No Jumper - Tommy G on Documenting The Craziest Hoods in America, The Kia Boys & More

Episode Date: February 16, 2023

Tommy talks about his come-up, prank videos, martial arts, wrestling, traveling for content and more. https://www.instagram.com/tommygmcgee/ ----- 00:00 Intro 0:05 Adam talks about working out with Tommy G and outlasting him in cardio 1:03 Adam asks Tommy G about growing up in Milwaukee and being a triplet 2:50 Tommy G talks about what his parents did growing up and wrestling in high school 4:50 Adam asks Tommy G how wrestling was viewed by other students in high school 8:30 Tommy G on taking ayahuasca and not feeling the effects and not feeling comfortable with the shaman 10:04 Tommy G talks about visiting and staying in the village in Ecuador and seeing how people lived there 12:40 Adam asks Tommy G why he’s so comfortable going to so many different places and engaging with people 18:30 Tommy G calls out Danny Mullen to a Jiu Jitsu match 19:55 Tommy G talks about making prank videos while working for a company and getting arrested 23:30 Tommy G on losing his job and making videos and content more seriously 25:30 Adam asks Tommy how the conversation with his wife went when he said he wanted to make prank videos 26:30 Tommy G and Adam talk about the average workday for a content creator 27:55 Adam asks Tommy G about doing the Kia Boys documentary and meeting them in person 31:30 Adam says the Kia Boys are a product of their environment and are nihilistic toward their future 34:10 Adam asks Tommy G if he believes his content in hoods is ethical 39:40 Tommy G says that Democrats and Republicans should have battles of ideas to find a solution to problems 40:15 Tommy G on getting raided in Mexico while recording 41:58 Tommy G talks about recording the footage of getting raided and the cops deleting it 43:20 Tommy G says Mexico could be a beautiful place to live if it wasn't for the cartels 49:10 Tommy G on Youtube demonetization is affecting his videos, release scheduling and working with a team 53:45 Adam asks Tommy G if he thinks the people on camera are playing a part when he’s around 55:40 Tommy G on limits for interviewing and documenting someone 57:50 Tommy G on confirming the videos with all the guests to get their approval 1:01:03 Tommy G on if he ever feels like a cultural vulture and meeting up with people through DM's 1:03:35 Adam asks who Tommy G admires on YouTube and watching VICE documentaries 1:06:50 Adam asks Tommy G what his 5 year plan is and if he's gonna calm down the content once has kids ----- NO JUMPER PATREON http://www.patreon.com/nojumper CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5te... FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT FOR THE LATEST NEWS & UPDATES https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE STORE!!! http://www.nojumper.com/ SUBSCRIBE for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/nastymondayz  Follow us on SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ENxb4B... iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Follow us on Social Media: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... http://www.twitter.com/nojumper http://www.instagram.com/nojumper https://www.facebook.com/NOJUMPEROFFI... http://www.reddit.com/r/nojumper JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Q3XPfBm Follow Adam22: https://www.tiktok.com/@adam22 http://www.twitter.com/adam22 http://www.instagram.com/adam22 adam22hoe on Snapchat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Jumper, coolest podcast on the world. And today I'm in here with an up-and-coming YouTube sensation. Tommy G is in the building. Hello. How you doing, man? Life is good, man. How are you? Good.

We just had a workout this morning. It is currently 106. And at 8.30 this morning, Tommy was at my house and we were working out together. I'm not going to lie, you were moving at a very fast pace. and my trainer was kind of like rising to the pace that you were going at. And as a result, it was probably one of the most draining workouts I've ever done. I've never been the guy that can go into a weight room and impress you with 15 plates on each side of the squat rack, but I've always been a cardio machine.

Really? Do you think that comes from the wrestling background and everything? That's how I would grind people out. Like everyone is tough for the first minute, you know, but then when you get deeper and deeper and then they drown and you keep swimming, That's how the sharks come out. I like that language. All right. So tell us where you're from.

I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Right. And give us a little bit of a glimpse in your childhood. What was your eye bringing like? I grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois. It's the most white-bred suburban Applebee's-style America. I had a very good supportive family. You know, if I wanted to go do resting, they would bring me to rest.

And if I do football, whatever it was. So I had a good childhood, supportive parents. I was a triplet. So I was the youngest and the dumbest of the three. You were actually the dumbest you go? By far. They were like doing insanely well in school and everything. So we even had this one time so my parents would take us out for good report cards.

And so my brother and sister would come home with like a 4.2. They were at AP classes, all that. I would come home with a 3.4. And one time I found out that they waited until I went to a friend's house. And then they took Ben and Rose out. And I found out later. What for like dinner or snacks or something? For dinner.

And then they left me at the friend's house because I guess I wasn't cutting it. 3.4 wasn't enough? Compared to them, I guess not. I mean, what is your overall feeling on your parents, though? That sounds kind of cruel. It only happened once. I feel like every other time I was the same about a difference between them, and I still went. Because, I mean, as a triplet, because I have a friend who's a triplet, and I was hearing

somebody else talk about him, and they said he grew up with, like, an insane sense of competition as a result, and I was like, that's very interesting. Would you say that's true? Yeah, so, and the thing is, we were always on top of each other. Like, even our lockers at school were next to each other, driving to school, we're next to each other. We were in a lot of the same classes. So we were kind of in the smart program, but I was like the dumber, especially math and science. I was the dumber end of the smart spectrum. And so, yeah, there's a lot of competition, but a lot of like really good times, too.

A lot of like the family dinner table was a lot of fun because there was three kids that just went off in a lot of different directions and we could talk about anything. Right. Wow, that's cool. What do your parents do? So my pop, he passed when I was a senior in high school. He was a salesman for IBM. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and entrepreneur. She made draperies and window treatments and custom pillows for people. And so we had a little bit of entrepreneurial blood, but then also some of that sales, too. Interesting. Okay. So how would you characterize yourself throughout high school and stuff? The single greatest influence in my life has been the sport of wrestling. That's what gave me all the struggle that I had. Because I didn't have a rough childhood. I mean,

I was academically pushed, and then wrestling was a sport that really made me tough, like to be, you when I was a junior in college, to be Wayne, I was cutting to 157. And so it was such a yo-yo, you know, like I'd be 170 on the weekend, cut to 157 by competition time every single week during the wrestling season. But looking at that now, do you see that as being extremely unhealthy and dangerous? I did it more properly. I mean, I didn't do anything stupid. Like, I know guys that would go to lifetime fitness and sleep in a sauna in a sauna suit.

I mean, and then they were just dead. They couldn't ever compete. I always tried to just do extra workouts and then eat light. So, but now that I'm older, I wouldn't recommend. I would be like, you know, just eat healthy, work your ass off, but don't do anything too crazy because it's going to, you know, cut into your edge. And so you started wrestling at what age? 10.

10. And so you just loved it from day one. Like, how would you describe what you got from it? Like the best things. I was the kid that loved practices, but hated competitions because I would get so nervous at competition, but practice. I just love being the dog. Like, I love being the hardest worker in the room.

and, you know, the coaches do something crazy where it's like you're just bear crawling and you can see the furnace on the ceiling that's like blowing all the hot air in the room and kids are dying and some kids are breaking, some kids are staying strong. Like I just love the intensity of it and then also the confidence it gives you.

Like, you know, I never look for fights. I haven't had a street fight in years and I never want to have one in my entire life. But, you know, I have a pretty good sense that if someone wants to fight me one-on-one, I'm going to be able to take them down to choke him out with my jujitsu. Does doing wrestling make you popular when you're in high school? Because I'm going to be honest, like I felt like the people I knew wrestling was kind of a mystery.

And I almost kind of regret that because now knowing so much about MMA or knowing something about MMA, I realize what great training it is and everything. And I have a lot of respect for it. But I was pretty oblivious to it in high school. Right. Well, I think when we were coming up, the MMA wasn't popular. And we didn't know that the wrestling was number one combat sport. I mean, if you look at all the UFC champions, I think the last 52 UFC champions, 26 of them were wrestlers, 13 of them were jiu-jitsu guys, and then like a mixture of strikers were mixed in there. So it got a lot of respect from that.

But before, I mean, people would just thought, oh, like you're gay or, you know, it's that weird sport. Like I don't want to be sweating, whatever it was. But I think, like a good quote, I did a video, $1,000 takedown challenge on Miami Beach. And one of the guys I interviewed was like, you know, I fought a wrestler once and I'm never doing it again. And it's like you kind of have that. like if I ever went to a bar or I went to jail or wherever and I saw a guy with cauliflower year I'm like okay this is the guy I'm probably gonna team up with because he's probably oh so you get that from wrestling a lot too I thought it was mostly boxing uh wrestling rugby boxing but a lot of those sports like just if someone has messed up ears like that like they probably know some stuff yeah like I remember years ago being in the post office and there was like a 60 year old black dude just standing in front of me and he had the worst cauliflower ear ever and it was kind of crazy because I'm just like oh so you were probably a really badass fighter at some point in your life. Now you're an old guy, but you still got these fucked up ears.

