Danny Jones Podcast - #3 - Tampa Tony

Episode Date: November 4, 2018

Tampa Tony was sentenced to life in prison for possession of 21 kilos of cocaine with intent to distribute back in 2006. In 2016 Tony had his sentence commuted by President Barack Obama and he was released last week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on the Concrete Podcast, and today's guest is Tampa Tony. Tampa Tony. How's it going, man? Hey, man, it's a beautiful thing, man. Finally free? Finally free. Back on the road. Back on the road.

So for the people out there who may not comprehend, the short summary of what's been going on with you is, I think in 2006 you were convicted to life in prison, and two days ago you were just released, and you were pardoned by Obama. Is that right? Yeah. So Shane actually told me about you and you had, used to have a music career. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean a few buddies, we used to record music, local studios around here and St. Pete and whatnot. And your name was popping back then. It was buzzing. So, Tampa, everybody knew Tampa, Tony. And then I heard you went away. Then years and years went by. And I happened to see an article that you got your sentence commuted by Obama. Yeah.

And then he was getting out. So I started looking you up and you're free. I said, we got to get them on. We got to have the story. Yeah, man. It was beautiful, man. It was beautiful. So where did it start?

Are you born in Florida? Yeah, Florida born. Tampa? Well, I was born in Orlando, raised in Tampa. Okay. All right. And so when did music start? Music started, really, when I really got into it, it really started, like, maybe I was, like, 13, 14, when I started DJing.

Okay. You know, that was, like, the beginning of it, and I started DJing, and, you know, I went from DJing and, and went on one show with my cousin. He had a big record back in the days called It's My Cadillac. His name was Nasdy. Went on the road with him and seen the following that he had. And on the way back, I was like, man, I'm for the rap. And he was like, what?

I was like, yeah, I'm rapping now, man. I seen you get in the limo, we got in the limo and the big crowds and stuff like that. I was like, yeah, I'm going to rap, man. And did you work with a lot of big artists? I mean, obviously you got pretty popular, back then. So, like, how did you blow up? This episode sponsored by IP Vanish.

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with IP Vanish. We had a DJ crew in Tampa called Rocket Rod DJs, and we kind of like controlled the market because it wasn't no radio stations in Tampa back then. The only thing that was up was like WTMP, 88.5.

It wasn't no big stations like 94-1. Yeah. Yeah, so it was before that. So we kind of like broke a lot of records in our area because of the mixtapes. You know what I mean? slowed down. We was known for the slowed down music. Yeah. And then we've seen your song with Trick Daddy.

Yeah. I know that was popular. Yeah. I know Trick from way back because his uncle was managing my cousin at the time. So I met him way back then, but he was like in the streets. You know, he wasn't rapping and he was coming from jail, doing freestyle. He don't take it serious. But once he came out, you know, I already knew him. So I start breaking his music. in the Tampa Bay area. I'll play a lot of trick. And that's how we came together.

And then he seen me back in the rap business. And he was like, look, man, everywhere I'm going, I'm hearing your name, man. I mean, you're making some noise. It's like, we got to do a record together. I was like, whenever. No way. Yeah. So he was like, man, I'm going to call you tomorrow.

So he got my number. He called me the next day. He's like, man, when can you come down? I was like, man, I'm always free. That's wild. And this was like, before. This was like before so like Instagram and yeah this was before Instagram and Twitter and all that that's it was none of that That's wild yeah what and what year was that you did the trick daddy song I did the trick daddy song and I want to say

2005 2005 yeah 2005 and the year after that is when you got arrested yeah when I got arrested So what else were you doing besides music uh I invented I invented this thing called a blunt splitter the splitter the splitter I saw that. Yeah. What is that? It's, you slide the cigar through, and it splits it down the middle. Oh, no way. Okay.

So you can pull all the tobacco out. You can pull all the tobacco out. So it's like a clean cut. You don't have to use your nails. I see those in gas stations and stuff now all the time. So it was, I pushed it a lot before I went in. And when I lost trial, they kind of used that in my trial to saying that I was using drug proceeds to fund the splitter. So it kind of like, you know, messed everything up with that. But I still had the

patent. So once guys seen that it was so hot because it was in the Hot Times magazine, it was, I was getting a lot of publicity for it. No way. Yeah. So did you make some good money off that? Yeah, I made some good money. But once, once they came in, it's like, when I got locked up, other companies seen, oh, he locked up. He can't do nothing. He got a license. So ain't nobody else doing nothing. So we come out with our own. You know, they went in, it just changed the patent up just a little bit. And they went to work, man. So you're doing some serious.

How old were you in that, like in 2005? In 2005, I think I was like 26. And you were getting patents for fucking shit that you created and you were making serious money. So you were like legit businessman when you were in your 20s. Yeah, yeah. That's wild. And then what was going on?

Like, what were you doing illegally? Illegally, I was like the marijuana. the cocaine, you know, it was just like being a part of the streets and funding, it really, actually, actually, it's funding everything, you know what I mean? Like for my group, my label, the splitter, and, like, really marketing myself. You know what I mean? I was taking the money just putting it back into my brain. Right, so the goal was to get the money to fund your other businesses.

And fund my other business and end the music at the same time and stay independent. You know, I was thinking about Master P. Right. You know, everybody wanted to be like, man, okay, I want to be independent. instead of having the labor deal, I can just do everything myself, you know, brand myself. So that's what I was doing. So without like, you know, obviously saying any names or anything, like how, how, what, tell me the story of how you got into the drug business.

The drug business was, it was, it's been my background, you know, like a lot of my people has been in the drug business. I've been affiliated with the streets. But, you know, sometimes I leave. to try to do the right thing, you know what I mean? And then it kind of slow down, the money slow down. So now that I'm trying to do something big and brand myself, now I needed the extra funds to do that.

So you had to start increasing the scale of the stuff you were hustling. Yeah, so I increased the scale of it. So like your friends and the people around you, is that how you got into it? Were they selling weed and coke and stuff? And that's how you got introduced. A couple of them was, you know, a couple of them was, I started in the streets, you know what I mean?

Just like, you know, small things, nickel and diamond, and then I'll leave and go straight to the DJN. And then, you know, money will slow down a little bit. Then I go back. So it was like a back and forth thing, you know, it was nothing serious, you know what I mean? Then I was like, well, if I'm going to do it, I was take it to the next level, you know what I mean? So I just went ahead and took it to the next level. How do you step it up?

Like, what's the leap you take? What's the next level? Like, how do you get to the next level? Well, just you kind of like meet different individuals and, you know, and it went from there to, okay, well, now you're taking your money and you buying more. So you're going to buy more, you know, and saving their money, buying more and more. And then all of a sudden you increased your supply. And now it's like the demand is always going to be there.

Yeah. Do you remember when you bought like your first kilo weed or kilo of Coke? Tell me that. Tell me like the, what was that like the, what was going through your head? Like, you know. Or was it a pound? What, what was it? You know what? Like when I bought my first pound, it was like, you know, like, I graduated from buying little small things to something bigger now. You know, and now it's like, okay, save your money and don't spend it and go, you know, keep growing. You know, that's, even with the same thing in the music, you know, my mentality has been the same way. It's like, bring yourself. and put your money to side and then invest it back into yourself. Right. You know, so that's what I did. Just kept different steps, high steps.

Yeah, so you had to just keep flipping onto bigger things. Yeah, to bigger things. Wow. And then what was the transition like from weed to cocaine or did you always have both? No, I started out in the Coke business as a young kid, you know. Yeah. You know, I was younger when I started that. But it was just like little small things.

little cut rocks, but then when I got back in and graduated to that, it was, uh, it was, like a major level. It was, it's different. The money is different. What do you mean? The money, the Coke money is, it's faster. It's faster? Yeah, and it's more. You know what I mean? Like, what it would take you to make 10 grand in marijuana would only take, you know, like one or two keys in, in, and, in Coke, you know what I mean, a lot of less. And it's much smaller, too. Yeah. So, I mean, at that point, it's easier to move.

Even to move, it ain't that's bulky and ain't the smell, you know, the smell. So did you prefer selling Coke versus weed? I didn't, I really didn't want to do neither. Right, obviously, obviously not. Right. But you were trying to do what you had to do. Yeah, I had a dream and I wanted to, because I dealt with a lot of individuals that told me they, they were invest. you know, other individuals that had money that they would invest in my brand.

Right. When it got down to it, they never did it because something came up and they lost some money, so they was never able to do that. So it was like, now and never, okay, I'm going to take it in my own hands to do that. You know what I mean? I felt the need for me to do that myself. Yeah. Was there like a stopping point you had in your head?

Like, I'm going to get to this much money and then that's it? I had a point. Yeah. Yeah, what was your goal? Like, what was your, like, monetary goal? My goal was to get to a million dollars. Right. And I was going to be, that was it.

Yeah. And at the time when I was getting to that point, I looked at it. It was the splitter, I had the splitter, and I had got that so huge that I was offered, like, 1.5 for the splitter. No way. So my mind thinking like this, like, okay, I can get to the million. and I can get the 1.5 and either walk away with like 1.2 or 1.1 with the lawyer fees and all that.

