Episode 12 - The Biggest Counterfeit Sneaker Bust In History w/ Blake Rascoe

a guest today because we have no friends. But anyway, I wanted to have Blake come on the show and kind of speak his mind about a few things that obviously that I am in the business of on the counterfeit side of everything, and he did like a full deep dive on the whole counterfeit hype and how actually, like legally it's a huge thing. I didn't know that it was on such a large scale. I didn't know that sneakers were like such a huge part of the

counterfeit industry. But anyway, before we jump into that, go ahead, Blake, introduce yourself was going on? Guys, my name is Blake Rasco and I am filling in for an FBI agent today. That's what's up. Yeah, yeah, because we can't have them on because we get in trouble right. But yeah, so, so Blake, tell us a little bit first of all,

you know, tell us a little bit about yourself. You know, even maybe a few things that I might not know before we like really take a deep dive, because you know, maybe people would want to know, like the type of people I work with. For sure. Thanks for having me today. Thank you, thank you, thank you for always being here. You're always sitting right there. I am. I've always listening to come on the show. Yes, thank you. So a little bit about me. I'm from Virginia Beach, Virginia, the

home of the clips, Farrell, Timmerlyn, Missy. You know a lot of a lot of musicians from there. Actually, Allen Iverson's from there too, and then there's me. Yeah, so I grew up there. You know, I was always inspired by like the fashion industry by way of Farrell. You know, he was kind of an icon, always has been, right. I think other people have referenced him on the show before. Yeah, there was this there was this shop that opened up in in my hometown called Commonwealth back when I was

growing up. And I think you probably know about that shop. No, okay, they have one, and they have one to night time. They won Philippines, one in d C and one of Virginia Beach. Yeah, and froll Fro helped to start it. And it was like the first like hype store I'd ever been to. And it was back when like Crooks and Castle and all that stuff was like really popping. And they always had like all the all the newest dunks and all kinds of crazy ship. So I was

kind of like my intro into the whole world. You know. They carried ice cream, they carried BBC before you can find it anywhere, you know. But yeah, I grew up there, and then when I left Virginia, I went to Atlanta and went to school at a little place called Moore House. And while I was in school, you know, my my parents were like obviously pushing me to become a lawyer or a doctor, all the all the things that that parents push you to do. Right, we're supposed to this.

This this is the theme, guys, if you haven't noticed. Yes, I love you, guys. And you know I was doing that whole thing. I was studying to go to law school. I was taking the LS at I even got an offer to work at Barclay's Capital, which is an investment bank, pretty big investment out of London. Out of London, and I interviewed, they flew me to New York. And between that and like studying for the l side and possibly going to law school, it all just felt super fucking empty.

And I walked into that office in New York and it was like, Man, this sucks, and they're gonna offer me like probably like a hundred fifty thousand out of college, which is a lot out of college, right, and for that summer, I think I would have gotten like dirty k or something like that. And I decided to take an unpaid internship at ASCAP, which is a performing rights organization. That's where they like collect all the all the royalties and the money and all the times music has been played.

Because I wanted to be in the music industry. I wanted to get into entertainment. That was my goal, you know, in school. But I was kind of in the back of my head. I thought it was a dream, thought it was something that could never happen, you know. I didn't really know anyone that could help me do that. But randomly met this lady who worked there. She helped me to get an internship and the rest is kind

of history. After that, like did that internship, came back to school, told my parents I was going to law school. And then by the time I was a senior in college and I didn't have a job, and I was like, Mom, Dad, I moving in to l A. So I packed up my car, moved to l A. And then you know, my journey began on like surfing couches, trying to figure

it out finding jobs. I worked at this like small little marketing agency, and then from there I grew to work for like this agency called William Morris Endeavor, which like basically is the hub or the home for all of like the stars, but William Morris is the one I worked at, And I worked in television and television department, and I transitioned from working there to working in production, worked on like the Kardashians, probably growing away the real world.

