Drink Champs - Episode 177 w/ Paul Wall

Episode Date: October 4, 2019

N.O.R.E & DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. This week The Champs chop it up with The Peoples Champ - Paul Wall. In this episode Paul shares stories about how he started his career in Hip-Hop and how he paid his dues working his way up within SwishaHouse. From working as part of the street team for various major labels, Paul also shares stories about the car culture in Texas, lean and Grillz!Paul Wall also shares how Pimp C and E-40 played a major role in squashing the beef between him and Chamillionaire and tells us stories of DJ Screw, Michael 5000 Watts, the culture of screwed music and much much more!Zebit: Sign up at Zebit.com/DrinkChamps to get up to $2,500 credit to shop at zero interest.Keeps: Get your first month of treatment free at Keeps.com/DrinkChamps.Follow:Drink Champshttp://www.drinkchamps.comhttp://www.instagram.com/drinkchampshttp://www.twitter.com/drinkchampshttp://www.facebook.com/drinkchampsDJ EFNhttp://www.crazyhood.comhttp://www.instagram.com/whoscrazyhttp://www.twitter.com/djefnhttp://www.facebook.com/crazyhoodproductionsN.O.R.E.http://www.instagram.com/therealnoreagahttp://www.twitter.com/noreaga--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/drinkchamps/support Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Drink up, motherfuckers. What it good be, hopefully what it should be. This is your boy N-O-R-E. What up, it's DJ E-F-N. And this is Drink Champs. Yappy hour. Make some noise! Well, when it comes to Mr. Texas, Mr. Houston, Mr. Sideways, the people's champ, the brother has been out here stomping, doing what he got to do, not only of the culture, but he

even married into the culture, goddammit. He's done what he gotta do Not only of the culture but he even married Into the culture god damn it He's done what he gotta do Been out here from Swisher House for him his taste for Chameleon Air and to Nowadays is still out here still doing What the hell he gotta do if you Had to get iced out in your mouth you had

To go see him You mother flippers In case you don't know the a flip I'm talking about, we talking about motherfucking Paul Wall. What up, buddy? How you doing, buddy?

Yes, sir. Now, Paul Wall, I wanted to start from the beginning because other than Bum B, this is our second Houston rapper, correct? Yeah, that's what's up.

Yeah, yeah. We were almost at... We had Scarface. Yeah, we had Scarface, but I got him sick at fucking my food show. I had to say that because I was filming my food show and then he was supposed to do drink jams that night

and I brung him to a fucking restaurant. He got sick. He was dirty, man. He was dirty. It was funny as hell because he kept going like this. Making a noise like that. So you know how Scarface is funny.

So I'm thinking Scarface is making fun of me and shit. The whole time, this motherfucker's really getting sick and shit. But anyway, I want to take it from the beginning because obviously all of y'all are from this Swisher House movement, right? So in the beginning, because I heard you used to write Pepsi letters and things like that. But in the beginning, how did you get started? How did you find your love for the music? Me and Kermit, we grew up together on the same street. I knew him my whole life.

We both was introduced to hip hop around the same age, around the same time, through the same era, especially of Texas artists that inspired us. Because at that time, if we look on the TV or turn on the radio, there wasn't a lot of people from where we're from that were professional in music like that. Rob Markman, Besides like a rap a lot. Rob Markman, Yeah, rap a lot. Even then, it was like, when you're living in Houston and you see, like you turn on the other, you turn on TV, whatever, you see kind of like how people treat rap a lot sometimes.

We always kind of felt like we got the short end of the stick. We being Houston. Maybe being that we're so centrally located at the south, at the bottom of the midwest. We're in the south, but we're far west on the south, so we're removed from what goes on sometimes in Florida or Georgia. Rob Markman, Yeah, we felt like that in Miami. Rob Markman, Yeah. Although we have a lot of similarities, it was like, man, you know, we...

Because y'all are on the different part of the South. Like Pim said, he said that he considered that the South, like Texas, because of the different time zone. Right, right. Did you agree with that statement or that was just... I mean, me personally, I never looked at the time zone as being a reason for where being in the South, because there's people in the central time zone is you know chicago's the central time zone and that ain't the south but uh you know it just it's just more the southwest but even then you know california is the southwest because texas seems so big it feels west coast sometimes you know you look at it and the one thing that gets lost too is that inside of Texas, we all got our own culture. So Houston and Dallas is

a lot different. And if you add in San Antonio and Austin, all four of them places are four distinct different cultures within Texas. Some of the stuff we do share, you know, some of the same similarities. Austin is a real town?

Only for South by Southwest? I didn't know that. My bad. My bad. My bad, people in Austin. God damn it. But imagine growing up in Austin where once a year it's the biggest music festival ever, and then the rest of the year it's like, well, what's going on? There is events that go on there throughout the year.

There's something called Texas Relays, which is like a big slab event, a big car event, where we all go there to Austin for the Texas Relays for that. And there's other events too throughout the year. Austin got a dope scene, period, musically, not just all over music, but for sure specifically in hip hop. But it's a different culture. It's a different... Being that it's a capital, being that it's a college town, being that

they have the... It's considered considered a live they call it the live music capital of the world so the rappers coming out of there you can tell they're influenced by that then you go to san antonio san antonio is a huge military uh town basically so it has its own culture separate from the military but the fact that there's all these military bases all on in san antonio around san antonio all the way to Fort Hood, which is clean. But you have people that come from around the world and grow up in San Antonio, but they kind of like from New York, but they're living in San Antonio because their parents stationed in San Antonio.

I always thought San Antonio was California. Man, it's a huge. Also, San Antonio is, you know, the first, like, major, major city when you come up from the border, from the Mexican border right there. So there's Brownsville, McAllen, all that, Corpus Christi, and then San Antonio, which is the big city. It's where we got a basketball team, there's Spurs. We got the Oilers used to do their pre-games, pre-season out there.

The Texans, I don't think they do them. But the Oilers used to. They got Corpus Christi right there, which is right there where Selena's from, rest in peace, Selena. But they got the, you know, and Round Rock, all around there, they got the different minor league teams for the Astros. So it's like it's different than like major big city type of operation stuff that go on, but it's still big city things that go on. Right, a lot of money out there.

Yeah, so if you're a producer or you're an artist coming up in San Antonio, you got more of a, I would say, a global influence growing up there because there's people that, I mean, it's like that everywhere though. Even Miami, there's people all over the world right here. Right. But it's just when you're in school and everybody in your class, their parents are from somewhere outside of Texas. It's like, it just gives you a different perspective when you are growing up as a rapper or producer.

So they got a dope hip hop scene. It's different. So each one of these. Then we got other cities like El Paso, which is right there on- Yeah, rest in peace to what happened in Florida. Yeah, for sure. Oh, yeah. Definitely, man.

For sure. Thoughts out to all of them. Prayer, man. Rest in peace. But in 2005, you were signed to Atlantic Records, right? Yep. And the debut on that was the People's Chant, right? Yes, sir.

Then followed by Get Money and Stay True, right? Yes, sir. How can you compare being on a major to, because you went back to independent now, right? Yeah, for sure. What do you like more and then how do you compare? I mean, the differences I would say is when you're independent, you got to fund everything. And it's a lot more than independent. It's grind work.

It's relationships that either you or people in your inner circle have built on through years. You know what I'm saying? So that's what the independent grind is all about. It's, you know, doing the footwork, doing leg work, just going out there, really touching, interacting with your fans, really giving the people what they want consistently. And when you go to a major label, you know, some people can continue that grind inside the major system, but it's a different – it's like college sports versus major league sports. You know what I'm saying?

It's similar, but it's different. Which you prefer? I mean, the major – when you're on a major label, you got all their resources, money. Yes. You ain't got to call nobody. They call them for you. So it is, you know, I would say being also that I sell grills,

and when I was on a major label, I still had independent, multiple independent albums I was getting, collecting money off of that was selling more now that I'm on a major. And I'm selling grills, and I got T-shirt lines, so I got other multiple businesses that are all benefiting from the major system. Exposure. Yeah. So I for sure would say I would like the major better. Yeah, I'm with you on that.

If I'm just an artist. I hate independent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to be built for this shit. You was about to say something positive about that. If you have a great business mind and you can take the blood, sweat, and tears and you can hustle and not give up and tap out, then that independent is for sure the way to go. But you still need a staff. Yeah, yeah. You still need a staff.

That's what get lost, too, is that when you're independent, it's like some of it works where my manager, who's my manager, he's been my manager, the only manager I ever had. And he's my homeboy I grew up with. And he didn't go to school for management. He was doing something else when I was like, hey, man, I need you to come on the road because I need help. And the reason why I went with that route instead of going with somebody who has a diploma, a degree. A resume and shit. Yeah, I wanted to go with somebody that I personally can trust. Where I feel like they have my best interests at heart.

They come from where I come from, so they share some of the same perspective they want the same things for me where when some of the managers they just there for their money they don't care if you and your wife stay married they don't care if your whole hood turn on you and don't care about you and call you a sellout they don't care about that they were like well yeah let me call you sell out we're getting you these checks but them things mean something to me you me. It means something to me to be able to go back to where I grew up and for people to be proud of me to be from there, as opposed to go back to where I grew up and them to be like, he a sellout, man. We don't fuck with him. That mean more to me than whatever the check might be, because you can't buy that type of love or respect.

And also just music for me, this is a love, a passion for me. So it's my dream job. The only other job I would want, it would be to be a DJ. That's why I started out as DJing, because to me, that was something I seen a career path in being a DJ, where I didn't see a career path being a rapper, because there just ain't that many rappers from my neighborhood. Then eventually, when you start seeing people like that. So what made you start rapping then?

Me and Kameen are doing it for fun. You know, we going to school together. We in whatever grade, you know, second, third, fourth grade or whatever. Whenever, you know, we being on a lunch table. We on a school bus, whatever. And a lot of times it came from seeing other people doing it and me thinking, man, they was trash, man. I could put some words together. And then someone maybe called me out.

Hey, Paul, what you got? Let me see what you got. And I'm like, all right, fuck it. Let me tell you what I got. And then, you know, then the reaction of people, oh, damn, you really good. It's like, oh, shit, maybe I am kind of good. Let me try to do this. But it was never, you know, even up until, because me and Kamina were rapping for a long

time before we saw any success. And then when we got, when we came into the the Switch House, even before that, I was DJing for the Switch House. I was carrying Michael Watts crates. I was passing out flyers. Me and my boy T-Ferris was in the office pressing up the CDs, the same CDs that you buy at the store. We were pressing them up. So I was doing more background work as opposed to just being in front of the microphone and I'm on the mixtape.

So I really worked my way into the Swisher house. So even becoming an artist in the Swisher house, that was like, back then in our neighborhood was like- That was it. That was it, bro. Every car wash, everybody jamming. And you did street team shit too, right? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, so I could identify with that. Some of that to me was the street team was working for Def Jam or working for No Limit and then Cash Money. And then that's how I got on with Swish House. And then at that time too with Swish House, everybody wanted to rap with Swish House, like in Houston on the north side. So it was like, shit, how can I be? And I seen how Michael Watts, when people start blowing his phone up to get on the tape, eventually he like, don't answer it.

I ain't answering that shit. But he fuck with me, so I'm like, damn, I don't want him to, if I ask him, I don't want him to turn that off, and then I can't get on no tape no more. I can't get, he going to be like, I don't come around. So I said, okay, I just work my way in, doing other work, doing other work. And I actually got on with Switch House with Michael Watts, because one time I seen him, I'm putting up posters for a Def Jam artist, somebody. I see him at one of the record stores and I asked him, I said, hey Watts, man, how come

y'all don't never rap on no Cash Money, Manny Fresh beats? Because I used to love Cash Money and Manny Fresh beats. And they would never, whatever, freestyle. And he was like, well, the artists choose the beats and they just didn't choose the beats. I'm like, man, tell them they tripping. They need to rap on this beat, that beat. And he just called me out. I was like,

what would you do? And I just freestyled something and he was like, come on, let's go. And then he took me to the studio. He died off a lean? No, you're talking about DJ Screw. Oh, there's DJ Screw. But even then, it's like a debatable

subject. He did have codeine in his blood, but I don't think that's what killed him. He had a lot of other stuff in it. You know, the lifestyle be what kill you, I think, more than lean. Now, I mean, you know, it's a very touchy subject. And then also try to, like some of it, I try to be respectful of not only him or whoever else, but at the same time,

it's a lot of miseducation that people talk about there, like, you know, fake facts about lean. Okay. I mean, me personally, I've never seen anyone in the history of drink ever die from codeine. Now, is it possible you could die from that? Man, I might be drank out and then get in a car accident, but is lean what killed me? You know, if I sip drink and I'm eating fried foods every day, I'm not drinking no water. Only water I'm drinking is the ice in my cup. I'm not exercising at all. I'm staying up.