Now my money's clean because I can show where you made that money from. So I can keep that in there and just spend the street money to brand everything. You see what I'm saying? That was my whole point.

That was my whole goal like, okay, if I get like this and I can tell the splitter, I got, okay, I know the spliter was like my baby. Yeah. You know, and I was like, okay, well, I can say, sell it off and then become legit and have enough fun to push myself all the way,

then that was my ultimate goal. So at that point, the splitter's blown up. You got to offer. Yeah. So why don't you sell it? Is that when you get jammed up? Yeah, well, the lawyer was going, his lawyer and my lawyer was going back and forth with the paperwork and the contracts and everything.

And it was taking, like, I think it was like, it was maybe in like three weeks. into it and it was going back and forth. He was like, it would be like two more weeks and it'll be finalized. And y'all can come and sign and it'll be on. So before those two weeks was up, that's when I caught the charge. That's when it happened. Yeah, and when it happened, you know, he went in separate way. He's probably one of the guys that got all the little small splitters out right now.

Yeah, right? Probably took it. Yeah. So you get jammed up at that point. is this like I mean you got the splitter deal on the line so why are doing this uh why are you still selling the drugs why not not give it up or is this your last one is it like i got the splitter this my last one is my last one because i'm trying to get to that that million dollar gold right if i can get to this million dollar go then and i and i sell the splitter then i'm good yeah even if i don't get it

and once the splitter is sold i'm done you know what i mean but is it that easy to exit to exit that the drug business like that? You just tell your people, the guys who are supplying you, just like, I'm out or whatever, and that's fine? Well, it's not fine because they'll continue to hassle you. Like, man, we need you, you know.

I didn't save no money. Man, just give us a little more run. Turn me on to the people and this and that. And, you know, you look at it like, okay, look, I have to make an exit some type of way. Yeah. So my thing was, my whole plan was like, just tell them, like,

The dude just stop, you know what I mean? So I'm not in it no more. Right. So I'm just waiting. You know, just let them play the game, you know, hey, man. Until they just move on to somebody else. Until they just move to somebody else, you know what I mean? Just keep pushing them off until they move on to somebody else.

Yeah. So that was my whole plan. Wow. So then that's around 06 and you get jammed up. Yeah, when you actually got jammed up, what was that day like? What was going on that? Can you walk me through that day? That day, uh,

The individual that was my connect, he was a Mexican. He called and told me he was ready for me. I met him out in Pascoe County. And are you expecting that call? Is that out of ordinary or? Well, no, we had talked that night. So he was like that morning, I'm going to the truck and get everything, and then we'll meet.

So I was like, okay, cool. So when he came to meet me, it was a strange feeling that I had. But I'm just trying to move fast because I had to be in Miami. So I'm like. Right. Why is it a strange feeling? Again, in your stomach, like you just had like a. Yeah, like it's like.

You just have one of the moments. One of those moments, like, you know, you're like, man, it's not, you shouldn't do that. You know what I mean? Yeah. Maybe, no, you don't need to do that right now. You know what I mean? And I was, I didn't listen. Right.

I didn't listen. I didn't listen. So I ended up making the deal and. How much was it? It was 21 kilos. And so where is this at a house or at a parking lot? We was in a parking lot. Okay.

Yeah, we was in the parking lot. Like a gas station parking lot? No, it was Sam's Club parking lot. Okay. Yeah, Sam's Club parking lot. Wow. Yeah. And how do you do that?

that exchange just in two cars in the bag? Normally we have never done that and I was just going to meet him up there and then follow him back or he followed me back to a place. Okay. My house or something like that. But it's like he just, it moved, it happens so fast. He just shows up and he happens there. Yeah, he just showed up and he jump out and like poppy trunk and I'm like, yo man, we here, man.

He was like, no, we are, we all right? You know, that's the main man. That's the big man right there and this and that and blah. Quazza, and the guy said something, like, they got pretty stamps on them or something shit like that, and it kind of like spooked me. That's when I woke up then. Pretty stamps? Yeah, they got good stamps on them.

I was like, good stamps. What are you talking about? Right, what does that mean? Yeah, what does that mean? So I went in the car to get, I had this thing called a spy catcher. Yeah. And it detects bugs. Oh, no shit.

Yeah. So I went in the car to grab that. It was up under the seat because I went in the Sam's Club early and I took it off me. Yeah. Because it would keep going off with the... With all the stuff in there. With all the stuff in that.

So I took it off. So I went to grab it and police came from everywhere. I thought I was grabbing the gun. No fucking way. So he puts the bag in your trunk and you go to get your little detector to check it out. That's not just a bag, though. 21 keys, you can't fit... Right.

So that's like a duffel bag. Can you fit that in a backpack? Yeah, no, like a suitcase. It was a suitcase. A big suitcase. So you go grab that? So you go grab that? Yeah.

And then also, what? hear somebody say freeze? Everywhere. Everywhere. I'm like, what the fuck y'all come from? You're by yourself? You're by yourself. Yeah, I'm like, man, what the fuck y'all come from?

Like, well, y'all don't put under the car? Right. Yeah. How many of them? Like 20. 20. With ARs and all the type of shit. And I'm like, man, what the fuck are they come from, man?

Yeah, it was crazy, man. That's crazy. So that moment you know it's all over. Yeah, and one of the officers tell me he was like, yeah, you never rap again. And, you know, that's still with me for the whole bid, you know. At that point, do you know you got set up or you just think you're getting busted? I know I got set up because the guy, he even said it.

He said it, the guy that set me up. The Mexican dude? Yeah, he was like, man, he wasn't supposed to know that I did this. Yeah. And, you know, they were like, fuck you. Right, they don't care. Yeah, they don't give a fuck, right? Yeah, they don't give a fuck. They were like, yeah, fuck you.

Yeah. So did, what happened to him? he got off or he'd do a little light sentence? He came and testified against me. He only got like, I think he only did like three or four years in jail. Yeah. Three or four years in prison, yeah. I didn't told him that, in trial he told him that's all he going to ever do.

That's it. Well, he was like, I'm a drug dealer. Like, that's all I'm ever do. Like, he was like, well, when you get out of this, when you get out of prison, because you're going to prison, what are you going to do? It was like, what I've been doing all my life. Like, you're going to continue in this. Even if you're coming to testify on this individual for that,

and then you're going to still continue in this. He's like, yeah. That's wild. And the article, I was reading some sort of one article yesterday, and they were talking about somebody in Arizona that was involved with it. Yeah, yeah. Who is that? Is that your connect?

Yeah, that was the, like the main, man. Okay. I had all started was the truck driver was leaving Tampa with... Move your mic a little bit. You can move it. The truck driver was leaving Tampa with like $1.1 million in this truck, and he was going through Texas. The authorities pulled him over in Texas.

With the money. With the money. Okay. He immediately went to cooperate with the authorities. They take the money and they let him go. Then he go and see the big man. And the big man tell him, He told the big man that the police took my money.

So he's like, okay, go back to Tampa and pick up some more money for my son-in-law. So he goes back. And he goes back to pick up more money and he comes back. But the whole time he's wearing the wire. No way. Yeah. So the big guy tell him, well, I'm going to go to, I'm going back to Mexico and I'm going to get some more work. And I'm going to have you take it back down.

down there. So he was like, okay. And this truck, what happened to this truck driver? The truck driver never seen a day in jail. Really? Yeah, he never seen the day in jail. The guy that got pulled over with the money. Yeah, he never seen a day in jail. So he sets up the next dude. He sets up, he really

set, he's the one, he sets up the father-in-law and the son-in-law. He sets them up. And then that trickles down to you. The son-in-law sets me up. Holy shit. They had a whole fucking Yeah. So do they offer you a deal to set somebody else up?

They came with me with a deal, but my morals of street is like I'm all the way against that. Right. You know, I was taught like, hey man, whatever you do, you did it. You know what I mean? Take your lick and keep taking it. And that's what most, how it goes in the street code. But a lot of people, when it comes to that time, they don't live up by it. It has changed so drastically now.

It's like, you know, a lot of people like glorify. snitching. I mean, I can't, I'm not, I'm, I'm not against those people. Yeah, I just don't want nothing to deal with them. I mean, if I, if I have to deal with them, then it's not on nothing that we can get caught up. Hey, man, we could do business, but not that type of business, you know what me? But then, because at this, at the same time, I'm always feel like, if you get in a jam, I could be the one that you can, because it could be anything from a conversation. Yeah, it could be anything from a conversation. Like, you could tell me, hey, man, I'm for the brain need a cup of beers over that man what you gonna do?

And because you are informant and I've been to prison for drugs they can interpret that that conversation as oh he's how am I bringing drugs and there it is I'm back in prison again. Yeah. I'm something so simple.

All right so they offer you a deal so do you take it to trial or you plead out? No I go to trial. You go to trial and I'm sure they offer you a plea deal right? No they never offer me a plea deal. Wow. They never offered me a plea deal. So they wanted to take it straight to trial.

They felt like they were winning trial. Yeah. So you go to trial. How long does that go on for? Three days. Three days. Speedy trial. Wow.