The challenge helped to pitch a couple of shows to MTV. Then I worked for this guy named Mark Burnett who started the Voice the Apprentice Shark Tank Survivor. Work for him for a couple of years, learned that game, and then while I was there, I always like still thinking about the music industry and then through my connections that I made, Like when I first got to l a uh, a friend of mine was working for this company that was managing John Legend and she was like, what do

you want to do? And I was like, I really want to be a music management or being in management. And then that was when I kind of started getting into like the management thing, and she uh helped me to get a job there and that became John Legends day to day manager. Did that for a while and then I started working with you. That's what's up. Yeah,

I'm much happier now. I appreciate that. Man, All that was definitely you know, everything that you like I been through and everything that you've accomplished is definitely well deserved obviously, Like you know, I appreciate everything you've done for me. Like you know that, you know that I say that sometimes I'm not sure. Now you know that, you know that I'm make it very apparent. But yeah, So make sure you guys check out my boy Blake. Come on,

bro shout out your Instagram. You have to. Oh, you gotta drop the Instagram. Check me out at Bogan boy, at b O U g A I n b O y boy. I always wondered, what what does that mean? What does bogan mean? Okay, I'm glad you ys that. So the bogan via is this flower that you see all over California. It grows in Greece. It grows in

Brazil flower exactly. It's few shuts, purple, sometimes white, sometimes yellow, different colors, right, But like, I've never seen it before until I moved to l A. And I kept seeing it everywhere. Like you're driving driving down the highway, there's actually on the one on one there's like a there's like a heart shaped like like wall. It creates like a heart on some wall and the one one. I don't know if you ever seen that anyway, So, like I keep seeing this flower, I'm like, what the hell

is this? It's like, this is cool, like I've never seen before. And I looked it up and I started researching it. And it turns out that this flower is like basically like a very resilient plant. It can grow in many different conditions and so depending on the environment it grows in, it will become a vine, a tree or bush or whatever like whatever the environment is, it'll it'll mold to that. And if you and if you've

ever noticed this plant. You'll see, like it could be like a big bush in front of someone's house, or just a vine growing upside house or whatever, you know what I mean. So I don't know. I just started thinking about that and like I'm into nature and all that, and I was like a versatile being a versatile plant, you know, I'm a versatile human. That's what's up, dude,

that that's sick. I had no idea. I always wonder how to pronounce that, like I would say, Boogan, Yeah, I think the Brazilian Yeah, I think, but we say I think that's dope. That's that's actually really sick. I I had no idea. Okay, we'll make sure you guys go follow him. So let's take a second here and like talk about kind of like the stuff that you were telling me about, like in all these articles about

the whole counterfeit industry. So yeah, something that kind of came to your attention that you told me about was the fact that a lot of people think that people buy fake stuff on accident, but in reality, according to the statue you showed me that they did a survey and it's six people buy fake stuff purse purpose. Yes,

I think that it's probably a little bit more. I would say it's closer to because, like we were saying, I feel like it's totally something that's almost a taboo to say that you have something fake or or intentionally bought something that was fake, or maybe they just didn't want to get in trouble. So it's illegal. Yeah, at the end of the day, right, I guess, I guess. I mean I got grilled for this. I guess it's not illegal to own fake stuff. I guess it's just

illegal to buy it. Wait, no, is it illegal to buy it? Is illegal to sell it. I think it's illegal to buy and sell it, but if you have it, it's not illegal, which I didn't know. And I got grilled one time for it, and I'm like, okay, well, I'm sorry. But it's interesting because way back when the whole incident with like the first Turtle dove that I got those fake eBay said we will give you a

refund and you must destroy the product. They didn't say throw it away, destroy, they said destroy, And I was like, I was like, what the funk? How do they verify that the destroy? Well, I mean they don't. But the thing is, I just found that crazy because it's like do I burn it? Do I like feed it to a dog or something and have them destroy it? Like this, destroy is such a strong word, but I guess it's not illegal to own fake products. Recently, I read online

about like this whole like bust that just happened. It was like four millions something close to half a billion dollars or something like that. It was like four and fifty seven million dollars at l a X insane, and that was mostly sneakers. That's crazy that that actually blows my mind because I thought it would be fake Louis Vuitton mostly or like fake bags and watches, because I thought that that's what people bought it fake. Is this

the same instance? About how like the cops caught it because they thought that the Virgil off White Jordan ones, Like we're like flamesy because of like this swoosh. Is this the same instance or is this a different one? This is the same one because that that was the picture on the on the article right was like the Virgin Yeah, this is this is the one. Because this happened like like a couple of weeks ago. Oh yeah, yeah, this was Okay, there's another one. We're talking that we're

