 Big hustle nigga, big shit, big shit, big shit, big shit, huh. Name another podcast like this. Check it, check it, check it, this a unique hustle. It's your boy, E.C.O. And I'm here with the lovely, amazing official, Miss Jamaica, what's going on? None of you know my dad walk on. Hey man, hey man, we got a special guest here today, man. This guy don't need no introduction, man. Y'all done seen him, man. He always working. You know what I'm saying? My guy Smoothbakers in the building. What up? What up, man? Just here, man. Thank you for coming. Man, I fucked with the setup, bro. This shit hard. For real, man, you like it, right? Sounds real crisp for me. When he said that and he said, y'all on Spotify again, he heard it. He heard that Joe Rogan. That they heard the Joe Rogan, 100 million dollar movie. He say, yo. Man, the quality, I think at times people like, like they overlook the quality aspect of it. You know what I'm saying? He was just saying off camera right now. He's like, ain't nobody fucked with my shit unless it's breakfast club. So you see it and then you like, yeah, yeah. I was like, oh, he gassed it. And as soon as I put it on, I was like, oh, they shit. No, I just, I just, I just know that, man, the layout, the way you, you know, the way that you come into the game, man, if you don't respect it, who gonna respect it? You know what I'm saying? So, man, just, we always like to go back a little bit in the backstory, man, before smooth Vega, man, like just coming up early beginning, humble beginnings, man, where'd you start out at? And just how did you even get into before you became smooth Vega? What was it like? I guess, you know, like it's so funny, like I did an event last year and the whole, the whole thing, the whole like basis of the event was revolved around paying tribute to my mother, right? And my mother used to own an independent record shop in North Fort Worth. And I was raised in this independent record shop from the time I was born up to the time that I was 11 or 12 years old. I didn't really realize until I was in the middle of the promotion of the event that my hustle, my entrepreneurship and my love for the music really, that's where it was born at. You know what I'm saying? So I guess in a sense, if you want to know the beginning, that is the beginning. My mom owned an independent record shop that sold predominantly Spanish music, but it also acted like a blockbuster. You know, back in the day, people used to rent movies and shit, like, so we used to rent American and Spanish movie titles. Okay. So that's kind of the beginning of everything. And you worked in there? Yeah. Child labor laws, you know, no, but yeah, me and my brother used to be there and we spent really like a lot of time there. So I got an opportunity to see the hustle and for me more than anything, being in that environment, really like, I guess now that I look back on it, like that was the origin of everything, everything that I am like really started there. From your mom? Yeah, from the shop. You know what I'm saying? From the shop. So where is your dad during this time? Where was your dad during this time? He was working at nine to five. Nine to five. She was the independent business owner. I always tell people, I got my, I got my mother's heart, but I got my father's hustle and I'm thinking in my head, like, well, shit, like my dad is a hard worker. He's still alive to this day. My mom passed away in 2009, but she was the one that owned her own business. And at that time being, you know, an independent business owner, her being a Mexican immigrant and her, you know, starting her own business and running a successful business for 12 years in the heart of the stockyards in North Fort Worth, it's really unprecedented to be honest with you because like her only competitors for so long were like Blockbuster and eventually there was another business that came along, but she held her own for, for as long as she could. So like growing up, you know, there was like, I was exposed to both Spanish music and English music. My brother's the one that introduced me to hip hop though. So. Wow. You know, looking through your page, man, on Instagram, man, it's like watching the BET Awards, nigga. You know what I'm saying? I mean, nigga, you, you fly as hell. You know, why, how the hell you meet gnarly people? But then I told you earlier, I'm not impressed cause you, you know, you Hispanic, Hispanics and white don't have to work as hard as the black guy. You know what I'm saying? You niggas can get in places, take a camera and a few friends and it's you into the union. You know what I'm saying? No, but you know what though? I don't necessarily agree with you because I always tell people that with, with Hispanics and hip hop specifically Latinos, right? I always used to say like, to me, people look at us the way that we look at people calling Taco Bell authentic Mexican food. We just don't feel like it's real Mexican food. You know what I mean? So I feel like at times when they see somebody coming in, that's not black, that's in hip hop, that's really, you know, going out there, trying to make a name for himself or really working hard, they don't necessarily view it like it's authentic. And it's like, that's how I feel. So that's my perspective, you know what I'm saying? I'm not Hispanic, so I can't really just claim to know what you're talking about. It just seemed to me like the lighter you get the easier it gets sometimes. I mean, maybe I'm trippin' and then go for you too. We're gonna do killer. No, we go through our own struggles, no. We go through our own struggles, make no mistake about it. Man, I believe it, man. I'm just giving y'all a