just snapped in in progosion, and his theory is perhaps just seeing I mean, you know, there's
drone footage of Wagner losses. You're talking like seven, eight, ten bodies, higher piles of corpses. You know, like their guys were getting slaughtered. So imagine walking through that every single day your unit, they're there, insignia is on and they're your guys, and a lot of So Russia did this mad thing.
They did a penal conscript.
So they started recruiting like murderers, rapists, whatever from prison.
Yes, right, you go and fight for Wagner. We'll let you go when you get free.
It just so happens that some in the end they got free and they went back to their town and killed people again.
Anyway, because because they're murderers. Yeah, yeah, right.
I couldn't see that happening, and I think Russia just presumed everyone would get killed.
That's crazy, man. I feel like there had to have been a pride issue somewhere in there where it's just like.
And he was a convict, remember, yeah, yeah, he's seen like, hang on, these are myse.
Are my dudes?
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah.
And at some point he genuinely snaps and just starts putting it out on telegram and being like what the fuck is going on?
He starts with like the.
Ministry, starts with the commander, and then.
Before you know, it was literally openly slagging off pootinahing like what are you doing? And boy, he claims that their position was shelled by Russian special forces or whatever. There's no actual evidence of that, and the footage they put out it looks faked. I think he just said that's what happened because he decided that was it now. And yeah, man, they jump on the tanks and they ride on Moscow.
You know, four hours Yeah, you know, yeah exactly.
Man, he starts riding on there and and there's some I be honest, I first thought I thought this is like a plot between poot In and Progosion, But having spoken to people a lot more informed than me, no, it was legit.
You know. It was just like, man, there's some bullshit. I'm tired yeah, yeah again, like that's what I'm saying, where he's like, wait a minute, I'm the murderer, I'm the crime, right, Like that's what he was saying, You're yeah, yeah, like you're the pret palace.
We're on the front exactly. So essentially he turns around, rides on Moscow. I think they got within like three hundred kilometers. It was pretty crazy, and there's this weird narrative where people like, isn't it funny though, like you know, like nothing ever happened actually, you know, like a few Wagner tanks got blown up by like Russian Air Force. You know, like there was serious there was some fighting,
people got killed, but anyway, it was. It was weird, though there was I do think that maybe some people were wondering, like is this going to be a real thing. Yeah, maybe we need to decide which side we're going to be on, and maybe people were hesitant.
But whatever, it was never gonna work. The movie mooting, he was never gonna work.
But yeah, you know, putting sends out progosion, funk off go to Belarus. You see that footage right where they go through his house, like one of one of his mansions in Russia and like there's all these photos of like Progosion dressed up and all like fancy dress and like disguises so we could travel around the world the year, which was funny. But then yeah, I mean Progosion was
back in Maley, he was back in Africa. He went to Mali in West Africa and god no, you know, doing some funckery there of course.
And then he's.
Flying back, goes to uh Saint Peter's goes to Moscow. As he's flying to Saint Petersburg or the other way around, I forget, his.
Jet gets blown out the sky. Yeah he's on.
Board as well. And you know what putting just went, I will kill you. Yeah, I'm gonna do it. Like you haven't got away with this, bro.
There has to be like you know, I've you heard a phrase like like make sure you tap in when you come somewhere. Yeah yeah, yeah, you gotta get there. You got to get the check, right, Yeah, you better tap here, like you better go check. Yeah, like he was in Mali, he was like arms stop by Moscow right quick, like this nigga tap in, you gotta You're just gonna come into the hood like you didn't even
say nothing. You know what I'm saying, Like, I don't know if it was that or it was just like do you mind if I stopped by and he's like Noah, I don't mind.
I think that I think he was like yeah, yeah, like I think he was planned. But I think from the second progosion did dot mutiny in the second ye like he's gone, this guy's done.
