You can't be afraid to verbalize your

ignorance. That's holding you back.

>> Give me an example.

>> I can give you several like investing.

Like you're telling me that if I put

this money in here right now, I get 30x

20x. What the a scam? I know a scam.

When I see one, go find you another

idiot cuz it ain't happening over here,

buddy. But when you go, you say, "I

don't know what that means. How does

investing really work? I don't know

where to get it." Now you're a part of

the right conversations. You're part of

the right opportunities, but you get

there by being the dummy in them. And

now look at what I'm able to do.

>> Kevin,

I love it. I love it.

>> Kevin, it took 13 years from where you

did your first stand up to you having

your moment. But why didn't you quit?

>> Because of the lessons that my mom gave

from being [music] very scarred from my

brother. So, let's go back. I grew up in

North Philadelphia. My brother sold the

drugs. My dad was always in jail, out of

jail. My mom wasn't going to let that

happen with me. So, we had an agreement.

I had a certain amount of time to make

comedy work. [music] And in my mind, it

wasn't going to be hard because there

was no other option. I would figure it

out. So, I was driving from Philadelphia

to New York every day. I wasn't coming

home until 4:00 a.m. where I was doing

25 to 28 sets a weekend.

I worked at for a very, very long time.

And the struggle left you with days of

what am I doing? Can I [music] pay my

rent? This man, but my mom's biggest

lesson was you're not quitting. And not

many people are going to do the 13 years

of hard. Most people opt out at year two

and want to go find a quick return.

Well, you keep quitting to start

something else that you think is the

idea. It's just a cycle. You're never

completing anything. You got to make a

choice of the thing you're going to do

and finish. I made the choice that

standup comedy was what I was going to

finish. Because if I focused and did it

well, that would open up the doors for

me to do everything else [music] that I

want to do.

>> But they say that you can't have

everything in life.

>> So, what is the cost? Have you struggled

with your mental health? What advice

have you got for young men in terms of

like what it takes to be a good man?

>> It's a weird thing that's happening

where the definition of a good man is so

foggy. It seems that in this time today

more men are being forward [music]

wanting to express and talk but the fear

of being judged [music] after.

>> Do you have that fear?

I see messages all the time in the

comments section that some of you didn't

realize you didn't subscribe. So, if you

could do me a favor and double check if

you're a subscriber to this channel,

that would be tremendously appreciated.

It's the simple, it's the free thing

that anybody that watches this show

frequently can do to help us here to

keep everything going in this show in

the trajectory it's on. So, please do

double check if you've subscribed and uh

thank you so much because in a strange

way, you are you're part of our history

and you're on this journey with us and I

appreciate you for that. So yeah, thank

you. [music]

In so many ways, you're clearly an

anomaly. For you to be the way that you

are, there must be some kind of early

context that people need to be aware of,

a certain wiring or a cauldron that has

has sort of shaped you into who you are.

What is that context that I need to

understand?

>> I am a very driven individual and I'm

driven off of ideiation. I I like the

fact that you can have thoughts and if

you're in love with the thoughts that

you're having, you can be energized to

bring those thoughts like into a bigger

reality. That's like that's the real

fuel to the brain for me.

>> Do you think at the at the very core of

you that's what's motivating you because

>> absolutely

>> that's like a process but the the

outcome of that is success in all its

forms. It's material success

>> or failure. I mean like there is no

success without failure. They go hand in

hand. And with the failure comes amazing

lessons, adjustments

and you get sharper because of the [ __ ]

that you've done wrong or that you

didn't know to approach a certain way

that you now know how to approach. So I

embrace the concept of failure just as

much as I embrace the win of success.

Had I met you at 10 years old or 15

years old,

how similar would you have looked in?

>> Not even close.

>> Not even close. Not motivated to do the

things that I didn't want to do. Uh not

a good student, kind of [ __ ] off

school, the opportunities that come with

school, the extracurricular activities

that I didn't want to do that I was

doing that my mom made me do. Hanging

out was the thing. Hanging out was the

luxury. It was the fun. And it's it

wasn't available. My mom was strict. So,

I didn't have the luxury of doing all

those things, which is why I wanted them

more.

>> I found this photo of your mother.

>> Yeah. Me and Nancy Hart.

>> She was strict.

>> Very strict with me. Uh my older

brother, he had the, you know, he had he

had a little more lenency. He he freed

him, you know, he curfew late at night.

But my brother did all the all of the

other stuff. My brother sold the drugs,

you know,

did the, you know, the smaller tears of

crime and and stupid [ __ ] as a teenager

to her own mom felt like she wasn't

going to let that happen with me. So,

she was much more protective

um because of the mistakes she saw that

she made with my brother.

>> You see what I'm saying? So, I got the I

got the short end of the stick.

>> So, I didn't have the curfew. I didn't I

wasn't able to go hang out. I wasn't

able to do all those things. That's why

I wanted that so much. So I rebelled in

the spaces where you have to do this and

I was like, "Well, you don't let me do

this, so I don't

>> I don't want to do this." So I kind of

[ __ ] off a lot of those opportunities.

And your father,

>> Henry Witherspoon, Spoon G's, my guy.

Uh, you know, a [ __ ] up in the eyes of

most, but

my my dad, you know, he didn't

necessarily do the right things in life.

Um,

gang, crime, all of the [ __ ] Jail, in

jail, out of jail, drugs. Uh

I mean that that environment that we

were raised in is not like you know the

the best environment for for anyone but

it's a it's an amazing environment for

those that live in it because it's all

we know and the normaly is the low. My

mom strive for the higher side of it. My

mom was education uh degree, trying to

get another degree, trying to get a

master's, trying to My mom was like

always wanting to get better, always

wanting to educate herself more because

she felt that it was the biggest

strength that nobody could control but

her.

>> And they separated.

>> Yeah. They were never never married.

>> Never married.

>> Never married.

>> And did they physically separate at a

certain point? I mean, I think my dad my

dad only lived in the house with me like

my really younger years. Like maybe from

like

five to seven,

maybe eight if I can remember. Like I

didn't have I didn't grow up with like

my dad home, you know? So when my mom

was like, "Fuck that. You're out of

here." It was over. like he my dad he

was a weekend dad or every other weekend

dad or you know during the week stopped

by then he was in and out of jail then

we got on drugs we didn't see him at

all.

>> How did you understand that as a kid?

Like how does a kid understand the the

dad coming and going being in jail

drugs?

>> You are

a product of your environment and in

that environment that's the norm. So

when you so when you say like how did

you understand that? Well, nobody had a

dad.

>> Yeah.

>> Right. Like all all my friends, our

dads, like we see him when we see him

and we love him because that's what we

that's what we thought that it should

be. It's not like I'm going over a

volume of homes where I'm seeing the

father sit with the family and the mom

and they're doing dinner and they're

having [snorts] conversations and

they're, you know, it's this happy

household. I I I only had a couple of

examples like that. I remember when I

went over one of my friends houses um

from the swim team and I remember he had

his own room.