hell. I gotta do that. That's what makes me step over here. So I might say anything, you know what I'm saying? You got it out for light skins, you know what I'm saying? You either love or might hate them, you know what I'm saying? No, but you meant like a lot of people, man. I seen you on a deal with Jay Prince, I believe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How did you make that happen? Because I've been trying to get Jay Prince, man. What's up? Yeah, yeah, where you at, man? You know, come on, Jay, man. Come on on the show. Boss talk one-on-one, what a boss is talk. And I know you're a boss. Hey, man, you gotta speak it into existence. I've been working on that. So I have a show as well. For sure. I don't really, yeah, get a name of your show. The name of the show's called Nothing Beats Experience. I don't actually publish as much content as like D&U. Man, wait a minute. Wait a minute. First of all, you can't really just compete with the God, okay? You can't do what I do because I get it out the mud. Yeah. You're sitting on the table. No, what I'm saying, like, so I had, like, really during the pandemic, you know, everything changed. We weren't really moving around. We weren't able to go in studio and produce any content. So I just got active on emails and I just fucking got ahold of Jay Prince's publicist. I just, it just happened by accident, to be honest with you. You know, you the second nigga that came over here talking about it happened by accident. Let me just say that. The first one was Jeff Pullum. Shout out to Jeff Pullum. I emailed him and it was like it was an accident. And they called me back and I got nervous. Listen, man, we don't want to hear that, man. And it just happened. Give me the game. Let me get on in there, man. And I'm telling you. So he has a publicist by the name of Julia Beverly who used to actually work for, I believe, it's the Ozone magazine. Okay. And that's who acts as his publicist to this day. And so I just reached out to her and she reached back. She was like, hey, he's in the middle of promoting his liquor at the time. So he was doing media. And he was doing press and he just so happened. So it was just the right time. Yeah. Yeah, well, I hope that happened for us. You get the names and stuff. Let's go in. Okay. All right. Yeah. But at the end of the day, that wasn't the only one, man. You have some bangers. I've even seen you one with Life, I believe, by Jennings. Yeah, that's true. How did you guys link? That's just through, you know, so obviously, I have a background as a promoter. Okay. That helps. You know, so that's, yeah, exactly, that helps. And I booked a lot of shows with a lot of artists. I've worked with a lot of artists over the years. And he happened to be in town and I booked his after party. And that actually was the second episode I had ever taped. So I was like, yo, would he be down to come in and do an interview? And I'm like, yeah, he'll do it. This time or this time, we did it. So. Wow. And I see you all at the, I think he was in Frisco. It looked like he was in Frisco. Oh, you saw him. Nigga, it was in Frisco. How'd it feel? You and Jerry Jones got a relationship, too. How'd it feel? You end up on the field with cameras and, and now you gotta have permits for that when you're black. When you're black? You're not going to go out there without no permits. See, see, see, see you out there probably just, just bring the cameras in. Nah, man, I wish it was that easy. No, he got it in there. I had to actually get permission. No, there was a boxing match that was, that was happening. And for me, like, I'm really tapped into like the sports world. Like I like to like know what's going on. So like, whether it's MMA, pro boxing, whatever the case. And there was a big pro boxing fight that was going on at the Ford, whether the start, the Ford or whatever the fuck it's called over there in Frisco. And so we had to get permission, but the promoters actually set that up. So we came in and we set up a whole podcast set up in the middle of the field. It was dope, too. Yeah. Yeah. That was one of my favorite ones because that's kind of like, that's like a flex. Like not everybody could do some shit. I know. That's what I just said. How long were you doing podcasting before that happened? Well, you know, I think I had two days. It's not gonna be that easy. It don't take hard when you, Hispanics run Dallas, they blind all the damn jerseys. Jerry Jones, if he talked to him, you're like, hey, they'm out of jerseys. Oh, shit. No, I had Brad Stoff into podcasting in 2009. I did audio for about a, like a little under a year. And then the production team that I worked with, they're like, yo, do you want to put this on camera? I'm like, man, I don't really want to be on camera. You know what I mean? Like I was cool with just doing phoneers because I was doing phone interviews like over the phone, like, like radio style. Yeah. But yeah, he convinced me and that was it. You know, so I started doing it that way. Wow. That's dope, man. For you to be able to do that, man, and to be, you know, a woman. How when did this happen on the day? The Dallas cap was, that was the beginning of 2020. 