 Check it, check it, check it, this is Unique Hustler, it's your boy, E.C.O. and I'm here with the lovely official, Mr. Mako, what's going on? Hey man, save man. This guy right here, man, we had him on the show when we was in Cali, man, but hey, man, he come to visit me here in Texas, man. Hey, man, I got my boy, man, Melbourne Farmers in the building, man. Hey, man, what's going on? Man, it's just good to have you, man. Good to sit down again, man. Yeah, it really is. What you been up to, man? Oh, man, you know how we do it. We just sit in the corner trying to get back to the community and help our community and our people and our race and just doing what we do, man. Man, so you know, man, I know you just got in, but Texas weather compared to California, what's the difference, man? Well, during the day it's humid and then that night it gets pretty nippy. So I found that out last night. So the weather can change. You get all four seasons here. We only get a little hot and it's warm, then a little bit of cold. You didn't seen our snow as well, huh? Yes, sir. What do you think about it, still? That snow came once in the blue moon in Texas. You were lucky enough to be here. Yes, I was blessed enough to be here and got stuck three or four or five days. That was during, what was that, Valentine's weekend that occurred. People here haven't seen that in decades. Yeah, well, about a decade. Don't try to say decades. One decade. We get it every nine days. So, man, just so I always say, man, so far as I always go back to the youth with me, man, what is the plan? How do we gain control over getting our youth to understand what we stand is trying to make things better in today's society? Well, as far as the inner cities, these pockets of poverty that Obama called them or rat infested as Trump called them, Baltimore, at the end of the day, I think it's three areas that need to be addressed to where you have a captive audience of youths. That's parks and recreations, the juvenile justice system, and the schools, unified school districts. Because you got, it's phases that you go through, 13, 14, 15, you saw in your old 16, 17, 18, in this game, you're starting to get a little money. Then as it goes, you start going to jail, the penitentiary yard or the graveyard, usually at the end of the day. And you have to create a dialogue amongst older, cast-worn factions to where these youths that are at the lower level, junior high, high school, they'll be able not to see this image where to be ingrained in them, because we have in Los Angeles a generational wealth of hate and revenge, and that doesn't die easily. So those wounds does not heal. Family member that's lost a loved one never will be at peace. And they love one that's gone when the holidays and this and that. So at the end of the day, this nation needs some healing. Wow. Nation definitely needs some healing, man. But we talk about the different ways of how we can heal, the different ways of how to bring the different gangs, the different people together, because at the end of the day, especially as us Black folks, we're all Black people. So they create all of these different categories to cause division among us. And how can we not think about that and just look at you as, okay, you're my brother. You know what I mean? I should love you because you're my brother. How can we work together? Just like, and I always go back to this, I saw in the paper about the group of fathers, I think it was in Louisiana because they were having a lot of fights and killings in the school. And these men got up and said, you know what, let's get and come into the school. Let's have a presence in the school because as fathers, we are fathers to show some of these kids what a positive father looks like. Because some kids don't know that, don't know even what a father really looks like because they were raised by a single mom. So just to have that influence in their life. So how can more men get up and do that or more women get up and do for females? Well, speaking of fathers, November 21st at the Anilato Stadium, we'll be hosting a fathers in hip hop award show where we're trying to educate that community and others across the nation about the role of a father, an absentee father, to where they'll be saying how hip hop has influenced and created a culture to where we must start this decimating information to these youths where they see another image. Because this ain't 48 hours in this street where it ends and it's over with. This stuff continues daily on a constant basis. But once again, we can sit and talk about it all we want on social media, audio video or print any way you want to do it. But at the end of the day, unless you can get those that are in opposition to create dialogue. That's the role that I can play. I don't have all the sense. And you know, if we all come together and we formulate our deal and we got a plan, I think things can change to where once they see the power that we have, because number one investment is us, yourself, your community, where you grew up. You don't have no outside investment, but all the time we'll have people speaking on inner city problems that have no vested interest in the subject