It was like crazy.

You get to close the door and [ __ ] like

this is your space. Yeah. This is my

room. I had a hallway. We ain't have no

goddamn room. We had a hallway. My bed's

in the hallway. Every You could always

see me. This is where [laughter]

this is where I am. Me and my brother

right here in the hall on these bunk

beds. My friend had grass. He had a

backyard. This is [ __ ] crazy. Yeah,

we don't have none of this where we

live. So, because that is the norm, I

never it never affected me, right? Like

I never

I was never taken back by the obstacles

of our household. My mom and dad just

didn't get along and it didn't work. All

right. It is what it is.

>> Did you have male role models at the

time?

>> I don't think that I was in the space of

no

when it comes to role model like at this

time like I I I didn't have the mindset

of what a role model is or should be. I

just had good people around me who acted

as like parenting aids to my mother to

help her because of her schedule. But I

never remember at that age looking at

other families like, "Oh, this is what I

this is what I want and this is what I'm

striving

to get or gain." You know, like I it was

it was shoulder shrug. A lot of shoulder

shrugs. It wasn't until I got older that

I think the lessons not I think I know

the lessons that my mom was kind of

laying down started to click in

differently. I mean, one of those

lessons that your mother was trying to

lay down can be seen

>> in a Bible thousand%.

>> With this, there's a

>> Mhm.

>> Best story ever. Best story um that I'm

able to tell.

>> She put something in the Bible that's

hanging out there as you can see.

>> Checks, man. I couldn't pay my rent. I

cannot pay my rent. I needed help. And

she was like, "Well, I'm not helping you

until you start reading the Bible." And

I was like, "Mom, I'm reading the

Bible." I was lying. Just lying. I'm

reading it. Come on, Mom. This is real.

Mom, they're going to kick me out. Are

you reading your Bible? Yes.

When you read your Bible, then talk to

me. And she did this for like a while.

And one day I was like, you know what,

man? I was I was by myself and I was

like, what am I going to do? I said, let

me get this Bible.

I read the Bible. And I opened up the

Bible

and like my checks,

rent, like multiple months of rent

checks had fell out. And I was like, you

know what?

It's pretty amazing. [clears throat]

Pretty amazing. And then I had to

actually open a Bible and and start

reading the Bible. But that was her way

of of course knowing that I'm lying

first of all and b giving me like one of

the best lessons ever. You know

somewhere along the lines the gyms that

she dropped started to click

and

the idea of not starting things that I'm

not going to finish.

That's what really resonated with me the

most. So, like I started a lot of stuff

that I didn't complete in the younger

years. That was me and my mom's battle.

No, you're gonna finish it. And she

would make me finish it. No, I want to

quit. No, you're going to finish it. So,

I ended up doing a lot of things with an

attitude, which is why I have to ask it.

>> Then, as I got older, you realize, well,

why are you putting time into something

in the beginning that you don't want to

see through? Why? or just because you

have like a rough moment or a rough

patch, why is it so easy for you to

quit? Why why is the idea of quit so

quick to you to come up with and why are

you so comfortable with the results of

that?

I shouldn't be

and that shouldn't be my like motto.

So, we don't stop. If we start

something, we see it the entire way

through. And at the end of it, even if

you don't like it to the highest level,

you know that you put your time, energy

into something that you're at least

proud.

Proud that you did, proud that you were

able to put a period on that sentence

and now you can start the next thing.

But it's not until you complete

something that you can honestly sit with

yourself and go,

that's that's that's

what life is.

That's called seeing things through the

entire way.

>> What was it that changed in you? Like

what happened that made you suddenly

start to take opportunities more

seriously?

>> When you saw the opportunity, you [ __ ]

off. I remember the the the

my big dummy moment and I've had a lot

so I don't know how much time we have to

go down but I got a lot of dummy moments

but my biggest dummy moment

we hookie school to go and have our

senior day. We go to Great Adventure

theme park on the east coast and there

was a moment where we're done

and we're talking. like eating and

hanging out and all my friends were

talking about the college that they were

going to go to and they had already been

accepted. They had already had letters

and [ __ ]

When did y'all do this?

When did everybody apply? When did

everybody

When did you guys take the SAT? I just I

took mine, but I rushed it because I

wanted to get here. I wanted a hookie.

Wait.

How do you guys know where you going

already? I had no knowledge, no idea.

All my friends have went on to the next

stage.

They let me be the dummy by myself. And

that's when it dawned on me that like

nobody cares about you more than you

should care about yourself.

And nobody

is giving you the road map to like the

winds. You have to go find that

information. You got to go discover it.

You got to you got to want to get it.

You got to want to do it. And with the

right help, the right world of

knowledge, it can better help position

you. But ultimately, you have to want to

you got to want to do it. and me and

just not wanting to do [ __ ] kind of put

me in a really [ __ ] up position early

on.

>> Was it finding the thing, your thing

that put some wind in your sales and

made you more of a apparently sort of

motivated individual? Cuz at some point

you go from being that Kevin to the

Kevin that can't stop working.

>> Yeah. Well, you Well, that was my light

bulb moment.

>> Okay.

>> My light bulb moment was look at what

not applying myself got me. I feel like

the dummy that doesn't know what he

wants to do with his life. And now I'm

at community college. I'm working as a

lifeguard. I eventually went to go work

for City Sports, which is a sneaker

store. And I remember when I started

working at the sneaker store. Talked

about this for years, too. I was like,

"Oh man, this is this is cool. This is

what I want to do. I got the thing that

I want to do." I was so excited that I

went and got a job, found a job. I'll do

this forever and I'm going to make it to

the highest level so I can have a

career. So I become the manager and

after being the manager I work for

corporate and this is something that I

can build like I was already inspiring

because I was like I I got to

[clears throat] figure out what I'm

doing with the rest of my life. What is

my life now? I'm panicking. What?

And I was flourishing

in the space of sneaker sales,

right? Education and college degree I

don't have. But in the space of

personality and sale,

I was able to maneuver. This is it. This

is my calling.

That's where

the real beacon of light presented

itself

through ideas of my friends. You should

do standup because you're funny.

You should try standup.

>> Do you remember where you were when they

said that?

>> In my workplace. I'm working every Hey,

I'm on the floor

>> and someone a colleague of yours that

works

>> Alice colleague of mine that I work

with.

>> What did your brain think when she said

that? Was it was it just blowing on a

fire that was kind of already there or

was it lighting the fire?

>> No, I think it the the fire was lit.

Like I I never thought about pursuing

standup comedy prior to like the idea

came up. I was always funny, but I

wasn't like man I got to figure out how

to become a comedian. That was never a

thought. I knew that I was very funny. I

knew that I was entertaining. I knew

that I can make people laugh. I love

being the center of attention. I love

the idea of a stage and a light, but

that wasn't the thing. I wasn't like, I

got it and this is what it's going to

do. It was presented and then I went and

did the amate and that's when I fell in

love.