2020, OK. But to even do it, man, like nobody, you don't see that every day. You know what I mean? Well, I mean, I think it's partially like the thing that I enjoy the most about formats like this is like it becomes conversational. So it like, I know when I watch interviews, I enjoy watching interviews. But you know, sometimes like it's so like fucking cookie cutter, like so by the book, like. I don't do that. And I don't want to do that either. So I like to really dig into the story to the niggas that keep saying, why you cut him off? Nigga, let me tell y'all something right quick. We having a hell of a conversation and a good time on Boss Talk 101, what a boss is talk. Everybody might be talking at the same time. We don't know. So at the end of the day, we care about what people think. But we didn't. We don't because we care about keeping it organic, keeping it real, keeping it like a conversation where we going back and forth. I don't care. I'm not that regular dude. I'm this ain't the breakfast club. This ain't none of them other ones that you watch. This Boss Talk 101. So we might say anything at any time to anybody. And that's why it'd be crazy. Like you waiting to talk now, Nigga, I see you. You gear it up to say something. I see it. Now she might say something we don't know. Well, you can't take yourself too serious. Not at all. You know what I mean? Like you got to have fun. Yeah, yeah. When it becomes too much of the same, it's like, all right. That's the same thing that has to do with work. Once it work, it becomes not fun anymore. You don't want to go. You don't want to do it. Yeah, for sure. So that's my perspective on all of this, like as far as interviewing. So yeah, I mean, but I, that's how I got into it. And I've enjoyed it ever since I do it when I can. Yeah, yeah, it's fun, man. It's really, it's a rush, man, to be able to see the finishing product. So many people think when you sit down here, it's just boom, when they come out and come out. But it's a lot of work goes into it. It's a lot of behind the scene editing and all type of stuff to try to make sure that everybody get they just do. Yeah, like I fucking walk in and I had to like give you my social security number. I had to give you my blood type. I had to give you everything. Yeah, yeah. And we still got to do some checks before you leave, nigga. How to do a fucking physical, you know what I'm saying? Like just to get on the bike. I was like, wow, what y'all doing over here? It's different. Yeah, it's different. Hey, I like that. But what about the Cisco? I seen you with Cisco. Did you interview him or you just? No, no, I actually, I interviewed Cisco. That was another extension of me being a promoter. You know what I'm saying? Like you do get the perks of being a promoter, but I think that's just like any other hustle. You know what I mean? Like you got to know how to leverage every resource that you gave in this case. Like I think early on what I didn't mention, the reason why I really branched into a podcasting was because like K-104 and 97. I really like pissed me off. You know what I mean? Like, so exclusive, boss talk, exclusive. Oh, I didn't get it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, get the damn, I got some here. You know what I'm saying? Nah, what it was is that, I think I brought the rapper, the game to town, right? Okay. And I think I brought him to town, then I brought Joel Santana and I want to say Bunn be like consecutively. And then I took him to 97.9. Every time I would take him to go to do the interview and I'm thinking like, it's a good look. Like I'm building a relationship with the station. So they would take the interview, they would film the content, right? They would put them live on air, but like they would specifically tell them, mind you, they're only in town because I'm booking them for the show. The only reason they're even coming in is because the promoter's telling them, hey, plug the show. But when they get in, the station would tell them like you can't talk about the show because they're not running advertisements with us, right? So, but it didn't click to me at first because I thought I was being a good host in the beginning like, ah, you know, it ain't no big deal. Like I'm getting them the interview. They're gonna look out for me. I'm gonna look out for them. And by the third or fourth interview, I'm realizing like, oh, you motherfuckers here. Like I said, what you're doing? And then they would publish the interview or they would put the photo, like the radio personalities would be like, yeah, 97.9 would, you know, the game. Yeah, we doing it big, got tuned in right now. And then they would not mention anything about the promoter or the show. So I was like, yo, like that's a $20,000 interview. That's the way I'm looking at it because I just paid this guy $20,000 to be in town or $10,000 to be in town. And like, you're taking the interview, the least you can do is be like, check them out tonight across town. You know what I'm saying? Even if nobody goes, it's the gesture. So when I realized I was doing too much of that, not only with the radio station, but also with like the local media print, like the Dallas Observer, the Dallas Morning News. I was like, why am I giving everybody else the interview? Fuck these people. I'm gonna keep them out of myself. You started doing the interviews. That's how it all, that's how it really happened. That's how it really happened, you know what I mean? Yeah, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna resolve my own issue within my own situation and my own power. And now it's gonna also make me a brand now. He didn't think of that though when he was doing it. He's just thinking, I'm gonna get the damn interview. But it was also to control the narrative because think about it like, and this is a true story. I got three, six mafia. They're coming in town on August, right? I just booked three, six. So part of the deal, all the six. Them niggas need to be on here, bro. I've been talking to Project Pat, but... Oh, I got Project Pat coming in on May 6th. I need him on the show. For sure, but for sure with three, six mafia, like I worked in the deal to where