Gringo’s Guide To: Kicks, Culture & The Come Up

This week, I’m sharing a dope convo I had on the My First Kicks podcast.. We got into my journey—from rocking kicks as a kid in NYC to working at The Breakfast Club, launching Life as a Gringo, and making the jump from band life to where I am now. Plus, I show off some of my favorite sneakers and drop a few stories you won’t hear anywhere else.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Let me talk about talk.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
There we go.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
He said, you live in life pasic ringo. Where you
questioned when you feel in every time you mingle, they say,
you do this with none of that my rap this
life pas lingo.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, Hello, welcome to an episode of life as I Gringo.
I am Dramo's course and man, as you can see,
I don't have my normal backdrop because today is a
special show.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
If you're watching the video version this, I have a
time that I'm really excited about. I'm trying to share it.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
It says on it with the Yankees logo this company
from perto Rico except anyway shout to them for sentiment
after I bought it, but anyway has nothing that we're
talking about today, what kind of I am hyped up
on a lot of coffee, which you might be able
to tell by the way that I'm speaking right now.
But I wanted to share a podcast that I recently did.
It this a couple of weeks ago in Brooklyn, a

(00:58):
podcast called My First Kicks Podcast. Shatajas and Shata Dave
host it and produce it respectively, and I just thought
it was a fun conversation and I just think it
was me being able to showcase a different side of myself,
which I always love to do, which I feel like

(01:19):
in today's day and age, with a lot of things
that I'm doing, especially how serious. A lot of the
commentary of the world it, you know, is out of necessity,
I don't get to sort of showcase other sides of
myself as much. So with this one, I was really
excited to kind of just have more of a fun conversation,
and we literally talked about everything. The podcast is centered
around sneakers, but even if you're not like a sneaker head,

(01:41):
which I'm not necessarily that. I just think it's like
a fun conversation around nostalgia as a kid, the things
that you cared about, and we talked a bit about
my career, my you know, come up story lessons I've
learned along the way.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
I loved the conversation. I thought it was super fun.
It flew by, so I want to share it.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
I get a lot of great feedback on it this far,
so that's I want to share this conversation for today's
podcast without further ado.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
This is my guest episode on the My First Kicks podcasts.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
On's good everyone, Welcome back, to my first kicks. This
is episode two oh seven, and this week I bring
to you the illustrious, the these Jay dramos.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
That's good, bro. Thank you for having me. No, thank
you for pulling up. Of course, illustrious. I like that.
I like that. Illustrious.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I have to you got to widen the vocabulary's growl.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Friend there, I like it.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
And of course we got D in the building. Yes, sir,
per usual you know day every day, h yo. Thank
you for pulling up ports man. I appreciate you for
having me. Yeah, you know you've been doing life as
a gringo podcast checking it out. To be honest, I've
been listening to and I've realized this listening to way
too much, like like like government stuff the podcast like,

(03:03):
and then I saw you. I was like, all right,
I got I probably should tap in on this one.
This is a different perspective because there's nothing I keep
listening to white people talking about government.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah. Yeah, they'll drive you crazy.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
Ye know, you'd be like, damn, everything's wrong, and you're
like you're like, yeah, this is just this is a
white person's perspective.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
It's even worse, Yeah, because then you get like frustrated
what's happening, but then you get frustrated what they're not seeing.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
So it's just like a double you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
You know, it's really fire though, and hopefully I don't know,
I don't know. It'd be an interesting guest. Josh Johnson,
he does his like comedy uh episode, like his comedy
like one hours, like he drops him every week, but
it's all like perspective of like what's going on because
he's a daily, daily show correspond right.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
So that lessens the blow. Yeah, yeah, because it's a
little bits in there. Yeah, you have a laugh while
you know, while crying.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
It's good definitely, but I mean, you know, I definitely
want to know like why did you start just jumping
because I would like to know why'd you start that.
I feel like, you know, I started this and I
and I had marr On.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
I told him, like, you know, I've only listened to
white people on podcast, right, I felt like white people
were like the podcast, and so, uh, you know, once
I found Podaga boys, that's when I was just like, oh,
people of color can actually do this.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah yeah, I think for me it was it was similar. Man.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
I think I definitely was like big in the podcast
space for a while, but to your point, it definitely
was never fully my perspective, you know, And I think
it became glaringly clear as sort of all that was
happening with the murder George Floyd and the pandemic and
like the way that people were afraid to talk about
things or just had a lack of understanding, Like I

(04:44):
found myself to scream and get like the car.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Basically you know what I'm like.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
So I think for me, it was like, yeah, there's
definitely something missing. I started doing like some Instagram lives
at that point during the pandemic, like daily uh, and
that kind of started catching out a little bit and
I kind of saw like, oh, like, you know, there's
people like myself who are looking for different perspective, and
I started having like different variety of guests and things
like that. At the time, I was working with the
Breakfast Club as well, so they've always been a huge inspiration,

(05:09):
but like being there and like just seeing how they
carried themselves even off mike, off camera, just like unapologetically
black was so inspiring to me, especially like because I
got into radio. Man, it was like I was in
a lot of white spaces, so I felt like I
didn't know where I fit in. And then when I
got with them, it was like they were talking wild,
like all camera off mike, it didn't matter who was around,

(05:30):
like and so like they and they.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
Owned it and they could because they were who they are,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
They were successful, and to me, it was like, you know,
they're being unapologetic about who they are, unafraid to speak
on what matters to them, was important to them as
a result of becoming a pillar of the community that
is far beyond just entertainment, and that was just inspiring
to say, oh, on top of that, you know, they're
making that bread as well, Like they're successful. So like
I was like, you could kind of really have it all,

(05:54):
do stuff that matters, speak about things that matter in
a way that matters, and do it on a hologetical
as yourself. So I think that was all that together
collectively was was kind of what got the podcast started.
And then I think the real breaking point for me
was also when hur Kimria hit Puerto Rico, and it
was a frustration about the lack of coverage and lack
of conversation as well.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
So it's just kind of all that bubbled up and
I kind of was just like I do something and
ended up being it.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
No.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah, that's the one where Trump.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Through the yeah paper towels, Yeah, and like the underreporting
of like death rates and all those things.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Man, it was just like, Yo, what is what is
happening right now? Now we don't have FEMA no more,
it's gonna happen now. Sorry to make this a political lockcast.

Speaker 4 (06:39):
Man.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
You can't avoid it though, I know the time I
opened my phone. It's some new ship.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, bro, It's a part of our everyday life, and
it's it's spilling out into like every if you are
not a rich, straight white man, like you're everybody's getting
affected by what's going on in some way, shape or form,
you know, so like it's natural to talk about it,
and like, yeah, the social media makes me worse because
it's like the blogs you just posted, like Trump said
this today.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
I'm trying to avoid it, but like, man, it's.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
A lot, it's a lot of taking. Yeah, it's crazy,
but you're here to answer the question. You're here to
answer the question that I ask everybody each week. That
question is what's your first case? Was that first person?
Because you absolutely need oh man, So my my first one,
I had to look. I think the Nike the up
Tempo with the giant air on the side.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah, those are the first ones I remember getting and
I felt like I am the ship, you know what
I'm saying, where as a little ass kid like because
it was so bold and so in your face, you
couldn't avoid them and they were just fire.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
So those are my first one, I think, I want
to say I had. The black and white was just
a classic.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
Black more black, yeah, more black than and the little
white hint and even to keeping with the tune tone
exactly exactly exactly. But but yeah, I think even to
this day, I have like a party because they reissued
them like now in my adulthood.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
But I was like, I don't know when the helmet
worthies now like.