Which I actually just recently found out that there are like health issues related to the ears, that it could fuck up your hearing. And there's a few bad things associated with it, right? I have a couple buddies from college that they have ears that they look like they could be in Lord of the Rings. Like you can't even put a headphone into the ear. It's that much of a slit. Wow. And so I'm sure like, you know, these are perfectly designed.

Are your ears all right? Yeah, I only have one ear that's a little bit. Oh yeah, it's like, okay. But also I was a weird body type for a wrestler. Most of them are short, squat, and really strong. I was more long and lean, so I think I was able to keep people at a distance. Definitely. So were you always fascinated by social media?

And actually, before we'd go down on that road, when did you transfer to Jiu-Jitsu? And how was that? Right after I got out of college, I had all these big dreams, like my team national champion, an individual national champion, and we came close as a team, I think we'd, my freshman sophomore year and junior year, we placed second, third, and fourth. So, like, we were a dynasty in the D3 wrestling world, and we were really tough. And then, like, my senior year of college, I beat the national champ twice. I major, beat the fifth and sixth place guy pretty good.

But for whatever reason in the national tournament, I just didn't wrestle the way I needed to. So I never All-American. I made it to the blood round by junior senior year, where if you win, you all-American, you lose, you go home. And this is before, like, MMA really, right? So you're sort of, like, just doing this? Coming up. Right. You're doing this mostly just out of passion.

You're not really thinking this is going to turn into anything. Or what were you picturing yourself doing later in life? I remember I was in college applying for jobs. Like I think I wanted to work for like Vice Media or I just wanted to explore. And so my sophomore year summer, I got an opportunity to go live with a tribe in the jungle of Ecuador. So drink, spit, shoot blow guns, ayahuasca, the whole Shabane. And so. This was through the school or something?

No, I just, I found it on some website and I emailed them myself. And I chased it down. I love when a person who ends up becoming successful as a content creator, when you hear stories like that, you just realize like, oh, you were always a fucking crazy person. Like you were going to do something wild with your life regret. Wait, drink spit? So they have a drink called chicha, and it's the most important thing in their culture. And so basically the women are responsible to make it.

And they get river water. They get this kind of jungle potato, and they chewed up in their mouth, and they spit it into like a big, like canoe kind of a thing, like as a bowl. and then they get it and they put a big leaf across the middle of it and the bottom half ferments and you can get buzz off of it the top half is just a calorie dense drink and so like if these guys are going for a hunt they'll just bring a little like a little bag of chicha with them that's all they need to survive for two three days they feel fine wow that's crazy so you were out there and you're how old doing ayahuasca 19 and the ayahuasca never kicked in i had a weird

experience with the shaman medicine man guy. I was in his hut sitting on the floor and next to me was a woman with a baby and he was chanting and waving the leaf over her and trying to help her with some of the issues that the baby had. And the only advice he told me through my guy that I was with there, hey, tell the white guy not to scream out when snakes start swirling in his vision. So I'm sitting on this dirt floor just waiting for it to kick in, waiting to start throwing up, waiting for the most crazy adventure of my entire life, and it never quite kicked in. And when he asked me if I wanted a second shot,

I'm like, this guy, he's just not making me feel very comfortable. And this is an experience, I want somebody to guide me through. So if it's meant to be, I'll try it again with someone that I feel a little bit better with, but that guy, he would one-star a Yelp review, you know what I mean? Yeah, it sounds like a good video, though, for sure. I would love to go back and film that with those guys.

I feel like if you put, I did ayahuasca in the YouTube title, that that might not work out so well. Yeah, I think YouTube might age-restricted, strike you, and tell you to never do it again. So you'd have to choose a super corny title, like, I got trippy in the woods. Or, you know, Netflix executives, Hulu executives.

We'd love to sell a few episodes to you. Very interesting. But, damn, so you didn't walk away from that whole experience going to Ecuador I was feeling like it was in any way, like a scam or anything? Like, did it feel like it was actually like this very pure, important experience? Yeah, I've been really,

fascinated by people living in tribal situations because it feels like there's just such a great disconnect and how life is structured right now. And so being able to live in a village with 13 huts and a really strong community to me was something I really wanted to experience. Like I always thought like if I were to time travel, I'd want to go back to the Navajos or the Apaches or some sort of more peaceful tribal element and see what that was like. And so I think I just wanted to see what that lifestyle could be. Did it change your outlook on what you were doing with your life at that point? I would say it made me grateful for the little luxuries that we have.

And like some people just work so hard, especially the women in that village, dude. Like at the crack of dawn, they'd be up making the fire. They'd be getting everything ready. Like if we were canoeing through, it was flooding at that time. It actually almost flooded so much that I couldn't leave because there's a plane that comes once a week into this kind of football field. landing strip and it was raining so much that everything was flooding and we were almost going into the flooding season where I could have been stranded there for a while and so like we'd be going in

the canoes through the trees and like spiders would be climbing up the tree and just cleaning for life and if the boat got stuck the woman jumped off and navigated it and so it just was I just was blown away by how hard people work but also these people had the option to go you know into the city if they wanted to but they preferred this heavily really wow that was amazing. So, okay, where do you go from there? So I finished my years in college and then I got a sales job for a corporate company. I was doing small business payroll. So I, and so when I got into this office, they basically assigned me the hoodiest of the hood. Like one of the zip codes I was working is 5326, which is known as the most incarcerated zip code in the country. Six out of

10 dudes walking around have been to prison. And so I'm a kid that I grew up in a super white bread area and then but I'm a guy that's comfortable going anywhere like throw me to the jungle throw me to the hood throw me to whatever village I'll go there and I'll make my way happen what what is that about you like that's what I was thinking when you were telling the Ecuador story and then contrasting that would like go into the trap house in Chicago is like you clearly have a pretty high risk tolerance which I can relate to because we've done all these vlogs going to the hood and stuff and it never it never really freaks me out that much because I just kind of assume that people are good people right that like why would anyone want to shoot me and people want to tell their story

Exactly. And people tend to respect when, you know, if they invite you into their community, they take it upon themselves to protect you. So it's important that you meet up with the right people because you don't want to meet up with somebody who's getting bullied and picked on and shit because then you're probably going to be getting bullied and picked on. But if you know or have a degree of confidence that the people that you're linking up with are on the up and up, it doesn't really seem that. Like riding BMX all those years going to crazy ass neighborhoods in New York, I kind of like developed that like confidence that people were mostly good and weren't going to take my bike. Yeah, I think what the ability I have, what it is is that I'm intensely curious about people. And so I want to hear what you have to say. And so I think that makes you a welcome audience wherever you go. And I think that, you know, if people see that you genuinely want to understand them or kind of get their point of view, I think you're welcome in a lot of places. Right. So what were your experiences like doing that job in that area? Well, I learned a lot.

I would say, like, different stories pop up. Like, I had a boss who was very by the book. Like, he always wanted you to be in a suit, in a tie. And I'm like, Dave, I'm showing up to these spots. People think I'm the FBI. Right. Can I please? Like, let's change this up a little bit because it's getting a little bit frightening.

Throw a little polo shirt on or something. Yeah, just a little lower, a little doubt. A suit in a, like, certain urban areas is just, yeah, it's like a microaggression. You're really making it clear that you're not from here. I'm either an agency investigating your child care business or I'm a, like, it's not a welcome visit probably if I'm showing up in a suit. Yeah. You know, so I think what I learned too is just if you can help people and if you can make their life just a little bit better. Like if I can make this aspect of your business easier by going through me, people want to work with you.