gonna talk about. It happened in New York, but this one first. Yes. Yeah, So in the police report, they were saying that since the Nike sign, because you know, on the off foay Jordian ones, how the Nike signs like barely stitched on, it's supposed to look like deconstructed. They said that that was the reason why they thought it was faced. So someone so someone there that was

examining was like, wait, these aren't real. But even even though the funny thing is the real ones have that same design, Oh, so it was it was deconstructed, and because it was, they were like, oh, these must be fake exactly. Okay, So that's actually really ironic because they

actually didn't know what they were talking. They did not know because because I mean, like, dude, if there was a shipment of alfoay jordan ones from like Japan to a reseller in New York that was like real, they probably or l A X I guess they would have thought that they were fake too. But they could have been real because of the swoosh, because you know what

I'm talking about, like it's like a little blue stitch. Yeah, and it can like come off like you can look like you can pull it off basically if you just take a scissors like the thread, they come off exactly. So I had no idea. I knew fake sneakers were like a big market, but I didn't know that it was such a big part of the fake market, you

know what I mean? Well, right here I'm seeing the U S. Customs and Border Protection reported the seizure of five thousand, three hundred counterfeit goods at L a X yesterday, So I guess whenever this was, which would have totaled up to three point four million U S dollars at their genuine retail value combined. Wow, that's crazy, that's so much. Well, I I guess that's how much it would have cost

it if they sold them as authentic. Right, that's insane because you know a lot of these people buy this fake ship and then like they sell it to people unknowing, which is really bad. And that what was it was twelve hundred and forty two pairs of Gucci belts and then they had six hundred and seventy eight pairs of shoes what do we say, sneakers? Right? Yeah, whatever, the Nike shoes. So sneakers. Yeah, and counterfeit Louisvuitton handbags. See, I thought that that would have been the bulk of it,

the lous Bitton handbags. That's funny how it's twelve hundred counterfeit Gucci belts, counterfeits, Samsung adapters like what, two hundred and thirty air Mays handbags, g Shock watches, Farragama belts, Bendy shorts. What that's so random? Random? And then in two thousand eighteen, the CBPS sees hundred and ten ships of counterfeits as submitted to be worth about one point four billion US dollars. That was in two thousand eighteen. Dog,

that's wild, that's what they found. Man, can you imagine another like freight, like a boat, it's just full of fake Louis. Yeah, it happens. The soldier boys probably like the captain of that about honestly, he was. They caught him in that's why he's in jail now. I haven't seen him posting in six months. You know what's going on. Soldier boys down for the count right now. That's insane. Actually, So this other one was when you're talking about New

York City. So there's four hundred fifty million dollar counterfeit ring bust, one of the larger in New York City's history. So the other one at one point four billion, wasn't two l a x so four or fifty million or in New York City. So can you imagine, like you were saying, like this is what they caught, but can you imagine how many times they've done this and not gotten caught? Right, So this is what I was telling

you about earlier. So this one, the one in New York, they they caught a whiff of this whole like ring back in two thousand twelve. Right, there was like a shipment that came in on the crate. So like you live near the water, so like you've probably seen like those cranes that take those big boxes off the ship or if you've seen the wire or anything like that. Like those crates are holding all kinds of goods. Sometimes it's fish, sometimes it's cars, sometimes it's TVs, sometimes it's

actually Nike. And then if it's coming from a place like China where a lot of this stuff is made and also counterfeit, because they're counterfeiting a lot of this stuff in the same places. And so this is like a communication ring that's going on between the manufacturer or one who's like in control of the manufacturing and then someone on the ground here in the US. And they have a whole system, like they have burner phones, they have like fake email addresses, they have fact like aliases.

It's almost like by work that they're doing in order to get this stuff over it right. And back in two thousand twelve, they found a crate full of this stuff, fake stuff, but there was no trace as to where it came from. But they knew that there was like something coming into this one port in New York. So they kept watching for it, and they kept until they found an actual like create that they could follow. And once they did, they started watching these folks and over

time they found a whole ring of people. It was like there was like twenty two people living here in the US, all from China that were a part of this whole ring that was smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars worth the you know, the Gucci, Defindi, the the Versagi, whatever you name it. Like they were just they were just bringing that stuff in hundreds of millions of dollars that they were making insanity that's crazy. Yes, So when did this bus happened? I think it happened in two thousand,