Speaker 4 (07:59):
I one, they got one. That gum bottoms now too, Yeah,
the gumbox those flocked. I sent you those? Like did
I send you?

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Said it?

Speaker 4 (08:07):
Then?

Speaker 1 (08:07):
I just I just scroll past it.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
I don't like the I don't like the corduroy on
it or whatever that like that material because to be honest,
like what I like, I like the up temples, but
the supreme ones just they just went crazy for me,
Like I think it's yeah, I can't I can't even
look at them the same anymore unless they are the
supreme ones, Like I need that.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Like gold with the red and yeah a little extra
and they said one supreme because that.

Speaker 4 (08:31):
Got me the most was the green ones. Remember they
had that I bought. Those are the last pay I bought.
I think that was like twenty seventeen. Yeah, the drop
of twenty eighteen. Those are the last bit.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
I ain't gonna lie. I was looking at those gun bottoms.
They're hard to like. Pairis something. I feel like it's
a gigantic cunk, you know what I'm saying, Like it
ain't like a clean esthetic.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
I think it's because we we are three people that
definitely like to wear a little bit tighter.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
So because a lot of people, like I've been talking
to a lot of people that are in the culture now,
they're like, yeah, we're going back to bagging, all right,
I guess I'm staying where I'm like you, I pull
out the type like the big cargos, but like that's that,
But I'm not bringing out the Jinkos, like.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know, like.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
I'm not going all the way back. That's like you've
seen Beaver in New York easily like the bro I
don't know what homies doing, Like he's looking crazy.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yeah, like the biggest jeans in the entire world, but
like off it, like way off his ass, like way
worse than like we did back in the day.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Like I don't know what what who styling him these days,
but I don't know.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, even Travis Scott's now yeah and the Jordan commercial
Baggy's back yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
But it's like, but then you can't show off the
kicks at that point, right because it's covered up. You know,
you gotta do the you gotta bringing everybody's bringing back
time the jeans into yo.

Speaker 4 (09:54):
We gotta we I think we gotta get people to
send this picture sneaking th it's doing too much at
that point. I'm not gonna go all out for that.
You know, I'm good to sit certain things out.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Wild. So did you mainly grow where did you grow up?

Speaker 2 (10:11):
So? When I was younger, I was in the Bronx
and then I did like high school in Jersey, so
I split time. So like my mom was a teacher
in the Bronx. So when I was younger, we had
watched me even though tech me. We live in Jersey,
so I used to go to school in the Bronx.
So we would stay at my grandma's house and you
just spend like weekends back and forth. And then like
middle school, uh, like junior high high school. I ended

(10:34):
up going to school in New York.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
New Jersey. When did when did you get the tempo
I was still.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Going That was when I was in the Bronx. Yeah,
like late elementary school, early middle school.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
When did you When did you feel like you were?
Like all right, now I'm part like I need to
start getting more sneakers. I always loved sneakers and sneaker
culture and things like that. Like I never I don't
consider myself a sneaker head because I know that all
that comes along with that. I'm like an appreciation. I
appreciate it sneakers.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
You know what I'm saying. I leave it.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
I leave it at that, but I don't look yeah there, y'all.
But to me, it's like I'm on the other side
of it. So like, yes, I had my.

Speaker 5 (11:15):
Moment where you got you gotta have, you know, your
infrared at least a Jordan's got, you know, like I
had my moment, I did my eliteist elitiism elitism at
one point, but then you grow out of that, right,
and then you come out to the other side the
older dudes that like that be the No, I'm not.

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Wearing it unless Jordan's morn it like the game and
it's got to score thirty points, like you know, like
I'm not. I'm not one of those people. For me,
sneakers is for everybody. I think that you know, everybody
has a sneaker story, right, it doesn't matter. But I
feel like sneakers are just this one thing that the
term that you know, you hear a lot is nobody
can walk in the same shoes that you, right, right,

(11:56):
So like that I feel like has like spread out
into sneak you like being a sneakerhead. It's just to me,
it's like if you I wake up every morning thinking
of like remembering sneaker, like, I'm just like, yeah, like
you know, like like that's like one of the first
three thoughts in my head, right, So sorry, I love it,

(12:17):
but that's wild.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, But like I was more functionality though I got
one pair of sneakers a year, right for the school year,
and I played basketball, so I always they doubled as
my basketball sneakers. Yeah, so like I was, you know,
playing my my reck basketball and also were in the
school every day. So like the other ones that stick
out to me are the T Max, like the original
Trace mcgrady's, the blue joints.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
But they had like the toe was like purplish purple blue. Yeah,
I remember.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
That was a Christmas gift from my uncle, Like instead
of getting me like a random gift, he was like,
I'm gonna take you sneaker shopping. He didn't realize though,
how much sneakers were at the time.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
That's the last time I ever took the sneaker shopping.
But he brought me a pair of sneakers. All I
wanted was the tax.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
That was the last time. But yeah, I had the
T Max. Another sneaker looks terrible with jeans like that
was you know what I'm saying, That's just that's a
that's on the court, like it looks fire on the court.
In real life, they don't match very much.

Speaker 4 (13:04):
Okay, that's how I feel about that. They might hate
me first, that's how I feel about Kobe's Brobe's. Oh look,
I don't feel like Kobe's are for style. I feel
like they're for performance and even the way they're designed,
I'm I'm gonna push back on this.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
Twenty twenty thirteen, we was outside in back Nike Basketball,
Like we was outside in Nike Basketball, all right, you
had the elite socks.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
You had to show the three on the side of
that round. Yo.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
Lebron's was doing numbers out there, right, so they were
exactly that Lebron Lebronby.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
I mean, I never got the basketball space in the
fashion space, right. It's it's just if enough cool cool people.
We talked about cool in the last episode, there's enough
cool people wear it, then it becomes the norm and
then you're just like, all had cool, I can go outside, right,
you know, so if you if enough people wore T Max, no,
you wouldn't like there's an ultimate hyper It's a multiverse,

(14:02):
right in the multiverse where enough cool people wore T
Max with jeans and people were like accepting it, and
then they're.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Just like, yeah, you know, I wore Max with gens cool.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Man, right if that but that was like that was
more like dope on the court, like my basketball friends
like like them, but everybody else is like sneak.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
But like I feel like.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
There's certain piers that you do that like, nah, those
is not for fashion if you're hooping in them.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
Oh yeah, it's a different it's a whole different thing
to kds. Oh yeah. I like KD fours like I can.
You can.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
You can get a fit off of KD fours. That's
the one with the straps a little bit, a little bit.
They look like they look like.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
Clean like sleek shoes. You get, you get it, you
you get the tech fit, you get you get a
tech fit whatever. I feel like I'm biased at this point.
I might.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
I think I've gotten too old where I can't even
remember like how to get created. Like to me, it's
like Jordan's the only thing I can see myself wearing,
like basketball sneaker wise out in the out where, I
feel like, Okay, I.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
Can make this look good with any fit type of thing.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
But I feel like that's because society has made Yeah sure,
like I look, you gotta take some chances.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
You got a full length Mary put on the suit
and then just throw on some you gets like.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
A phone positive face uh, just god, bro, I never
got I was like, no, I don't understand them.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
Bro, I broke I broke the seal on the phone
positive this year last year, so the first time, first time.
So I am trying to get these galaxies. So I've
got the teching phones last year and then I put
them on.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
I'm like, damn, these are confident and then I took
but I did. I fucked up. I wore them on
a plane and because of the phone on it like
it be couse tracks. Oh really, my feet were killing
were killing. Wow, it's wild.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, okay, see, I can't get behind them. I know
anybody who's from like Maryland with the Baltimore area, they
lived by the Yah, they love it. But I never
understand to me, that was the ugliest sneakers.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Bro, I can't. I can't sneakers. Yeah, I'm like, I
don't even know. You know how people can hoop and though,
but they're so heavy. I never hoped.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
I definitely rocked them to the core. Yeah, I'm sure
some things boost. Yeah, you ain't getting no jump any
lead step with those.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
I'm a popping here real quick, will take a quick
break and then we'll be right back all right, we
are back and now more from the podcast.