I'm not getting proper sleep. Everything else I'm eating and putting in my body, not only fried food, but it's some type of trash. Because lean itself is sugary, right? Yeah. And then you mix it with some other sugar. Yeah. So is that like a big part of it?

You know, I have seen long-term people who sip drank long-term their teeth might get fucked up, but you know, a lot of it is just, it ain't like meth, where if you smoke meth, your teeth gonna get fucked up. With drink, it's if you sip drank and you don't brush your teeth ever, and you sip drank every day, every

day, every day, then you might get cavities. that's the same could be said for the soda and most people that i've heard talk about it they say it's the soda that fucks your teeth up not to drink there's sugar in the drink but the sugar in the soda is what's really what it is now the thing that i think um most people i think the most valuable information about any type of recreational drug consumption is, you know, it's kind of taboo. Hold on. I like the way he said it. Recreational drug consumption. That was hard.

You know, some of it would be taboo to talk about. But at the same time, the fact that we're keeping it private is what's causing people to die. Like, some of it's like, you like, if you're taking Norcoz or Oxycontin or anything like that or any opioid, and you're drinking alcohol, that shit could be deadly.

If you're taking the opioids and the Xanax and other things, the combination, that shit for sure is deadly. So it's like, it ain't, because you're drinking,

but the lean is an opioid. Yeah. You know what's L.E. is that when they said that they found Pimp C, that he couldn't breathe. So, like, I think he rolled over or something like that. I forget. And, like, he couldn't breathe. So, they didn't say it's lean.

They said that, like, the fact that he had sleep apnea or something. Yeah, for sure he had rest in peace, man. Yeah, rest in peace. That was my dog. He had sleep apnea. The doctor told him, you know, his wife, man. Yeah, rest in peace. That was my dog. He had sleep apnea. The doctor told him, you know, his wife, Shannara, she'll say this. When she come on here, you can ask her. She'll tell you, man.

The doctor say, you got sleep apnea. You have to have the mask. If you sleep without the mask, you're going to die. That's just dangerous. Yeah, he told him. If you sleep without it, you're going to die. He slept without it. He died.

He did have a drinking system. I think they say he had cocaine in his system, too. You know, but you ain't never hear no one say, oh, he died did he have drinking he did have drinking in his system I think they said he had cocaine in his system too you know but you ain't never hear no one say oh he died from cocaine overdose

but he had cocaine in his system they said oh he died from drink overdose the doctor didn't say he died from drink overdose the doctor said he died from heart respiratory

failure or something which came from the sleep apnea but lean is dangerous because I see so many people like so addicted to it. I know people who don't... They wake up and that's what they do.

Some of it is. I mean, me, I think the lifestyle is the most dangerous where the lean is so expensive. So people will get caught up in sipping lean and then they fucking their money off. Now, it ain't to the point where people is breaking in their mama houses, pawning TVs to go buy a drink, but they will. I see people fuck off a lot of money on the drink. And to me, what's dangerous about it the absolute most is the fake drink. When they be playing with the drink. Yeah, 2 Chainz talking about it.

He was breaking down all the fake stuff. Right, right. Yeah, that shit is the most, most, most dangerous because, man, you don't know what you're sipping. Yeah, so what are they doing when they're making a fake shit? Man, they need to stop doing whatever they're doing, man. They need to stop. But I don't know.

I don't know if they whipping it up in their garage or if it's something they just— Because they don't brew this shit? Man, I don't know what they're doing, but it ain't drank. It's maybe whatever they— I don't know what they doing, but it ain't drink. You know, it's maybe whatever they, I don't know. That shit, to me, is what's the dangerous shit, though, is when they sip the fake drink, because you don't know what you're sipping. It's just like when they,

when you got pressed up pills, you know, when you're pressed up pills, it's dangerous, man. You know, one little grain of fentanyl more than you're supposed to have will kill you. You know what I'm saying? Is the activist still floating around or no? That's dead. You can Google this.

They stopped making activists in 2011. So if someone has activists right now, it's fake or it's real? Man, if my mama had activists right now, I'd tell her quit playing. It ain't no real. Is it possible? I mean, this the scam. Right. I got all this fake drink.

I come to you and I say, hey, I got a homeboy in Kentucky. His grandma own a pharmacy. They ain't sell this shit. They ain't ever get rid of it. And we got a stockpile of it. It's the real shit. Man, I can get it to you, whatever. I don't know.

I'm going off what you're saying. You know, you completely scamming me or somebody scammed you so you really believe it. And then that's the thing. Man, I can tell you, that's what they say. It came from the Midwest somewhere or somewhere like that where if something came from a pharmacy

in Iowa, how can I verify that? I'm in Houston. If it's come from anywhere, I can verify it. Because who's the first nigga to sit in court medicine and say, I'm high.

I don't know who the first to ever come up with this. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank God for that. We need to make that a public holiday. Who is that nigga?

Who the nigga that thought of a thong? That nigga that said, yo, you know what? Yeah. I'm going to take the rest of this shit out of here. And we're going to go to the Pacific to shit up your ass.

Because it works. It works, Thong guy. The other thing they'll do is they'll say, oh, I know somebody who used to work at Activist. So they know how to make it. They can get the chemicals online and they can make it. They know how to make it. It's the same thing. Man, it ain't the same thing.

And they ain't used to work at Activist. They sell a fake drink and they just need a, they know how to make it, it's the same thing. Man, it ain't the same thing. And they ain't used to working activists. They send a fake drink and they just need a story to sell it. Then the other thing they'll say is, oh, well, okay, we got the pharmacies in the Midwest. Somebody used to work at Activist. Then it'll be just things like that. Or I know somebody who can create it. Or I used to have it, or my homeboy just got out of jail. There's smoke kicking in.

I just got out of jail. Or my homeboy just got out of jail. He had these pints at his mama's house, and he wanted to sell them. But it'll be, what, he got 100 pints? Because you've been selling them same pints for months now. Shit. Like, damn. But the scams on the fake drink

on how it's real is just man, it's ridiculous though. Well, big up to Sean Papers. Big up to Smoke Champs. Big up to 220 Miami and Nine Lives Collective. Big up to people with Cherry and like I said Sean Papers and all that.

But all right, so Switzer House now probably. But go before that though. Okay. Because I want to go back to when Screw and them started making the tapes. That was all based off of lean culture as well, right? I mean, it was a part of it for sure. You know what I'm saying? But it was like when you make a club song, the alcohol have something to do with it.

The alcohol go with it. But you can make a club party song it's not, you know, the alcohol have something to do with it. Alcohol go with it. But you can make a club party song and you don't even drink. So the slow down music wasn't because of... For sure, that was part of it. I mean,

I think if you were sober as fuck, I'd be like, what is going on? I mean, I grew up and I didn't smoke or drink growing up until I was older.

So I grew up appreciating it. To me, it was the greatest music on earth. So, you know, you can still appreciate it, you know, I think what out there, but I think in the up appreciating it. To me, it was the greatest music on earth. You can still appreciate it, I think, without that, but I think in the moment of creating it and all that, and I created it too before I was slowing music down, DJing like that, before I was really leaning and-

Rob Markman, What do y'all actually do to slow it down? Rob Markman, Pitch it down, right? Rob Markman, It's different now. Now it's a plug-in. Rob Markman, But with records, the pitch was all the way down. Yeah, you slow it down. It's all live, man. It would be all. And that was just a Houston thing?

You know, back in those days, it's funny because there was a DJ in Florida who would make mixtapes too slow down, but they wouldn't chop them up and mix them and cut and scratch. In Miami? In Miami, I think Floralotterdale, maybe. Oh, okay. But it was like a pretty big- Rob Markman, Because everything here, we speed it up. Rob Markman, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rob Markman, You know, you're jamming on the express and get us out DJs. Rob Markman, I remember I came down here in like 98, 99 for something that was going on with my Jamaican partner and it was like all, you know, it was going down. It was all up tempo, you know, and then we passed by one person. I hear somebody jamming Screw It. I'm like, oh shit, they must be from Texas. And then that's how I found out, you know, and then we pass by one person, I hear somebody jamming Screw It, I'm like, oh shit, they must be from Texas, and then that's how I found out, like, nah, we... Nah, they fucked with it, we fucked with it out here, but

since we sped it up out here, we was like, how the fuck do you listen to this? Because everybody's doing cocaine out here. So that's, if you think about it, I mean, I just made that up, but I mean, if you think about it, it kind of makes sense. We're sped up out here, you know. Caribbean boxers. But they're not there.

They're not there. So that slowdown sounds a little better. Some of it in Texas, I thought about some of it in Texas, we spread out. So you got to have a car to get from point A to point B or whatever. You got to have a car. Whereas it's like that in a lot of cities as well, but it's also not like that in a lot of cities. So we spread it. You got to have a car.

A lot of people take better care of their car than their house. So we're going to make sure we have mute. There's bass in the trunk. So then that leads to there being bass in the music. Because when you're an artist too, you're like, oh, they ain't playing my shit if it ain't got no bass in it. So let me make sure it got a lot of bass in it. Then it's hot as fuck.

So shit slow like that. Then the swing and all of that, the driving slow, it really traditionally, like in the car wise, came from the streets being fucked up. There being potholes or whatever, man. If I'm in this car, I ain't finna fuck my rims up. I'm going to drive slow. I'm going to swing around them. And then it became like a tradition or just- The spokes on your rims when they stick out.

It takes the wire wheels. Yes, sir. That's for niggas not to come close to y'all car? Or that's like the style? This is the style. Over the years, they've gotten wider. You know, when they originally came out in 84, they didn't stick out past the fender. But just, you know, as time went on, the technology got better.

The rims got improved from going from aluminum to steel. So, you know, they don't get dent up as much. They don't fall apart like they used to. It's, you know, it's like a, it just got upgraded, updated with the times. But, because we'll drive right next to each other and be looking like we about to crash. You know, it definitely take a seasoned veteran driver. You got to kind of hold your nuts when you're driving. You know, some of that is with it. Then at the same time, you got to kind of be, you got you're driving. You know, some of that is with it.

Then at the same time, you got to kind of be, you got to be focused. You can't be on your phone, all that kind of shit. You got to focus because you for sure crash. That was candy paint. For sure. That's the, you know, that candy, that drip, that wet. Yes, sir.

Shout out to House of Colors. Shout out to House of Colors. You know, that's something, man, you know, car lovers around the world, it's funny because a lot of people because a lot of the car cultures outside of Houston don't fuck with the poking rims. They like, man, they don't fuck with the poke. They be like, yeah, your car clean, but the rims look like trash.

So they really don't, man, especially, it's funny, all my brothers in California, they'd be going at it with all my homies from Texas, where it'd be like, shit, because the cars be a little bit different. But car lovers everywhere, they got love for that candy paint, man. When you got that paint that's so wet, it look like a Jolly Rancher. The paint, it look like you just sprayed it with a water hose. You know what I'm saying? Man, it's just something about that. Especially when it's clean.

You got candy paint and it's dirty. Man, I'm the definition of riding dirty, man. My shit be so dirty. But, man, when that shit be cleaned up and you looking good, man, ain't nothing like a wet candy car, man. Ain't nothing like a slab on candy, man, for sure. Now, how'd you get into grills? Because most rappers, no one is thinking like that. How did your mind even...

Man, it's part of the culture to start with. Every business I got into, it was, I like that. How did your mind even... It's part of the culture to start with. Every business I got into, it was, I want that. How can I get it cheaper? I can get it cheaper if I sell it than if I'm just a customer. So how can I sell it? And let me learn the game. Any business I have or have ever had. So with that, it was I always wanted one.

I wanted a grill. But in the South, it was always permanent grills. You know, you would go to a dentist to do the grills. And then, you know, you couldn't get no removable grills, nothing like that. That's what we would always see in shit everywhere, period. And then all of a sudden, we see Wu-Tang on the videos taking their grills out. We like, man, what's going on? How they do that?

