The Fighter & The Kid - Navy Seal: Remi Adeleke | TFATK Ep. 896

Episode Date: May 23, 2023

Navy Seal, author and actor Remi Adeleke joins Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen to talk his nonstop effort to make it as a Navy Seal, his foray into acting and writing films, his work with director/producer Michael Bay and much more!  Pre order link to Chameleon - https://www.amazon.com/Chameleon-Black-Thriller-Remi-Adeleke/dp/0063238837/ref=asc_df_0063238837_nodl?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=634215745642&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13085785364857462564&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031291&hvtargid=pla-1908892478042&psc=1&dplnkId=f8a338c5-b38a-46a7-8ef8-b46870602228 Remi’s short film “The Unexpected” - https://youtu.be/6xUwS39mFs0 Chime - https://chime.com/FIGHTER House Of Macadamias - For a limited time TFAK listeners get a free box of Namibian Sea Salted Macadamia (worth $35) with their first purchase on houseofmacadamias.com/TFAK + 20% OFF your whole order with TFAK code.

Yes we did, cause we got candy, candy, candy, it's the finaly, the candy. This is really the finaly, the candy. Come on, baby. Talking, we're talking about America, and I don't write now, which is a subject I know you're very matched. Can you say your full name? No, wait. So my full name is actually Adéremi Adelike. Adéremi Adelike.

Adelike, yeah. That is as Nigerian. Oh yeah. That's pretty well. And theke. That is as Nigerian. Oh yeah. That's pretty well. And the state is called Yremi. And the state they call me Remy. Yremi. The state's in the streets, but there's a specific meaning behind it.

So Ade means crown in Europe. And Remy means has appeasement. And then Adeleke means the crown is supreme because my grandfather was a royal chief in the Europe of tribe. Damn. Damn You're talking about Nigeria one of the most populous countries. I think the most populous country in Africa Yeah, yeah more English speakers in Nigeria. I believe them Anywhere in the world Yeah, I don't realize that they're more English speakers in Nigeria than there are in I believe the United Kingdom

How about that really at home free? So All of you like Kingdom? That is correct, sir. They are an incredibly populous country. Are we sure about that? We're not. That's not right. Not a little doubt about that. That's not about that. That's not Google. You could be. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor. You were on the floor make sense with the United Kingdom. The English language, right? That is correct, but I'm just taking a look. But you know, Niger was a British colony for long time.

It's true. And it's a source pop, but it's true. Yeah. So, 16 million speakers. So, 60 million, so typing how many English speakers in United Kingdom? Probably all of them. Yes.

It's just a population. No, you just put how many people in the United Kingdom? Probably all of them. Yes. It's a just a population. No, you just put out many people in the United Kingdom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right in the UK. Just do it. Yeah, you know, you can just get a fuck me up a little bit. But the point is, Okay, 360 million is fine.

That's fine. Okay. But that says United States and Pakistan has more. 104 million. How about that? The United Kingdom is 68 million. So only about 8 million more. million. How about that? You know, Kingdom is 68 million. So only about 8 million more. How about that?

Interesting. A lot of people don't realize that. You got to put Nigeria. You got to give Nigeria. It's prox. Yeah, you do, but you said it's more than UK, right? What just stupid? What do you mean?

60 versus 68? That's pretty close. You never would have thought it was only. Eight million is a lot of people. No, I agree. You should have said close. But when you said so confident, that's why I said a lot of people No, I agree it's close you should have said close But when you when you said so confident. That's why I said that's why I went I think I'm right Can't I've been doing the show so alone?

I know what he's lying We know out a little too college shit. Yeah, but confident No bullshit. I was close But your story starts and your story so insane so for the fans are listening Dr. Drew recommended you We have people that recommend their friends whatever all the time. Okay, dude. And then he sent us your name.

I was like, let me look in. I'm like, holy. Yeah, no shit. You wrote a book. No shit. They're doing movies. How they don't do a movie on your entire life story. Yeah, you know, works already.

I wrote the screen. Oh, they studio. Yeah. If you need a guy, what is the name? But, um, though I was was gonna start with the book, but we'll start with, you know, in Nigeria, grew up, basic royalty. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're talking royalty. Well, it's cheap in the year of a tribe. And then, and then, pops gets assassinated. Is that fair to say assassinated? You could kill, they're taking out, yeah. It's, oh, so my story really starts with my grandfather's story, my grandfather.

He had nine wives, and he was a chief in the Europe of tribe. God bless. So, you know, in Eastern, Western culture, we refer to royalties, King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Dutch, that sort of thing, in Africa, in Africa, a lot of Nigeria, in Western Africa, specifically, royalties refer to as chief. So when you have that title, that's almost equivalent to a king. Oh, wow.

And so my grandfather had that title. He was one of many chiefs in the year of a tribe. That, therefore, he had like eight wives. And his goal in life was to produce an heir to the throne, which was a male. And so he had nine wives, and he kept on having daughters. Damn. He had a wife, and then finally, my dad came along.

And my dad was, was a first born son so he got the title of chief and he had obviously the last name but at eight years old my grandfather died. And when he died all of the wives pretty much disseminated and went there separate ways. And so my grandfather brought my father down to the South of Nigeria, specifically Lagos.

And there at the time, there were Christian missionaries, and not only were they teaching the Bible, but they would teach it science and math and literature and just all the different topics that we learned in school. And my dad was a savant. He was super brilliant. I mean, he had memorized the Quran by the time he was six, because my grandfather was Muslim. And so he was able to memorize mathematical equations and history and science and all of these different things to the point where because my grandfather was Muslim. And so he was able to memorize mathematical equations and history and science and all of these different things to the point where he ended up getting a full ride scholarship

to study engineering and architecture and London. And that's when he took on a name John, because his name is actually, his name was Ade Bial, which is my brother's first name. But because of to pay back the missionaries, he said, all right, I'm gonna adopt the name John.

So he put John in front of of Adde by-hung, moved to the UK and studied architecture, engineering, got his bachelor's, got his masters, and then he started accumulating his wealth in the West. And he became, he was like the first black man on the board of the British financial planning council in Great Britain. He was one of the first black men on the board

of the World Trade Center here in the United States. The dude was like, he was a master of business architecture. Correct me if I'm wrong, real quick, when it comes to the Nigerian culture, it's very common to see like, like, I don't know, like, Nigerian who doesn't have four degrees is rare. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, well, education is fucking. Not back then, no. No, no, no, no, no, back then. If you have a bachelor's, that's like a GED. That's a GED. If you're like a GED, that's right.

You're just beginning. Yeah, my brother has a master's in engineering, electrical engineering, I have a master's, I have my sister has a master's, I have another brother who's a doctor. It's required. It's required. Oh yeah, it is.

And if you look at the Nigerian, so people talk about racism in this country. If you look at the Nigerian immigration experience, very similar to anybody you know who's white as an immigrant. They don't know. Oh, they come in with like, they got all the degrees.

Doctors, there's also dominant in the UFC. Oh yeah. Is he from Nigerian, Kamara Usme, Prince Zagano. It's Kamar's. It's like, a lot of Nigerians, they believe that the Nigeria is the cradle of civilization. And that's why the Nigerian people are so intelligent.

You might be willing to. And do so well in other countries. Nigerians are the most successful immigrants in America. When you look at everything across the board from education to business to working in sectors like health and so forth. And not to get on your dick too much. There's a book called The Sports Gene and he does it very very it makes a very good argument for the fastest people in the world.

Yeah. Or from a very tiny part of Africa basically it'd be off for coast. Yeah, yeah. Not spreaders, yeah. Yes sir. Of the long distance. No coast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not sprinters, yeah. Yes, sir. Of the long distance. No, sir. Well, Jamaica would be sprints.

So, so, so a Jamaica come, the people that came from Jamaica came from, from camera, Oh, damn. Ghana and Nigeria, during that civil war. So the descendants are West Africa. Usain Boltz, yeah, sir. Yeah, bro. Well, if he did it like over 23 of me an ancestor, you would probably find some Nigerian. You would find all the cornerbacks in the NFL come from West African ancestry, typically

that area of Africa. So again, please continue. Yeah, that's the way cornerback. There is one. There is one. Look at this. He's like actually, actually. I want to be surprised.

But go on. So yeah, you're's like actually, actually. I would have been surprised. But go on. So yeah, you're saying, Daddy accumulates all this wealth. Yeah, yeah. And he came to the realization, he was like, hey, Nigeria can and should be like the West. Yeah. Because of the natural resources. Nigeria is like one of the most wealthiest countries, not just in Africa, but in that entire

region. Oil, oil, oil. And some many smart people, so many smart people. In the infrastructure, yeah. Tech as well. So you got oil. You just look at the natural resources of money. You got oil, you got natural gas, you got cocoa, you got gold, you got so many other resources

that come out of Nigeria and go to different places. And so my dad was like, if I can somehow take everything that I've learned in the West and go back to Nigeria, I can build it to be as unpar if not better than Western nations like America. That was his vision. He was a very far-thinking man. He always saw 10, 20, 30 steps ahead. Go where you killed him. Yeah, yeah. And create enemies. And so my dad, when when ended up going back to Nigeria

Started his businesses. He started his architecture firm there was successful You know you around at this time, or you know this pre this is like this is like the early 70s This is the early 70s. This is before he even met my mom and And he bought this massive plot of land in Nigeria called Mariko It's like ma r a kO, something to that effect. And it was like a slum. And his goal was to kind of completely transform Marico into like a Wall Street.

And so what happened was in the 1970s, I can't remember the exact date, there was a military coup. He paid eight million pounds for that land. So you add adjust for inflation and everything that's going on now, that's like equivalent to like $100 million, especially when you look at go from pounds to dollars. And so the, there was a military coup and the Nigerian government, the military

conflict, they took everything. I mean, they were killing politicians, it was like nuts. And so my dad wasn't going to fight that. He couldn't fight that. He's just one man. So essentially once democracy was reinstalled, he went back through the courts in order to get his land back, because it was taken. From military people. From the government, because the military handed it back over to the government,

handed everything, power, and everything back over to the government. And essentially the court said, okay, we see that you pay for this. What do you want? You know, we're not going to give you back Maricopa, do you want your money back? And so my dad said, I want, there was a swamp, this disgusting swamp. It was lagoon, but it was essentially a swamp.

He's like, I want the swamp. And he laughed and it was like, the swamp. What do you want a swamp for? He's like, I just want the swamp. Because what he was thinking was, he was gonna hide, he was gonna hire Dutch engineers, which he ended up doing to dredge the foreshore to develop what was a swamp into a man-made island.

Oh, wow. And so in his mind, he said, if I create something where there was never something, no one could ever come back and confiscate it or say it was mine, he was trying to you know protect his asset and So they said okay, they laughed and they gave him the swamp and Fast forward a couple years later, you know, he started doing the development

But that's when he met my mom. My mom is from New York. So my mom grew up in Harlem. She's in New Yorker She was a flight attendant traveled all over the world and then she loved art. She always loved music, she loved African art as well. And so it was like 1980, 1981. She used to fly into Lagos, she flew all over the world, Legos, all over Europe, everywhere. But she lived in New York, she was based out in New York. And then there was a Europe art exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History one day.

And so my mom was like, I don't know if I'm going to go, but you know how I'll go, I'll go check it out because it's the last day. And my dad happened to be in New York because he was doing business at the World Trade Center. And so he's being him being in Euroba. He was like, all right, I'm going to the net to check out this Euroba exhibit to see how legit it is. So he goes to the net, he meets my mom. They're staring at a piece of art at the same time.

My dad had to swab British accent, you know, slash. He can fluctuate between pigeon and mouth. Yeah, he can't even. So my, my, my, into the culture, he can't even hold her, dude. He might be a chief. Yeah, yeah, he's a chief, he's all that. He got, he got swipes of swab cat. And you start sulking, earning, and my, my mom's a chief, he's all that. He got the guy, so I was a Swavkat.

And you start talking to her and my mom's in New York, so my mom was like, get away from me. Like, what are you talking about? Get away from me. So then they went there separate ways and they ended up meeting at another piece of art. See, my mom thinks it was an accident, but my dad, I'm looking back and retrospect my mom's like,

nah, he was fine. Yeah, you dancing, this is crazy. You're gonna pee too. Yeah. Ding, ding, ding. I'm sorry, that's my crown. That's my�, my crown job. Did I mention I'm a chief?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's got to how it happened to my mom. It's like, you're whatever. He's like, yeah, I'm a Eurobatrum. And my mom was like, okay, so they end up going on a date and then they got married five months later. Damn. Yeah, and they got married in November. Which I didn't find this out until years after I married

my wife, but they got married on the same day I married my wife. And you had no idea? And I had no idea until after I married my wife, it'd be me, my wife had an anniversary and she was like, my mom one day, she was like, you know what, that's a day being your dad got married. Damn, that's cool. That's crazy. Yeah.

So they got married and my mom moved tonight, you real with my dad and my mom was like exposed. It was like, I tell people all the time. My mom and dad's story is the real coming to America. Yeah, that whole thing. Murphy coming to America. That is the real deal. I remember fast forward a little bit, just sorry to jump ahead.

I remember being on a ship in the Navy. And I'm standing in line waiting to go get chow. And in the military you have on, you know, your name tag, your last name, and you rank and all that, and I'm standing there and just waiting and these two black dudes walk past me, and just like it coming to America, when Eddie was at the basketball game

and the two pleadings walked past him, and he had on their cover rolls and they stopped, and one of them came back and he said, Adelicca? He said, who I had to lick it? He started He said, I did lick it. He said, you are. I did lick it. He's not going to you. I did lick it. And he starts rattling off in your bus, speaking your bus. Damn. That really it. Both of them.

And I'm like, ah, man, I'm sorry. I don't know what you say. You're not speaking your tongue. You're I'm what you're going to. And it's like, you are. They let you need to know your tongue. You need to speak. And they start going off. And then they, and then they left.

So going back, that was the life that my mom was kind of thrust into. She gets to Nigeria. Everybody's referring to my father as chief or your excellence. And she's from the Bronx. She's from Harlem. Harlem. She's from Harlem.

So this is a new world. My dad didn't live in a house. He lived on a compound. He had drivers. He had Nannies. He had cooks. He traveled all over the world. I mean, my a house, he lived on a compound. He had drivers, he had nannies, he had cooks, he trapped it all over the world. I mean, my dad was legit, he was a very rich,

very rich mother of God. He was a cheap. And so that's when my brother came along in 1981, he was born, and then a year later I was born in 1982. So that was a life I was born into. I was born into a life of opulence. Like it was, it was fun. Every time.

I got pictures in my office. Now, me and Horses, with our driver who, who, Carl, and took care of our horses. And us in France, and my mom and my grandmother has on fur coats and my dad's there. And it's like, you know, top hat and coat and all that. So, yeah, the life, the life was legit. We went to a private school, we went to a really,

really private school that I actually got to go visit a couple years ago when I finished writing my book. And it was like one of the top private schools and like not just in Nigeria, but in Africa. A lot of people who did business from Europe, they sent their kids if they lived in Nigeria, they sent their kids to this particular school.

