Why Inmates Check Paperwork In Prison | Big Bootsie
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- So it got to the point over the years that it got so heavy, now people have to check paperwork of who they standing by inside of the jail. It's just, it's a given thing. You gotta show that paperwork. You gotta come to the yard with that paperwork. If not, you're gonna have a problem. That mean you hiding something. And nobody wanna be around no snitches and no rats.

Welcome back to the Locked In with Ian Bick podcast. On today's episode, we have the one and only Big Bootsy here to share his extraordinary life story, including the principles of the street he's learned along the way, the trouble and the pain.

and subsequent jail time he got into as a young adult, and how he was able to turn it all into an acting career. I want to give a big shout out to Unique Mecca Audio for connecting me to Big Bootsy. Unique was a former Kingpin who came onto the show a few months back. Make sure you check out that episode if you haven't already. Him and Big Bootsy are not only friends, but

but grew up in that same time period together. Now, without further ado, sit back, relax, and get ready to lock in with Big Bootsy. Big Bootsy, welcome to Locked In, man. Pleasure to have you. Shout out to Unique Mecca Audio for connecting us. You know, when he calls and says he's got a guest, you can't say no to the man. Yes, sir, man. Thanks for having me, brother. I appreciate it. Yeah, big shout out to my brother, Unique, man. Big shout out, man. Yeah, awesome. How do you get the name?

name Big Bootsy. What does that mean? All right. Well, Bootsy comes from my grandfather. I was his first born grandson. And they say he used to carry me and take me everywhere. And he named me Bootsy. It's not a street name. So, you know, when I meet people, I let them know that it's not a street name. It's a name given given name for my grandfather. So as I was growing up, I started doing a lot of things as far as

making some money and making, doing a lot of parties. So I earned the name big in front of Bootsy because I'm known to do big things. Okay. So it's not a street name. That's interesting. I'm sure you definitely get that mixed up a lot that people would think that it's a street name. Yes, sir. Okay. It's not a street name. Unique's name is a street name, right? Yeah, I guess. I don't know where he got it from, so I can't say that it's a street name. So somebody might've gave it to him from his family, you know? Did you guys grow up together?

Well, we didn't grow up together. I met Unique in my teen years. I was a teenager and I used to see him flying by, ride by. And I knew a few guys that knew him and I see him riding different cars. And I'm like, yo, who is this new guy running around through Harlem like this? So I asked one of my homeboys and they was like, you know, his name Unique. I said, I need to meet him, man.

And he was like, all right, come down the hill. And that's how me and him met. And, you know, we never looked back after that. We was together all the time, man. So, yeah, he's one of my big brothers that I learned a lot from. So you were with him when he was serving his prison sentence, like there for him mentally? Yes, the whole 26 years. Well, I went in before him. I got locked up, so...

I was upstate New York, Kingston, and I left from Kingston, New York, and started going to Virginia. And when I was going to Virginia, I got caught up on the highway, me and a few guys, two other of my co-defendants. We got pulled over on the highway, illegally searched. Long story short, I was facing 60 years, and I went and took it to trial. And as I'm in there...

My bail was a million dollars, Unique, so I got in touch with him. I had him come to my mother's house and tell her, I mean, to let him know what was going on with me and, you know, see if he could bail me out. He said, yeah, he was going to bail me out, no problem, just sit back and wait. So I was sitting back waiting, no Unique. I sit back waiting, no Unique. Called my mother. He ain't called. She's like, no, baby, I ain't heard from him. I'm like, wow. So I'm like, damn, what's going on?

I just said, that's where I'm going to be at for right now. So they was pulling people over. Before you pass and come across the Maryland line to go to Virginia, they'll pull you over, search your car. It was just a sting that they was doing. It wasn't even a sting. It was just illegal searching all the way, all the whole procedure. They just illegal searching people. So anyway, another guy that I knew from New York,

came through and got caught. And me and him was talking, and he was like, yo, that's messed up. What happened to your boy Unique 2, man? I said, what happened? He said, the feds jumped out at him crazy, locked him up. I'm like, no wonder he ain't come. Oh, wow. So he got locked up right after I did. So I did my time. I come home, and he was in there.

doing the Life Plus 26. And that's when I stepped in to do my due diligence for my brother and held him down the rest of the way till he came home to this day. Wow. So was yours a fed case or was it just... No, mine was just a regular case. They was just sitting on the side of the highway and any car that go by, if you look like you're black or Spanish, they pulling the car over and they searching it. And, you know, I'm going to do a movie about it. It's called Route 13.

And that was like one of the safest routes to go going that way. So we was taken that way. And I guess the police caught on to it and came up with how to pull people over and search their cars. So, um,

One of the cops actually got killed. They pulled over a guy that was on the run. He killed him, jumped out, ran. Another guy was a lawyer. They wrote him his ticket, and then they asked him, can he search? And he said, no, you gave me my ticket. I'm leaving. He walked off to go to his car, and they bum-rushed him and told him, we're searching anyway, put the cuffs on him. They didn't know he was a lawyer. So they was just doing the legal thing in Salisbury, Maryland. So the attorneys couldn't throw that out at all because it was race-based? Back then...

I paid a lawyer. Her name is Sheila Brooks. And never heard from her. She just robbed me for my money. Never heard of her. She just disappeared. Then I got another lawyer, and his name was David Moore, which was supposed to be a good lawyer. You know, I was new in that area, so I didn't know anybody in that area. But inside of the jail, I was hearing who was good lawyers. So, yeah, I hired a good lawyer, but they didn't fight it on –

illegal search for one they trick you to sign them that paper for the actual search and the guy that was driving the car wasn't even his name so if you go by the law he wasn't didn't have permission to say that they could search the car but they said he could because he was in control of the vehicle so I don't know

So we went, we got offered time and we didn't take it. We went to trial, we went to trial, we blew trial. I took a judge trial because I would figure that the judge would actually uphold the law, being that it was a legal search. Nobody claimed nothing.

But they gave us all time anyway. So the judge knew he was going to find us guilty when we were sitting in there. My mother said it. She came to the trial and everything. She said that judge knew he was finding y'all guilty. All that was a waste of time. That's risky business doing a judge trial. Yeah, it is. It is. And we did that. And, you know, I did law library the whole time I was in there. I studied the law. I basically was learning law in there. I actually liked it. If I went to school, I probably could have been a lawyer or something. So, but...

It wasn't enough to help us. And I didn't have enough money at the time either because my money didn't ran out. You know, when you get locked up, people that owe you money, they disappear on you. And that's what happened. How old were you when you got locked up for that? I want to say 22. And Unique got locked up in his 20s too? Yeah, I want to say, yeah. His 20s. Yeah.