so it took them six years. Mm hmm. That's crazy. Six years, six years to crack it. But you know what, the way they do it is, they they try to stack up the odds against you. So they probably were like watching them and seeing them do this for some times, and they can build the case, you know, and then they they pulled the plug on it. That's insane. Yeah, that's insane. That's so much money. It's a lot of money. I mean obviously, you know, Nike and Adidas and like

the big brands like they make they make billions. But I mean this is just like one bus that they caught, right, So like maybe maybe this one bus would have cost Nike a hundred million dollars, right, But you gotta think this is like this is one piece of you know, probably like a hundreds or maybe thousands of different entry

ways into the US that are happening. You know, totally no. But what I was about to say was the fact that if Nike and Adidas are making you know, billions and billions of dollars a year, these counterfeiters might be getting close to those numbers. I mean they're making a lot of money, yeah, especially if they're selling just in China alone, that's a huge market. Right. And then here they're saying that that was worth almost half a billion.

I mean the one in l A was one point four that's crazy, right, one point four billion with a B. That's crazy. That actually like blows my mind. That blows my mind out. You didn't know that big, right, No, I had no idea. I didn't even know sneakers were such a big part of it because mostly you think it would be like like you said, like handbags. Yeah, I thought was a handbags and watches. There was no watches even on the list. Watches are that that's kind

of harder to fake? I think, yeah, totally. But like the amount of people have seen wearing fake fake Crowley's in l A is absurd. I honestly see people wearing a fake watch over fake pair of shoes. Well, you know what if you can't feel the weight of it in your hand and you don't know because they're on the face, is going to look real? Yeah when you

hold it, you know it's fake. Yeah, absolutely, I mean, yeah, there's there's better fakes than others, for sure, But I mean, dude, I definitely been to the club a few times that I saw some people weren't some like Michael Core's looking looking role X. You know, you know where they make the best fake watches, Turkey? Really Yeah? Why is that? I don't know, but I was there so random. I was living there for summer, and every shop, every like

jewelry store had watches in there. They had some real stuff, but then when you go in there assuming that you want to buy the fake stuff. So literally every jewelry store, a shop that I walked past, they'd be like, we got the fake Rolex, because we got the fake paddock. We have they had, they had, They had like hundreds of them, and they weren't on display. They were like kind of in the back and they bring them out. That's crazy. Yes, did you ever get one? I did? Yeah?

I did, I did. I did buy one. Do you still have it? No? Someone stole it, And I was like, that's what you get for stealing. That's crazy because it looked like it looked real, that's crazy. It was. It was like it was weighted everything. Wow. Yeah, so what was it? Just like a Rolex you're just like, I'm just gonna buy this kind of as a joke. Yeah, just like it was like it was like Hunterbucks. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, and it felt pretty good, pretty good. I mean I I just yes, but no, I tricked

a friend who had the same watch. Really, I forget the name of it. It's like it has like a blue face and the and the dial is like orange and it looks like a kind of like a lightning bowl. I don't know the name of this one, the mill Gouse, that one. Yeah, it's a green face, green face orange, yes, with the orange with the orange dial. Yeah, that's a dope watch. Yeah. I liked it solid. That's crazy. And then it goes into like the whole argument. A lot

of people make this argument. They say, why why buy the real thing when I can get the fake one. Well, I also know a lot of people who have the real one and then they wear the fake one out. That makes sense, so just in case it gets stolen

or they lose it or Yeah. I never really agreed with that, because I mean, to each their own, you know, I never judge anyone, but but you kind of do low key no, no, no for me, for me, it's it's different if like, let's I mean you went to the club when you were wearing the fake watch and you were telling some girl, yeah, you know, I spent like ten on this, I wouldn't say a word. I'd

be all right, bro, you do you? But if like you went out of your way to start bragging to like everyone, I'd be like, bro, like why are you doing that? You know what I mean? Because exactly because the way the way I like kind of like see things is like if you're telling other people that the ship is real even though you know that it's fake, then what other kinds of ship are you saying? You

know what I'm saying. And I guess it's it's a funny thing because it's like if you are living that lifestyle of like faking the funk, right, like fake really fake clothes all that, but you're telling everybody's real knowing it's fake, Like are you a liar? Are you? Though? Are you? Yeah? And a lot of people would say yes, a lot of people. Some people might say no because I mean that's interesting because like somebody could wear a fake role like their whole life but never tell a lie.