I want a new grill. We ain't had nothing like that. You had permanents. Yeah, permanents. Yeah, man, what's going on? How they do that? I want a new grill. We ain't had nothing like that. You had permanents. Yeah, permanents. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then, you know, my boy Crime came from Brooklyn. He came with the removable style grills to Houston. He's still selling grills, too.

He's like a traveling grill salesman. He go all around the country, all around the world selling grills. But he came to Houston to our neighborhood selling New York style grills, you know, removable grills. And they was cheaper than the other grills, but he came to Houston to our neighborhood selling New York style grills, you know, removable grills, and they was cheaper than the other grills. We like, man, what's going on? These some flea market grills? These some like beauty shop grills, wig shop grills, or what's going on? Because you know, you can get the one little tooth to come on, come off.

We ain't talking about, we talking about like the custom removable, all that. We like, man, hold on. Everything he had was just some next level different shit. And I would always see him, because at that time too, I'm passing out flyers, promoting at clubs. And then I, bam, see his flyer on the car. So I bump into him. He see me, he like, man, oh, you the one who been passing out these flyers. And I'm like, man, you the one who's selling grills. And he like, I just straight up told him he wanted me to work for him doing promotions. I'm like, bet. I want to work for you, but shit, I need that wholesale price. I ain't going to start my

own store without you, nothing like that. I need it for my own personal use. So he hired me to promote, had me promoting for him. He actually had me running a store selling grills and that's how I got my first set of grills. And you know how to make grills yourself? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. But you, you know. Yeah, start to finish from

taking your mold to casting the gold. Now, I can't front. If I say you, if I get you a grill, like your grills, Johnny made them. OK, OK, cool, cool. Give me on a verse or something. Don't give me on a verse. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States.

Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it. I'm J.R. Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart Podcast. From Robert Blake, the first Black sailor to be awarded the medal, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor

twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor, going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action, and that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian, Dr. Randall Williams, and bestselling author and meat eater founder, Stephen Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave

people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation

that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. It's this idea that there are so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide. And hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit

in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'll take your moan. Let me take your moan. And I'll let Johnny say that. I'll let my boy Jesus say it to Donald or something, man. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, but, man, from there, it was my boy Karm, he had me up under him. And then eventually, he brought me to Johnny, where we was just salesmen. Johnny made everything from scratch. Oh, wow.

At that point, Johnny was on his rise to stardom, being a grill maker. And he was like, man, you know what? It's about time for me to get a store. That's right around the time when we linked up and then we just kind of took it to another level. And then him being a Vietnamese immigrant, it be tough sometimes, man. Rob Markman, Yo, I'm going to tell you a story. This is one time I hung out with T.V.

Johnny's, one of the motherfucking most... he got the illest accent in the world. The accent, bro. Yeah, bro. The accent was tough, bro. So I had just, we was in L.A. I was with Spiff TV. And I think we was shooting a video for these people, Mastercraft. So TV Johnny comes, Johnny Dang comes to, I think we was filming in Oroxian, L.A. on

Sunset. So I'm like, yo, I'm mad happy. I went to Watts. I went to Compton. I went to Inglewood. I went to all these hoods in L.A. So the whole time,

I'm saying, man, I just went to all the hoods in L.A. TV Johnny looked at me and said, man, that's no hood. I'm from Vietnam.

They eat my dog. Yeah. I said, oh, shit. Yeah, Johnny's saying, my hood, no. No electricity, no water. I'm trying to identify what the fuck is being hood and eating his dog for.

Because I was like, you can't just tell me some shit like that and just move on. I need to know why you just said that. He said, man, I have my pet one day. I said, your pet? He said, yeah, man, my dog. I went to the store. I leave him outside. They take him. And I said, your pet? He said, yeah, man, my dog. I went to the store. I leave him outside. They take him.

And I said, what? And then later on, he said, they gave me a plate of food. I eat my dog with them. Bam. Bam. I said, DJ, that's the wildest story I ever heard. But I'll never forget it. I'll never forget it.

We went to Africa. We went to Sierra Leone. We was in the village. And he was like, oh, this reminds me of what he said. This reminds me of my hood. This is where I'm from. He's like, hey, hey, this is shit. He felt comfortable and shit.

Yeah, he's like, man, it's just like Vietnam. Oh, that's right. You went with Teco Gaderon. And y'all went to the actual Ray Kwan. Yeah, how was that experience? Man, it was so dope, bro. Just like, you know, first of all, going over there, going to Africa is something that's like, man, that's the mother, man. Rob Markman He's going to Africa up tomorrow.

He's going to Africa. Rob Markman Enjoy, brother. Enjoy. You're going to love it, man. Everything period there was like, just being there was just a whole experience, breathing in the air. I'm taking it all. And you know, I'm, man.

Rob Markman Sierra Leone, this is where the people get it. They got one hand from something like the diamond. It's a blood diamond. That was an MTV joint y'all did? Yeah, that's what MTV, right? Blood diamond! I don't know why I keep saying that. Blood diamond!

I don't know why. Keep coming out with me. It was crazy, man. When Raquel, when she came to us to do it, my boy T-Ferris was like, man, I don't know if we want Paul Wilder to go to Africa. He's going to come back with a dashiki. He ain't going to have no grill. He's going to take his grill out. He ain Paul Wilder to go to Africa. He's going to come back with a dashiki. He ain't going to have no grill.

He's going to take his grill out. He ain't going to be on the same. He's going to be a different Paul. Because everybody always, you know, think about Dave Chappelle when he went to Africa and then he turned down 50 million. So that's what he say. He's like, man, if that 50 million come, we need to sign the check. You know, but I was just like, nah, whatever it is, you know, even if it do transform me

personally. And also being at a time when I just had my son. So it's like, it just puts the whole world in perspective. You know, just especially growing up in Houston, leaving Houston to go to other cities and then going to other continents and other completely different worlds. You know, it's an amazing thing. This is my dream job, man. I appreciate every second of all of that. That's real.

Then to really be educated on the diamonds and all that, things I didn't know about. Yeah, so put us on. What did you learn out there? Okay, first of all, it's just corrupt as fuck, just like it is everywhere worldwide. You know, shit, man, people being exploited. All the stories you hear about Africa being exploited for their resources, that should be real talk. People don't be understanding it. This is a world where every human came from. And now it seems like every other country and continent has exploited it in one way or another.

It continues to. Yeah, it continues to. So, man, with the diamonds specifically, okay, they had a civil war in the 90s where it was crazy. And of course, they got the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond, which he kind of talks about, explains some of it. But it would be basically rebels who would take over the diamond mines and then trade the diamonds for drugs or trade them for guns or things like that. And it was some crazy shit.

Child soldiers out there, like 13, 14, 15-year-old soldiers. And, you know, they would come in and, you know, completely destroy a village. Kidnap your kid. Kidnap the kids. Then put cocaine in the coffee of the kids and drug them and brainwash them into thinking somebody else did it. Did it make you look at diamonds different?

Oh, completely, for sure. First of all, you know, things I didn't understand, the Kimberly process, where if you buy a diamond, if I'm a jeweler and I go buy my diamonds wholesale, it needs to be registered through the Kimberly process. Now, what that means is when a diamond is mined in the mine, and they got different mines. They got Flintstones looking mines, just like a big ass pit, and they got different mines. They got Flintstones-looking mines, just like a big-ass pit, and they got these big-ass machines.

And then they got the water mines, where they out there sifting in the mud. Like the gold shit. Yeah, yeah. So there might be more caves and others, but what we saw, that's what I saw. And when they mine, basically everything from who owned the mine, who's actually mining. It's like labor laws. Like, a lot of this shit is corrupt.

So, they'll pay, man, they would get like a dollar a day, some shit, 90 cents a day and a bowl of rice. That was their pay for being out there in the mud, sifting through the diamonds. That ain't right. 90 cents a day? So, things like that where there's not like labor laws on that type of shit. It's crazy, man, to see that it's like this. The crazy perspective is just living in this civilization, Western civilization, where you're taught that the diamond is,

that's a symbol of success. That's a symbol of achievement, of pride to show off. But then to see when you trace back where it came from all the way, and not all diamonds are mined like that through child labor and things like that. But the ones that are, it just makes you think about, oh, like, man, is it really worth it? You know, who is getting paid off of this? And then you see, you know, so that's why for me going out there,

it was important that Johnny came with me because I'm like, bro, we got to come out there because it's certain things on the business end that I don't know I don't you know the people that you know he the businessman when it comes to negotiating all that type of shit I'm the marketing person where I'm the face of the company you know so he do what he do I do did y'all change anything you did based off that trip like how you bought the diamond yeah off top before that we you, we didn't even know of the Kimberley process. So all of that... And then of course, Johnny being from Vietnam where the country, the life, it was a lot similar to what we saw out there. It touched him as well.

So for sure, off top, we switched our diamond wholesaler up and made sure they were going through the Kimberley process. The ones before... Now let me say this, and what the Kimberley process is, let me finish it. When you mine a diamond, you find a diamond, if and what the Kimberly process is, let me finish it. When you mine, you know, when you mine a diamond, you have to, you find a diamond, you got to, you know, if I own the diamond mine, I got to get each diamond registered. Then when it's sold, whoever it's sold to, there's like a, it's got a number registered to it, so it can be tracked where exactly it came from.

Now, you know, with anything on the black market, you can, your diamond, when we out there, people in the hotel are like, hey, you need some diamonds? And I'm like, man. I'm just like, damn. I'm just tripping to myself thinking, man, what type of person would I be? Like Hot Liga Sling and Wade. Yeah. I'm out here getting a plug on the diamonds.

I'm like, we wasn't out there to get a plug on the diamonds. We out there to try to understand. I think it would be kind of like, I mean, I can't say like we can change the world or we can change it, but we personally have to make a change. You know, I think that's where everything starts. Yeah, be responsible for what you're doing. Yeah, for sure.

Let's make some noise for that. Yeah, that's for real. That girl went on jewelry after that. Oh, yeah? Yeah, like, yeah. It wasn't nothing at jewelry after that. Oh, yeah? Yeah, like, yeah. She went nothing at all after that. The whole experience out there, bro, it was everything, you know, of, you know, we got the UN escorting us.

You met all the mutilated kids also, I think. We met some of them. There was like a village, too. Like, some of it was, it's just, you know, you see kind of like, growing up here, man, you know, first you're taught that everything is perfect. And then you realize it's all lies and bullshit. And then later on you realize the whole world is like that. You know, that's kind of how it was for me.

It was like I grew up thinking that, oh, America's great. And then you're like, damn, this is fucked up how it happened or how it still is. And then you go out to other places in the world and you're like, damn, the world really fucked up how we treat each other, man. This shit's crazy, man. So let's take it back, right? You and Johnny, you link up. The guy, Crime, links you up with Johnny, right? All right.

And Johnny's already doing it? He's already up? Johnny was, at that time, this is Johnny's basic story. He came from Vietnam. Johnny actually has a crazy story within his personal family. His uncle was a general story within his personal family. His uncle was a general in the Army in Vietnam. The communist side?

No, the side that's down with America. His uncle escaped from Vietnam. He was in jail. He escaped as a prisoner of war. It took him 18 times. On his 18th time, he finally escaped and made it to america got a political asylum everything here and then one by one his family would come over johnny made it here when he was young uh i think just out of high school um like he might have just graduated like sometime around like that and he went to school he started off doing jewelry repair he would man his first six

months here i think he said he made five hundred dollars his first six months here, I think he said he made $500 his first six months. And he was like, man, this is the greatest in the world. Vietnamese people work hard as a community. Has he gone back to Vietnam since? Yeah, a few times. I tried to reach out when we did. I also went to Vietnam. We did a film out there. I was trying to reach out to him to be in the film.

Damn, he should have went. Yeah. It's already out? I mean, I just wanted to get an interview from him about us going. Yeah, yeah, it's already done, but done, but I want to go back, man. We loved it, man. Part two, man. We'll link that up for sure.

What's it called? Coming Home Vietnam. Oh, thanks a lot, buddy. Coming Home Vietnam. That's what's up. We got to check that out. Now, back in the days, they used to say, who is Mike Jones? Now, where is Mike Jones at?

Where is that nigga at, man? Yeah, man, your guess might be as good as mine, man. Maybe the number still works. Call it. Word, the number, right? Yeah. Word. Yeah.

