WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 This episode is sponsored by Bubs Naturals, yet 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.500 another company that I tracked down to bring 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:07.740 on as a sponsor because I myself love their products. 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:10.539 They are offering you, the audience of the Behind 00:00:10.539 --> 00:00:13.339 the Shield podcast, a 20 % discount. But before 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:15.000 we get to that, I do want to highlight a few 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.320 of the products that I use myself. Firstly, collagen. 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:22.620 I am about to turn 50, and so my hair, my skin, 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:25.559 my nails, not really a big concern when I was 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:27.719 younger, definitely a lot more of a concern now. 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:30.780 However, where I've really seen the impact is 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:33.659 joint health and gut health, and I've been blown 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:35.920 away that when I'm consistent using collagen, 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:39.600 Bubz Collagen in this case, I see a massive improvement 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:43.359 in both. Another area I drink coffee, love coffee, 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.320 and in the morning I use the Halo Creamer. Now, 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:49.280 originally I used the MCT oil powder, but now 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:51.899 they have the Halo Creamer, which has also got 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.859 grass -fed butter in it. A lot more creamy if 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:56.700 you're not trying to go for the vegan option 00:00:56.700 --> 00:00:59.320 that they have as well. Now, it's important to 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.859 mention as well the altruistic element of Bubz 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.909 Naturals. The origin story involves Glenn Bub 00:01:04.909 --> 00:01:07.810 Doherty, one of the two Navy SEALs killed in 00:01:07.810 --> 00:01:10.010 Benghazi, and a good friend of the founders, 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:14.609 Sean and TJ. So 10 % of every single sale goes 00:01:14.609 --> 00:01:17.750 towards the Glenn Doherty Foundation. Now, as 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:19.489 I mentioned before, they are offering you, the 00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:23.269 audience, 20 % off your purchase if you use the 00:01:23.269 --> 00:01:28.049 code SHIELD. That's S -H -I -E -L -D at bubsnaturals 00:01:28.049 --> 00:01:31.250 .com. And finally, if you want to hear more about 00:01:31.250 --> 00:01:34.409 their products and Glenn's powerful story, listen 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:40.909 to episode 558 with co -founder Sean Lake. Welcome 00:01:40.909 --> 00:01:42.650 to the Behind the Shield podcast. As always, 00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:44.489 my name is James Geering. And this week, it is 00:01:44.489 --> 00:01:47.489 my absolute honor to welcome on the show, rapper 00:01:47.489 --> 00:01:52.129 turned comedian, A Hood. Now, in this conversation, 00:01:52.269 --> 00:01:55.409 we discuss a host of topics from his childhood 00:01:55.409 --> 00:01:59.519 in Shreveport, Louisiana. the importance of mentorship 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:04.239 and parenting, the factors contributing to our 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:08.120 young people leaning into gang culture, his discovery 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:11.939 of social media, his mission to use kindness 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.979 and compassion and comedy to bring people back 00:02:14.979 --> 00:02:18.620 together again, and so much more. Now, before 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:20.620 we get to this incredible conversation, as I 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:23.840 say every week, please just take a moment, go 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.360 to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:30.150 to the show, Leave feedback and leave a rating. 00:02:30.590 --> 00:02:33.949 Every single five -star rating truly does elevate 00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:36.689 this podcast, therefore making it easier for 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:40.650 others to find. And this is a free library of 00:02:40.650 --> 00:02:45.430 well over 1 ,100 episodes now. So all I ask in 00:02:45.430 --> 00:02:48.490 return is that you help share these incredible 00:02:48.490 --> 00:02:51.409 men and women's stories so I can get them to 00:02:51.409 --> 00:02:54.370 every single person on planet Earth who needs 00:02:54.370 --> 00:02:58.250 to hear them. So that being said, I introduce 00:02:58.250 --> 00:03:22.800 to you A. Hood. Enjoy. Well, Ehud, I want to 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.439 start by saying thank you so much for taking 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:27.439 the time and coming on the Behind the Shield 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:30.460 podcast today. Yes, sir. It's a pleasure being 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:34.039 here. So where on planet Earth are we finding 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:38.580 you this afternoon? I'm sorry. Could you repeat 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:41.000 that? Yeah. So where are you right now? Where 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.819 in the States? Yeah, I'm in Texas. Beautiful. 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:47.060 Well, I'd love to start at the very beginning 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:50.219 of your timeline of your life. So tell me where 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:52.319 you were born and tell me a little bit about 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:54.599 your family dynamic, what your parents did, how 00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:58.900 many siblings. Well, I was born and raised in 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:07.000 Louisiana. Shreveport to be exact. I'm a family. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:09.860 My mama had nine kids. So I come from a big family. 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:12.759 I know, you know, that's why I get along with 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:16.089 kids because. you know i got a sister that's 00:04:16.089 --> 00:04:18.149 eight you know what i'm saying and i'm gonna 00:04:18.149 --> 00:04:21.290 be 35 so i come from a big family so i know how 00:04:21.290 --> 00:04:24.029 to socialize with people that's one of the pluses 00:04:24.029 --> 00:04:26.730 of coming from a big family you get what i'm 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:32.790 saying um i actually i got two kids i got a daughter 00:04:32.790 --> 00:04:36.930 17 love of the death she was the one who introduced 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:40.790 me to the internet well and i have a seven -year 00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:45.569 -old son like i said I'm an All -American. If 00:04:45.569 --> 00:04:48.610 you ask me anything, I'm an open book. Well, 00:04:48.629 --> 00:04:50.850 you're one of nine. I'm one of five kids. So 00:04:50.850 --> 00:04:53.629 I'm this large -ish family myself. So where do 00:04:53.629 --> 00:04:55.389 you sit? Are you the oldest brother or are you 00:04:55.389 --> 00:04:57.769 a little bit lower down? I'm next to the oldest. 00:04:58.829 --> 00:05:03.470 I'm next to the oldest. It's seven after me. 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:06.949 Okay. That's the same as me. I'm the second oldest 00:05:06.949 --> 00:05:09.430 brother, but second oldest kid. So we're in the 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:14.949 same pecking order. Okay. Talk to me about Shreveport 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:17.689 back then. What was the environment like? What 00:05:17.689 --> 00:05:20.730 were you growing up as far as the positive and 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:24.709 the negative role models around you? Shreveport, 00:05:24.990 --> 00:05:30.649 man, it's rough all the way around. Growing up 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:34.670 in Shreveport was rough. I always had an ambition. 00:05:35.350 --> 00:05:38.129 I can tell you that. I always had an ambition 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:46.629 as a little boy. you know, a pupil. I had dreams 00:05:46.629 --> 00:05:51.810 of wanting to be famous, you know. Even when 00:05:51.810 --> 00:05:53.990 I couldn't be famous, I'd go around the little 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:56.569 neighborhood, because we stayed in apartments 00:05:56.569 --> 00:06:00.589 too. So I cut grass in the local neighborhood. 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:06.850 When we stayed in apartment complexes, I... I 00:06:06.850 --> 00:06:09.689 had a nice little clientele. I'd walk over there 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:12.230 and ask them. I'd be like, man, every week, can 00:06:12.230 --> 00:06:13.889 I take your trash out? You know what I'm saying? 00:06:13.949 --> 00:06:16.110 And they pay me. A lot of people don't want to 00:06:16.110 --> 00:06:18.750 walk through that dumpster. You know, I always 00:06:18.750 --> 00:06:21.569 had a hustler's ambition. Growing up in Shreveport, 00:06:21.730 --> 00:06:26.930 it's a lot of gun violence. You know, and they 00:06:26.930 --> 00:06:30.009 don't care who it is. You know, you make a name 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:32.870 for yourself, you a target. You got more than 00:06:32.870 --> 00:06:37.720 the next person, you a target. You just want 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:43.120 to be left alone. You're a target. So I left 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:46.620 because at some point I was becoming a target. 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:50.360 You see what I'm saying? I just ain't want to 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:54.259 be another statistic. When you look back now, 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.420 what were the reasons, what were the background 00:06:57.420 --> 00:07:00.519 reasons that that neighborhood was so dangerous? 