But if they say it's real, and that's that's a lie, you know what I mean? Dude, Like honestly, I've had a homie who literally wear fake watches and I don't give a flying fuck. I really don't, and like they're like, yeah, dude, you know I couldn't. I couldn't really afford the real ones. I just got this fake one. I like the way it looks and whatever. Okay. Cool. One time I had a friend. I'm not gonna say who it is. I'm not really friends with them anymore, but like they're like, yeah, dude,

I just got this. Uh. I forgot what it was and when it was like this rose gold like Paddock, but dude, like that's how much is that? Bro? Like that's like that's like fifty k? Yeah, try a hundred fifty k or a rose gold like Nautilus and like depending on the condition and stuff. But like anyway, he's like, yeah, dude, I just spent like seventy on this, and I was like, okay, like did you And I knew that he didn't have the bread for it. I knew that he didn't, you

know what I mean. I was like, there's no way this guy has bread for this. There's no way, I don't judge anyone. Like ever, this was how long ago, like probably like a year and a half ago. Okay, so you were deep into the easy Buster, yes, And like I know a fake watch when I see when they're there, I'm sure that there's a few that could fool me unless I like really held onto it. But like this one, I knew off the rip it was.

It didn't even look rose gold. It was like pink. Basically, what the Rolling says, for example, is like they take like a gold watch and they infuse it with a little bit of copper and platinum. Also like the metal that they use, they create that metal themselves. I have a I have a day date forty. It's it's real when I when I when I bought it, it's a rose gold. When I bought it, they told me that I know, I'm gonna sound like I'm flexing right now,

but I wear a Cardier ring. It's like really special to me, and I won't get into it right now. But in the Rolling store they were like, yeah, that ring is gonna fade over time, which it totally has. It looks like it's gold now and it was rose and they said the reason why the rollings will never fade away is because it's infused with platinum and that's why it's more expensive. And I was like, okay, that makes sense, but it's also a little bit of copper

to give it that rose. This foe's watch is literally pink, dude. It looked like a hubba bubba rapper Like it was like pink pink, you know what I mean, like literally

like the bubble gum that pain. And then he was like, yeah, I spent seven and the thing was ticking, and you know expensive watchers, they are really smooth, like the second hand just goes in a circle without interruption, and it was like this, it's a sweeping but this fool was going tick tick tick, you know, like jay Z has a line of my rolly don't TikTok, like that's a roast saying that, like my role is real because fake

wants TikTok. There's obviously a couple of exceptions. I'm totally watched nerding out right now, but my point is I knew it was obviously fake, and he was totally flexing it in my face like yeah, I do, I just spent seventy. I'm like, dude, First of all, you don't have the bread for it, like, don't pretend like you do. Second of all, that's it's fake as fuck. Third, if you ever try to tell anybody in like public who

knows their ship, you're gonna get embarrassed, you know. So, Like one day I pulled him aside, I'm like, dude, like stop, like, you shouldn't do that. I'm easy us to do. Like I told him, I was like, bro, come on man, Like it's like it's like if you pull up on me, weren't fake easies and trying to convince me is really like come on, bro, you know what I mean. But I told him like as a friend, I'm like, bro, you shouldn't do that, man, you know, And he's like, what do you mean, dude? This is real?

This is real. I'm like, okay, bro, show me the receipt for it, show me, show me the box for show me the serial number, let me look it up. And he got all defensive, Oh I can't believe it is blah blah blah. Eventually, like he called me a month later, he's like, hey, man, like, I appreciate you for for giving me some advice. It was fake. I got it. Stolen and I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and I was like, it's fine, it's cool. Like I was like I knew, dude, just don't front you know

what I mean. Like I mean, if you if he was showing it off to some girl or whatever, like it's not right. But at the same time, I would have been like, okay, whatever, But it was like his business card. Yeah. It's really hard to explain because it's one thing. If if you were wearing a fake watch right now and you didn't talk about it at all and I noticed it, I would not get I wouldn't even make a comment. I wouldn't even care, you know what I'm saying, if you were just wearing it and

he wore it every day and whatever. But the fact that he went to my face, oh, I just like waving in my face and was like, yo, I just spent seventy on this, And I was like, you know, I'm not a hater. Like bro, if if he was wearing a real Protect filipe and he flashed in my ace, as much as that's like a dick move, I would still be like, dude, that's that's sick, man, that's sick. I'm proud of you for buying that. Yeah, facts like