Speaker 4 (16:29):
So, I mean, you say you have an appreciation of
sneak Cloder, but how did you find sneaker culture.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
I mean, I think it was like as a kid,
that's like the you're calling cards kind of you're in
the know almost right, And especially I think for me
being super young andre talking about like the end of
like the Tommy Hill Figure polo era, like we're part
of it. I was big Tommy head. Yeah, more than anything,
more than sneakers. I was like big Tommy head.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah. I never heard anybody. But we met Tommy. Yeah,
I met his brother. That's not cool. The studio session
with his.

Speaker 4 (17:04):
Son going through his youngster face, that was the funniest
session I've ever been in my life because he was
talking about hustling a.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Pope.

Speaker 4 (17:14):
I'm also not I'm not one hundred percent sure people
can hear you because he's so far Like I was
in that session with him his son, and he was
just like he was just wrapping it was. It was
the most awkward thing ever. We walked into the session
and I was just like, Okay, this is Tommy Hill
figure son. Yeah, but yeah, talking about bagging up work,

(17:35):
and I'm so confused.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
The plaza work. The work is like, yeah, I made
a billion dollars off next.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
You know what I'm saying, He's backing up jeans with
the flag when he's doing his thing and you're talking
about hustling.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
That's crazy. Wasn't going to pull out of Tommy Hill
figure fit me bro I got, I got some like
pieces in my in my Yeah, I used to rock
you all the time. I kind of put it.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
I grow that a little bit. But he was really dope.
Was like when they did the when they were going,
uh wind breaking the wind Breaker with Yeah, that was dope.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, I mean I think it's I just think those
brands are interesting because like this is before Supreme, so
these were real lifestyle brands like you can still find
like I got a shower curtain the timey He'll figure
in my crib, you know what I'm saying, Like that's
some wild like it makes no sense whatsoever.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Now it does because the premia these companies do it.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
But back in the day that that's a different level
of like, you know, loving the brand and all these things.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
I wish there was like like legend, you know how
like you hear well, I don't know if you ever
heard about like the Babe and Supreme Beef. Yeah, I
wish there was like a Polo Ralph Lauren Tommy Hill
figure beer. Yeah yeah, Polo Hill figure beef that people
just meet up on the streets and each other.

Speaker 4 (18:46):
Like like low heads, Yeah, run run that figures about
Tommy Hill figure is he like inserted him himself into
the conversation because like his original thing is like he
put out a billboard saying like the great American Designers

(19:06):
and it was like raph Laurin, Calvin Klein and I
think somebody else, and then like Tommy Hill figure.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
That was before he had anything going on, So it
was like he was like, yeah, the West. So I
got like I rock with that. I'm like, all right,
I love that takes.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Some balls, right, They'm gonna throw myself in that conversation
even before anybody's put me out there, Like I like that.
And then obviously, you know, I mean it's depending on
what angle you look at it, but I think that
hip hop angle of sort of embracing that aspect before
a lot of people were I think it is super dope.
You know, before companies wanted you know, people of color

(19:43):
wearing their clothing and things like that, they weren't marketing
to them. It was just like like rap Lauren wasn't
marketing to the hip hop community. They just kind of
like took it over almost right. But like Tommy like
specifically was like, Yo, I'm gonna put all these rappers
in my fashion shows and we're gonna like, oh snoops
playing SNL.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
We're gonna show up there with a gang clothing and
see if you or something.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
And then the sooop shows up where and you know,
like I think it was the Rugby shirt at the time,
So I mean I think that was just like that's
guerrilla marketing, Like you know, before that was even probably
terminology at that point.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
That's now what every brand does is like how do we.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Figure out where the pulse of the culture is and
sort of become a part of it and embrace it,
you know, and not be too high proud to like
admit there's something a dope going on here.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
How can we be a part of it?

Speaker 4 (20:22):
That's that's crazy though, because Tommy correct me if I wrong,
I could do the produce a fact check it.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
But isn't Tommy didn't he say that he didn't make
his clothes for black people. It was the room.

Speaker 6 (20:38):
That's when the culture was like, yeah, but that was
so that proved to be fake though, Oh yeah, so
like apparently so he it was they said what happened
on on on the Open Winfred Show back the talk show,
but he had apparently never been on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
So it was like the first like fake rumor essentially, right,
And that was and but that stuck with him at
the time that everybody heard about it, especially like back then,
it wasn't like you can kind of easily like chat GBT,
tell me figure or like pull up the clip. Yeah,
so it was like a rumor because I interviewed his
his brother who had like a show room here in
the city, and he was kind of showing me all

(21:15):
types of old school stuff. And like even back in
they had had another brand call I think it was
like People's Place or something like that back in up
State New York, and they have like old school like
photos from their you know, their lines, and it had
people of color like all in the pictures as well.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
It wasn't like it was just white people you know
on yachts and ship you know, what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
So it was like they kind of worried to that
from the beginning and and you know, so yeah, that
that was kind of like a rumor that started and
went crazy and people.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
Still think about it till this day that I just
have to bring and I'm like, he's older people. But
then I was like, but I heard he wasn't interesting.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, fact checkers they needed so because you said that
that way of gorilla marketing.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
I always thought was that first, yeahbo was on even
a crazier way because it was kind of more like
the same three shirts and it was like dude was
like on a real bootstrap budget.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
You know, it was Damon John right, and yeah he
was like but he.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
Was even crazier with it because he was I think
I can't think it was l I was doing commercial
for something and he got ll to wear like a
hat or a shirt or something in the commercial, and
like the brand that was that was paying llll do
it had no idea what Fubu was, so they didn't
like be like, hey, can you take that off? So
he got free advertised because l I was already getting
this commercial or whatever it was. That's like the next

(22:37):
level I really like playing the system at that point,
you know. Yeah, so that's that's like, yeah, that's on
the next level of like even more respect. I love
like those stories of early Fubu days. Yeah, I mean
and now everybody uses yeah, yeah, no.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
Exactly, that's like gaming the system to a tenth degree
right there.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
So then like I mean, like the Hill figure brought
you a little bit closer to the sneakers or like, yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
I mean you definitely had had like the kicks to
go with everything to kind of complete uh you know,
the whole look. I think for me, it wasn't until
I got a little older and started having a little
bit of money to go around that I really got
into it. You know, this is probably like, you know,
twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen that I started really getting, you know,