00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:07.050 Gangs. Like... We got a different set of gangs. 00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:10.769 The way Shreveport work, our gangs go by neighborhoods. 00:07:11.350 --> 00:07:14.709 You know, we got gangs that a lot of people never 00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:20.430 even heard of. You know, faux babies. You got 00:07:20.430 --> 00:07:24.810 chasers. And they all break down into different 00:07:24.810 --> 00:07:30.269 neighborhoods. You see what I'm saying? One thing 00:07:30.269 --> 00:07:34.870 I can say is... Right now, in today's time, it's 00:07:34.870 --> 00:07:38.470 trying to do a turnaround. But it's so bad right 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:42.949 now that Trump is going to send the U .S. Army 00:07:42.949 --> 00:07:47.370 down to help literally Shreveport. You know, 00:07:47.449 --> 00:07:52.250 it ain't got just that bad. Yeah. See, as a firefighter 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:55.470 paramedic, you know, I got to see a lot of neighbors, 00:07:55.569 --> 00:07:57.529 some in California, some in Florida, where I 00:07:57.529 --> 00:08:01.279 worked on both sides. And you see. how that's 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.019 a vicious circle, that cycle of gang membership 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:08.860 and addiction and poverty that just keeps turning 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:11.500 and turning and turning. And if you go far enough 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:14.339 back in the history, the prohibition of drugs, 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:17.699 making addiction illegal, created a business 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:20.959 for slinging dope in the underworld, as it were. 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:24.600 And now it's interesting. I mean, as you smoke 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:27.819 and I sit here talking, my community is starting 00:08:27.819 --> 00:08:30.529 to realize that psilocybin you know mushrooms 00:08:30.529 --> 00:08:36.269 um mdma ecstasy are healing us for ptsd so the 00:08:36.269 --> 00:08:39.429 very laws that you know reefer madness and a 00:08:39.429 --> 00:08:41.110 lot of those which are actually founded on racism 00:08:41.110 --> 00:08:43.830 that have created the violence that you experience 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:47.490 as a young boy and i saw in uniform now we're 00:08:47.490 --> 00:08:49.669 starting to see that turning around and cannabis 00:08:49.669 --> 00:08:53.090 being legalized and mdma and you know psilocybin 00:08:53.090 --> 00:08:56.490 some of these other ones so I'm hoping that when 00:08:56.490 --> 00:08:59.490 that starts to really shift, that that will help 00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:03.450 start to take power away from gangs, pulling, 00:09:03.690 --> 00:09:06.330 you know, young boys and girls into it. And then 00:09:06.330 --> 00:09:10.009 they go towards a more positive direction. So 00:09:10.009 --> 00:09:16.990 with me, a little backstory about my mom and 00:09:16.990 --> 00:09:20.330 where my message come from, I was very rebellious. 00:09:21.090 --> 00:09:23.669 You know, my mom would tell me, don't do something, 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:30.370 I do it. My mama told me, my mama is one of the 00:09:30.370 --> 00:09:33.909 most racist mothers you can run across. You know, 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:36.389 and she always had this slogan, if she can't 00:09:36.389 --> 00:09:42.090 use a comb, don't bring her home. And I did the 00:09:42.090 --> 00:09:49.669 complete opposite. You know, and they don't understand. 00:09:49.750 --> 00:09:52.909 A lot of my viewers, they don't really understand. 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:59.600 That you don't have to, what you grew up in is 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:01.340 not what you have to go by when you grow up. 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:03.960 Absolutely. When you venture out in that world, 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:10.120 your choices are yours. Yeah, 100%. And this 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.340 is even from the trauma side. I've been talking 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:16.440 about this a lot recently. Whatever you were 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:20.240 raised in. So it could be anything from being 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.240 exposed to drugs, gangs, domestic violence, whatever 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:26.379 the things are, regardless of where you live. 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:28.720 You could be on the poverty line or living in 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.379 a mansion. It's the same kind of thing. But there's 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:34.200 generational trauma. And the moment exactly what 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.299 you're talking about, the moment you, you and 00:10:36.299 --> 00:10:38.960 I, as we sit here now, can look and say, okay, 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:40.720 these were the things that happened to me when 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:42.980 I was a kid. And these are the things that happened 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:44.919 to my mom or my dad when they were kids. And 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.750 you start seeing those dominoes. Then you can 00:10:47.750 --> 00:10:50.870 stop it. Then you can stop your 17 -year -old 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:52.649 and your 7 -year -old having the same kind of 00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:57.789 things forced on them. Right. So what about your 00:10:57.789 --> 00:11:00.330 dad? You mentioned, obviously, your mother so 00:11:00.330 --> 00:11:03.149 far. Was your dad in the picture? Yeah. I grew 00:11:03.149 --> 00:11:05.750 up with both parents. Oh, my dad, that's my best 00:11:05.750 --> 00:11:08.090 fucking friend. Tell me about him. That's my 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:11.649 best fucking friend. Like, he just called me 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:13.850 to introduce me to his girlfriend. They've been 00:11:13.850 --> 00:11:16.539 dating three months, and I told him. You know, 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:19.340 because I told him, I'll let you meet the girl 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:23.639 I've been dating in three months. You know, because 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:26.080 that ain't the type of relationship we got. Man, 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:29.980 let me see. You know, like, we got that type 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:33.179 of relationship. Like, my pops, that's my world. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:38.019 You know, like, and a lot of people probably 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:40.179 wouldn't understand that, or a lot of people 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:43.240 would, but my dad has been there. You know, and 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:44.940 I'm sorry for the people that didn't have this. 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:49.779 but yeah and what was he doing as a profession 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:52.740 as a career well he worked for the city of shreveport 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:54.139 he'd been working for the city of shreveport 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:58.740 for over 30 years doing what um working on the 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:03.419 streets and drainage okay beautiful so what what 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:07.200 was about him you know talk to me about the the 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.320 values that he imparted because like you said 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:12.049 And I've heard this on so many people that be 00:12:12.049 --> 00:12:13.889 on the show so far. You know, I had a dad that 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:16.789 was present, like physically present, but emotionally 00:12:16.789 --> 00:12:19.330 not so, you know, so it was a kind of a strange 00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:21.330 dichotomy. He was there, but he wasn't there. 00:12:21.649 --> 00:12:23.590 A lot of people on the show that went into the 00:12:23.590 --> 00:12:25.529 military and the first responders and other areas. 00:12:26.090 --> 00:12:28.669 A lot of them didn't have parents. They were 00:12:28.669 --> 00:12:31.210 absent in one way, shape, or form. And therefore, 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:33.049 they were looking out into the community for 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:35.029 a mentor. And some of them, it might be a bad 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:37.070 mentor first. It might be someone in the gangs. 00:12:37.129 --> 00:12:39.190 And then eventually, it might be a teacher, army 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:42.149 recruiter, whoever it was. But there's a lot 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:44.330 to be said about the mother, the fathers that 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:46.909 are there, because that is the answer, is us 00:12:46.909 --> 00:12:50.169 trying to reform these homes and raise our children 00:12:50.169 --> 00:12:53.659 to feel loved and feel secure. So what was it 00:12:53.659 --> 00:12:55.899 about your father with nine children? How was 00:12:55.899 --> 00:12:57.919 he able to kind of steer you in this positive 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:03.179 direction? Well, you know, you got good apples 00:13:03.179 --> 00:13:07.580 and you got bad apples. So before I answer that 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:10.320 question, I want to tell you, the brother that's 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.860 above me and the brother that's right under me 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:17.399 are both in jail for the same murder charge. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:24.059 They became a statistic. You see what I'm saying? 