I'm proud of you type ship. One thing that I always encouraged all you guys listening and any of my supporters is buying the real thing sentimentally and like mentally is worth so much more. You know you're putting in exactly so, like you know that you worked your ass off to get a watch, and it's thirty thousand dollars whatever. You worked your ass off to get that watch, and

nobody can tell you anything. But when somebody takes the easy way out and gets a fake one for a hundred bucks and they're trying to like really FLEXI the same way that you technically have the right to, I think that that's whack. But then again, like I wear my watch and I love it, and I bought it for myself. I didn't buy it to show off, because if if I wanted to show off, I'd get a bus down and look like a total idiot. But no, I got it because that's a watch I've always wanted

since I was a kid. I worked my ass off and I felt like that was right, you know what I'm saying. But like, dude, like when I was younger, I used to wear my grandma got me this like fake Louis Vuitton belt. It's probably like ten bucks, and I wore it to school and then like I didn't even know that it was fake, you know what I mean. So I just wore I just thought the belt was cool,

and I wore it, you know. And like, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like I have every single piece of jewelry or clothing that's ever touched my body has been an authentic and it's normal and it's cool, and I don't. And that's the that's the thing. I'm not trying to sound like a dick. I'm not trying to sound like conceded. Because, Bro, before you met me, like five years ago, dude, I had like a hundred fifty dollars in my bank account, you know, Like I

I was, I couldn't afford anything. And one two pairs of shoes, that's it, and one for sports and one for like school, and that was it. And like didn't have many clothes nothing. Trust me, Bro, I was really tempted to buy the fake stuff. I really was. I really like I wanted to, like flex and because you know, I went up private high school, So like all those kids actually had money, right, so they probably had all

the stuff. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna pretend. Like growing up until I was eleven, like my family had nothing, one bedroom apartment type ship, Like I was like sleeping next to my parents. And then you know, eventually, like you know, full American dream, you know whatever, like my dad started making his living, and but my parents never really gave me anything, you know, so it was all on me. I kind of always had that mentality since I was a kid to always like work really hard

for what I want. You know, if I wanted like a Lego or like Ugo cars or something, my parents would be like, Okay, cool, you need to like get an a the semester one of this big test and then you know what I'm saying. At least that's the way I grew up. I don't know, do I do I sound like a dick? Like when I said like I am, I am, I like a douche bag for thinking like that, you know, they should work hard and that. No, but like the whole like fake thing. Do I sound

like two crude or something? Because I don't know. That's just my take on because a lot of people hate me for it. I get a lot of like what do you what do you? What? Do you feel like? It's like the biggest critique on that. And maybe you've probably touched on this before, but I know why you did it. You know why you became easybust and where it all came from. But how do you truly feel about the fake versus real thing in terms of like how it affects things Like do you feel like it's

like messing the game up? Like do you feel like it's like ruining culture in a way? Is it's it's taking money out of people's pockets? Absolutely all the above. I think that it's whacked because people work really hard for their money and to reap the benefits of working hard. Right, So people work really hard to get a pair of shoes or to get a supreme hoodie or a watch, Like, they work really really hard and they get what they want. You know, I just think it's whack when somebody wants

to take the easy way out. You understand what I'm saying, dude, ship Man, Like, I didn't even start making money off easy busts until I hit like K, which was like mid two thousand and sixteen maybe, and like, dude, I worked at Starbucks. I had a little bit of mone you say that, but I was paying my rent, you know, and like I had nothing, but I was tempted. Man. I was like, dude, I really want those shoes or

I really want this Gucci bag or whatever. But I just felt that, like when I came up, the man upstairs helped me out, and you know, obviously amazing people like you in my life who like help me get to where I am today. It made me so much more grateful that I was like, damn, like I bought that ship. I went to Rolex and I bought that ship when I was like windows shopping for years. I mean, it's beautiful. I'm never going to have one of those, you know, But when I did that, it symbolism in that,

you know what I mean? Like that that that's that's the thing that's most important to me. It's bigger. It's big. It's bigger than fake versus real exactly, bro. For me, it's all about hard work versus lazy almost because that makes sense. I feel that, because I feel that is buying a watch stupid probably unless an investment if you can buy it twice. That's what j D says. I'm buying unless you can buy it twice. Yeah, that's facts. If you can buy it twice, why not? Yeah? Big facts, right,

big facts? I mean in that sense, like like it's not the smartest thing to do. You could definitely invest your money into something else, but if you can afford it, that's what you want. Bro, life is short, man, Go fucking do it right, you know, you never know? Yeah, So my biggest thing that I get hate for the most is they're like, who are you to say what I can wear and what I can't wear? I'm no one.