DJ Paul has to give me an interview, even if it's virtual. So like, if I do the interview, what I'm gonna do is I get to control the interview. I can start the fucking interview. Like, hey, August 6th, they're gonna be in town, whatever, whatever, promoter, tickets, buy now, right? I could do that and I could control the interview whereas if I take them to a radio station or I take them to a print media or anywhere else, they don't need to talk about it because they're gonna get their content. That's right. Or if with me, at least I could direct the dialogue. Make a lot of sense. You know, that's just kind of my way of, and I tried just for the record, I tried to start like a podcast where I wasn't the personality and I try to be the guy that was like, it doesn't work out. And then you also control a narrative of when it comes out, so it comes out enough time for your show. Yeah, for sure. Do you wanna just control the content? You know, the whole fucking purpose of everything you do should be about controlling a narrative. Like, you can't allow anybody to come in and control what you do because you have to own your content which is what we're talking about, you know what I'm saying? And also like, in my opinion, like when I bring an artist into town, you know, I'm not greedy with it. Like, you know, I don't mind feeding other people and helping other people out as long as we look out for one another, you know what I'm saying? Like, but in the case of the radio stations, it's like, this is very one-sided, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It wasn't no give and take at the end of the day. And it's not just them, man. There was like a few local media publications that I gave interviews to and then when they were published their local awards, they would nominate everybody but the person that gave them the fucking interviews. Wow. And then I would just kind of do cross-reference and it's not me being a hater, it's me being realistic. I'm like, yo, like, I mean, what did they do to earn that aside from, you know, whatever? Like, did they do something like, was there a favor there? Like, was there a favor system to create that? And there wasn't. So I'm like, yo, so you mean to tell me I just gave this platform these many interviews or this, whatever. And you can't even acknowledge me. Like, yeah, it sucks. But you know what? But it's cool though, because you know what? Like, at some point in other, you're eventually going to realize what you're worth. And you know what, man? Go where you're celebrating not where you're tolerated. Not like that. I like that. I think that's dope. I think you should definitely understand that you walking in purpose. I got to say that. You ain't really just, you ain't really just did nothing. I believe in God. I know some people you might hang with that may not even acknowledge God. I believe in God. You ain't allowed it. It may be some people that may, you may be hanging around it. Don't know what's going on. But I'm a believer. So at the end of the day, I believe you walking in purpose. No, absolutely. And I think things don't just happen for a reason. So man, kudos to you for figuring it out. A lot of people don't, you know what I mean? I don't think that I always viewed myself the way other people viewed me. And I don't think that I always took like ownership of who I was, right? Like you realize like, oh man, like I have these relationships. I have these resources. I have this know-how. I'm thinking it's just common, right? I'm thinking it's just second nature because that's me. But then I'm not realizing that other people view me in a certain way. And it took me a very long time to feel comfortable owning that. So part of that is the reason why there was a delayed reaction. I'm like such a delayed reaction person. Like I always tell that to people as they get to know me. And like, I'm so fucking delayed. Like it'll be like a year and a half later. Like, oh, now I understood what he was talking about. Because my mentality is always like, go get it, go get it, go get it. I'm always getting, I'm always on to the next situation. So I never stop to like process, analyze and assess. I just move, move, move, move. And when I stop, that's when I think. I'm like, oh, that's what that was. So you know. Yeah, that's it. So let me ask you a question. So other than the football stadium, which interview and what event? So it's two different ones. Would you consider as being your biggest ones you've ever done? You know what, I would say, like if you're talking about events or interviews. Both. So what's your biggest event and what's your biggest interview? If you ask me what my biggest event, I'm gonna give you the Tom Brady answer, which one's your favorite ring? The next one, right? So the next event is my biggest event, right? But in all honesty, looking back, there's a few events that really defined my career or defined my whole hustle. I guess you would say the first one had nothing to do with the recording artist. I did an event in 2007. It was actually my second event. And I didn't really know how to structure deals back in the day. You know what I'm saying? So now it's pretty common. Like if you wanna do your own event, you can work out a door deal with the venue. And if you got a good relationship, they'll give you the door. Back then it wasn't like that. So the first deal I had ever taken ever was like the most ridiculous, like insane deal ever, which was I asked the guy to pay me $500 to come in and put in a vet. And there's a whole backstory to this. I'm just gonna get right to it. He said, no, I don't wanna pay you $500. He said, how about I give you 40% if you hit 400 people, 50% if