>> Why did you like the stage and the light

and and why did you like performing

>> the laugh?

>> Why? There's nothing better than to

laugh.

There's nothing better than

being on stage having the bright light.

And

the only energy of good that you're able

to take away from what you're doing is

the laugh. Ha.

Hearing people laugh, I was like, "Oh

[ __ ]

that feels different."

>> Why?

>> This This is

This is energizing. This is like

>> How does it make you feel about you?

>> I feel like I'm doing a service of good.

If I can make people feel better, if I

can brighten up your day,

it's a service of good.

That means I'm like a shepherd of some

sort. I'm

I am responsible for making people feel

better. Oh my god. That means

in success I can bring people to one

destination

and everybody can share a moment and a

laugh and all relate that it came from

me. Oh my god, this can get global. This

can get bigger. Well, this is starting

to change now.

Oh wow. Wait, this has opened up doors

for me to do this or that or this or

that. It all started with the laugh. It

all started with the stage.

>> So, you went to that comedy show. Um,

I've got a I was looking at some of

those early clips of you performing.

It's funny cuz I think this is the early

2000s.

>> Okay.

>> But, I mean, you probably

>> Oh my god. Caroline.

Caroline. This right here. My best set

in the beginning of my career.

Everything I say here tonight is a joke,

okay? It is nothing else. I don't want

nobody take none of this stuff too

serious.

>> I don't want nobody coming up to me

after the show saying, "Who's the funny

one now?" Yeah. Yeah. This this that

tape. So that was when you know

the thing I needed was a tape. Mhm.

>> And [clears throat] the reason why I

needed the tape was so that I could send

it to the other comedy club so that they

could have an example of me, my talent,

and then dictator judge if I can get a

live audition in person.

>> And how old are you at that point?

>> Oh my god. Right there. I'm like

18, 19.

>> That's crazy.

>> 18, 19 years old.

>> Cuz you're so That clip is so funny. I

watched it this morning and like I was

dying.

If you could understand the feeling of

getting off that stage, having a good

set and then them putting the tape in my

hand, it was gold.

I got it. I got a good tape.

I got to go make copies of my tape and I

just got to send them to everybody. I

just used to

because it was it was it was valuable.

It was value. Started getting in comedy

clubs, started getting auditions,

started getting more

Oh my god. Kevin's up for an audition.

Uh movie audition, cast of directors,

they all got that tape. Everybody got

that tape.

>> From that period onwards, from 18 to

let's say to your early 20s, you were at

this point a very motivated individual.

You're working hard.

>> You're focused

>> very.

>> And what was your when you speak to your

mom and your dad at this point about

comedy? Do they think that's a serious

career?

>> My dad not as much cuz I didn't really

talk to my dad through these years.

That's my dad was kind of dealing with

his his world of issues. Um, my mom, we

had an agreement. I had a certain amount

of time to make comedy make sense and

figure out a way to support myself. Um,

if I didn't do it, then I had to go with

my mom's idea, which was education and

getting a job while getting my

education. My plan didn't it didn't

involve college. I'm out. I'm done. I'm

done. No more community. This is what I

want to do. I got it. My I've never been

more excited about my future. This is it

for me.

How you going to make your money, Kevin?

I'm going figure it out. How you going

to figure it out? I'mma figure it out

though. I'm just going to go down to the

comedy clubs and I've been winning the

amateur nights. I think the amateur

nights help me pay for my rent cuz I was

winning the amateur nights. I won a

bunch of them in a row. In my mind, it

wasn't hard. It wasn't going to be hard

because there was no other option. All

my eggs were in this basket and I was

very happy with that choice.

I put every last egg in this thing.

Nothing else matters but this. I promise

you I will figure it out.

>> Can you draw me a picture? If your

career was a graph?

>> Mhm.

>> Okay. So, I'm going to say here is 18

years old and you're 40 46 now. So,

you're 46 now. This is the axis of this

graph and on this axis we have let's say

success

and on this axis we have age. Can you

draw me a p a line that shows how how

>> success and age? Okay. So success for me

knowing what I want to do in life comes

here.

>> Yeah. right now. Figuring out

how to get to like

money, revenue,

just supporting yourself through telling

a joke, man. Let's go. Let's go here for

a second. We flatlining. Okay. Like, I'm

I mean, I'm making people laugh.

I'm I'm getting in some comedy clubs,

but you only get paid with food. But

then something weird happens where you

start figuring out, oh wait, here's kind

of where the spots come in. I can make

money on the weekends and I can get 20

to $25 a spot. So rather than doing one

spot, I would do, let's just say in a

weekend, I got to the point where I was

doing 25 to 28 sets.

>> A weekend.

>> Wow. Well, I started making 500 $500 a

week. $400 a week.

>> How many years in is this to you making?

>> 18. Let's say 22

>> two. Yeah.

>> So, I was driving from Philadelphia to

New York every day. But because of that,

now you got to get into a comedy

festival. All right. So, now let's start

to go here because we did these spots

for a while. But then I got in a comedy

festival. Oh [ __ ] I got in a comedy

festival.

But that's when the industry saw me.

Who's this new guy? Who's this guy with

all this energy? Who's this [ __ ] guy?

This guy here, he's got something.

All right. So, I started meetings,

general meetings, and now I get a

holding deal. So, let's go up a little

bit. I think it was ABC. They gave me

like 250 grand. So, they're holding you

in hopes they get something. Nothing

happens. So, we're flatlining here. Now,

I'm just waiting for the phone to ring.

That's how this works. What if I want to

create my own thing? Create a show. Oh

my god. Show gets picked up. I create

something else. They decide to do it. Oh

[ __ ] there's a pattern. I can do that

as much as I want. I can treat that just

how I was treating the spots and stuff

in New York. I'm out. I'm moving to LA.

No plan, no nothing. Flatline.

I'm here. I just did it. I just came and

moved out. [ __ ] man. This is weird. I

don't like this [laughter]

work. I'm not getting no work, man. This

[ __ ] is is real stagnant. I'm going on

the road. I want to I want to work the

road. I'm going to be a headliner. I'm

going to do colleges. So, I'm going to

get college money and comedy club money

and I'm going to do it. I worked that

for a very long time. Right. Very, very

long time to the point where now I'm

selling out comedy clubs. After I

started selling out comedy clubs,

my person at the time was like, "Yo, we

can probably do theaters. You're adding

a lot of shows.

>> Are you a millionaire at this point?

>> No. No. I'm just an active active comic.

The next stage of success, right, was

let's go from comedy clubs to theaters.

All right. Boom. Let's go here. Then

let's go up again. Theaters start

selling out real quick. Oh, [ __ ] Let's

go from theaters, right, to like arenas.

Oh [ __ ] Will Packer, he was like, "I

got this book that I want to make a

movie. It's called Think Like a Man.

Steve Harvey wrote it. I think you're

funny as hell. I've been tracking you on

tour. I want you to be the star." We

film it. Think Like a Man comes out.