Speedy trial. Why so fast? You wanted to do it that fast? Well, when we were going to trial, it took, well, when we were going to trial, it took, I want to say, it took, like, ten months before the trial started. Yeah. And then when it finally started, it was only like a three-day trial. It was an incident in the trial where one of the jurors brought something in from offline and showed it to the jury. Like some information about you?

Yeah. Like he was in my favor trying to tell him like, you know, so he was like they dismissed him without us being present. So that was like a real big point that could have got me a new trial. But my lawyer, he didn't, he didn't do it. No. So are you paying for a good lawyer at that time? Or you think it's a good lawyer? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, he's a good lawyer, but, you know, lawyers, lawyers are good in certain areas. You know what I mean? Like, he's a good plea lawyer. Yeah. And going to get bills. Not a trial lawyer. Right. At least not a drug trial.

Right, right. You know what I mean? So his specialty is pleas and sentences. Getting you a deal? Yeah. All right. So you don't get a plea deal. You go to trial.

Do you think you're going to win at trial? Are you in good hopes at that time? Yeah, I'm hoping because I'm trying to beat the conspiracy. Okay. So what all the charges you're going up for? Five keys or more of cocaine. Intent what it is. Intent to distribute.

Yeah, intent to distribute. And then what they have you on a conspiracy also? All of it was conspiracy. All of it, okay. Yeah, all of it was conspiracy. And what they did also, they gave me another charge. It was 100 kilos of marijuana. Well, he told him, he told him we had been dealing marijuana as well.

But there was no marijuana. The thing was, when they got the kilos in Arizona, they swapped them out and put sheet rock. Okay. So this is what we was arguing. I'm like, how are you going to charge me for... For not actually buying cocaine. No cocaine.

So that day when you met that guy, that was actually sheetrock? It was sheet rock. So that's why they get you on a conspiracy charge. That's why they get you on a conspiracy charge. So they can't get you with the actual purchase. They can't get you with the actual purchase, yeah. So it was all sheetrock. So that's why the conspiracy kind of like ties you trying to say that you knew before that,

or y'all dealt beforehand. Yeah. So that was their whole thing of proving in court. Like, y'all dealt beforehand. You know, it could have been a buyer-seller relationship. We couldn't have been anything else besides a conspiracy because the conspiracy is so broad. Right. So broad.

And they found a way to pin 10 kilos of marijuana on it. Well, they put 100 kilos of marijuana. 100 kilos. 100 kilos of marijuana. So I beat that count. That's the only count I beat, but the more severe count I didn't beat. Which is the conspiracy to intend to distribute the cocaine. Yeah, five kilos more.

That's wild. So you're going to trial and you know you're up against life at that point if you lose? Yeah, because the prosecutor was like it was a female, and she was like, if you don't tell, you're going to get life. Yeah. You know what I mean? So I'm like, well, we got to win trial. Who does she want you to tell them? I don't know.

She just wanted me to, she just wanted to, yeah, because of the, you got to understand, like, everybody from. my side that I was dealing with was never never seen heard of or nothing yeah so he's telling them all these numbers that we was doing so they're trying to figure out like where all this stuff was going on yeah so what was going on what where all this stuff was going yeah so like who you was giving it to who you were selling to and all that I'm like man I don't know what y'all was talking about you know I mean just a street code man you know a lot of people can't yeah a lot of people call me stupid like you was stupid man why would you do that why would just take life like that because it's morals, you know, certain things that you stand on, you know what I mean?

So, and that's what I stood on. You got to stand for something. You know what I mean? And now the days it's like snitching is like a video game. Right, nobody does that nowadays. Everybody playing, you know what I mean? It's like, it's crazy. That's crazy.

So three days and the judge put the gavel down instead of life. Life. So before it's getting red, do you, like, kind of know which way it's going? Yeah, I got a feeling. I'm like, damn, life. It's not looking good. Yeah, so I, when he sentenced me, when he sentenced me, what was going through my head, I was like, he was like, I got to sentence you to life.

So I'm like, so I tapped a lawyer. I'm like, life is what, like 25 years? Right. You know what I mean? He was like, no, life in the feds is until you die. So I'm like, until I die in the feds? He was like, yeah, what you thought? 25 years?

He was like, they would have said 25 years. He said, that's state. Yeah. He was like, in the feds, life is life until you die in prison. So I was like, whoa. No shit. Yeah, so he was saying all the type of shit. Yeah, now, where you God at now?

You know what I'm? Man, goddamn. Yeah, he was like, yeah, where are you God at now? God damn, man. That's my lawyer. Yeah. That's what he was saying, yeah, man, where you're God at now? Y'all worship this fake God.

Where is he now? Yeah. And so you're going to trial. Where is this at? Is this in Tampa? Yeah, in Tampa. Hillsborough County? Yeah, Hillsborough County.

And then so it comes back, you're guilty. They sent you to your life. Yep. Then where do they take you from there? Straight to the feds? Yep. I go behind the gate, you know, behind the wall, so to say. It's like first time in prison.

You know, in the feds, they have certain custody levels. They have the Supermax, which is like 80s. Then you have... It's like the killers, like the murderers and stuff. And this your first time? In prison. Ever in prison? Ever.

Jail? Well, I don't been to jail for like tickets. Sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but anything... It's your first time. It's my first time. Yeah.

So I'm thinking like, okay, well, man, I go to a low. Yeah. And they're like, no, low, you know, people with life sentences don't go to low. No. It was like, the less you can go to as a medium. So I'm like, what should be? He had a medium. He was like, yeah, and, you know, one of the guys that was there with me,

I knew him from back in the day, he was like, bro, you go into the penitentiary. So I'm like, the penitentiary, what's, he's like, listen, man, you, when you hit the compound, you need to get you a knife. Something like a knife. I'm like, for what? What I need a knife for? He said, listen, bro, you go into the penitentiary and there's a lot of violence.

Everything is kind of like categorized in, like, gangs. You know, if you're not in the game, you're in a car. So you've got the Florida car, you got the Georgia car, you got the Mississippi car, and then you got all these gangs, different games. So what is that? That's like little cliques, like on cars? Yeah, instead of calling their gang, they call it a car in the feds. They call it a car.

So you're like, oh, you're with a Florida car. So they're not in necessarily like a big gang, but that's the Florida people. It's the Florida people. Okay. You know what I mean? But the gangs, they got all the games. You know, you got the GDs, the BDs, you got the vice lords, you got all the Mexican games, you got the A-Bs, you got the dirty white boys.

There's so many gangs in prison. It's ridiculous. So it's like everybody is in that side of the section off. So at any given point with, if you with me and you get into something and some guys jump you, I have to get in. if I don't get in it, then they're going to come and beat me up instead of me. Oh, shit.

The guys that you were with. The guys from Florida. Because I ain't help them. So if they're part of your crew, you've got to jump in the fight. No matter what it is. It could be something simple like he owe money. Right. So I have to.

It's like I got to die for a person that I don't even know. Yeah. So what this guy tells you, you got to click up with the Florida people? He tells me that. So I'm like, man, I ain't worry about that. I'm not. He's like, bro, listen, you're going. So when I get there, just like he said,

I got come to me and say, yo, you need your paperwork. I'm like, paperwork, what kind of paperwork? He's like, we want to make sure you ain't no snitch. And one of the other guys come up that's over the Florida car. He had a shot caller for the Florida car. He was like, he good. That's down for Tony. He was like, you know, he went to trial.

He got life sentence. So they already know who you are and everything? Yeah, he already knew who I was. As soon as you get there, they know who you are, what you did. He never seen this dude a day in my life. But they know everything about you. Yeah, he know everything. He was like, yeah, he's good.

He was like, make sure you go to the store and get such and such and such. So I'm like, for what? He was like, uh, somebody going to come see you and they're going to bring you like two knives. You're going to bring you one to float around with, like you can walk around with that they can't tell in the metadata. And they're going to give you another one for the unit. I'm like, what? I'm like, man, what I need a knife for? He said, bro, they're not fighting.

He'd say we get into anything They're not fighting Nobody fights Everybody stabs Everybody stabs What kind of knife Was it wasn't made out of metal? No

Well the one that kept in the unit Was made out of a long screw So it was like an ice pick Okay It got like A cloth right around the end of it And the handle on it They got it all ready to go

I got it all ready to go The other one was like A thick piece of plexiglass. That's what you carry with you. That's what you carry with you. So he showed me where to put it at in front of your khaki pants. He cut the hole in the khaki pants and showed me how this.

I was like, man, this is another different world. That's your first day in? My first day in. Right. So I'm like, man, this is crazy, man. Holy shit, man. So I'm like, man. So I'm like, now I'm looking like, okay, well, what's going to happen?

I'm trying to see what's going on. So, like, my second day, I seen, you know, It looked like they was jumping on a messaging guy. Like four other messing guys was jumping on a messaging guy. But they're hitting them like this. So I'm thinking they're playing. Yeah. So when I seen it, I'm like, hey, what are they over there playing with dude?

So they was like, he turned around. He said, hey, man, y'all scrap up, man. So I'm like, scrap up. What's going on? He's like, no, they're stabbing dude. It was like five dudes, but they're hitting them like this. Like overhand. overhand, but the whole time they got the knife in the hand, so that's what they stabbed.