What happened? Hey, Don, I think he actually, I think the phone company actually, like, tried to sue him because of that number. Because they, like, man, he don't have it no more. So whoever has it, like, they can't use it as a number. You know what I'm saying? Like, because it's, whoever it is, like, right now it's people texting, calling, this is Mike Jones, Mike Jones. So that's your phone. You're like, ah, has it. Like, they can't use it as a number. You know what I'm saying? Because whoever it is, like right now, it's people texting, calling,

this is Mike Jones, Mike Jones. So, that's your phone. You're like, God damn it. Hey, shout out Mike Jones, wherever you at, man. We wish you the best, man. Shit, you know. Hey, what's up? Man, what it do?

Wish you the best. Number love. Y'all got Slim Thug, Bun. Y'all got you. You got, who else you got? Zero. We got my boy, Trey the Truth. We got... Ain't Megan Thee Stallion from y'all? Megan. You got who else? You got a lot of people. We got my boy Trey the Truth. We got...

Ain't Megan Thee Stallion from y'all? Megan Thee Stallion. Shout out Megan Thee Stallion. Lizzo. Lizzo from Houston too. Travis Scott. Sauce Twins. Travis Scott don't remind me of none of y'all niggas, though.

That nigga's out of it. That nigga's not from Houston. That was kind of ill about him, though. That's what's ill about him. He definitely from the moon. Yeah, yeah. And he gets the biggest tribute, though, when he does it what's ill about him. He definitely from the moon. And he gets the biggest tribute, though, when he does it. He raps hard. He definitely raps hard.

I think about that, too, because throughout the years, there's been other artists that have come out of Houston that didn't come with the traditional H-Town sound. You know what I'm saying? But he for sure took it to another level. But I think with his style, he has more of a... I think he's kind of affected the... I have a bias being from Houston, so I'm going to look at him like, oh yeah, he just... like shit, he a god. Rob Markman, Jr.: With trash. Yeah, because he's successful, so I'm rooting for him.

I want to see all these... Rob Markman, Jr.: Home team, that's for sure. Yeah, for sure. But just seeing how he do his thing with the production and the rap, And then, for him to, man, he on Saturday Night Live. That Kardashian sex bring you right to the top. Bring you right to the top. You know what I mean? Shout out to the Kardashians.

We seen him on Saturday Night Live, though, with DJ Screw in the background. Them type of things, it's like, man, you know. And that kind of just goes to show,, you know, even from Houston or wherever, wherever you're from, you know, from Houston, we got a wide variety of flavors. You know what I'm saying? We do have our best-selling flavors, but we got a wide variety of flavors. I even got Beyonce. For sure.

Shout out Beyonce. Fuck, y'all win. Y'all win. They got Beyonce. Yeah, we got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And I wanted people to know that Paul Wall said he's not drinking today, so I am not drinking today. Smoke tips. God damn it. Smoke tips. Yes, sir. The EFN is going in. And I respect that.

I respect that. So, you know, some people come on here and they don't drink and they act like they're drinking sometimes. And, you know, I don't like that. No, yeah. We don't promote that. We don't drink. You don't want to drink. That's on you. We sometimes. I don't like that. I don't promote that.

I'm telling you. I want to join my guests. Now, we have guests that don't come on or don't smoke or drink, but it's because, like Joe Button. We had Joe Button on. I'm saying his name right? Yeah, Royce the Five-Nine. They both felt like they were Akon. Well, not Akon. Royce and Joe. They felt like they were addicts at Yeah. Well, not Akon. Royce and Joe.

They felt like they were addicts at one point, and that's the reason why they don't indulge anymore. I'm not addict. I can quit anytime I want. Right. So you don't still fuck with Leland, or do you? Huh? Or do you? I mean, when you get older and then being a parent and then being a role model and actually seeing kids and then also having conversations with other artists and CEOs from Houston, from the eras that raised me and having them type of talks with them, it gives you a different perspective on the influence where if I talk about it in a rap or even if I make a whole song about it and I'm wearing an activist shirt or something.

Because you had the cup at one point, right? Yeah, for sure. I still got it. It's at the jewelry store. Some of it is like, man, how much of it is it just representing the culture or when does it turn from that to promoting the culture and promoting the misinformation of things

and then, you know, it's like, man, we got parents on there trying to ban and boycott us. What do you feel about those kids that get on the internet and they like this? They look like, they're going like this. And they can't stay up. That's like heroin, right? Yeah, some of it is.

But, I mean, you know, I think most of them not sipping drink, though. I think most of them is taking somas and popping pills and other shit. Yeah, they probably adding pills for sure. It seems like that, yeah. But, you know, and that's the, It definitely, at some point, it went... Because it's so funny, man. Growing up musically in my musical career, or when I signed to a major, or whatever, you go around the country, we sip and drink, we ask, you know where some drank at, whatever.

And I just... Certain places I'll go, I remember being in places and there was some very high-powered people in the room. And we sipping drank. They looking at us like we complete crackheads. And I'm like, damn, they looking at us like we crackheads. But they was snorting cocaine. They doing what's crack made out of. Yeah, and we just like, damn.

It's just funny to see how drink has just globally become accepted now. I'll look on Instagram. There as rappers in Africa Thomas even drank and I'm like damn man's going down and it's the other thing like I got a homeboy from Poland I went to Poland he like I got a present for you what's up it's some Poland drank I'm like fuck is that like for show anytime we go to Mexico, we always, you know, in La Farmacia, like, where the codeine at? Don't make it like codeine at. You know, but it ain't, they make it different all around the world, you know what I'm saying? But it is cough syrup all around the world, you know what I'm saying?

If you had one song to represent your whole career, like everything, just one song to represent Paul Ball, what would that song be? Man, that's a good one, man. Shit, it's definitely been a journey, a career, man. This is my dream job, so I look at this as my career. Like, shit, every aspect of whatever, even if it parlay into other businesses, this is my dream job, dream career. I'm going to do this as long as I'm able and capable, man. You know, so i don't know i

think you know for sure uh i would maybe say drive slow because you know it's a marathon not a not a not a sprint so i'll say maybe drive slow would be would be my and what what artists from the town inspired you and then from outside the town for sure little kiki was my biggest inspiration he you know i grew up on the era, the screwed up clique. Everybody in the screwed up clique. Now, Kiki, who Drake talk about? No, no, no. Come on.

You know, these little niggas out here, man, they crazy. They crazy. They crazy. You know what I mean? They niggas. They'll start running with the groove. They'll be at memes and everything. You know what I mean?

This is why Drake is, you know what I mean? We got to clean it up. We got to clean it up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So, Kiki. Yeah, look, Kiki. He's basically the originator of a lot of the Houston culture, especially when it comes to rapping about the culture, putting it on, you know, having him, you know, I'm sure he'd

be an incredible guest because he can give, you know, all kind of background history. You know, it was him, Fat Pat, and DJ Screw where it started off. And then there was definitely people involved. Shout out to OG Ron C as well. OG Ron C would've do, for sure. There was people involved in the streets like Corey Blunt, who was a key figure where the cars, he was one of the people in the streets making the money,

so he had his cars right. So it was like an inspiration for everyone. The way we do our cars now, he inspired me for sure the most. He was my favorite rapper, still is. He was the greatest rapper to me, still is. His wordplay, the things he would say, also just representing, put it on for the Houston culture being that he was somebody I looked to. He was from where I'm from, from the city I'm from.

He represented where I'm from. Where I look to him as being somebody, you know, up high, who's professional, who made it, who's elite, you know what I'm saying? Where he's from, where I'm from, shit. That's exactly who I would want to be. You know, definitely he's my favorite. No, but he didn't answer it from outside the town.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who inspired him from outside the town? Inspire, I would say maybe BG. Oh, wow. Maybe. Yeah, you did say he was a catchphrase. Yeah, Hot Boys for sure. BG was my favorite.

BG and Juvenile, they was my favorite. BG for sure. I think because I had the best collection, the biggest collection of his music for sure. Even though I maybe didn't pattern my rap style off of him, he definitely inspired me a lot. A lot of that, too, came from the locality of where he from. Any local rapper, they're my favorite rapper, man. Snoop Dogg, it don't get more local than that.

He Long Beach for life. Right, right. But he's global. I get what you're saying. He local global. Yeah, yeah. Global, global. I got to understand. saying. He's local global. Yeah, yeah. Global, global. I got to understand.

But all the local rappers are always my favorite. When you ascend with your career, they want you to be more mainstream so more people can fuck with it. But sometimes you lose your localness. But the local rappers are always the dopest to me, man. They're my favorite. Now, you got the Eminem past. What I mean by that is, like, you know how most people,

they'll be like, oh, Logic is dope, but then they'll say, Logic is dope for a white guy. A white boy, yeah. You know what I'm saying? And then they'll say, you know, MC Search is dope

before a white guy. I don't hear people say that about you. Like, I hear people say Paul Wall is dope. And I hear people say Eminem is dope. Yeah. Like, how does that resonate with you?

I mean, I'm very grateful that people appreciate me in any capacity. If they say, are you dope for somebody to wear a hat? You know, so even that, you know, it's like, shit, at least they think I'm dope. Because, you know, I got bullied. I got picked on. So, shit, I'm glad I got friends now. Even if they fake friends. Make some noise for that.

I got my real friends. Shout out to my real ones, man. Hey, what's up, Pierre? Shout out to my boy, Pierre, out there. Goo, what's up, Goo, T-Fair? All my real ones out there. It's funny because we'll think about, me and my boys, we'll laugh about that

when they have the top 10 greatest white rappers ever and I ain't on the list. Top 20, top 50. And we'll be like, damn, I know I'm better than some of them. But, you know, it's like, okay, I don't know. Now, we traded you a long time ago. You on our team. We traded you.

I forgot who we traded you for. Who did we trade you for? I think Wayne Brady or some shit. Nah, I'm just playing Wayne Brady. That's my man. Yeah, yeah. But they all, yeah, shout out to my boy. That's my boy Wayne, too.

Hey, but, man, you know, I don't know. Some of it is man. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But they all, yeah, that's my boy Wayne too. Hey, but man, you know, I don't know. Some of it is like... Don Sterling. I don't know. We just traded you for Don Sterling. I don't know.

I don't know how I should feel being, you know, like... I never cared. I never wanted to be a white rapper. I never wanted that. And then growing up in Texas, a lot of times people thought

I was, especially with a low haircut, they'd be like, oh, he Hispanic, or he mixed, or he Frenchman from Louisiana. It was one of the three. Wait, a Frenchman? Yeah. Like Creole. Yeah, like Creole, yeah.

Oh, shit. But they call him Frenchman? I've never heard of that. That's where Creole is. That's kind of hard. He used to be French, actually. I want to be a Frenchman, nigga. I want to be a Frenchman, nigga.

That's the name of my next mixtape, Frenchman. I think some of that, too, being on the Switch House mixtapes, my voice is slow. It's pre-internet, so you can't Google what somebody look like. So you didn't know what I look like. You hear my music. It's already slowed down, so it's already got effects on it. So you really didn't know what I look like. And then I think sometimes people make excuses up like that just to give me a pass.

Like, oh, no, he ain't right. He got to be Mexican. No, no, no, he ain't white. He got to be Mexican. No, no, no. Right. It's funny, man. One time I was in Florida. I had a show at Star 69, Roy Jones Jr. Club in Pensacola. And it was like one of my first shows.

Me and Kamee in there. And I was at the bar before I'm about to go home. It was a sold-out show. It was, you know, because we was rocking it back then, just even on the mixtape, sold out show. And I'm just at the bar getting a drink. Somebody next to me say to his homeboy, hey, man, I want to win Power Walk going on, man. How long we got to wait till Power Walk go on? I turned to him, I said, oh, what's up, bro? I'm going to be, I'm going to go on like 15, 20 minutes. He looking me up, up and down my head, like he about to steal off on me. I'm like, oh,

you know, I'm like, whatever. All right, that's what's up. And then I left. I'm like, whatever. Then after the show, he came up to me. He was like, damn, I didn't know that was you. And he just straight up told me, he's like, man, I don't mean no offense, but I hate white people, man.

He told me. He was like, I hate white people. He said, but really, you my favorite rapper. So when you told me that at the bar, I'm like, who the fuck is that? And I'm like, he said, he really. He found out you were white right then? Right then when I come on stage. So he told me, he told me that I'm torn between two worlds right now.

Do I like you because you my favorite rapper or do I hate you because you white? And, you know, I was just, that just, man, it was. That's some funny shit. That's some funny stuff. So whoever that was, man, just, that's just, man, that's a little funny stuff. So whoever that was, man, if you're still out there, man, much love to you. I'll give you a discount on the grill or something. That's some funny shit. You know, some of it too, man, just personally, I don't like think back. I think because sometimes I see white rappers and they'll come to me like, man, a lot of times, man.