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:32.080 I just, my other two brothers took to my mom 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:35.960 and I just took to my dad. My dad, he'd been 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:40.179 working for as long as I can remember. You know, 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:46.299 I got my first job at Raising Cane's three days 00:13:46.299 --> 00:13:50.840 after my 16th birthday. So, and I've been working. 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:55.440 ever since you see what i'm saying um he funny 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.899 people love him um and i can call him and i can 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:04.080 joke about it you know and we can play you know 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:11.299 my dad my dad if i call him right now he gonna 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:15.879 say you already know club five dudes hoover that's 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:23.330 a game i say pop You're 50 fucking 5. Listen, 00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:29.769 how? You've had a job for 30 plus years. How 00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:32.929 are you a gangbanger, bro? I ain't never known 00:14:32.929 --> 00:14:36.750 a gangbanger hold a job for 30 plus years. They 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:40.909 can't even live 30 plus years. You got a family. 00:14:41.350 --> 00:14:44.830 That don't sound like a gangbanger. Gangbangers 00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:48.860 build family in the streets. it's a different 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:52.440 but i can joke about him with those things you 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:56.080 know what i'm saying and we laugh and he just 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:02.279 he's just a good person to be around well what 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:03.919 about when you were in the school ages what were 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.519 you playing as far as sports or exercise honestly 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:16.720 i ran track uh and i was in gymnastics i can 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:21.580 really turn flips like backhand frames and um 00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:25.860 but other than that i was a troubled child at 00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:31.399 school i found track to get me out of that but 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:35.980 then i just got so many bad memories of my mom 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:39.059 because she stopped me from doing that because 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:42.980 she didn't want to go to the other school and 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:45.320 get my brothers and sisters while she was at 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:48.720 home. So I didn't too much have a social life. 00:15:49.139 --> 00:15:54.179 I did a lot of running away. Yeah, I mean, that 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:56.419 must have been hard with nine kids trying to 00:15:56.419 --> 00:15:59.320 give them positive outlets, you know, sports, 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:01.799 whatever it was. But, I mean, with nine of them, 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:03.759 especially the way I know American sports are 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.299 here, you know, with the costs and, as you said, 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:08.899 all the different events and locations, I mean, 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:10.220 that must have been a nightmare with nine of 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:14.120 you. Right. But we also lived a good life, though. 00:16:14.570 --> 00:16:17.409 you know like i said my daddy's been working 00:16:17.409 --> 00:16:21.049 for as long as i can remember uh we grew up in 00:16:21.049 --> 00:16:30.710 a medium not no high living not poverty but you 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:33.669 know i had every new game system that came out 00:16:33.669 --> 00:16:42.750 um but yeah they divorced now though but So what 00:16:42.750 --> 00:16:45.250 about career aspirations? What were you dreaming 00:16:45.250 --> 00:16:50.549 of becoming when you were in high school? On 00:16:50.549 --> 00:16:55.029 somebody's television. You know, I always want 00:16:55.029 --> 00:16:56.809 to be on somebody's television. I'm going to 00:16:56.809 --> 00:16:59.629 be on somebody's television one day. One day. 00:17:00.389 --> 00:17:02.929 And who were your heroes at that point? Who were 00:17:02.929 --> 00:17:04.730 you wanting to emulate? Who was on television? 00:17:06.470 --> 00:17:10.869 Lil Wayne. You know, my first, I wanted to be 00:17:10.869 --> 00:17:14.380 a rapper. You know, that was my first thing, 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:21.980 a rapper. That didn't make it far. I learned 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:25.240 real hard. If you are truly good at something, 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:29.140 you don't have to work hard to be good at it. 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:33.259 You know, a lot of people be rapping for 30 years, 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:35.119 ain't went nowhere. But there's somebody that 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.299 come along in six months and can surpass you. 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:44.269 So. I decided to choose a different route around 00:17:44.269 --> 00:17:48.029 2019. And then that's when I fell into the comedy. 00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:51.250 So talk to me about that. Which route did you 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:52.890 take? And then how did that lead you to comedy? 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:59.890 I took the rapping route. I lived in Atlanta. 00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:04.329 I even, me and this rapper, I don't know if you 00:18:04.329 --> 00:18:07.589 ever heard of him, Boosie, La Boosie and La Webby. 00:18:07.650 --> 00:18:11.769 They from Louisiana, but they, they be too. I 00:18:11.769 --> 00:18:15.349 got locked in with them in Atlanta. They shot 00:18:15.349 --> 00:18:20.730 my video. You know, it did numbers. But then 00:18:20.730 --> 00:18:28.130 me and my son's mama, she left me for somebody 00:18:28.130 --> 00:18:31.230 else. Cold turkey. Like it was out of the blue. 00:18:31.470 --> 00:18:38.369 I came home from work and she was gone. And so 00:18:38.369 --> 00:18:41.700 I took my son. and we moved back to Louisiana. 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:49.539 I left the music alone. My mama let me stay, 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:54.619 but she also make it uncomfortable, impossible 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:59.940 to live there. You get what I'm saying? So I 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:05.029 moved to Missouri. My daughter called. And she 00:19:05.029 --> 00:19:07.609 was like, Dad, this new app out, this new app 00:19:07.609 --> 00:19:10.250 out, TikTok. I want to be TikTok famous. Can 00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:13.670 you help me? I'm like, I'm living with somebody. 00:19:14.410 --> 00:19:18.690 I'm working at Sony. And I'm a full -time dad, 00:19:18.809 --> 00:19:24.130 single. And I was like, no. I got real life to 00:19:24.130 --> 00:19:27.130 deal with. She got mad. Didn't want to call me. 00:19:27.210 --> 00:19:29.569 Didn't want to talk to me for two months. And 00:19:29.569 --> 00:19:35.539 then she called back. And she was like. dad you 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:38.220 got my brother staying with you right i said 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:43.279 yeah you know this she was like and the only 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:46.279 thing i'm asking you to do is download this app 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:48.740 to burn with me and you can't do that but you 00:19:48.740 --> 00:19:54.039 got my brother 24 7. i downloaded the app hands 00:19:54.039 --> 00:20:00.339 down question you know so she teaching me You 00:20:00.339 --> 00:20:03.079 know, we're doing these TikTok dances. You know, 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:04.740 that's why I learned this little move right here. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:08.240 Ooh, ooh. She taught me that. You know what I'm 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:16.259 saying? So she got grounded. I got addicted to 00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:18.519 the app, you know, but she got grounded. I'm 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:21.900 up there. This time, I'm calling her. I'm like, 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:27.119 what's the new dance we finna do? You know, and 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:30.289 I ain't had it. Because she got grounded for 00:20:30.289 --> 00:20:32.750 like three months. Her phone was suspended from 00:20:32.750 --> 00:20:39.109 social media. So I felt like, dang, I got to 00:20:39.109 --> 00:20:41.210 find something else to do. I'm like, do I want 00:20:41.210 --> 00:20:43.529 to do the music? Do I want to go back to the 00:20:43.529 --> 00:20:45.890 music? I feel like I got to work too hard for 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:49.269 that. And then I was like, my family always told 00:20:49.269 --> 00:20:54.930 me I was extra funny. And I said, I'm just going 00:20:54.930 --> 00:20:59.400 to try. So I started doing lip syncs. of funny 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:05.920 comedians lavelle crawford uh kevin hart and 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:11.339 i said this ain't gonna give me no well i want 00:21:11.339 --> 00:21:14.640 to be more creative so i started doing these 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:21.359 skits by myself um then i moved to ohio springfield 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.279 ohio during the wintertime and um i remember 00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:31.269 walking on the porch And I was like, I'm waiting 00:21:31.269 --> 00:21:34.589 on, it's snowing. It's like three inches. And 00:21:34.589 --> 00:21:37.589 it's, and I'm like, oh man, I need somebody to 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:40.250 come down the street so I can ask them this question 00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:44.470 about this lady that I saw. Her name was Roe 00:21:44.470 --> 00:21:48.950 Vickie. And because she got out of the store, 00:21:49.009 --> 00:21:51.309 she was