So that was the life that I was essentially born into. Let's take a break, Brennan. Can we take a break, dude? I'm not taking a break from the road. Because I'm in La Jolla comedy store. First week of June, June, the comedy store, La Jolla right outside San Diego, June 2nd through the fourth. That's two shows Friday, two shows Saturday, one shows Sunday. I'm jumping across the pond. The Europe tour starts in Belfast, June 15th, one show only in every city, the theater tour. So the thick Europe tour starts June 15th in Belfast, Glasgow, June 17th,

Glasgow, Manchester, June 18th, London, June 22nd, Cardiff, June 23rd, and I end the Europe trip in Dublin at the Vicar Street theater, June 25th. Get your tickets now at thickboy.com. This weekend, this weekend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Philadelphia, Helium Comedy Club.

Morel Day, we can come on out. We got some, we got some funny. And I got comedy works at the end of the month, June 29th, June 30th, July 1. It's gonna be great. Good, money, have it start with your very first paycheck. If you just scored your first job, you've got an opportunity to jump,

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I just gave our guests some house to me. You gave the Davy steel slash Hollywood superstar Remy. Yep, some Mac Damien chocolate dipped neck neck from house of back a day. Those are my go-to dude It is the talk around the water cooler here at Think Boy Studios. It's everyone wants our nuts eat them every single day Eat them every single day do people come in for our nuts and when I have people over we put them in a little every single day. Dude, people are coming for our nuts. And when I have people over, we put them in a little bowl, and it's a very high-class snack. Dude, I feel super-booted. People are like, I'm sorry, are you a billionaire? I'm like, yes.

My billionaire free. Oh, you know I have billionaire free. You say, all the all my friends are. That's right. And they come over, they come over, and they go, they go, this reminds me of home, because they eat it. No, you're making good investment. That's what they say. They say, well, no, it's house of macadamia, because they work with 96 South African farmers to make these nuts more accessible more.

Look, they have a wide range of products too. It's no added sugar or artificial ingredients. Handsorted nuts. They nut, they hand, sort the nuts with hands. I'll sort your nuts with my hands. They got dipped in chocolate. They got...

They got the nut bars that are the creamy nut butter. I don't have nut butter, I just put my two fingers in chocolate. They got... They got the nut bars. They're the creamy nut bars. I don't have nut bars, I just put my two fingers in it. Oh man. You did in your accident. Yeah, I did. No, I legit put my fingers in there. It's so good.

Dude, we have a great offer for you guys. For this month, only their best selling product through and through is their Nebian... Neubian. Neubian, what's the name? Neubian, C salted macadamia. So we thoughtian, Nebian, Seasalted Macadamia. So we thought for a limit time instead of extra virgin macadamia oil, they're gonna offer the fire

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Development Project. And my dad had invested millions of more dollars into it. He had signed contracts with businesses to have businesses and companies on the island. Because again, it was supposed to be like a Wall Street. I think he had signed contracts with McDonald's in my memory service, and other companies as well. And he would invest so much money that my mom would, she would plead with him. She would say, you know, bio, like, can you at least put some money

back in the States? Because I don't trust this system. And all of our assets, including the house, all of our art, my dad was an avid art collector. I went to art gallery when I was in Nigeria a couple years ago, it was called like the Nique Art Gallery. And to this day, she's kept some of my dad's art in her gallery. And so all of that was wrapped up in the island.

My mom would tell him that the Nigerian government does what they did before, we're gonna have none of them. Correct. And my dad would say, my loyalty is to my people. Let me get this off the ground, get people paying me rent, get the businesses going on the island, and then we'll put all the money in the U.S. and get his loyalty, his loyalty was essentially his downfall, fast forward. After the land had fully formed it, it was a fully formed island. The

Lego state government came in because this was in Lego state proper, the Lego state government came in and said that the Nigerian federal government was never supposed to award him the swamp. This is why. But this is the story in every fucking country. Africa, Middle East, all over. And when you don't have property rights, the strength of this country in the West is that you have courts that mean something. And that deed means something. And the reason that you don't have entrepreneurial people like who are entrepreneurs, like your

dad who create wealth, the reason you don't have the creation of wealth in Russia as well. Eastern Europe is because a strong man or corrupt government officials with guns behind them come in and can take everything you work for. So you have a business you work for 30 years, very cool. We're gonna come in and take that. That's why all the best people in Nigeria,

like everybody come here. Everyone's here, yeah. That's the fact that that is the curse of Africa. And don't give back, the curse of the Middle East, the curse of Russia, the curse of all of us. Yeah, the government's killing it. Yeah, there's killing all the dreams and hopes is the curse of Africa. The curse of the Middle East is the curse of Russia. That's the curse of all of us. Yeah, the government's killing it. Yeah, there's killing all the dreams and hopes

to build the curse of Mexico. And the curse of Mexico is saying the thing without property rights, without deeds and credit cards meaning something, all that matters is cash and might make right. So they take the, so my dad goes to court. Yeah, so my dad goes to court, fights them. In the process, he dies, he dies three weeks later.

So he essentially went autopsy, he was poison. Yeah, essentially. So he went to the, so he got bit by a dog. He went to the hospital. And my dad, when he was super stressed out, he would just go for walks around outside and around our neighborhood. We lived on Victoria Island, which is like the Beverly Hills of Nigeria.

He went for a walk and a dog, you know, neighbors dog ran out of it all. And my dad did that walk many a times. Never got bit by dog, new to dogs, new to neighbor, new to dog never happened. He goes to the hospital. There's a lot more to the story. I explain to all of my book,

but he goes to the hospital, he gets medication and it was it was essentially poison. So they so they sent you poison and they killed them because my dad had my dad had so much power Even outside of his business. He was connected to the generals general Dunjee. Yeah, which is a very famous general Some may say a very corrupt general was my dad's best friend. Oh, damn. Oloo you, who's considered the king supreme leader of the Europea was my dad's best friend. My dad will bill a lot of these people out.

So your connections, even though the state, to be a general in that military. Yes. Like Sonny Abacha. Yeah, sonny Abacha was a bad man. So then once they basically poised you, your dad, take him out. You guys lose everything.

We lose everything because at that point, who's gonna fight them? Yeah. My dad has no allies. My mom is an American. And she wasn't really accepted. You know, he wasn't really ex, you know, she wasn't really accepted as an American.

A lot of people don't realize that. But in some African countries, like African Americans are like, look down upon him. That's what I was gonna say. Do they say, well, I in some African countries, like African-Americans are like, look down a point. I was gonna say, did I tell you at one time, like Africans, like Nigerians look at American blacks, and they're like, you're not marrying, I'm sorry, you're not marrying American blacks. 100%.

Like there's a lot of races in that 100%. Are you a bar? Sonny Abacha. Sonny Abacha was the, Sonny Abacha took a, he ran, look at that motherfucker. He ran Nigeria, he was a, in a coup. He was not a good guy. Well, you just always cry.

Well, that's scarring. It's a tribo car. Well, that's scarring. Well, that's scarring. It's a tribo car. Sonny and Baccia had a, a Nobel Prize winning poet, a Nigerian poet put to death for writing a poem. Yeah.

Basically, that was critical of him. And the international community tried to get involved, but he was a bad dude, man. Yeah, that's the nature of the game. Oh, I'm going to get to the top. To get to the top like that, you got to be. And happy with so my dad's had a security, our had a security, to this day, he's the manager of my island, which has now considered,

they changed the name from Lagoon development. It's now Banana Island. So if you look at Banana Island, like the richest Nigerian on a planet has a freaking, has a house compound on Banana Island. And did that from a swamp? DeVito, yeah, he has a, so that's Banana. It was still a dance.

Damn, that's your pop, that's my dance. So it's still success. Even though it's a success, they took it. They took his idea. They took it and they turned it, it was supposed to be a business sector. It was supposed to be a Wall Street. No matter where.

But now it's a residential for the office. For the for the for the for the rich. Wow. That was my dad. One of the first men to make a pen. Nah, nah, I think that's that's like a lagoon. That's where they did so people could go with swimming. Oh, gotcha.

To the right. Yeah. So yeah, that was it. I went there and the like I said, the guy who was my dad's head of security, which means that my dad's had a security, played a role, must have played a role in some way what happened to my dad. Yeah, so you get this done.

Yeah, here you go. He's a man. There's a history of poisoning two among leaders and I was in Nigeria. Oh yeah. It's really weird. Yeah. Yeah.

So then you lose it. And they get to juju. Yeah, they think. Juju's a big thing in Nigeria, which is juju juju is a big crazy crazy thing in Nigeria. My mom had juju stuff happen when she was out there. You know, she got bitten, no horses don't bite people. She got bitten on a breast by a horse. Damn, it was all kinds of crazy stuff

that happened to my mom out there. And even to me and my brother, when we were out there, because that juju stuff is legit. Which crap. Oh, it's legit rule. Yeah, that's scary shit. So now you come to the US. Yeah, cause you lost everything. We lost everything. We were from Rich. We were from Rich to poor. Like when I say poor, we had nothing. And you had five or six. I was five. My brother was six. Must be so frustrating for your mom. I told, I told you, this was gonna happen. Yeah, you know, it's hard for my mom,

but you know, my mom is a beast though. You know, my mom, like, to this day, a lot of people follow on social media, she's seven, she's like a workout fanatic, she looks like she's 40, she's like, health fitness model. Pretty good. I'm modeling for Pauline Adelakie.

So you look at Pauline Adelakie and her Instagram the grand look her up, you'll see she's always doing fitness stuff on in all that. But my mom, she was just a hard charger. She was one of those people that, you know, she had a hard life growing up. That's my mom. Oh my god. Yeah, mom's so great.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, she's seven. She's about to be 71. Damn. Yeah, she does pull up to all that. Austria first. This is not welcoming. Yeah. Yeah, she does pull up and all that. I'll show you her first. She's not welcome here. And she's been through it.

She's back through Hell, man. And so that, and that's the, that's the, oh, come on. You know, that's the woman that, you know, did it all. So when we got back into the States, my mom made a phone call. And this, I think this phone call was like the trigger that reminded her that no one's coming to the states, my mom made a phone call. And I think this phone call was like the trigger that reminded her that no one's coming to the rescue.

I gotta make this happen. I don't know. She called up a family member, very, very close family member who she grew up with, who was wealthy. And my grandfather, my mom's dad actually helped raise this particular family member. And she said, hey listen, I

don't have a nickel to my name. I just need something to time me over until I can get on my feet. Figure out where I can get a job and listen now my mom had a degree in education and all that. So he said, let me call you back in five minutes. Five minutes later his wife called my mom, following and the wife said to my mom, don't you ever call her my husband to ask him for anything ever again at home of the phone with my mom.

Him and my mom just lost her husband. He's dead. She's got two boys. Don't know how to feed him, take care of him, and then she gets kicked while she's down. At that point, a switch went off in her head. And, you know, it's interesting how things pass on because there's been certain things that have happened in my life where a switch went off in her head. And you know, it's interesting how things pass on because there's been certain things that have happened in my life where switch went

off in my head and that completely was like, okay, this is, well, not just that, maybe just, I need to do things this way. Like, this is not going to happen. I need to go through this, you know, same thing with my brother. Like, this is not going to happen. I need to figure out a way to get through this store. And that's what my mom did. So from there on, she worked multiple jobs. I mean, dude, she was always working. She would go to, she would wake up in the morning, run the steps in our building.

Up in the way at 17 floors in our building. Get me and my brother ready for school, get us fed, drop us off at school, go to school, go work one job. Me and my brother would be at school, she would pick us up from school, come back, help us with our homework, go work another job. They didn't, it didn't go work one job. Me and my brother would be a school, she would pick us up from school, come back, help us with our homework, go work another job.

They didn't, eat dinner, go work another job. What else? And so I had a living example every day of a person that didn't give up and could have given. And she never remarried. She was just like, she was a very beautiful woman and she had guys that wanted to get older. She was like, I'm not dating anybody.

Dedicated to you. I'm not marrying anybody. I'm gonna do this on my own by myself and take care of my boy. My mom asked my mom what time I was like, my wife, you know, why you never remarried? And she was like, I didn't want to bring any confusion around you and your brother. I was, you and your brother, my everything.

And I just knew that I needed to focus on you guys. And because if you guys would make it, then everything would be okay. Because she knew that my father's goal for me and my brother was to make it and be super successful. And so that's why she did what she did. And so, you know, she tried man, she tried her best, but you know, as I got into my teen years,

you know, even before I even got into my teen years, grown up in the Bronx, Struggle, wrong route. Drug dealers, walking through the park, drug dealers selling drugs, crack heads, playing basketball, getting jump, getting beat up, running, walking my cousin home in the middle of a shootout, bullets flying all the way. When all of that stuff starts happening constantly,

you begin to realize that the life that you once had is not coming back. And interestingly, my mom did such a great job at masking the reality of what had happened. That it wasn't until I was like 8, 9, 10 that I realized that the life we once had has not happened anymore. Like art department, she had African art in there.

She worked so hard. It was times when my mom didn't have enough food to feed herself. She had just enough food to feed my brother-in-law. So she would put the food on the table and stand in the door and watch us eat. So we had our three meals every day. We had clothes and she had clothes, but there were things that she went without. And she did that in order to protect us of the reality. But I don't want a woman now.

I have a strong hearing name. 100%. I love that, I love that, I love that. When woman man. I don't want a strong man man. 100%. I love that love that you love. When did you realize you weren't living royalty anymore? Yeah, it was like when I was so deep. I was born in a ring in a bell. Like do you remember Jeffery? Did you remember Jeffery?

Yeah, I remember man. It was, you know, so funny, this whole scene is freshening my mind. I had to condense it all, the whole kind of timeline in the screenplay because I got hired to write the screenplay for my book, which is gonna be a film. And so I went to the park, I kind of condensed,

I'm condensing the story the same way I condensed in the script, but essentially the events were, I went to the park one day playing basketball, I got beat up really bad. I got beat up by God, it was like 35, 36, just, I got out of prison. How old were you? I was eight years old. God.

Um, another guy was 16. I was playing basketball against a kid who was my age, talking smack the way kids do. He told me to shut up. I said, if you don't know if I don't, what are you going to do? He's like, I'm going to get your, my brother. I like, I go get your brother. Being a kid, I'm a kid, you know what I'm saying? That's one of these brothers 35. Yeah, yeah. He goes, my brother. I like, I go get your brother. Being, I'm a kid. I'm eight, you know what I'm saying? That's one of these brothers, 35. Yeah, yeah, he goes and gets his brother. His brother was 17, his uncle was 35.