And then also not to be deterred. Like probably half the appointments I would schedule would get stood up. I'd be going to their own business where they're supposed to be. And they, oh, I forgot. Can we do it tomorrow? Go back there. I forgot again. And we're just like, how do you guys get anything done sometimes, you know? And so like getting stood up a lot was definitely frustrating. But I think overall, like it was this, it was one of those experiences that I thought was a total waste of time when I was there. Like I was like, this is not what I want to be doing. I feel like I meant for something a little bit more in life. But if I hadn't had that experience, this

transition is so good into what I'm doing now that I can go anywhere and feel. comfortable and so like it's interesting how your your journey does align even though you can't sometimes see it until you're looking back a little bit yeah definitely like somehow the the skills that like and a lot of people when no jumper came out were like how like how do you know how to do all this shit like how did you how does this seem so easy to you so quickly and I was like bro I was doing this in the BMX world for 10 years where I basically had like training on how to run a media company so once I got the ball rolling with the more music or underground culture side of things. It was just like a very easy transition. And yeah, like,

you don't realize it when it's happening, but you're, you're having these experiences all through your life that are basically training for something that you don't necessarily even know is to come. And I think it's really important to not take what you view as a stepping stone for granted because there might be skills you learn from that chapter of your life that are immensely important moving forward. And if you just kind of screw off and don't care about it, you're going to miss, You have to be there anyways. You might as well apply yourself somewhat so that you can bounce on to the next thing. It's weird, though, because you always want to enjoy your life while you're living it,

even though you kind of also simultaneously know that you need to struggle and you need to put yourself in an unenjoyable situations in order to grow. 100%. I think the things that make you nervous are sometimes the things that you should most be doing. Because once you knock on that door and you're brave enough to open it, The things that are on the other side are sometimes the most remarkable things in life that we ever can encounter. Definitely. And that's what keeps me going back to the gym. It's just that feeling of like, this is, I'm not good at this. I need to get better at this. You know, like this hurts. Like I want to fucking achieve something better. And in order to do it, I just keep having to fucking do this shit over and over and over. Yeah. To me, the gym is my church. My jiu jih Tjitsu gym is my church. That's where I have my community. That's where every time I leave that parking line, I'm like, I feel good, man.

For me, the thing I loved about Jiu-Situ is just the pure, full-body feeling of being devastated physically. Like, I've never had a workout that was quite like that where every single muscle in my legs and my arms was just completely lit up, like, unable to do anything. When I got out of college, I'm like, you know what? Am I just going to lift dumbbells for the rest of my life?

Like, what am I going to do to stay in shape? Like, to go from wanting to be a national champion to just like, I'm going to try and do something aesthetic. It didn't have the same pull. And also you leave a huge brotherhood behind. And so I wanted to find that again. And so I did one cage fight out of college. I did a little bit of striking.

I did a lot of grappling. And to me, it was just like finding something that every practice is a new chess match. Like if I go against you, you have no idea what you're going to start with. And then it's a puzzle that just keeps evolving. So it's a lot of fun, and I'm never bored of a workout. Right. What belt are you? I'm a purple belt.

Okay. My boy Danny Mullen is too. So you guys match up perfectly. That would be a great match. A long time ago, I believe I called him out for $1,000 to do a grappling match. But I was a more contentious man at that time. Yeah, you were cloud tracing? I think I wasn't breaking through on the prank videos.

Right. And I saw a guy that I thought, you know what? I think I could take him. Yeah. I'm sure I could take him. Let's put out an offer. Because sometimes you've got to be bold to break through, right? So if I can put out an offer that, hey, this guy said no to this.

But. I think he'd be open to it. I don't think so. Really? Well, we had this dude Jason Ellis on here. He's like a comedian and shit, and he's like a blue belt. Danny just straight up told him like, I outrank you. I will defeat you.

Like, he seems so confident. Danny Mullen. I'm in an interesting place here. I have a really good friend that they had an incredible beef. And I don't really, I don't inherit the beef. Okay. But I want to say, regardless of who it is, if it's a, competition, I'm going to bet on myself.

Okay. I like it. And how long have you been doing Jiu Jitsu? I've been doing Jiu Jitsu for about five years now. And you go how many times per week on average? Four or five, six times a week. Wow. So like multiple times a day sometimes? Mm. Oh, okay. And how long is average class? A couple hours? Just an hour? Yeah. Okay. Interesting. Okay. So you're working this job in the hood and not really

enjoying it. When do you start doing the social media thing? Or are you watching a lot of stuff on YouTube and stuff at this time? I was actively making prank videos. I'm shocked that I never got fired. It was a miracle. I was always waiting for the call. Like HR is like, okay, you know, we saw this. You're out of here because I had gotten arrested while I was working for this button-up

company. I did a prank where I had a fake ball sack. And I think the bit was I pretended to be, I dressed up in like a nurse outfit. So I was pretending I was to be a doctor. And I had the ball sack. And I ran into a restaurant. I'm like, or no, a grocery store. I'm like, we need to put it on ice.

We need to put this on ice. Someone just lost their ball sack. And so, like, people were scrambling. It was a little bit much now that I'm looking back at. It was a little bit much. That is so funny. That's still on YouTube? I think I have a lot of my prank videos.

I'm private. Okay. Because as I turn this new chapter in a documentary. Somebody lost their ball sack. We've got to put this on ice. It's so funny. And the fact that people took it serious. Oh, I think that's the other thing.

I think an ambulance might have been called. It's one of those things that went a little farther than maybe it should of. And then somehow, I need an unlisted link. Somebody said me this shit. That's amazing. And in the midst of that, an old couple saw me, and they thought I was exposing myself. Because I think I had jeans on and I zipped it up into my jeans and like in between takes just to be funny.

Right. So. And they let you out quickly, I'm assuming? Yeah, I got processed, got my picture taken. They chose the ugliest photo that they took of the lineup. Because I thought it was going to be so cool and make a T-shirt out of it. And then I looked like I was missing a few brains. sells, you know. So it wasn't the triumphant, you know. But you felt like you didn't really have any real

successes doing the prank stuff. Because I do notice that the prank thing, even after all these years, is such a reliable niche for like new content creators, like somebody like Gideon, you know, he's got a ton of talent and personality. He could really be doing anything. But like doing pranks is basically like going up to people and fucking with them in public, people you don't know. And that is just such a consistent, reliable thing. What do you feel like you struggled with in that I was trying to make sense to that because I thought the stuff I was doing was so crazy and so bold that how could it not have broken through? And we had a little bit of success. Like we had the hell of us bars in the hood. That series took off a little bit. And I had a

couple other videos that did well. But I think the pranksters that are really popping off, a lot of them, I don't want to say they antagonize. But I was, I always was doing stuff that was silly enough that I think like 95% of the people involved in it, like even the people I was pranking. They weren't mad at me afterwards. Okay. Where I feel like the audience today, they want to see like, she got mad, Karen got mad. Like that's the title. And to me, it's like, there's an old lady buying groceries. Like, I'm not going to antagonize her to the point where she has a freak out and then be like make it, you know, that just didn't seem. It didn't, wasn't my personality. And I feel like

there's more of a conversation about that nowadays where it's like there, you know, people who do that consistently for content, I feel like there's a lot more of a conversation about the fact that that is kind of fucked up. Well, I feel like to be a creator, you You have to have some element to it that is innovative. No one's doing this before, but to simply be obnoxious is not really a skill set in my book. Yeah, but it definitely can make you go viral. And don't get me wrong. There's kids out there that are doing it right, that are making it happen, and kudos to them.

And for whatever reason, I never broke through. And so when I made the switch to documentaries, I was really counting down my time on YouTube. I thought, you know what? So I got fired. I had another corporate job. I got fired from it a year ago on February 7th. So you didn't get fired from the sales job? No.

You just quit and moved on to another job? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I was there about five years, a decent amount of the people in the office knew, and it was kind of like they thought it was funny too, so I was okay. And then I went to even more of a buttoned-up sales role, where I was supposed to be calling on the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and pitching on different stuff.

And so they could tell my heart wasn't in it. They let me go on February 7, 2022. who, it was one of the best days in my life because basically what I went, I was, I was starting to do a little bit of real estate on the side, so I had a little pocket of money that was coming in. So I wasn't just, you know, destitute and desperate right away. And I told my wife, I'm like, look, give me six months. If I'm not making X by month six, I'll go back and I'll get another job. And then I think month four or five, the Kiya boy video took off. And then everything changed and this became the clear path. Wow. So what were those first few months like, though?

Like how hard were you working, how much stuff were you releasing? And did you feel like you had any kind of traction at that time? So I have this list that was ideas that can change my life. And so I had, you know, the Kia Boy video. I had jumping out of a plane while eating the world's spiciest chip. I had a few different things that I was executing on. And some of them totally whiffed, you know, running a marathon without training. And it was just like, oh, man, like I'm getting 10,000 views, 20,000 views that is not going to pay any bills.

and so um especially something like running a marathon no training that didn't do views like that sounds that was one of my lowest performing videos ever and so i was so close to throwing in the towel i'm like wow i don't know dude for whatever reason the universe like i'm not the guy like and i it was just such like it was such a down feeling because i'm like you know there's no way i can go back and get another job but i were actually working more hours in that period than i ever did having a job and even right now I'm working way more hours than I ever did having a job. And so when I'm home in Milwaukee, it's editing, it's walking properties, it's watching, you know, watching renovations, it's making things happen.