Think Like a Man did 90 something

million dollars in the box office. And

Will says, "Hey man, working with you is

great. Let's do something else. I got

this movie called Ride Along. You and

Ice Cube would be great." Boom. Ride

Along does 140. Like the movies just

started to pow, get hard, central

intelligence, me and the rock. I mean,

it just happened so fast. So now because

the movies are working, I'm like, this

is so cool. But while this is happening,

I should figure out like how to kind of

create my own source of like

opportunity. Like people keep bringing

opportunities to me. How do I create my

own source of opportunity? I'm gonna

start a a production company.

I need to start developing. But now I'm

like, I created that. Let's create

something else. So then I say, let's go

like Heartbeat Ventures and let's do a

VC. Oh man, I'm creating a bunch of

stuff. Hey, these entities around me,

it's all happening because my likeness.

My likeness allows me to get in these

rooms and start relationships and put

myself in a position to make deals and

create long-term revenue. How do I get

more of that? Wow.

Like NASCAR, people attach themselves to

the car they think is doing the best.

I'm a car. I should have brand

partnerships.

Chase, DraftKings, Fablettics.

I should have my own brands and

businesses that I'm building where more

opportunity for long-term revenue can

present itself.

Grand Cormino, wine, spirits. Now, oh

wow, I've grabbed this concept of

business control ownership and mirrored

it with Kevin's drive and entertainment

and visibility.

Leverage that to get me into the rooms

where I may not be as visible or as

strong, but once I'm embedded into these

environments, I can bring them value. I

can help amplify or uplift their brands,

their products. So, my case study of

Fablettics,

of DraftKings, before I got there versus

after I got there, Chase financial

literacy, like C4, like these are things

where I'm now, well, I'm not just a

partner, I'm an owner, I'm a endorser,

I'm an ambassador.

Oh, wow. This

is where the real money is made. The

ecosystem of life. How do you how do you

put yourself in a position to be a part

of everyday movement in life?

You're looking at things in a much

granular scale. And now I go way back

here

to when I was like not really focusing,

not thinking about life, not thinking

about how things connect. I'm now able

to tap into the lessons that my mom

gave. And I'm like,

all good things that happen happen when

they're supposed to. But now I'm poised

and polished enough with a mindset that

understands, well, I don't want to start

something that I'm not going to finish.

So, if I'm going to put myself in

position to do these things, how do I

make sure that my partners know I'm

willing to give my all?

How do I show that I'm not going to

quit?

Which back here, my mom's biggest lesson

was, you're not quitting. If you start

it, you're going to finish it. So, how

do I make my partners that I'm now

saying you should work with me? How do I

make Netflix secure and knowing that

when you get me, you get 100% of me and

I'm never going to quit. I'm going to

finish it all. How do I make my other

studio affiliates understand and working

with Heartbeat, it is in my best

interest to bring you great product,

great material so that you understand

what we do so that we can continue to

drive a business that has the best

interest for both of us. How do I sell

you on that? So now my business of sell

mirrors and matches my business of grow.

Nothing that I'm doing doesn't go hand

in hand. And I should be able to embed

the products or the partnerships that

I'm now operationally like attached to

into the ecosystem of entertainment. So

if I have a C4 can and I'm doing an

activation and health and wellness, well

C4 is my partner, I should integrate you

in this opportunity. Hey, my movie, we

have an opportunity to basically wear a

product. I should be in Fablettics in

this scene because this makes my partner

feel valued and positioned. Oh wow. This

is what I do. I elevate

I I I basically navigate my space of

ownership in a way like only I can to

elevate my partners so that my partners

go and say you're different. This is

different and this is what we need more

of.

That's my graph.

>> I've got some questions about the graph.

So, I guess the parts that I'm curious

about are this initial period when

you're 18 where like nothing's really

happening

>> because so many of my listeners,

probably most of them are in some

pursuit or sort of professional endeavor

in their life in this kind of stagnant

moment

>> where maybe they enjoy it, but like it

ain't paying the bills. No one believes

in them. Maybe some of their friends are

rolling their eyes when they tell them

what they're doing. When you look back

on this season of life, like what is

that season and how do you how'd you get

through it?

>> Nobody

believed that I was funny when I said I

was going to be a comedian. Like they

were like, "You funny but not comedian

funny."

Like my friends were,

"Yeah, what do you mean you gonna get on

stage? What do you mean I'm going to get

on stage? I'm going be a comedian."

G like how? Like Eddie Murphy. Like I'm

going be a comedian. Yeah, but you're

never going to be Eddie Murphy. Yeah, I

know. But I'm I'm saying like I'm going

to do it. Like I'm going to be I'm be a

star. No,

I don't know, man.

I don't know about the whole star thing.

I think you're tripping. I think I don't

I don't I don't think that's it. Nobody

has the confidence in the decisions that

you're making for yourself like you do.

So if you're waiting for that to connect

in the beginning stages, it may or may

not. If it doesn't, it shouldn't prevent

you from like following through on

whatever the the line of like go is for

you.

The money is never coming fast.

We're in a time today where this

generation has found ways to make money

in a entrepreneur manner

that we've never seen before. like the

the social media machine and how this

generation navigates that machine to

find revenue and to own

is unbelievable. That didn't exist. We

didn't have the like in in my time. We

didn't have that.

>> We just had the struggle

>> and the struggle left you with days of

like literally sitting in the living

room going, "What the [ __ ] man?"

>> So, why didn't you quit? because no

money, everyone's doubting it. What What

were you believing in?

>> I was believing in the idea that I

finally found the thing that I want to

do.

>> So, it was passion that was really you

anchored to

>> I I found the thing that I want to do

and I'm not going to quit it because I

love it this much and I strongly believe

that the sun is at the end of this dark

tunnel, but I got to be willing to get

there. And I I just don't know how to

get there yet, but I'mma figure it out.

Guess I'm going to LA.

I was in New York, but after New York,

they say go to LA. I'm gone.

What you going to do when you get there?

I'll figure it out.

I can always get on the plane and fly

where I got to go for stand up. If

that's the case, I can always go and

make money doing standup

if I have to, but I'm not going to get

to the star

by just doing that. I got to I got to go

there. I got to get close to it. I got

to smell it. I got to feel it. I got to

find out where the people are that are

trying to do it, too. I got to get

acting classes. I got to I got to get

around the the the Hollywood. Like, what

is H? I got to get there. And what

happens when you're there? It fuels

another another like

another appetite of of hunger cuz I'm

there in real time. I'm seeing people

better. I remember I tell this Cat

Williams story and I don't I don't even

think I told Cat this. Uh

there was a moment where I was opening

for Cat Williams and

I remember

I remember being at the the BET Comedy

Awards

and I'm in I'm in attendance and this is

like you know I'd had a couple of shots

at some things but they just you know it

wasn't the things weren't sticking like

the the the pilots I thought were going

to hit weren't going to hit the the

things that I thought were going to

happen, they just weren't. It just

didn't seem like it was adding up,

right? Like the the roles are little

small roles or little small cameos, but

like it wasn't it wasn't the thing. And

I remember Cat Williams set during the

BET Comedy Awards, he had like a leopard

suit,

destroyed,

destroyed the Comedy Awards, destroyed

this moment. And

audience goes crazy, stands up.