So he's just getting stabbed up. Yeah, he's just getting stabbed up. So I'm like, what the fuck. And this is day two. Day two. Did he die? No, he didn't, and he came across the field. So when he coming across the field, I'm looking at him and he's like stumbling, and he does,

he got his hand like this when he coming across. Stabbed at the neck? Yeah, so he does this and look at his hand, and the blood just scrubbed out his neck. scrurting out his neck. So I'm like, what the fuck? And he walking this, he's walking towards us. So I'm like, man, what? They're like, just chill. He's going to fall out before he get here. So I'm like, what? And everyone around you that's like no big deal. Like it's no big deal. Yeah, he's going to fall out before he gets here. This chill, man. They ain't got nothing to do with us. And you just sit there and watch. Just sit there and watch. And he just

fall out. So when he falls, I jump up like, he's like, no, you can't do nothing. You got to let him sit right there. So I was like, man, he's going to let him in. He's like, if you go and touch him they're going to do the same thing to you yeah he's like we're going to have to go right then you got a lot of enemies yeah he's like yeah now we're going to have to go against them so I was like what so I got to sit there

and just let this minute so they call it the deuce is when the alarms go off so the police ran out there they grabbed him fix him up and now we're going coming off of the yard they want to check everybody body search you got to take your shirt off they want to check for knives and all that so I'm like yo man I got this

they was like, give you here. So they put it up under the table, like in the dirt up under the table. And we went through the checkpoint. And it was like, from then on, I was like, man, what the fuck? Am I? Right. And that's day two. So you know.

Day two. And you got a long time to go. I got a long time to go. So this is going to be the regular shit every day. This is going to be the regular shit every day. Holy shit, man. It's going to be the regular shit every day. So then I start seeing it.

This is, what pen is this? This is Macquarie. It's in our country. Kentucky. In Kentucky. Okay. Why they, why up there? Or is it just, how do they pick where you go to?

That's what they were saying. It was like, they was wondering, why didn't see you straight to Coleman? Where's Coleman? Coleman is right here in O'Kellar. Okay. Yeah, because I thought there was state, or Fed Pins in Florida. Yeah, so it was like, why didn't see, because Coleman has two pins. They got two pins, a medium or low, and a girls camp.

So he was like, why didn't see you to Coleman? I was like, I don't know why they sent me wail up here. Like, man, this shit here is crazy. Huh. So, uh, been there a couple of days and, and, and kind of like adjust to it, start seeing multiple stabings, like different, different little things. Dude's getting hit with locks and it was just a whole other world, a whole other world. Are you in a, a cell by yourself, or you got a cellmate?

You have a cellmate. Are you in, like, a whole pod full of cells? Yeah, you got, you in a, you're in a big, like a, like a, like a, like a small, all Walmart. Okay. And it got sales at the top and the bottom, right and at the bottom tier. And the officer station is like to the right right here.

They got one officer. And they had to come in with the key and then pop the door. So like at 5 o'clock in the morning, you have to be up. It's like a mandatory rule. Wow, that's crazy. So you're all the way up in Kentucky. All the way in Kentucky. Luckily there's some Florida people there.

Yeah. I mean, we was only like, I think we only had like, 25 guys from Florida. So we was like the smallest car there. Yeah, okay. So it was like, look, man, we get into something everybody got to go because everybody outnumbers us. So you've got to stick together and ride with them.

Stick together. So Kentucky then, how long are you there for? Are you there your whole time? No, I was there for three years. Three years. So I'm asking the counselor, hey, can I get back close to the Florida now? You know what I mean? I don't been here so long.

I don't program. I don't want to get my GED. I don't do everything proper. I don't take some classes and all that. And it was like, you have to be behind the wall. You got a life sentence. You have to be behind the wall. We don't do pen-to-pin transfers.

Yeah. So in order for you to go to the meeting, you got to do 10 years. So I'm like, man, if you're serious? So you can't leave it before 10 years. Yeah. So I'm there. And all of a sudden, we get into it.

In my unit, we get into it with D.C. So it was like Florida car against the D.C. What is the D.C.? Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Okay. So we get into it with them. It's like a big riot. We get into a real big, real big braw, stabments, and all type of stuff. And they shipped me to Coteman. So back to Florida.

And finally get to Florida. So I was like, man, if I don't know this, I would have been. You would have been doing it. Getting transferred out a long time ago. Yeah, I could have been got transferred. I was going to do that. So I ended up getting in Florida, got to Coleman. It was a whole lot better because Coleman, like, it's like five or six hundred guys from Florida. Yeah.

Oh, cool. Yeah. So I got some guys that's from Tampa that I know. So you probably know a couple people. Yeah, so it was a lot better. Before you get to Tampa, are you like, while you're locked up, are you still trying to pursue music? Are you trying to pursue the splitter business or do anything?

Well, when I got locked up, I kind of like, especially up, I kind of like went straight to working on my case. So I was in there fighting. So you were trying to figure out to get something reduced or something? Yeah, so I mandatory went in at the law library every day. So you're going in there by yourself reading, trying to figure it out. Yeah, trying to figure it out.

Getting help from maybe other inmates. Other inmates. And then one guy came from Tampa. An inmate? He helped me do, he helped me get in and fight some stuff, understand it better and all that. That's in Kentucky still? Yeah, in Kentucky.

Okay. Yeah, it's in Kentucky. So mentally, like, I don't think it doesn't sound like you ever really, like, gave up. It sounds like you kind of, like, thought to yourself, you were going to find a way out or die trying. Yeah, I was going to die trying. I wasn't going to die in prison. So you thought there was some way you could get them reduced or beat something? Yeah.

And my mentality kind of trait, you know, I've been fighting all my life. on the street so fighting and now I got to fight with a knife so it's no different so I'm like I'm not gonna let nobody

kill me in here Yeah You know what I mean If I have to I would rather hurt them Before they hurt me You know what I mean So that's my mentality

Because I'm gonna keep fighting To fight this sentence off You know what I mean So I never gave up Are you working with a lawyer At that time too Or no just by yourself No lawyer

No lawyer He immediately got off my case Before Right out of the sentencing Right, then he's gone. Yeah, he was true. Yeah. You never talked to him again?

Never talked to him again. Were you communicating with anybody outside? Yeah, headbussing. Head buster. Oh, yeah? Yeah, head buster. Yeah, just head buster. So who's he?

Who's he? He's like, just like my bro, man. Just like my other brother, man. Okay. Yeah. He was doing music with you before, or? Yeah, we was like, he was the DJ, so we kind of connected when everything was popping, so we kind of like built a real strong bond.

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. That's what's up, man. Yeah. What about, like, did you, what? What about, like, your parents or brothers and sisters that you had when you're younger? My brother, he was there, too.

He was there as well. Okay. My mom, she came faithfully to see me. All the way in Kentucky? Well, no, she didn't come to Kentucky. She came to it when I came to Coleman. So it was like three years before I seen her again, you know what I mean? So three years?

You don't see nobody, probably? I don't see nobody, but my kids. Your kids? Yeah. They come to visit you? Yeah, my kids. How old are they at the time when you get in 06, when you get arrested? They was two and three years old

Okay Wow Yeah So that's got to be another tough element to deal with They're two and three And you're going in for life Yeah It was crazy

But you're determined You're going to fight it And get out somehow Yeah Very determined Very determined Very determined That's interesting

I saw this Interesting video on YouTube Two of Tom G With DJ Smalls And he did It was like I think 2014 or 15 I looked on there

And he was talking about you briefly and he was like, yeah, Tampa, he was, I said Tampa Tony, he's a smart dude. I think he's going to get out of this somehow. Did you see that? Yeah, somebody sent it to me. He was like, you just briefly mentioned you, but he said, he's a smart dude.

I think somehow he'll make his way up out of it. And that was before anyone actually, I think it was before your pardon. Yeah, that was what? That was a couple years before. A couple years before I even got the pardon. So that was very interesting, but I don't want to jump too far ahead.

Yeah. So what, you get transferred? to Coleman and you're back in touch with a lot of people, a lot of Florida people. How many years you do there? I leave Coleman in 2016. You leave there in 2016? Yeah. Okay. So you did like, I did like 10 years. Like 10 years. Yeah. Wow. Well, no, no, no, no, not 10. I did like, I did three in Kentucky and I did end up doing like seven. Okay. Seven in Coleman. Seven and Coleman. All right. So you're like like 10 years in. And, at that point.

How are you staying like up to date with with stuff going out like in the outside world? Like technology and music. The music and technology headbussing. Like I'm asking them all kind of question. Every time I call them, I'm like, man, well, who was hot? Man, what's up with Tom G, man? What's up with the guy's got going on?

He's like, yo man, he's telling me everything, lacing me up with the streets and how everything going on with the music game and, you know, the new technology. I'm like, what are they doing now? You know what I mean? Can you listen to music or watch videos? You can listen to music. You have to buy the music off.

They have an MP3 player. They sell you music to load on the MP3. But a lot of songs, it might be like six or seven months old by time. Okay. We get them. And what were you listening? Were you listening to a lot of music? Yeah, what were you listening to?