And then we come about, you know, once a month, five, six days and we just grind, ground, grind. We're in this trip, we're getting five videos done in five days, five podcast interviews done, and then I'm on your show. So we're just trying to keep the pedal to the meadow and really take off. Yeah, definitely. So, okay, your wife, was she actually? It's got to be a hard conversation.

Like, I'm not really trying to have a job. I'm trying to make prank videos. Or at that point, it was kind of going a little bit beyond pranks. Or you were trying to experiment with different directions. Yeah. Yeah. And she wasn't as keen on the prank videos. Like, she encouraged me because it was something I wanted to do,

but it wasn't something she tuned in to and was like, that was fantastic. Like, I'm so glad you did that. I feel like prank videos are guy stuff. Yes. Yeah. So she definitely likes the transition. But that's what makes you so special.

I mean, we weren't married yet at that time. We were getting married. I got fired in February. we were getting married in October, and she was looking at a husband that didn't have a really good, strong income. And instead of panicking or tell me, like, go get the job, she let me chase things. And it was such a strong contrast from the last relationship I had, where I remember a car ride that just killed me where she was asking me, like, when are you going to quit making music? When are you going to quit doing YouTube and kind of grow up? And then, like, to know that on the other side of, like, that belief with my wife is like, wow.

And like now we're going to have a fantastic life. Like we're going to set ourselves up and we're going to do very well. And we're going to be able to enjoy a life doing things that we love, which is way more important than the money is. It's just getting to wake up. And I don't care if I put a 14 or 15 hour a day. And like I love my day. I get to do all the different things that I'm passionate about and excited about.

And that is worth more than anything to me. Yeah, definitely. I think about that all the time. Even when I'm somewhat like devastated after like being on camera for eight hours in a day, I'm like, man, you know, I could have been doing something that I really didn't give a fuck about all day. You know, even when it feels draining in here, it's like you've got to compare it to a normal day at work doing something that you don't want to do at all. And that's really tends to put things in perspective. Yeah, I feel for people that have a dream and don't feel like they have the avenue.

Because sometimes, like, you're in a position in life. You're just like, I know where I want to get, but I don't really see the connecting. between the two and I've been there where I'm staring at the steering wheel, staring at the steering wheel in a parking lot, like listening to a podcast in the background just being like, what am I doing? Like, how am I going to get out of this and be able to be more free? Yeah, definitely. So what led you to the Kia boys? So I did this video, first time going to a strip club. So I was able to document that experience and again, shout out to my wife because she's a wonderful lady.

Another tough video to get by on YouTube. Yes, heavily edited. Although it didn't get as grungy as you could expect. But basically, I found a raunchy club in Milwaukee that was, you know, probably half the patrons there were packing, you know. It's one of those nice locations. And so I was able to document that. And then in the parking lot, I talked to a gentleman, and we hit it off well.

And he DM me, he's like, yo, I want to collaborate with you again. Let's do something. I sent him four ideas I was working on. One of them was the Kia boys. He said, hold up. Calls you back on FaceTime two minutes later. a kid swerving in front of the block and I'm like let's line up next Tuesday let's fucking do do this wow so but where did you hear about the kia boys thing that was just something you were

hearing about oh there are i mean they're notorious in milwaukee because they're kind of terrorizing the city i mean if you rent a kia if you have a kia it's so likely it's getting stolen right and like the police stations were giving out uh the the clubs that go over the steering wheel for free it was just a known thing that these kids are wild. Like you see them driving in parks where kids are playing. You see them driving on the sidewalk of a high school where people are walking into the class. You see them crashing out.

Like they have a particular driving style where it's like, and there's a music that accompanies at the Milwaukee low end scene. And basically like these kids just swerve as much as they can in the car. And actually an ex-girlfriend I had, she got her car stolen. She left it running. And she was just a nice, innocent Midwestern girl that didn't think her car would get stolen. She left it running and it got taken.

And it's not like they take it and use it for as many days as they possibly can. They took it. They stole her purse. They went to go try and buy blunt wraps at three different gas stations. We were to kind of triangulate them. And then they crashed it and just go on to the next one. So it's not like profit. It's just kind of after school activities for some kids.

Is there something about Kia's that they're easier to steal? Yes. It's like the cheapest car, right? They're leveling up their brand a little bit. I thought it was a pretty cheap car. I mean, but I know that it is the easiest to exploit. There's a reason there's not Chevy boys. Right.

Yeah. But they are probably stealing a lot of other cars as well, too, right? Yeah, Hyundai's are also a popular one and anything they can really get their hands on. But like, a Kia is something that you can pull up. And if you know the methods and there's no one there to bother you and stop you, you can, you know, a certain brand to make you can reliably get away with. Right. So what was the feeling like before you went and met up with these guys? Like, I mean, having probably not spent that much time around, you know, flagrant criminals.

It might have been kind of weird, right? Yeah, I mean, one thing I've learned over the years of, the last actually eight months of doing these videos is, like, I've met with pimps. I've met with guys that sell fentanyl. I've met with Kia boys. I've met with homeless guys that live under Las Vegas. And the line between good and evil is a lot different than I would have expected because you think, like, some of these people, they must be such big pieces of shit. Like, this is going to be a terrible experience interacting with them. And then you realized, like, oh, that's just a kid.

Like a kid that could easily be playing chess or basketball instead of stealing cars. Or that's a guy selling heroin. But if you, if I didn't tell you that and I invite him to a dinner, he'd be a pleasant guest to be around. So it's kind of been interesting to discover that. Yeah, definitely. Like, I mean, in particular with the Kia boys, it's kind of like, I mean, you can't look down on them because, or you can't look down on them fundamentally, right? because they're products of their environment. They were brought up in a fucking culture

that normalized this type of shit. They don't feel like they probably have any fucking opportunities or whatever. It's kind of like, I just look at them as basically, like, just nihilistic teens who don't see a future for themselves and don't really, like, know a way out of their predicament. I definitely agree with the nihilistic part.

Like, these are kids, they don't care if they die, they don't care if you die, they don't care if they're stealing a single mom's car. but you can never give people a pass. I mean, that is some people's only route to keeping a house, a roof over their head, is their car that gets them to work. And so to take that away, if they don't have insurance,

I mean, some people go homeless because of this. And so while I feel for kids, and I can't imagine growing up in a really difficult environment and seeing bloodshed at 11 years old, 12 years old, that really hardens your heart and changes your perspective of the world, you still have to hold people accountable. I mean, anyone you love, you hold accountable.

Like if your girlfriend, you'd hold your girlfriend accountable, your mom accountable, your friends accountable. You got to hold people accountable. So you can't just let people freely steal your shit. But in that situation, when you're on camera with them, it's not exactly a situation where you're probably, where you feel comfortable giving them your full opinion on the long-term effects of their behavior and everything, right? And especially for a YouTube video, it's like you kind of want to keep the vibe light and fun to understand. For sure. And I got my first interaction with mainstream media when that, it was. was getting picked up all over the place and like one lady kind of ambushed me she's like you know pretending like it was going to be a good phone conversation or a good interview and then she's like she starts off like you were laughing in the video with these guys like what do you have to say

to the victim to the families that have died from this and it's like you go to this corner and hang out with these kids one they are just normal high school kids like the kid had some really funny lines like there was a lot of lovable aspects of these kids and on the same end they're stealing your shit so it's like uh you go to the 15-year-old that's totting a pipe and wave your finger at him and see how it goes. Like there's a reason the mainstream media doesn't get any of these scoops because the one, they're too scared. Two, you can't show up with a suit, 15 cameras.

And just the voice they talk in when they're reading the news. It just says none of it is real. But also like the local news, I think, would consider it unethical to go and hang out with a, like I'm thinking about the St. Louis video, the murder capital or whatever video that I watched last night where you're on the corner with probably 20 dudes, and they all have like numerous firearms just out on the street. They don't give off fuck. And it was pretty unbelievable.

I feel like the news knows that's going on probably could get access to that, but they would consider it kind of unethical to be glamorizing it or documenting in such a way. Like do you wrestle with that at all? Yeah. One of the guys that interviewed me said, you know, I actually really liked the documentary. I think it was fantastic that you got their perspective.

But what I didn't like is I showed a clip of them showing how to steal the cars. And he said that was really unethical. And I didn't really think much about it at the time. But now, you know, I want to be more aware of what I'm putting out. But I think at the same time, like, I'm trying to get access to people and stories that almost no one gets access to her or is too scared to go to or doesn't want to take the time to wander in to some of these places. And I really am curious to hear their motivations for some of the things they're doing. But it's kind of interesting because, like, Vice will send journalists to Mexico and have them in bed with the cartel. And, you know, but then that's treated as kind of different.