I remember being in the audience and I

was like, that's it.

I say like that's the that's the thing.

that thing, that reaction, that roar,

that moment.

I got to be patient because my moment is

going to come. I witnessed his moment.

And he after that moment,

it was Friday after next, you know, that

I mean, he went on and started to do

crazy things in his career, right? But I

witnessed the moment. And in that

moment, my takeaway was that he was

ready for the moment.

his material, the the jokes, everything,

it all hit. And I didn't watch it in a

in a manner of like jealous or angry. I

was like that that's it. Like he's

probably out of here after this. I mean,

it's the BT Comedy Awards. At the time,

I'm like, this is the biggest thing

ever, right? This the comedy awards. By

the way, they never did the Comedy

Awards again. I think this is like the

last one they did. But that moment,

if the ball is dropped in that moment,

then the moment goes. You don't know

when the moment is presenting itself,

but I'm staying with the thing because I

know that the moment is going to come.

And when I'm in the moment, if I knock

that [ __ ] moment out the park,

all things will change. But you may not

know it. You may not know when the

moment comes.

>> When did your moment come?

>> Shaq's all-star comedy jam. The reason

why I equated with the story with cat.

Uh I believe it was Tommy Davidson. It

was D set of the Entertainer was a host.

I headlined it. I end up having one of

the best sets that I've ever had. And at

the end of the Shacks Allstar Comedy

Jam, I say good night and they do like a

slow motion walkoff.

It's a slow motion thing and it's like

I'm I'm walking, the crowd stands up and

they're going crazy. By the way, I don't

know the slow motion walkoff is going to

happen in the edit of the special, but I

remember in real time crowds standing

up, stars were there. Everybody was

there, right? And in that moment,

show you how [ __ ] crazy the world is.

This is why I hate that like me and Cat

went through our stuff and we're much

better now. I'm going show you how the

world aligns.

Cat was in the audience. The Shacks

Allstar Comedy Jam and Cat was watching

the show. He was just there as a fan,

but at this time everything big is

happening.

And I had a moment

and that was the moment that then took

me and shot me out the cannon.

And if I wasn't prepared for the moment

and I wouldn't have known all the things

to come. Okay. But that then set up I

was releasing my special. My special

seriously funny. I was taping in two

weeks.

So Shaq's Allstar Comedy Jam goes they

rush to put it out. It crushes. I then

tape my comedy special. Seriously funny

was my next special. Seriously funny

destroys,

but it only destroyed because of Shaq's

All-Star Comedy Jam. And the audience

that watched that and I was like, "Oh my

god, this guy showed up in droves for

Seriously Funny." And then Seriously

Funny was like, "Oh [ __ ] this big ass

special." And then the arenas and

everything. Boom, boom, boom, boom,

boom.

>> So about 12, 13 years from the moment

you did your first sort of standup event

to you having your moment. And I find

that fascinating cuz those 13 years most

people

>> aren't willing to do something for 13

years without their moment showing up.

>> Like when you hear like I don't know

[ __ ] on Instagram or quotes or you watch

motivational videos and stuff.

>> If they told you that it would take 13

years for you to have your moment,

almost nobody would take part.

>> Nobody. No. and those 13 years of your

training.

>> I mean, so Scooter Braun told me one

time, he was like, what makes him

different is the work that he's willing

to do in something. And he was like, you

know, if they were giving out like a

million dollars for somebody that can

hit a fast ball pitch, you know, from a

from the best pitcher in baseball,

right? And this thing will basically

require everybody everybody's going to

go and try to hit this because everybody

wants the million dollars. So the first

day of the announcement, the line to hit

this pitch is going to be

droves, right? Like I mean millions of

people, who knows how many people would

be in this line and people would go up

and strike out and after that they would

go, "Damn, it's over." like I missed.

Not many people would like miss and then

go stand back in line to go hit the ball

again. He was like, I'm going to keep

getting in line. What you'll find is

that the line will get smaller and

smaller

because of how many people are dropping

out and optioning not to wait and do the

hard thing again.

That comparison and that

world of understanding is like something

that equates to life

very well, right? Not many people are

going to wait through the 13 years of

like [ __ ] hardship. Most people opt

out at year two,

maybe three, no money, whatever. I need

to figure something else out. Year six,

[ __ ] this man. Stupid. What am I doing?

Why am I doing it? Right? I'm going to

go find the quick avenue or the quick

return because money is the that's what

it boils down to for most people.

Where's the money? Where am I making the

money?

When the money comes, it comes.

[clears throat]

What you find is that it's not hard to

make money once you start making money.

You learn

how to make money. like you. It comes

with education. It comes with

understanding and it comes with a better

resource of mind that makes you go, "No,

I'm going to do this and I'm going to

build this and I'm going to go here. I'm

going to meet. I'm going to present. I

have an idea. I'm going to pitch it."

like you you're now a a much better

machine because you understand

money is no longer the thing that you

think it was when you get to it. But

getting to it to get that understanding,

you lose the pack.

You lose the pack because the pack is

like, I want it here. And because it

didn't show up here, I got to go figure

out a new thing to do that's going to

give it to me here. And they got to

recycle like

>> they lose focus.

>> Yes. You you're never completing

anything. You never finish nothing. So

the thing that you think you're focusing

on, you keep quitting to start something

else that you think is an idea and it's

just a cycle. It's a cycle.

>> Don't you notice that people come up to

I notice this a lot with young

entrepreneurs, especially those that

aren't having success. They start one

thing. Well, they when they come and

tell you what they do, they tell you 17

things.

>> 17.

>> None of them have ever say 17 things.

>> Mhm. And they think that more doing more

things is increasing the probability of

success.

>> 100% where it's the opposite. [laughter]

>> It's the opposite. It's the it's the

thing that you actually thought of that

you are going to put 100% of your mind

and focus into to complete. And then

after that, you're able to pick it apart

and take the good, the bad, the whatever

and either restart that thing again to

improve it or make a decision to do

something else. But you finished. I made

the choice that standup comedy was what

I was going to finish. I made a choice

that becoming a good comic and a good

headliner, if I focused and did it well,

that would open up the doors for me to

do everything else that I want to do. If

I don't have that,

how do I expect to get in?

>> I was speaking to Evan at Snapchat and

he was talking about T-shaped people. So

you have like a broad understanding of

of a lot of things, but then you're like

really deep on one particular thing. And

that one particular thing is almost I

guess you could see as like screw that

gets you into the industries. So for me,

mine would have originally been

marketing, but I was able to use that

like deep expertise to then launch this

media business cuz it's still the same

game of marketing that I did for for 15

years. I was able to go into like the

stock market because they really needed

to understand marketing. And it was that

deep expertise in one thing that was my

leverage in all of these really

interesting rooms. It's kind of what you

were saying at the start like you had

this deep expertise, this deep IP

experience value that allowed you to

like break in as an investor and then to

production and all these other areas. I

mean the value the value for me it was

self but

the value of self and understanding

of how to truly control and operate that

and navigate that correctly.