I can't tell you what to wear. You you wake up and me and you put our pants on the same way every single day, take the same ship, breathe the same air. I can't tell you what to wear. But at the end of the day, I can encourage people to work hard, you know. I like that, And that's how I feel, and like, I just I just

hate how people think I'm like such a dick. Like you remember when like your boy Bam Margilla or Bam Margella, right when he came, He's like, dude, I thought you were gonna be such a dick and like maybe that's maybe that's the perception. Maybe yeah, isn't is that weird? It is weird. But you know what, sometimes people don't like the truth. Bro, that's trust me. I mean you have this conversation a couple of days ago. The truth.

Yeah it does. You know you you don't call people all out for wearing fake stuff they say it's fake? Yeah right, hell no, Like there's I forgot the guy's name. There's there's a YouTuber that you're friends with. Mr Beast. Yes, he were a fake Supreme but he was like it's fake. I know it's faked. Literally at the beginning of the videos, like hey guys, fake Supreme HOODI here, Like I said, I'm saying, hey guys, Mr Beast here. Yeah yeah, And I thought that was hilarious and like obviously he didn't

give a ship. So the post I made it was like kind of a joke like base around that statement and like I didn't care. I don't get you know, I don't care, you know what I mean? And you never see me like putting people down. You know, sometimes I troll a little bit. I'm like, oh so and so wearing a fake whatever. It was a part of it, but it's fun. But you'll never hear me name calling like oh this person is a blah blah blah, like oh look at look at his lazy sack of ship. Yeah,

never right, you know. So I don't know, man, I don't know. I mean I feel like maybe you're a little bit biased about like kind of like what I'm saying. No, no, no, I'm not because I know what the bigger meaning is of it. Yeah, it takes little bit of explanation. It does. But the people who understand can get behind in. The ones who don't probably aren't on on the same way, the same hustle. Yeah, I know, man, But I don't know. I just sometimes I don't really get the hate. I

don't really let the hate get to me. But like something you shouldn't. Sometimes I'm just like, damn, Like, am I really a dick? Am I really an asshole? Am? I? No? I don't. I mean if I was, I just tell me. You know what I mean, I'll tell you when you're own. Yeah, no, you do. I appreciate, but yeah, I mean it's so subjective. But yeah, I mean, but at the end of the day, like seeing these seeing these numbers, like blows my mind in these articles. It's insane. This is there is another

statistic I was looking at this. Worldwide sales of knockoff goods exceeded five hundred and twenty billion last year, representing three point of all global trade. Wow, So globally there's five hundred and twenty billion dollars being made off of counterfeit goods. That's insane. And in Italy they're saying that. I think it's whatever the number is. I don't know the number of how much millions or billions it is.

The people there, you know, you know for Sachi product of all those places, jobs are lost because of the counterfeit industry. Yeah, it's bigger. It's bigger than just people's egos here, and it's only gonna keep growing because demand keeps growing. And especially now the sneakers are kind of been like before sneakers were so niche. Now I feel like everybody wants the new off Whites or the new

Travis is right. I can't really speak on this too much, like somebody like like a Dre would be a good person to talk about this, But I feel like fifteen years ago people were lining up, but it maybe it was like ten fifteen people and they had thirty pairs. Now they have there's like two people people on the line and then eight pairs, you know, so it's a

way different. And then like with the bots and everything, and it's just a different ball game now, and especially since it's growing so much, it's only going to make the fake factories produced more and more. I remember when I started with all these easy busts and stuff. Dude. When I first started, their fakes were so bad, the easy v ones were horrible. But now they're getting good. And that's why a lot of people are like, oh, you never call people out anymore, dude, because I can't

tell from a photo, you know what I mean. Because they're so good these days. And like all my verification posts, people like, oh, you can't even talent these are real or not. I'm like, dude, all those people that I posted, I've either one see in person or two they DM me and showed me photos. So it's like, okay, cool, Like I know it's real, but like it sucks man that these days it's they're so close. Man. Three years ago, four years ago, from a mile away, easy easy turtle

dove spotted from away, say less. Yeah, So that's the whole thing, man, And I mean, what what what are your thoughts in the whole industry. It's it's a huge part of like trade, like three people put that into like perspective, that's that's of all global trade, and that means everything, right, that means like everything anything you can, anything that you have or you see around the world. Fake stuff is making three up three of all that.