He got them and they destroyed me, man. Slam me on a concrete, beat me really. I remember, I never forget, there were people all around the park just watching. All around the park just watching, doing nothing. And I kinda understand why these guys are drug dealers, known drug dealers and they don't want to get shot Get killed whatever the case may be you know after they got done they held me down spit on me hit me a couple more times And then I got up my brother woke me home and

Thank God my brother wasn't there. He had he had kind of found out and came running up But he you know he ran up like right after they left, which was a blessing. He would have been involved. And he asked me, it was like, who's your brother? Yeah. And the reason why is because everybody wants to, people want to know who you connected to, so they don't do something to, to, to, to you and the person you connected to might be somebody big and they didn't come after them. So they asked me before they started who's your brother. And I said, biome, it was like, tell us biome. I don't know that. Anybody know who? Yeah. Yeah. And that beat him up. They asked me before they started who's your brother and I said buy on it was like tell us buy

Yeah, yeah, and then you don't be that video, all right, and so my brother woke me home and um, you know I remember sitting on my bed and staring at the picture on this already raggedy dresser in our room And it was a picture my dad and me and him and my and me him and my brother and I just started crying. I just started crying, and my mom came into the room, and she was like, where am I what's going on, what's going on? And I was just like, we're not going to have a life we used to have anymore. She's like, what are you talking about?

I was like, dad's gone. And I was like, I wish she was here so that we could have a better life and a better life. I protected. You know that? To protect me, to provide so we could have a better life. And I was just like And I was just crying. So you got sucked into the whirlwind.

And I was, that was the day I think I unconsciously made the decision to find a father in the streets. Like that's how James and Drugs threw hip-hop culture, street culture. You know, like a lot of kids in the inner city, that's where you look at bronze comp and shout-out to Chicago, what are they looking at?

What do they have that can show them the way? What can show them able? Most of them don't have a father figure in the house. That usually comes to the mouth. Yeah, I think it's like 70%, 80% single parent rate and amongst inner city kids. And so hip hop was, it was the late 80s, early 90s, big, you know, all the nods,

you know, Jay Z, Snoop, all of this stuff. So I was now able to kind of hear a father, see a father through music videos, everything as much as I wanted to. So when I would hear guys talk about, yo, somebody disrespect you, punch them in the face. I, that's when I really started fighting. You know, I remember in, in our park that I grew up

and the, the older kids, they would get chalk and draw a box in rain. Like a box, they would draw a box with a chalk on a seaman. And they would put the, to the young kids, they would put this in the rain. You going against you and they would bet. And it was like, you can't nap at down from that. It's like, you're going in, you're gonna get the,

you're gonna get the, you're gonna get the, you don't go in. So I was going and I was fighting. I was fighting, I was stealing, I was going into bodegas and stealing chips, stealing this, running out. And then you know, that progressed to stealing from my mom, a little money that she had.

I would take money from under the mattress just so I could try and flip it or do something with. And I remember times when my mom, she would came to my room just crying, sat on my bed, I was like, what's going on? She was like, I had $20 in my bed and it was gone. I don't know what happened, I don't know what was going on. Like money keeps missing and I was going on.

And she didn't suspect that it was me. It was me. And so the biggest thing that I did before I even jump out, I jumped to the drug stuff is, you know, I, my dad's engagement ring, my dad gave to my mom. They resold it? I pawned it in in a pawn shop. And, you know, that was, that was the craziest thing I did

against my mom. And I remember watching her for years, destroyed her house, looking for that engagement thing. Because I was the only thing that she had from my father. Damn. A value. And I took and I put that in because I wanted to get some money.

So I could buy some new sneakers, look fresh, and at the end of the day, what it all boiled down to is affirmation. You know, when a kid doesn't have a father to affirm, and boy, you know, boys gonna seek affirmation. You find tomorrow's, and you kicks look fly. You call this, you put a gun in, and then we look at athletes, and you know,

just look at John, some of these other people, you know, the realities, what is all boiled down to is like they're seeking an affirmation that they didn't get from their father. You know, even if it's like even if they had a father Maybe it wasn't the proper form of after you can jump around it comes from a mom. Good dad. Yeah, I don't know if his dad is more like good I don't know That was just super strict with the basketball. They've tied fatherlessness to Suicide yeah, I think something like 70% of boys

that commit suicide to fatherless, almost all school shooters are fatherless. And so your behavior is almost all, if you look at how many people who are incarcerated had no father, you need a father. 100%. I mean, you can solve so many social hills with that. That's why conservative ideology has stayed married, right?

That's what a lot of cultures. Like so, I'm, there's a dude who's Turkish. And he was gonna get divorced from his wife. Yeah. What? I'm gonna get divorced. He's American too. But he was married to a Turkish woman.

And, well, the Turkish men in her family from Turkey showed up at his house. They had to sit down. They had to sit down. They were like, they were doing this man. They were like, some American shit. So this is adorable that you think you're gonna get divorced.

You got kids in the house. So what you're gonna do is stay married. Now you're gonna be able to do whatever you want. But you're gonna stay in married. Because otherwise it's gonna be a fucking dangerous situation. It's bad on the, like you know what I mean? That's like a lot of cultures. So how far did you get into that dark life? Yeah, man, I started selling drugs.

I would go on over to Washington Heights, buy a wait for Washington Heights. I knew that there were so many drug dealers in the Bronx every corner with saturated with drug dealers. I would jump on a metro north and go up to Pekipsi and where college campus is up there. A good friend of mine who I grew up with. He moved from the Bronx to Pekipsi because his parents wanted to give there, the good friend of mine who I grew up with, he moved from the Bronx to Pekipsi

because his parents wanted to give him a better life. And I would just sell drugs up there, got to the point where, the beginning, yeah, yeah, my dad, you know, it all came from that, you know, that, you know, diversifying and thinking two steps ahead. Say for Pekipsi too. Yeah, it's much safer in Pekipsi.

Much safer. That's for faster colleges I think, right? I can't remember. This was called, this was like the 90si. That's for faster colleges, I think, right? I can't remember. It's a lot of college. This was like the 90s. This was like, I was faster. Yeah. And so that progressed to getting it to high-level scams.

So I got this kind of job at a company, cool, I can say the name now, because the statue's a limitation ran out, but MCI World Cup. So when they came out, when cell phones first became like the thing, they were hiring the company, a lot of companies were hiring cell's reps. And so, I got a job there, and what people were doing illegally, what they were essentially

getting phones, because you were able to activate three phones on one person's line of credit. And there was no real upfront fee. And essentially the person had 30 days, that 30 days before they received their bill, then 30 days later, it was when it was due. And then if it wasn't paid at the 60 day mark, then 90 days later it would cut off. And so you had three months of a phone.

And so what a lot of the people at the office, I was working out of was doing, they were hustling. So they would get people's line of credit, date of birth, social security, phone name, and they would activate three phones on one person's line of credit and sell those phones unlimited. I was doing unlimited cell phone plans before that even existed. I think I'm going to want to come up with that. Yeah. Yeah. 90 days unlimited.

They didn't even play in my ass. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a team of 90 days. I'm limited to play my ad. You got all limited, huh? Yeah, make money. Yeah, as a sales rep. As a sales rep. Legally, so legally. But so I added an ad in niche

because I had, because all the drug dealers, like that concept. So all the drug dealers could have a phone for 90 days, get rid of it, get a phone, phone pops, won't go to the next one. And so the guy in the office kind of put me onto it and then I just ran with it. And so I was bringing in like 10,000 a week. I was making stupid money.

Giving money back to my mom or not? Yeah, giving my mom's money, getting, you know, paying off stuff with the drug, getting out of the drug game all together. And, you know, I was selling two-way pages. I don't know if you remember the motor roller, two-way pages. I don't know if you remember the Motorola two-way pages. That's one, man. I was selling those. I was selling those for like 500 a pop.

I was selling phones for like depending on the phone. 300 if it was a standard phone. Up to like 700 if it was like the Motorola TickTack. Yeah. It looked like a TickTack flip phone. It's a little one. So I was selling those for like 700. So I was making crazy money.

And at the same time, I wanted to be in a music business. And so I started a record company called Afe Wonder, Afe Wonder Records, and I had artist's sign of me, and we were essentially, I put together a compilation, I was paying for studio time. I was paying for us to go do music, and venues, print and CDs, all that. So I was able to essentially launder the money

through the record company. And my goal was to make a certain, make a large enough amount of money to be able to go full time with the music. So there wasn't. And then get out of it before things got haywire. Tell a lot of pretty big music people did it. Drug money. Drug money.

They learn business through the drug trade. Yep. Yep. And then gotten to look at Jay. Yep. But a lot of people have that plan. Yeah, and I'm gonna get out after my next time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so how everything went south for me was,

I met this one drug dealer, and he was essentially the minimize in that business because one day, we were doing business for a couple months, and then one day he reached out to me and was like, hey, I want to buy a bulk. And I was like, buying bulk, what you mean? He was like, I want to buy like 10, 10, 20 phones at a time. I was like, I don't do that because I said, I said a number of phones that I would sell a week so that things wouldn't get too hot. And another thing that I did was, I had a friend of mine who I went to high school with

his girlfriend worked at hospice So he would get me Social data birth. Oh, damn from the hospice because So that's kind of how I was keeping it. Yeah, yeah I want it in. When you pour, you should get out quick. But then someone always comes along and fucks it up. It's smart trying not to get everybody's ready to manage it.

You know, he'd be like, I want to hold. And he was like, and I was like, I was like, no, I'm not doing anything, but he was very convincing. So finally, I was like, all right, I'll do it, but I'll just try it out for a month bro after 30 days of that first order all the phones cut off and

When that happened literally I damn this shit myself Because there were people that were getting caught and sent to federal getting prosecuted and charged federally for that in my office in my office in my office. In my office. And so none of the phones had ever cut off that early. So when they cut off in my head, I was like, oh my God, when he called me, he was hot. He called me and threatened me. He was like, yo, the phone's cut off.

I'm coming, I'm coming to your house right now. And I'm like, he's gonna come kill me. That's the least of my worries. Like, what's going to happen with the Fed time? That was the first thing that was on my mind. I was like, man, I could talk my way out of getting a shot, but I can't talk my way out of federal prison. It's just too, I didn't sow too many phones.

And then it's people in my office getting caught and getting walked out of the office in handcuffs. Yeah, yeah. And so I came to my house, threatening me with a gun, and then I made him his money. I gave him, I had money in my house, I gave him large stack of money, next day, man, I'm giving him rest of the money.

And then I was like, all right, I'm done with this. So you had to give him money, that's a big deal. I had to, because what he did was, he flipped the phones. So if I sold him the phone, I sold him bulk. If I sold him all the phones for 300, I can't remember the exact number, but if I sold each phone for 300, he didn't wait and sold it for 600 each phone

So he had to go to the air he ate with 300 so you owe all that money So I had to get that one not a guy you want to fuck with not a definitely you know He was a Jamaican do he was a big drug dealer But also could you be like came in you're the reason we're in this mess you're the one to do bulk dumbass Yeah, it kind of yes and no because part of it could have been him, but it could have been just a whole gig was up. Yup, you know, just a gig was up. You know, and so, my point, I was just trying to figure out

how do I talk myself, because that was one thing I was always good at. I was always good at like talking myself. I'm talking my way out of the situation I got myself into, so after I gave my money, I was like, damn, how am I gonna do this? I can't just not show up anymore. I can't just not go into the office because then they, then, then on the run.

Then I'm, yeah, so I need, and I need for my own mental stability, I need to find out what's going on. So I have my mom help me write a letter and I wrote a letter to the manager to office and I was just, I was like, hey like hey listen like I got a better job offer Things to get crazy. I just want to get out of this crazy business and do something different because in my naive mind This is how stupid I work. I figured that if I laugh if I quit before

My mom was like they can't fire me if I quit already if I quit and left the job then they can't fire me in prosecute because I'm not there He's out the fence of dreams. I like no, he moved on anymore and never mind. Yeah, yeah, just move on from this guy He wrote us a nice letter exactly. I didn't know I didn't know what I was thinking I don't know But I was just like yeah, maybe the feds up That's what I was thinking if I quit then they can't prosecute me because I quit. So I went into the office building. It was right on 42nd Street by Grand Central Station,

went up the steps get to deaf looking around and some walking through the office. I had to fast somebody gonna pop out on the, walk through the cubicles and went straight to the managers office, and later they missed green. And she said, come in, I came in. I was like, hey, first I had to get a gauge for the temperature. So she was like, oh, she was super nice.

She's like, come on in, Remi, come on. I was like, all right, good, I think I'm all right. She's acting, she seems all right. So I said down, she's like, what is it, Remi? I was like, hey listen, I was like, I'm leaving. And I just want to give you this letter. And it's nice. She's like, why are you leaving?

She got like a bit hot. So I was like, oh man, this is it. This is, this is, she give me. And then she dialed it back. She was like, no, don't leave, don't leave. And I was like, is she trying to ban pools of this? Yeah. She trying to keep me in this.

I can get prosecuted now. She's on the fence, she can. So there, finally, I finally realized that she was meaning well, because you know, in the streets of the Bronx You learn how to read people and I finally realized that she was she was her spirit was in the right. Yeah It's place because she was trying to quiet. Yeah, she was just like I don't want to leave so much She's the best actor ever. She's a bad, but she wasn't She didn't know so and I sat down like. So, and I sat down and I was like,

you know, I hear guys, I'm getting arrested for the cell phone thing. I can't believe they're doing that. I was like, yeah, I can't believe it. I don't want to get involved in none of that. She was like, no, you won't, you're good. I know you're not, you, and check out, I wasn't just making money on what I was doing illegally. I was getting commission on all those sales.

So I was the top salesperson in the office. Well, that's why she didn't want you to leave either. That was another reason why she didn't want me to leave. And you're probably like a bullshit. Yeah, you're killing it. So I'm killing it on both ends. I'm getting, he's handing me $5,000, $3,000 commission checks, and I'm getting $10,000 a week, so I'm making crazy money.

I bought a brand new Lincoln car. I mean, straight off the dealership, everything. Did you ever buy a mom's ring back? No, no, that was long gone. I did that when I was like 12. I was like 19 at this point. And so she accepted my resignation and she said, don't worry, you're never gonna get caught up.

I know you would never do anything like this and she said, good luck. And at that point, I felt like I got away, but for years man, years, even when I was in the military, it was always worse. Something on my shoulder, like look around, look around, it might be there, look around, look around, it might be there.