like, the Shell Moon, anybody want something 00:21:51.309 --> 00:21:54.410 from the Shell Moon? And I was like, I don't 00:21:54.410 --> 00:21:57.130 see nobody. So, fuck, I was just like, okay. 00:21:57.690 --> 00:22:00.029 so i walked to the porch and i was like hey who 00:22:00.029 --> 00:22:06.549 it y 'all ever heard of a song alone and it just 00:22:06.549 --> 00:22:09.930 took off from them you know during those times 00:22:09.930 --> 00:22:13.250 they didn't have community guidelines so it wasn't 00:22:13.250 --> 00:22:16.009 nothing consider harassment and bullying but 00:22:16.009 --> 00:22:21.190 when i created the guidelines then my page all 00:22:21.190 --> 00:22:23.490 the videos started coming down for harassment 00:22:23.490 --> 00:22:29.190 and bullying so um my page got banned at 1 .5 00:22:29.190 --> 00:22:33.930 million followers um a lot of money was in that 00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:38.849 account and uh i fell off the app for like two 00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:42.410 or three years i got into some legal trouble 00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:51.890 and i'm back um i was incarcerated probably about 00:22:51.890 --> 00:22:56.509 a year and a half and I came back then, took 00:22:56.509 --> 00:22:58.410 a little longer break. And then I just been back 00:22:58.410 --> 00:23:02.009 maybe about a year, year and a half. And then 00:23:02.009 --> 00:23:08.150 here I am. Well, going back to first getting 00:23:08.150 --> 00:23:10.849 TikTok, up to that point, had you used social 00:23:10.849 --> 00:23:14.170 media like Instagram, Facebook, any of the less 00:23:14.170 --> 00:23:20.890 TikTok -y apps? Didn't care too much for Facebook 00:23:20.890 --> 00:23:24.390 until recently. Didn't care too much for Instagram. 00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:28.609 until recently um because i feel like they both 00:23:28.609 --> 00:23:38.009 hard to grow on and i blinked twice and the following 00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:44.130 just was like voila so i gotta entertain them 00:23:44.130 --> 00:23:50.269 too you know well talk to me about your livelihood 00:23:50.269 --> 00:23:53.549 being kind of interwoven into social media because 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:56.930 you and I spoke the other day and I lost my account. 00:23:57.089 --> 00:23:59.210 And I think in all honesty, even though they 00:23:59.210 --> 00:24:02.049 said it was a copyright thing, it was kind of 00:24:02.049 --> 00:24:05.430 earlier with the whole Gaza issue. And I had 00:24:05.430 --> 00:24:07.150 guests on and, you know, I was talking about 00:24:07.150 --> 00:24:09.509 that because I think that, you know, when tens 00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:11.329 of thousands of children are killed, it's a bad 00:24:11.329 --> 00:24:14.839 thing. And obviously that wasn't a popular opinion 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:17.359 back then for some reason. And yeah, I had, I 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:20.380 think, 220 ,000 people on Instagram and then 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:22.940 boom, it was gone. No appeal, nothing, just gone. 00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:26.099 Now I didn't monetize that, but it was still, 00:24:26.259 --> 00:24:28.200 it was right when I released my book last year, 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.740 right when it happened. So all the potential 00:24:30.740 --> 00:24:34.759 exposure for a book that's helped a lot of people 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:38.119 was just taken away from me. So talk to me about 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:42.700 how you built up the financial side some of this 00:24:42.700 --> 00:24:46.559 um you know the the overextension of rules and 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:48.640 that closing down how that affected you financially 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.859 because this is an important you know if people 00:24:50.859 --> 00:24:53.420 are putting out truly hateful stuff of course 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:55.759 that their account needs to get taken down so 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.460 many people's accounts were removed you know 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:00.700 early in covid because they said that masks don't 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:02.880 work or whatever masks don't work you know what 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:06.299 i mean they were telling the truth right when 00:25:06.299 --> 00:25:09.549 i lost the account I can't say that it impacted 00:25:09.549 --> 00:25:11.910 me financially because I lost it while I was 00:25:11.910 --> 00:25:15.150 in incarceration. You get what I'm saying? So, 00:25:15.289 --> 00:25:20.589 you know, it ain't like, of course, I came home 00:25:20.589 --> 00:25:22.589 and had to start over and build the brand again. 00:25:23.849 --> 00:25:29.769 And I can say, yeah, it changed my lifestyle 00:25:29.769 --> 00:25:35.630 when I came home. But I've always had something 00:25:35.630 --> 00:25:38.240 to fall back on. I have a culinary arts trade. 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:40.740 You know, I've cooked for Trey Songz because 00:25:40.740 --> 00:25:43.539 I've cooked, I've worked for places like Copeland's 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:51.220 Cheesecake Factory, Texas Roadhouse, Arnie's. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.380 These are, you know, I didn't, I had my fair 00:25:55.380 --> 00:25:58.880 share, you know, of being around, you know, but 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:02.680 other than that, like I said, I've always had 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:06.670 something to fall back on. Well, before you were 00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:08.690 talking about doing the lip sync and that kind 00:26:08.690 --> 00:26:10.529 of thing, it seems, correct me if I'm wrong, 00:26:10.609 --> 00:26:14.390 that this kind of, you know, 2 .0 A -hood, there's 00:26:14.390 --> 00:26:17.730 a message of kindness and community and pulling 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:20.509 people together. So where did that come from? 00:26:21.390 --> 00:26:28.170 Okay. I told myself that I was nervous at first 00:26:28.170 --> 00:26:31.910 because I was like, okay, what if they get up 00:26:31.910 --> 00:26:36.420 here and... You know, crucify me for this. You 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:39.819 know what I'm saying? But then I was like, it's 00:26:39.819 --> 00:26:42.940 always somebody out there somewhere that feel 00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:47.740 like you do. You know what I'm saying? So my 00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:53.799 objective is to take the power from the words. 00:26:54.440 --> 00:27:01.240 You know, if the African -American black community. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:08.339 hear you say what I say, they'll have a different 00:27:08.339 --> 00:27:14.740 story for you. But if it's coming from me, they 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:20.660 left confused. You see what I'm saying? I do. 00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:25.759 Now, one day I'm gonna wake up and it's gonna 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:32.039 be people like you and me uplifting each other. 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:45.000 You see what I'm saying? So, man, I woke up one 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:50.000 day and I thought to myself and I was like, we 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.180 need our own word. The first video that I made, 00:27:55.299 --> 00:28:00.420 I said, I'm gonna only say this one and one time 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:07.960 only. If it ain't what? It ain't right. And that 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:14.180 took off. Okay. Have you ever heard of Clayton 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:19.759 Bigsby? I have, yes. So I started doing a couple 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:22.420 of Clayton Bigsby skits. That's Dave Chappelle, 00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:25.059 isn't it? The clan member, the blind clan member. 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:33.819 So my objective was to draw as many people. that 00:28:33.819 --> 00:28:37.579 i can that thinks it's funny whatever whatever 00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:43.640 i don't care the color and then flip it then 00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:48.000 that's when knacker nation came about you see 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:54.779 what i'm saying so i i made a video saying if 00:28:54.779 --> 00:29:01.019 i'm your milk and you my crowd then why together 00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:08.089 we can't be some knackers it's only right 100 00:29:08.089 --> 00:29:14.609 and then you start seeing more people joining 00:29:14.609 --> 00:29:16.630 more people joining now it's becoming a movement 00:29:16.630 --> 00:29:20.470 it's not it's a it's a family it's not a trend 00:29:20.470 --> 00:29:24.809 it's a way of life what's really sad as we sit 00:29:24.809 --> 00:29:27.410 here recording now i think it was about three 00:29:27.410 --> 00:29:30.809 or four days ago that poor ukrainian woman was 00:29:30.809 --> 00:29:33.710 stabbed in charlotte north carolina by a black 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:37.039 passenger that sat right behind her. And it has 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:41.160 become, again, depending on what you allow yourself 00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:44.579 to see and which news outlet you consider is 00:29:44.579 --> 00:29:49.799 your Bible, a kind of race conversation. And 00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:51.900 clearly it's a mental health conversation. If 00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:54.220 a human being sitting behind someone else on 00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:56.980 a train decides to stab them in the neck, that's 00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:59.400 not about color, creed, sexual orientation. It's 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:04.809 about mental health. And so I see this, I almost 00:30:04.809 --> 00:30:08.089 feel like it's a desperate attempt because I 00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:10.410 think this division is starting to fail. I think 00:30:10.410 --> 00:30:12.990 people exactly like you're saying are realizing 