that they're speaking on. And I'm glad you said that. I was listening last night. I listened to Vlad and I listened to No Jumper 22, Adam 22, who have big platforms in California. And all night and she heard, you know, I was listening at that last night. And the thing that stuck out to me the most was how much they spoke on all of the killings and it was mostly all of it was black people. Everything that was going on in the black culture, the black community, they were speaking on it because they had been on a show. Either somebody got arrested after they left the show, or either they got killed when they left the show, you know, just after they left that show. And how much does going on these platforms, like mine and everything, how does that, it brings awareness to it, but does it really help? Well, as far as bringing awareness, but once again, life imitates art. And these youths cannot see down the line, like for me, it took me 60, 50 years to learn the choices in life right from wrong. But when you're out there in them streets, and this is they see that stay only way out, they're not looking at the adversities involved in getting away. You're trying to particularly in the hip hop game to where everything seems to be a hatred smear and slandering. And the only thing stronger than a man's pride is a mother's love. And it's just sad that we as a race are hurting each other at this alarming rate. Wow, you know, and just since here recently here in Texas, I know y'all and I was going to ask Marvis, but I'm going to ask you, man, Travis Scott, man, we had a tragic deal to happen out in Houston, where this whole concert was going on. And they ended up blaming him for these situations that happened, the deaths that were going on. And it's crazy how that happened. But I look at I look at that and then I look at I even look at Jason Aldean and what when the people got killed up there in Las Vegas. And I'm like, was the same with the same narrative be for Jason Aldean and country music as it would be for, you know, for Travis Scott in Houston, Texas. A little insight on Travis Scott, because he got canceled from the weekend in Las Vegas. I've seen that. Right. But earlier this morning, I heard from my nephew, Joey Badass, who will be performing tonight out there. And they had asked me what's out there to come. And security is real tight. But we also have a video prior to the whatever trampling or whatever the outburst where the people that were injured and condolences to those family members that lost their loved ones and God's healing grace for those that are in the hospital. Because like I say, I don't like to see no parent or somebody hurt. But at the end of the day, a lot of times you're getting castrated by the media and they look for a way to take you down. But they have video where the young man had Travis Scott allegedly had stopped the show to ask to help somebody pride to that way seeing somebody injured. And one thing about the law. And when we go to this, you got negligence, not intent. If this man didn't know what occurred there for he went to a after party from my information, he didn't know nothing about it. So he's not aware of what happened. He cannot be held accountable. No more different than when Trump, they try to say Trump had a march up on Washington. That's a good good. But then nothing happened to him. Yeah. See, those with money get justice. And then it's just us. Wow. I like that, man. So that that that was just one. What about and then the school shooting, right? The kid that took a gun to school and here in Texas again. And he was being bullied at school or whatnot. And then they had to fight a brawl. And then all of a sudden he came out his bag and shot the other kid, right? And the teacher was graced. Why does this anger come from Melvin? But a lot of times it would go a little bit deeper than that. Not only the bullying, he's probably seeing his parent getting abused. Wow. And all type of violence and abuse at the end of the day all come to he probably see more abuse than what he's just taken from being bullied at school. But also why you bring a bully in that school? Why is it when these youths get bullied in school, cannot go and get an education? What is the difference in 1965 during the civil rights era when they wouldn't allow you to get an education segregation? And they fought for these youths, high school colleges for blacks to go to school. But now because of the culture and the terrain within these communities, these youths are not being given a chance to grow. And it starts from the fruit of the poisonous tree. They can't help the environment they am. We can't blame them for the conditions they am. We need to be builders, not destroyers. So at the end of the day, I just think the youths need to be able to communicate and show that we care about them and show them a different way and create jobs for them. Opportunities because it's nine days staying in prison and they self in LA. You can't go 10 blocks in any direction without a rival gang. I was going to ask about that because that's something that we we have sectioned off places here. You have like Pleasant Grove. You have Oak Cliff. You have different places