I listened to a lot of old music, old classics. I listen to some Drake, J. Cove. I listened to a lot of that. Okay. trying to stay up on the current rap and stuff. See where it's at. The whole time, are you still working on music? Yeah, I mean, I'm writing.

Yeah, I'm writing. But the stuff I was writing, it was like, that was my way of, like, channeling all the hate and the frustration and all that. So it was like, you know, somebody asked me that the other day, was like, did you do in the writing while he was out? I was like, I did a lot of writing, but I don't want to bring those songs out. You know what I mean? I'm at a happy time in my life, so I don't want to.

Right. And those songs are from not a happy time. Not a happy time. You know what I mean? Not a happy time. And it's a different mentality. You know, and that mentality in the penitentiary is like, they don't like snitches. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, if you're a snitch, they want to, like, kill you. Yeah. You know what I mean? Especially the child molesters, like, they call them chomoles. Like, if you're a chomot moor, they want to, like, kill you. You know what I mean? so it's like your mentality has changed and everything is like ran off respect like if i can't cut in front of you

if you talking and i walk up and and start talking that can end up getting you in the knife fight right like the simplest thing is is put my chair in front of the tv in a small square spot and you come and move and turn it slightly that can start that's it that's you can start some just off that Wow. Just something so simple. And the currency is stamps. Yeah. Like the stamps that go in envelope, that's the currency in the prison system.

That's how you buy things in there. That's how you buy things in the prison system. And it's in the same way. It's anything you want the same way out here, they're doing the same thing in there. Drugs are getting sold in there. Everything. Everything. Really?

Yeah. So it's like another world. What was like the most fucked up thing you saw? I mean, obviously a guy getting sick. stabbed in the neck and blood squaring out. It's pretty crazy. But what's like one of the most shocking things that you remember? That like is seared in your mind.

One of the things that was very shocking to me was, like I still remember, it was a guy. He was a white guy. He was from Tampa. And I knew him. He had like, I want to say like a month. He had like a month left. And they drank, they make shine, moonshine. Moonshine.

So they was drinking shine, and him and his partner got so drunk. And I don't know what transpired, and they got into this brawl. So he ended up taking the knife out. He knocked his partner down. There's a guy from Tampa, and he's stabbing him. And he's like, he doesn't snap. A guy he was just drinking with. A guy he was just, he drank with all the time.

And he only, like, and I'm like, So I'm calling him like, yo, Cody, Cody. You can see him. I'm right here from him. So I'm calling him because we hang out together, you know what I mean? So I'm like, hey, Cody, Cody. And he snapped. Like, I'm talking about to the point where every time he come down with the knife,

he had a, what, the poker, like a long poker. Like a chisel, like. Yeah. Like an ice pick. Like ice pick. Yeah. So every time he come down, you can hear it. hitting the concrete, like, tink, oh.

Going through him. Going through him, and the blood just jumping is all over me. He won't stop. He just clicked. And the guys, like, grab me, like, bro, don't, don't do that. You can't do nothing. So I'm like. Somebody's grabbing you from trying to stop.

Yeah, because they see me calling them, and I'm inching forward and forth. And they're telling you don't do it. You can't do it. You can't do it. You can't do that. You can't do that. And I'm like, yo, man, yo. And I'm still yelling.

So they grabbed me and it take me in the room. Yeah That's fucking wild man Just like I survive Yeah the dude The dude lived though He did live He did live

But he was It was like What about the other guy that stabbed him You ever see him again? Never seen him again But I think they say he ended up again Like an extra 10 years He only had two months to go

Girl Two months to go And he does that Two months to go And that was like That was like one thing How long was he in for I think he had been down like 15

He had been down like 15 years Cody had been down like 15 years. What do you think we'll make him somebody who wanted to do that? You don't think he wants to get out maybe? Yeah, he wanted to get up. You know, because some people, like, get accustomed maybe in there and afraid of getting out. Like Shawshank Redemption? Yeah.

It wasn't that. He just snapped. He just snapped. You know, you know, it's a lot of things going on in the outside world, and then you got a lot of built-up angle that you're trying to control. It was just that day for him. And it's just the alcohol. Like, that lightning, that moonshine, that's what they call it lightning. Lightning.

That moonshine, they get. get crazy off that shit, man. And, I mean, he would not stop, bro. Damn. Yeah. What happens to the guy that got stabbed? He survives, you said?

Yeah, he survived. He survived. But he was in intensive care for like months. God damn. Yeah, he was fucked up. He was still fucked up when he came out. He had a bag and everything. Yeah, he was fucked up bad. At what point did you start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?

Like, how did that happen? Like, did Did you hear something? Because the short story, Obama parted in you, but how did that really happen? Are you working towards that? Yeah, well, the guy that came about when I was in Kentucky, he was working on the prior. I had like two priors that they used two small, like personal amounts of marijuana priors. Yeah. But in Florida, they're felonies.

So he was opening one of those cases up. He got one of the cases open up. And this is like at the beginning of the bid, you know what I mean? Like 07, we started. They didn't answer me and give me no play until like 2015. And so what are you trying to do? I'm trying to get this prior off. So if they take the prior off, my enhancement take me from life to 20.

Okay. Like your points go down or what? No, it takes a prior off. So the prior is what they use to enhance you. to give you more time. Right. So if I get rid of this one prior, I only have one priority.

You can drop down to 20 years. I could drop down from life to 20. That's huge. Yeah, so I'm all for us. So I'm working on that, and they finally grant that in 2016. And that goes from 2007 to... 2007 to 2016.

I've been fighting this, and they finally granted. And they take the prior year off. They vacated. So it takes me from... I put the motion in, and it takes me from... What,

No lawyer. And you do all this yourself? I do all this myself. And I go from life to 20 in 2016. And then that's when I put the clemency in as well, because they give me a clemency lawyer, a clemency attorney. So what is that for people who don't know what clemency is? A clemency is when they come and they commute your sentence.

Like they take you at whatever sentence you at, and they take the time from you. So it's like they take you from the beginning. It's like wherever you're at right then on that sentence. So you're 10 years in? So I'm 10 years in. On life? Yeah, on life.

So they'll take you to where you can get right out. So it'll take you from 10 years in from life. And they'll put you at 12 years. So I only have, you know, a couple years to do. Okay. So that's what they did to me. So they give you a clemency lawyer? Yeah.

They grant me a clemency lawyer. Okay. So you have to like file for that. Yeah, you have to file for it. And they grant you one. They grant me one. And she was like, you got good grounds. I think you'll qualify for it.

Yeah. Yeah, so we put it in. And then I leave, my stuff come in, and I get the 20. I go down from life to 20. And once I go down with life to 20, they transfer me from the penitentiary to the low. I bypass the medium. Yeah. So when I go to the low, it's.

No stabbing. It's no fighting. Right. How different is that? It's totally different. That shit is like night and day. Like summer camp compared to where you were at. Yeah, it's like summer camp.

So I'm like, so I'm still like. You're still in that zone. Yeah, I'm still in that zone. Paranoid. Yeah. Parenthood. Looking around. Yeah.

But nothing's going on there. So over there, you, you in a cube with like three people. Okay. And it's an open bay versus being in a cell with two people is just you and another guy. Yeah. So it was like different because I'm seeing people walking around and I'm like, why are you walking around? Yeah. You know what I mean?

They're like, I can walk around. I'm using the restroom. I'm going to the restroom. Right. Like, what's your friend? Before you couldn't go to the restroom when you want to? Yeah, you can go to, but it's in the cell. Right, right.

Oh, so you're right there in. Yeah, you're right there. You don't go out to the restaurant. Right. So now it's like, they walk into the restroom. Yeah. Walking around and I'm like, what the fuck is going on? Oh, shit was like crazy.

So you got guys over here snowing, guys over here snowing. guys over here snowing this guy here farting and this shit crazy man so you hear all that so i'm like man i got to do something to get to sleep man i can't sleep yeah so do they when do they transfer you there after your clemency no no they transferred me that before before once i go down to 20 years right okay i go from life to 20 right so once you get that first early charge gone when i get that early then you're down to low security yeah so i'm down to low secure and now you're fighting for the clemency now i'm fighting for the clemency okay i stay at the low for maybe like three or four months and they transferred me to a camp.

You know what I mean? So they send me to a camp. I go to Talladega, in Alabama. Okay. And I'm in Talladega. And the first week that I get there, they give me the clemency. So I'm looking at like 20, 25 date before the clemency. And then now they're saying like 2018.

So at first they tell you 20, 25 you're looking to get out. Yeah. And then one day they just come and say it's 2018. 2018. Why do you think that, why does that happen? Because of the clemency. Yeah. So when I get the clemency, I'm like, whoa.

So they're like, your lawyer, you want to talk to you. So I go and talk to you. Like, I got some good news. So I'm like, what's up? She was like, you got granted the clemency. I was like, what? She was like, yeah. She was like, yeah, you can go back to rapping now.

Oh, yeah. Did she say, now why did you get granted the clemency? We did the paperwork. She was like your case was like unique. They felt like you shouldn't have been in prison for life. Your first time ever in prison. Right. You know what I mean?