00:30:12.990 --> 00:30:14.930 that in their schools, in their communities, 00:30:15.009 --> 00:30:17.849 in their workplaces, they work with people of 00:30:17.849 --> 00:30:20.170 all colors, creeds, backgrounds, and, you know, 00:30:20.170 --> 00:30:23.289 they get on really well. So I feel like that, 00:30:23.390 --> 00:30:26.690 for example, is one of these things thrust into 00:30:26.690 --> 00:30:28.589 us again, like, oh, don't forget that, you know. 00:30:28.990 --> 00:30:30.950 The black people do this and the white people 00:30:30.950 --> 00:30:32.950 do that. And I think it's bullshit. I really 00:30:32.950 --> 00:30:35.529 do. And so I don't know what your perspective 00:30:35.529 --> 00:30:40.089 is, but I think there's a huge awakening now 00:30:40.089 --> 00:30:42.170 for what I always say is like the 80 percent 00:30:42.170 --> 00:30:44.609 in the middle that aren't racist on one side 00:30:44.609 --> 00:30:47.190 or racist on the other or, you know, whatever 00:30:47.190 --> 00:30:50.509 extremists, the 80 percent, the majority that 00:30:50.509 --> 00:30:53.309 are just sick and tired of this divisive rhetoric 00:30:53.309 --> 00:30:56.410 and and, you know, want to have that conversation 00:30:56.410 --> 00:30:59.559 like, hey, we do all. this is the united states 00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:03.099 of america we do all get along right and that's 00:31:03.099 --> 00:31:06.359 and i think that's the reason why they trying 00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:08.799 to remove tick tock because a lot of people is 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:11.660 learning different ways of life you see what 00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:14.420 i'm saying through their mobile device you see 00:31:14.420 --> 00:31:18.240 what i'm saying like to us it's a they saying 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:20.759 it's a security risk you see what i'm saying 00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:28.609 yeah you know i don't i can be honest like Everybody 00:31:28.609 --> 00:31:32.970 here, we only reporting what we see. I mean, 00:31:32.990 --> 00:31:34.609 if you want to flip it around, if you want to 00:31:34.609 --> 00:31:37.609 get down to the bottom of it, it's a security 00:31:37.609 --> 00:31:40.589 risk if you have a government of either side 00:31:40.589 --> 00:31:42.990 that's allowed the country to get fatter and 00:31:42.990 --> 00:31:45.049 sicker, that's allowed our schools to become 00:31:45.049 --> 00:31:48.410 a place where shootings are a common occurrence, 00:31:48.490 --> 00:31:50.910 that have allowed gangs to thrive because of 00:31:50.910 --> 00:31:53.900 drug prohibition. The greatest threat to national 00:31:53.900 --> 00:31:56.559 security is our government at the moment, not 00:31:56.559 --> 00:31:59.799 someone from overseas. Right, right. They're 00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:03.319 doing it right under our nose. You know, so, 00:32:03.460 --> 00:32:12.019 but honestly, me personally, I feel like if I 00:32:12.019 --> 00:32:15.059 sit back, you asked me, you didn't know my thoughts 00:32:15.059 --> 00:32:19.400 on the, you know, the black and the whites and, 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:24.319 you know, the makeskins. My thing is, I have 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:34.000 seen the slavery movies, okay? I've seen what 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:44.940 happened. My thing is, I'm not finna prosecute 00:32:44.940 --> 00:32:49.640 a person. For something they never had to endure 00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:52.359 and they was born in the same time we born it 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:57.240 had nothing to do with these things if I Treat 00:32:57.240 --> 00:33:00.880 a person accordingly to how they treat me. You 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:05.420 see what I'm saying? Um, I can go in Some of 00:33:05.420 --> 00:33:08.619 my best friends are white You know, I'm saying. 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:12.900 Mm -hmm. Um, I got some best friends with black 00:33:12.900 --> 00:33:17.640 Like I got some best friends Mexican Maybe one 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:24.380 of them, but, you know. But I treat a person 00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:30.779 accordingly to how they treat me. Like, the very 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:36.039 thing that we preach about and we talk about 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:42.480 is what we do every day. It's racism in every 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:48.759 race. Racism in every race. No matter what it 00:33:48.759 --> 00:33:52.119 is, you got bad judges, you got good judges. 00:33:52.359 --> 00:33:55.480 You got bad lawyers, you got good lawyers. You 00:33:55.480 --> 00:33:58.660 got bad doctors, you got good doctors. The world 00:33:58.660 --> 00:34:06.500 revolves around good and bad. My analogy, if 00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:08.639 you go to the grocery store, and this is for 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:12.059 the police officers, that's why I say I bag the 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:15.750 blue. Only the good, not the bad. You see what 00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:17.630 I'm saying? Because if I go to the grocery store 00:34:17.630 --> 00:34:21.250 and I buy a dozen eggs and three of them eggs 00:34:21.250 --> 00:34:24.210 is bad and the rest of them things good, all 00:34:24.210 --> 00:34:27.650 other nine good, what you going to do? You going 00:34:27.650 --> 00:34:31.469 to throw the whole thing away? No, you going 00:34:31.469 --> 00:34:32.909 to throw them three eggs out. You going to cook 00:34:32.909 --> 00:34:38.030 them other nine. So work with what you got. We'll 00:34:38.030 --> 00:34:41.900 cross that bridge when somebody treats me. according 00:34:41.900 --> 00:34:46.460 to my color and not my personality yeah yeah 00:34:46.460 --> 00:34:50.659 well i think this is the thing as well with with 00:34:50.659 --> 00:34:55.119 history and again i'm british so my nation or 00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:57.860 people leaders of my nation have done horrible 00:34:57.860 --> 00:35:00.500 things around the world they colonized two -thirds 00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:03.119 of the world at one point um and even though 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:04.760 there are some beautiful side effects if you 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:08.019 go to london these days you know you'll see the 00:35:08.019 --> 00:35:10.019 whole world represented you know if you go to 00:35:10.019 --> 00:35:12.849 heathrow airport it's you know african dress 00:35:12.849 --> 00:35:14.929 and indian and you know all over the world and 00:35:14.929 --> 00:35:17.510 these are all british people coming home so you 00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:19.230 know that there's there's an upside to some of 00:35:19.230 --> 00:35:22.309 this because we can't go back and change it but 00:35:22.309 --> 00:35:24.409 acknowledging history is extremely important 00:35:24.409 --> 00:35:27.409 remembering history you know we have to remember 00:35:27.409 --> 00:35:29.409 history otherwise we make the same mistake over 00:35:29.409 --> 00:35:32.849 and over again but that's different than continuing 00:35:32.849 --> 00:35:37.210 a victimhood as you said generations later i 00:35:37.210 --> 00:35:40.070 learned um you know recently that at the height 00:35:40.070 --> 00:35:42.070 of slavery when the british were the ones who 00:35:42.070 --> 00:35:44.409 were buying the slaves from the african tribes 00:35:44.409 --> 00:35:47.889 and then basically trading them with the americans 00:35:47.889 --> 00:35:50.050 so they came home with tobacco and clean hands 00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:53.789 um that was when britain's were british people 00:35:53.789 --> 00:35:56.710 were some of the poorest ever so some people 00:35:56.710 --> 00:35:58.710 were making a shitload of money but the country 00:35:58.710 --> 00:36:00.650 wasn't you know what i mean so the moment you 00:36:00.650 --> 00:36:04.070 kind of broad brush everyone this is where we 00:36:04.070 --> 00:36:07.809 get into trouble and if you Take a step back 00:36:07.809 --> 00:36:09.269 and you look at the horrible things that have 00:36:09.269 --> 00:36:12.489 happened in history. Usually it's a few people 00:36:12.489 --> 00:36:16.210 in the government, in businesses, whatever it 00:36:16.210 --> 00:36:19.269 is, and everyone else has to pay the price. So 00:36:19.269 --> 00:36:21.889 the way we really turn things around is, as you 00:36:21.889 --> 00:36:25.449 said, we all stand side by side. Someone made 00:36:25.449 --> 00:36:28.289 a comment on an interview a few months ago and 00:36:28.289 --> 00:36:30.230 said, if you think about a medieval castle, like 00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:35.699 the old British Robin Hood type time. And you've 00:36:35.699 --> 00:36:37.840 got the peasants in the village arguing with 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:39.460 each other. You told them that, oh, they're the 00:36:39.460 --> 00:36:41.699 bad guys and they're the bad guys. He said, well, 00:36:41.739 --> 00:36:44.239 then where are you not looking? At the castle. 00:36:45.099 --> 00:36:47.199 And this is the point. Don't get me wrong. There 00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:49.219 are some great countries with great leaders around 00:36:49.219 --> 00:36:51.760 the world, but the bad ones will keep dividing, 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:54.219 keep reminding, oh, you know, you're black, I'm 00:36:54.219 --> 00:36:55.980 white, you're gay, I'm straight, whatever the 00:36:55.980 --> 00:36:59.260 thing is. And then you're creating that tension 00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:02.739 to take the eyes off where we should be looking. 00:37:03.389 --> 00:37:05.670 The safety of our schools, the quality of our 00:37:05.670 --> 00:37:09.230 food, the purity of our water, all these things 00:37:09.230 --> 00:37:11.409 that affect every single person, whether you're, 00:37:11.409 --> 00:37:13.929 again, any color, creed, sexual orientation. 00:37:14.789 --> 00:37:22.070 Right. I agree. I concur. At the end of the day, 00:37:22.190 --> 00:37:30.849 what we stand for is family, unity. Color don't 00:37:30.849 --> 00:37:39.889 matter. And a lot of people wouldn't understand 00:37:39.889 --> 00:37:48.789 when I say, if it wasn't for Jazzy, Beauty, Peaches, 00:37:49.070 --> 00:37:59.869 Tony, Virgo, these are people that actually got 00:37:59.869 --> 00:38:05.389 behind the content, the brand, and helped push 00:38:05.389 --> 00:38:10.050 it to become what it is. You see what I'm saying? 