You can show off all the cool cartel weapons and show what their drug supply looks like. But it's different because it's a different country. It's not like just some kids hanging out stealing cars down the street. I don't know. Yeah, I think, you know, we have a really real, like, I've been having a lot of trouble getting people that are more buttoned up to appear on camera with me. Like anyone that is more proper see some of my content and stays clear of what I do. Even though if you look at my channel, like I've done graveyard ceremonies with witches, I've hung out with a hundred million dollar man.

I've gone to the underground tunnels of Las Vegas. Like I think I have some of the most diverse documentaries on YouTube. And so you're running into the same problem that me and everybody else runs into, which is that your most salacious or most violent or most ridiculous content ends up being the stuff that goes viral. Like I see people say, oh, well, TMZ, you know, if they, I would be okay with them reporting on Kobe Bryant's death first if they were also putting out positive stories. I'm like, have you ever looked at the TMZ homepage? Like, they post all kinds of shit. You just don't give a fuck unless it's the thing that goes super viral, you know?

To me, I'm always going to chase the raw shit I can. And so if I get to go to a doctor and do a ketamine experience with a guy that has a, you know, MD next to his name, perfect, I'll do it. If I get the invite, I was setting it up, but then, and he said yes, and then he saw more of my channel and then he canceled. So, and I'm down to talk to anybody. Like there was an LAPD detective that was supposed to meet with me. He agreed and then backed out once he saw more of my channel. Really? And so, I don't know.

I get it, but people are too, you hanging out with somebody does not mean that you're them. Right. We should be able to have a conversation with anybody. and that's the thing that's really hurting us in this political climate, how we're interacting with each other as people, is you should be able to sit down on a table with anybody, and if you don't agree with them, that's part of the game. Like, the fact that you can only sit down with people

that check all the boxes that you believe in, like, that's not even interesting, because I already know everything you're going to say. It doesn't, like, so what's the point of even watching? But now it feels like everybody from, I don't have seen this YouTube channel, Jubilee, to Vice is doing it all the time now. We've done it a little bit,

like the whole concept of like, getting people with polar opposite opinions and then getting them on camera. Even like a lot of the Twitch commentary space, they do this where you'll have mega progressive people having people who are like basically white nationalist type dudes on their show. And it's like that was for a long time kind of look down upon like, oh, you're not supposed to have conversations with these people because you're boosting their message. But now I think people have realized like the need for conflict in videos and in content

is just so strong that they're willing to do whatever. Yeah. And plus, I think when you really sit down with people, you realize, like, you could put most people in this country together. And I bet there's, like, 70% of stuff that we could agree on that that's what should be the platforms for politics. But instead, we want to make these two opposite camps. And you can only, you can't even be in the middle a little bit or your, you know, moderates aren't really welcome. So I definitely agree. Like, we need to be able to sit with people.

And I don't, like, yeah, you might sell fentanyl. And I might watch a guy inject in your trap house in front of me. but I'm still going to treat you like a person and build a relationship with you, you know. I mean, you seem like a pretty optimistic, positive person. But when you plunge yourself into something as depressing as like, I was watching you go to zombie land or whatever, the home of the zombies. And it was just like fentanyl overdoses taking place everywhere all over the streets. It's like it's nothing. There's just dudes walking around administering Narcan.

And they're saying that this is happening like a dozen times a day. like nothing. I lived like downtown right near Skid Row for for a few years. It's a wild place. Yeah. And it's like, you know, over time, it gives you a lot of time to think about like, well, what the fuck is the solution for this? And for me, it's like I never came up with anything even close to an answer.

And if you try to like Google, how do we fix homelessness? You're going to read a bunch of big ideas, but you're also going to read a lot of people feeling pretty like helpless to ever make it happen. Like how do you deal with that? Like when you're watching these people over. overdose in front of your eyes and it's tough to come up with a solution. That's definitely something that me and my crew spent a lot of time thinking about. And a lot of my friends, like that's some of our conversations is like, okay, like this was

the situation in Las Vegas with the homelessness. Like, what would we do if we were mayor? This is the situation with those kids in St. Louis. What would we do to help their life be a little bit better? And I don't know. I think what America should be is the land of experiments. So if you want to have, you know, radical AOC, try something out in New York and then you want to have radical on the other side.

Ron DeSantis, try something in Florida, let's have a battle of ideas. If he has one way with dealing with homelessness, she has another one, that's observe and see what happens. And if someone is winning the battle of ideas, then that's replicated across other cities and that's spread that way.

I feel like those motherfuckers do not be talking about homelessness. I think they're too busy getting some of their lobbying pockets lined and keeping the military industrial complex run and I think spend much time on homelessness. Try some truth of that. So, okay, what are your, where were the craziest experiences that you've had doing this? You told me about the Mexican cartel video that you did? Yes.

The cops ran in the building? So we were doing a story on immigration. We were in Eagle Pass, Texas, and crossing over to P.Hs, Niagara, Mexico. And so we were interviewing a rapper named hostage, and we just wanted to get a story. He was previously, he was born in Houston. He did a few felonies. He got deported. came back, did some crimes, got deported again,

and we were just talking to him. And then 10 minutes into the interview, we get raided. Three policemen, mask, assault rifle, come in. We go hands on our, you know, heads down on our knees. The Mexican guys were straight on the floor. Like they weren't even, but I was so stunned that it was like, I didn't even know what to do at first thing. Is this a prank?

Is this cartel? Is this police? I had no idea what it really was. And so that was probably the scary. moment of my life and just like I've never felt so helpless whatever they wanted to do it was up to them like if they were gonna I always think in my head that if I if I ever came to like they were trying to someone was trying to abduct me like I'd rather fight it out in the street and if I get shot and die there it's going to be way better than whatever like warehouse I get taken to and duct tape to

a chair like die at least trying to fight but there was no like hero in me at that moment it was all just like, okay, I hope these guys just let us go and let us get out of here because. And were you filming at the moment that they burst in? Yeah, so we, so Miguel put the camera on the ground. And so we, he has them bursting in. And then he had it while we were flat on the floor, like movement of their boots and they come into frame. But they deleted those two images.

So they made us get the camera. He put headphones in. But the thing is he didn't speak any English. So we're lucky he didn't because some of the stuff, Hostage was saying he could have gotten the shit kicked out of him if that guy knew what he was saying. Really? So, but they looked through the footage. They deleted it.

And then I'm like, but officers, like, I speak decent Spanish. I was just trying to be, let him know, like, hey, we're just trying to get a story here. Can we, can we interview you now? But they were having none of that. And they told us, send a copy of the video before you post it. And then they also said, if you want to come back, we can take you in a day in the life of the police. We didn't send them a copy because.

Yeah, what are the odds they're going to? to find out about it anyway. Yeah, and we thought about, like, would we be burning a bridge if we wanted to go back and film with them? But also, dude, it was just so scary. I don't, and I think they were actually honestly good men. And that's not something you can say about all of the Mexican police. There's definitely some really shady.

Really? Oh, there's, some of those guys are scared more of the police than they are of the cartels. Well, that's what I was going to say is I almost feel like I would rather, I would feel more comfortable going to Mexico and doing a video with some gangsters than some, some cops. Because I've just heard infinite stories about how gnarly. the cops are out there. I think it's like what hostage said is it's no man's land. So there's plenty of guys that are from the borders of Texas that they go to a nightclub

in Mexico on their way back to their car. It's like, you know, here's a little tax. Give me some of your shit. Sometimes you give everything you have except for what you need to cross back over the border. So the fact that, like I feel like Mexico could be one of the best places on earth. They have beautiful people. They have beautiful land. They have so many natural resources.

everything is so cool but then they have such a big issue with how power is distributed like it is a very frightening place to be if you're in the wrong spot it's crazy that it's right there and that they just deal with problems on such a scale that we really don't like when you look at how gangs move like violent drug moving gangs it's just like it's not even close to the level that they have to endure i've recently been reading a lot of books about the cartel to just because it's been such a fascinating thing to want to do that. into and like El Chapo when he was on the run at any point he could have dozens of tunnels that were being built in different safe houses and like if they have a car that has a gun and some other

stuff they might have it where you have to turn the turn signal on hit this button and then you can open like they have some very sophisticated. Even the way he got out of prison. Yeah. Chiseled his way out and like hopped on a motorcycle and the fact they have so many connections so many people they can pay off along the way. Yeah. I mean that's what happened when you have a billion dollar crime empire and no one enforcing you, that's what you do. You ever get pulled over in your car and you're just thinking in your head like, God, I wish I was in Mexico and I could just give this dude like a hundred bucks and let me go. I've never thought that because the chances of me getting my ass beat in America compared to Mexico,

I feel like I'm much more likely to get my ass beat in Mexico. Because I've never even like, I've never bribed a cop. I've never even thought of it. I've always like seen it on TV and shit and just realize like, oh, like I'll get in more trouble if I try to bribe the cop than if I just accept whatever's happening. I would, what would you guess? 99% of cops in America, if you try and bribe them, would get you in more trouble? I do feel like that, but I don't know why I feel like that.