here where people don't go to certain areas because of they don't deal with the people in those areas. But you guys are a little bit different. You guys are so it's stretches from street to street block to block. Every 10 blocks, you have a different on the west side. Our demographics are 20s, the 30s, the 40s, the Van As Boys, the Black Peat Stones, 59 brims in the 50s, the Rolling Sixties, A-Trade Gangsters, Hoover's, Inglewood families, Underground Block, Raymond, 111, Payback. You got just a litany of my organizations. My wife had asked you last time about structure, right? And I see, I always see 55 Crip, Crip Mac. I see them a lot. I know you don't watch social media, but at the end of the day, the neighborhoods, do they have any structure within that neighborhood that deal with each other because of the neighborhood that they've been in for so many years? Is there any structure? Well, I'm going to put it like this. I'm not going to speak on other gangs. I can just tell you the difference between a street gang. A street gang has no structure to where a prison gang has structure, a chain of command, sergeants, general, lieutenants, torpedoes, one man, say something, everybody go. But when it comes to Crips and Bloods, these are street gangs. So there's no one supreme leader. You just have hundreds of groups of men that basically draw their own laws and buy laws. So there's no structure and there's a divide. But the difference when I came into this gang in 1971, we were united as a whole. Then and starting in 79, 81 when Big Rick got killed that really separated and divide. So a lot of times our dialogues won't be the same if you sit next to me. I come from there where everybody was united as well as in them when they were divided to where it was other ones that came later on. They come in basically worn with each other. Wow. Wow. So yeah. So when is the next I know you get you always in you in that pretty much into what's going on when it comes down to really being about what can make a change in the community. What's the next function that you guys I think you told me you just said it was one, but how do you guys know when something's about to happen to try to help to promote positivity in the communities throughout California? Well, usually it's something that'll be on a national level. Okay. Uh, uh, uh, like we fit to go into Charleston, white later on. Yeah. Yeah. And what we do as a credible messenger, uh, our job and mission is to restorative justice and redefining communities the way as we stand for our people and we, uh, speak and represent our community as well as serve in our community. But more importantly, we try to help the citizens get a better quality of life that we sigh in these communities. Wow. So on that level, uh, we went to Columbus, Ohio, which is a bail weather state. If you do not win a Columbus, Ohio, you do not become president. Simple as that. So we matched with the mayor and, uh, this was up on the credible message messenger. Me and I told him Marvin are the first to ever be certified west of the Mississippi ever. So a lot of times we take up national issues or try to bring awareness to simmer things down to where we try to give you a, uh, a different point of view and then make people sit back and think and then make your decisions. But also to bring out the truth, because we have so many, uh, uh, eight off Twitter's on the internets to where they'll be given out this false propaganda. And that's why it's so important about the show that you hope it allow us, uh, the chance to speak to where a lot of times our voices wouldn't be heard because we're silenced by others. So it's very important that we have a platform because one thing that I know cannot exist and it won't exist falsehoods and truth could never just coexist on a conversation. And that's why you're having so much war on this internet. I watched what the internet can do when they had the hundred days, hundred nights in LA 2015 and, uh, they said they're going to kill a black every day from outside of town and back in verse. And it was one of the most despicable display of disregard for human life I ever seen in my life. Wow. Wow. But how true is it that, um, change can begin from at home more than anywhere else? Because when I think about changing the kids, it starts with the kids, first of all, but to me, it would start with the younger kids, the ones that haven't gotten out there in the gangs and on the streets and all of that, because you can easily mold their thinking process, show them a way out easier than someone who's already out on the street in a gang and be like, who are you to tell me? No, I look up to this person. I don't look up to you. You know what I mean? So wouldn't it be easier to go to those homes to send something out there to send somebody out there? Because it's not even paperwork because it's easier for someone to receive something if they're looking at you face to face and talking to you face to face. So going to these homes and sitting down with some people and say, Hey, this is what we can do to create a better future for, you know, your child or for you. Yes. And that comes with programs and funding. So they go back