00:38:10.389 --> 00:38:17.050 I do. So when you got a solid team behind you, 00:38:17.130 --> 00:38:21.010 like I said, I'll be the face of the movement, 00:38:21.070 --> 00:38:22.929 even though I feel like somebody should have 00:38:22.929 --> 00:38:26.389 said this a long time ago. I can relate to that 00:38:26.389 --> 00:38:29.340 completely. I've always said, how come a guy 00:38:29.340 --> 00:38:32.719 with very limited intelligence that came from, 00:38:32.739 --> 00:38:35.539 you know, across the ocean from the UK can figure 00:38:35.539 --> 00:38:37.760 out some of this stuff, but the people that we 00:38:37.760 --> 00:38:39.900 pay a lot of money don't, you know, I mean, if 00:38:39.900 --> 00:38:41.760 you think about the amount of money that's out 00:38:41.760 --> 00:38:44.760 there. we should be living harmoniously. The 00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:46.619 rest of the world should be dreaming of coming 00:38:46.619 --> 00:38:49.320 to America because everyone's healthy and the 00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:51.960 schools are safe and the environment is protected. 00:38:52.519 --> 00:38:55.800 But it's not. So if you look at a movement, more 00:38:55.800 --> 00:38:59.440 often than not, it's people that were sick and 00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:02.500 tired of watching pain, suffering, whatever it 00:39:02.500 --> 00:39:04.940 was, and they said enough is enough. And whether 00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:08.510 it's someone... creating a training company for, 00:39:08.530 --> 00:39:10.869 you know, women to help them with domestic abuse 00:39:10.869 --> 00:39:12.730 or whether it's, you know, starting a TikTok, 00:39:13.070 --> 00:39:15.030 trying to bring people of different, you know, 00:39:15.050 --> 00:39:17.090 ethnicities back together again. It's the same 00:39:17.090 --> 00:39:21.590 thing. Right. And I mix it with some comedy too, 00:39:21.730 --> 00:39:28.889 you know. So I get some inboxes. People be like, 00:39:29.030 --> 00:39:31.949 are you making fun of us or are you serious? 00:39:32.449 --> 00:39:37.710 I'm dead ass serious. I love. everybody i don't 00:39:37.710 --> 00:39:41.510 care who you are if you like what i do then we 00:39:41.510 --> 00:39:45.190 got something in common you get what i'm saying 00:39:45.190 --> 00:39:49.670 i have a dark sense of humor i'm sorry i laugh 00:39:49.670 --> 00:39:55.530 about some you know what i'm saying i i i'll 00:39:55.530 --> 00:39:58.230 be playing with my homeboys because i was crawling 00:39:58.230 --> 00:40:03.550 back like kente but that's i play like that my 00:40:03.550 --> 00:40:07.119 that's how me and my people play You know, like, 00:40:07.260 --> 00:40:11.260 I got a dark sense of humor. I like to laugh 00:40:11.260 --> 00:40:15.079 at the shit a lot of people wouldn't laugh about. 00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:19.599 And now that I've seen more than just me, I got 00:40:19.599 --> 00:40:23.260 a dark sense of humor. But I had to learn it. 00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:27.719 You ever watch South Park? Yeah, I love that 00:40:27.719 --> 00:40:31.320 show. That's the perfect example of using dark 00:40:31.320 --> 00:40:34.360 humor to put a point across. And I think what 00:40:34.360 --> 00:40:37.300 they do so well is they don't just make fun of 00:40:37.300 --> 00:40:39.860 people that they they choose to make fun. They 00:40:39.860 --> 00:40:42.500 make fun of everyone, all of us. So no, no one. 00:40:42.500 --> 00:40:45.460 So that way is fair. No one escapes the mirror 00:40:45.460 --> 00:40:56.639 that's held to our face. Right. So. At the end 00:40:56.639 --> 00:41:01.059 of the day. I don't know where it's going to 00:41:01.059 --> 00:41:07.300 go. But I feel like it's going to be somewhere. 00:41:08.820 --> 00:41:19.260 You know, I enjoyed you. And can you let the 00:41:19.260 --> 00:41:23.079 people know where can they stream this at? Yeah, 00:41:23.119 --> 00:41:26.300 you can say that. Yep. Let us know. How can we 00:41:26.300 --> 00:41:31.460 stream? oh this on the podcast yeah for people 00:41:31.460 --> 00:41:34.119 listening yeah if you just basically put in behind 00:41:34.119 --> 00:41:37.400 the shield podcast in google this will pop up 00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:39.420 straight away and if you put a hood as well then 00:41:39.420 --> 00:41:42.260 but it will be on everything itunes spotify i 00:41:42.260 --> 00:41:45.000 mean any anywhere it's not i don't do the video 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:47.280 i just do the audio so they'll be able to hear 00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:51.980 it anywhere they get podcasts right okay so but 00:41:51.980 --> 00:41:58.280 like i say at the end of the day i'm gonna try 00:41:59.309 --> 00:42:03.429 That's all I can do is try. If you were king 00:42:03.429 --> 00:42:07.409 for a day and you could change some things that 00:42:07.409 --> 00:42:10.349 are going on at the moment, what would you change 00:42:10.349 --> 00:42:15.969 to make this mission come together for you? Man, 00:42:16.170 --> 00:42:17.829 listen, a lot of people are going to hate me 00:42:17.829 --> 00:42:26.190 when I say this. I remove all leadership, man. 00:42:26.230 --> 00:42:27.710 I feel like we wasn't put here for leadership. 00:42:28.809 --> 00:42:35.389 I don't feel like leadership was a part of God's 00:42:35.389 --> 00:42:41.929 plan. You know, that was man -made. You know, 00:42:42.030 --> 00:42:45.670 like, we shouldn't be paying for grapes, man. 00:42:45.750 --> 00:42:50.170 Them free. He gave us to them free. You know. 00:42:52.349 --> 00:43:00.179 I just, I'll remove all this. Man, listen. I 00:43:00.179 --> 00:43:06.840 said it. I don't. Nope. I never voted. Nope. 00:43:07.460 --> 00:43:13.159 Never will. Nope. That'll be my main thing. If 00:43:13.159 --> 00:43:15.300 I was king for a day, that means when I'm not 00:43:15.300 --> 00:43:20.900 king, this is a free world. Mm -hmm. Well, it's 00:43:20.900 --> 00:43:24.500 interesting. I understand we have some cuckoos 00:43:24.500 --> 00:43:28.480 out there. And a lot of people may feel like 00:43:28.480 --> 00:43:39.199 we need that. But if it's nothing, you can deal 00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:45.440 with it. You see what I'm saying? I just, I feel 00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:50.400 like the wars and all it is, that's just a little 00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:53.340 much. I'm over here shaking in my boots behind 00:43:53.340 --> 00:44:01.369 some shit I ain't even did. Yeah, no, it's funny 00:44:01.369 --> 00:44:03.030 because, I mean, it kind of mirrors what I say, 00:44:03.090 --> 00:44:07.869 not no leadership, but the way that our system 00:44:07.869 --> 00:44:11.769 is designed to choose people, you have to be 00:44:11.769 --> 00:44:13.969 a millionaire or billionaire. You take money 00:44:13.969 --> 00:44:16.869 from companies that basically buy your way into 00:44:16.869 --> 00:44:20.099 being president. And you have to have no ethics 00:44:20.099 --> 00:44:22.420 because those companies, a lot of times their 00:44:22.420 --> 00:44:24.719 products kill a lot of people. Tobacco, drug 00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:28.079 companies, fast food, et cetera, et cetera. Military, 00:44:28.179 --> 00:44:31.880 you know, weapons manufacturers, those kind of 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:34.500 things. So, yeah, I agree. I think if you look 00:44:34.500 --> 00:44:37.519 at, you know, healthy societies, usually a leader 00:44:37.519 --> 00:44:39.659 is chosen because people want that person to 00:44:39.659 --> 00:44:41.840 be in that position. Not because they bought 00:44:41.840 --> 00:44:43.980 their way in. Not because they lied their way 00:44:43.980 --> 00:44:45.940 in. And until we have something that represents 00:44:45.940 --> 00:44:48.630 that. I think people would rather just have no 00:44:48.630 --> 00:44:51.230 leader than deal with this because we've had 00:44:51.230 --> 00:44:53.789 the left, we've had the right. And again, over 00:44:53.789 --> 00:44:56.050 the tens and tens of years, we've got fatter 00:44:56.050 --> 00:44:58.630 and sicker. You know, we've got this, just when 00:44:58.630 --> 00:45:00.550 we were starting to heal and come together as 00:45:00.550 --> 00:45:02.489 a nation, I think, you know, in a couple of days, 00:45:02.510 --> 00:45:05.829 it's 9 -12, day after 9 -11. That's what you 00:45:05.829 --> 00:45:08.969 saw. America really was America and doesn't matter 00:45:08.969 --> 00:45:11.429 what you were as far as, you know, how you look 00:45:11.429 --> 00:45:14.769 to who you pray to. We all came together. So, 00:45:14.809 --> 00:45:18.639 you know, I think that, yeah, we. Leadership 00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:22.360 would be good only if it was the kind of people 00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:25.340 that most of us truly looked up to. You know 00:45:25.340 --> 00:45:26.820 what I mean? And what should happen in an election 00:45:26.820 --> 00:45:29.019 is you'd have two people running or three people 00:45:29.019 --> 00:45:33.179 running. If one of them won, you'd be like, okay, 00:45:33.219 --> 00:45:34.880 well, that wasn't my favorite, but they're still 00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:37.059 really good. But that's not what happens. You 00:45:37.059 --> 00:45:45.559 know what I mean? So, yeah. So, me personally, 00:45:47.050 --> 00:45:56.489 Maybe not no leadership, but something, something. 00:45:56.849 --> 00:45:58.949 That's all you want is just good leadership. 00:45:59.349 --> 00:46:02.530 You know, something different, something different 00:46:02.530 --> 00:46:07.969 because I don't, I'm not understanding it right 00:46:07.969 --> 00:46:11.449 now. Well, I think there's a, there's a basic 00:46:11.449 --> 00:46:14.800 kind of principle in my opinion. Leaders bring 00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.500 people together. Tyrants force people apart. 00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:20.980 That's it. So if we had a good leader and we 00:46:20.980 --> 00:46:23.239 were slowly being brought together and the leader 00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:26.420 themselves was, you know, stayed in shape and 00:46:26.420 --> 00:46:28.920 ate well and talked about mental health openly 00:46:28.920 --> 00:46:31.300 and, you know, was looking for proactive reasons 00:46:31.300 --> 00:46:33.119 to help people that are struggling and invested 00:46:33.119 --> 00:46:35.780 in communities that were, you know, maybe not 00:46:35.780 --> 00:46:38.340 as able as other areas, you know, and you're 00:46:38.340 --> 00:46:41.119 seeing this nation heal. I think a lot of people 00:46:41.119 --> 00:46:43.280 would be happy with that person being in place. 