And he did 26. So, yeah, it had to be like right after because he's a little older than I am. So, yeah, that's a fact. How much time did they give you?

Five. I died five years. Oh, so you blew trial and they still only gave you five years. Yeah, and they gave us five years. It could have been a lot worse. Yes. Not that it wasn't bad to begin with, but it could have been. It could have been a lot worse. And I thank God for that. You know, you got a praying mother and father, man. You know, that helps as well, you know? Yeah. So you grew up in Harlem your whole life? Yes. Okay. What was that like? Man. Man.

I want to say it was the year of the golden years, man. We had a great time, but it was an era where if you wasn't thorough, you would get ate up and swallowed up out there. But overall, we had good times. It was an era of a lot of money being made, a lot of people, even little young boys was making money. At that time, our mental was way ahead of our time.

When you're 15 and 16 riding around in $100,000 cars and things of that nature, it's unbelievable because if you see the average 15 and 16-year-old now, you wouldn't believe that they would be riding that unless they went to the league or something early. So that's what we was doing early. So it was good times and then it was bad times. But, you know, like me and my friend was talking last night, in our area where I live from, 146 St. Nicholas, we grew up,

wanting to get money, have fun, play basketball, messing with the ladies, you know, and that's it. We ain't got time for no trouble or none of that stuff. And that's what we was, you know, that's how we roll. That's what we abide by, that type of stuff. We ain't look for no trouble, but it was easy out there. If you wasn't, like we said, if you wasn't thorough, you know,

then them green gobblers gonna come and try to come and dig in your pockets. Were your parents influential on keeping yourself out of trouble? Very big. My moms and pops didn't really play that. Like, when the lights about to get dark when you're a young age, it's time for me and my brother to come upstairs. Our friends, some of them got to stay out late and stuff like that, but...

We used to sneak out the house when we wanted to go to the clubs to keep up with the Joneses, me and my middle brother. We used to sneak out the house, and we used to leave the door open. You know, now when I think about that, it's like, man, that is dangerous to do that and leave your parents in their sleep. You're sneaking outside just to go have some fun. Anybody could have walked in the house and did something to them. So they didn't play that, and...

You know, a lot of butt whoopings when you do wrong at school and all that, but we used to sneak and do things behind their back. She was never knowing what we was doing outside. But she'll find stuff in the house, around the house, if, you know, mother's intuition. So, yeah, she...

She didn't play about us being out there in the mean streets like that. And, you know, it kind of saved us because me catching my time at a late age, a lot of my friends, even some of them got killed 15, 16 or some of them been in and out of jail early because they got to do whatever they wanted to do. And some of them was on drugs real bad. So that kind of saved us.

you know, me and my brother with them being how they was on a strict level. Yep. Were you a hustler early on? Did you like making money, doing things yourself, or were you like a work, a regular job type of person? No. Well, my mother used to work at a bank, chemical bank, and then she moved to InDesign West and sold money. She used to take us to work with her sometime and I used to see what she'd do. So in my, I guess in my bloodline, I wanted to make some money. So, you know, it started early at 10 years old, me trying to

think of ways to make some money, I'm outside hanging out. And, you know, I tell this story all the time. And my friend AZ, which from the Paid in Full movie, he was in the cleaners. If you ever seen the movie Inside of the Cleaners, working, he really did that in real life. And, you know, he was a guy that used to sit on the stoop, quiet, laid back. If you don't see him on the stoop, laid back, he was at work. So I used to hang around him in the cleaners. And I used to tell him, I want to make some money. Excuse me, so...

He was delivering the clothes himself, so he was such a good guy. He used to look out for me, and he'll let me deliver the clothes and pay me money to deliver the clothes. So I started doing that type of situation with him until I started noticing other things after that. Mm-hmm.

Now, weren't you in paid in full, too? Yes. Yes, indeed. Was that after prison or before prison? That was after prison. That was after. OK, so we'll get to that later on then about your acting career. Yeah, that's a fact. So do you think that if you were hanging around different individuals, your life could have maybe ended up like Unique's going down that path? Far as I know well.

Meaning catching 26 to life or something like that? Yeah, like getting caught up in like a kingpin statue or anything like that. Well, I definitely was already in that world because back then I used to have my own team hustling. That's how I met Unique. So I was working with AZ on the streets. I want to be getting it because, you know, when I got older, AZ would never let me touch no drugs or nothing. So as I got older, once I got into like high school, college,

Middle school, rather. I used to do little things for him. And then he would let me actually work at his store. It was called the Jukebox. So I was inside his store. I still wasn't selling drugs. I'd probably go in and, you know, grab some of the work, put the work in the games, take the money, put the money and grab the work, take it back next door, put the money in the jukebox and wait for him to come and get the money. So as I got older, I started selling my own drugs.

and after I started selling my own drugs, I started saving my money, saving my money. And then I actually got my own team and gave them something to do. So I started creating my own lane, my own moves, my own money, AZ. And I'm going through the story kind of fast. Cause you know, as we got old, the AZ left the game alone, unfortunately he got shot up and almost lost his life in the game, which everybody know about that. Um,

So, you know, I started graduating to big boy level. I had two and three spots of my own with my crew on 146 St. Nicholas, 142nd between Broadway and Hamilton. And I wanted to go to the next level. So when I seen this guy riding by, which was unique in these cars, I knew what it was about. I just needed to know how to get in. And my homeboy took me to meet with him. When I went and met with him, I told him what I could do.

And he trusted me. He gave me something with no money down. I leave, go, come right back. And he was like, oh, okay, you're about your business. You're about your business. And I started turning up, and me and him hung out all the time. Clubs, riding motorcycles, dirt bikes. He'd go buy dirt bikes, buy you a brand new dirt bike. That's what kind of guy he was. And we used to wake up. He'd come early in the morning waking me up to ride the four-wheelers and everything, but...

Yeah, I've been in the mean streets making my own moves for a long time. So I could have, to answer your question, I could have got caught up in that world catching time like Younique did very easily.

because we was doing the same thing. I just wasn't on a unique level, but I was on that level that could land you a lot of time. Did you want to be on that unique level? Did you have aspirations? Yeah, everybody did. Yes. Everybody wanted to be on that level. That was the goal of being out there in the streets. What was it about? The money or was it the

power or was it a mixture of both? It was a mixture of everything, man. When you're getting money, you feel good. All the women want you. And mainly us men, we do a lot of them things to impress women, you know, and, you know, stun on your boys a little bit. But overall, it's all about the women. And then when you're getting that kind of money and it's coming fast, you want to go to the next level. And that's what it's all about. Elevation. And if you're in it to be playing around, you're in it for the wrong reason. You

There's no lowball in anything because when they come, they coming. But we don't think about them coming. And especially at that time, people, you know, wasn't used to the police coming like that. Back in the 80s, it was kind of easy to sell drugs. The police wasn't on to you like that.