(23:21):
a little bit of a collection going.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
I think I had at that time, I was working
at the radio stations. I had a full time job,
so yeah, radio money, Yeah, I probably indicated money I had.
I had roaches in my bathroom, but I had Jordans
in the closet.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, you know, so I so like, I definitely I'm
curious and like, how did you get into the radio
radio SI.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
I was just like a local. So I grew up
playing in bands.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
That's where like my original whole thing is I used
played drums and I was like a vocalist as well,
and like a metal band and then shout out to
what the band, Oh man, Ire and Sentiment is a
horrible name, but that load up, keep.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
It, load up, load up your your Lime wire and
your Frost wire and look it up.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
Cup that fifty six came out and go back in
time tomorrow plugging that compact.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Sorry, let's go MySpace dot com slash Ire and Sentiment month.
But that was like my I loved playing music. So
when that kind of ended, I was like wanting to
do something and I had just started getting to DJing
a little bit.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah, so that was kind of crazy pivot me ask
you the question.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
I know, I want to be a rapper originally, so
I've been pivoting like that dumb wild my whole life,
you know, like, but but uh yeah, so that was
like I was.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
Super I think it was.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Honestly, it was like Travis Barker and dj Am We're
doing that whole thing at the time. So it was
kind of like, Yo, this is like all my world's
coming together, and then you had uh Scrilliks was doing
electronic music, and I knew him from from first to
last when he was a singer and doing that type
of stuff. So like I was like, oh, like these
dudes are mixing, you know, it's like there's a lane
for me there. So that's kind of what got me
into it. And then I was djaying just like anger

(25:14):
I could. I was doing private parties. I was doing
like block parties, doing terrible dive bars throughout like New
Jersey and Long Island. I was long On for no
reason a lot, but I was doing new business out there.
But uh, and then I was one of the bars
I was at in Jersey, like one of the other
DJs who was come of throwing this college party at
the time. He worked at our sister radio station k

(25:35):
t U, one of three point five, so we became
friends and like through him, I started meeting people and
kind of over the years developing those relationships, and one
thing led to another, and I got a job at
that radio station.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
After somebody like fell asleep. Uh, like they had like
ten ten.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Minutes of dead air overnights. They were like, get help
me out. Of here, what do you what do you
find about this? Got what the Mike France.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
Dude knocked out?

Speaker 2 (25:58):
And uh yeah, the rest of history. I got my
first job at radio at that point, so that's correct.
And then yeah, through that, I'm in the same building
as one hundred power one as you know all the
other radio stations, so you kind of start getting to
know people and that sort of where we're all let
into each other.

Speaker 4 (26:12):
So it is one of these pairs that you've brought,
one of the first pairs you you paid with you with.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
Oh yeah, oh this is why I learned a hard
lesson though. Yeah, you want to busties out? Yeah? Yeah,
I think this was like I want to say, this
is the twenty nineteen they did the reissue with the infrareds?

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was it right?

Speaker 4 (26:29):
So?

Speaker 1 (26:30):
I love those sneakers. I don't know what what about them.
I was so fascinated by it and I got them.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
Shout out to Dan, he's another produce on the Breakfast,
big sneakerhead, and he got me like a raffling.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
I got him and then I finally got him in
the mail and like the red was off. It was
like a pink. I hated it. Yes, right. So I
got so mad. I was like, you know what, Hell,
I'm gonna get the real thing, right, We're going vintage
with this. I don't care what I have to pay.
I'm gonna be so fresh walking around with the real
red so facebox facebox is a real deal right here, right.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
So I at first I was I was right, this
is like original box and everything. I'm to be the
only one rock in the real ones because at that
time every had them. I was like, these pink cass
sneakers yo, even had the car like the original card
on the inside over here.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
Okay, all right, crazy man, I love I remember when
those started also hurting my heart right now, bro, and
I could see inside and I could call out, goat.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
Bro. I opened the box. Oh no, and this is
what they sent me.

Speaker 2 (27:30):
Oh my yeah, bro, look at that? Can you can
you all see these things talking and talking. The whole
set is like my little breakoff of sneakers over here,
both of them.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
Man, right. So I think sent them like they sent
me like they sent me this one, right. And then
I was like, I was like, yo, this is crazy.
So I went to yo, this is crazy bro, all right.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
So uh I hit him customer services, like, yo, this
they just set me some busted as kicks, like I
can't even ready brod, we have the vacuum this set
up after I'm sorry, right, So, I like I sent pictures.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
I was like, yo, are you like when are you'all
twenty nineteen? You bought the Yeah, I was like, Yo,
how are y'all checking this? And you let this go?

Speaker 2 (28:21):
And somebody sold it to me and then their response was, well,
these are like a relic. She is not meant to
be worn. So you we that's what you should be expecting.
I guess a twenty year old thousand yeah. So it
took me some twenty years old that point, but it
still shouldn't be crouble, That's what I'm saying. So they
gave me a ten percent coupon off my oh yeah,
you know. But then you know, my dumb ass did

(28:42):
I went and bought another pair of from the same
year two thousand yeah, and those I actually got to
wear a couple of times, but then eventually my foot
just went through them after like a couple of months.
That having him at that point, so and you we're
talking about like that's probably eight hundred dollars down.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
The drain right there. I was between the two. Yeah
at that point. Yeah, so that was a hard lesson
and like, you know, maybe this iron cut out for
the sneaker game. I got a couple of times. I
love those sneakers so much that like, I'm pretty sure
you can find a good pair. Yeah, I mean, but
now I'm over it, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Like back then, I had the skinny jeans Rocket like
those are the perfect sneakers with the skinny jeans, you know,
like those are fire.

Speaker 3 (29:21):
But like, na, now I'm like, well, first of all, yeah,
anybody's listening, and I know I have a lot of
like customizers and restores. Yeah, they can totally restore those,
so ye hit you up please, And yeah you can
get a hard soul, get that, get that done, and
then you can wear them again.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
That'd be that'd be fire. I'll never get that almost. Yeah,
I gotta find the other one.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Know what I did with it? At this point, I
might have just threw them at a wall.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah. Upset, man, Oh my god, I was so upset.
I think the other ones broke me while I was
like DJ had to walk back to my apartment with
them I'm like just crumbling, Yeah, just crumbling, and then
they crumbled, say leave a trail behind.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's embarrassing. Yeah, man, that was I don't know what's
what's worse that? Oh when you squeak? Yeah, bro, I can't.
I don't even know. So, like there's a I haven't
killed killed the sneaker in a while. Yeah, so I
haven't heard the squeaks in a minute. But there's moments

(30:21):
where you hear the squeaks because it's just like a
rain and it's still I'll be like, oh, man, can't
be turned back into the punk. It's low. Yeah, I
haven't bought a pair of like sneakers like that since this,
Like I'm like, nah, I'm.