you hit 500 people, and 60% if you exceed 500 people. And I was like, okay, you know, I'm selling tickets for $15. I'm like, what do I have to lose? I'll exceed the $500 number for sure, but you know, let me do this. So I did it and I actually made, I brought in over 600 people. I made over $3,000. So at that point he fucked up because he could have just paid me $500. So now I'm coming in the next time. I'm like, yo, I want 70, 30. There's no negotiating. So when I went into the next deal, which is the event that I would say really changed my career was, I came in at 70, 30, and then we drew 1200 people to that event. And this is at a time where there was no online sales. This is 2007, you know, and the event made $12,000 that night. And that was the most money I had ever held in my hands. But I think that was the first time I realized and I recognized like, oh shit, like, like I can make a living off of this. I can make money off of this. So I always got to give credit to that event. But if you're talking about like performances or like artists that I've worked with, it's tough. You know, doing Nipsey Hustle's last tour, you know, doing the victory lap tour and working with Nipsey Hustle, like that's special because I didn't work with Tupac. I didn't work with Biggie. So, you know, being able to be up close with Nipsey and doing his tour was really meaningful. Camille and that was probably my favorite one though, I would say. Really? Yeah, the nigga that I showed that blue Chevelle to, we got to talk about that Chevelle that I pulled up on on that boy on. And he remember me, he gonna have to cause I gave him the business. Yeah, old school classic, man. It wasn't a Capri store. I started to tum tum that nigga, but I didn't want to. No, so why did the, why did the, why did the millionaire one stick out so loud? I would say because at that time, you know, he was someone that coming into the industry, like I identified with, you know what I'm saying? He wasn't like dope, man. He was just a skilled artist, but he was very smart. And you could tell. You could tell. Even now. Even now. But he was just different. He spoke a different language then, you know, you had a lot of rappers coming up at the time. They were all kind of rapping about the same stuff, you know, nothing against the OGs in Texas, but like Cam was the one that was spitting and he was using the internet to his advantage and he was just working in a way that was just unconventional. It had never been seen. He was leveraging his social media before social media was a thing. And I just, I admired him so much. So when I finally got to work with him and I sold it out in the city, like it was just meaningful to me. It wasn't the most attentive event. It definitely didn't make me the most money, but it meant more to me than that. You know what I'm saying? Shout out to Camille, you know what I mean? Like I say, man, every time I met him, every time I seen him, he acknowledged E-CEO, but it was really just he at the time. And he's just a dope dude all together. And he was sharp as hell. And you know what, I talked about August 6th, I got the show coming up and I got three, six mafia Camille and there's actually on the show as well. And he, here's another exclusive. Da, da, da. That's him! Give it up, man. He told everybody at the Houston Rodeo from what I was told and what was communicated to me that August 6th is gonna be his last show ever. Wow. Because he doesn't do shows anymore. No, he doesn't do shows. So when I announced him, people were going crazy. Like how the fuck did you get Camille in there? I'm like, he likes me, I guess. I don't know, you know what I mean? Wow. And that's the last show. Yeah, but his last solo show was in Fort Worth with me in 2015. He did a few spot dates, but- But it wasn't like that. He hadn't done a solo show. This one, you know, he agreed to do it and I really don't know why he agreed to do it, but he's on the August 6th show. All right, yeah, I'm gonna try to get him in again. Here we go again. I'm trying to get that nigga over here, man. The show. Who else is on here? I got 36 bar for you. I got a, you know, me being, you know, Latin, obviously I wanted to have a Latin presence on the show. So I have G.T. Garza. I don't know if you guys are familiar with the Netflix show Rhythm and Flow, but the runner up on that show is named Flawless Real Talk. He's on the show as well. Little Flip. Tum Tum actually is gonna be on the show as well. Shout out to Little Flip and Tum Tum. I mean, any text is native, you know. I get excited, you know. I'm gonna brush my shoulders up, you know. You can't believe any of these cats from out of state that come in this town and call themselves, you know, doing all this stuff that they're doing. And I ain't gonna call them names, you know, but they know who they are. You know what I'm saying? But hey, man. So I seen you with the Joe Budden and that whole, you know, before they broke up, you know. Yeah, yeah, they broke up. And you was up there with them before they broke up. Was you the reason they broke up? Yeah, absolutely. Okay, I knew that. I knew it was exclusive. You're the boss, Tum. How did you even know with those guys? No, man. Man, I owe a lot to them guys. To be honest with you, like, I'm actually, they're gonna be in town the first week of May as well, too, so. They ain't even niggas, man. The white guy that you so caught up with, cause y'all, I figured that. No, man. I'm just mellowing like that. So when I left, I left doing events for a long time. So you were rocking with them for real, for real? Like on the show with them? I wasn't on the show. I wasn't on the show. What it was, was that I went