That's a that's a world of its own. So

the bigger that the star gets,

the brighter that the star shines.

If you are paying attention, it's only

positioning you to go in places where

people say, "Oh my god, I know you." And

where you can shake a hand, but the

interest of just knowing you because of

the place from the star, it allows a

moment for the conversation of, "So what

is it that you do?"

Oh my god. Like that's that's so cool. I

would love to learn more about that. And

what you'll find is that the resources

of opportunity over there are endless.

Oh my god. Are you serious? We would

love to partner with you in something

like this. I mean, in this space, are

you talking about mental health,

wellness? Listen, strong voices and

confident voices or inspiring voices.

There could be a lot for us in what we

do here. Hey, maybe there's a

partnership that we can form. Oh my god,

man. Back to school kids. I love kids.

I'm thinking about doing more like

here's something where I think I can

have a very very good cadence and a and

a very good energy towards getting kids

hype about school education because it's

not something that I took serious. How

do I help? Where did you learn? So when

I look at this graph here, I see this

sort of moment where things become go up

and to the right very quickly where you

start to get into entrepreneurship. But

at this moment that comes before it, you

didn't know this stuff. So at some point

you acquired information. So for the

people that are listening now that are

thinking like how did Kevin go from a

kid that was in this rough area, dad

wasn't around much, his mom was raising

him to a guy that knows all this stuff.

>> You get there now by being a sponge and

not being afraid to ask questions. I am

I'm very secure

in myself

and being the dummy in the room.

I am extremely secure and saying I don't

know what that means.

Explain that.

>> Give me an example of a context where

you

>> I can give you several like venture and

investing.

I was a firm believer that nobody's

stealing my money

and giving you nothing.

Yeah. You going to go and put it where?

[laughter] Yeah. No, my money going to

stay right here under my bed. I'm not

doing that. So give you you want me to

give you money and you telling me you

going to get you going to take that

money and then that money is going to

turn into what? Yeah.

Okay. Go find you another idiot cuz it

ain't happening over here, buddy. Get

your scamming ass up out of here. Okay.

I come from the world of everything is a

scam. Okay. It's a [ __ ] scam. I know

a scam when I see one. All right. But

when you go, you say, "Well, how does

the stock market really work?" Or, "How

does investing really work?" Or, "What

do you mean you make money while you

sleeping?" What does that mean? What do

you mean by that? How does this brand

[clears throat]

partnership [ __ ] really work? Like, you

you can't be afraid

to like verbalize your ignorance.

And and the bigger problem,

[clears throat] which I'm sure a lot of

your viewers

have,

is like insecurely like just being quiet

about the [ __ ] that they don't know

as if you're going to figure it out

because someday, one day, somebody's

going to go, "Hey, you look like you

need to know."

>> [laughter]

>> It'll never happen that way. It's never

going to happen. You're never going to

run into a person who's randomly going

to talk about the things that you wish

you had more knowledge in. It will never

happen. And what you'll find is that

information is not free, but it's

available.

It's not actually hard to obtain. It's

only hard to people that are very

insecure about just verbalizing

I don't know where to get it.

Look at how many howto's help to all of

these things today. the the success that

we're seeing in entrepreneur and

influencer streamer and all of this

stuff in entertainment is the same

success that you're seeing in

uh

we can call them motivational speakers,

howto experts, uh step one through five

and what to do. The idea of I'm here to

service you and give you the information

that you don't know is available. So,

let me tell you how to get it.

Here's what I'm going to help you. three

easy steps to making sure that you can

and I don't care if you want to go to

the world of athletics or you want to go

to corporate or you want to go to

entertainment like you can break it down

golf do you know how much money is being

made in a game of golf because you got

millions of people that are trying to

give people information on how to better

improve your golf swing cuz I don't want

to I don't want to say out loud my swing

ain't [ __ ] but I don't know Man, I keep

coming down on top of the ball. Why the

[ __ ] am I coming down on top of the

ball? I don't know what's happening. And

some people would rather go out in their

backyard every day, hit the same ball,

then just ask somebody, "Hey man, any

way that you can tell me [laughter] how

to come like what? How do you get that

[ __ ] in the air?" So now people online

go, well, we're just going to put it out

here and that person that's struggling

quietly where they're going to discover

me and in silence they'll watch and

they'll look to improve because nobody

knows

and they still get to be quiet.

That's the problem.

Just give me a minute of your time and

I'll tell you about a device that my

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products. There's also unknown unknowns,

which you would have experienced. I

remember you talking about um you got to

see behind curtains and you didn't even

know people were behind there. And when

when I heard you say that, it was the

perfect metaphor and analogy for exactly

what I had experienced in my life.

Coming from a kid that came from a very

normal background, was was born in

Africa, moved to the UK, mother's

Nigerian, dad's English, and didn't know

that all these like rich people were

back here playing money games. I thought

the way you make money is you like work

in McDonald's, you like work really

hard, you might become manager, D. And

then at like I'm going to say 27 being

sat in a billionaire's kitchen and

watching him on the phone and he's

calling his boy and they're doing 50

million just before the IPO happens so

that they get a better price and I'm

thinking [ __ ] hell.

>> It's all it

the the the thing that I've realized

right when you look at your biggest

investors right

you'll find that they're all together.

None of them are investing in the new

thing alone.

They all are like, "Well, it's better

with you,

so do it with me." Well, what about

Gary? Yeah, call Gary, too. Let's see if

we can get him in here. What about

Michelle? Yeah. Hey, Michelle. What

about Melissa? All right. You'll find

that this group of 10 people all who

could easily do something on their own

do not believe in the struggles of self

when you can combine

this machine of great minds

to provide another great opportunity and

in success. Well, this thing works. The

company gets bigger. Well, let's use our

resources to go out and make sure that

we align the person that they already

have with more amazing individuals,

create more jobs, more opportunities for

new minds to become successful. And then

in those minds building and that

personnel like elevating,

well, now this person that was at the

bottom here, we then go and ask this

person to run this thing. And now

underneath this thing we get another

version of a downpour.

New minds, new personnel, new things.

Okay, this whole business of venture,

this whole business of company build,

whether it's tech, lifestyle, health,

well, it doesn't matter what it is. You

will notice that the people that started

from the bottom are now running the new

companies of today. And now the source

of personnel that's underneath it will

be the minds running the company of

tomorrow.

It's not like rocket science. Once

you're behind the curtain

once you go, "Oh shit."

I remember when when I first started

like investing this, "Oh my god, Kevin,

like your your money in this would add a

crazy amount of value." Well, I ain't

putting in what y'all put in. No, but

the fact that you're involved in it at

all is just big that you believe in it

and we're able to say that you believe

in it with us is huge.