I have to Yeah. It's almost like yeah, he had to. He had to kill, you know, like you know what I'm saying, Like that's the and I imagine because there's no way in the world progoson don't know the code because you're you against it too, so you just have to know, like ship, do you.
Really think he was gonna get away with that? That's why I don't get no either.
You he was so felt, so froggy that he was like I know I could pull this off. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, That's what I think it was. He was just like again like na, this nigga's soft, Like you can't keep up with me, Like you know, you haven't been killed, you haven't killed the way we've been killing for all the time.
Let's get He got like fewed by that realizing.
That your army is trash. You know what I'm saying, started believing his own hyghe like we're brawlers. And then and then it didn't work. That's what I was like, again, shoot at the king, you bet not missed, and then he missed.
It's very it's very weird, Like I would love to know that conversation between them three to stop the mutiny, you know, like what did he say? I think, I I don't know I have I mean, I don't want to, like I guess, but like there must have been some like very heavy, thinly veiled threat, you know, like how's your wife? Yeah, totally, how's your kids? You know, like yeah, I don't know, I don't know when you don't know? Was a guy that gave a ship about his family?
Yeah, progos. I just think he like yeah, like obviously a speculation, but it's getting from where the way you described him is like what I thought about him too, where I'm just like you like you know the rules, like you know the rules like if you if you do this, you know you have to die. You know, you know it, you know what I'm saying, Like and maybe it was like maybe it was a negotiation on some like well, look, you still got all these missions,
we still got all these missions. We run it over here, you know. And then yeah, and then the I feel like the Belarus dude was like almost like an audible like you know what I'm saying, Like this would have like he just saw his opportunity, you know what I mean, and just kind of took his shot. And I imagine Lad being like perfect, yeah yeah yeah yeah, no problem, yeah yeah yeah, just go just just go to exile. Yeah yeah, no problem. It was a couple of dies.
It is weird though, this why at the start I thought maybe this was a double cross, maybe the whole thing was planed ye, and then he was gonna kill him anyway. But for people I spoke to that like nah, that's what happened. So I don't know, I guess, but it was weird, like how.
The fuck did he know? Know?
And I think what really prove it was it's I mean, it's not good at well, I mean, fuck him, like they're all scumbags. Like in pregosion, nothing of nothing of value was lost when these people died. But my point is it kind of proved our our a lot of our a lot of our investigations in sad Oligarch. When you look at it, it's like, Nah, it can't be this ridiculous, it can't be this. And then when this happened, it was like it really is this way.
Now.
I'm not saying they're all being killed by the Kremlin, and I don't even know for certain that anyone was killed by the Kremlin. But if you listen to this series, I think you can make your own mind up.
You know, we're not.
Trying to we're not the cops. We're not trying to say what happened, but we think we know what happened, and we're putting things together.
Yeah, but it's like the worst kept secret to where you're just like, right, but we all know, like.
This culture of violence within the same circles is in you know, it's been going on for years. In fact, the USSR had like an actual phrase within the government which meant, I forget what it is, but it basically was like a phrase for how to kill one of your political rivals, but perfect it like basically like the art of assassination where it looks like an accident. Yeah, and I feel like now it's just yeah that maybe was an accident, but everybody knows.
It's like I want you to know.
I need to have enough like deny, I believe, but I want you to know. Yeah exactly.
It's like that's that's to me, that's the art because the first story window thing is hilarious. To me, I'm like, were you you fell out of a first story window?
You know?
Yeah?
No, that was the second story but it was two days before his friend died in the same fucking hotel.
Yeah, so that stuff is like, yeah, it's like it's a week wink, you know what I mean, Like it's of course. So to me, that's that's like you said, that's what they perfected to where it's like I am making it obvious I did it, but clear but you can't but not obvious I did it. You know what I'm saying.
I'm not saying I did it, Yeah, but you know who did it? But you know exactly, it's like the O. J.
Simpson thing. You know what I'm saying.
It's basically that book, Like, yes, what's the book?