You know, all the time, white rappers come to me for advice on different things. You know, rappers always come to me. They come to me and say, how do I be a white rapper? I don't want to imagine they say that. In so many words, you know, I get asked some questions that'll be, I'll think, how could you ask somebody that? Or how could you even think that, like, you know, my advice to anybody, you want somebody to like you, just be real, be yourself.

Because if they don't like you for being fake, what is that? It's easy to be you. Yeah. It's easy to be you. For sure. So, I mean, but it's funny sometimes. But at the same time, I don't know, because growing up, I had friends of all races. For sure, most of my friends were black, but I had Asian friends too.

I had a lot of Mexican friends or Hispanic. I had friends that were Dominican and other things too, not just Mexican, but Guatemalan. But for sure, most of my friends were for sure black. I had some white friends, but the white boys in my neighborhood were the ones that would beat me up, bully me. So it was shit. That's just how it was for me. I grew up comedian my whole life, so me and him were friends since kindergarten down there.

You know what I'm saying? So not only him, but all our friends from that area, we all came up together. We are very similar in everything we do. You know what I'm saying? And we all had friends of all races. But being white, sometimes it's like, you know, when they don't have me on the list, it would be funny.

Like, shit. Then at the same time, we're like, well, I don't want to be seen as a white rapper or none of that. I just want people to see me for being dope or whatever. But definitely, you know, being dope or whatever, but definitely being dope for a white rapper or being dope, you dope for such and such. You dope for a girl. You dope for-

They used to do that to the Puerto Ricans too, to the Spanish. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They were like, yo, he's dope for a Spanish artist. Yeah, yeah. So I relate to him. Yeah, it's good to be appreciated, to be considered dope, but it's also, you could be dope not just for one aspect. Just be dope. just for one aspect. Just be dope.

Characteristic. Have you ever had a beef? I'm looking at you and I'm thinking, you've always been positive. So I'm thinking, I know you and Camilla in there, but y'all beefed for a little while. It wasn't lyrical. It was more just personal. But with him, it was personal because we were best friends and then we took separate paths. But it's very great. Shout to pemcee man pemcee has had a huge he's a huge reason why

we reconcile he talked to us individually y'all tripping i also shot the e40 what was the best the two biggest people it was you know i mean some of it is like not worth talking about because you know bringing up old shit but you know it. But we had different views on certain things, or sometimes money might have been involved or whatever. It was meant for us to take separate paths. So when it was meant for that to happen, it happened. And thankfully, we kept it off wax. So some of them disses, you go back, even when you're cool, you're like, damn, that

motherfucker said that about me? God, damn. So it's like, man, thankfully motherfucker said that about me? God damn. So, you know, it's like, man, you know, we thank God. Thankfully, we kept it off wax. But E-40 was the first one to say, man, y'all tripping. You know how much money y'all can make? And by the time you realize it, that opportunity is going to be gone. Nobody going to care no more.

Or they're going to be on to the next or something. Like E-40 used to always tell us, man, y'all tripping. Because E-40 fucked with both of us. He gave us both advice. We was cool anyway. We was friends. But he was like a, E-40 for sure was a big mentor in the game. But specifically, man, you and Kameen are tripping.

Then when Pimp C said it too, it's like. You got two legends talking to y'all. And then Pimp C, like he came to, he spoke individually to both of us. Man, what's up with you and Kameen now, man? What's the problem? Okay, you tripping. He tripping too. Fuck that.

Y'all tripping. There's money out there. Y'all could be making all this money. Y'all ain't got to get along. Him and E-40, I don't know if they talked before they talked to us, but they both told us the same shit. It's like, man. And then when he put us in the song, Knocking Doors Down, he shot us out. Then, even before that, the public would come, hey, what's up with June Kamena?

What's up with June Kamena? What's up with June Kamena? It's cool, whatever. Then eventually, sometimes people will, the public will die down. Like, oh, it's a touchy subject. Let's don't ask him about that. Even when it ain't a touchy subject no more. Instead, they'd be like, oh, I don't respect.

I don't want to ask you about this or that. But then, you know, P.M.C. put us in a verse. Everybody liked it. What did he say in that verse? He said, Pow wow, that comedian still ain't talking. Money speak, all that bullshit keep walking. He basically called out all

the Houston rappers saying, y'all tripping with each other. We beefing, we need to come together. But he say, when he said that, then every, all the public hey, what to come together. But he say, when he said that, then all the public, hey, what Pimp C say? Damn, man, what y'all going to do? Damn. And everybody like, it made it cool to come talk to us about it. And then it really forced us to come together.

And then especially when Pimp C passed away, it was like, hey, we got to do this for Pimp C, man. You know, it's for Pimp C, for sure. He was a huge reason why we came back together, Squash.B. And we used to write Pimp C letters in jail. You wasn't Paul Moore yet. Yeah, my pimp pal, man. Yeah, my pimp pal. You wasn't a MC yet?

I was. It was kind of like, it was like during my ascension, you know what I'm saying? And then there's different levels. There's, you know, you could be a one-hit wonder. You could be an underground mixtape, you know, person. Once you get on the radio, it's different. Once you're on TV and the magazines, it's real different. And it's an era before the internet, before smartphones and shit. So you couldn't find out about other artists unless it was put in front of your face. Unless. You know, unless you go to that CD and go to a record store, you know, shit, the only

way you hear it is if they play it on the radio, which is somebody else controlling, or they play it on TV, which is somebody else controlling, or that's it. Shit. You know, it's tough to hear a lot of other people. You got his address and just said, fuck it, let me just, let me. I got his address, wrote to him, said, man, big bro, what it do? Shit, big fan, bro tones. Big bro, what it do. Big fan, of course. At that time, too, I was already

making a name for myself with Swish House. And then some of it, too, is when you say somebody, hey, Free Pimp C, you say it on a rap, you ain't trying to be false claiming, saying that. Some of it is... Some of it is, people, they reach like a motherfucker.

If I don't know him, it's better to say, man, I ain't never met Pimp C, but free him, I love him. But if you act like, oh, that's my boy Pimp C, free Pimp C, but you ain't never even met him, it's like, what are you faking like a motherfucker? So some of that too is, how can I represent, hold it down for him out here while he locked up and communicate with him so that I can represent, not like I'm speaking for him or a spokesperson or nothing like that, but just at least to communicate, let him know that we holding it down for you out here if you need something from any of us, whatever we here.

It's funny, the type of advice he would give me would be like, we're messing with girls on the road. Hey, make sure you strap up them hoes dirty, shit like that. They scammers. They don't leave your money out in your pockets. They going to go through your pockets when you taking a shower, watch know, shit like that. They scam us. They don't leave your money out in your pockets. They're going to go through your pockets when you be taking a shower, watch out, you know, shit like that. But that's real talk.

Like, shit. You know, I ain't had to lose a Rolex to learn that lesson. You know what I'm saying? Shit. He talk. He for sure, man. Yeah, I'm not a smoker. But are you smoking without smoking?

I feel like the way he's lighting that up, I just smoke, just hit him. I smoke backwards, and these papers, they not lighting up. I'm for sure. That's why I said my name. I feel like it's a new shit. You just light it, and the smoke just hits you. I'm for sure.

Big smoke. I was like, damn, he's killing it with that shit. That shit ain't lighting up. Now, what the fuck did Camillion there invest in? Yo, Camillion is the man. Yeah, what did he invest in? I don't know, but put your boy down, man. Let me get in on it.

We need a drink chance. We need financial advice from him. Somebody told me he invested in Lyft. Yeah, he's definitely in tech shit, for sure. Yeah, somebody told me he's with a hedge fund or something. That's, you know, anytime I talk to him about it, he's telling me he's doing something involving a hedge fund. Rob Markman, What the fuck is hedge fund? Rob Markman, I don't even fucking know.

Rob Markman, Hedge fund, they invest in that shit. Rob Markman, Yeah, they take your money and they invest it in a bunch of shit. Rob Markman, Yeah. What he doing? I don't know. I'm going to get in on it though. Rob Markman, Yeah. Rob Markman, But shit, I don't know what he doing, but it's working for him.

And he always tell me, man, I ain't retired, but what am I going to do for it other than for the love? So he'll still do verses like he did a verse for me on Swingin' in the Rain remix. Anytime I ever asked him to do a verse for me, he always did it. But for sure... How did y'all fix the beef? I'm sorry, I'm bouncing all over the place. A lot of it is, you just gotta let

it go. If we bring it up and talk about it, we're going to fight, we're going to argue, we got different opinions, perspective. We might both be right on whatever we're saying, but a lot of it is, hey, we went through what we went through. The past God led us on. Now we're here. What are we going to do about it? Are we going to go forward with this, be positive about this? And then some of it too is taking the responsibility of publicly beefing with someone else from your city like that. Like, you know, it just sends more of a message that this is how to make it. Like, people think, oh, if I troll you, you'll respond.

Because if I compliment you, you're not going to respond. And whatever they can do to get a response is cool. Because no one's, they're getting overlooked. So it's whatever they can do to get some type of attention. So I don't know, you know, I think a lot of it is just letting shit go and uh you know appreciating the fact that god took us like i say brought us through things to make us who we are and you know i apologize for my wrong he apologized for whatever even if we ain't wrong man look we we saw it man let's make it work and then shit go from there the medal of honor is the highest military decoration in the United States.

Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it. I'm J.R. Martinez. I'm a U.S. Army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Honor Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart Podcast. From Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal, to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have

distinguished themselves by acts of valor going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action, and that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin.

And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain.

I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser-known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian

Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater founder Stephen Ranella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here, and I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next.

In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation that's anything but ordinary. We dive into the competitive world of streaming, how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold, connecting audiences with stories that truly make them feel seen. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. It's this idea that there's so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content,

the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide. And hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Where was you at when you found out Bushwick Bill passed away? Because I know he had to be a legend to you as well. Man, I got a couple of crazy stories about Bushwick Bill just in dealing with him, man.

I got a, man. I heard he's a tough nigga. Yeah, for sure. Gangsta. He was, man. And he's smart as a motherfucker, too. I remember I met him, I was like 12 years old. This is like the first time I ever flew on a plane.

It was in the airport around like 1 o'clock, I don't know, 2 o'clock noon. I don't even remember this because I met Bushwick Bill and it was the first time I ever flew on a plane. It was in the airport around like one o'clock, I don't know, two o'clock noon. I don't even remember this because I met Bushwick Bill and it was the first time I ever flew. Right. You know, so I'm a kid. So I'm like, I remember a lot of that, you know? And so anyway, I'm in Houston airport, Hobby airport. Some of these two, I know from fact checking with my mom. Hey, mama, where was that? Oh, that was Hobby. Yeah, I remember that. She remembers. She knew Bush would be there, too. So anyway, I see him in a... I'm walking. I'm a kid.

My mama doing something. I'm 12 years old, so I'm almost a teenager. I see him sitting there with a bunch of luggage around him in like a lounge area of a restaurant. Just like, you know, restaurant, whatever. Just sitting there with a bunch of luggage. He knocked out. Off top, I recognize him, but he's by himself. I bunch of luggage, and he knocked out. Off top, I recognize him, but he's by himself. I'm like, that's Bush with Bill.

Why he ain't got all security, wrap a lot of mob with him, everybody like, why he by himself? I'm like, damn, should I go talk to him? Can I talk to him, man? What's up? So I just said, fuck it, I'm going to go talk to him. He knocked out, passed out in a chair, and I just go up to him, shake his, tap him on the arm.

You woke him up. I look back, and I had the opportunity to tell, shake his, tap him on the arm. Rob Markman You woke him up. Rob Markman I look back and I had the opportunity to tell him this story too before he passed away. Looking back I realize, man, I'm a kid, I ain't know. People need they space. I'm like, damn, I was mad disrespectful coming up to him, waking him up out of sleep, talking to him. But anyway, I talk to him and he like, what's up? He to him. But anyway, he's like, what's up?

He wake up, get up. I'm like, what's going on? And I'm like, hey, what's up, man? You Bush and Bill? He's like, yeah, man, what's up? Nice to meet you, man. And I'm just asking him kid questions. You ain't even asked for Instagram flick or none of that.

This was before I had. But y'all are like, damn. But I think I might have did get his autograph. And if I did, I still have it, because I got Big Boy's autograph too. One time I seen, I got a story I'll tell you. Okay. But yeah.