I don't know why I believe that the cops have good hearts out here. Actually, I also believe that many of them are wearing body cameras and that there's like... There's more accountability. Yeah, but I don't know why. I just, yeah, I actually, I'm not saying I love the cops in the U.S., but I am assuming that the vast majority of them wouldn't take a bribe. In America, if you want to get out of shit, it's not about bribing the police. It's about playing the legal system with the...

the lawyer's the right way. Yeah. And so every system has a way to exploit it, and people certainly do every day in America. But I think when the police pull you over, slipping him a hundred is not going to go as far as it might in Mexico. No. But what if you have like 10 grand?

Maybe if he just got divorced, the mortgage is coming up. I think you have to catch a guy in the right time and right place. But otherwise, oh, that's another charge. Yeah, definitely. Damn. Okay, so how do you avoid, like, do you continue to do different stories when you kind of know that in a certain way if you cover the most salacious shit the most dangerous shit the most gnarliest hood shit that you're gonna probably

get the most views from that but i feel like that also could like really impact like the way that your channel's viewed if you just get a little too deep into that stuff i see some like hood vlogging type channels that i don't know like they probably they have a weird image because they're just sort like up and everybody's shit doing videos and the same old projects over and over and it's it's kind weird to imagine that lasting so long not that i don't appreciate the work they do my brand is this i want you not to be able to predict what video is coming out next so we just dropped a video of snake hunting the everglades before that before that we were at a furry convention before that we were with one of codex blacks artists little cricks before that it was the takedown challenge on the beach and so

i'm a guy i never want to be put into a box and maybe the the balance that the balance of it because I do know like yeah the right now the content that blows up the most is the drug dealers the guns that it's the crazy stuff so I'll put out about one of those a month sometimes twice a month but I really am fascinated in so many directions that I don't want to become one dimensional and I also want my contacts to open up like if people only see oh you're going to go interview the guy that sells fentanyl all my other leads dry up and there's too many things to be excited about and interested about to put myself in one lane Interesting. What else would you say you're like really interested in now? And are you always

kind of regulating? You could be super interested in something, but then if you think that it sounds like a terrible YouTube video, you kind of have to consider that, right? Yeah. I mean, I think most of the ideas I have, I want to have at a level that I think it would be entertaining for me, entertaining for people. But I'm always, I'm always brainstorming. So like the way we, I run the channel is we'll pick a location. We'll pick LA and I know that I want to get between four and six videos done in my five-day stretch here. And so I just start digging into different contacts. I find different leads. Like the next one we're planning, we're looking to go to New York, go to the Diamond District, go to Jewish Holiday Purim, the Shad G, the G's group, some of those

different rappers. Use G's. He raps like he's the singer of Cannibal Corpse. Yeah, the really... Yeah, I did it wrong. It's more like, boo. So we're trying to line up those three pieces and then, you know, maybe there's an underground tunnel. I know there's mole people in New York as well. So then it's like if I get my three videos that I know, okay, no matter what happens on this trip, I'm going to at least break even, if not be, you know, do very well. And then I can start branching off to the other ideas that might interest me. How consistent is the money and everything for you? Because I know your videos,

especially when you're covering the hardcore stuff, I'm sure YouTube gives you a hard time. from time to time, but you do a lot of blurring and editing, I notice. Yeah, I would say probably 30 to 40% of my videos are demonetized, especially, YouTube says I can't say demonetize when it's the yellow icon, but you know what you see, like, you know, you might get 500,000 views and you get paid like 15 bucks. It's like, it might as well just demonetize me because I don't need 15 bucks. It's better than being age restricted where they can't even watch it without being logged in and everything like that, but it's still, it's for all intents of purposes, it's demonetized.

And that is not even always the biggest problem because the biggest problem is just that when it gets demonetized, the graph will be like, like it just flattens the fuck out. So the big thing like being an entrepreneur is you got to have your multiple streams. And so like some months the ad revenue is really good. Other months I take, you know,

I just take it in the pants and it's really bad. But, you know, then I might negotiate. I have a team that does sponsorships. And I'm iffy about the whole sponsorship thing because it's, I don't want to get people an ad. You know, if I was making so much crazy money, off just the YouTube and the Patreon and the merch, I wouldn't consider it, but I'm still building my empire. So to me, if I can make my commercials very entertaining, I like, I actually work

really hard at my commercial. It's not just a read because I said, if you're at least going to take the time to watch through it, I want to make it worth your time with that. So that's kind of how I justify it to the audience of like, okay, I'm going to do this. Definitely. Plus, if I'm going, like, right now I'm trying to also line up a trip to Brazil where we go to the favelas. We train with the special forces. We visit a prison. We talk to BBL doctors. Like, that's going to be just a big, huge expense right off the gate. So it's like, I need the reserve so that if one month I get absolutely the dog should be out of me by YouTube, okay, I'm still good because I need to, I'm still need to go on a trip

at least once a month. And I got to pay for me, two other guys, sometimes my wife, sometimes a friend to join. And, you know, so I want to make sure where I'm structured. Do you do all your own edit? You have editors or do your own edit? Miguel is the primary editor. I edit. And then we have a guy named Jack as well.

So basically, like when I come home from L.A., I might have five videos. And so Miguel will take two or three. I'll take one, maybe two. Jack will take one or two. We'll see how the rotation is going because these are very time-intensive videos. And so, like, releasing on every Tuesday is kind of like being on a treadmill that's at a very high pace. And this is where the wrestling connection comes back in is like I take that same grinder, that dog mentality that I had in the wrestling room and I bring it to how I do my business. Like, I'm still going to, every Tuesday, I'm going to put something out.

that either you can't believe I went to this place or it's somewhere you never had access to. But we balance the editing to get ahead of the curve for uploading. Because it might take six uploads for YouTube to approve it. And that puts, you know, so. But do you get feedback after each time or do you just keep editing a little bit and uploading? Sometimes it's tempting to just keep re-uploading until they finally decide that they're going to let it go. I try and take the timestamps that they find trouble with out. And so that way they can say, like, hey, I've done everything.

you've asked me how can we keep running into this issue the other day i was watching a workout vlogger and he said the word vinegar and he edited in the middle of it and i was like oh he was really scared well because probably that was the time stamp that where it said like oh there's a racial slur in this video and like i was like this cannot continue like this like if you are forced to edit out the word vinegar we have a real real problem here i really think that i think the pendulum swinging back because I think we've gone through a period where people have been really scared to say things. And I think the pendulum swinging back, as long as you're genuine, you're trying to tell you, tell the truth, you have a good heart about you, you're allowed, you should be allowed

to make mistakes as a human. Like, how much dumb shit have we said, especially the younger we were, like, I'm picturing, like, some of these people are really shaking the fingers at a Kia boy. And it's like, well, I know what I was doing when I was their age. I was sneaking out, ding-dong ditching, lighting off fireworks, lighting off drain-off bombs where you put the big two-liter bottle, the tin foil, the plumbing solution, you let it blow up, right? We just put it in the middle of retention pond because we just were anticipating the boom.

And so, and I know kids that were car hopping. I knew kids that were garage hopping and stealing from different places. That was where I drew the line was theft, but I was willing to make a kabum in the middle of the night. But I am not that much different than these kids. They are just taking it to the extreme, and they're also coming from a much more extreme environment than I did. So you have to be able to look at people and see you, little bit of yourself in them, and then you understand, whoa, like, there's hope for all of us,

and we can actually have a way forward. Do you ever feel like you're getting played in a way where, like, maybe somebody is not being their real self when you go see them, especially since you're dealing with rappers sometimes, and a lot of rappers are very, they're very good at marketing, you know, and they might be acting as if they live this different lifestyle than what their life is really like. Is that ever a concern? You know, I try and screen people decently well. Like most contacts, especially the more dangerous to the area. I'll try and have three or four phone calls, a few FaceTimes and get a few,

and just talk to them as a person. Like, it's not all about the video. Like, who are you as a person? And so, like, even the trapper in Chicago, I still FaceTime him and catch up with him and see how he's going. He seemed like a nice guy, yeah. He's a nice guy. And he was asking me for tips about YouTube. Like, he thinks he might want to start.