That does seem odd. You don't have no violence on your record. No priors and stuff. That's crazy. Yeah. So it was like, yeah, you got it. What did Obama specifically have to do with it? He the one signed off on it.

Okay, he signed off. Because wasn't it you and also a bunch of other people? Yeah, it's a bunch of other people. It was like 70 people I read or something. But I mean, in the prison system, that's probably not a lot of people. That's not a lot of people. So your chances are probably a slow percentage, low percentage. Wow.

I left a lot of guys in the penitentiary, like 40 years, three life sentences, two life sentences. They'll never get out. And are people in there, they're doing the same thing you're doing to? They're filing all the, they're trying to get that too, right? They're finding everything. They're trying to do everything. And it's like they know that it's over. Yeah.

This way they'll die unless something amazingly Amazingly happened Which happened to you? Which happened to me? Right. Yeah. So how do you feel when she tells you they grant the clemency? I'm like, oh man, it can happen again.

Like I can go back to the music, you know what I mean? You know, so now it's like, okay, now I just need to, I really got to study now. Yeah. So I call headbuss. I'm like, bro, listen, I'm coming home way earlier than I thought, bro. Yeah, he's like, yeah, I said, yeah, man, I got to study. Who, what's going on, man? Tell me about this.

So I asked him, I was like, what's up with Plyz? Yeah. What is he doing? Yeah. Okay. Before you go in? Yeah, before I go in. I knew Ply's before he even got the deal.

Oh, really? Yeah. So I'm like, yo, man, what is going on, man? What is what Ply's doing? He was like, yo, bro, go because at the camp, you're not allowed to have cell phones, but it's so sweet and it's, you can get cell phones. Yeah. You buy a cell phone for like $100.

Yeah. So now I'm trying to learn. So I did get a little early head start on the cell phone. Right. So you're in prison for a pen, federal pen, for 10 years. Technology moves fast. In 10 years, especially the 10 you were in. Yeah.

Like, the world's a lot different, right? A whole lot different. When you go in, it's probably like, no, iPhones back then? No. Flip phones and stuff probably, right? It was like sidecakes. Blackberries. Blackberries.

Like, yeah. Sidekicks and the chirp. Yeah. The next-tailed chirk. So you get a head start on the technology. How crazy different is that for you? Oh, man, it's crazy. Because I'm asking them like, oh, man, I need to get my MySpace.

He was like, MySpace. He was like, bro, they don't do MySpace no more, man. He's like, man, it's Facebook. Yeah. It's like Facebook and IG and Snapchat. I'm like, what the hell is that? Right, you never heard enough. He's like, man, just go on, man.

Look, I'm going to set you a page up, man. I'm going to get you the password so you can go in. So he set it up. go in and I look up, I look up Ply's and see, I'm like, so the guys look at me, like, man, what are you doing? You ain't on the phone talking about? I'm like, no, I need to learn this shit, man. Trying to figure out what's going on. Yeah, I need to learn. I'm trying to figure out high plies, not dropping music, but he's still very hot. He's vibing at the Ritz Carlton. Like, he's real hot. Right, because social media is completely different.

It's totally different. It's everything now, but back then it was, my space was just it. That was it. Yeah. Now it's everything. It's everything. So that's what I learned from. YouTube, Instagram. So that's where I learned that. I sat there and studied that shit over and over and over again. Yeah.

Watching his videos, looking at the numbers. So I'm asking questions. Like, hey, hey, headbuzz, what's all these numbers? Like, they say like 300,000. He was like, yo, those are all the views that got. I'm like, 300,000. He's like, yeah, click to the top and you'll see how many followers he got. I'm like, he got four million followers?

Yeah. I'm like, you got, you mean four million people like following him? Like, what? He was like, yeah, bro. I'm like looking at all the videos, 300,000, 300,000, million. So I'm like, whoa. I'm like, yo, man, this shit is the new technology. This shit is the new wave, man.

Yeah, that's it. For sure, it's everything nowadays. That's wild. And was it like, is it like they say, like, when you first got out, or you really didn't get out because, or am I skipping over too much stuff? Because when you went to the halfway house, you were in Alabama right first? Yeah. And then when did you go to the halfway house?

Well, I went from Alabama. How long are you out of Alabama? I was at Alabama for maybe like three months. And that's a camp? It's a prison camp. It's a prison camp, okay. Where you go to work or what? Yeah, they make you go to work there.

You know what I mean? So it's super laid back. Ain't nothing going on there. It's not even an argument going on there. Yeah. So I go from there and one of the officers kind of like, messing with me because of the clemency. Like he doesn't like it?

Yeah, like he don't like it. You know what I mean? So he's better like, bothering with me, bother with me. So he's going through my cell and all that. So I'm like, yo, bro, what are you doing? Like, oh, you think you came from the pen and this and that and like you tough and all this. And I'm like, yo, I'm not on nothing. Man, I'm laid back, man.

I'm at the camp. Right. This is the boys club, man. Right. You know came a long way. Yeah, I came a long way, bro. I ain't on nothing. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to get you sent away from here.

And that's what he did. He got you sent from there. He got me sent from there. Is that, that's good or bad? No, that ain't good. Right. So how does he get you sent away? He tell him that I threatened him, you know what I mean?

Like, I was being aggressive with him and all that. So I was like, yo, man, why are you lied? He was like... Just because he didn't like you. For no reason. For no reason. No apparent reason. through that door to the right

Yeah for no time of reason Yeah So He'd get me son away from now I leave there and go to Yazu Mississippi Mississippi So where that's another camp

No that's a low That's a low A low pen Yeah that's a low So I end up going to Yazoo Mississippi I'm in Yazoo's It's for like a year

And they got like When I get there They got like They got more phones Than the people out here On the outside Yeah Yeah

So it was different there Compared to Florida Yeah it was way different They were headed They were ahead, so I got a chance to, you know, talk to a couple guys and they really, like... Get caught up on technology. Yeah, they showed me everything about tech. A lot of young guys was there, so they were like, yo, man, you got to be IG, you got to go on IG.

Yeah. So I'm like, yo, what's the, like, can I wear my Evizu's and Red Monkeys? It was like, fuck no, man. Nobody heard of them then. They're like, man, brother, hell is that? They're like, bro, you better not never say Red Monkey and Evizu again. You can't go out there with that shit. So I was like, what about LRG?

I was like, bro, he was like, no. He's like, it's true religion, man. Yeah. Robin Gene. You know what I mean? I'm like, man, what the hell? Right, you never even heard of those probably, right? I never heard of none of that, man.

Yeah. So yeah, it was keeping me up on the fashion and telling me all that. So I was like, okay. Yeah, it was crazy. Wow. And then how did you get from there back to Florida? Once I left there, it was my time for my halfway half day. How long were you there for?

I was there about almost a year. In Mississippi. In Mississippi. So then you're creeping up on 2018, right? Yeah, so it's time for me to go to come to the Tampa Halfway House. And so how long? You have to be there for a certain amount of time? Yeah, I had like six months to do that.

You have to be there for six months. And where that's Tampa? Yeah, it's in Tampa. It's a Goodwill. Okay. So I end up there, yeah. And you live there? Yeah, I was living there, but I'm going away from that.

Tuesday was my last day. Tuesday was your last day. Wow. Two days ago. Literally two days ago. Literally two days ago. How does that feel? Oh man, it was a blessing.

I was loving that. I was so happy to get away from that shit. Wow. It was crazy there. At the halfway house? Yeah. So real quick, what's that like a little bit? Yeah, I don't even know what a halfway house really is.

So they put you there to do what, to kind of get a job right and get a custom back into the world. Yeah, trying to get you to transition back into the world, but it's like, it's no help. Like. They just tell you to go get a job. They just tell you to go get a job. They just tell you go and go and open up a certain time. Yeah, you got to be back here by a certain time. Oh, okay, look, we're going to let you go open a bank account.

You know, a lot of guys was drug dealer, so they don't know how to open a bank account, right? No, so they're like, man, what do you mean, a bank account? Right. You know, this guy's been there like 20, been down 20 years, 22 years, 25 years. Never had a bank account. Right. When they went in, the beepers was like scarce, it was like, they was just coming to, you know, people was just getting popular.

Right. So it's like you bringing them their smartphone. They don't even know how to cut the smartphone on. Yeah. You know, there's certain ring when somebody trying to call you, a video you from Messenger. FaceTime, yeah. Yeah, FaceTime, they're looking at the phone. They put in the phone like, like, yo, man, what is that?

Why I keep doing? Over here, yeah. I was like, man, somebody trying to video you, man. He was like, man, I don't want to see nobody, man. What are they doing? I just want to talk to him. Yeah. Right, FaceTime isn't even around back then.

No. That's like, everybody fails time now. That was barely cameras on your phones back then. Yeah, so it's like, that's crazy different. And they don't teach you none of that. They don't like, okay, look, we're going to have a class for smartphones. No. So we can't, like, walk you through it so you'll learn something about the smartphone.

They don't do none of that. So you got to live there for six months and just find a job. And you got to be there for six months and without what, getting in trouble, obviously. When I get in trouble, you got to pay them like 25% of your earnings, of your gross. They wanted before you. The taxes come out. Yeah. That's fine.