So, that's just a limitation. We're good, right? Or do you want to add it all to that? I'm God, I should be good. Yeah, that's right. They're not gonna be like, that company was backrupted. You ripped them off, it took a lot of time. That company's going, they ripped off a lot of people

in other ways that he lived. So yeah, so that was December of 2001, three months after 9-11, and the next month and went hard with the record company. Like that's when I remember having a meeting at Deaf Jam. I shared a story with Joe Buttons manager because Joe Buttons had his podcast. Yeah, and he I went to the Def Jam office and I had to meet him with Kevin Laos. He was big. Big producer. And big

executive. And I had the compilation album that I spent all this money to make and I played a form. I played like one song he liked his second song like a third song. He's nodding his end I might might get a label deal because that's where I could fella got a label deal murder ain't got a label deal That's what I was trying to do. I was like that's gonna save me so now all the money I invested is now paying off I get the money back and now we could you know do the music thing and After like the seventh song he stopped it and he said you he's like that's cool But you want his something fire you want his something dope and as soon as he said that I know it's a label deal What was dope Kanye Joe buttons. Oh, yeah So he was like I just saw this guy named Joe buttons and he pulls out the city

It was like blanket and having a graphics on anything. Yeah, he puts it in the city play It was Joe wanted Joe buttons first singles to drop the play. He's like, that's not that. That's going to be the biggest rap in New York. He's going to be the biggest rapper. He was big. And at that point, you knew before that, I checked out. Yeah, yeah.

I was like, yeah, whatever play could have been anything. Yeah, yeah. Did you hear a difference between Joe Buttons and the guy that you, the guys who you had? Well, I thought my guys were fire. Yeah, I thought my guys were great. I mean, to this day, I listened to the album from time to time. And I'm like, yo, this is fucking a pie.

When I was writing the screenplay, I put some of the songs in there and lyrics. I was like, yo, this is just fire, man. I even got a verse on one of the songs. I was like, yo, this is tight. And, but it didn't work out. And then, you know, January past, nothing February past, and money goes away. I have nothing left.

You know, March, April, then finally in June, you know, my mom got tired of me sitting in the house and not getting a job and I got tired of me sitting in the house and hoping on something, hoping for something to happen. And that's when I made the decision, you know what? You know what else do I have to lose? Like the idea kind of, it's a lot more to the story,

but in short, I was laying in my bed. And I felt this presence, I felt something to say to me. You need to get out of here. You need to join the military. And it was a June morning. And I remember getting out of the bed, looking around. And it sounded like somebody had spoken to me. And I didn't see anybody there.

My mom was in her room and then I thought just begin a linger and linger and linger. This sound like Jaco Wake up before 30 it was a small calm voice and then I Started battling with the idea because I hated the police. I associated anybody in a uniform as a police officer They sent with your background, my background. Yeah, whether you army, navy, Marine Corps, you would have policed to me. I had a great disdain for the American government.

You know what I mean? Just growing up here on what I heard. And you know, even stuff that I saw growing up, you know, seeing cops beat the brakes off of dudes and train stations, me being arrested, having crazy stuff happen. I just had a lot of disdain. Is this 2001 you said? This is 2000.

So it's after. No, this is 2000. This is 2002. Oh, this is after September 11th. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the tower. Yeah, I watched the towers come down. I remember going to the roof of my building with this girl,

while I was dating at the time, and we sort of tower smoking, and we saw a come down from the roof. And her cousin was in Windows of the world. She was a waitress in Windows of the world. They never found the restaurant. Yeah, that was the top of the top. Yeah, yeah. That to see those towers fall so unbelievable for a New Yorker. Yeah, yeah, it was like hard to even understand. Yeah, yeah, it was crazy. It was tough for everybody. But it brought New York together. Well, it brought me to try everybody.

You know, like whether you a black, white, cotton, or whatever case may be, it was like, I was near 11 days after that. So you know what to do. You know, I went, I saw it smoking. I was still smoking. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, we flew over it, I saw it.

And then did you, did that, even when that happened, really, 90 in the military, was this voice tone? No, I was a voice you, did that, even when that happened, really, I didn't get the military, was this voice tone here? No, I was a voice, I had that, because that happened, I was nine months earlier. So I felt the voice, and then I was like, I battle for a bit, but then I looked at my dad's picture,

that same picture that I cried in front of, when I came home after getting beat up, and I said, you know, screw what else do I have to lose? You know, let me see what's gonna happen. And ran down the street, I grew up on Forum Road, and first I went into the Marine Corps office, because I was like, oh, you know, I me see what's gonna happen. And ran down the street, I grew up on For The Road. First I went into the Marine Corps office, because I was like, oh, you know, I'd join the Marines. You know what I mean?

There was a poster in there that's God with a gun. Wet suit and I was like, oh, that's a Navy Seal cat, because I didn't know the difference. Yeah. And I watched a movie called The Rock. But you know, there were two movies that kind of had planted the seed in my head to do something outside of Af sports drugs and raping.

And that was bad boys, because I was the first time I saw two black dudes who look like me, but they were cool. They were heroes. And then it was the rock because that was the first time I saw these Navy seals. I was like, yo, these dudes got a rubber suits and they got swimming. They got cars and driving the water. And I was like, if I ever turn my life around, I'll do that. So when I went to Marine or Coral Recruiters office, I saw that post.

I was like, oh, that's for him to be a Navy SEAL thinking that the Marine Corps cut out as a Navy SEAL. Nobody was in the office. I sat there for like 10, 15 minutes. Nobody came. Nobody came, there was coffee on the desk. The Embry Crewter? It was coffee on the desk.

So somebody must have been taking a dump or something. But the guy didn't come. Yeah, bad cell service. Yeah, you got to go outside. I saw them on the phone and come to the office. Yeah. bad cell service. Yeah, you got to go outside. I saw them calling it all. Yeah. Yeah. I got full circle.

Yeah, man. Yeah. But it was a blessing because I went to door that, two doors down to the Navy Recruiters office, walked in there. It was a beautiful Puerto Rican Navy Recruitin and Tiana and 18 Rez. Damn, you still remember her name?

Remember her name. And I saw her in my mind. I was like, yo, I'm not just getting in the Navy, but I'm getting with her. I'm getting with her. And so I'm fine. That's why she got the job. Yeah, that's why she got the job.

So I started swarvin' on her and she's laugh. She was from the Bronx. She served in the Navy and then she came back to be a recruiter in the Bronx because she wanted to kind of get back to her community. And she's like, what do you want to do? I was like, yeah, I'm gonna be a Navy Seal. She was like, you're gonna be a Navy Seal? Because I was skinny. And she was like, I was like, I was like, yeah, I'm gonna be a Seal. Well, girl, I'm gonna be a Seal. So she's like, I

would have to, she's like, come over here, Navy Seal, and take the practice asap test. So I went to the computer, took a practice asap test. I passed high enough to get into the Navy, but I didn't pass high enough to be a Seal because you got to score really high on the asap test. What's an asap test? It's like a aptitude test. It's almost like the SAT. Oh, got you. It's like math and reading comprehension. Oh, damn, it's like the SAT, but just to get into the military.

Shit. And so after that, she had me come over to her desk, went over to her desk, and she ran my background. And when she ran my background, she found I had two warrants off my arrest. And when she ran my background, she found I had two warrants out from my arrest. And when she said that, bro, my whole body got high. You didn't even know. I didn't even know I had warrants, damn.

I didn't even know I had warrants. My whole body got high. And keep in mind, I left World Common December. So in my mind, the first thing that popped in my mind, I'm like, oh my god, this is a fed warrants. They couldn't find me. They coming after me. I'm like, oh my god, this is a fed once. They couldn't find me. They coming after me. I'm going to be fed, federal prison.

Dude, it was like, I want to die. My whole body is in a pale. Every, I got to hide my face, turn a pale. And I got up and I bolted towards a door. And right before I got to the door, she stopped me. She said, stop. I'm like, I'm like, what? I'm sweating at this point.

I'm like, she's like, where are you going? I was like, I'm getting out of here. Like, what are you going to go? I was like, I don't know, I'm just, what? I'm sweating at this point. I'm like, and she's like, where are you going? I was like, I'm getting out of here. Like, what are you going to go? I was like, I don't know. I'm just getting out. And she was like, now I'm not staying. I thought she was going to turn me in. I thought she was trying to call the cops to turn me in.

And I was like, what do you want? She's like, if you're going to turn me in, she's like, no, no, no, I'm not going to turn you in. She's like, just relax. She's chill. She said, you got a suit. I said, I said, now I ain't got no suit. She said, you got me suit. I said, I said, nah, I got no suit. She said you got me on on a date.

I thought she was trying to take me to court. To the pin, to the pin. She was here for your court. I thought she was taking me to the cops and she wanted me to dress nice so that when she take me, they may have leniency on me. This is what I'm thinking. So then she's like, you gotta call her shirts

and nice pants. I was like, I'm sure I could find something. Why, why? I'm amped up. I grew up on DMX, I'm thinking. So then she's like, she's like, you got a collar shirt, some nice pants. I was like, I'm sure I could find something. Why, why? I'm amped up. I grew up on DMX, so I'm like, yeah. Why, why, what do you want? And then, she's like, just come back tomorrow. I was like, for what? She's like, just come back tomorrow.

She's screaming at me and I think you're like accent. And I looked at her like I said, growing up in a Bronx, I learned how to read people. So, you have to, especially when you hustling the way I'm hustling. So I was able to read that I don't know exactly what she's going to do for me, but she's going to do something good. That's authentic, yeah. And so I said, all right, I came back the next day.

She was in her dress uniform, head to toe medals and everything. She drove me to New Jersey, had a warrant in New Jersey She drove me to New Jersey, I had a warrant in New Jersey. Drown me to New Jersey. And I was even more petrified because the headquarters for my company was in New Jersey. Drown me to New Jersey, found out that the Scott me in front of the judge, it was for like reckless driving. Oh, some stupid.

When I was going recording in the studio or something. I was doing like 120 and like reckless driving. Oh, some stupid. When I was going recording in the studio or something like that, I was doing like 120 and like something ridiculous and I never showed up the court. And so it was reckless driving, Mr. Meena. So she told the judge, she said, listen, this guy's made mistakes. He's trying to join the military after 9-11.

You know, this is a courageous act for him to make that decision. You know, patriotism, yaddaada yada, and a judge say, hey, this guy is serious about joining the military after an act of war. I'll expunge his record clear on this. This is all you have to do is pay the court fees and court fines. Boom, that's done. Get to New York.

I had a case that, you know, resisting arrest, you know, bunch of, there's a bad, it was a bad charge. Not like it was a felony, anything crazy. It was like a murder to rape somebody, but it bunch of, it was a bad, it was a bad charge, not like it was a felony, anything crazy, it was like I murdered a rape somebody, but it was a charge, it was a charge or something that I did that, totally forgot that I did that, I got arrested for, I went to jail for,

but never went to court for. I skipped court, I missed court. You made bail and got the fuck out? I got out and I never went, I'm not thinking, I'm not thinking I gotta go to court, man, I mean even now we get, something says to do jury duties, you forget. The only thing to remind is my Apple Caledon. I got charged for that.

Same thing, she went in front of the judge and said the same thing, it's kids made mistakes, but he has potential. The court house was coincidentally like five blocks away from 9-11, the top to 20 towers. And so the judge was like, yo, this guy is serious, like the other judge, Alex Spunger's record. He just has to pay the court for using court funds. And you know, he thanked me for joining the military for, you know, after that, after work.

She had to go a step further. She went a step further and flushed the paperwork because even with my record, she still needed time. That doesn't clear in the system right away for the government, the military background check system. She fudged all of that. I love her. She fudge all of that.

What? And what did you heard her name? She died two years later. Oh, no. Damn, for what? Yeah. She had an autoimmune disease. Damn.

But her daughter, you know, I'm a poor family. Her daughter's like my daughter. I'm flying out of India. July, you know, for a holiday because she just A daughter's like my daughter. I'm flying out in July. For holiday, she just graduates. She just graduates high school. Oh, well, damn. You know, moms are like my mom.

We are the text thread. Texting my mom's her dad. So their family, her brothers, like my brother. Oh, so. Brad, Brad is hung out with the family. With CC and Sierra and the family. So yeah, we are family now. Because dad decision changed your life.

Change my life, man. Good for you. It wasn't in for way every other moment. It says a lot about you to remember me. Yeah, yeah. People like that, this damn man. I'd be dead on prison. If it wasn't for, I'd be dead on prison.

Everything that I've accomplished in my family, I wouldn't have anything that I have now. You just need so many to take your chance. That's it. That's it. She saw something. She saw something. Yeah. And you got yourself in that recruiting thing.

Yeah, yeah. And did you join the seals? Joining the Navy. So I joined the Navy and went to boot camp. And when I got to boot camp, I wanted to do the seal thing, but I couldn't because I had the ASBAB scores. And I remember seal came into he came into our division And he did like a presentation in auditorium and showed us like a video seals like you skydive and driving doing buckets

Through dead and long hair and beers and they got suppresses on their guns like it was actual Navy seal And all of us in there like 200 cast like yo like I want and Afterwards he was like who wants to go screen? Because you have to screen to get in with just like a 500 yard swim, push ups, sit ups, a mile and a half run and pull ups in a certain amount of time. And all the guys that had qualified with the ads that have left the room and who wanted to do it. And I was left there with all the cast that didn't want to do it.

And I was like, that crushed me. That crushed me because I was like, dude, I wanna be with those dudes, but that was my fuel. And that's something, like I said, that switch. That had a switch went off my head and I was like, come hell a high water. I'm gonna figure this swimming thing out, this academic thing out, this physicality thing out.

Imagine brawling up in the broad, you weren't doing a lot of swim. Ah man, there's no swims, man. There's fire hydrants, you pop the fire hydrants, you're all the white people. My money paid for no swims man. There's fire hydrants pop the fire hydrants In the city guys black guys yeah, yeah, and like they're all amazing athletes not one Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah in a rich kid thing, man. You work, where the fuck are you gonna swim? You're not. Yeah, not.

So you have to teach yourself to swim? So I got to my first command, which was Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, and I was out in the boom docks, and it was a blessing, and I got stationed out there, because I was out in the boom docks. Like literally our hospital, once you drove through the camp Pendleton gates,

it was a half an hour drive to the hospital. And the high hospital was like literally in this desert area surrounded by nothing. So as soon as I got to the command to the hospital, check with my LPO and I was like, listen, I want to be a seal, but I need to train, I need to be able to train, and I was stationed in a family practice clinic. So I was like checking in babies doing vital signs, just like a nurse. And so she was like, all right, if you work four hours in the morning,

I'll give you four hours off in the afternoon and you come back to work the night. That's cool. And so again, somebody and other woman, it was like, yo, I believe in this. I believe in you, you know what I mean? And, and what fueled me to be on my best behavior was that decision that Tiana made to get me. And because the reason why she had to fudge the paperwork was because the government's policy was, if you had a record,

we need to know what it was, we didn't know what you did so that we could make the decision. Because if we don't know what you did, we don't know if you're going to do that, then again, in the military. So, rightly so, the government military's policy was right on, because they don't want somebody, if you're rapist, a serial killer, a thief, or whatever, and come into doing that. And so, I wanted to show that I was truly rehabilitated. I wanted to do well to the best of my ability. So Tiana's decision was made right. So I could pay the way for other kids,

because I get messages to this day from kids who were like, yo, I had this charge, you know, making a threat to my girlfriend or whatever or trespassing or whatever No, no no one won't let me into the military. No branch won't take And so like and I'm like and he's like what's what what can I do? And I'm always like you gotta find that one recruited that's gonna take that risk man Like there's nothing I could do. I wish I could do it for you if it was up to me

I put you in but you might be it in but you might be able to appeal to congress you might go to go hey there are kids who made one mistake in the military could use them give them a chance you say 100 percent you could just testify to congress I got like you I tried he could yeah for the kids no I'm saying you need politicians kids get a no there's nothing like I'm a don kid. You would need a special bill pass that would say, like sort of the second chance law or something like that. That's a good idea, something I got to consider doing. It's a very good idea, you could do it because there are a lot of,

you get very sympathetic ears, especially now and now. And especially now with the recruiting and the Republicans. You would get it from Republicans and Democrats. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's something Republicans are not gonna say, you made a mistake, hey, there are kids, able-bodied have potential. Yeah, you can let them waste away because they made one mistake Yeah, they're 18. Yeah, or 17 or 16. Yeah, or you can give them a chance and change the life around every Republican Get behind that because that's a patriotic thing

Yeah, but that's my dude. I'll be like well, I will expose the crime, but they got to be trying every day but they gotta be trying. Every year, well, they gotta go. That's true. That's true. Democrats will do it if it's, if it's, if it's got cases. If it's in, if it's in, it's in. But a lot of these kids are kids of color, so they're black and they're brown.