And I'm happy to... And meanwhile, there's literally junkies smoking heroin in the other room. Yes. Hey, it's for everybody. It's the duality of man, right? Yeah. We all got a little yin and yang. It was funny hearing you talk to that guy

because he's just, he's just like, it's business, his business. And I'm like, that makes sense to me, but I also feel like the conversation deserves to go further than that.

So I think to build on maybe where you're getting at is like, do I ever feel like I'm not a very confrontational person? I'm never going to have an interview where it's a gotcha interview where I have all these like things

that I'm going to try and spring you into a trap. Right. But I do. think depending on their occupation or why I'm interviewing them, there's got to be enough tough questions that at least test their character a little bit. Like, you know, from the outside looking in, this looks really, like the pimp. Hey, from the outside looking in, this looks like it could be really messed up. What do you, like, what do you think about yourself in the terms of right and wrong?

But like, okay, interviewing a pimp who you ultimately decide is really like mostly behaving in a consensual manner and that the girls are there, their own free will or whatever. I could see how that would be pretty easy to justify in your head. But what about doing a video with a sex trafficker? Like something really abhorrent that you could never get behind. Would that be just like over the line? What if you had the opportunity to do a video with an assassin? Or Jeffrey Epstein or, you know, I think I would take the opportunity.

And is it possible that someone is a skilled enough sociopath? They're going to outsmart me and, you know, present an image that maybe isn't real? Of course, that's the risk you're taking because it's not like I get to. to really build a relationship where I truly know. Like, a lot of these situations, there's a little bit of nerves in the car on the way there. Like, you're going to the trap house. It's like, like, you're going to the host role

where there's a bunch of pimps. Like, you're going to the Kia boys. There's definitely a... But all that shit is kind of lighthearted compared to, like, you know, some of the stuff that you could do. Although, even like, you know, with the... I mean, like, when you go do stuff

with these gangsters in Mexico and stuff, I mean, who knows what the fuck they're doing? They'll show you a little bit of their drug. trapping operation but like who knows what the fuck else they're doing that they're not trying to share with you you know right definitely uh and i also think like one thing that blew my mind about mexico is like america has so much drugs and the quantities like the different selection is so easy to get and there's so much of it i think these guys that were selling drugs in mexico i think they were very low key like because you can get your ass kick for having a gram on you in

mexico if the police roll up on you even a gram like that they don't really smile upon that So I think even though they're like, oh, yeah, like we're kind of in this, like, I think they're still. Mostly what I've learned is I'm not getting the most. El Chapo is not speaking with me. And if something like that ever comes up, it would be very scary to say yes, but I think I would. I'd have to make sure that I'm not going to get decapitated on camera if I go do something. But I haven't really broken into like, I had some connections into Miami of guys that had pushed serious cocaine weight. No one's even going to consider going on camera that are like the real guys that are pulling.

millions. No one's going to, why? Why would they? Because I was even thinking that with the Chicago dude. Like, what is he gaining from this? He's completely hit his own identity. But, you know, it's like if I'm a cop in Chicago, there's like, there's only so many drug dealers, right? Like, I assume that in some way that could come back to get them, even if you blur their voice and you can't see their face. It's like the people in the streets probably know exactly who this is, right? That's the other thing that is a big part of the editing. Like, and this is why I get a lot of these contacts is I tell these guys like, look, I'm going to send you a copy of the video before I post. They send it back, hey, blur this part and can you change my voice? Okay, do that. I send it back

to them. Until I get their approval, I do not send it out. So that's one way that I build credibility with these guys. And then two, one, I don't want to send anybody up to get popped. Because to me, I mean, you know, this is, I'm in the next city the next day. So I have nothing to worry about, but I'm not trying to ruin someone's life over a 15 minute video. So I want to be very careful. And like I would say this to these like the St. Louis kids, when I pulled up, I'm like, guys, just to let you know, there is a camera filming. So anything you don't want on camera, it doesn't need to be out. Like I never ask people, hey, when I show up, have every single drug you've ever owned out, have all your guns out, but people just, some guys want to flex,

and that's just how they do it. That's the crazy thing about that St. Louis should is that they're allowed to have those guns out there, right? I think the laws there are a lot easier to have that type weapon. Yeah, ESTG, when I interviewed him, told me that in Louisville, Kentucky, that you go to his neighborhood, it's like everybody's walking around with a big ass machine gun in their hand. Which is terrifying. I'm not sure that that's, I'm not sure I want gun safety laws to be that loose, you know? I interviewed a guy that, um, on the other side of the ESTG, well, I guess they're somewhat beefing, but that's something that I never cover. Like, even if I know going into it, like, these two are beefing, I'm not going to ask one single question about it because I don't want to be the

guy that sparks anything that can ruin a family or lose a life or someone get injured or they can't walk anymore because they got like I am not interested in any of that violence or encouraging it in any way because to me I look at a lot of these guys and I'm like I see the talent that you have and I wish there was another outlet that you could explore because that like this violence is getting crazy yeah and it's like it's one thing to document drug dealers or people stealing cars and shit but then at a certain point yeah it's like where do you want to draw the line in terms of talking to them about beef when you know just take the chicago shit it's like once you really start to learn about the GDs versus the BDs you're talking about a situation with hundreds maybe

thousands of dead people on both sides of it mostly young men kids died in it like women like innocent bystanders it's crazy it's hard to like look at it and just be like oh this is just some shit i'm listening to somebody rap about at a certain point yeah and so like another element in my brand that I think is really important to me is I'm never going to be the TMZ guy that's like oh like Justin Bieber walking out of a funeral. Justin, your parents just died. How do you feel? Like that type of bullshit. Like get out of here with that. I want to be the guy that really tries to get to know you as a human being. And I'm not, that doesn't mean I'm going to shy away from some of the tougher questions like, hey, you know, when you sell someone heroin and someone dies, like where

are you coming to the play for that? Like, so I'm not going to necessarily leave someone off the hook, but I'm also not going to attack them or try and get them into a position that's going to jeopardize them. Definitely. How do you or do you see a lot of people who kind of act like you're doing some culture vulture shit? Like even when I said that I was doing this content with you in my group chat, there was like, most of the people fuck with you. It was like, I don't know about that dude, man. He just be white boy going to the hood, yada yada.

Like, how do you take that criticism? First thing is how do you think I get these connections? These guys are DMing me. So like, I don't have a network around the country of random people. Like, I'll get a guy from Philadelphia will message me. A guy from Miami will message me. And then I'll line it up. And then as far as the culture vulture thing goes, I mean, I don't think I'm pretending to be anything that I'm not.

I'm not walking in here acting like I'm some big dog, some big gangster. I know exactly who I am. I'm a kind of nerdy, weird white guy who likes to wrestle and do jujitsu and read books and go walk in the woods. So I'm not fronting on anything. And the other thing is, like, I think, the whole cultural appropriation thing, I see both sides of it, but the stance I kind of see is like, okay, does that mean if you're not German, do you not get to eat Bratworths? If you're not a Greek, do you not get to run a marathon?

Like, where do we want to draw the line? And the reason people come to America is because we have so many interesting flavors going together. I can walk down this tree. I can eat Afghani. I can eat Jamaican. And that's why I love this place. So I think if you're purposely ripping off ideas, claiming them as your own, pretending to have a different persona, I think you're a piece of shit.

But I think if you're genuine and you're exploring people, like, I'm going to explore the witches. I'm going to explore the guys in Miami that are gangers. I'm going to go to a Jewish holiday. Like, I'm just trying to get a flavor of a life that's not mine and experience it for myself. I feel like you get a pass from a lot of people because you seem like you just have such a good heart overall, you know? And like you said, like you ignoring the beef stuff, I think that probably goes a long

way, you know? Also, I think I'm more than fair in the, like, the fact that I'll send, I might do three or four revisions. Like the certified trapper video that we have out, if you see how many blurs are in that video, that was a colossal investment of time. But because he's local Milwaukee, I would get it, and then I would drive to his house, show him it. And not this part, not this part, you know, maybe his boy would watch it, that part. Go back home, we'd edit it. So I'm more than happy to make people comfortable with what's coming out. And so I feel like that's another way that makes me stay good anywhere I go.

I like it. Who do you consider the goats on YouTube that you really look at and you're inspired by? I'm assuming Mr. Beast is probably near the front of the line in terms of just people who've taken this YouTube shit as far as it could be taken? I admire what he's doing. His style of content, I don't watch a ton of YouTube. Like what I grew up on was the craziest vice documentaries. Like we're going to go watch child labor in a Mexico mine and watch a six-year-old go to a mine.