Until they started learning the game and then they started running up into everybody's spots that had, you know, little crack houses and stuff like that. Yeah. Unique was saying that as long as you paid your taxes and you didn't kill anyone, they would leave you alone and let you hustle. That's a fact. Because that filled the economy back then. Yeah, that's a fact. And the more you do all the killings, the more attention you bring into yourself. Now they know you are a problem. So if they hear about you and your crew being...

You know, these terrorizers out there, they know they got to get rid of you and pull you in and take you off them streets, man. But overall, yeah, you pay them taxes and you stay under the radar, they'll let you float for a little while.

It's a few guys that's been out there that's had a long track record that I still see to this day. That's like big brothers to me that never even went through it. But they was big dogs on a unique level, I can say. And they never went through it. Knock on wood, thank God. And now they are successful businessmen. How do you compare the drug game back then to what you see the drug game now is with gangs and shootings and silly stuff? Was that happening back then? No, not at all. And

Not to say that it was good, but majority of the time, if people got killed back then, they was getting killed because somebody owed some money. Somebody stole some money or people, you know, trying to rob you. They doing that now anyway. But back then, everybody was really making real money. Now you can't really make no money like that no more because the snitch game is on this all time high. It's a.

You wonder what make people hustle knowing that they're going to tell.

That's why you can't sell drugs no more. It's a wrap for that. So back then, nobody didn't play nothing about no snitching. You can't come hang around if you went and told on somebody. And I don't even really remember too many people that we used to say, oh, so-and-so is home. You know, he told. We never even really had those conversations back then. Now somebody go to jail, you want to check their resume ASAP. So it's totally different. And, you know,

The stuff with the, as far as the, you know, the guys, they call it moving on demon time that these young boys is doing. It's like they wake up knowing they're either going to kill or be killed. And, you know, that's sad that that's even happening because the mind is a terrible thing to waste. If we was thinking what we know now back then, we would all be powerful really right now self. And I explain it a lot like how

Guys from New York used to go to Washington, D.C. and make money down there and end up either getting killed or killing somebody down there, going to jail. And, you know, at that point in time, D.C. and New York was, I want to say not getting along, but you had some D.C. and New York guys that was cool, unique as one of them. He got so many friends.

The guys that love him down there, when he had me with him down there, I thought he lived down there, which he basically did, and I didn't even know it. And me and him was together all the time. But, you know, when I talk with the D.C. guys, I tell them, man, if we would have stuck together back then when all that money was coming, you know, what type of stuff we could have opened up and built and really some powerful things to this day, buildings and everything.

TV shows and, you know, like we could have did a lot of powerful stuff. And nobody's thinking like that now. These young boys, we try to teach them. That's what Unique Podcast is about. That's what my podcast is about. And this is what I like about your podcast because you let people tell a story because it's needed to be told so they could understand why we say don't do that. You shouldn't do that because they're only going to believe the people that actually went through it.

What they experience. Exactly. Somebody else, they're going to say, I don't want to. What am I listening to him for? What am I listening to her for? They don't know what they're talking about. So that's what we try to preach to these, to the young boys, man, and to the young girls as well. That demon time and demon life and all that killing just because you don't like a person.

It's crazy. And that can go on and on. You know, the Internet got this world messed up because the kids don't have to go to the mall and they don't have to be outside to get into a beef no more. We used to have to either see you at a club or you might bump me at a club or at the basketball court and it's a beef. Now they can just be at home.

on the Internet, beefing with each other on Instagram. Or why you like my girl picture when I see you, it's on. And that's why you probably hear about shootings at malls with these young guys because now they got to own up to what they said on the Internet. As soon as they see you, they shooting in malls and hitting innocent people and a whole bunch of ignorant stuff. Yeah, people are way calm, cooler, and collected back

in that era than they are today. And it's a lot of it's these young guys that are getting guns and the gangs and rolling around like the MS-13s and all of this. It's nuts out there. It's nuts, man. It's nuts and it's very dangerous. And, you know, it'd be sad when they shoot at each other and didn't hit an innocent young child. That's not cool. You know what I'm saying? And back then,

when killings was going on in our era, they do walk-ups. Ain't no shooting from across the street. We not riding by shooting, none of that. Back then, we walking up and give it to the person who we had a problem with. So it wasn't no innocent people getting shot like that back then. Not saying it never happened. Anything was possible, but the majority of time, that's how it goes when somebody was shooting and killing back then. There's no...

shooting from afar and all that. That's not good and it's not fair to other people. If you want to be a gangster, be a gangster. They always say real thugs is gentlemen. And real gangsters are gentlemen, meaning because they do everything accordingly. They don't just do it and act off of impulse. You know what I'm saying? So now these young guys are just acting off impulse and think that that's cool. That's not cool.

At all. What were some of the principles in the street life back then that you guys kind of abided by and followed? Number one is never snitch. Do your time. That's it. Because it's not fair to take somebody away from their family just so you could be back on the street and still back doing ignorant stuff. That's number one. Number two is you don't hurt nobody when you see them with their mother or their girl or whatever. You let it slide, give it a pass. That's another one. Um,

If you're somewhere fighting, everybody better be fighting. Don't come back talking about you tripped in your hands, no scratches on your knuckles or nothing. That's not good. Even if you was in a gunfight, don't come back with bullets in your gun. And ours, and we, our guns are empty and yours is not. You know, those are principles and a whole bunch of other principles, man. Let me think of a few other good ones that we are.

don't talk about your friend behind your friend back. Don't let nobody talk about your friend behind your friend back. Don't, don't, that's number one. Like, Unique is one of them. I always tell people, if somebody was to say something about me, he was like, let me call him for you. You know, that's how we do it. Don't, I don't want to hear you talk about my boy to me because don't look for me to say nothing bad back about him, even if I'm mad at him. Number two, don't be, and another thing, don't,

Don't try and sex your man's, your homeboy's wife. Don't do that. That's a no-no. That's a violation. Your girl could get naked in front of me. I don't care. I'm not touching that. I'm not doing that. Animal, let my bro know. That's a fact. Because that's somebody he love and care about. So if I do that, that'll hurt.

I don't care how tough a man is. A woman is all of our weakness if we love them. So that's a no-no. I would never do that if you're my brother. You're somebody I say I love and I rock with you. That's a no-no. And don't touch nobody money. Don't never play with nobody money. That's another big one. Don't play with nobody money. If you owe some money, at least tell them what's going on or try and fix it. If it's still going to break your pocket, still pay it.

and try to get something else and you get back and get yourself back. Don't take their money. So that's another big principle. Back then, did you ever think that there would be this world where guys could literally commit murder, snitch, and get out and start talking about it on podcasts? Not at all. I'd never seen this this far, man. Never. And it's crazy because, yeah, once you do your time, you serve your time. They can't say nothing about it. You can talk about everything you've done. Yeah.