I think about it from a perspective of somebody, like if I owned a business, right and I was selling a product, whatever the product is. Let's say in this case it's uh, pens. I'm selling pins and it's the dopest pin on the market, but my pen costs ten bucks and you only can find it in certain places. Everyone loves the pens, the best pin in the world. And then someone starts making a knockoff of my pen and they take of my business. That's just wrong. No, absolutely,

it shouldn't be allowed. All those people should be arrested. But people like all of the people who are buying the stuff and the stuff, they're a part of it, and everyone likes that little edge that they can get by getting the fake stuff. So no one's really diving in on what's what's really happening. It's like, oh, I gotta fake air maze bag for two d or an

air maze bags. What's that twenty grand? Right depends on which one whatever, it is, right, so you you get to indulge in like feel like you have that thing. So like the person on that's that's getting that feeling doesn't care. But when you think about it as as a whole, it's like it's it's way bigger than that, Like it's it's probably contributing to a lot of different things we don't even realize, like crime, all kinds of stuff. Absolutely,

there's so many stories about that. How like terrorists have used like fake sneakers and fake persons to finance They're like, it's actually an easier way to finance stuff because like it's like you're not you're not selling drugs, You're it's just clothes. It's not as it's not as penalties, not aside exactly. And it also doesn't it's not as it's people are looking for it as much. Yeah, I'm sure that that is contribute to a lot of stuff that we're not even aware of. It's crazy. Man, I did

a piece with it, what's what the ABC piece? So I think it was the complex piece complex first one where they were talking about how like literally like a terrorist organization was was behind like a big counterfeit. Yeah, and they were using that money to ter. Yeah it's crazy, man. And obviously you know a lot of people like, oh,

it's not that serious. It's like, well, it's kind of like the same argument, like it's not that serious if you throw a piece of trash on this on the floor, but if everyone does it, it gets serious and then you have a trash island yeah in the sea, right, which we do the size of Texas or something crazy like that. Right. So, like, if you can take away from all this, if you're listening the way the way I see it is work hard and get what you deserve.

If you have two d right now and you want to get that Arris the person you're talking about, Hey there's a real nice Michael Cores. Person's probably two hundred bucks. Hey where are that for now? It'll do his job and then work your way up and get that arms person. It's it's gonna feel damn good when you get it. Set goals for yourself exactly exactly I mean, that's that's what it's all about. It like you are where you're at. Yeah,

nothing's going to change that. A fake belt, fake pair of shoes, fake watch, it's not going to change where you're at. It may make you feel a little better, but you still or where you're at. I don't even know if it wouldn't make you feel better. Even if everybody around you knows it, thinks it's real, and you know it's fake, it's always in the back of your head. Yeah, because I because even when I had that watch, like

it's only the second fake thing I've ever bought. The first fake, fake thing I ever bought was a baby Milo hoodie off eBay, and I thought that was real, And you didn't know it's fake. I didn't know it's fake because years ago and I found out it was fake. It's not wearing it anyway. When I was wearing that watch, it's always in the back of my head. I was always saying, like, I'm wearing a fake Rolex. It's subconscious almost. I didn't know it was on this like larger a scale.

It's insane counterfeit hype. That's definitely going to be the title of this episode. Where we can say, like the largest counterfeit sting in world history. We should love that. People will love that absolutely. Yeah, that's crazy. Well, I mean, is there anything else do you want to add or nothing? You've covered it, bro at the end of the day. We've said it a couple of times. It's like, work hard for what you want. Facts. You should set goals for yourself, figure out what you want and go out

and get it, you fat. That is the moral of easyBus to work hard, guys. Yeah, I appreciate you guys. Thank you guys for tuning in. Make sure you guys go check out my boy Blake and to thank you for everything that you do for me. But I appreciate you for coming on the show. Hopefully you know we can have you on again. We will. Well, I'll fill in from time to time. That's what's up. And um,

I'm gonna kid you guys next time. I appreciate you guys for tuning in and kid you guys next Wednesday on Legit Check Peace