Like if I did it? Yeah? Or something like like what it is. Our last episode was about that to where we were like that's what our recorded where it was like, okay, listen, it's a far gone conclusion among the black community. We was all like, nah, he guilty, like he killed that lady, Like we we all know he killed Yeah, of course he killed that lady. You know what I'm saying. Like, but you know what I'm saying. I going to tell y'all that you know what I'm saying.
But yeah, if you're that insane, like if you can go and do that and then joke about it in books afterwards, whatever you say to me, I'm going along with it.
Whatever it is.
Brood Okay, Yeah, I believe you're like I'm gonna leave before I get killed or something. You see that clip where like he sees Ruby Wax and the like she opens the door and he's like pretending.
Like like what do you what are you doing that? Yeah?
Really not the actions of a like.
Innocent mind. Yeah, absolutely weirdo. He's weirdo, just a weirdo. I mean it's funny, but it's fucked up. He's clearly Yeah sadism. Yes, the gift he gave us that jay Z like just in his song The Story of Oja, where he just nails it where he's like, oh, j B, like I'm not black, I'm o Jay and he's like, yeah, okay, he's just okay, sure, you know what I'm saying, Like, come on, man on his own world you think, yeah,
you really think the rules don't apply to you? Bro, you're weirdo y yeah, yeah, it's just a wish weirdo. All right, Jake, Jake, thank you very much for doing this with us.
Man, Doug, might I heard that made sense? I know it's mad complication, No, no.
No, no, it was perfect because it sounds like, like seriously one of the biggest like uh deterrents for me actually like getting deeper involved into like sort of like gang life, was sitting on the porch and having to keep up with shit like this, like yeah, like you can't. It's like you miss one party and all of a sudden, this dude we went to middle school with, we all homies with, now he's the enemy, you know what I'm saying. And in this and this fool got drunk and this
girl now messing with him. I just like I can't keep up with all this. So you just so so the way that the stories be moving, and then you don't know, and then you can only know part of it because you don't want to snitch on your homeboy. So the story don't make sense when he's explaining it to this because his piece is missing, because we can't tell you the actually what happened, you know what I'm saying. So you're just like, I don't know, I don't know what happened, you know.
So there's a real to keep in your mouth closed sometimes, you know, bro, That's why I love in the hard way, you know, because you get your mouth smacking.
Like in these situations. Yeah, just shut up. I don't know what happened. Look I survived, I'd be like, look I don't know.
I wasn't there, couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut. And now he's a toast.
Now he's yeah, now he's fertilizer. Yeah all right man, So politics, please make sure you uh you you tap into this out. All the episodes are out now.
Right, Yeah, we got one more on next week.
It's like the last episode had to be a two part because it's about progorg.
It's just so complicated. But yeah, it's pretty much done now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So thank you so much man for doing this please follow us that all the guards please tap in the popular front man, like that's what it's called, right, I'm not tripping, Yeah okay, wait yeah, it was like yeah yeah about the most like underground, obscure, freaking deep cut wars like yeah, man, we try.
And you know, we're a little bit different in that we're not like against were reporting. We're an alternative, like we always say we kind of It's like we're reporting from the perspective of the people as opposed to the analyst to we're reporting with the hot left and that's why. Yeah.
Yeah, well, thank you very much, man, all right, mat thanks for having me appreciate it of course. Yo yo. This thing right here was recorded by Me Propaganda and East Loves Boil Heights, Los Angeles, California. This thing was mixed, edited, mastered, and scored by the one and only Matt Awsowski. Y'all check out this fool's music. I mean it's incredible. Executive produced by Sophie Lick the men for Cool Zone Media. Man, and thank you for everybody who continue to tap in
with us. Make sure you leaving reviews and five star ratings and sharing it with the homies. So we could get this thing pushed up in the algorithm and listen. I just want to remind you these people is not smarter than you. If you understand city living, you understand politics, We'll see you next week.