And I never saw this coming podcast. I've had a podcast set up and podcast wasn't even popular back then, except for, you know, mostly people you probably just see on TV, but yeah,

It used to come in a box, just the mic, and I forgot what else. Some type of little board came with it. There was no video. Yeah, it was just audio. It was just audio. Yep, I had one of those back then, and I was going to try to utilize it, but I just could never get into it. And now I look back.

Years later, it's podcasts everywhere but video and audio. Everywhere. Yeah, it's wild. And, I mean, that's something Vlad does a good job with, with getting all those stories of, like, the rappers and, like, the mobsters and those guys out there. Was there a big mob presence in Harlem back then at all or no? No, no.

No mob never really came up. When we was growing up, I hear stories of the Nicky Barnes and the Frank Lucas guys when they was supposed to have been dealing with the mob back then. So maybe they was the only ones that I know of. We never had none of that preference.

It was just too many young boys and dealing with the Spanish guys at that time. When you were in high school, did you have dreams or aspirations of wanting to become something like outside of the life? Basketball. That was my game. I played basketball and I wanted to do that. And unfortunately, you start touching some money. You let that go to the side and start playing hooky from school and things like that. And

It just turns you into a whole other animal. But I was actually good at school, got good grades. I actually played in the band in school. I did gymnastics. I did a few things. But, yeah, basketball was my main thing I wanted to do. Do you ever think life would have been different for you had you stayed with school, focused on basketball, and never even dabbled into the life at all? Yeah, definitely. Because, you know...

The things that I know now, if I would apply myself back then, like once again, it would have, it would have took me to another height because I know how to, um, I don't want to say, I know how to market. I'm good at marketing. So even if I did play basketball, I probably would have took some money and opened up another business, had three clubs in Durham, North Carolina. I had them for a while. Um,

My first one was with my partner from Brooklyn. Then one of my guys, his name was Big, God bless him, from Newark, with him. And one of them I had by myself. I called it the rooftop. So I was good at that, you know, and I bring the noise. A lot of successful parties, and it has its ups and downs in that world. But, yeah, I've done it. I was a rapper myself.

I used to be signed with a Unique's. It's called Unique's Distribution out of Hyde Park, New York. So I was rapping and, you know, I started pushing my own label, all of the above. And, you know, so I learned how to market from actually spending money and losing money in the game in that world. So, yeah, I knew it would have changed my life because once I knew the drug game was over, when I stopped hustling,

I changed my world around to the correct way of how it was supposed to be anyway. Yeah. And I was listening to that interview you and Unique did, and you guys were talking. I had no idea about this with Unique that you guys were throwing parties and hustling and that stuff.

space too. And that's what I did. Right. You know, 30 years later as a kid in high school, I'd throw these little teen parties and the same concept, you charge a cover fee, you're keeping the door money and then, you know, whatever other hustles are going inside. But you guys had a good business going on. Yeah. We did a lot of parties, man. But what happened, so, um, with, with unique part, we used to throw parties at, in, in, um, in the Bronx. So, um,

After a while, just going through the story, just Unique came and we met up. We all met up, and he just said he got this new club. I'm like, what? He just got a club, a whole club. I'm like, get out of here. And he was like, yeah, man, we're going to do the grand opening. I'm taking everybody shopping and buying the whole crew. He probably bought about 20 linen suits, custom-made.

Wow. We all fresh to death for the grand opening night for Club 2000. And that was one of the biggest clubs in New York, charging two, three hundred to get in some time more than that. And you name a celebrity, they came there. You name them, they came there. And that and you know, that that money was different money when it's coming the correct way fast like that.

So, yeah, we did our thing with the club thing and with the parties. And that's what made me, when I came from jail, wanted to get back into doing party promotions and all that because I know what kind of money it bring. And I know a lot of people and I know how to actually market things.

you know, pulling in a nice large crowd. So, yeah. So you get those five years in a New York State prison. Is it like what we hear about today with the paperwork checking, all of that, like back then? Well, mine was in Maryland. Okay. I was in Maryland, Salisbury, Maryland,

And I did my time in Jessup, Maryland. Once I got my time, that's where you send you to the prison. But they're all the same, though, everywhere. Yes, they want to see your paperwork. Even back then, all these years ago. Well, back then...

I can't say how the fed pen was, but back then, I don't remember nobody asking for paperwork back then. I can't. I don't think so. Do you think it was because of your reputation and who you were associated with? Well, back then, snitching wasn't the end thing to do. So nine times out of ten, a person in here back then, they do no snitching anyway. It wasn't not being done. Snitching was being done still anyway.

But it wasn't heavy. So it got to the point over the years that it got so heavy, now people have to check paperwork of who they standing by inside of the jail. It's just, it's a given thing. You got to show that paperwork. You got to come to the yard with that paperwork. If not, you're going to have a problem. That means you're hiding something. And nobody want to be around no snitches and no rats. And you got to think also, because, you know, guys is in there with doing real time with things that,

police didn't even get them for it. Then you have these guys that might be a snitch up under you and start listening to your stories and hear something and then go back and call a lawyer and tell them, yo, get the feds on the phone. I got some information for them to get my time cut down.

So that's why you got to check people's paperwork when they come in there. And it's just out of respect. If I go in there, you can see my paperwork straight up. That's a fact. Back then, how were people getting word out on the street to see what someone was up to or anything like that? Was it just through the phone system? Yeah, definitely phone or mail or visits. Once they're about prison, they get the information first. Okay.

And they get it out to the streets faster than anybody do. We don't know why, but that's how it happens. That's a fact. Because there was no cell phones, like burner phones. There was nothing back then. Not at all. And I don't think you had to pay...

for phones back then. But you had to do collect calls, though. But overall, I think now inside of jail, they have to pay, have money on your account, and then you are able to call out. I don't even think it's collect calls no more because there's no more house phones anymore. Yeah. Now, back then, what was commissary like? Cookies, donuts, soups. What else? It wasn't too much food.

Where I was at. I really can't remember. More just like snacks and whatnot. Yeah, yeah. More like snacks. It's crazy how commissary has evolved, like in the prison system. Really? They have everything. They got Doritos. They got sneakers. They got radios. They got everything. We had sneakers. They'll give you a book, and you can order from the book. So I remember the sneakers and underwear and shirts and stuff like that. I remember that. Mm-hmm.