So Democrats aren't about to be like, no, the Democrats are definitely the party now with the second, third and fourth. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why, you know, those Soros prosecutors, yeah, they're like, but left all right, we can talk about military. That's, we need this. Yes, you can you can

I was a recruiting right now recruiting is horrible. I was gonna make a real difference. I was a one of the heads of recruiting yesterday We had lunch. He was like yo Remi. He's like it's bad, bro. He's like it's like it's like Nationals security level bad. He's like we're like a fat army Navy across the board is down if we have a war pop though right now It's a rat. No, this is good friend. Well, that fat kids it No, it's not. He's a Navy If you want to send that kid on the fucking I was talking to a fucking really experienced pilot at United yesterday at a party, a kids party.

And he said, we have such a staff shortage for people, first of all, who are like, the traffic control guy. So that's why planes are delayed a lot of times, but also they can't find pilots. So they're putting younger and younger, more and more inexperienced pilots in that seat. And he was like, I'm telling you right now it's a matter of time. But what started this?

I don't know what you're down the street, and you have this episode flag. What started it with the mandates? I know exactly. So all the pilots like, oh, okay, well, we're not getting... I know. And shut that one down. There's a lot of that. It's like, oh, okay, well, we're not getting. I know. And shut that one. Shut that one, General. Yeah, right. There's a lot of that.

Thank you. And then also, you gotta think about a lot of people who are pilots or, you know, they're crew or, I don't know what you're calling. A lot of them come from the military. They get the experience in the military and they retire, get out and then they go into the civilian sector.

But now because of the lack of recruiters, we're now seeing the effects of people not having joins, so they're not getting out of it. So I was raving about the border and it's open. All these people coming home. Who are raving that's a good thing? No, I'm raving against it. I'm like, we should close the border.

Okay, well I had this pretty smart dude. It's really smart dude. He's a billionaire and he's my friend. And he calls himself Republican, like Democrat, heavy anyways. He goes, here's the thing, dude. We have labor shortage in this country. And all those people coming over, all of them are getting jobs. Jobs that we don't want, and they're paying taxes.

And I was like, it is, how much money? He showed me the stats. He follows it. He's way smarter than I am. He has all, and I was like, this, I was like, oh, I kind of got me to, I was like, maybe I should rethink some of what I'm saying. I was like, all pinnacle.

You definitely need immigrants for a lot of that stuff. Yeah, you can't say every person a lot of them are getting jobs a lot of them coming Because there are there is a lot of labor shortages for sure that people don't want to do Kind of get sucked right into it. Yeah, but that's a process Well, I agree. I'm not saying you know, I agree. I'm not saying I believe in you know legal immigration Your friend didn't hey I'm not saying I believe in legal integration. But you're killing your friend, didn't? Hey man, hey bro, the broth. Hey, your friend named Soros, right?

You have to be careful this one, don't trust him. Hey, come on man, wait, so now it's a far-lefton. So let's get back to it. Let's get on it. When American Patriot, let's get back to it. So you end up, now you wanna be an ABC. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well I just want to back off with, just on a moment, I'm loving your story. You know, not thank you brother. be a Navy singer. Yeah, yeah. Well, I just want back off with, just on the moment, I'm loving your story. You know, not thank you brother. It's like a movie I'm watching. It's going to be a fly or what too. But the military needs people. And I just want not to step on your platform and stuff, but hey, to tell people, listen, it was great for me.

And it's great for young people. If you don't know what you want to do, do you get paid good money, get to travel the world. I got my bachelor's and my master's paid for, they paid me to go to college to get my bachelor's and my master's. Relationships. Relationships.

It gives you a platform that you could jump off to later. I'm a supporter of the man. He's not supportive of the man. My entire family. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wanna go to the military. Super. You VA loan if you wanna buy a house. So I He can. I wanna go to the military. Super. You VA loan if you wanna buy a house.

So I tell ya, I know there's been a push. I think a lot of it is politicized. I think a lot of people they see military and they're like, oh, that's a Republican or a red type thing. That's so immediate though. You know, if you're married, you're gonna get kids or omniscient. And I see that. That's not real, that's not real. The military is fucking great.

It's amazing. And we have the biggest, baddest military all the fucking land. Which is only one skill, too. Yeah, and there's only one way to keep that number one spot by you guys in Rome. 100%. And it's diverse.

The military is the most super fun. When I worked with that, the first time I was around, I was on a white dude, was in the middle, when I got the boot camp, I'm like, oh snap, I never seen you. Just colored as a mountain. It's colored as a mountain. And it's all about the God to your right

or the woman to your left for whoever the case been being, getting the job done. And in so many life lessons that come out of joining the military. So I just wanted to use this opportunity to just making appeal to young people. Listen, man, I'm a dude from I grew up in a branch.

I came from nothing, you know, and I'm not trying to say, I'm not trying to boast when I say this, but the military has given me a platform where I'm wealthy now. I'm very wealthy. My kids won't have to work unless I want them to. My kids' college is already paid for because of the military. So just think about that. Think about the opportunities that could come your way. Think about your futures, not just about the hearing eye. I think so many people, especially young kids, they forget that at some point you're going to die. I'm going to die.

Well, over 100 years from now, 99% of the people on this planet will not be on this planet anymore. That's just the reality. The only thing you can leave behind is your legacy, is your legacy and leave behind something for your kids and your grandkids and all of that. And we are in the, we live in the greatest country. And I have no shame in saying that because I came from another country. You know what I'm saying? You're my father left the West, Rich went to Nigeria, died poor. I left Nigeria. Poor came to America. I'm rich. And a lot of that came from the opportunities that the military afforded to me. Also the work ethic you learn, the discipline, like exactly everything you do exactly. So I know a lot of you said that huh?

Just toughness and gentle. I'm joining the fuck. Just a little dongle, gentlemen. Don't don't be careful. Yeah, I heard they lowered the age required. Yeah. Well, I moved like I'm 30 and I fucked like I'm 20. There you go. That's all that is the way. Same, I'm saying. So, so keep going.

So now, get to the, let's get to, now you, you go through buds. Yeah, so I, well, first I had the training, and I trained, I put the pedal to the metal so when she gave me those four hours, I bought a Az-Vat with dummy's book. I got some swim gear, I got this Buds 234, it's like Navy SEAL training documentary.

I watched it. I wrote it, yeah. And I just created a regiment, you know what I mean? I studied my Az-Vat book for a son of a month, I went to the gym and swam just did that religiously and like within six months, I took a passive screening test. I went from not being able to swim,

to being able to swim and pass in the screening test, not being able to do a push up to doing 30 pull ups and 100 push ups and I was just, and I tell people all the time, at any time you have a dream, there's always going to be an obstacle on a path towards that dream, otherwise I wanna be called a dream, it'll be called something. Otherwise, everyone would do it. Yeah, there's always going to be an obstacle on the path towards that dream. Otherwise, I want to be called a dream.

It'll be called something. Otherwise, everyone will do it. Everybody has to be called. Yeah, everybody will do it. And you can make one or two choices. Either you can throw your hands up and play victim, oh, you know this, I can't do it. Or you can do the extra, extra hard work

to overcome that deficiency so that you could achieve your dream. And so I chose to do the extra, extra hard work, whether it was raining, whether it was cold, whether I was sick, I ran to do the extra extra hard work whether it was raining whether it was cold whether I Was sit I ran to that pool uphill three miles uphill jumping the pool freezing cold tried to figure it out ran three miles back to the barracks Did something else and I did that religiously pass the screening test and within a year checking into the command My neighbor hospital camp Pendleton. I was checking out on my way to seal training damn And and that's when that's when the That's when it got real it got real real. It got real bugs is buzzes And saying huh listen man. I was at buzz yesterday

I took Danny Amidola who was on the Fox show with me. I love Danny. He's a good dude Yeah, I took him in this girlfriend and game a tour. Yeah, Get me. My hands are starting to get hot. It's just getting me heated up. What just do I see? You might see a toss up right now. What's that? Because it's happened to be the worst. It's just tough because you're kind of a sim.

And we're here to the same, right? Bro, don't fall. And then the whole, my billionaire friend, but it's the board is fine. I haven't found you on the open market. The boarder is the boarder. I have no, there's no issues with the boarder. I'm just saying, bro.

Come on here, it's 2024. I'll say that. I am sorrows is a board. I'm just saying, bro. Come on here, it's 2024. I'll say that. I am not. Soros is a president. I never said that, bro. You've been worse about that, man. I ain't no cock. Although, in every friend's a billionaire,

I'm not buying it, dude. Hey, hey, you get me heated up, bro. That conversation never happened, did it? What? Your friend's billionaire with a border? I don't have a billionaire. And then the pilot. All right, keep calling.

Keep calling. So yeah, when I got there was crazy, man, it was relentless, man. Class 250 was my first class. There were a lot of legends in that class. Mikey Mansor, who went on to win the medal of honor. He was in my class and my bo crew. Workman, who ended up, you know, he got shot down at Exorche 17. He was in my class, my bo crew.

Ryan Joe rolled into that class. He was another guy, Silver Star, Task Force Bruiser. I mean, it was just... Task Force Bruiser was at Chocobolex thing, right? Yep, yep, yep, yep. Was there a moment when you're like, in buds with all those bad asses in your bad ass yourself? We're like, holy shit, man.

Yeah, every day was humbling, bro. Every day when I do, when they won a buzz, we started like 4.35 in the morning. I can't remember the exact time, it was still dark. And they call us out on that grind, and we ran out there, it was like saving private ryan and when the boats were coming in. And like, and casakets shot,

and you all in the characters POV and bullets of flight, it was like that, we running in, and the structures are just like 20 of them. Like you're down and guys are just falling on stuff, getting hurt, quitting ringing the bell, ding, ding, ding, and another person running it was gnarly, man. Explain us what water holes, it's a cold, cold, cold. It was winter, I had a winter face.

Would you get confidence when they would ring the bell? 100%. We had a saying, it was like a highlander. It was like highlander. What do you kill a dude and you get a soul? No one dares what I went through, similar to buds, but I played football at the University of Colorado. They call it dirty dozens.

You have to be that 4.30 a.m. before our classes start. So there's probably 150 guys, and the only point was to get guys to quit. Like anybody who couldn't finish the sprints or finish the obstacles, they would quit. Or do wall sets, anyone who fell down out and used to give me so much energy. When a guy would quit, because in your mind,

it's like, well, I was better than him. Yeah, exactly. And that was the thing that was. You seem falling off. Are you not belly like, yes. They would give you this energy that you wouldn't believe. They was as they was, like, keep going. Yeah, that was his day was so I keep going. Now you're going?

You're just showers? I want to hear the rest of the story. Okay, sorry. Yeah, no, you just heard of that. Yeah, no, you can jump. You get to eat it. You're also a biased book, right? I'm going to bias book on your own time.

I'm going to leave this fucking book. Yeah, so people are reading the bell, but. Yeah, and now remember, it was a guy in my class who was a, this one triathlons became really big. He was like all instructors knew him because he was like a well-known triathlete do quit And hey, I'm a cat who just learned how to swim I'm from the Bronx. I'm like one of three black dudes in a class of 250 because not too many black dudes go to buds You know getting the buds and it's just in power. But it was man. It was brutal man He's in a lot of it mental? Like the athletes, like the best,

people don't realize like, oh, I bet LeBron would do but it's like mental, it's so mental. It's mental, it's all mental, it's 100%. Once you pass the screening test, the 500 yard swim, push up, sit up, so all that stuff, you've already essentially told the Navy and yourself that you are physically qualified to make it through CO training.

The question doesn't become physicality anymore. Yes, the instructors are using physical tools to drive home intellectual points. It's all a mental test. Can you stay uncomfortable for that, huh? Yeah, extreme discomfort, extreme cold. I mean, my lowest core temperature at one point was 88.8. They will serve torture to hell out of us.

And that's the way they get rid of the majority of the guys is the cold The cold The cold is like it's like the worst thing ever that you are because you can't escape it You know and how long is buds is six months? Week six months six months, six months bro. Six months, six months you fucking get it together. You gotta read the book, brother. And then they don't think they'll probably be asleep too.

Yeah, so the third or the third, it's fucking six months of that. With some classes, the third week is hell week. Some classes, the fourth week is hell week. So hell week is an evolution where they keep you up for six days, it starts on Sunday and it's on Friday. It's straight towards us. Everything you did over the past two previous two weeks,

you know, log PT, boats on hands, we're running with the boat on your hand, feels like your neck is gonna break, launches, swims, like, you're wet. They keep you wet the entire time to the point with Thursday of Hell Week. Everybody's pretty much hydrophobic, which means you're terrified of the water

because they've kept you still going. You start shivering when you think about the water. When you think about the water. I've heard that. It's miserable. And then Friday is when it ends they say you get two hours of sleep on Wednesday. It starts on Sunday. You get two hours of sleep on Wednesday. Two hours of sleep on Thursday. But by that time you're so wired, most guys can't even fall asleep by that point. Because you're so, because you're just expecting them to wake you up any second. Can you use any like caffeine? Nothing. They don't give you coffee, no coffee.

No caffeine, no, no, no. Okay. Wait, well. That hearted stuff. Well, it's been guys, it's never. But there's been guys who tried to cheat it and went in the hell week with like some type of caffeine drug or something.

They died. They died. Yeah. Yeah, if my guy died in my class, not because he was on anything because he had an underlying heart issue This is what I remember I could be wrong, but that wasn't reported and and cuz he wanted to be a seal Do he die right fun on a beat we really we on a conditional run which was a five-mile six-mile run in soft sand It was a horrible is a Friday was a last evolution of today and they have a thing called the goon squad

Where if you don't make a certain cutoff point, if you're so far behind, they stop, you and they just hammer you, me up and down the berm, bear crawls, in the ocean, back, push, shoves, this, and he died right in front of me. Damn. They were, I worked on them and a few other

people were working on them and try to revive them. They finally got a post, but he had been out so long that by the time they got into the hospital, he was a vegetable. Damn. So it's brutal, bro. It's like, and you can't cheat in and take something. There's been guys who tried to cheat in and take something.