Speaker 3 (30:42):
Good, that's crazy. So damn it's funny because I've never
had sneakers crumbled on. I didn't need to say it's
funny to say laugh at you. But the yeah I
showed I showed him. I got a pair from two
thousand and six and they were fine. So it's just like, yeah,
it depends on how it's or right.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
Well, I have an old like I have an early
two thousands pair of the bread ones like and fine.
I looked till this day, like I can see a
little bit like but likes, I wore the hell out
of those things and they're fine for whatever reason.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
All these like like yeah, because the soul on that
is more.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
It's not that same rubber that's like a it's just
like a it's just a one piece right right, which
is like if the whole thing cracks, the whole thing cracked,
right that that's several other pieces on my pham and
plastic and put it together. It's supposed to be squishy.
Where's the air gets in there? Yeah, but if you
don't wear it, then it gets.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
Crumbled, right, So I mean, this is what I get.
I was trying to stunt on people like that. That's
what it was.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
I was like because I seen people like y'all, I
got these fake ass like the coloring right, look at
me walking around these I.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
Remember, you know, twenty nineteen. I remember, Yeah, there was
like a video of somebody like fighting.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
I remember it being like, yeah, the online it looked
like it was correct, yeah, because there wasn't another release
before that where it was like all kinds of fucked up.
I think, yeah, that's the one where I started bleeding. Yeah,
So like that but it was like online it looked
like oh they like they fixed it.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
We're back to like the og you know, red, And
then I got him there I was like, yeah, I
got god, I got three times.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Then at that point, oh.

Speaker 4 (32:14):
My god, yeah I feel you man. But like, so
you're where you at? Yeah, so like you're seeing crazy sneaks. Yeah, yeah,
well that was probably part of it too.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
I had to keep up with it because he was
like even even people who are off camera like had
crazy crazy kicks. Like even like I said, the producer Dan,
like he was a huge sneakerhead. And he put me
on to this dude who was like a reseller on Instagram.
And the dude had like good prices and like always
had quality. Like everything would pop up, so you have
to quick about it to get it. So like we
would kind of be going back and forth for a
while like oh I got him before you got him

(32:46):
type of thing, and and uh yeah so and then
and we would have rolled in there were like new
sneakers every.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Day, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
So like that was a whole nother you know. So, yeah,
you're just trying to trying to flex at that point
and keep up, you know, like you long. Yeah, well
with this podcast, I'm like, okay, have I worn these sneakers?

Speaker 4 (33:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (33:02):
Yeah, that's a whole other thing. So yeah, I'm like.

Speaker 4 (33:05):
Trying to be like okay, no repeats, right, but so
then yeah, it's like yeah, keeping track and then but
you're on every single day.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
Yeah, so yeah, it's a lot tougher. Yeah, and then
everybody's coming through. Who's everybody?

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Like, you know, these people are fashionable, they got money,
so like they got everything, you know, Like.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
It is tough when the paychecks don't. Man, you're just like,
damn they coming and fly. I gotta be That's the
worst part that you start tricking yourself. You're like, oh,
I got to keep up. It's like she's a fucking millionaires.
Are you trying to keep up with them?

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Like I don't won that level.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Like in my mind, I'm like I gotta keep up,
you know. So yeah, and now that's what I got,
Like these are harsh financial lessons that I had to learn.
I spent my rent.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Money to financial literacy.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Yeah, n financial literacy real quick, mind, some sneakers you
can't afford.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
So, like I mean going back to like before this
and as you're like trying to get sneakers and stuff
like that, especially when you were younger you said you
only had one pair, but like you're getting a couple
more pairs now. How do you explain it to your
parents who are immigrants, so they definitely didn't get it,
but I was. I would always kind of like, especially
because a lot of I was super like vintage. I

(34:14):
still am, but like I would kind of like, yeah,
this is like you're investing in the piece of art
almost you know, it's like wearable art, and like the
resale value.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Only goes up. I wanted to hear the job, especially
when Last Dance happened. It was like all the values
that Jordan's went up. I told y'all, I'm sitting on
some gems right now.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
Unfortunately that crashed marketing market crashed down before I get
rid of them. But for a while I was like, yo,
like you know, these sneakers are like keep going up
in value right now, so it's worth it for me
to do that. And then like same thing entertainment industry
aspect as well, like Walmart camera, I can't be seen
wearing the same thing all the time, all right, this
is an investment in my job.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
You know what I'm saying. It's like putting gas in
the car. It's a part of it, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
So that was also how I like made sense of
it all logically, you know, probably more so to myself.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
I mean, I'm right trying to convince myself more than
I was trying to convince them to be honest with you.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
But yeah, yeah, I mean, so my mom's resilient. So yeah,
you know, she came over here with nothing and all that.
I got the whole spiel, and it's like it's like
she's like seeing me get one sneaky and it's like
another sneaker and then there's another. She's like, are you
like opening a store?

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Like no, but I mean lucky. My mom is fly.
I gotta give her. I'm lucky for me. She understands
it's my dad that doesn't get it.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
So I always had her time of as backup because
she's like got her crazy wardrobe and she's over shopping,
so like she kind of got it and like she yeah,
probably yeah, she got me addicted shopper.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
I think. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
So, uh that that was always at least I had
like that little backup going out for me. But yeah,
my pops didn't get it at all.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
He was like, are you talking about that's crazy pops
back in the days. Yeah, that's just the tone because
my pops didn't. Oh yeah, for sure.

Speaker 4 (35:54):
My mother is the like any type of taste that
I have from any of this stuff is my mother. Yeah,
my mother, Like really she's fashioned. Well, she wants to
be in w she wanted all of that.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
My pops is just like yeah, and again do you
need that? Absolutely? But that was like some mansion back
in the day too. It's like, you know, like the
shi you look the moment, like if you look like
you know, show you mean you like, if you look
like you just rolled off a construction site. You know

(36:24):
what I'm saying, Like real, yeah, your finger?

Speaker 4 (36:28):
You know he worked, you know exactly, he worked hard
to rights Like, no, he just wore the same ship.
He just had the same two pair of car pass
the last three years in one. Yeah, but that's only
why you got into vinces, so you can look like
you're hard work.

Speaker 5 (36:46):
The work.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
I'm like the stereotype of that where they're like Homie
came and change the tire, but he got on like
the car.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
I got the the whole like overall app from car
Hearts Ship was talking about that.

Speaker 4 (36:56):
Somebody brought something about that up like they that whole
esthetic wound it for him because he's actually.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
A car He's actually like functionality.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
You know, I can't go buy thing this new trend
I trying to buy the aprons and stuff is there.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
It's overpriced for no reason. That so bad. It's actually
a carpenter. I got a couple of right actually using
the hammer loop.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
He's actually he's like the double he needs Like I
don't need that. I'm not doing anything, you know what
I'm saying. But yeah, I'll be up the game for
that for sure. Got hit him Daves, New York. Hit
him Da Daves, New York. Never stepped foot in there,
but they're very nice people.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
Popping here one last time. Will take a quick break
and then we'll be right back.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
All right, we are back, and now the rest of
my interview for my first Kicks podcast.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
Like, so, like you know, your progression in this business, yeah,
you know, as you're pivoted into podcasting and stuff like that,
Like what have you seen over these times of just
like how communication is like like you know, I feel
like you worked at maybe I would say one of
the most controversial places in terms of just like yeah,

(38:20):
you know you like they've always got clips, they always
got clips something.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
Yeah, so it's just like how do you what did
you take from there? What do you use now?

Speaker 2 (38:29):
I mean, I think it's it's it's tough because it's
like I mean, not they don't they're not put on
a show. Like that's really who they are, you know
what I'm saying, like like behind the scenes, like we're
fucking with each other and like you know, it's the
same kind of roasting and same kind of like crazy
comments like you know, happening and things like that.