But it's been so long, I can't remember everything in there. I guess when I got out of there, I said, I don't want to remember no more. Did you hustle at all in prison? Yeah. Did you have a hustle? Yeah. I would buy a lot of snacks and open a store and sell the snacks. So the concept of the store was a thing even back then. Yes. And this is what, the 90s? Yeah, in the 90s, 1992. Yeah. So that is crazy how these things that –

occur now like when I was in prison in 2016 were happening all these years ago and it just gets passed down to generations yes yes I was I was selling my uh I was selling commissary I made sure I stock up made sure I uh uh

Kept it, you know, kept it stocked up, man. So, yeah, that was my hustle. But I liked to play dice. We was in there playing dice. Four, five, six? Yeah. Yeah, CeeLo. That's what I played. Yes, sir. CeeLo. I love CeeLo, man. Yes, sir. CeeLo and some cards. That's what helped the time go by, man. Spades? Spades, chess. Spades, chess. Loved when it was time to go play basketball, go get a good workout in. Mm-hmm.

And dice, man. That's a fact. Was there a lot of violence during the time in prison or was everyone kind of disrespectful? Where I was at, there was a lot of violence. And then there was a prison right next door to us. The helicopter used to go there all the time. Like the medical helicopter? Yeah, all the time over there at Jessup. And Jessup was known for, it was called the cut, the cut annex. And they was known for nothing to play with there as well. So, yeah.

It was trouble in paradise over there. What would you think was the craziest thing you saw personally while you were in prison? The craziest thing I saw was stabbings and all that was normal. Which is crazy. It was normal. It really wasn't. And the only crazy thing that I saw that I liked was a guy came from,

doing 20-something years, and he was on his way home, so they brought him to our prison, and he was only going to be there for another two months, and he was about to go home, and there was a young guy in there. And in our dorm, the bathrooms wasn't working, and they used to leave our door open at night so we could use the bathroom, but normally it'd be closed, so the door was, you know, they kept the door open at night. And, um...

So we used to notice the new guy come in. It was a young guy in there. The young guy was young, but he was kind of tall. And he used to have a young guy with him every day, walk in the yard, come back into the dorm. He's sitting on his bed with him, chilling. The young guy never was doing it. He used to be playing cards with us and stuff like that. So we thinking he might know him from the streets. Long story short, one particular night, I fell asleep early. When I woke up,

I hear a bunch of commotion. He had, when they waited for everybody to lay down, I guess, and go to sleep, he took the young boy in the bathroom and took his manhood. And the young boy, I guess it hurt him real bad. He jumps up and run to the bubble where the seahorse is at, slips and fall, and, you know, holding his behind. And the guy coming out holding his hand like, what happened? Trying to look like he ain't did nothing. That right there is just crazy to me.

that you would just know you're about to go home if your preference is men. I have no problem with what somebody do. That's on them. But you're going to do that to the young boy. You basically tricked him and manipulated him to take his man. That's one of the craziest things that I saw in prison, which is sad. Would you stand up for someone like that? No, I can't. And there you got to fight for yourself with doing something like that. I can't protect...

what another man got going on. If you're not going to fight for yourself, I can't do that. I'm not, I'm never going to fight for nobody. I ain't going to fight for themselves. But now if they're a weak link and you're trying to pick on them and take their stuff and bully them, then yeah, sometimes you just, some people do stand up for those type of guys. Like chill, give him a pass, bro. Like he ain't even trying to fight you, man. He ain't even got that much stuff. Like chill, you know what I'm saying? Stuff like that. But if

They trying to do sexual encounters, I would never get involved with none of that. See, now they just let everyone run wild. Like when I was in prison, like the young D.C. guys or whatever, they just let them do whatever, extort, steal, this and that. There's no principle. They're going after the weakest link. There's no one to check them on it. Right, right. Rikers Island was like that.

You better go in there thorough because nobody was checking nobody. They're taking them sneakers. Even if they halfway look good, they'll clean them up. So, yeah, I get it. Now, when you got out, why did you decide to not go back into the life and kind of double down and get to a new level? Well, when I got out, I kind of did go to that next level. You know, I did run back into that world. I was...

on a level bigger than I ever was, you know, and it wasn't on a unique level, but it was getting there. And actually, I was getting so much money, it just got scary. Like, you think somebody's watching you all the time, man. And, you know, it just came a point in time when I said, I'm going to just fall back. I'm going to give doing the right thing a try. And that's when I opened these clubs up and started throwing parties and

and doing things that I knew that would get me the type of money that I liked getting. So I was bringing, paying big artists to come through. And then I was rapping also at the time. So I'll pay artists to come through. I'll open up for them and probably let somebody else open up for them. I used to bring like the Lost Boys, Mr. Cheeks and them, them my boys. I used to bring Biz Markie down, God bless the dead, the DJ for me. I used to bring DJ Clue down.

on several occasions. And so, you know, those type of parties, I would get at least $30,000 to $40,000 on a good night. Wow. Then I started elevating, and I probably bought— I had Jay-Z in Greensboro, North Carolina, one time. He bought Beyonce with him that night, too. I think Kanye West was with him, too. But he came when they was on tour, so we got the after party for that. We made probably about $70,000, $80,000 that night.

Um, I did Rick Ross. I had Rick Ross and Raleigh and teamed up with some people, teamed up with some people and did Jeezy. And, you know, a few of us promoters would get together and team up and put some money together and collect that bag, you know? So that's where I had left the streets alone. Cause I was pushing my rap career and I seen that I could do something different. So I promote these parties. And after I started promote parties, some buildings came my way. Um, once I got, um,

My first club was downtown Durham with my boy's name, Pete. We call him Master P. And him and his boy, Mike, had it. Mike got locked up for something I forgot, and the club was open, so he asked me to team up with him. I'm like, that's perfect. We got the club, and we was killing them ever since, man. And, you know, in club business at the time,

In the urban world, if a new club opened, they'll start trickering over there, and then you probably have to bring a celebrity, and they'll come back there. But if they like the new club, then it's tug of war. And it just got to a point where we let that club go, and I opened the club rooftop, which was across the street, over a club called Executive Club. It was really two clubs, but they let me rent the top part out, so I opened that club up.