Sweet thing, you know. Yeah, there's no way around. Yeah, I almost died. As a matter of fact, I ended up the first time I went to Hell Week. I got the Tuesday Hell Week with 2,500. I got pneumonia. I started with pneumonia because we had a med-shet

the two days before how we started and I was already spitting a blood. And as a quorum and I knew I had pneumonia, but I didn't want to report it. How'd you get it just not sleeping? Just being in the water, being cold, you know, you're around. Some people can't keep heat in.

And some people are like, I do super well in the heat. I wouldn't last, I can't handle the cold I just my neck is too long some she can't maybe I'm too shredded Notice how aggressive we've gotten with each other Like we're about to have to attack like Brian stops you and you guys the thing I mean, you know, I don't know if I can be in it No, we all know we know everyone watching. No, because he looked at me and he goes like this.

He goes secretly, you were in here. I love you. I told him the first time I met him. He went like this. He goes, you're in the teams. I went and I just I wanked. Yeah, secret. So now, did you guys, so Tuesday, you have to drop out.

So no, I didn't drop out. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't quit, brother. Okay, okay. I always sit on the snare. I'm not going to drop out. No, I didn't drop out. I'm a quite don't quit brother. Okay I Experiences like quit. Yeah So yeah, I was spitting a blood before I started and I knew I had pneumonia But I didn't want to report it because I didn't want to start day one of first phase over again Because that in that class I had it three weeks of first phase, which is hell I mean we lost like 90 dudes in those three weeks. I didn't want to start from day one

That's when you lose the most. Yeah, that's when you lose in there in hell week That's when you lose pretty much for brass. And then a lot of hell with it. They just graduated class. 12 guys got through that Hell Week. That was like a couple months ago. I love those. So I'm sorry, but you're saying you lose a lot of people just up to Hell Week.

You lose a lot of people with those first three. Like day one, you lose a lot of people. Then day two, then you got that week, you've lost a good chunk of the class, maybe a quarter of the class. Because you're not sleeping that much then either? You know, you get done like, depending on the evolutions you get done like around, maybe seven o'clock, sometimes you have a night evolution,

like 10 o'clock, but even when you get done with the instructors, you still gotta clean your gear, clean your room, sharpen your knife. So you're not going bad to lay anyway, then you gotta be up at like five in the morning the next day to get ready for evolution. How good did it feel when you passed?

Brrrr, I mean. I mean, it was, it was, it was, yeah, it was, it was heaven. You made through, you made it through Hell Week. Yeah, so I, I will, I will end it up, almost done in Hell Week, went to the ICU, got pulled on Tuesday, went to the ICU, was in the ICU for like a week, when pneumonia site, Rabdo.

Oh, we, you had Rabdo too. I had Rabdo too. It's when muscle tissue breaks out and gets caught in your kidneys. You can die. I had Rabdo almost died. Oh shit. So you're literally like a week in the hospital.

Yeah. You're in fucking time. And if you have those issues, they don't kick you out automatically. No, they med rule you. So after I got done, after I got out the hospital, I went back to Buds and it was like, hey, go to on you for not quitting,

because instructors didn't know I was sick. They thought I was faking. Cause a lot of cats, like they get the hell we can. They don't want to quit, but they don't want to find a way out. And so they'll start figuring out the sick I'm dying. So they thought I was one of those cats. So when I got back to the barracks instructors were like, dude, we so lucky you didn't quit.

We didn't know it was legit. It's a cool faking. It's like, yo, good on you, but hate to tell you guys start day one all over again. So I started day one all over again, went through another week. I was in with Mark Lee, who's another legendary seal. He was a first Navy seal killed in Iraq. So we were in class together and went through three weeks

of first phase again, got kicked in nuts, watched like another 80, 90 dudes quit, started hell week. But at this point, you kind of know a little bit. Yeah, I knew, I knew what was coming. Yeah, I knew what was coming. Which made it slightly, it's still painful. You know what's, you know that, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying?

You say, pace yourself? Not, there's no point. I am so sorry, man. Sorry, hate yourself. Yeah, you feel froggy, fucking leap, man. Hold on, pace yourself with an eight. I don't know what I'm saying I'm Wrap up in the story alright and you guys like pace yourself and you like

Get ready to keep going keep going. I'm sorry about him. So I made it through how you guys get pedicures during holy You're the one is like fucking there are any English speakers in Nigerian No, you're one I've won this podcast so far Julian One I've won this podcast so far Sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry, yes if you Sorry about yourself and those Un-American multi-colored shoes

I'm gonna go into a fucking seizure if I keep staring at him He's ruining the story. Keep going. Keep going, Goddamn guys. Sorry for my confidence. I'm sorry. So I went through first phase again, made it through hell with this time, you know, good feeling, So I went through first phase again, made it through hell week this time, you know, good feeling after I made it through hell week

because I have failed my swims because you have to do a two-mile time motion swim once a week and I failed all my swim. Two miles in the ocean? Once a week, fuck you. Yeah, yeah. In San Diego, with great whites everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Night time? No, daytime. How fast do you have to go? You got it in first phase, it was 85 minutes and second phase, it was 80 and in third phase, it was 85 minutes, and second phase it was 80, and then third phase is 75 minutes. Well, I don't know if it's time. Against card.

It's a kick in the night. Is it cold? Freezing cold. At the end of every swim, I was either borderline hypothermic or hypothermic. Cause your wet suits, they give you a wet suit, but that's, for me, I had no body fat. I mean, it was just all muscle, I had no body fat

to insulate me. So, after I made it through Hell Week, they performance rolled me two classes, but I didn't have to go through Hell Week again. They just waited for the next two classes to finish Hell Week, finally passed my swims, and then I got the second phase, which was diaphase. So I finished the first eight weeks,

which is like the vetting process for the most part. After you get through diaphase, after you get through first phase, then now they're like, all right, we're gonna start teaching you some of the principles of becoming a seal because we know that you've made it with the biggest part.

So I got to diet phase and I failed my first two swims in diet phase because the times dropped to 80 minutes. And then we got to dive week, which is a week where you do a bunch of different dive tests. You do like night ditching down, which is you're going to order with your dive gear on. You got to take off all your dive gear in a certain sequence, surface to the top, which is to do a FSA so that you don't keep compressed air in your lungs, breathe, and then swim back

down to your dive gear and put all it back on in a certain sequence. If you get one part out of sequence, you fail a whole test. So I pass that. Then the next day you do night ditching down, which is you do the same thing blindfolded. Then the next day you do Wednesday, you do buddy gear exchange, where you and your buddy are on the water sharing dive gear. You gotta take off all the dive gear off your body,

put it on yourself, and then he does the same thing. And then you do that blackout mask, night buddy gear exchange. So I passed those four tests, but there was a test that you do every day, which is called the tread and that That is the You don't talk about near drowning that's like the worst You tread water your hands stay above water

So you gotta keep your hands above water. You have on 20-80 dive tanks. So two dive tanks on your back You have a weight belt. You have on a dive vest You have on all of this gear and you gotta keep your hands above water for five minutes in tread, and it literally feels like you're drowning. Okay, as soon as your hands touch the water, you fail. And then after you finish the five minutes, you gotta swim the length of the pool on your stomach,

and then on your back on the way back. And then once you touch the water, you pass. I fell the tread four times. Every day when you do Ditch and Don and all of those other tests, after you finish the test, then you do the tread. If you failed it, then you do it again, too. So you fail it, then you do it. And if you fail it, so I failed that four times.

And because I failed that four times, I failed my first two swims in die phase. I went to an academic review board and it was like, yo, listen, Remy, you know, swim in my knee or thing. You're not cut out for this, you're not cut out to be a seal. And that was the first time in my adult life that I took responsibility for my actions because after I had made it through Hell Week,

I thought I had arrived. I got super prideful, I got mad prideful. I mean, I'm going downtown, gas lamp district, party in, hookin' up with girls, telling them I'm a seal, and on the weekends, the instructors would show up, and they would work with anybody that had any issues.

So if you had that picture up there, that the dive gear on, with the second row to the left. Here? That one, yeah. That was the guy's with him. So that's a buddy gear exchange, because you got one God taking a dive gear off the other guy So that's in the CT. That's the same place where I did that

Yep, and you got to do a lot of that on breath holes And then you got another test called pool comp where their structure swim down to you and they tie it not Your your holes in a knot spin you around they destroy your gear underwater and they wait for you to exhale So you be breathing on a regulator as soon as they see you breathe out all your in and they come out and they hit you tight. And you're like, chicken neck and then you gotta figure it out with no air. And you gotta fix it in a perfect sequence where you fail. That's one of the hardest tests in pool.

So right now. And so, yeah, it's gnarly. I'm gonna do it from the Bronx. I'm gonna do it from the Bronx. Yeah, you're doing it. I'm like, no, I'm not a Swiss. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when I got kicked out, it was humbling,

but it was necessary, because like I said, I was out partying, telling girls, I was in the teams, I wasn't showing up on the weekend when instructors would say, hey, we're here for remediation to work with you on swims, work with you on a track, work with you on what I was too hung over from partying because I thought I had a round, like, yo, I'm already a seal that I didn't show up

and that's why I ended up getting kicked out of training. So I got sent back to Camp Pendleton this time I'm with the Grunts First Marine Division. That was humbling, bro, like being with the Grunts marked ground pounders. I was in Scout Sniper Platoon for a little bit and then I went to 81 millimeter mortar platoon and then thank God a year and a half later,

I was able to get back in the Siletrain. And my LPO, who had, like I said, there's always been people who've come into my life at the right time to help give me a push. So my LPO, who was like my supervisor first marine division, he went from that position to becoming the command career counselor in front of a charge of every person's career

that was a corpsman in first marine division. So he went from being in charge of 12 dudes to being in charge of like 1200 dudes. And because he had work with me, he knew my work ethic. And he knew I wanted to get back to Silatrini. He went to the command. He was like, listen, Remby wants to go back to Silatrini. He's a good dude.

I know the policies. He has to stay here for three years, but let's hook him up. He's going to make it. And so the command master, she was like, all right. He just has to sign a page or a team 13 that says if he doesn't make it, he has to come back and do three years first Margit and then you know X Y Z so Assign that page 13 went back the buds started day one all over again

Another three weeks on his face You wanted it. Yeah, I went through hell week made it through hell week got to freaking Diaphase made it through die phase made became a frog man Damn, you became maybe became a frog man. Damn. Then you became a seal. You became a seal. You got to try it to get out of here. You got to go to your show. And then how long till after you complete all that

and your official frog man, to go on your mission? Yeah, so after you finish buds, you know, I don't wanna say this because a lot of people can confuse just for the audience, every Navy seal completes buds. Ain't nothing special about making it through buds for a guy who is sealed to add the public. It's like, oh yeah, you made it through buds,

but that ain't nothing. All the teams do that. Every seal has gone through buds, every Navy seal. So that's just what you take. You're not really a seal until you start doing the work in the SEAL, right? Until you get invited into a SEAL team unit, right? You're an FNG.

No, it's true. To do a pump, until you do the work up, until you do a pump, all unit, right? You're an FNG through a while. No, it's too late. To do a pump, to do a workout, to do a pump, all that stuff. So, deployment. So, after you graduate buds, you go through SQT, which is SEAL qualification training. So, you go through, like, see your school, which beat the brakes off of you

and slap you around and you know, put you in a cage and all that stuff to simulate the character. At that point, you're not fucking, you're not giving up on anything. No, no, no, no, at that point, you have the rating of a seal, which you're rating like your Navy rating is SO, which is a special operator,

you just don't have to try it. So, but this is a core, pilots even go through sear. Okay. So even pilots, everybody has to go through sear. So you go through sear, you go through jump school, which is static line, static line first, you jump out the plane and then your parachute opens right away. And then you have to go through free fall.

And after free fall, then you go through the rest of SQT, like land warfare. You don't all attack the actual tactics of a sea. By the time you go on a mission, you are ready. No, you're ready. God damn it. You check into a platoon. Some guys get lucky and as soon as they get to the command,

they meet their platoon in country. And so you meet your platoon some guys get lucky and as soon as they get to the command They they meet their platoon in country and so you meet your platoon in country So that and then you come back and you do your work up cycle So work up cycle cycle like Pro dev which is professional development So whatever your specialty is gonna be or if you already have a particular specialty if you want to build upon that Like if you're a sniper and you want to go to advanced advanced sniper, then all the seals go to these different schools. So I was a human-a-telegent guy. So I went to like a few different trade craft schools and did frickin' training up here in LA,

you know, surveillance training. I went to school and learned how to run sources and all that. I got into... You were a new seal who got into intelligence. Got into intelligence. You were doing a shit that people really talked about. Yeah, yeah.

Did you ever join CIA? No, but I did work with the CIA. I did work with the DIA. So the DIA is a lot of people who work with the DIA. DIA is the same thing. Essentially a lot of people don't know that. People with a DIA, that's like, they're like, what's that?

What's that both DIA, CIA guys are going on? And they contract, right? So that they can like CIA will you can contract out to guys? Yeah, so that's the idea that you guys do like ground branch or GRS or different stuff like that. And you get guys who just actually do the agency route thing. But for me, like, because I was a CEO, I was like every special operation

on have some type of human art. I didn't know about that. You know, when I was a kid, I loved James Bond and all that stuff. So when I got into the teams and I found out, yo, there's a human arm and you get to do all of these, you know, meet with people, run sources and wear regular clothes and grow your beard out and go places and do cool things like that.

Like I was like, I'm in. And a big part of why I wanted to do it. Like a lot of seals don't want to do it because it involves a lot of writing. Writing, yeah. It involves a lot of other languages for that. But you're a writer. You're a house writer.

You write script? But yeah, because my mom was a kid, which is a part of the story that I forgot to touch on, you know, where a lot of parents put a football, basketball, and then kids hand, or put them in jujitsu or golf clubs, what if my mom was all about writing? God bless you, Ellen.

She was like, hey, if you can articulate your thoughts on paper, you will never be without a job. You will always have a job because everybody needs a written word in some way. And so she would make us read New York Times articles. She would make us read books. Like I'm talking like thick books and she was like write a report. And we couldn't go outside and play until the report was perfect.