Speaker 7 (38:47):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
But but it's also I think there's like a self awareness, right,
and it's doubling down on like what comes naturally to you.
And it's a fine line between becoming a character and
also staying true to yourself. But it's like when you
see what works, right, Like Charlott Mane's gonna ask you
the at a pocket question. He's going to ask you
the hard question.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
You know, that's who he is.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
But it's also being aware of like I got to
do this, this is how I'm gonna get the best
interview the best you know, interview possible in the best
clip whatever it might be. And again not that anybody's
like clip chasing, but I think it's also like, you know,
it's when it becomes a business. We're kind tuments before
we started, Like when your art becomes a business, you
have to become conscious of how you're moving because it's

(39:30):
just like running a restaurant, running anything else, right, Like,
if you're making money, you're trying to live off of it.
You're trying to duplicate success and figure all that stuff
out as well. So I think for me it was like, Okay,
what's that fine line between not giving into the pressure
of trying to create a moment, but also understanding that
we live in a very a very saturated climate with

(39:52):
social media where there's so much content, so many people
doing different things, and you have to figure out a
way to stand out from it all. So you kind
of have to find that that balance. I think that
was probably one of the bigger things that I took
away from from that. And and you know, I think
you know, it's it's it's just like understanding that this

(40:13):
doesn't happen by mistake, right, Like they're great at what
they do because they're doing so many little things that
the average person isn't picking up on, right, And it's
like sports, like, what makes a great quarterback is all
the little things that us as non like professional athletes
would never even notice on the field. But that's why
when you have like Peyton Manning and Eli breaking down
film in the in the booth on it's like interesting

(40:34):
to listen to because they're seeing shit and the rest
of us don't see.

Speaker 4 (40:36):
Right, they're picking up on these little things they're opening.
I mean they always say, like you know, they turn
it in from wide screen to full Yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
So for me, I like basically went to college for
four years and got to just sit back and get
gamed just by being in the room of how they've
become so successful and kind of like the things that
they've established that they're each good at. That's the brains
of the Breakfast Club, particularly, you know, when you had
Angela Yee Envy and Charlotmagne, was like they each had
a role that they filled and they each played that role,

(41:08):
you know, and they played their part, and that's what
made it so successful, was like nobody was trying to
do what the other person was doing right and and
I don't know, there's just something about that that I
think I noticed with a lot of other people in media,
particularly if you have like an ensemble cast. No, everybody
wants to be the superstar all the time, and people
don't understand, like, yo, you gotta know when to take

(41:30):
a step back a little bit right, or like breakfast
up is to me the ultimate example because Envy. Remember
Mvy's been doing this longer than most of them. He
was on HT nine seven to this on a high
level before that, right, he came to Power and he
was bigger than you know, somebod like Charlott Mane at
the time or ANGELI. Yeah, he was on serious Exam
and charlat Mane was like unemployed at the time.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
I think you know so.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
But Mvy understood, understands his role, so he calls us
up the quarterback of it where it's like I'm gonna
set Charlot made up to say something funny because I know,
like this is what I do right. All those little
things are kind of the brilliance and the nuance that
makes somebody great at podcasting, at radio, at interviewing, at
doing their craft that I think the average person doesn't
understand unless you're like they're in the room, you know,

(42:11):
if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
It does, Yeah, it does. I mean I do feel
like like you're not going to get that from watching it.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
Yeah, it's definitely like in the studio you can see
it moving in that way because I feel like, yeah,
I mean, you're just if if they're just getting clips
and you're only watching clips, use, I feel like that's
what only people are, then it's hard for you to
get the whole you know, dynamic, yes, because everybody's just
like all right, Sea says something crazy.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Let's just let's just push this on and let's go crazy.
But but like you don't.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
What people don't get is there's a setup that got
him to understanding now is the moment to say that
crazy thing or to ask that incredibly hard question, right
because they don't like usually don't come off to get like,
all right, tell me about you know, some crazy shit
to have whatever. It's like they're setting it up. They
make fun of envy to you know what I'm saying,
and that like lightens the mood a little bit. Some
said something stupid. Then you work your way in. You're

(43:02):
gaining that trust and then you can kind of begin
like it's it's very methodical and very intentional everything they do,
and that's what makes them so great.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
So me, I guess it's being able to be like
how do you pivot that to what you're doing now?

Speaker 2 (43:16):
And like you know with Z one hundred and yeah,
I mean I noticed it when I So I was
lucky enough where I started doing interviews and things like
that while I was still with them, but I had
like other platforms I was doing with and I noticed
like subconscious to like, yo, I'm picking up on like
a little bit Charlotte Mane here a little bit envy,
a little bit of this, you know. I and I
noticed how I was getting better and I was getting
more opportunities sort of just like by proxy of becoming

(43:38):
better being around these people. And then I think, you know,
for me, it's like it's being able to see that
it's very real, it's very possible. They're flawed human beings,
just like any one of us. They're great at what
they do, but they're not great at everything. Right, so
I don't have to be great at everything. I can
figure out what I'm really good at and own that lane.

(44:00):
And then just seeing like they you know, business wise,
they never relied on one thing. They all are invested
in so many different things because in this industry, you
have no guarantee, right Charlottage talks about all the time
he's been fired three or four times from radio, you know,
prior to the Breakfast Club. So you know, they understand,
like this is not a given. So they have their
hands in so many different things so that if God forbid,

(44:21):
something cools off, you got this other thing going on.
And I think for me in the grander scheme of it,
that's also something that I took away. It was like, YO,
always have a couple of different pots in the fire,
because this industry is wild and like you know, you
never know what's gonna happen no matter how good you
think you're doing. Now, like it's a roller coaster ride.
Their ebbs and flows to it, and you got to
kind of be one step ahead all the time. So
you're telling me I have to keep my job. Oh yeah,

(44:41):
I'm fortunately for now now.

Speaker 4 (44:45):
Yeah, I mean, so you said good, You said the
word good, and I'm gonna pivot to the next show
because this is OK, because I'm hoping these are not crumbling.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
They are probably a couple of wears away from it.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
I'm glad he bought the beat up joints though, because
everybody only brought the fresh.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
Yeah, separate yourself from the pat all.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
These are just like personally, I love them, but we
got the Puerto Rico Air Force once.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yeah, these are fire.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
These are actually a gift shot to Philis sent these
to me from from Ultra Records. I appreciate him. A
fellow Puerto Rican. I only wear these once a year
during the Puerto Rican Parade.

Speaker 1 (45:26):
That weekend. Yeah, that weekend I pulled them out and yeah,
I see you're you're on a flow. Yeah, yeah I'm not.

Speaker 4 (45:34):
He's like, I'm not walking with everybody. I'm gonna pull
these up on you guys are Puerto Rican perto Rican? Yeah,
these are fires. So like that these about once a
year and so it feels like a whole thing, like
when I comes.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
Up, you know, I have my outfit, you know what
I mean? There you go?

Speaker 3 (46:01):
Yeah, these are these are very doube. I remember when
these came out. Yeah, I love that it's leather, yes, yes,
so you know these are gonna last yep, yeah, yeah,
these are these are and I like how subtle as well.
It's not like it's not over.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Straight that like the whole what is it called? They yeah,
the whole thing frog frog print No, no, no, I
don't think. I like a little more understated. And these
are my perfect my perfect one. Yeah. So I love
those sneakers.

Speaker 6 (46:32):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
And they were like even though there was like a
friend just like surprising even give me like yeah, what's
your address?

Speaker 1 (46:36):
And I opened the mail and it was like that.
I was like, this is so dope. So that's fine. Yeah,
so I love these.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
Do you have since we talked about the perto Rican
you wearing those? Do you have like a story that's.