a long period of time where I left doing live events after my kids were born and I just went and worked a nine to five cause that's what society makes you think you need to do. So I did what I thought society wanted me to do. So for five years, I worked a retail job and I was away from doing live music. I would do it in spots, but I wasn't doing it full time. The very first event I decided to come back with was I booked Joe Buttin as a rapper. And when I booked him as a rapper, I enjoyed his music, which a lot of people don't really, they're not up on his music like that. I thought he was dope. So I booked him as an artist, not really realizing that he was starting the podcast journey. And I established, I got in early, I established a relationship with his manager. And to this day, the guy that was acting as his manager then is still a really close friend of mine. And we just formed a partnership and a friendship and a mentorship. So I've maintained a relationship with them. And so they've shouted me out several times on the podcast. Really? Yeah. And then in 2000 and I say 19, one of the guys that was on the podcast, I don't know how well you know it, but his name's Maul. I brought him out to Fort Worth and we did a masterclass for like podcasters and people that were aspiring to be podcasters. And he's actually the one we went out to eat in Fort Worth at Papadose. And he's the one who's like, you need to start a podcast. And two days later, I started my podcast. Dope man, dope. Those guys had a hell of a chemistry too while they were together. Yeah. I liked the chemistry of that podcast. And they, like I said, they ended up breaking up, didn't they? Yeah. But they, you know, they still cool though. Yeah, they got a new, like a new cast, I guess you would say, but like the core of the guys are still there, but I still have a relationship with those guys to this day. Those guys. So that, you know, I think that's one lesson to be learning all of this, you know, if you spend money and you do it right and you do good business, you know, you can become a repeat customer and eventually you could create real relationships. That's what I was going to ask you, how hard is it to create those real relationships? Is it just business and be like, yeah, it's done, or do you keep connections? I think it's based off of your intent, right? Like if you're going with the intent just to do the show, it'll be just the show. But if you're going with the intent to create a real relationship, you can leverage that for the rest of your life. And I feel like if you do good business, if you spend money one time, you never have to spend money with that person again. If you do it the right way. That's true. And I think a classic case of that was like Flip for a long time, you know, I did a show with Flip in 2008 and by the end of 2009, 2010 I was, you know, I was handling all his business affairs. I was taking care of all his digital distribution. I literally had all his information to where I could call the bank as little Flip. Cause I had his social, his idea, I had his fucking identity, but he trusted me. Right. You know what I'm saying? He never screwed him over. Never. Never had to. You know what I'm saying? Because at the end of the day. That's a good relationship. Because at that time, like I didn't, you know, you gotta remember when you're young and you're trying to break into the business you want to learn and you have the intention to really come in and last. Like that was my school. Like I went to the school of like Little Flip. I went to the school of like working with some of these guys early on. But to back to Joe Budden, he was the first artist I ever worked with. Like as far as like back whenever I started the new version of my promotion company. And those guys walked me into the agencies which was like, that's a really hard world to walk into. Cause you talk about, you know, the light skin complexion for the connection. Yeah, I'm that guy. You know, the complexion for the connection. Yeah, the complexion is for the connection a lot of times. Yeah, I believe if I was a little lighter than the guy I give more life, I would Joe Budden call him. Oh man. Oh man, Ballstar would have been and took off. But I'm a little too dark. So, you know, they got the brother over here, you know. And yeah, we got the setup and Ballstar 101 is a thing, but it's on its way. No, but I would say that, no, truth be told, like you, you know, across the region, you know, across these music venues, across the national agencies. Like there is a protocol on how this music game works on the live music side. There is absolutely no minorities in position. Like I've worked with all the general managers across town, like, you know, across the region, across Texas, and I've never seen a Mexican in position. I've never seen a black man in position. And it's hard because when you're talking about hip hop, right, and we're talking about the culture, like, how can people that aren't part of the culture identify with the culture, right? You know, so like it's foreign to them. And so they treat you as if it's foreign and it's very hard to break in. But in their mind, they hire people for the culture to deal with that part of it. They don't, they don't though, they don't. They legitimately are like people that have no knowledge of this, you know what I'm saying? And they're, they're banking on people that they, they, they grow relationships with as time goes on. But it's very difficult to break in in that sense. So if it wasn't for Joe Budden and his team, if it wasn't maybe for like Chino, Excel and Immortal Technique, these guys at Royce the Five-Nine that walked me in, like