Like I remember she would, I would write a report just for rush because I was a little kid. I'm like, 79, you know what I mean? And I wanna go play and she's like, nope, startle over again, do another one, pick another article. By the way, when we talk about being a badass and being a seal and all that stuff, then you tell me stories about your mom and I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

She might be the baddest person. She is, we know. She is, for real. She is legit. And so like, you know, when the opportunity popped up, you know, our OIC was like, hey, who wants to go to human school? Most guys are like, nah,

cause the last thing they want to do after doing a job or a source is right. And I was like, I've been writing my whole life. So, you know, that's where I really learn like, visual writing because you have to write in a way where somebody could pick up an intelligence report 10 years from now and read those events happen that day. What were you? Where were you deployed? What countries? Middle East. Middle East. Yeah. I try to be vague. Yeah. I'm just

saying it's just like you look at the success so many guys that come from your background like you look at Jocco, you look at Tim Kennedy, yet David Goggins, there's a whole list of other guys, I'm not Matt Bast, I'm not. And the stuff, yeah, Andy Stump. There's a reason, once you guys set your mind to something, you get outside, get into this world, you gotta just run it. You run it.

You guys have this special set of skills, then you're also good, you're really good, obviously with human behavior, you're good at team stuff. Yeah, the team, the core, the team. It's what we say about football, football players, obviously with human behavior, you're good at team stuff. Yeah, the team. Yeah, the core of the team. It's what we say about football. Football players, I'm from my experience, I think you would agree.

They're social intelligence, they're social IQs high. Yeah, yeah. Because they, first of all, it is diverse. You're in a locker room in all different backgrounds, but you're also like, you have to, you have to rely with your team. Yeah, yeah. When people do sports, they're just individual

and stuff like that. That's when you get kind of the odd bird, the weird. But like, I find that with SEAL team but like I find that with seal team guys. I find that with football players. Yeah, yeah. There's something about that team spirit, you know, that it's also like the weakest man, the biggest issue. Yeah, like in the seals, on football teams, not to compare football to seals,

but it's like the weakest guys can be your biggest issue in the field. The biggest liability. Yeah, by far. 100%. Right. And so you know, the human thing worked out for me well because I biggest issue in the field. The biggest liability. Yeah, buy for 100%. Right. And so you know, the human thing worked out for me well because I grew up in the streets.

So I, so like, I remember going to human school and they were teaching us all these principles and all these theories and I was like, oh, so that's what it was. That's what I was doing. Yeah, I was having fun. Oh, so that's how I was reading people. It was like, it was meant to be.

It was meant to be. And when I got overseas, I had to sort of, I went, somebody was lying to me. A source was lying to me. I knew he was lying to me. When I got overseas I was I had to sort I when somebody was lying to me a source was Lime me I knew he was lying me when I told a source to go do something and they did it differently without me Be saying anything I knew they did it did it all of that came More to it no human intelligence That's a terrigate you think about the bad guy I've talked about the sources that I read with my friends. You don't matter, water, water, water.

I don't know. Sir, sir, sir, you're not, but the, but you, so it must be pretty cool to immerse yourself in that culture of food and just the people. And you loved it? I loved it, man. I loved it. I enjoyed it.

And because I lived best of both worlds, I got to build the intelligence packages, go through the intelligence, read reports, write reports, and then go on ops based off of that intelligence. And so, I heard a lot of people, you want to go, you got seals, you know, you just go do, aimlessly go do stuff, you don't know anything, you're just doing what's in the

manatelling, it was like, no, bro, like, I read the intel, I watched, I saw the pictures, I saw the videos, I dropped in on people on her, I met the suicide bombers, I dropped it on people on her. I met the suicide bombers. I know it all. So I wasn't, we're not just, no op happens like that. A lot of people think, oh, you can just go after, no, it doesn't happen like that. Before you can even go on an op, the intel has to be vetted by multiple different levels

and multiple different means. You can't just, a source can't just say, hey, that guy's a bad guy. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go get that bad guy. Oh, no, no, no. It doesn't work like that. Sometimes it takes months. There was a guy that we were tracking for like four months on a deployment I was on.

And dude, it took months of intelligence gathering before we could even go out the door. We tried going out on a door with him one time, like early on in deployment. Didn't capture him because he had so many people in pocket. He had the entire city cops, everybody in pocket. And then we just kept on building, building for months, you know, talking to different people,

agencies, talking to different sources, and then finally, after we had this nice package built, source gave us, gave me a phone call, he might interpret a phone call, he said, yo, dude's at this spot right now. What? Dude has a surface in the lawn, but he's here right now,

and he's, here's where he's going. Okay, let me confirm that information, based off of other intelligence that we found on him where he usually goes when he resurfaces sometimes. Carry out, boom, hit the target, dude was right there on the target. It takes a lot of work. It's not as simple as people are.

I heard, I've heard just been briefed like my certain friends were in your kind of thing. Yeah. Whether you're in Delta or whatever. And to hear about how you guys, like the ingenious method that the military comes up. If you're a terrorist, they're gonna get you. Now you might be able to escape for a while,

but if you come up against the American military machine, you don't want to send it to you. Bro, they can find you in the craziest way with never think, right? Like I was talking to a guy who's, who's, thing was ISIS. And the way, you know, if you ever, you know, we don't hear about ISIS anymore.

There's a reason. But the way, the way like there are special ops units, kind of, it's like, you guys want to fight? You want to start crucifying people and raping women and throwing people off the roofs? Oh, okay, you want to play that guy? We can do that. And the US military was like, hey, you guys,

those guys. Like, there was a new, fun, Brad, other day, Brad said, he's like, was like hey you guys those guys like there was a news or fun Brad the other day brass Said he's like you know, did you hear about those? What four Americans that were captured and and and two of them were killed in Nigeria? I was like, no, he sent me the article. I was like it's a rat. I was like they go cag, you know Yeah, I see it cag is a rat. It was just in the news like two what two days ago three days ago Yeah, those guys are probably taking care of it The Kagan's a rap. It was just in the news, like two days ago, three days ago. Yeah. Two days on a show, you said about public force. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So those guys are probably taking care of this. It's gonna be, yeah. They're gonna be tracked, they're gonna be found, and it's gonna be over. They'll be fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're probably not gonna get captured, probably gonna get taken out.

Yeah, and that was what I loved about the community. It's like you're operating at the tip of the spear to a whole nother world. Now sometimes a wave described as like a alternate universe. How are we in the team? I was from 2000 and 2008 to 2016. Damn, eight years. Damn, man.

And did you have a long time for a seal? Some guys do between, guys do between four and sometimes a guy I was with yesterday, he's going 30, some guys with 35 years. But you were active in like, on mission? Well, by the time when you get up as you get higher up Like you're more of like you know admiral or like a Massie what are you going to other task? Command you're you're overseeing like with a

Predominance and I'm going unless they want really really want to but that point you're like a CEO or your a Massage can I yeah a lot of guys the older guys going to other task forces, right? They'll go into some guys. Yeah, some branch and different. Yeah, yeah. A lot of guys wants to retire, but not a lot, but a good, like I know a good number of guys who've gone to the agency and done that kind of stuff. So, how in the world do you go through all this and then you get into Hollywood? Yeah, bro.

So, first movie, Transformers. Yeah, man. So, which was 2016? I was one I worked on. I got out in January 2016. I was in grad school, getting my masters which was 2016? I was when I worked on it. I got out in January 2016. I was in grad school, get my masters,

because you know, I'm Nigerian. So my bachelor's was a GD. Oh, okay. So keep this going. So I got my master's, get my masters. And then I was going to go into business consulting. My wife's brother is a YPO guy. Should you guys have any YPO?

Young presidents organization. Okay, yeah. In order to be in, you have to be a millionaire and or a billionaire under the age of 40 to get YPO. All YPO. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Every friend he has a billionaire. And so my brother loves a YPO or so,

he was hiring me to do business consulting with him and his YPO group. So, I'd take them out and take special operations principles that translate into business, communication, leadership, mental toughness, all that stuff and just create these principles and teach them to these guys. Not so much bare crawls, though, sometimes.

And then that's what I was gonna do, that's why I was getting my masters in business, specifically organizational strategy, because I wanted to not just have the Navy CEO thing, I wanted to have the education behind it. And I was writing papers in my office one day and my phone rang and it was this lady who worked for Michael Bay and she was like,

yo listen Bay is doing his next movie and he's looking for some of my witcher background to work on it. Quick Michael Bay directed Transformers, what's the movie that inspired him to? What's the movie that was? Inspired him. What is your arm are getting? Carry on bad boy

Bad boys which was Michael babe did bad boys and he did the right bad boys was his first movie. Oh shit That I was just I was just email with Mike cuz He's a he's a fun. He's a good dude. Yeah, it was crazy 45 now I'm 40 you're 40 what a life. Yeah, man 40. Yeah, yeah And so yeah, she hit me up was like hey, would you like to work on this project? And I was like, baby that dude movies inspired me dude like yeah And so she says some me some pictures. I signed her some pictures and then you know finished up my

Homework for grad school and then finish up my homework for grad school, and then next day I was up here in LA on set. And it was supposed to be one day, one day turning at three weeks, went to flew out the Arizona 4 week film out there, then flew out to Michigan for two weeks film out there. And at the end of the second week of Michigan, the casting director said, hey, babe, I keep you on for the rest of the film. So I stayed on that film until December. I was on that film for like six months.

And then that's where other doors started opening as a consultant on film and TV shows. And so I did some commercial work consulting on those. And then I had to work on other TV shows and Bayhired me to be a consultant on six underground. And then that's when I started to learn a business and learn that all the power and the money is not in be a consultant on six underground, and then that's when I started to learn a business and learn that all the power and the money is not in being a consultant,

instead of creating that content, it's in writing the stories, coming up with the concept, bringing it together, and a lot of it comes from IP, so that if I can create some form of IP first. Intellectual property. Yeah, you like that. I.e., the chameleon book, you know, the transform book, if I can create something like that,

then now a studio is gonna have to buy the intellectual property. And then they're also gonna have to buy the screenplay, if I write the screenplay, and then I'm gonna get a producer credit, now I have longevity, think of people like, you know, like JK Rowling, you know what I mean? Where she's like, she wrote those books, and now she has an entire franchise,

and not just books and forms, Empire. So that was my thinking, you know, so I wrote, I actually wrote chameleon first as a screenplay. And then fast forward, I ended up getting a three book deal with Harper-Cons when you're merrily, because they read the screenplay and it was like, this is an amazing concept. This could be a thriller series that can go

for a long period of time. And so that's kind of, so things begin to blossom and grow as I begin, as I started with transformers and it started working on this Start to learn a business start to learn hey I'm more effective behind the camera because I'm a creative. I have that creative mind I'm like an engineering mind like my dad

Yeah, and I'd like to be in the business and that's how it all came together novelist Yeah, yeah biography. Yeah, insane. Yeah, yeah, you could didn't you do someone human trafficking? Yeah, so I that's how I got into directing I Did you do something on human trafficking? Yeah, so that's how I got into directing. I... Is that the plane? No, we'll just... Is that the plane?

No, the plane is a film that I consulted on the acting in, but I partnered with a few different human trafficking nonprofits when I got out. When I got out, I was trying to find different ways to serve. I find this with a lot of people in the military where they're just like, dude, how can I serve? How can I serve?

You know, I know I gotta have a job, but I still feel that need to serve. And I kept on getting contacted by human trafficking organizations. It was like, when we heard your story, like, we know you weren't trafficked or anything, but can you come help out? And I would always say yes, and I was contacted by this one human trafficking company,

a organization like around 2017. And they use seals and former special operations guys and former agency guys that go all the countries and rescue kids trapped in sex trafficking and these are kids who are being bought and paid for by Americans specifically what and Yeah, Mexico Medical Republic is discussed Thailand all that yeah, it's disgusting and so I was down to the dr man and and

Discuss Thailand all that. Yeah, it's disgusting. And so I was down to DR man and and it was crazy man And and and when I got back from that trip I was just like bro I felt helpless because it's like yeah, you can go on it up or you can go on it You know jump whatever is calling and rescue like 10 kids, but they're still gonna be hundreds of thousands 200. It's a Or human trafficking is a hundred and thirty billion dollar industry worldwide thirty five billion dollar industry here in the US Isn't the hard to detect to it's one of the hardest to detect it explain what it is I think a lot of people don't know so human trafficking and in a nutshell is slavery

That's that's what it is there's different facets of human trafficking So when people hear of human trafficking they automatically just go to sex trafficking. That's not what it is So that's not just what it is sex trafficking is a facet of but you have organ harvesting, which is what my film focuses on the short film, the unexpected. But then you also have labor trafficking. Or organ harvesting. Organ harvesting. They're taking organ harvesting. Kids and kids for the women. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. This is a massive die. They've always had some die. Some people like, for example, there was a story that came out of Costa Rica. I want to say about two years ago, this Israeli doctor was brokering kidney deals in Costa Rica.

So somebody in Israel needed, or not just Israel, but even in America needed a new kidney and they couldn't get it in time because the weight was too long. It would contact this particular guy. He would find a match in Costa Rica and he would essentially pay them pennies and then have the person fly out and perform the transplant. I don't have the money. I'm gonna have to read some.

Yeah. And it's a chiral Egypt is considered the organ trafficking capital of the world. India has a massive organ harvesting issue. India or India? India. In India. In India. Africa, there's a lot India or India? India, gotcha. India. Africa, this is a lot of parts of Africa to have for.

So there's so when you say human trafficking, so the one part, there's sex trafficking, sex trafficking. Yep, there's organ. Organ harvesting, labor. Labor is another part. Like iPhones, Antasla. People have to go, well, the Middle East has, you know,

the Middle East when they're building those big constructions. Yep. They import a lot of people from these very poor countries. Oh, for some people. The world top. When they have built the world top. So you use all that? Yep.

That's not, you're living in, you're basically an indentured servant. Yeah. And there was a huge problem in a lot of Middle East countries where Filipino maids would come in women. They get their passport taken. Yep. And now you're proud.

So I just started to cut you off. I did a podcast last week. And part of the podcast was talking about this girl, this lady from Philippines, who, a wealth, not a, the family were doctors, two doctors here in America. And they got this girl from the Philippines, brought over, took her passport, took everything.

She worked as a slave for years. I got discovered because the son's fiance came to visit the family, and she'd noticed the signs and symptoms of a traffic victim, she was like, it's something different, she's very sheepish, she's like very quiet, like something's not natural, and come to find out, she essentially called a human trafficking organization,

they looked into it, that woman had been enslaved to that family for years. That's horrible. And it was another Filipino family. It was another Filipino family was enslaved. That's fucking the thing. Yeah, that's where human beings do that to their own. Is there another layer?

There's also marriage, so forced marriage. So that's another form of trafficking. You know, the term is often playfully male-order brides. But there is a, there are a lot of girls from East Africa who essentially get traffic to even the UK and other parts of Europe and their soldiers as brides. Like people, I'm just, they don't want to do it. Yeah, I want to.

I mean, get the, I'm assuming the guys aren't friendly to them. Well, every situation is different. I want to, I want to switch to Thailand. Yeah, I was shooting a movie in Thailand. We were at, you go through the soy cowboy, the sex, you know, like the strip clubs, the lady boys were doing, that we had a guide tassers through the whole thing.