Yeah. They wanted for the tax. That's crazy, right? They're going to get their money somehow. Yeah. Always. Always. And the halfway house, is it anything like a jail?

Or is you have like a house with a bed in it? What's it like? It's like a building and it got a room. It had rooms with like. Like apartments? Yeah, well, it's just rooms. It's like little smaller rooms. Okay.

And it had like the single beds. They got like four, eight single beds in the, okay. Just sleep eight people. got lockers in there. More like a little, I don't know what like a college home, huh? Yeah.

Yeah, like a little small little thing. Okay. It's like a little compound. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, but they let you go get a job. You got to go out work. You got to go out of work.

You got to be back by a certain time. You eat there, right? Yeah, you eat there and all that, yeah. So, and how many people were there with you? I think it was like 65. 65 people. 65 people. It had girls there too as well.

Yeah. Females are there too. So it was like a cool ed. halfway house. But it was like crazy. Like they was treating like they was officers. Yeah, they think they're big and bad. You know, once you leave prison,

when you go to the halfway house, you're not an inmate no more. You're a resident. Right. And the staff is not COs. They're just staff. You know what I mean? But they want to treat you like the prisoners.

They're trying to treat you like you're in prison. Yeah. You know what I mean? So I'm like, man, come on, man. They got no idea what you just been through. Yeah. I'm like, no, they just work at the Salvation Army. You just work at it.

You are an employee for the Salvation Army. You don't work for the federal government at all. Right. You can be replaced any time. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, you can make one mistake and you replace. So are they looking to, like, write you up on something to send you back?

Yeah. Like, they sent me back. They sent you back. So you're there for how long? So they didn't send me back to the prison. They sent me back to the county. They sent me to the county jail. So they sent you county jail.

Yeah. And I went to Pinellas for, like, On 49th Street. Yeah. Yeah. I was at Pinellas. Oh, yeah. You know about Pandanelahz.

Yeah. This cat's been there. I've been there. Yeah. I was there for like, uh, I won't do like six weeks. How long are you into the halfway house? I was at the halfway house for six months. Six months.

And then they send you back to 49th Street at the very end. No, at the beginning. Oh, at the beginning. Yeah. I think I had my job for like a week. Yeah. And they were saying I was moving around. On 420.

Yeah. On 420. Okay. They sent me to prison. I mean, to the county jail on 420, and we dropped the No-Fillings record. On 4-20? Oh, shit. So while you're in the halfway house, that's going on?

Yeah, so we got the date set up, A-Man, 4-20. We're going to drop the no-filling, and all of a sudden, at 4-20, I get locked up. And they just say you back. You don't know you're going back? No, I don't know I'm going back. They just tell you're going back. They just say, no, they don't tell me nothing. The Marshall just come.

Come and got you. Yeah, come on. Where at that place? Yeah, at the halfway house, yeah. Wow, man. Yeah, so I sit in the county for like six weeks. Supposed to have been there like three weeks, but they came to pick up some other people

and intentionally left my paperwork. Yeah. So they was like, oh, oh, we'll come back. Right, because you're a big case, honestly. Yeah. You know, you're a big case when, especially when it comes to little Pinellas County and stuff. Yeah, they get up on a high horse

and they don't want to help you do you no favors for sure. And the halfway house was the same way. You know, it's like, you know, they, They know who I was, so they was like, you know, you're not getting no special treatment. And I'm like, I'm not trying to do nothing but music. Right. Like, I don't want to do nothing but music. I'm not going back into the streets.

But they really, like, on me, like, hey, you got to get a job. You got to do this. You got to do that. No, no, you can't be on IG. Yeah. You can't be on this. So I'm like, man, it ain't, it ain't no rules on that. You need to have that in the rule book.

Yeah. Right. Oh, you do it. And you're going back to the county. So it's like. Okay, do I buy by their rules, which is not a rule. You're just making it up because you got to have it in writing. Or I just say, fuck it.

So I said, fuck it. Right. I went to IG crazy. And then they sent you back to county? No, that was when I got out. Yeah, that was after I got out. So they sent you back to county for a couple of six weeks, you say? Yeah, for like six weeks.

And then what, they put you in a different halfway house? No, no. Same one. Put me back in the same one. With the same people. With the same people. So they're like, yeah, you see you went to jail? I was like, so?

Yeah. I was like, I'm still going to get out the September 25th. Like, it's no different if I do it here. Yeah. And you know what I mean? So what'd you do the day you, what'd you do on Tuesday? Tuesday was, we had an interview at Wow. At Wild 94-1.

So that was the day you got released. You're free on Tuesday. And you already had a schedule full of interviews and stuff. So you were free at 12 o'clock a.m.? No. That day? No, at 6 o'clock that morning. Six in the morning.

They let me, they released me. from the halfway house. From the halfway house. And what? They just opened the door and say you're free or what? You signed a little paperwork and they do like, you free.

That's it. Yeah. And then what? So you got your people to come pick you up? Yeah, he had bus to my brother and... Buster picked them up? Yeah. Okay.

And you head over to... And you head straight to the radio station. Yeah. We're going to get breakfast. Yeah. Where'd you go? Where'd you go for breakfast? When we went to...

Denny. Denny's all right. Oh, fuck. I would have hit Waffle House, but Denny's is good, too. That's why I ain't been yet. I haven't been to, that's where I need to go to Waffle House. Oh, man, bro.

Waffle House is on the, they're on the come-up. Yeah, Waffle House. I like Waffle House. That was my gem back in the days, man. Waffle House. I fuck with Waffle House heavy. Yeah. A lot of people, it seems like, I mean, at least in, like, the recent past,

like in the recent history, what I've noticed is, like, when Gucci got released from prison, he was super weird. You could tell something was off with him. Everyone started calling him a clone. He was acting different. His wife would always be video on him on Instagram. live, posting videos of him everywhere. And you could tell the dude was just out of it.

Like, he didn't really, he wasn't himself. He didn't seem confident. And could you relate to any of that? Like, I don't think you, I don't know if you were able to see that. Yeah, I seen it. Yeah, it's got to be a quick transition. But I think, I think with Gucci Man, what it was, it was when everybody seen him before, he was high.

Yeah, he was high all the time. He was high all the time. Like, he was like, out of his mind. So everything was the substance that was like making them act out and be, you know, so after a while being high so much every day, every day, all day to going cold turkey and not doing anything. So you're like... You're a different person. You're a different person.

Sure. And even physically, he was a different person too. Yeah. You're a different person. So that's different for people. Yeah. So that's why it looked like he just... That's why he seemed so much different because he was always high.

He was always high. Wow. Real quick to go back, are you dabbling and doing any drugs back then when you're not? you're selling? Are you, you know what I mean? Are you getting high? Smoking weed? Yeah. I've been a weed and stuff? No. No. So that wasn't, you just smoke a little weed, but everything else was for sale. Don't get high on your own supply. Yeah, just weed.

Because a lot of them people, they, you know, they're selling drugs, but they're getting high and all that stuff. Yeah, yeah. I knew a lot of them that was, that was like that. This dude had a patent on some shit, man. He was doing it. Yeah, you were on it. The blood splitter. So that's what my thing, the weed, man. It was the splitter. That's how the splitter. That's how the splitter come apart, man. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So do you got any inventions coming up? Well, I'm going to bring it back.

Yeah, I'm going to bring it back. Are you really? Cigarello's, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to bring it back with the Cigorello's. You still got the patent for it? Yeah, I still got the patent for it. Yeah.

Okay. Just really back into the music, man. Yeah. What do you like listening to right now? Right now, I haven't really been listening to music because I really don't want to I really don't want to be influenced by a lot of the stuff that's out right now. Okay. You know what I mean?

So it's just certain things that really grab my attention that I'll listen to, but outside of that I won't. Okay. You know, just really with a radio playing, you know, certain things like that. You're focused more on the output. Yeah, I'm focused more on the output. How about your music, too? It's pretty different from the music back before you went in. Yeah.

You know, music back then was on a whole different trend, that it was kind of like a bounce, trick, daddy style. Yeah. You know, now the music's a little different. How do you adapt to that? Well, it's like do it and put my own twist to it. Yeah. You know, it's like with the No Feelings record,

everybody was expecting me to come out with a Jook record. Right. Like, man, I know you're coming out with a Jook record. What's your first record? Right, that's probably what everybody's expecting. Yeah, so I'm like, no. And this is different than that style. Yeah, so it's kind of like on the style that's being played now.

But it's like with my flavor to it, you know what I mean? Yeah, I feel like it's a very, of to date. You know, the Juk style, that stuff was, that was back then. Yeah. And obviously, that was the hot shit back then. But yeah, it's definitely a big transition now. I feel like you're completely, I feel like you're caught up already with the no-feeling song. Yeah, that's what I wanted to do. When I, when I heard the track, I was like, yeah, this is where we need to go. Like, you know, everybody like, man, you got to come back with a Juk record, a club, bang a man. Yeah, yeah, because that was the songs back then. Yeah, but I'm like,

no, I don't want to do that. Like, I can give you that, but I'm, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not going to give you that right now. I'm going to get on what's going on right now so I can fit in. Right. Right. Yeah. So right now you're just going super hard in the studio. Super hard.