What do you mean by that? [laughter]

You trying to [ __ ] steal? What are

you doing? What are you doing, man? You

talking too fast. Say what you said

again. Slow down so I understand it.

Don't talk fast to me because I'm so

insecure cuz I don't know what you're

saying and it might be some [ __ ] in

here.

But it's No. Well,

we know that you're you're doing well

over here and your movies and all that

stuff is cool, but this is different.

This business, Kevin, could be different

for you. It's a business of multiple. So

we play a game of multiples of X. So

what your money is today? Well, we think

in success if this is a light bulb or a

bottle rocket, you 30X, 20X. What the

[ __ ] You're telling me that if I put

this money in here right now, and if my

voice is attached to the thing that I

think it is, which is a crazy

crazy venture, a crazy opportunity.

Well, yeah, Kevin. I mean, look, we all

believe that, but with your voice, we

may be able to say it a little louder.

Oh my.

Oh my. Okay. Well, I did it. Oh my. I I

won. I got a return. Oh my.

Oh.

Oh.

So, now I figured it out. Now, now

you're part of the right conversations.

You're part of the the right

opportunities. But once again,

the information is discovered

because of the opportunity to be the

flower on the wall in the spaces that

you never imagined yourself being in.

But now, look at what I'm able to do.

I'm able to take this information, take

all the [ __ ] that I know, come and have

these [ __ ] organic conversations like

I am now. And we're sharing it. And some

people that are watching this are going

to take that information and go, I knew

it.

and I'm doing the right thing and it's a

matter of time before I get around them.

And when I do, oh my god, the things

that I have, the stuff that I have on

the table, the things that I have

created, the opportunities,

I'mma be the next person to bring the

thing that everybody else is involved

in. I'mma be the next person to be the

[ __ ] energy source to tomorrow's

future future within. like people just

need to hear

how fast it happens, quick it happens,

and and and when it does what you're

supposed to be ready for.

>> And you were able to invest in lots of

great companies like Function Health,

that's valued at 2.5 billion now. 11

Labs, everybody knows in the tech space,

those 11 Labs, which were valued valued

at three billion now, Moonpay, um

>> Young Labs, Sweat Pals, Radiant,

Noranics, Paltown, um

>> tons of stuff stuff that you would never

expect me to be in. How much of this

game have you learned in hindsight is

about

people about like getting because even

when that person was saying to you that

analogy you gave of they're telling you

to put your money into this thing and

you're going [ __ ] me are they stealing

you're going to have to lean on someone

you trust like someone in your circle

that you know

>> and I'm I'm wondering cuz people don't

talk about it enough how how important

it is to like

>> collect the right people and can you

think of moments where you like met a

person and that was like gamechanging

and you understanding a whole new world

and what was behind the curtain.

>> All of my people could see this. I'm I'm

just going to be extremely transparent.

Like you

before you get to the right people, you

run through wrong people.

And

with wrong people, you can go like,

they're wrong. They don't work. I got to

get somebody else. Or you can grow with

people.

I'm a believer of the grow, right? Like

I think it's dope when we can all say we

started a certain way but we're ending

up in a completely different space along

that journey of growth. Some people

won't make it. You can be patient and

you can want the best for some but they

might not want the same for themselves.

So because of that the falloff

presents itself to be a little more

consistent um than what it should be.

Right. Mhm.

>> But in business, what you'll find

is that the emotions

can be your like

can be your worst asset. Having emotions

in business attached to business

can be everything but beneficial to the

business. So the more that I was able to

detach my emotions

from the world of want and understand

that the things that I'm doing are to

better position the business

and the people that have worked so hard

to help this business get to where it is

today. I have a service to them as well.

How do I bring in the right valuable

assets to put us in a bigger position to

win? Sometimes you got to let go

of things that you thought would be the

thing, but you can you can climax. You

can you can get to a place where it's a

ceiling. You're like, we're not getting

past the ceiling unless we go get the

right people, unless we go get the

correct personnel. So, I'm a firm

believer in talent. I'm a firm believer

in rewarding those that do a job and

that can do a job at a high level. But

the only way to you realize that is to

get out of the way. I had to learn to

stop trying to control everything. Stop

trying to do everything. Stop trying to

be with my the one with my hands in

everything and put people in a position

to do the thing that they've been hired

to do and do it well. But the patience

that you have to have

and learning people and dealing with

people is a talent within itself. I want

to say like you're

at this stage I'm more

I'm more of a hard drive

of other people's issues or problems

than I am a person. [laughter]

I I am a hard drive of can I talk to

you? I want to tell you what's going on.

I have an issue with. Hey man, look, I'm

trying to do this. I don't know what

they trying to do. Here's what I'm

trying to do. And you have to be a

positive source of solution all day,

every day. Because if you're talking and

you're talking to do anything but solve,

then you shouldn't be in the chair of

control. So I am solutiondriven

every single day because I am faced with

a new problem attached to the ecosystem

and the community that I built

underneath me of how to navigate or how

to better navigate in the world because

everybody's trying to do something to

prove that they're worthy of the seat or

seats that they have or that they want.

So every day

you're dealing with a board of shuffle

and a new board of opportunity

>> and drama.

>> And every day you're telling people not

now and time. Slow up. I hear you. We'll

deal with it. Let's all talk together.

Communication is key. Let's table this

and make sure everybody's on the same

page. you're saying things five and six

times because you have to make sure that

you're the best example of what you're

speaking.

So every day

the thing that you never thought would

come into play

is communication

and like the ability to [ __ ] give

great dialogue in the hopes of getting

the return of effort and work. So now

you're going back to ground zero when

you were with your mom and you were with

your friends in the early days of life.

And what was the thing that I told you I

did very well? I connected with

everybody in a lunchroom. I was at

everybody's table. Didn't matter who you

were, what you were, what race, what

didn't matter in this space of now

business and corporation. If everybody

doesn't feel like they can trust or

believe or follow

my direction, my vision, something about

what I'm doing is wrong.

>> How does one build an empire that relies

on people when they naturally

don't come from a place of that

information? So they they might have

trust issues like you were referring to

these kind of trust issues like wait a

minute, you're trying to steal my money.

How does you've got this big empire of

lots of different verticals within

within Heartbeat and your your companies

and your personal IP. You're going to

have to be trusting a lot of other

people with your wealth, with your

business, and with your with your

children's inheritance. And I hear so

many of these stories of I trusted a guy

and I lost everything. Especially

honestly, especially in the like black

community.

>> Mhm.

>> It's a major fact. Um, but we're also a

community that

gets taken advantage of

because of the lack of knowledge, right?

We get [ __ ] over more than we don't

because

All right. Well, it says here that

you're a lawyer and that you have my

best interest. All right. It says that

you're my manager and you have my best

interest.

All right. Well, you read the paperwork.