Big Boy. But I met, I'm a, man, yeah, but anyway, I'm a big fan of hip hop, especially back then. If someone would come to concert, it could be somebody I never heard of, and I'll go. I'm too young just to see what they look like walking in the club or whatever, or see if I can meet them, even if I never heard of them, just because it was hip-hop to me. It was dope. But anyway, Bushwick Bill, I started talking to him, and I'm like, whatever happened with

the kid conversation, eventually I realized I'm kind of tripping right now, man. And I'm thinking, eventually people are gonna come back, and they're gonna be like, what the fuck are you doing talking? You gotta go. So I was like, damn. All right, Bushwick Bill, I'm thinking, eventually people are going to come back and they're going to be like, what the fuck you doing talking? You know, you got to go. So I was like, damn. All right, Bushwiff man, I'm going to holler at you. And I left, you know, and I was dead. And okay, then when I work, you know, and it was just a great positive interaction,

but I thought that's how all rappers work. Cool as fuck. They want to talk to you, whatever. They'll wake up out there, out of their sleep to talk to you. So then I go to the... Later on in life when I'm working for Def Jam, it was an artist that I'm promoting hard as fuck for, bringing his records to the DJs,

putting his posters up, passing his flyers out. He come to town. I try to holler at him, thinking he going to be Bush with it, cool as fuck. Thinking he know what I'm doing for him. He was rude as fuck. Thinking he know what I'm doing for him. He was rude as fuck. Man, it was a complete opposite interaction. It was Bushwick.

And it was like, damn, you don't know I'm working my ass off for you. You going to treat me like this? What artist is this? He ain't even rapping. I don't even remember what it was. I'm sure if I go back to whatever year it was, I can think back and X off the list. It wasn't him, wasn't him, wasn't him. Okay, yeah, it wasn't him.

But whoever it is, he ain't rapping no more. But that led me to be the people's champ, because I'm like, I want to be like Bushwood. I want my interaction to be positive when someone walk away from seeing me. They like, damn, they got a smile on their face, and they're like, man, I met Paul R. That's real. Damn, he cool as fuck. I don't want it to be, man, fuck him. I ain't never listening to his music again.

I should have stole off on him. Damn, man, I'm going to go at him on a song. That's how people be. Like, man, you shit on people like that. So I'm like, man, I want to be more like Bushwick. Now, let me tell you when I met Big Boy. It was like a few years later, maybe like, I might have been. But you're still a kid.

I was still a kid. Okay, continue. I might have been like 16, 17. So it was around the same time as I was working for Def Jam. Me and Kamee in there, it was like, well, we was just old enough to drive, but we ain't had no car. So they had a concert come through Houston, and it was Outkast. I believe it was Erykah Badu, and it was The Roots, and Cypress Hill, I believe it was Erykah Badu and it was The Roots

and Cypress Hill I believe that sounds crazy yeah it was shit it was crazy but it was at the time when all of them

were new artists too so it was like Questlove opened up I mean not Questlove The Roots because I met Questlove there too he was cool as fuck too

he's just standing at the you know one of the what you call it, booths, and I'm going up to him like, oh, shit, that was you on stage? Yeah. He's talking like, damn, man, that's crazy. That's what's up.

And I'm going back, me and Kameen, okay, me and Kameen was at this show. We're sitting at the, okay, it's the Cynthia Mitchell Woodlands Pavilion, where it's an outdoor pavilion. They got a lot of these all around the country. Not the same name, but they got these type of venues where they got like front row seating and then they got like lawn seating in the back grass seating okay so it'd be like uh it'd be like a chair seating

and then it was a a walkway and then it was like a six foot up chaired seating so me and then behind that was all the grass okay so me and come in that's sitting in the front row of the back chairs so where the walkway is in front of us we about like six feet up eight feet up but we at the edge front row so people walking so outcasts perform they get off stage and they walk they walk through uh i see big boy walking and i'm like he walking with two security guards. I'm like, oh, shit, come in. There go Big Boy.

Damn, what's up, man? We got to stop. And he's like, what are we going to do? We way up here. Like, where are we going? We going to go race and die? And also, me and Kameen are very different in these perspectives. Kameen has more of a Houston mind frame when it comes to celebrities, especially rappers.

And this is the mind frame. I ain't going to be on his dick. I like him, but I'm not going to ride his nuts. So that's like the Houston mind frame. It would be a sold-out show. Everybody mean mugging you. But they love you, but they just mean they don't want you to know they love you because they don't want to be embarrassed. So, you know, they don't want you thinking they on their nuts.

So I'm more of a, man, I love that person. Let me go tell them I love them. You know, the comedian's like, yeah, I love them too, but I ain't going thinking they on their nuts. So I'm more of a, man, I love that person. Let me go tell them I love them. You know, a comedian's like, yeah, I love them too, but I ain't going to be on their nuts. So we sitting there, and we like just sitting on the front row. Big world, I'm like, man, come here, the big boy. He's like, oh, whatever, you know, whatever, shit. Man, I said, fuck it, I got to go. I got to say what's up.

I just hop down, jump over the thing, just like I'm running from the cops, jump over the fence. I hop down, jump down about six, eight feet. I land, chase him down. Him and his bodyguards was like, whoa, whoa, what's going on? What's going on? I'm still like somewhat of a kid. You could tell I was like 15, 16. So I might have looked adultish.

You know, I might have had like a little baby whisker mustache, but you could still tell I'm young. Like I ain't finna come on, like fight him or nothing like that. And they like, whoa, what's going on? I'm like, man, I'm a big boy. Man, I'm a on? I'm like, man, Big Boy, man, I'm a fan. I'm just a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan.

Can you sign something? He signed something for me. I still got that autograph to this day, too. See, I would collect things like that. That's what I'm saying. I can't remember specifically. Now, I for sure got to go back and tell Bushwick. I mean, I got to go see if I got that Bushwick autograph.

I think I still do, because I it was on like a napkin. But anyway, I know Big Boy signed the actual ticket. I still got that. But anyway, that was my Big Boy story. But going back to Bushwick, when I saw Bushwick, I mean, later on, and I see him all the time. Like I would see him at shows. You know, sometimes we'd perform together,

and we'd be kicking it backstage, chopping it up. He also has a son I connected with for a while me and him was was always real cool we still you know still are but like for over the years you know i'm saying so i got to know him and his son you know whatever through the years but more recently when it came out that you know he had stage four pancreatic cancer that was kind of like where you know they kind of did like a kind of call to action. You know, you fuck with Bushwood, kind of let him know because the clock kind of ticking. You know what I'm saying?

So it was like one of the things where, you know, I was, you know, I for sure reached out just to tell him how much, you know, I appreciate him, you know, whatever I love for him. And we always, you know, we had a, you know, we had a, you know, I always had a great connection over the years. But then he told me, he was like, hey, I'm working on an album. It's going to be basically my last solo album, whatever. You don't really want to say it like that at the time, but that's kind of like how he was saying it. I'm doing another solo album. It's basically going to be my, is it? You down to get on it?

Of course I'm going to get on it. Shit, I'm a professional rapper, and it's an icon legend, somebody I look up to, inspire me from my very first interaction with a rapper, me wanting to be like him, to be a people's champ. So, hell, of course I want to get on that. So I went to the studio with him, got to chop it up with him. And really, I did my verse, it was cool. We actually did two songs.

But I'm kind of quick in the studio, so I did my thing, that's cool. But after that, we just chopping it up for hours upon hours. And like I said, he's somebody I've known throughout the years, but we backstage at a concert. So we still might be chopping it up for a couple hours, getting ready to go on. But it's a group setting, where it's a party atmosphere. So this real intimate one, just me and him, his son, a couple other people, the engineer, a couple other people, we just in there chopping it up, talking about all kind of shit.

And I got to tell him, before I went to the studio, I told my mama, I said, mama, guess I'm going to the studio. Who? Bush with Bill. No, man, for real. You remember when you met him in the airport? I'm like, yeah, that's why I'm calling. I'm telling you.

I'm like, man, when? I'm trying to figure out, get like a real win. You remember when that was? She kind of tell me when it was. That's when we did this and that. That's the first time we flew. I kind of, you know, so it kind of, you know, we remember that kind of thing.

So when I told Bushwick, I said, Bushwick, I'm going to tell you a story, man. I tell him the story. Shout out to Bushwick, man. I tell him the story. He say, I said, Bushwick,

I met you when I was 12. He say, I tell him the whole story. He say, oh I met you when I was 12 he say all the way there I tell him the whole story he say oh yeah that was the Resurrection Tour

or whatever tour yeah it was in Hoppy Airport in the summer yeah I remember that he said were you wearing summer clothes

and I'm like man I don't even remember that but he said yeah I remember he said I don't know if that was you but I remember

meeting the youth in the airport wearing summer clothes you know was that you I'm like man you remember that that's crazy but nah I don't know if that was you, but I remember meeting the youth in the airport wearing summer clothes. You know, was that you? I'm like, man, you remember that? That's crazy. But, no, I don't know if he really did remember that or he was just kind of putting on. But still, you know, I definitely, you know, I'm glad I got to share that with him to let him know how much, you know, he's definitely.

Don't ever make fun of my Karis one ball. Hold on. Let's all give him a moment of silence, y'all. Rest in peace, Bushwick Bill. Definitely. Now, most people I see with grills, when they smoke or they eat, they take the grills off. You don't take the grill off when you smoke or eat? I mean, when you're on the jewelry store, I get to cheat. I can cheat.

You know what I'm saying? I got the jewelry store, so it ain't nothing. So why don't people do that? What is it? Mess it up or something? Well, think about it. You got your chain right there. If you got to eat, let's get, you know, we getting lasagna. Right.

You ain't going to dip it in the lasagna. Exactly. You got to, let me get a coffee, dip it in a coffee. Let me get a milkshake, dip it in a milkshake. Let me eat a hamburger or whatever. Let me, whatever coffee, dip it in a coffee. Let me get a milkshake, dip it in a milkshake. Let me eat a hamburger or whatever. Let me, whatever, you know. So it's like, you think about it, you wouldn't do that with that. It grills, it's your teeth, but it's still precious metal and jewels.

So, you know, you got to, some of it comes with, especially the smoking, it will tarnish the metal, make it, you know, change the color a little bit. But when you buff it out, it's brand new, back to new. And then different qualities of the gold will get dirty quicker. Same with the diamonds. So when you got a higher karat gold, you can smoke. It's not a big deal. But it's just proper grill care.

Me, whatever, I don't really tend to take my grill out too much. I'm actually about to go permanent on there, get something new. Permanent, you said? Yeah, yeah, I'm going to change it up. Obviously, those are the ones that don't come out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So is there a difference between regular gold and dental gold? Well, the dental gold, I think when they say that, they mean like the higher quality of the gold.

So typically, there's like 10 karat gold, 14 carat gold, 18 carat gold. Now there's 22 carat gold sometimes, 24 carat gold. Bruno Mars made a song about it. But when you go to buy jewelry, it's typically 10 carat, 14 carat, or 18 carat. 18 carat being the higher carat being the best. But also, it's boys whipping that gold up, man. Boys will whip that gold up with silver or some other things. You'll test it.

Wait, what do you mean? What do you mean? I don't understand. It'll be six carat gold or whatever, and they'll dip it to look like 18 carat or dip it. I actually got a song called, what Zayto would call, 18 carat gold, no dip, because boys will get 10 carat and then dip it to look like 18-carat or 14-carat gold. Holy shit, I didn't know that. Yeah, but-

I didn't know that. Yeah, but I think, I don't know, I could be wrong, but I think with the dental gold, what they mean is a 22-carat or the higher carat, which is usually, I think, 18-carat. All the dentists I know use the 18 carat. Shit, we do the goals for all the dentists, and it's 18 carat. That's actually how Johnny started with the grills was he was already doing jewelry repair, already doing a few custom things for jewelry stores. Not for customers, but for jewelry stores. So then it got to be the dentist would come to, hey, I'm making, you know,

I need you to make these gold teeth for a customer who's getting them permanent. And then Johnny was like, damn, I can do that on my own. They can come to me. Why are they going to you? They can come straight to me. See it, and then that's basically what it was. What was the first order? Because obviously you was a rapper, so this was your side hustle, The Grills, right?