Speaker 2 (46:46):
Like I always get like people like being like, I
see you, you know what I mean, that's what that's
like really probably what I'm wearing them for, Like the
one or two people are like, okay, I won't once
in Puerto Rico actually and there they were like people
take a picture.

Speaker 7 (46:58):
Of me, like yeah, let me let me take it interests.
So I was like yeah, so that I felt like
I felt good about myself at that point. People here
know that's dope. I've only been to Puerto Rican Day parade, tice.
I actually don't know if I actually if I'm going
to the real one.

Speaker 1 (47:14):
But there's so much going on that way. Yeah, yeah,
because I know I've been to the one sixteen. Yeah
I've done that. Yeah by DJ that as well. Yeah
you DJ that one? Yeah wow, oh I was fire. Yeah.
But again I'm not walking that crowd with these. It's crazy.
I met the crowd. Hopefully not next year. I see you,
I mean like I'm gonna put you out. Put you
out just a point. It's not gonna be like come back.

(47:36):
He's gonna be like, my man, I see you got
a pair of these. I gotta find him in the midtime.

Speaker 4 (47:44):
Go on. I feel like I would be. I feel
so weird where not Puerto Rican. I'm wearing stuff like
I don't understand, Like I've always felt like that.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
It's weird.

Speaker 4 (47:53):
There's a nationality on the sneaker. Yeah, I don't care
how the sneaker is. I feel off.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
I'm like, that's not Brazil though they people be doing
that a lot because Brazil is like a brand in itself,
like the shirts and everything like that.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
I was feel weird about that too, you know, yeah,
somebody I know he's like he capt the there's like
there's Aretro Adidas bait that dropped. It's brazil color, and
then they're calling them brazil and I'm like, yeah, you know,
like I feel like if you're Brazilian, right, you good
to go, right, But like, yeah, it's just weird because

(48:26):
I feel like I don't know, it's just weird.

Speaker 1 (48:29):
Like I can't really explain it because it's off about it.

Speaker 4 (48:32):
It's real because imagine you and those on mes just
walking around clearly not I'm not portering at all, but
I got these on It's like so like the Delomeo
Air Forces came out, they say me on the bottom,
they got the d R flag on the tongue, and
I remember being like, everybody confuses me.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
The minute you thought about it.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
People be like I've been called a couple of times
poppy if you yeah, you know, I love every black dude.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
I love a culture. I do love a song, my fate.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
Yo.

Speaker 4 (49:13):
Do you know my favorite thing is to go to
Dominican restaurants and orto because I can say it with
the and then they look and I'm like, I can't
tell you nothing else.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
All I got.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
Yeah, the funny is because I do know Spanish, but
like Dominican Spanish is like you gotta like sing it
to me like it's not it's not.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
It's not as simple.

Speaker 4 (49:35):
You know.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
It's like I can look at my knee, you know.
It's like New York is different.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
From like so it's like a whole different you know,
slang terminology for Putricans.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
Though, Puerto Rican.

Speaker 4 (49:46):
You gotta like you gotta like say it in a
specific way or look at you and be like yeah, no, absolutely,
and I'm just speak English.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
They hit me with the speak yes. This is like yeah,
you get a family speaking.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
All that.

Speaker 4 (50:02):
When they tell you you can speak, that means you
are ye. I mean yo, that asked though every times
I'd start off Spanish and then I just give up.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
Yeah you know, uh you know, just let me get the.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
Not because they get you when you when they asked
the follow up questions because you rehearse usually like yeah, we.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Want to follow asked, we want to side like what size?
Like I did not rehearse. This part of the situation.

Speaker 4 (50:40):
Get you, but the fall is like no, no, that
just happened to me at the airport in Miami. You
know how they got the Cubans. I love Cuban for but.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
My go to but that's all I got. Yea perfectly.

Speaker 4 (50:55):
I said that that's it, and I'm just like, she
starts asking extra questions and because I came out the gate,
now I have set myself up and she thinks I
speak Spanish. You know who saved me, Johan Guitar. He
always jumping and I just like what he said when
I'm with people, and like they they're the Puerto Ricans

(51:18):
that don't know Spanish. Because I don't know if you
know many of them, a lot of them. Yeah, it's
it's interesting. It's interesting. I don't know if you if
it's funny that Bad Bunny like it's like I don't
want to know. I don't Well now he's like, now
I do want to know English. But in the beginning
he was like, I don't really want to know English.
Speak Spanish, yeah, Puerto Rico. And then there's so many

(51:38):
Puerto Ricans that are here that don't know Spanish. Is
so like yeah, and then they like I love Bad Bunny.
I don't know what he's saying.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
I'm like, oh, he's somewhere you from. Yeah, yeah, I
mean it's like it's a weird.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
Uh, it's a weird in between area, right, Like my
Spanish isn't great, but I understand it fluently. But but yeah,
I mean it's definitely for me growing up, like my
parents are both made speakers, my dad's first language, but
they didn't speak to me growing ups, like I don't
knew it through my grandma just like communicating with her.
But but yeah, it's definitely like you know, you feel

(52:10):
less of then that's even worse. Now if you if
you're Puerto Rican, to tell you to just talking English
like that that's what you were like damn all right,
I get back to the gym, and I get back
to this.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
I learned this language.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
Let me let me Spanish, like I just living fire
up the door my ancestors and rolling their damn grave
right now.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
B Yeah, that that's even worse.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
But yeah, there are a lot a lot that don't
speak it, and and yeah, I mean that's the interesting thing, uh,
And that's what's fired by his music though, like as
well as like the universality of it, like even if
you don't understand a word, you get the emotion behind
it or you just understand like that it's just fire
music at that point. But yeah, but I do respect
that he like has refused to make any music in English.

(52:55):
Stay true to that, and because that was like the
thing with a lot of tists as well, was like, yo,
you had to make your songs in English in order
to cross over back in the day. And he's sort
of broken that mold. And that's that's super dope, you know,
And shout out to him for for learning English as well.
That puts any of us to shame that don't speak
spad as like probably learned it in like a year. Bro,
Like he's on national television just fallI conversation got like spicy,

(53:23):
we got.

Speaker 4 (53:23):
I got no excuses if we come speaking proper states
at this point, you know, so we talk about bad
money and you know, popular music. Yeah, you know you're
working in the place that plays the top one hundred.
Yeah right now, what what is that like? And how
did you get there?

Speaker 6 (53:40):
It is?

Speaker 1 (53:41):
And I don't know if you are into like do
you listen to listen everything?

Speaker 2 (53:45):
Bro, Katie Perry, firework is my like, you know, I
don't I don't apologize for that songs all the time.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
But but it's it goes back and forth.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
It's it's frustrating and and amazing at the same time
because it is like iHeart Radio is like the largest
audio company in the world, and it's their flagship radio station.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
So it's like, you know, playing for the Yankees basically
right in that in that league. So with that, there's
a lot that.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
Comes along with being associated with that brand, which is amazing.
It's it's frustrating because I remember when I first started there.
I came in with, like, you know, I'm a DJ
who plays all types of clubs, you know, and is
like always first on music. I'm gonna come in here
and start showing some people and put them onto some stuff.
And then you realize real quick, people want to hear
the same shit over and over again.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
I'm saying, like, they don't give a fuck about what
is next, what is new, what is cool?