00:46:43.840 --> 00:46:46.460 But it's the basic principle. If you're not bringing 00:46:46.460 --> 00:46:48.760 the country together, if you're dividing it, 00:46:48.860 --> 00:46:52.159 then you're not a leader. You're a tyrant. Like, 00:46:52.159 --> 00:46:58.760 I ain't never seen so many people. Like, it's 00:46:58.760 --> 00:47:04.539 real life. Some people be like, if I make a political 00:47:04.539 --> 00:47:07.760 post that's on the joking side, you got some 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:12.400 people that will say, yeah, that's them Democrats 00:47:12.400 --> 00:47:15.809 for you. That's some Republican shit right there. 00:47:16.090 --> 00:47:20.710 You know, I've never seen it like... Do they 00:47:20.710 --> 00:47:22.489 know that that's gangbanging too? That's red 00:47:22.489 --> 00:47:26.369 and blue. Mm -hmm. Exactly. And even the legal 00:47:26.369 --> 00:47:28.469 drug companies, the same as drug companies. Everybody 00:47:28.469 --> 00:47:31.329 that's watching this shit, you're gangbanging 00:47:31.329 --> 00:47:36.010 for the government. Mm -hmm. Yeah, you look at 00:47:36.010 --> 00:47:38.590 the model of fast food, you look at the model 00:47:38.590 --> 00:47:41.329 for prescription drugs, it's no different than 00:47:41.329 --> 00:47:43.690 what you'd see on the streets. It really isn't. 00:47:43.690 --> 00:47:47.409 You know, create an addict for life. Right. So 00:47:47.409 --> 00:47:51.750 just keep that in mind. Y 'all be over here talking 00:47:51.750 --> 00:47:54.809 about, I'm team red. Y 'all talking about y 'all 00:47:54.809 --> 00:47:58.150 team blue. But when you hear somebody say it 00:47:58.150 --> 00:48:00.750 in the street, your head gonna run like hell. 00:48:03.409 --> 00:48:07.530 Absolutely. And then what do you see with those 00:48:07.530 --> 00:48:09.750 old heads and the Crips and the Bloods when they 00:48:09.750 --> 00:48:12.800 start getting into their 40s? they realize that 00:48:12.800 --> 00:48:15.119 it was crazy. And they start standing side by 00:48:15.119 --> 00:48:16.719 side, trying to stop kids from going into the 00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:18.619 gangs in the first place. But it's too late. 00:48:20.119 --> 00:48:21.960 Because if you should have stopped it, they should 00:48:21.960 --> 00:48:23.639 have stopped with you when you're younger age 00:48:23.639 --> 00:48:26.719 before they, you know, your partners, you should 00:48:26.719 --> 00:48:29.380 have stopped your partners. And your partners 00:48:29.380 --> 00:48:32.619 should have stopped their partners. You know? 00:48:34.179 --> 00:48:36.920 So I ain't no youngsters trying to hear what 00:48:36.920 --> 00:48:39.940 no OGs trying to say when you got NBA Youngboy 00:48:39.940 --> 00:48:44.860 and they don't. So how do we change that? I mean, 00:48:44.860 --> 00:48:47.940 I think the drug prohibition element would be 00:48:47.940 --> 00:48:50.739 huge because if you simply couldn't make money 00:48:50.739 --> 00:48:53.300 slinging dope anymore because they were fixing 00:48:53.300 --> 00:48:55.940 people that were addicts and you could have access 00:48:55.940 --> 00:48:59.440 to pharmaceutical grade opiates or whatever it 00:48:59.440 --> 00:49:01.840 is, if you were weaning yourself off, then you'd 00:49:01.840 --> 00:49:03.440 cut the head off the snake, I think, with the 00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:07.559 drug side at least. So aside from that, how do 00:49:07.559 --> 00:49:10.719 we stop this circle of violence when it comes 00:49:10.719 --> 00:49:17.289 to gang membership? You, honestly, I feel like 00:49:17.289 --> 00:49:23.349 if it's always something, they stop this, it's 00:49:23.349 --> 00:49:26.090 going to start a different something. You see 00:49:26.090 --> 00:49:29.690 what I'm saying? This 2025, I done seen some 00:49:29.690 --> 00:49:31.710 shit and heard some shit I ain't never even heard 00:49:31.710 --> 00:49:36.989 of before. You see what I'm saying? They can 00:49:36.989 --> 00:49:39.869 stop this and start it another way, but that 00:49:39.869 --> 00:49:43.980 only going to make them go another way. you see 00:49:43.980 --> 00:49:48.280 what i'm saying so if let me give you an example 00:49:48.280 --> 00:49:53.239 they made weed legal everywhere you know to where 00:49:53.239 --> 00:49:56.920 like you said they're not going to go in there 00:49:56.920 --> 00:50:01.579 and sell them off with cocaine so if they can't 00:50:01.579 --> 00:50:04.780 if the government can't do that then that pushes 00:50:04.780 --> 00:50:08.179 everybody that goes from that route to another 00:50:08.179 --> 00:50:12.099 avenue it's always something You see what I'm 00:50:12.099 --> 00:50:21.760 saying? I feel like making it legal would be 00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:27.360 doing more harm than helping because I don't 00:50:27.360 --> 00:50:29.239 feel like marijuana tearing down the community. 00:50:30.820 --> 00:50:35.920 So I wouldn't want to mess with the people that's 00:50:35.920 --> 00:50:40.239 dealing that. You get what I'm saying? Because 00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:43.960 then you will push them to do something else 00:50:43.960 --> 00:50:45.800 because they got to provide for a lifestyle that 00:50:45.800 --> 00:50:49.440 they have already accumulated. You see what I'm 00:50:49.440 --> 00:50:51.159 saying? Then whatever they promote they sell 00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:53.599 to, then we'll be tearing down the community. 00:50:56.199 --> 00:51:01.530 You get what I'm saying? See, you have legalization 00:51:01.530 --> 00:51:04.150 where you can go and buy it, and then you have 00:51:04.150 --> 00:51:07.150 decriminalization. And that's the model that 00:51:07.150 --> 00:51:08.889 I think is really good. They did it in Portugal. 00:51:09.969 --> 00:51:11.969 And again, like you said, marijuana, obviously, 00:51:12.030 --> 00:51:14.210 we're seeing it legalized now. Because I think 00:51:14.210 --> 00:51:17.369 that when you take a step back, yes, you can 00:51:17.369 --> 00:51:20.449 make a living selling marijuana, but how many 00:51:20.449 --> 00:51:24.769 kids that ended up in the gangs and selling whatever 00:51:24.769 --> 00:51:28.440 on the corner were we robbing? from a career 00:51:28.440 --> 00:51:30.480 to do something you know architect construction 00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:33.320 doctor whatever like we stopped their potential 00:51:33.320 --> 00:51:35.400 because of the environment they were surrounded 00:51:35.400 --> 00:51:38.980 with but what the portugal model really is is 00:51:38.980 --> 00:51:40.860 the understanding as you said when you start 00:51:40.860 --> 00:51:44.000 getting harder now cocaine you know opiates crystal 00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:48.139 meth all these other illicit drugs those are 00:51:48.139 --> 00:51:50.980 being used by people who are hurting and so if 00:51:50.980 --> 00:51:54.420 you can pour resources into mental health addiction 00:51:54.420 --> 00:51:57.780 counseling job creation housing And you stop 00:51:57.780 --> 00:51:59.880 a lot of people from needing to fill that void 00:51:59.880 --> 00:52:02.400 with a drug specifically. And I think, again, 00:52:02.659 --> 00:52:05.360 some of the therapeutic ones we talked about, 00:52:05.420 --> 00:52:07.739 that's a different conversation. Marijuana, MDMA, 00:52:07.940 --> 00:52:11.099 psilocybin, these have healing properties. But 00:52:11.099 --> 00:52:13.380 with the other ones that are just destroying 00:52:13.380 --> 00:52:15.300 people, and then obviously we have opiates with 00:52:15.300 --> 00:52:17.219 fentanyl at the moment that are just snuffing 00:52:17.219 --> 00:52:20.239 people out of all colors, creeds, and ages. If 00:52:20.239 --> 00:52:22.719 you can take away some of that pain from the 00:52:22.719 --> 00:52:25.519 community, then those people stand on their own 00:52:25.519 --> 00:52:27.659 feet and they're... back in the community so 00:52:27.659 --> 00:52:30.800 your customers diminish in the illicit drug trade 00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:33.820 you know immensely and that's that's what happened 00:52:33.820 --> 00:52:37.400 in portugal they still chased the smugglers they 00:52:37.400 --> 00:52:40.880 chased the dealers but you know the users themselves 00:52:40.880 --> 00:52:44.719 they put in to they gave them support to get 00:52:44.719 --> 00:52:46.440 them well again because you know addiction is 00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:48.599 basically a sickness and again i'm not talking 00:52:48.599 --> 00:52:50.780 about you know marijuana and some of these therapeutic 00:52:50.780 --> 00:52:53.539 ones so i think that's what's interesting about 00:52:53.539 --> 00:52:56.599 that model because if you're option isn't to 00:52:56.599 --> 00:53:00.199 sell drugs anymore, and you create an infrastructure, 00:53:00.579 --> 00:53:02.480 then a lot of those young people will then go 00:53:02.480 --> 00:53:04.440 and do careers that are a lot more rewarding 00:53:04.440 --> 00:53:07.739 and don't result in dying in some god -awful 00:53:07.739 --> 00:53:14.780 drug war. Right. But what about the ones that 00:53:14.780 --> 00:53:19.059 then gave up all of that without and chose it 00:53:19.059 --> 00:53:21.440 for the streets? Because a lot of these people 00:53:21.440 --> 00:53:24.440 out here want to be where they are. They don't 00:53:24.440 --> 00:53:29.780 want help. why do you think that is in louisiana 00:53:29.780 --> 00:53:35.239 we call it chasing a dragon something you saw 00:53:35.239 --> 00:53:38.340 the first time you got high that you want to 00:53:38.340 --> 00:53:44.239 see again that you'll never see again you know 00:53:44.239 --> 00:53:48.380 so you you do have those and you can pull in 00:53:48.380 --> 00:53:51.739 the resources all you want a lot of them just 00:53:51.739 --> 00:53:54.179 won't accept it because they don't want They 00:53:54.179 --> 00:53:58.019 want to be carefree. They want no worries. They 00:53:58.019 --> 00:54:01.860 like where they at. Like I'm from Louisiana. 00:54:01.960 --> 00:54:05.199 I'm from Shreveport. I see a lot of it. A lot 00:54:05.199 --> 00:54:09.340 of people like, I done seen a dude quit his job 00:54:09.340 --> 00:54:16.860 that worked with me to stand on the corner. And 00:54:16.860 --> 00:54:20.539 then when I, he was holding the sign. I didn't 00:54:20.539 --> 00:54:24.340 give him nothing because. You was my co -worker. 00:54:26.719 --> 00:54:33.059 Why did you quit? You see what I'm saying? I 00:54:33.059 --> 00:54:39.000 do. No, please. I'm a realist. I'm going to say 00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:43.480 what I feel. It was no reason. We got the same 00:54:43.480 --> 00:54:52.099 24 hours. The same seven days. I think that... 00:54:52.349 --> 00:54:54.409 Other danger, though, is that there'll always 00:54:54.409 --> 00:54:57.329 be that group. There'll always be that group 00:54:57.329 --> 00:55:00.030 that you can't help, no matter how much you try. 00:55:00.210 --> 00:55:02.610 Whether it's people trying to stop smoking, whether 00:55:02.610 --> 00:55:04.389 it's illicit drugs, whether it's homelessness, 00:55:04.610 --> 00:55:08.550 whatever it is. But we focus on the ones that 00:55:08.550 --> 00:55:10.389 didn't work for rather than the ones that it 00:55:10.389 --> 00:55:13.110 did. And I think this is what we miss in America. 