It was all at the same time. I first started rapping with The Swisher House. My first mixtape with The Swisher House was in 1999. Before that, I was rapping with Kameen there doing talent shows or whatever, just trying to make it. But basically with no rap career, we was just- What was the first order with you and- Where you was like, you know what? the first order with you and where um you was like you know what i can make some money off of this shit like you know i'm saying like i

actually well i this what i'm doing i was working for crime where i worked at the other jewy yeah yeah i was working for him and it was at a store where we sold swish house tape it was like a hood store like you know uh you know like a bodega kind of but we don't call it that it's just like just a store corner store where we sold uh swish house mix tapes we sold hood t-shirts that'll just had a name of your hood type shit on there north side or whatever just type of sayings type of shit on there and we've been there selling grills selling gold teeth but uh after a while you know as shit started picking up, it was like, okay, I got to move out of here. I got to, you know, I can get money in other ways. But I really,

originally, I started out working for crime, doing the promotions. That's the first time where I actually ran a shop, ran a grill shop. And then even then, it was still working for crime. He paid me a salary and I would sell grills and I was a salesman, but he did everything. He took care of everything. And then eventually he was like, hey, look, I'm going to do something for you, man. I'm going to introduce you to Johnny, man. And he was like, all right. I was like, bet.

Shit. Yeah. And he basically gave- Was Johnny making it for him? Yes. Oh, okay. But Crime had different people too. Crime had somebody in New York that was making them.

He had somebody in, you know, But Johnny did the majority because it was local in Houston. But he had multiple... He got all kinds of stuff going on. But it wasn't like a celebrity who came to you and then you was like, you know what? This is something I'm going to invest my money in. Well, I think it was just... Nah, it was more

like just a hustle. Because Lil Jon was the first celebrity I did. But before that, it was just I oh, I was making money, man. I was making all kind of money selling grills. And the hustle is you pass out flyers with your number on it, with the prices on it, and people will see it. You go to all the different cities or towns in a three, four-hour radius. You know what I'm saying?

So I would go to Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, the same places I'm going to sell Swisher House tapes. Cause I keep this in mind too. I was selling Swisher House mixtapes before I was rapping on them. I was promoting and distributing. I would press up the CDs and the tapes, and I also would distribute them and go to the stores, fulfill the orders, take them back to Watts or Ron C or G-Dash.

That's what T-Ferris was doing, too. We came in at the same time doing that. Before I was rapping at the Switch House. So I got to seeing, well, shit, the same grill hustle in Houston. I can do this out of town. So I go to Dallas, all these places, put my number down with flyers with the prices. They already were traveling to Houston or places to get grills or to whatever, whoever they local hood did this.

But it's like it ain't a good selection of people to go to. It's only like one or two or maybe three in Houston. At that time, they were doing permanent grills. They were like hood dinners, like doing that. So it's like, shit, where can you go? So, you know, doing that, it would just work. And then I would go to Louisiana, same thing. Lafayette, Lake Charles, Appaloosa, on the Baton Rouge, and then every direction, you know what I'm saying?

So it got to be a real hustle for me. But Lil Jon saw it and was like, he knew who I was at the time I was a DJ. I was DJing, and I was an artist, switch house, freestyle artist. But I kind of, a lot of people, you know, I kind of got more recognition as a DJ at that time. At that time from other artists. DJ Paul Wall? DJ Paul Wall.

The other artists, I think a lot of, they more respected me as a DJ, because I wasn't hounding them for verses and all of me act like I'm friends with you and all that. It was more like, I'm a DJ, I play your music. They respected me for that, because I really will support people I fuck with. Okay. Whereas the fans fucked with me as being a rapper. They didn't give a fuck about me DJing. The fans fucked with me as being a rapper.

But the other artists, they fucked with me as being more a DJ. So it was a lot of other artists I fuck with. I fuck with T.I. real tough, real heavy. Even as I was rapping with the Swisher House and, you know, when 24's came out and, you know, all around then. But it was more as me being a DJ. And then as the artist thing came,

it was like, oh shit, you rap too? I didn't know you rap. And then it also, let me just, you know, it just, it worked for me. Because I saw how people, you know, man, everybody is a rapper or a DJ or a producer. Everybody. So everybody who's seen any type of success, and there's all type of different levels,

you get everybody coming up to you. Hey, I want to be where you at. How can I be there? How can you put me on, put me on, put me on, put me on? So shit, man, I would just see how you would get turned off, shut out as I'm a rapper. Hey, put me on, put me on. And they don't want to fuck with you. But shit, I'm a DJ.

Oh, yeah, I'm a DJ. I can play your music. Then they, oh, you can play my music? Shit, let me fuck with you. Shit, it just was like reverse psychology. And then when they would find out that I rapped, it would be, damn, you ain't even tell me you rapped. It would be like, yeah, because I ain't trying to put you out like that where you ain't want to fuck with me no more because you see how I go.

So it worked for me. You know what I'm saying? I let my other side hustles grow so that when I had an opportunity for me to be an artist or a rapper, I had all kind of money-wise, monetarily I had my money. So I didn't rely on record sales. My network was already strong because I was already distributing other people's music. And I was a salesman selling grills and selling music, so I knew what I'd do to sell my own music. Being an artist, what it kind of took. I knew being a salesman who distributed the Swish House tapes, sometimes I could tell what the fans, they fuck with this artist or that artist.

They like when you say this or that. It's like you're on your A&R and shit. Right, right. So, yeah, I could adjust. Like, okay, they like when I do that. You and Johnny as partners on the whole jewelry store or just the grill part? All of it. All of it?

Oh, okay. Goddamn. The grill. Goddamn. So you damn near got it on your home jewelry store. Damn near. Jesus. We actually, we branching out.

We about to branch off. We still got the Sharpstown store, of course. We got the new one, 6224 Richmond in Houston, the big one, the two-story. Johnny got his own. Johnny went from doing jewelry repair in his garage to selling grills in the mall to having his own mall, man. So, you know, man, it's definitely. How does one, if somebody wanted to start getting in the jewelry business, how do you even begin? This is why I love Johnny, bro.

He changed my life. Me being a hustler, I can sell anything. I can hustle anything. So when you got that type of skill, you know, how can you do that without going to jail? How can you do that with integrity and respect where you're not selling something that's whack or corny? Or how can you do that and make to jail how can you do that with integrity to and respect where you're not selling something that's whack or corny or how can you do that and make a career out of it how can you do that you know just all that so for me it was a a whole lot of you know i love grills i want grills so i want to sell them then i can make a lot of money off of this because a lot of

people at the time who were selling grills, were charging too much money, or were doing bad business where they take your money and your grill, mold, but you wouldn't get your grill. And you got to hound them for their grill. So I just saw myself as, man, if I can do a good business, I'm going to win. And Johnny gave me that opportunity. That's what Johnny started off as. He would give wholesale to other... Did you fund him first? You know what I'm saying?

No, no. Johnny, it was all... Okay, so me, I would... When I'm working for crime, doing grills, selling grill molds, whatever, anything I'm doing with crime, I would be like the driver, drop off the mold. So I met Johnny's, dropping off the molds, picking up orders, things like that. I that i'd be in there it was a small shop and every time i ever went in there he

would always be getting into somebody he got this thick vietnamese accent and it'd be somebody who was from the hood of any race they was from some type of hood so they had a hood accent or they was from out of state so he ain't know what the fuck they was saying. They ain't know what the fuck he was saying. And it would just be a translation. Oh, no, no. All he's saying is this. Oh, no, no, Johnny. He want this.

No, he want this. And then, you know, after that, eventually it got to be a, hey, you Paul Wall? While I'm in there dropping off grill molds and shit, people say, hey, you Paul Wall? And I'm like, I saw how they know you. Oh, I'm a rapper too. And he's like, you a rapper? And you sell grills, whatever. And I'm like, yeah, well, you know I say, I didn't know you. I'm a rapper, too. And he's like, you a rapper? And you sell grills, whatever. And I'm like, yeah, well, you know, it's a hustle, whatever shit.

And then it got to be a, shit, we can do this together, and we way stronger together. And Johnny always from the jump. Johnny got a part of my music, too, just like I got a part of the Drew story. Johnny told me from the jump, man, hey, look, the same way you love Drew, that's how I love music. I can't make no music. I don't know how to make music, but I want to be a part somehow. Whether it's doing concerts, you know, just investing, something. I want to be a part.

So that's why we always have kind of meshed the way we have. The jury is his thing. I do the marketing. I do things like that in terms of the marketing outreach. A big part of what I do is customer service when people have problems. Of course, that's when people don't really call me unless they got a problem. And they got a problem, of course, we're going to smooth it over. That's our thing, too, is that customer service is number one to us.

But the business run itself, he run it, so I'm able to do my music and collect the check at the same time, cross-promote in everything I do. But it just was like a why why not we got a team up let's do this together and me I'm a very loyal person so I'm not the type to let me do this on my own without you to X you out so that I can make a little bit more money I'm more of a let's build this up together you got kids I got kids will pass this on to our kids together you know I'm more of a builder than I am over let me go do it on my own, nomad style. That's dope.

Charlie, you got your grills? Let's see what the quality of those grills are. Yes sir. Where'd you get those grills, Charlie? Neimark. Yeah, yeah. Hey, but this is why I love Johnny, because- But it might be that dipshit.

Hey, hey, hey, nah, but it might, you looking good, you shining. I don't know, you looking shining. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, I love Johnny because... But it might be that dipshit. Nah, but it might... You're looking good.

You're shining. I don't know. You're shining. But this is why I love Johnny because the same opportunity he gave me to go hustle

and make a living and make money off of this. Man, he get into... We got thousands of wholesale clients around the world. So that, you know, instead of him franchising off and having a Johnny Dang company in every city, there's like 10 Johnny Dang company people who are getting their wholesale from us, but they're their own business.

You're like empowering them. Yeah, I appreciate that he empowered you to be your own hustler, to build your own business for your kids. You know what I'm saying? That's why I love Johnny Johnny because he get an opportunity. I've seen him time and time and time again get that opportunity to- But what's the first thing a person should do if they want to get into the Jerry business? Well, I mean- Because you had Johnny.

I would say this. No matter what, it's very easy to get tempted to run off with people's money or charge them more and get them, ah, they paid $10,000, but let me act like they paid $9,000 or $8,000 because I need some new rims or something. So I think good business and customer service is key, A1 key to long-term business. Now, if you want to go out and hit licks, come up real quick. That's a completely different business structure.

The business advice I can give you is for long-term careers or something you can pass on to your kids and make millions of dollars off of. Yeah. If you want to make a couple thousand real quick, you can go hit Licks and burn people on their orders. But if you want to make some millions, yeah, you can't do that type of shit. But that's what, man, you know, real talk, though. If you want to sell jewelry, the best advice I would give to you is, man, go talk to Johnny.

We have a whole department, a wholesale department. This is just as big as the gold casting or diamond setting or shipping or any other department we have. The wholesale department is huge, man. And that's also why we're able to sell 400 grills a day. It's crazy to be able to do this much, but it's not because they— Y'all need another grill, goddammit. Yeah, you know we got you. You know we got you, big bro.

But now you was in a movie called You Hope They Serve Beer in Hell? Oh, yeah, my boy Tucker Max, for sure. How the hell you get involved in a movie like that, nigga? Man, it's a—yeah, man, it's a—you know, I'm not that good an actor, but I think that might be where it started. They put me in the movies, not the mainstream successes. But they did make some money off of that. It's based off a book.

My boy, it's a real person named Tucker Max. He got a book. It was on a New York Times bestseller for like 10 years, something crazy. I think he might have broke a record or something. But the book is like a story he wrote, which is basically like adventures of getting fucked up and fucking girls and just reckless shit. Hey, I fucked three girls in one night and I didn't wear

a condom. I got so drunk and I threw them all over the floor here and there. Hey, one time I had to shit and this girl gave me head while I was shitting. It's like disgusting type of... Yeah. But it's all true stories of him And this is on the best selling list for taking it. Yeah, but it's all true stories of him.

And I had to ask him, I was like, hey, bro, these all can't be your stories. It got to be like you and four of your homeboys and you all putting them together. But he's like, well, it's just me. But anyway, I met him through somebody else. The first time I went to Iraq with the USO, I went with my boy Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone. Jamie Kennedy, the actor, comedian,

he had a book out. Tucker Max, he's the one who wrote it. Co-wrote it. Anyway, he was talking to him and he was like, oh shit, hey, my boy Tucker Max said, what's up, man? He helped co-write my book. I'm like, oh shit,

tell him what's up. I'm trying to write a book too. Anyway, he wrote a bunch of books. He helped Tiffany Haddish write with her book. I wasn't in on their writing problem, how they do it. But a lot of times when they write books like that, you'll do an interview and then it'll be kind of transcribed, kind of whatever. I don't know, but whatever. Anyway, but if you look on the book, the last black unicorn is Tiffany Haddish, Tug of Mac.