Speaker 2 (54:32):
Majority people want the same thing over and over and
over again, and that's what it's made them so successful.
They're feeding people the same thing over and over and
over again. And not to say that I don't like
like that, I hate the music or anything like that.
There are some records I think are trash, but I
do enjoy, you know, the majority of it, or appreciate
it for what it is. But that is the frustrating

(54:52):
part because I am still like a love like someone
who just loves music.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
I'm a student of the game. I'm always interested in
what is kind of the next thing.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
Yeah, and that is you know where you kind of
have to hold back a little bit, understand like, Okay,
this platform is not going to be my way to
express myself in that in that manner. Right, this is
me tapping into like this large market and getting to
have cool opportunities and play hit records, right, And that's fun,
that's cool. That has its thing, But I think you
have to compartmentalize it in your head, right, And that's

(55:21):
what I struggled with initially, was like I wanted it
to be my everything.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Yeah, and I was, you know, like we're gonna talk
about everything in here. I was like, num, the brand
comes before you, like you have to understand, like you
know where the line is. And that was the frustrating part.
But it's amazing. It's opened so many different doors.

Speaker 3 (55:38):
And I just pictured you first starting and you had
that you know that meme where the guys like taking
this headphones off, disgusted, just like and here's and here's a.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
I don't know Olivia Rodrigo, Yeah, here's Sabrina Carpet. Yeah,
just throwing it all. Yeah, there was there were saying
things like damn, what the fuck is going on?

Speaker 5 (55:59):
Right?

Speaker 2 (55:59):
But I also I would make I would have had
fun with it though too, where I would like call
it out where I'm just like like there was like
a weird phase where it was like every teen girl
was making sad music, so like I would just make
fun of it, like like what do y'all know about heartbreak?
And I would just like make a little pun about it.
Like that became my little like uh by way to
kind of like get back at you know what I'm saying,
like I'll show you guys, you know, but slight jazz

(56:23):
exactly in my mind that's like, you know, I'm out
here to fight for the cause, you know, But but
I do a little things like that or But like
what was also cool was like bad Bunny has only
had one song that's made it to like really radio
has given a chance Top forty wise. Yeah, and we
were only playing it at night. But because I was
doing the mix show, I had a little bit more
flexibility where I could take some of those newer records

(56:44):
and put it in so like I took pride in
the fact that now it's getting heard prime time on
a Friday at five pm while people are driving home,
You're hearing this bad bunny record.

Speaker 6 (56:52):
Like I didn't know that. Yeah, really with all his success. Yeah,
that's the craziness about it, I said, this business man. Yeah,
but that's it's it's just like you know that, that's
the wild thing.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
I mean, that's why he's like this anomaly and why
it's so special is because it's like he didn't follow
any of the rules, the traditional rules, and somehow, some
way he's there. But like to me, I guess those
are little moments where I'm like, yo, this is this
is cool, you know, I guess to do that, or
like I have a coworker who's there for a while,
Maxwell and you know, maximum, no, he's fire, but he's

(57:25):
he's he's uh, he's a black man. He's the only black, dude,
black person on the entire radio station at one point, right,
and I had I had he was have a conversation
with him and he was like, to me, what's fire
about this? Is?

Speaker 1 (57:38):
Yeah, I'm like the only one.

Speaker 2 (57:39):
But also if there is some young black kid, black girl,
black boy who happens to love pop music like I did,
Like I make it okay for them to feel seen
in that space.

Speaker 1 (57:49):
Right, It's not weird.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
You're not a loser, You're not you know, like an
outsider because the norm, the socader norm, dictates you have
to listen to hip hop or whatever it is, right,
And I was like, that's kind of.

Speaker 1 (57:59):
Like a dope way to look at it.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
Is like you know, yeah, exactly, in a small way,
like you are being that for somebody. And sometimes all
people need is to see themselves in one person to
like kind of change everything.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
For the same thing.

Speaker 4 (58:11):
When I get to think about being in a black
punk band, exactly, we get that all the time. We're
in these faces who are traditionally all white, and people
jump out and it's just like yo, so many black
fans would be like, it's my I'm the only one
or two person there that'll be like seeing y'all change everything.

Speaker 1 (58:26):
Yeah, And I also remember the acts that did that
for me.

Speaker 3 (58:29):
Yeah, that's I mean, it's like me being you know,
racially ambiguous on the podcast. I'm doing it for all
you racially ambiguous, and but you know, towards the end
of the podcast, and I got one last question and
that is deals with a little visualization, and I want

(58:52):
you to think back about to when you were getting
the up tempos.

Speaker 4 (58:55):
Now you're you behind you your younger self. What would
you tell your younger self as that box? Oh man,
that's a great question. What would I tell that that kid?

Speaker 2 (59:06):
I would say, you're looking fly, but you don't need
this in order to be fly, Like you don't need
to have the cool sneaker.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
You know what I'm saying, Like, like, what makes you cool?

Speaker 2 (59:18):
What's gonna bring you all the success and everything you
want is actually going against the grain and not worrying
about what the trends are, but being unafraid to set
your own trend and to pave your own lane. And
people are gonna follow you because of that, not because
you're tapping into whatever body else is doing. Yeah, I
think that kid that could definitely need to hear that
sneakers work. But yeah, that kid definitely need.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
To hear that. Man.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
Shout out to Hastin Dave from my First Kicks podcast.
Definitely go check that that show out. They have a
lot of really interesting guests and again, I think in
today's day and age. Man, we just need some lighter
conversation every once in a while. So I really enjoyed
being on this podcast. A kind of some everything we
talked about today in any little boat in a segment
called conclusion.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
Still come all right, So obviously not much to summarize here.
This is just a fun conversation. I do love kind
of the thing that came to me when they asked

(01:00:17):
what I would tell my younger self like a kid
who was wearing those sneakers.

Speaker 4 (01:00:21):
And.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
I'm proud of that response of like the idea that, like,
the clothes don't make the man, but the man make
the clothes if you will. But more so I think
for me, I find great pleasure in the fact that
I think I've turned a corner in finding comfort within

(01:00:44):
my own skin.

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
And being okay with sort of being judged.

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
And I guess I talked about I love these examples
of fashion, and I'll kind of close it out with that.
I talked about this a lot before, but to me,
one of the greatest tools to sort of being more
comfortable in my own skin was just being unafraid to
dress differently, and it was like exposure therapy and the

(01:01:14):
more I did it, the more that you know people
are gonna be gave me weird looks or make comments
about it, the less I cared about others opinions. And
it still pops up that this happened to DJing in
an area that I don't really hang out a lot,
and it's very white, very white like frat browie type
of area. But I was DJing there last weekend and
like a part of me was like, oh man, I'm

(01:01:36):
like second guessing my outfit or whatever because I'm like,
I don't want to, you know, be too loud in
this environment. I don't like this environment in general. But
then I had to check myself, like, fuck that this
is who you are. We worked really hard to get
that confidence going, and you're not going to dim your
life for the opinion of people who really do not

(01:01:57):
matter whatsoever. So again I still struggle with it, but
wardrobe and like dressing to what I think is cool
has really been something that has benefited my self confidence,
and I think it's a great practice to try if
maybe you, like me, struggled with some of that confidence
or struggle with confidence issues in your life.

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
So that's that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
So my first Kicks podcast get a shot of David
has for the invite to be on there. Go check
it out, go subscribe to it, and yeah, we're back
on Thursday, or a Thursday Trends episode, So then stay safe.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
And we'll talk soon.

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
Life as a GREENO is a production of the micro
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