00:55:13.269 --> 00:55:15.429 Food stamps, government housing, they always 00:55:15.429 --> 00:55:17.840 point out the people that abuse it. Yeah, that 00:55:17.840 --> 00:55:20.179 happens. I see it as a paramedic and a firefighter 00:55:20.179 --> 00:55:23.139 in America. I saw it my whole career. But we're 00:55:23.139 --> 00:55:25.380 not looking about all of those families that 00:55:25.380 --> 00:55:27.599 it helped, that got back on their feet. You know 00:55:27.599 --> 00:55:29.860 what I mean? So I think that's the other part 00:55:29.860 --> 00:55:31.940 is not thinking that we're going to fix everything. 00:55:32.800 --> 00:55:35.159 But we have to change the way we do it because 00:55:35.159 --> 00:55:37.099 the way we're doing it now isn't working. I mean, 00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:44.519 it's just not. Right. I agree. So that's why. 00:55:48.650 --> 00:55:53.210 That's why what we do is what we do. I believe 00:55:53.210 --> 00:55:59.309 a lot of people feel like they have some sort 00:55:59.309 --> 00:56:04.150 of freedom in what we do. You see what I'm saying? 00:56:04.710 --> 00:56:11.210 Yeah. Honestly. I done seen people, I done seen, 00:56:11.429 --> 00:56:15.929 I love my Caucasian people, man. I done seen 00:56:15.929 --> 00:56:22.260 them make a video saying, black power and it 00:56:22.260 --> 00:56:32.739 just tickled me you know how can anybody hate 00:56:32.739 --> 00:56:35.300 it now i'm getting special requests talking about 00:56:35.300 --> 00:56:37.880 man what about the mix because in the end you 00:56:37.880 --> 00:56:42.800 know so we gotta we gotta make sure that everybody 00:56:42.800 --> 00:56:47.329 feel welcome absolutely Well, you've obviously 00:56:47.329 --> 00:56:49.150 mentioned about, you know, the TikTok channel 00:56:49.150 --> 00:56:52.590 specifically. Where do you hope this all leads 00:56:52.590 --> 00:56:55.849 to? Is there going to be, you know, outside of 00:56:55.849 --> 00:56:58.769 social media, live comedy, you know, TV shows? 00:56:59.489 --> 00:57:03.690 Yeah, I'm in the process of starting stand up. 00:57:06.409 --> 00:57:13.750 Ultimately, I'm going to my first major step 00:57:13.750 --> 00:57:17.480 and go. I say would be Wildin' Out. I want to 00:57:17.480 --> 00:57:22.300 be on MTV Wildin' Out. That's my major first 00:57:22.300 --> 00:57:27.320 step and go. Because if I can get the audience 00:57:27.320 --> 00:57:32.159 to see me just one time, oh, I'm going to shine 00:57:32.159 --> 00:57:39.300 bright like I die, man. All right. Well, I want 00:57:39.300 --> 00:57:41.280 to go to some closing questions and then we'll 00:57:41.280 --> 00:57:43.039 make sure, again, everyone knows where to find 00:57:43.039 --> 00:57:46.420 you on social media. The first question, is there 00:57:46.420 --> 00:57:49.820 a book or are there books that you love to recommend? 00:57:49.960 --> 00:57:52.380 It can be related to our discussion today or 00:57:52.380 --> 00:57:58.500 completely unrelated. I like to read fantasy. 00:57:59.179 --> 00:58:05.619 So I love reading Twilight sagas. I love Harry 00:58:05.619 --> 00:58:10.219 Potter books. Those are my two favorite series. 00:58:16.260 --> 00:58:21.300 And these books they call hood rat novels. Yeah. 00:58:22.159 --> 00:58:27.539 Yeah. Don't buy that book. Don't buy that book. 00:58:27.900 --> 00:58:35.059 A whole lot of hood stuff. What about TV, films, 00:58:35.059 --> 00:58:46.809 or documentaries? TV. True Blood. orange is the 00:58:46.809 --> 00:58:56.769 new black um let me see movies oh i'm a i'm an 00:58:56.769 --> 00:59:02.789 october baby so anything anything horror you 00:59:02.789 --> 00:59:09.489 know um i just watched the new uh conjuring yeah 00:59:09.489 --> 00:59:14.710 yeah yes yes i just watched weapons have you 00:59:14.710 --> 00:59:19.860 seen that yet It's not like horror, like slasher 00:59:19.860 --> 00:59:22.260 or anything, but it's creepy as hell. It's Josh 00:59:22.260 --> 00:59:24.920 Brolin and some other people. But yeah, that's 00:59:24.920 --> 00:59:26.599 another good one. If you're into horror, watch 00:59:26.599 --> 00:59:32.920 that one too. Okay. Brilliant. What about documentaries? 00:59:33.019 --> 00:59:35.179 Any of those? Are you a documentary watcher? 00:59:35.719 --> 00:59:44.409 Yeah. BMF. BMF? BMF. BMF, okay. you know the 00:59:44.409 --> 00:59:50.130 black mafia family you know um yeah i love country 00:59:50.130 --> 00:59:54.409 music though let's get that clip but i love our 00:59:54.409 --> 00:59:59.389 music but i got a special special place in my 00:59:59.389 --> 01:00:02.590 heart for some country that's what we're seeing 01:00:02.590 --> 01:00:05.269 again back to our conversation earlier if you 01:00:05.269 --> 01:00:08.719 look at I mean, obviously sports teams, I mean, 01:00:08.739 --> 01:00:10.900 they're pretty diverse and we seem to ignore 01:00:10.900 --> 01:00:13.340 that, that these, you know, men or women or whatever 01:00:13.340 --> 01:00:16.159 team it is, you know, play side by side and, 01:00:16.159 --> 01:00:18.719 you know, rejoice and hug each other or console 01:00:18.719 --> 01:00:21.179 each other if they've won or lost. But even in 01:00:21.179 --> 01:00:23.039 music, look at the fusions that have happened 01:00:23.039 --> 01:00:25.820 for a long time now, you know, these collaborations 01:00:25.820 --> 01:00:28.579 between these different, you know, music genres 01:00:28.579 --> 01:00:31.639 that supposedly are all black or all white, whatever. 01:00:31.760 --> 01:00:35.000 And it's bullshit. They're all playing together. 01:00:36.559 --> 01:00:39.320 Right. And there's so much unity in the world 01:00:39.320 --> 01:00:41.119 today, man. That's why I think they're trying 01:00:41.119 --> 01:00:45.239 to remove TikTok. Absolutely. All right. Well, 01:00:45.260 --> 01:00:47.119 the next question, is there a person that you 01:00:47.119 --> 01:00:49.559 recommend to come on this podcast as a guest 01:00:49.559 --> 01:00:52.619 to speak to the first responders, military, and 01:00:52.619 --> 01:01:02.699 associated professions of the world? Hmm. Yeah. 01:01:09.889 --> 01:01:19.409 Texas cop. 2 .0. He's actually a police officer. 01:01:21.809 --> 01:01:25.449 That's his social media handle? Texas cop 2 .0? 01:01:25.489 --> 01:01:30.030 Okay. All right. I'll look him up. Another one 01:01:30.030 --> 01:01:32.250 as well I'd love to get on is Lil Wayne. Because 01:01:32.250 --> 01:01:34.730 if you hear him talking about the kindness of 01:01:34.730 --> 01:01:37.739 a cop when he was little. when you know when 01:01:37.739 --> 01:01:39.960 when his house was raided and i think he was 01:01:39.960 --> 01:01:41.780 shot as well at that point he was only a little 01:01:41.780 --> 01:01:45.019 boy um you know again he's he's been a another 01:01:45.019 --> 01:01:47.159 voice of exactly what we're talking about you 01:01:47.159 --> 01:01:49.940 know good good people bad people not about you 01:01:49.940 --> 01:01:52.920 know skin color or uniform in that case but just 01:01:52.920 --> 01:01:55.179 who showed him kindness when everyone else was 01:01:55.179 --> 01:01:58.139 stepping over him and he he that was a good story 01:01:58.139 --> 01:02:01.239 too i did hear that story yeah that story was 01:02:01.239 --> 01:02:05.449 told on i think the bt awards one year Yeah, 01:02:05.449 --> 01:02:07.650 Uncle something. I forget what his name was now, 01:02:07.710 --> 01:02:11.210 but he referred to him as Uncle. Yeah. All right. 01:02:11.230 --> 01:02:13.090 Well, then the last question before we make sure 01:02:13.090 --> 01:02:15.070 everyone knows where to find you and your work. 01:02:15.190 --> 01:02:26.349 What do you do to decompress? I listen to music. 01:02:27.969 --> 01:02:37.400 I play Fortnite a lot. That's why I mellow it. 01:02:38.260 --> 01:02:42.440 And again, I didn't think about that. How many 01:02:42.440 --> 01:02:45.360 people of all colors and creeds play those games 01:02:45.360 --> 01:02:47.699 side by side talking to each other. You know 01:02:47.699 --> 01:02:50.300 what I mean? Right. They may look like a dragon 01:02:50.300 --> 01:02:52.460 or whatever it is in the game, but they're not. 01:02:53.500 --> 01:02:58.079 Like I didn't, I didn't met some great people 01:02:58.079 --> 01:03:02.239 just from by playing the game. Yeah. And you 01:03:02.239 --> 01:03:04.360 can't see him. So you're not judging on how they 01:03:04.360 --> 01:03:06.519 look or what color they are or if they're wearing 01:03:06.519 --> 01:03:09.960 a turban or a burqa. They're just whatever character 01:03:09.960 --> 01:03:12.500 in the game and you're talking to them. Right. 01:03:14.539 --> 01:03:16.440 Absolutely. All right. Well, then for people 01:03:16.440 --> 01:03:19.440 listening, the social media platforms, where 01:03:19.440 --> 01:03:21.679 are the best places to find you on all things? 01:03:23.059 --> 01:03:29.519 Instagram and TikTok is both A -Y -E -H -O -O 01:03:29.519 --> 01:03:33.739 -D official. One word. That's where you can find 01:03:33.739 --> 01:03:37.480 me on all platforms. And I would like to, if 01:03:37.480 --> 01:03:40.940 I missed a couple people, big ups, Tony, I love 01:03:40.940 --> 01:03:44.440 you, brother. Peaches, I love you. Jazzy, I love 01:03:44.440 --> 01:03:46.820 y 'all. Thank y 'all for being a part of what 01:03:46.820 --> 01:03:57.119 we do. G, Ginger, Cal, Michelle, Lulu Lemon. 01:03:57.849 --> 01:04:01.210 I love y 'all, man. Y 'all stay up. Stay blessed. 01:04:01.510 --> 01:04:05.510 We're going to get there. Beautiful. And if you 01:04:05.510 --> 01:04:07.429 missed anyone, I'm sure they're going to be really 01:04:07.429 --> 01:04:10.730 pissed off. Yeah. And everybody else that I miss, 01:04:10.849 --> 01:04:14.250 please. All right. Well, I want to thank you 01:04:14.250 --> 01:04:16.130 so much. It's been such an interesting conversation. 01:04:16.409 --> 01:04:19.130 This was super organic. My wife showed me your 01:04:19.130 --> 01:04:21.860 account and I was like, this is phenomenal. You 01:04:21.860 --> 01:04:24.139 just, you know, the message is positive. And 01:04:24.139 --> 01:04:25.820 I'm sure if you see mine, it's the same kind 01:04:25.820 --> 01:04:28.400 of thing, just trying to storytell the goodness 01:04:28.400 --> 01:04:30.820 in the world. So I want to thank you so much 01:04:30.820 --> 01:04:32.860 for being so generous with your time and coming 01:04:32.860 --> 01:04:35.260 on the Behind the Shield podcast today. Yes, 01:04:35.260 --> 01:04:38.900 sir. Thank you for having me. And I will share 01:04:38.900 --> 01:04:40.800 it out and I will get my people to stream it. 01:04:41.139 --> 01:04:42.119 We'll be on it.