So, you know, I didn't really need the streets no more because I was doing the things that I like to do and making the type of money I like to make on that level without having to look over my shoulder with police presence. You know, the party promotion business is just as lucrative as the drug business if you do it right. That's a fact. I mean, when I was in high school, I'd make 10 grand one night cash. That's a fact. There's not that many drug dealers that are doing that.

legally, you know, in one home. That's a fact. In one day, that's a fact. Imagine putting that hustler energy, like these low-time drug dealers now that are pushing small amounts away. If you put that energy that you're doing into some type of promotion and hustle and that mindset, you're good. Exactly. You're making money. Exactly. And you know, there's some bad times. I've lost $30,000 at one time before. I did my boy McGruff party down at Club Speed.

in New York. I was one of the first to set speed off and I did my gruff party. But some, you know, had everybody in there. All the bad boys staff was in there. I had Joe Clare. I had Kid Capri DJing. And the person that was at the door was thinking it was a free party because I let my boy handle it. And

He didn't give this person the right directives of what this really is. We have a packed club. The money was not made because they was letting people in like it was free. I'm like, yo, are you bugging? Yeah, I've been there before, losing your bag on stuff. Yes. You could lose a lot of money, too, on the flip side. Yeah, it's a fact. And it happens. Then you can do some parties sometime in North Carolina. If it rained, people might not even come out. That's how they are in North Carolina.

It's not like New York. They coming out rain, so you snow, it don't matter. North Carolina, you might. And if you don't do the promotion right,

You might lose money as well. Yeah, Connecticut's kind of like that too. Whenever it rained or something, unless people previously bought tickets, then they'll show up. But if they're not and you're just banking on door sales, if it's a rained out event, you're screwed. Yeah, you're screwed. Money down the drain, man. Yeah, we were always checking the weather and we'd always get lucky during our promotions. But then as we got into the concert business and you're selling tickets online and that era came...

You got a little more security. Right. Still high risk, but you got more security. Right. Facts. And if you were hoping to make a little bit extra at the door and it's pouring rain, no one's coming. That's a fact. It's so weird. You're sitting around like, oh, my God, God. Yeah, but people line out the door for Taylor Swift or any of these other people. That's a fact. So now when someone goes to Google your name, a big thing that comes up in the search results is paid in full. How did that even come about and how did that even happen? Oh.

As far as what? Me getting into the movie? Yeah, getting into the movie, why you were even interested in it and everything. Well, my friend AZ, what I was talking about, he wrote the movie. Before I got locked up, he wrote it. He wrote the movie? Yeah, he wrote the movie. It was called Trapped. And the logo was like a cross with Jesus hanging over it. But so I introduced him to my homegirl named Keisha. And I want to say Keisha because

Don't quote me on it. I think Keisha is the one that took him to meet with Damon Dash. And when he met with Damon Dash, Damon Dash already know about the story of AZ and the Rich Porter era and what that movie holds is powerful story. So once Damon got it, he, I guess, sold it to the Harvey Weinstein guy.

and they got a budget, I think, of $13 million for that movie. So once the movie was put into play, and I guess Dame did his due diligence, my best friend is Dame and Dash's best friend at the time. I knew Dame, but I didn't know him the way how me and Dame is close now. That's like my brother now, you know what I'm saying? Somebody I love. But back then...

Him and my best friend's best friends, they grew up doing things together. So he called him and told him, I got the movie. We're about to start shooting. We're going to Canada. And that's where it was shot in Canada. Everybody thought it was shot in Harlem, but it was shot in Canada. So he called him, told him to come to Canada. So when he gets over to Canada...

he noticing what's going on with mckay pfeiffer wood harris and you know and the people that they have to portray because we grew up with the rich porters and the az's and all them so we know you know they swag demeanor and you know things of that nature we know what was going on at the time because i used to be you know the guy that ran with a and my best friend was the guy that ran with rich porter he was actually rich porter's lieutenant so when he gets over there he started noticing everything was going on so

He told Dame, yo, we got to get Boosie over here because he knows the other side of this story. Because A wrote it, he used to be with A. So he called me up and said, yo, you want to come to Canada to work on the film? I'm like, what? How do I get over there? I need to pack my bags now. He said, man, get you a flight. Try to get you a flight and just come on over. Long story short,

I got on over there to Canada. He said, don't say you coming over here to work. Say you coming to visit a friend because they real strict over there about people that they let. The working stuff. That comes over there about working. Yeah, I didn't know that. They held them up, made them actually fly back, him and Dame Dash at one point in time. They had to come back and then, I guess, regroup and go back over there to be, you know, on set working. So I said that I'm going to visit a friend, whatever, when I go through customs, whatever.

And I get out there on set, man, it was a whole other world for me because I've seen movies being shot before, but I never was just in the midst of it, in the middle of it while it's going on. So that's how I got out there. So I wasn't going out there as an actor. I was going out there as a consultant. Okay. Which I can act because I did plays in school a lot. You did plays? Yes, I did plays in school, Christmas plays, nightclubs.

A whole bunch of plays, man. That's so funny. Yeah. I did plays, too. I did musicals and whatnot. Wow. That's what's up. Look at that. We lived a similar life. That's a fact. Prison, plays, and parties. Yes, that's a fact. And was it Denzel Washington in Painful? Was that? Nuh-uh. Who was it? MacGyver, Wood Harris. MacGyver, Wood Harris. Who else is a big name in there? The female. Who was the lead white guy?

There's a white guy in it. The lead white guy? Maybe I'm confused with a different one. Yeah, yeah. There's no white guy in it? Uh-uh. Okay. Paid in Full is the movie about the three guys from Harlem that was making a lot of money. And, you know, one of them got shot and killed. I mean, he got shot. A.Z. is the one who wrote his name is Ace in the movie. So he gets shot.

And once he gets shot, he wanted to leave the game alone. And then, you know, they was begging him to stop, don't stop, don't quit the game. And, you know, it just gave you your everyday due diligence of Harlem and what we was going through in their era, in their segment.

Of Harlem. I got to watch it again. I saw it years and years ago. Yeah, no doubt. There is a movie, though, from that time period that I think Denzel's in, an earlier movie. That might have—Denzel played Frank Lucas. Okay, maybe that's what it was. Yeah, Denzel played Frank Lucas. I still don't remember a lead guy in that one. And then you have a Harlem movie that me and my brother G had was talking about, called

that Wesley Snipes played in, which is Harlem. He played in that. But those are about the basic ones that's popular like Pay the Fool. Pay the Fool is so popular that it was number one in the Spanish country. And they had the words translated to Spanish. That's how popular that movie is. So how I got my scene, so I did...

One, okay, when we got back to Harlem, when we got back to Harlem, I did a scene when the cars was coming out down out of the garage. They showing him getting different cars now because he's starting to get money. He left the garage.

the cleaners and started hustling and he started graduating. So it's a scene where I walk up, meet with Wood Harris, give him a bag, a bag of money. He gave me more drugs. I turn around and give it. So they kind of flashed through that scene. But my most memorable scene was when I played a goon for the dude Rico and Rico was letting Ace know that he got this guy standing right next to him and

This guy was trying to set you up and you thought that he was your man.