We already just came straight from the studio, right? Straight from the studio. Yeah. Damn. And then you got an EP coming out? EP coming out next Friday, October the 5th. I even got a party at Green Gators October the 5th. In Tampa?

Yeah, in Tampa. Okay. Yeah, in Tampa. Okay. Are we invited? Yeah, man. Come on out. that man we need to press we come out yeah you don't forget we uh we toasting every hour man

hell yeah i'll be there my chuggy acuzi yeah we toasting every hour man so yeah man it's gonna be beautiful man the um the EP is amazing yeah it's it's it's it's amazing man you know everybody gonna think it's gonna be jook music it's gonna be straight nah so even in the no feeling song you're kind of like uh singing a little bit almost you know with the harmony in the hook that's you right? No, that's Jayvon. Okay, that's somebody else. I was going to say the hook and the verse. I thought maybe that was you for a second. Yeah, no, no, that's Jayvon. Jayvon, he produced a record. So you're just rapping the verses? I'm just rapping the verses, yeah. Okay.

Where are you going to release it? Are you going to release it on all the platforms? Yeah, I'm releasing on all the platforms. Yeah, I'm releasing on all the platforms. It's amazing, man. It's, uh... It's different now, right? Yeah, it's different. Then you were probably selling CDs. Yeah, back then there was CDs, so now it's like with all the platforms, the spot of Spotify, the SoundCloud. It's like, it's totally, like, I'm excited. Right, yeah. Right. It's all new to you. Yeah, because it's like, okay, I don't have to get a bunch of flyers. I don't have to print up a thousand or two thousand CDs. Right. How different is that? That's probably great. You just, you could pretty much upload it from your phone.

Just straight from the phone, man. It's like, man, this is, this is, I love it. Yeah. I love it. I love it. That's dope. Yeah. It's a whole new world. A whole new world, man. How was the response and everything so far? The response is great. You only been out two days, but... The response is crazy, especially after... Like, a lot of people didn't know I was out. You know, they heard things, you know?

So they was like... So by me going on a while and in the morning show and the way social media set up to see the visual, they was like, he is out. Yeah. Because I couldn't figure it out for a while either, to be honestly, too. I was following you in live, because I heard you got the part in, but you're working.

But I'm reading online, you're still in. So I find out you're in the halfway house. and stuff. Yeah. So a lot of people couldn't believe it. Like, you know, when, like, when I'm working, I'm out certain stores or something like that, somebody seems like. What were you doing for a job?

Construction. Okay. Yeah. I work probably like, I might. Yeah. That was, that was it. Yeah, that was. I work construction, honestly.

It sucks. Man, listen. It's so hot. It's too hot here in Florida. And this is my partner. He was a real good dude, man. his name Willie Kirkland. Yeah.

We call him Gator. I worked for like a month. And like the last week, it was like the hardest. It's hot, man. And I told him, I was like, bro, listen, I can't do this shit, man. I'm not feeling this. I'm going by. I got to do my music, man.

I can't do this shit. So he was like, bro, you know what I mean? Do your thing, man. You know what I mean? So I was like, okay. I said, I got to, bro. Because I said, I can't stand out here in this fucking son, man. It's so hard.

What were you doing? You're doing concrete? I thought I saw it. I was watching live one time you said something about it. Because I worked concrete. Okay, yeah, we was doing concrete. The footers. We dug the footers.

Yeah. They're building like a recreation center over in Robes Park. Okay. So we was, oh, man, it's from start to finish. Yeah, yeah. We demolished it, towed it down, cleaned it all up, and then we built it all the way back up. So I'm like, man, this sucks, right?

It's too hot out here in Florida, man. What are the thing that you got to, uh, It's the rods Rebar? Rebar? Yeah. Okay, yeah, we do all the rebar too. Listen, when you got the time for the walls to go out.

To tie the rebar? Listen. Sucks right. And that rebar's hot. Hot as hell in this Florida heat. Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah.

Bird your hands. What? Yeah. I was like, man, you can have this shit, man. Sucks right, yeah. I was like, bro, I'm not. I'm leaving, man. He was like, man, you're going to quit.

I say, listen, I have to, bro. I was like, I can't do it, man. It's good work, but in this Florida heat. It's so tough, man. It's too hot down here. It's too hot. You know, it's the sand and then the heat from the ground. Oh, yeah.

You're soaked in 15 seconds down here in this humidity. Yeah. So I'm like, fuck, no, man. Yeah, it's for the birds. Yeah. So back to the, then it's definitely, I got to push the music because I definitely don't want to pour no concrete. I don't want to do no concrete.

I don't want to do no concrete. Hell no. That's dope, man. So the EP's coming out, and what else you're working on now? We're doing We also doing Like a comedy A comedy

A sitcom Okay Me and Crystal It's gonna be real dope It's real funny It's like a Like a reality TV Like a reality show

But it's really not a reality show Like it's fake Sure Right But it's real cool Man it's gonna be real hilarious So I'm really like Becoming

The Instagram Instagram influence. Yeah. That's what I want. Yeah, man. That's what I want to do, man. So it's like pushing the numbers, you know what I mean? Trying to get my numbers up.

I go on live. We talk about a lot of different things and stuff like that. I got a lot of ladies that follow me. I know. I see. I follow you live. I watch your live. Every time I watch your live, it's nothing but ladies on there talking about,

hey, Tampa Tony, hey Tony. You know, they're all a ton of women. They're always reposting the video, dancing to it and shit. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really like, we talk about everything. So I kind of do like themes on each day. Yeah. So they're like, they loving it.

You know what I mean? They loving it. It's like I say stuff or come over with things like don't nobody talk about. You know what I mean? Even from like grooming, you know, telling the women you have to shave. Yeah. You can't have a man go down on you and you don't have it shave. You know what I mean?

No hell, yeah. Like the guys, guys, we got to shave. Hey, man. women don't want to do that and you ain't saved, man. Come on, man. Yeah. So it's just certain things like that, you know what I mean? So we talk about everything. And it's like a little sitcom?

Yeah, it's going to be on YouTube or what? Yeah, we're going to do it on YouTube. Yeah, we're going to do it on YouTube. So do you have your own YouTube channel that stuff is going to go on? Yeah, we got all that set up now. Awesome. We got all that set up now. So it's going to be amazing, man.

It's just going to be amazing. It's a real funny, it's a real funny sitcom. Have you guys filmed any of yet? No, because I come. I couldn't because I was there. It's been two days. Right. Yeah, yeah.

I keep forgetting this. Yeah, me too. It's been like two days. So now we're getting everybody together and we're trying to put it all together. So it's going to be amazing, man. It's going to be amazing. That sounds really cool. That's what's up, man.

So y'all got to bring me back. I can bring the cast over me. Yeah, man. Bring them over. Our podcast is actually pretty new, too. This is like our sixth, seventh episode that we've done. I mean, we do a lot of other stuff online, but podcast is new for us. Yeah, man.

Brand new. But we've seen Tampa Tony. I said we had to get him on. being local and stuff, too, you know, it's just perfect. We like to interact with the local community. Yeah, man. Because, you know, like, my whole thing is the area we need to win. So it's like I really want to become an influencer to get the numbers up from all over.

So, like, even with y'all's show, you know what I mean? Yeah. I can plug y'all. You know, it's like we piggyback one another. Yeah, for sure. You got a big show coming up or you want to get an interview with certain people. Call me. I know this.

Or you've seen me. with them, hey, I can get them, hey, man, I need you to come and do this radio show, it's a concrete radio so it's a win-win for everyone. It's a win-win for everybody, you know what I mean? So that's what I want here in Tampa. So that's what I'm demonstrating, you know what I mean? That's what I'm big on.

I'm big on that, like, togetherness to build up this area. Because there's a lot of people come in this area and... And Florida's on the rise right now. Yeah, especially in the rap world. Florida's on right now. Yeah, we work with a lot of other rappers and stuff and do some video, music videos and stuff.

And Florida's hot now. We're very hot, man. Yeah. I'm talking about that thing. There's a perfect time for you to come home, man. It's the new Atlanta. Yeah. I think 2019 going to be one of the,

it's like the intro biggest year for us, man. Yeah, I think so, too. It's going to be very, very huge, man. We're excited for the EP. We're excited for the EP. Yeah. What's the EP call? The EP call is finally free.

Finally free. Finally free. And what's the date you're dropping it? Next week, Friday. The 5th. October, October the 5th. Same day of my party. Green Gators.

Yeah. Yeah, we'll be there. Yeah, y'all got to be that, man. We'll be there, bro. We got to come through. Yeah, we got to get, we got to be live. Listen, I tell everybody, don't come to the party if you don't have IG. Okay.

Oh, yeah. Do not come to the party. I'm on your IG. I'm on everybody, IG that's in the club, man. Yes, what's up, man. Definitely. Well, nice meeting you, bro. Hey, same.

Thank you for coming, man. Hey, thank you. It's a pleasure coming. Yeah, it's definitely a pleasure coming. Yeah, it's definitely a good. We'll get you back on here. Yes, sir.