We're going to go to a Russian billionaire. That stuff to me was fascinating. But as far as currently on YouTube, who's really doing a remarkable job, I am a big podcast guy. So, like, Theo Vaughn to me is one of the funniest, silliest guys. If I'm ever feeling down, I'll put on a Theo Vaughn podcast. And I'm going to be laughing within the first few minutes. Joe Rogan is a guy that's revolutionized the podcast space and just I've really, I've learned so much from like the Tim Ferriss's, the Joe Rogans, the Lex Friedman. all these guys have just, it's been like a college, this shit's on a college education.

I just need to listen to a podcast. I need to go experience stuff hands on, but I'm trying to think of like a YouTube or YouTube guy. I like, I'll mention from the Jiu-Jitsu beef. I like both of these guys. I like Brandon Buckingham. I like Danny Mullen. I think they're both clever. They're witty.

They make me laugh. I like, I like guys that aren't fitting into a box. Like you see so many street interviews that it's like, you're. you see 50 people ask the same question, like, does size matter? Or stuff like that. It's like anyone that is truly like practicing their craft. Right. And you can tell, like they really care about what they're putting out.

I'm cheering for. The man on the street stuff is so weird because that has just become such a gigantic genre online on TikTok, on YouTube, whatever. And I actually did it for like basically the first time at the porn convention. And that was the weird thing. It's like you realize that if, well, you can put a lot of effort. time into coming up with clever questions, but sometimes like the deep industry type questions or the questions that are more thoughtful seem like they perform worse when you're doing the man on the street stuff. And then the stupid shit really does rise to the top. The incentives are

fucked on there. There's a, so when I grew up, I was listening to a lot of underground rap. And there's a guy named Immortal Technique that I used to listen to a lot. And he has a line that says, when you go platinum, it has nothing to do with luck. It just means that a million people are stupid as thought. And I really like that line because if you look at some of the stuff, the most views, the most streams, the most this, it's not always the best singer, the best performer, the best this or the best that. It's the mainstream Kim Kardashian catchy shit that people consume. And there's, I guess there's nothing wrong with it. I don't want, I'm not going to be a snob and say, I'm above that kind of taste. But I think the people that I admire innovate in some way.

I don't care if you're mad on the street, but make it your own in some way. And that's how, and going back to maybe the cultural appropriation thing, like what innovation and creation is is taking one idea and then adding a new twist to it to take it to the next level. And that's how we advance. Like no one just starts out with, like it's really hard to start off

with a completely new concept that no one's ever thought of or ever heard of in their life. But they say, oh, I saw this computer does this. Now I'm going to add this headphone jack. I'm at, you take ideas from different places and you make it better and that benefits society. Definitely.

You were kind of asking me this question when you were interviewing me earlier, but you know, you're head down, working your ass off to make the best content you possibly can right now. Yeah. But how often do you zoom out and think, okay, what does this look like in five years? Or how does this maybe become a real company or a business that's bigger than it is in the future? Like, what are your long-term thoughts? Yeah. I don't know if I ever want to be the, like, I'm not going to try to expand to maximum growth.

Like I never want to have a thousand employees. I want to have my hands on the business. So I want it to be something that I'm very invested in. I'm very much part of the process. I want to let it go just to add another avenue. And so where I see it in five years, I'm sure I'm going to have a kid in the next year or so. I know that's going to change things in ways that I haven't thought of yet. Will I still go to the craziest places on earth when I have a one-year-old baby?

I don't know. I'm going to have to see how I feel in that moment. But where I see things going is this. I'm on the come up now. I want to cement myself as one of the undeniable documentary filmmakers on YouTube, one of the craziest documentaries. There is I want to do shows on streaming platforms. I want to grow my podcast, which Adam's one of the first guests on the show.

Right, because at first earlier, I thought that you were just like interviewing me to include in the video that we did while we were working out and stuff. And then at a certain point, I realized, like, oh, this is a whole podcast. Okay. So that's a new thing that you got going. And that's another stream because I think that has a lot of longevity in it. I can be a 50-year-old man and do a podcast. Am I going to be 50 and go somewhere where I'm surrounded by 20 kids with guns?

Probably not, you know. I think also I wanted to go a little bit more international with what I'm doing. I want to do an England trip. I want to do a Brazil trip. So I think that'll diversify the portfolio. But to me, where I want to be is I want to have enough investments at home between real estate and, you know, like Vanguard portfolios that if YouTube decides to delete my channel, which I hope to God never happens, but we live in a world where it could, that I'm okay,

and I never have to enter back into the cubicle office world. And so I think right now I'm just very much enjoying where I'm at. I'm very happy with my team. I'm very happy with my family. I'm very happy on the direction we're going. It's all exciting, and I'm very grateful because I've been on the other end where it's like I have no idea how I'm going to piece this together. and where I'm going to go. So to me, it's like, enjoy this. Let's keep the foot on the pedal. And two, three years from now,

let's, you know, we're going to add different pieces to it, but let's maybe, maybe it'll only go to two or three videos a month instead of one every single week. Who knows how long I can keep a pace like this up, but for a little bit more I can. Yeah, when you're really in that growth phase, it's like, and especially when you're young,

you just got your fucking foot on the pedal and you're just going. And then I'll be real with you, like when I had a kid was when I started to realize the value of slowing down and how much I needed to slow down. So I would be very interested to have this conversation with you in like year, two years because, man, leaving for a week now is fucking tough when I'm leaving that kid behind. It's like brutal emotionally. Like literally I'm like in like a weird semi-depression for like 24 hours after I leave her. And then it starts to mellow out.

And I'm like, okay, she's fine. You're being selfish by wanting to be around. under this much. You got to just relax and do your job, you know? I already feel this to an extent already because I love, I love being at home. I love my wife. I love my dog, Frank. And so leaving it's like, oh, man, like I want to hug Frank. I want to hug my wife. But I do know that this is what's going to be able to set my family up is to keep doing stuff like this. And in a period, like the come up period only comes, like if you're lucky, once a life maybe. So it's like I'm not just going to sit at home and my kid needs me to

this. Unless they want me to be miserable back at a job I hate. Because all you have to do is rewind like a year, a year and a half, whenever, to the point where you probably would have killed or not killed, but you would have, you would have gone to the end of the earth to be doing the kind of views that you're doing now, to be on, even being on here, I'm assuming it's probably like pretty fucking cool for you to be able to tell your story on a big platform and stuff. Like these are things that I know where your brain was at a year, year and a half ago. And it's like, man, that feels good when you've kind of

kind of just gotten to the point where people are actually listening to you and you actually feel you have an audience for your ideas. I bet if you did the marathon video now, it would do much better. Yeah, this all feels probably, and this all feels wonderful. Like, I'm, I feel, like, there's times where I get, I get tears because it's like, I can't believe I'm in the position that I am doing the things I'm doing. Like, I actually am doing the things that I love and I'm passionate about as my job. And that's self-actualization. And that's something that few of us are lucky enough to achieve because a lot i mean there is luck involved in this too like i think that i'm working hard i think i'm putting out good stuff but there's also you know a weird way that luck works no that's a fact um

okay so you want to thank anybody you want to uh tell the people to check out anything in particular if you want to see the craziest documentaries on youtube go to to tommy g type in the keeboys most dangerous city in america i have i've i've dozens of videos that i think you might enjoy uh thank you to my wife thank you to my dog frank my team out there miguel and kegan Kristen and Jack back home. It's one hell of a journey. I'm happy to be on it. And thank you for having me.

Yeah, man. It was great. Me and you. Great to catch a workout this morning. Gang, gang, baby. Yeah, and I feel like you've got big things to come.

I feel like this interview we're going to be seeing people coming back to this for years. Like, oh, look at this guy in the very early stages of his career. It was pretty sick. I appreciate it, brother. Yeah, Tommy. Tommy G. Peace.

Coolest podcast in world. Check us out on YouTube, TikTok, Patreon, on OnlyFans, Instagram, etc. Like, comment, and subscribe. Nojumber.com if you'll want to support, go subscribe to my man after you do all those things. And if you have a crazy idea, email me at Tommy G. McGee, one, two, three, or on Instagram, Tommy G. McGee,

if you're in Antifa, you're in the KKK. I don't care where, like you make moonshine in the woods. Hit me up. I'll come to your seat. I'd like to see you do some graffiti stuff. I'd like to throw that idea out there. I would love to do that. Maybe some hardcore shows, too, because that stuff's real viral right now.

of these dudes beating each other up in the mosh pit i'd like to see you in that world that's rock and roll baby let's go Tommy bow