And long story short, he turned around. They told us to turn around. We spin him around, and they shoot him in the butt with the gun. He take off running. I said, my boy snatched the chain and give me the chain, and I'm holding the chain. And Rico said, yo, yo, where the chain? And that guy said, okay, you shining now, B. You shining. And I'm smiling. That part is so memorable, that one little part. And I didn't talk because I wasn't in the union. I didn't have a SAG card. If I would have talked, they probably would have took that part out.

They actually utilized that part for the rapper Cameron when they did the Source Awards. He was the best actor of the year award. They used that scene with me and him. So that scene been around and it's so well known. I be in airports. I be in bars. People know me from there. Y'all know me from somewhere. Yo, wasn't you in, they call it belly. Then they say, no, no, no. Paid in full. Yeah. Yo, I seen you. Yo.

So, you know, I get a lot of love from that part all the way to this day. That's incredible. Yeah, it is. Did you do other acting, like, appearances or anything after that? Or was that just, like, a one and done? No, now I...

Well, what I do now is I do 90s parties, paid in full 90s parties. I do it in a lot of places. So I charge $1,500, $2,000, depending on the person. I might charge $1,000 if you're my boy. And, you know, they don't have to pay the big actors in there, all those thousands of dollars. They can use the theme and got somebody that's actually in the movie.

And it's me. We have a good time. People dress up nice. Some guys give away the female of the best 90s attire, $200 and stuff like that. How often do you do this? Is it high demand? It was a high demand. Now it's—when it get hot, more people call. So I still been doing them. I did two this winter. Did two this winter.

I suppose I did one in Virginia, but my boy's girl got sick, so they canceled that. But I had basically I would have said I had three for this year would have been three. So it's summertime now, so I'll probably get some more. But so after the pay to fool movie, I did a movie called Jooks.

It was about these college dudes playing football, and their cousin was getting some money, and they wanted to make some money. They like, man, we need to get with your cousin. He wasn't allowed to hustle with them. And he said...

He told his homeboy, he was telling his homeboy, like, man, we need to do a little bit more, make a few more moves, man. And his homeboy convinced him to utilize his cousin and them because they was fast. If they need to run to get away from police, you can utilize them. They're football players. So they utilized them and they started making money with them. But they started robbing people. They were sending them on robbing sprees.

So that's what jukes mean in our culture. When you, we going on a juke, mean we going on a robbery. So they was pulling off these robberies with the young college guys because they fast and they got the, you know, the look of we won't do nothing to you. So that was a movie that I done. I got,

Who I had in there? I had my boy Shea Davis from the Smack DVD in there. I got Loon. I put Loon in the movie. The rapper Loon, his name is Amir now. He's Muslim. He was Bad Boy on the song I Need a Girl with Puff. So, you know, that's my family. So I put him in the movie. And we did fairly good. It was an independent film.

that my boy Nick wrote. He's from Greenville, North Carolina, and a lot of people supported him with that movie. The college supported him, let him utilize the college and everything. So after that movie, I did another movie with my brother, with Damon Dash. It was the Damon Dash and the Kanye West film. It was called Honor Up, which is, I think it should be on Tubi. If not, they can go to damedash.com

New America New. That's N-U, America N-U New. That's his new network. So you can go and check the honor up there. The movie up there, it's about the catch back in the days where your honor is all you got. And it shows when guys was locked up. Stiles P from the Locks is in there. Stacey Dash is in there. Jadakiss is in there.

And it shows when these guys get locked up and there was a crew

Like how the 80s was, nobody did no snitching. It showed them being interrogated and everybody stood tall. It did their time. It didn't do no telling. And I had a shootout scene in that, actually. Yes. Was that your favorite scene you've ever done? Man, it was kind of my worst scene. Because I had to do that scene probably 20 times because I'd get shot and I got to fall and we outside on concrete. Yeah.

And I had to fall several times, knees scarred up. Felt like I was in a fight after the night was over, man. Hands scarred up. What do they use to show blood? It's a patch thing that they put on you. Okay. And it's somebody holding a trigger. So once—so we playing dice, and we not seeing the guys coming from the left of us. Once they came from the left—

They aiming the gun, so we pull out. We firing. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. We going back and forth. So as I run and I turn, that's when I act as if I got shot. They say, act as if you got shot. And when we hit the button, that's when you, and you can feel it hit you too. So that's when you even do it, you know, you do your motions even more. So, and the blood comes gushing out. Yes, fake blood, and it looks real. Yeah.

It's crazy. But I had to do it several times over and over and had to break my fall every time I did it to make it look real. And I'm like, what? Do it again? Man. What, they keep changing your shirt? No, before we actually was going to do the actual one. Yeah. That's when they said.

We're going, this one is it. Let's go. Oh, okay. Yes, sir. So they were getting you warmed up. Yeah, and I liked it. And it looked good. So once again, my brother, David Dash, he made sure. Because we came late. We wasn't really scheduled to be in that film. We heard they were shooting upstate New York. So me and my bro, Jay Black, we came up to New York.

And once we got there, you know, they was pretty much at the end of almost finishing filming the film. And he found the part for us to put us in. So that's why I always give, you know, Damien Dash his props because he a brother that always look out for me and my brothers, man. And, you know, things that he done for me is still a stain on my shirt, which is a good stain on my shirt. You feel what I'm saying? Like his presence is always there.

going to be felt when I speak and my brother Jay Black as well, because, you know, he played a part in, you know, intricate things that I've done. And so when we get there,

He found the scene for me. So we get in there, we do the scene. After the scene was done, it's slow motion. I like how they was doing the slow motion. Everybody was like, ooh, that's going to look tough. Wow. Wow. So what he did was being that I had that part, he did it in slow motion and turned around and had the cameras, how he had them edited, it made sure that I was seen real good in that and several times in that film and gave me a credit.

on the screen as, you know, put my name up there. Because really a role like that is like being an extra. You really don't get no credit. So that's why I give my boy credit because he put me up there. So if I do my resume, I can, you know, utilize that as a credit. So for other movies. Yeah. So I did that movie. I'm trying to think. And that's pretty much it as far as those films. So now I have a movie on Tubi.

It's called A Polished Soul, and it's about, it's a true story. My friend, his name is Mike Anderson. He was locked up with the death penalty, and he copped out to a life sentence to duck the death penalty. He did 17 years, and he took those 17 years and learned how to write scripts and read, go to school, everything. He came home with that script.

and put that script to work. And he got the guy Red in there from the Five Heartbeats. He's in there. Akama Toombe is in there. He's a big actor in a lot of stuff. But the movie's about him coming home from jail, and he has a guy playing him, and this guy is from Durham. And the guy is telling, the movie's about a guy, about him telling these young boys, he catch a guy about, the guy tries to rob him.