I don't know that I would have been anywhere, you know what I'm saying? A lot of people will be like, well, you'll hear certain promoters, right? They're like, oh, you know, I know the managers and I know this person, I know that person, but that shit is fucking limited. And the people that are doing it, like mom and pop independent without agencies, they cap out at a certain point. And, and you know, and when you talk about working with like the bigger artists and you start talking about working with like national recording acts that are current, like you have to go through the protocol. Yeah. And you have to create those relations. He was reading 50 cent new book and he even said that, I can't remember exactly what situation, but he had to be walked into a room, although he was 50 cent, but into a certain type of room that wasn't even a hip hop when he was going into business with other people. I think at some point you do, if that's what you're aiming for, if that's what your goal is, I think you can control the narrative to your happiness. A lot of people are trying to get to certain levels, but at the end of the day, I think you can do whatever God permits you to do. I don't want to, you know, bust your bubble, but there are no rules when it comes down to, you know, we walk in purpose again. Let me say that. Yeah, no. So I don't think, yeah, they can hold you back. People can hold you back, but when you mentally know who you are and you have self-awareness, you achieve goals that other people wouldn't have even imagined in your mind, to be honest with you. Yeah. I know what you're saying, I get it, but I don't even want to be in some of those rooms, I know, I feel what you're saying, but I'm talking more so like, let's look at it from this standpoint, there's a stigma that comes with hip-hop. Right. The very first time I ever walked into a room, I'm talking about 2002, I was 17 years old, I walk into the Ridgley Theater in Fort Worth, and God bless their souls. I don't think they're alive anymore, but Richard and Westie that owned the Ridgley Theater, I walked in and I tell them, hey, I want to do a hip-hop show. I didn't know anything. I'm 17 years old, super ambitious. I'm walking in with a CD, like, look, I do music, I don't want to do a show. And they hit me with the most outrageous quote, like, oh, it's going to be $5,000 to rent a room, it's going to have, you're going to have to have 12 police officers and this, that, and the third, because in their mind, they're two older, elderly white people that associate hip-hop with, fuck the police, NWA. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they think it's about to be, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. The fucking 80s all over again. And it's not that, you know, like hip-hop comes in different shapesites and forms, you know what I'm saying? So like, it was really like, when I was prepared pretty early on for that, you know what I mean? So that's at 17. So as I got older, I was already used to being, like having to prove myself and being rejected and, you know, knowing that like, y'all motherfuckers don't get this. Like, y'all don't understand this world at all. You know what I mean? So like, I don't, you're right. I control my own narrative. Like, if I have to work with the regional artists to work my way into working with the national artists, I'm going to do it. And I'm going to do it at a high level and I'm going to continue to do it. Even if certain people come along, because there's been a lot of people that have come in and out of this game, right? And I'm a firm believer that you come in the way that, you leave the way you come in. You come in fast, you leave fast, right? So there's a lot of people that get D-Boy money. They get D-Boy investors. They come in, they do a big show and then they think that they're winning and then they go away because they were just here for the lick. They're not here for the long-term. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's never been my goal. You know what I'm saying? My goal is to be here long-term for as long as I can be here. That's Move Vega, man. It's Move Vega just showed us how I supposed to be doing. Yeah, this ended up being a captivating interview. I can see it. I know already it's going to be a good one. Yeah, all right. You did a good job, man. I appreciate it. I'm going to ask you one more question, man. Top three artists of all time, dead or alive. Or top three promoters. Top three promoters? Yeah, I don't know. I'm going to answer that. I'm going to answer that. He's not here like that. I'm going to answer that. I'm going to answer this. I'm going to answer this. I'm going to answer this. I'm going to answer this. Tupac. Okay, number two. Number two, Scarface. Man, he's the same as Elton, nigga. Let's go with the third. I'm going to see that. Don't even say Drake. I'm going to get him to walk about this. No, it wasn't Drake, he said. What did he say? I'll tell you. All ice cube. Nah, man, I know exactly what it was. Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg. That's dope. I like it. So now answer mine. Vince McMahon. Dead or Alive. Vince McMahon. Okay. Number one, Vince McMahon. Number two, Bob Aaron, Box and Top Rank. Number three, whoo, that's a good one. I'm going to probably stick with Promoter. I'm going to say Elhaman. I don't know anybody. That's dope. That's dope. Why Vince McMahon? He revolutionized live entertainment. He'd think about it even now. You put it into perspective. He's my biggest business influence, right? He introduced Pay Per View to the world. In terms of live events, you know, at one point they were running 200 live events a year and they were averaging an attendance of like 6,600. So he was banking, you know, and not only that, but to be able to be doing this for as long as he's done it, you know, he started wrestling in 1984, 85, and it's 2022. And they're about to do AT&T stadium at, what, like in a week and a half, you know what I mean? So to see what he's been able to do with what he's been given a work with, it's fucking, it's unbelievable. He's a self-made billionaire. And the way he did it was by betting on himself. You know what I'm saying? I've studied this story long enough. Super dope. You know what I'm saying? Wow. Man, thank you so much for coming on the show, man. We love you, bro. No, I appreciate you, man. Love, thank you. Love, thank you. Hey, man, the way we bring you in, I don't care where else you go, nigga. This is the one. We the one regardless of what you think. No. We the one, you know what I'm saying? Right? Yes, sir. When you with somebody, they know you the one. I gotta convince them, I really don't care what you think, really. No, I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much, man. No, thank you for coming, man. I appreciate it. I hope this ain't the last time. And anytime you rockin' out and you want to put something out, man, know that we over here, bro. And we definitely, we here for the people, right? And we'll put out your event dates. August 6th. August 6th. August 6th, be ready, man. August 6th, why are you here? Covillainary. I got you tickets. But you got one in May. I'ma get your tickets, man. You got one in May, too. The one in May is actually, so I act as an agent sometimes, where I'll basically, I'll book talent for promoters and my friend is promoting an event and I got a project pack coming for him. So. Oh, man. So, hey. I'm in there. Let me in. You got to let me in here, man. I'm in the gym. Bro, I got you. Bro, you insane, man. We got you, man. I guess I asked you the one more question because it keep coming to me. How was it meeting Nipsey Hussle? I met him on occasions in Vegas. How was it for you when you met him and just, what did that mean to you? I mean, at the time, I don't know that I realized the magnitude of what it would become. Cause I booked, I met him prior to the tour then during the tour. And then after the tour, the last appearance he made was a month before he passed in Dallas. It was. And I booked his after party at that nightclub near downtown. Okay. But I established a working relationship with his team. Okay. And even after he passed, we talked about the podcast, his manager, actually the first interview that he did after his passing was with me and he hadn't done anything in reference to Nipsey, but being around him was unique. And I just remember like, this guy reminds me so much of like Snoop. You know what I'm saying? And I think Snoop's like, he's transcended, obviously, right? You know, he just said like the Super Bowl. So like being around him was very, like now I look back on it, it was an experience. Yeah, I didn't, when I met him, he was, he was after, I think it was after, no, it was before he slapped the old boy. On the BET awards. Oh yeah, what did you meet him at? I met him in Vegas at the Palms Hotel. Oh really? Yeah, me and him were just booking in and I meet a lot of people like that. But at the end of the day, it was just a time where, cause he owned a store, we went to a store too and all that. Do you want me to tell you what? The thing that stood out to me, two things that stood out to me that I always tell people is that one, at my event, I was the promoter. And you know, as a promoter, you know, I play various roles, but I also have people that are assisting me, people that are runners, runners are essentially people that go and go get the water, go get this, go get that, they bring them, bring them, bring them. And I noticed that there was someone that was working for me at the time and they were doing all the work. Like they were doing all that, like running around. And at the end of the promotion, Nipsey and him exchanged contacts and he followed the guy that was running around. He didn't follow me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He followed him, but I know why because he saw him busting his ass off and I thought that was really cool. And then the last time that I had ever seen him, Gio, who happens to be the program director, at K-104, he was at the after party, he walks in and he made it a point to like go out of his way to say hi to him. Now, mind you, the very first time I met him, he had an industry mixer that he was doing in every market. And these industry markers were only, these industry like mixers were only for influencers. So it'd be like only podcasters, DJs, radio station, people that were like influencers in the market. And he threw a party for them at Topgolf. He did it in multiple cities, but he did it in Dallas. So I noticed like just the way he moved rather than put a marketing money in a radio campaign, he was put in marketing money, going directly to the people that influenced the people. Okay. You know what I'm saying? And he valued those people and those are the people that were his allies. And I saw that just in the way he moved instantly. Wow. Hey man, look out, man. Hey man, like I said, it's a dope show, man. A lot of relationship that you build, man, the things that, the way that you moved in your purpose, man, loved it. Can't wait till we do this again. For sure. Thank you for coming on Boss Talk 101. Absolutely man, thank you. And you really deserve to be in that seat where the boss is talking. You know what I'm saying? How about you, boy, man? It's been another great segment of Boss Talk 101. And we have.