So I'm like, oh shit, my boy. I seen that. I was wired up when I seen that. But yeah, that's how I met him. And I'm like, damn. He's like, yeah, I wrote a book. It's on a New York Times bestseller. But he co-wrote a bunch of other books.

So we got to be cool. And he's like, hey, they going to... And I told him, I was like, hey, bro, I can't act for shit. I ain't been in but like three or four movies. But say, man, if you make the, because he said they're going to make a movie out of the book. I said, hey, bro, put me in the movie, man. I tried to get in that movie

just because I'm trying to get a movie credit. So that's how it basically happened. He put me in the movie. He basically wrote me in the movie, which was like a parody of myself, kind of like my name in the movie was Grillionaire. So, but yeah, shout out to my boy. What's up?

Now, you got a real, you got a real, you married a real sister. You ain't married like a fake black girl. Shout out to Chris Wall. You married a real, real black. What has been like that? What has that life have been? Because obviously we know you white and you married a black girl. Has that been pluses for you?

Have people critiqued you for it? Different people have different perspectives. She's my dream woman. Aw. Aw. Anything I could ask for or could want and a partner is she that for me. So I don't want nothing else.

Don't touch her hair though. Tell her, go ahead. I never been married to nobody else or nothing else like that. So I never even, you know, been, she really the first serious, serious relationship that I had ever been in long, long term like that. We got married on our two year anniversary.

So she had, I don't know, for me, you know, we get it different ways. Of course, if you look at the comments on the post or something, you'll see all kinds of shit sometimes. But I think, you know, if you're racist, then you're going to find something racist out of it or whatever. Or, you know, there's definitely people on both sides who got a problem with it, you know what I'm saying, or whatever. But, hey, man, I wish them the best. I hope they be happy. You know, I'm saying, or whatever, but hey man, I wish them the best. I hope they be happy.

I'm happy. I'm proud to be married to it. This is what I wanted, being with my parents with divorce. This is what I wanted, man. I wanted to be married. Shit, I'm not trying to be like rap and married where I'm married but I'm fucking on the side. Rob Markman, the man. You said rap and married.

That was hard. That's hard. That's hard. I caught it. I caught it! aside or just just entertainer married where you don't tell nobody married you know just you know I'm cuz it even you know as a child growing up if I want to think about what rappers you know from being whatever age I was when I first heard hip-hop, who's married? Who talks about being married? Who's proud to be married or any of that?

You don't hear none of that. Only thing you see is scandal, side bitches, baby mamas, dogging girls out, love songs, broken, you know, hey, there's a difference, the love spectrum or the interactive spectrum, you know, whatever, it's big, but you don't hear too much of, yeah, I'm married and, you know, shit like that. Real shit. You know, whatever, or's big, but you don't hear too much of, yeah, I'm married and, you know, shit like that. Real shit.

You know, whatever. Or you just see people talking about it at all. You'd be like, damn, I didn't even know they was married until you find out somebody got divorced. You know, damn, you got divorced? I didn't even know they was married. Shit. But, you know, so for me, it was like, who do I look to as a role model to be, you know,

to be married in entertainment or be a rapper that's married or interracial. I never really looked at any of it like any of that. But who do I look to for just to be a marriage role model, especially in rap music? You know what I'm saying? Shit, it wasn't a lot at the time. Now it's gotten to be more. You know what I'm saying? So it's a brotherhood, all the other married rappers.

You know what I'm saying? It's cool. And parenting, too. Now people are more proud to talk about being parents. For sure, man. It's something that goes a long way in us. A lot of us, growing up, having bad experiences or coming from a broken home or not having a father or having a father addicted to drugs. All of them things.

Okay, who do I look to, you know, as a role model in rap as well? Like, shit, you know, it's something to be proud of, being a father. All of these things, to be married is something to be proud of. To be a father is something to be proud of. So it's something I try to do. You know, it's what I wanted.

It's my dream. I wanted to be married, have kids, and be happy. Shit, that's cool. I'm living my dream like a motherfucker. Now, you went on tour with Tech Mind. Yeah, my boy. Like, and Ill Bill as well? Yeah, that's cool. I'm living my dream like a motherfucker. Now, you went on tour with Tech Mind. Yeah, my boy. And Ill Bill as well? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How was that? It was awesome. Because Tech Mind toured like a wrestler. That nigga toured 394 days of the year. We actually toured twice. Once we toured in 2003, but it was just like, I think, four or five shows. It wasn't a whole lot. Before, probably the label.

Yeah. Well, maybe at the beginning. Yeah, the beginning stages. Even then, it was a weird experience showing up to the first show. I think it was in Joplin. I don't know if it was the first. One of the first shows. Was he painting his face already?

Yeah, he was. I remember we did a show in Joplin, Missouri, and it was like we pull up, and there's people waiting there, but they got on black trench coats. It's hot as fuck. They got on black trench coats. Oh, his fans is crazy. Yeah, they got their face painted, and we like, man, what's going on? This ain't something we wasn't used to when we go in the show.

That's the Jigga Bulls, right? Yeah, the Juggalos. The Juggalos. The Juggalos. The Juggalos, the ICP. He got technicians. Yeah. So it was something we wasn't, we didn't know what to expect. And it was a dope interaction to see the combination of his fans and my fans. Because you could see some people were there for me, some people were there for him, some were there for both.

But it for sure was a dope experience that first time we did the first shows. And that was my first interaction with Juggalos like that. And it was dope just seeing, I thought that was so dope to have fans that, especially in hip hop, bro, because being a fan is not cool. You can't be no fan. You a dick rider. It ain't no fan, it's you a dick rider. Nah, they real fans. You been to the gathering of the Juggalos? Nah, I haven't been to the gathering of the Juggalos. I've been to two of them and this shit is crazy. Yeah, they scared the. You been to the gathering of the Juggalos? Nah, I haven't been to the gathering of the Juggalos. I've been to two of them, and this shit is crazy. Yeah, they scared the shit out of me.

But it's dope to me to see people that are proud to be a fan of you, and if you don't like it, they ready to fight you. Yeah. That's how Zero is to me, his fan base. Zero has a, my boy Zero from Houston, he got a fan base where if his fans, if you talk bad about Zero, you say, man, they're going to fight you right there on the spot. I mean, you tripping. So, you know, they don't paint their faces, but they, man, they ready to fight. It's true fanism, man.

Yeah. And so, you know, I was, you know, happy to see that for sure when I experienced that. And that was the first time. And the second time we went on tour, it was like a 60 city tour. It was crazy. I'm like, man, 60 shows back to back to back. He's reaping the benefits of it, too. Yeah.

But it taught me a grind like, damn, okay, I see the long-term grind. He got everything on his show. He got mad real estate in Kansas City. He's killing it. Man, he pulled up in a Maybach. Shout out to Strange Music. When we went to Kansas City and we did a show, he said, I want to bring you by my compound and show you my studio.

He pull up in the Maybach. You know what I'm saying? He pull up to the multi-acre compound and we get buzzed in by security. They got car washes and that motherfucker. And you see the back warehouse where they got their 100 or 50. Feel like Costco. Different sets from show sets. Like they, you know, you go to the other side where you see the warehouse with all of their

merch over the years, everything from socks to jerseys, t-shirts. It's impressive. It's like, damn, then you see the other side where they got the studio, they got the paperwork, everything. It's like, damn, that's the real independent, that's the dream right there. The way they got everything is just, it's very inspiring. That's big up to Tech Mind. Big up to Tech Mind. Let's make some noise for Tech Mind.

He be rapping his ass off too, man. He be rapping his ass off. In 2011, you collaborated with Silicon Valley-based company Jump Shot Media to create a battle rap game. Is that still lit? I don't know if it's going if it's still active right now i think it's another one i seen another one that burner did oh yes

but yeah it was kind of dope it was like you know this is the early stages of interactive apps type you know interactive type of things like that but it's just dope to be a part of that you know growing up in houston i wasn't a part of the battle rap scene. So it was like, it was something that I wasn't. So you think battle rap's eventually, it's going to be like FaceTime? Like you could be in Seattle. You could be in Seattle. I could be in Texas.

And it's like live streamed at the same time. You know, some of it, though, is the doing it. Because in the battle rap, you know, it's a performance. Face to face. Yeah, that face to face disrespect in your face in front of all your people. That's, you know, some of that is that, because if you, if I'm just in my room with all my homies, you know, you holding your nuts a lot. Yeah, I'm really holding my nuts, but if you face to face, it's like, you might steal off on me right now. So, you know, it might, you got to be ready for all of that. It's people with anybody, you know, but that'd

be what that battle rap is all about. But that also is why I never really personally got into that lane because, man, if somebody talk about me like that, man, I'm going to be ready to fight. And spitting in your face too. I can't do it. You got to be built for that shit. I can't do it. I'm a fan of it, of watching it. Yeah, that's it.

Shout out to my boy, the Jacka. Rest in peace to Jacka, man. He really got me on to watching. Hey, you seen this battle? Pulling up battles on YouTube. Hey, you seen this battle? You seen this battle? Oh, he went in. Jacka man he really got me on to watching hey you seen this battle pulling up battles on YouTube hey you seen this battle you seen this battle oh he went in Jacka from Oakland yeah yeah we uh that's my that was my boy we actually did uh we uh man big rest in peace man we uh we we actually did uh we went on tour to Sweden we did a festival over there and it was a

a big it was a battle rap going on, like a battle rap concert going on. It was like 20. Your poor boy named like 15 countries here. Nigga, you be all over the world. Yeah, I got a couple stamps.

I got a couple stamps, man. I got me a couple. It's travel Asia. It's travel Asia. I got me a couple stamps. Yeah, yeah.

I got a couple stamps, man. I got a couple stamps, man. Yeah, Bulgaria, Sweden, you was in Sweden.

Yeah, but that was my first time being at a battle rap live in person and seeing all of it. Meeting these artists, seeing how they do it. You ain't seen them niggas that tried to jump ASAP Rocky, did you? I don't know. What, they're battle rappers? No, in Sweden.

It was a few years ago when we was there. I thought about that, though. When I seen it, I'm like, damn, I wonder if, was they there or what? But they looked like they was a little younger. I just seen them niggas yesterday. Them two niggas. Them two niggas? Yeah. You saw them yesterday? I seen them today. I'm back them niggas yesterday. Them two niggas. Them two niggas? You saw them yesterday?

I seen them today. I'm back. We was leaving Estevan's kitchen. I said, them two niggas is trying to jump ASAP Rocky. I swear to God, in my mind. Yeah, but you listen, Paul. Well, we started this to big up our legends and tell people to their face that, you know, your grace is so many people in our culture.

We don't salute our culture. And this is what we want to change. We want to change the narrative of that. So we started Drink Champs in order for us to give people their flowers where they can smell them, their thoughts where they can tell them, their drinks where they can drink them,

you know what I'm saying? And their smokes where they can smoke them. Smoke champs. You know what I'm saying? And we want to tell you, man, you know, you've been out here, you know, representing hip-hop in the right way, playing the game in the right way. way we want to tell you we appreciate you

want to tell you salute we want to tell you man keep doing your thing I want to tell you I'm ordering a new grill more than a grill and I'm all three of my sons a grill and um but man we want to tell you thank you man appreciate you man this is drink champs man, give you your flowers right now. Much love, man. Much love. That's all. Thanks a lot. Hey, man, anybody call Johnny Manning and get a grill with a hashtag or whatever. Tell him Drink Champs. Give him that Drink Champs discount, man. We'll give you

a 10% off top, baby. Let's do that, goddamn it. We're going to take a picture in the drop. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves. This medal is for the men who went down that day. On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what

their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of times big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith.

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your gut microbiome and those healthy bacteria can actually have positive effects. Your mental health, your immunity, your risk of cancer, almost any disease under the sun. This week on Dope Labs, Titi and I dive into the world of probiotics, the hype, the science, and what your gut bacteria are really doing behind the scenes. From drinks and gummies to probiotic pillows. Yes, really, probiotic pillows.

We're breaking down what's legit and what's just brilliant marketing. With expert insight from gastroenterologist Dr. Roshi Raj. Listen to Dope Labs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a soap opera Western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.