And he tells the young guy, this is not what you want to do, man. Let me explain something to you. He kind of gets the young guy attention to the point where the guy start putting the gun down.

and start listening to him and breaking it down to him that he'd been in jail for this, and this is not the way of life. So as he's telling the story, you'll see the movie playing out as he's telling the story to the young guy. So it's called Apollo Souls on Tubi now, and actually we put it through Dave Dash's network on Tubi. So anybody, you know,

Looking to give your kids something positive, man. Y'all go up there and check that out. And then we got another one that I did some work with one of my friends, which is on Tubi. It's a good must-go-see as well. It's called 17 Days, the number 17 in word D-A-Y-S, Days. 17 Days is a domestic violence film, and it's about, you know, the typical man meet a woman. He's a great guy at the beginning.

take a whiner, dine her, fall in love, and then now when it's his first time ever going through something, once he win the girl, he win the lady, she's his now, he go through something, he test the water in one smack, smack her, beat her up, whatever, come back, apologize, she accepted, let him back in, till it get to the point where he harmed her and hurt her and put her in jail. I mean, till he gets, put her in the hospital and he gets put in jail and tries and, you know,

Get his way back in. To pull her. To work his way back in for her. To drop the charges on him. But it's a good domestic violence film. Because it shows these women. What...

um, other women go through and it shows these women that is going through it, what you need to do to get out of a situation like that. You know what I'm saying? Stick with your family and things of that nature. And my boy, his name is Mark Shikes. He played that part real good. So I don't want nobody to look at him crazy because I had a few guys call and say, man, who was that guy played that part, man? I wanted to hurt him, man. Yeah.

And he's in a few joints in power. Who is he playing power? He, I think he played a cop role. It wasn't a major role in that, but he actually played a cop, too, in that HBO special with all the police that was doing corrupt stuff in Baltimore. He plays one of the cops in that as well. He likes playing cops? Yeah, but he's in a few other good films, though, and he's doing, he's an up-and-coming star. And, um,

Omar Gooden is in the film. They played him Baby Boy with Tyrese. That's my boy. Miguel Nunez, Juana, man, he's in the film. So that's a must-go-see, man. Anybody going through domestic violence, you know, I feel for y'all, and y'all go and see it and pass the word, you know? Absolutely. So, yeah. So that's basically pretty much it, and we're about to start working on some films now. My boy Johnny Anderson, he got a film called Glue.

And it's about keeping the family together. I got a few projects on the way, man. That's exciting. Yeah, that's a fact. What have you learned throughout your whole life from the street life, then prison, to then transitioning into this new life you have now? What are like the life lessons and takeaways you want the younger audience to learn from? That street life, I can't lie, we had fun. But it was dangerous. It's called gambling with your life. And

For the young cats right now, I try to tell them, like, you can hustle forever, but it'll take them one time to catch you, and your life is done. All the money you got, they're going to take it. It's going to cost you a lot of money for a lawyer, a lot of money for bail. Then if you do get time, you ain't even going to be there to spend the money that you got.

out on the street if they didn't get all of it. So it's a waste of time. So the transitioning from what I was doing to now is a beautiful thing. It was a struggle, though. It was nothing easy. I knew it wasn't going to be nothing easy, but I like to challenge myself. And, you know, once I knew that

The rat, the snitch game was in. I knew the game was over. So because it's not us against them anymore. It's us against us out there in the streets. The police don't have to work no more. And then you got guys that come and be, you know, we all might hang out every day out of five of us. One of the guys leaving and we all leave at night. Something happened. We don't know what happened.

The police lock him up, let him back out. Then we back out the next day, not knowing this guy is under police, working for the police now. And we all doing whatever we do. And he going back reporting. And then two, three months later, you getting cuffed and you don't even know why. And then you see paperwork later because you don't see who telling on you right then and there. That's too easy to go to jail. And that's what made me figure out you better do something fast because this ain't it.

And that's what made me transition to doing other things. And thank God that I, by me throwing parties and booking celebrities, I got to build relationships with them and meet other people. So it started growing and growing and growing. And then when, you know, that land in that role and, well, not a role, but that part in the paid in full and it was popular, a lot of people, uh,

It attracted a lot of other business for me. You never know what could happen. That's a fact, man. Relationships are everything. That's a fact. If I never met Unique, we wouldn't be sitting here right now. That's a fact. I'm on the Ian Beck show right now from all of that to this. It's crazy. That's a fact. Life has a very—

peculiar way of falling into place and connecting you with people. And you just got to go with it. You got to roll with it. Very peculiar. And, you know, like I said, it's rough, but people got to give it a chance. And you can't let pride get in the way because pride

You know, we used to jump in them cars when we want to. And if we're tired of this, when we go buy another one with no problem. Done it. I have had every car that you can name except for a Bentley, Ferrari, or a Phantom. But anything else, I've had it all. And it don't matter. And so who cares? I didn't even hardly used to drive them. I let my crew drive them. I never really came outside. And, you know, at the end of the day,

That car stuff doesn't mean nothing. You can lease a car and enjoy it.

But you can also give it back with no headaches. You don't need a car to make money. You don't need a car to impress a woman. A woman is impressed now with a man that can think, a man that moves smart. That's what women are impressed with now. Back in the days, yeah, they wanted them a nice drug dealer getting some money. Now you tell a woman about some drugs, she's skedaddling. She does not want to be around that.

You can impress women now with smarts. Yeah, dress nice. Always do that. But don't get caught up on materialistic things. So now what young cats got to understand, you just double down your budget of how you live. Don't be living over your means. Yes, get you something nice, but stay focused until you get in a position in the legal life

where you can live, how you want to live. So, yeah, I had to double down, but nobody knew it because I still kept myself up to par and I stayed doing what I needed to do.

until I gained, you know, started gaining momentum with doing things in the industry. And that's what, you know, changed my life. Absolutely. Well, Big Bootsy, thank you so much for coming on the show today, making the drive out here. Absolute pleasure to connect with you. I appreciate it, man. And it's worth the drive. Anything that's pushing what we're doing and pushing, you know, towards the youth, you

It's a blessing. Like you said, you never know what happens after this. Yeah, you never know who's going to watch this and reach out to you. And we'll put your links to your stuff in the bio of the episode when it comes out. You said you had a podcast, right? Yeah, Street Knowledge Podcast. Street Knowledge, one word, podcast. So, yeah, all y'all go check it out. Let me know what y'all think. Y'all will see my podcast.

live set that I have then I got another set where I you know where I have all my posters of my projects I talk behind that then sometime I go somewhere else off location and do a few you know talk about a few things here and there man so yeah thanks for having me brother of course man I appreciate you