All right. You read the contract and

it's good and I'm just signing, right?

My ignorance doesn't mean that I'm lazy.

My ignorance means that I believe you.

And

I don't know to second guessess or

second check or to hire or onboard

people to second guess to second check

to show me

fine print fine line because it's

impossible. I can't get [ __ ] cuz you

said

well yeah I can't but you said

go back to the emotions and why I say

emotions had to be removed. I'm going to

have somebody look at this just so I

know that it is what it is. I wouldn't

lie to you. I know. But it's in the best

nature of business just for me to make

sure that my eyes that I have lay eyes

on it and they can just say what you

just said but just make sure I

understand it correctly. Yeah. But you

don't have to do that. It's nothing

against you. It's just a practice that I

have within the way that I now approach

business and anything that you do. It's

never personal. I don't take offense to

anything that you want to check or

background check on me. You should. It's

business.

I think that

we don't get a fair level of

understanding for our fuckups, for our

mishaps, of how the road presented

itself for somebody to take from me. So

when I'm recovering from the take,

well, you got to start at a safe space.

My space was never safe because they're

sharks. So they focus on the [ __ ]

prey. The young talent in the music

business is prey.

So the sharks see the young talent.

Whichever one gets there first

has an opportunity

to [ __ ] give me the presentation of

the world and make it bells, whistles,

and candy. Well, if I get there right

and the prey doesn't have the right

people around them, I'm going with the

shark every time.

>> I guess you there is an element of

responsibility here which people don't

like to acknowledge that you got to take

responsibility. I signed bad contracts

in my career and I was like I look back

at 20 years I go [ __ ] you know I lost

a lot there. But that was on me and if I

don't take responsibility then it's

going to happen again. But there's also

you you'll know a lot of people that

become victims. I don't think it's the

worst thing, right? Like it's when it

happens early on. Like I got a lot of

friends that are in the music business,

a lot of artists that are now

independent artists that control and own

their labels and are doing much better

at this position than they were when

they were signed underneath the big

thing. And they were getting taken, but

after finding out how it was and why it

was, they said, "I'm going to go create

my own." Like, you know, when you look

at the biggest labels that are

independent and you look at the artists

that fall underneath these independent

labels, well, you'll look at a blueprint

of people following

>> the person that was like in front of

them and what they said, but it was only

because they learned the business of the

business, right? Like so being a part of

a business that's just succeeding and

you being embedded into it

>> and just being the work for hire that

just follows the suit what they say.

Well that's not smart if you have an

opportunity to mirror what they're doing

and create your own. So what I do like

within a culture is a lot of the artists

that are that are independent or that

are that are now like

able to say I have my own version

whether it's studio production company

label independent label whether it's own

line of product that they share

ownership with like people are now

learning to follow and and repeat what

the conglomerates are doing. I can use a

conglomerate and I can take your machine

and create a small version of a machine

underneath yours and partner with you

and give you a piece of my machine, but

it allows me to own I can leverage the

the the bank of opportunity and consumer

that you have here under this brand.

>> What's the cost though? Because you

know, you're incredibly successful.

You've got all this empire of companies

and businesses and ventures you've

started. They say that you can't have

everything in life,

>> especially not at the same time.

>> So, what is the cost of this pursuit?

Because

>> time.

>> Time.

>> Is your ambition like in uns insatiable?

>> Yes.

>> It just won't. You couldn't switch it

off if you wanted to.

>> And does that not make you feel like

you're being dragged versus being

driven?

>> You for sure have your days. I'm

absolutely stressed out. I'm stressed

the [ __ ] out on the daily, but I operate

within stress.

>> Are you happy?

>> I'm 10,000% happy, but I'm stressed out

with the concept of I have to do.

>> If your life ended now, God forbid.

>> Mhm.

>> Do do you think if you if you found out

today that it was ending, you would

reflect on it and say, do you know, I

think I might have had things in the

wrong order, would there be any mis

prioritization in hindsight if today was

the day? If life ended today,

I could cross my legs comfortably

and be okay.

That it's that it's time. I did it

correctly. I

made sure that I applied myself to the

best of my ability.

I tried my best to put those that I

loved in a better position so that they

could see more and do more.

My last name and my family name is much

stronger today than it was yesterday.

The idea of

the world is something that I was able

to see and understand better

because I was blessed and fortunate

enough to travel and meet so many

people

are made to like we're here to embrace,

we're here to love, we're here to like

share.

>> Mhm. [clears throat]

I was an energy source of good to bring

people closer together through all

things that I've done. So, it all

connects. And I'm okay.

I'm okay with if it stopped, it stopped.

What I'm what I'm not okay with is while

I have the bandwidth of good health,

[ __ ] great mind, strong

[ __ ] like mind concept and I can I

can go I can do it. I can get there.

I'm not okay with wasting that time.

I'm not okay with wasting my time of

good and I can do and I'm strong enough

to connect at a very high level. My star

is bright which allows me to go and get

into these spaces. If I wait for this to

dim out and I try to get into these

spaces, what if I can't?

>> Is there always a fear because of where

you came from that the stuff absolutely

might dim?

>> Absolutely. Like you you can't be

unrealistic.

Nothing is going to last forever.

nothing. I don't give a [ __ ] who you

are. I don't It's not true. You can

recreate and you can figure out ways to

find success again

and again,

but the one thing that you are winning

in, you're not going to win in it

forever, right? Like

I love talking about my guy man Hoveve

and Ruben, Michael Rubin. like

two great [clears throat]

friends but two good examples

of recreation

amplification

and step repeat right successful rapper

albums some albums hope will never make

again some will you don't look at them

all like they are all the best some you

think are better than others but the

fight to be the thing that you were when

it was at your highest

is a driving factor to get you. But then

as a talent, you you let go of that

because you become comfortable with

knowing that I'm never going to create

that again. That was my lightning in the

bottle moment. I'm never going to create

this again, but I can have fun doing

what I'm doing and I can create a

variation

of versions of this that still display

my talent and that I'm doing it at a

high level. Man, you know what? This

right here, it could cap out. But boy oh

boy, did I find [ __ ] momentum and now

the movies or in Ho's case is the

example I was using. He then found

momentum and well this thing, the

Rockefeller thing, him dame created this

thing and then the artists underneath

the thing and the progression of the

artist underneath that brand and started

to go bow pow Kanye bow state property

beanie seagull bow bow bow Rihanna all

these people bow now this thing was so

dope that we were able to create other

people that's more energy so now I don't

need the [ __ ] I don't need the

I'm looking at the product of a valuable

asset that we created that's premium

enough to display that the talent that

comes from underneath us

is strong [ __ ] talent and we do

amazing things. Now my business because

of this business well this business

becomes great too. Ace of spades and

deuce say and all oh [ __ ] the value the

exit the return he keeps finding more

energy in these other things. Mhm.

>> Oh [ __ ] 4040 club. More assets, more

brand, likeness, partnership, ownership.

But the backdrop to it all is the

artists.

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