Well, I, we walked through, these girls were 14 years old, dance, 14 and 15. There's, and I know how old they were. Yeah, they were not old. And you're watching them dance, and you're watching these like, these Western tourists. And I'm looking at it, and I said to the woman, I go, those girls are really young.

And she goes, their families, they come from the north of Thailand with there's no money. Their families send them down, you know, and that's how they make money. I got some money on that. And it's just the way it is. And you can get really dark because there are pockets of the world in those areas where the children, they

know that there are tourists will pay a lot of money. That's actually an eight year old, a six year old, a five year old, and that's what happens. And it's so much more prevalent than anybody realizes. It's horrifying. Even in America, like you say, Thailand. It's hard to stab them, Bob. Okay, even in America, you look at these sex trafficking rings that are good to say. Not so fucked.

So DR, speaking of DR, what you just said, when I was what really jacked me up and hit that switch was like, I need to, yeah, when I was like, I need to be able, I need to be a microphone instead of just, I need to make a film and what inspired the short film was when I was in DR, I was in this particular slum, where the parents sold their daughters to traffickers in the north, because that's where the Westerners

would go to have sex with the girls, the kids, kids, kids. Right, bro. So, I'm in this slum and the part of the job on this particular trip was to educate the parent, like, hey, this was happening to your daughters, he is going, he is some resources stop selling your daughters to these guys. And so, like, I was just fras,

so my mind was just, I was just like, yo, I couldn't take it. And so, Arlyezan saw that my mind was just I was just like, yo, I kind of take it And so Arleazon saw that my my head was all over the place And it was like hey, Remi Remi come here. I want to kind of help help explain this to you He walked me into this this like I don't even want to call it a chapel But it was like a makeshift chapel that was the sign of size of two like handicapped toilet stalls That's how big it was there were like a few small little pews in. And at the end of the chapel was a dead baby in a casket. Baby had to be like six months old.

And so what the guy said to me, he was like the baby died because the mother, her breast milk ran out because she wasn't getting enough food, enough sustenance. And so she mixed the formula with the water and asked what killed the baby. And he said, Revy, this is the plate. It's desperation for them. This is why they sell it in the daughters. Because in their minds, it's like either we sell our daughter

and we receive X amount of money every month from the services our daughter's providing, which is pretty much nothing anyway. Or all of our kids die. And even that didn't make it under, that didn't justify it for me at all. But it did help me understand, not just that form of human tribe all human trafficking it all comes back to

desperation all there's desperation the victim or there's desperation of the of the trafficker which doesn't justify it anyway you know i interviewed this guy uh... after like right around the time the short film came out interview this guy who was trafficked from Venice wala to uh... columbia from columbia to mexico and he was enslaved in mexico was traffic from Venezuela to Colombia, from Colombia to Mexico. And he was enslaved to Mexico. And one thing he told me, he was like,

yo man, he was like, I was just so desperate to get to America. And that's how they got me. So essentially with the cartel, and not just the cartel, but other traffickers, what they're doing is they're sending pamphlets out throughout South America, India,

like there's people on the border, like it meant from India, Africa, like all around the world. Because that's the port of entry, all around the world. And so he was like, they're creating these makeshift pamphlets or you know, emails saying, hey, come here because there's leniency on the border and we'll get you into the US. That, and so he, like, oh, Roger that, he paid the money,

came up to, got up to Mexico. As soon as he got out of the airport, they gave him like a job for a day, like a day later, they wrapped them up, threw them in the back of a vehicle, at gunpoint, and drove them to like a mansion on the outskirts, in that mansion, in that house, there were rooms that were like, essentially jail sales, no door knobs,

and they were guarded by armed guys, and all the people in those rooms were all traffic victims. And he said that the women were used for sex trafficking. The kids were used as mules, which is another form of trafficking, which is drug trafficking, because the kids were so small that they were able to fit through the tunnels to get into the US

to move the drugs in. So the kids were used for drugs trafficking. The men were used for a combination of labor trafficking, but they were also used for money. So essentially what the men had to do was they had to call up a family member in the US and had the family members send $20,000 and if that family member sent to $20,000, then they would be allowed to, they would send them in. If they don't send it to the children, they essentially kill them. And he was a last guy there and he was able to see he escaped but naked ran across the border He was able to get into like a church. I think he said like a monastery is something in Texas

Border Patrol came wrap them up and now he's he's in Georgia trying to seek asylum And how I found out about him was one of the guys in my short film the unexpected He's a former seal. I had a few seals that either worked on the film behind the camera on front of the camera It's good. Dude his name's Guadzo. His dad is now hosting, sorry, his uncle is now hosting this guy. So he had, because he was in a family, he's like, he called me away. He's like, you know what I mean? You're not gonna bleed out.

He's like this guy who's traffic, like he's staying with my uncle. And he has this crazy story. You need to interview him and talk to him. Man, let's do, we have the record to receipts and everything of what happened. And it's real guilty when you complain about anything. Oh yeah, man. You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, it was a nice, nice, nice, nice, nice, nice.

Right, yeah. Right, correct. Thank you. I can't take a pill, thank you, sir. Yeah. And one thing he said, I was like, yo, what would be your message to America people? He was like, you guys need to clean up the border.

He said, because you guys are creating, you're creating, you're creating, and you're building a friend with him. Yeah, I agree with that. He said you guys are creating an atmosphere of slavery. You're creating a market for so many people are coming and you're creating a market for slavery. You're creating.

Yeah, they get stuck on a border traffic abuse. You're literally creating a market where those really bad people do the worst shit to those people on the way to the border. Those things that's alarming is that there's a network of people out there that are keeping that business alive. 400% in America. 100% and that was another thing I wanted to touch on

on a short film, unexpected is how intricate and how intelligent these organ harvesting, human trafficking in rings in general, but organ harvesting rings are you got to think about it You know the people the majority of the people who are involved have to be smart Why because they have to be doctors and surgeons? Yeah, there was a human It was a organ harvesting ring that was busted in caro Egypt around 2018 and of the 45 people arrested the majority I think it was like 30 of them what doctors or nurses that performed the surgeries. And so all these people are very, very,

like they're brilliant. Organized crime. Organized crime. To the team. To the team. So much money. And to what you said earlier, you said it's not as detected.

That's right. It's much more, you know, thinking about what I did, what I was like, all right, I'm not gonna sell drugs in the Bronx because it's too easy to get captured and it's too much competition. So I'm gonna go with the Pekipsi.

These guys know why why sell drugs? When I can sell a body, human body, make more money. And human beings find it. When economies are bad, and that's the case, human beings find amazing ways to survive. Yeah, yeah. And you know, that's what people always say, like the economy first, like you got to build those economies up.

One of the things they said about stopping the border is make those economies places people want to live. But as long as you have things like what happened to your father, which is most of the country, most of the world, without property rights and things like that. That's why corruption is so bad. But don't, there we go. Of course, make all these other countries better.

It's better for you. Of course it is, of course it's, but I'm saying, I'm saying that's why, but that's why I always say, things like democracy, representative government, property rights, contracts, rule of fucking law, our institutions have to have integrity, the FBI, et cetera. It's so important. That's why corruption is so bad. And that's why our country remains the greatest country in the world because you can depend on it. And you can depend on it. That's why I get so angry when people start talking about civil war and civil strife like shut up. Shut up. Yeah. And also social media is not real. No, it's not crazy. The rights crazy. The fight on there. So like, oh man,

we're in a racial war. Yeah. That's what we're not. I go on the street, like, where's this exactly from? Exactly. Who, I haven't seen any of this. Exactly. It's so irresponsible. I haven't seen anybody being mean to a gay person, trans, gender, I haven't seen it. If you're in front of me, I'm gonna protect them. I don't see it.

I don't see it. I don't see it. 100% 100%. I think, you know, I think I like, you know, and there's been evidence of this. I think that there's, you know, all the countries, you know, and specifically countries who run there's, you know, other countries, you know, and specifically countries who run a particular, you know, social media platform called TikTok, you know,

and it's proven that certain content, they will push up that content via the algorithm so that it goes to specific. They want to sell strife. So they're in combination. But that was Russia and China's been on this for 50 years. They're like, we're not gonna be able to go on there and beat them physically.

Killing from within. Killing from within. Get them to fight amongst each other. By the way, Tiktok. And then they're distracted. I can't get off Tiktok. I mean, I don't have it on my phone, but my daughter was like,

I see them on all the time. I'm not, but I feel like I've eaten a bunch of candy after I've done, there's always something to watch. Even if it's not, I've never seen a Tiktok. I don't have a... You're having a TikTok personality? Don't go on it. Yeah.

Not towards that stuff, I don't. I've never been a TikTok fan. But you can find like stuff that's actually just cool sound bites, political stuff. You can find, no, there's only a place to get it. If someone held a gun to my head, I was like, give me your log in for TikTok.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't even have a TikTok. No, I don't even have a TikTok. I told him, I was like, yo, Brian mess it with, because even with the way that they're pulling information, the Chinese are pulling information from everybody's TikTok account, where you are, even if you're not.

Well, I got one of the tech talk. So you'd probably know this with Intel. One of the things that everybody has a TikTok profile. So if you want to go deep on a cover as an operative, okay, as a kid, you're on a cover as an operative, okay? Yeah. As a kid, you're on TikTok. They got facial recognition technology. Now watch this. Now you're an intel guy. Maybe I'm saying too much, but you're an intel guy. And you got to go to a country, let's say an African country, let's say a poorer country. Okay. Now you

got to, you got to infiltrate the streets, you got to do your work there. Who do you think is building basically for free all of their traffic cameras? Yeah, all of their Chinese. Yeah, who do you think now has all your all your metrics your facial metrics? Now you're there and they just go they do your biometrics. They go he's a foreign actually they look at your passport They were even if you they they look at that. Another reason not to pick it up. You know Montana, Bantik, first tip. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know why more of us don't do it. That's what happened because there's a thousand different things

like that because consumers go fuck off. I want to use this. But more importantly, that's the insidious nature. That's where China has all your facial data. And now that, and, and they're building all the sort of camera traffic infrastructure in these African country. I was about to go next. They're taking all the freaking resources out of Nigeria. And they're creating this trail. I forgot the

term, but it's this trail of that they're creating from Africa that's going to run so after all the resources all of the trail. They want the trail to run all the roads. Yeah. And so we're gonna literally have absolutely no access to resources in the next 67 hours. It's so smart. And here we are fighting about dumb shit. Amongst each other, that doesn't really hold any weight. Where, I'm worried for my kids, man.

And this was all by design. What's going on? The US has a lot of, actually, the US, if you look at it, China has a lot more problems in the US. We are still, there was just an article about this. We are still so far in a way ahead of everybody else economically, innovatively, technologically, that, you know, there is a tendency to worry about that. But China, let's start with China's demographics.

They don't have a population that can support their rapidly aging population. Thanks to their one child policy for 30 years. Oh yeah. The problems are, oh, dependency on them. And like, he's 50 years old. Not so much anymore, because it's so much the Chips Act, so much of the infrastructure is coming home, so much manufacturing is coming home. Not really.

Yeah, stop the dendes. No, stop. No, no, no, no, no, no. There's a huge, there's a huge, the Chips Act passed. First of all, we're going to start making all our microchips are taken out of Taiwan. We're making it back here. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, natural gas. We're not getting from Africa. But they're trying. But remember, that's an open commodity on the market. So it goes to higher bidder, highest bidder. You got in Europe, India's buying it, India's buying it from Russia, and then selling it not to China.

They're selling it to Russia. But China relies heavily on us. We rely heavily on China. I know, you have a really better, but we rely on real estate. Which isn't bad. As long as China plays fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The problem is they have one man in charge

is they call the personality with G. The problem was they're so ingrained with them. Yeah, you can play how they want. Yeah, yeah. And we're, you know, yeah, we're so caught up in all and foolishness that, you know, we can't even, you know, read the T-lease to figure out how to move strategically to get us where we need to be.

Well, you need a leader of the country to focus on stuff too. That's a wrap-up story. I recommend Remy. I'm going for you, man. I think the way I try to do it is through culture, through sharing my story, through telling other stories, even in the chameleon book. I made it a great effort to make it not just an espionage action thriller, but to make it a political thriller

to just wake people up in politics because we're just so divided. And a lot of decisions and politics are not made for the greater good of the people, where the people was made to keep one side isolated and keep trying to build on that one side, opposed to everybody. And so I really addressed that in a book.

I can kind of put the pill in the doughnut, so to speak, because it's just one of those things where we have to come together as a nation. Black, white, whatever, transgender, gay, straight, whatever we have to come together as a nation for the greater good. And a lot of it is prior to, a lot of people just like me and mine. You know, I'm not a team. And it's not even in politics. You know, I'm not a team. I'm a team. And it's like not even in politics. Somebody on the left does something wrong, right?

Like nobody on the right wants to say, hey, that was good. Somebody on the right does something right. Nobody on the left wants to say, yeah, that was good. It has to be bad. And if somebody on the right does something bad, nobody on the right wants to call them out.

Somebody on the left does something. Nobody wants to call out. And it's just, we've created this tribal. I heard that one of the reasonsest thing I heard Jordan Peterson recently says you liberals are here to argue for what needs to be changed Conservatives are here to argue for what needs to stay the same. Yeah, yeah, and the reason you need political dialogue is to figure out what changes and Nothing stays. Yeah, yeah, and it's a beautiful way of looking at how this country was founded Of course you need liberals and conservatives. Yes, yeah, it's a beautiful way of looking at how this country was founded. Of course you need liberals and conservatives Yes, you need to disagree. Yes, but you also have to have them talk to each other Conversation, yeah, conversation have to you know understanding leads to unity

Yeah, you know people fear what they don't understand once they begin to understand But you can't have understanding unless you have a conversation you got to have a conversation Which will lead to the understanding and understanding a lead to the unity You seem like a realized part was gonna be good I take credit for that You guys ever take days off name seals when you're tired I'm so sorry. I asked that question. I don't talk like this. I don't know if you're using a book now. Yeah, the book comes out in July 25th. That's the advanced reader copy for you guys.

It's a beautiful reading. You know, it's up for pre-order now. This is around transformed. Transformers, that's my memoir. That's been out since 2019. So that's out now. People can get away with a book. So I did the audio read for both books. And yeah, man. Love it, man. Can't think enough for coming in. Hey, thank you for having me on, brother. out now people can get away ever books or so I did the audio read for both books and Yeah, man, I can't think enough for coming in. Hey, thank you for having me on brother. I appreciate you brother Come through a little way of coming come I will I will bring my wife

Yep, no wife because we got to go on a date before I leave leave the country in June anyway Thank you for having me on brother. I appreciate you guys great Some people take the straight path in life But it Arizona State University we respect your twists and turns. They make our online students more driven to excel in their professional lives. That's why our personalized suite of services empowers you with innovative resources and staff that sticks with you. Make your next turn with one of our 300-plus programs at ASU. Number one in innovation for eight consecutive years.

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