to the local elected officials in your community. Because if you see and notice in these communities that are having problems, they're usually in the same area. And it's usually local elected officials where they've been practicing nepotism within the political world. But they always ask me, Melbourne, doing your life and the things you live. What was one of the most important things that you did wrong? And I always say, I didn't listen to my mama. I didn't listen to my mama. I remember when you said that. But when I went to jail over these 37 years, not one minute have my mama not been with me. Wow. So a lot of times you idolize a king. But I idolize God. I don't choose a king from the streets. Man will take your life. But as I sit here today as a testimony, God will give you a new life. Wow. That's great, man. Just the thing I look at every time we get to talk and sit down, man, it's just the fact of the wisdom and the things that you've been through, you know, like I said, you can't you couldn't erode it out. You don't, you know what I mean? To do the time that you done spent, you know, incarcerated and to be able to be here to talk about it today. That's something that's totally extraordinary. You know what I mean? So I definitely appreciate you for coming on the platform because people need to see and hear because that's when they can relate. But without it, they can't. You know what I mean? To hear your story and to hear what you are trying to accomplish in the communities with the youth and with the people who are willing to listen, right? That's the that's the good part about it. You know, a lot of them not willing to listen. You can't save everybody. Can't save everybody, but you just can do whatever do your part. If each of us did our part and stayed in a lane. Exactly. But that's it. That'd be the problem in this game. They try to come in your lane and get up in their way. You wouldn't be doing that. It's just it's sad. Yeah. It's really, it's really sad at this day and time and age. But how much how much does this play a factor because then and this is just my mind is thinking you go into a community to make a change with the kids and so forth. But then whenever you have gangs or people who are looking at these younger kids knowing that I'm going to recruit them for my gang, but here you are trying to, you know, help them to tour to the tour, you not become my problem. Is that reality? That's reality. This is a game where when you make a mistake, you get killed. The same way you go say, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. They take it very personal. Wow. So very, very personal. Do you, you know, when you think about the just just the time that we're in the games that are being played, the technology that the video games I'm talking about, they sit all day now. It's not like it used to be. They don't go outside the, you know, we used to have a slingshot. You remember slingshot? I had a slingshot when I was a little boy and then I'd make one with a rubber band and stick to country. But we had we and we love doing stuff like that. I'm country. So I would climb trees and hang out and you know what I mean? Play wrestling after wrestling went off. You know what I mean? Play basketball after basketball went off. Play football after football went off. We don't really see this a lot anymore like we used to. People are consumed by their environment of being in a house or on a video game and they refuse to even go out like that. The streetlights, you don't have to worry about them being out in the streetlights because they're somewhere in the house cooped up in a room playing a video game or, you know, basically that's about it for me. From what I see it with the youth, you know, so it's a lot different than what it used to be. But then at some point you see them because they've been playing with those those games with the guns on it. They end up making that a reality somewhere down the line. They know all the names of the gun before they even before before they even leave the house. Yeah. You know that, right? Yes. This this is what's on the game. And so how do you parent that? I mean, how do you help that? And then when you do get out and go to the schools or whatever you do hear about the games and the stuff that's going on. So you just mix it all up. It's a mix. You parent your kids by educating them of the consequences of, you know, certain actions that they take. And of course you cannot we can control our kids, but you can't always control your kids. They have to go to school. So when they leave their leave your house to go wherever you hope that's where they're going. And even when they go to school, they still do things in the school. So you can't always be there with them. You know, as parents, we always say, you know, pray for your kids. Always pray for your kids. Never. Because you can't that's the only person that can be there by their size 24 sevens. Right. Right. True. I mean, that's different than when you came up. Right. What? No video games, no, none of that. No, we had no video games, a bicycle, right. Four and eight track. They was doing drive-bys on a bicycle, man. I mean, yeah, different world. It was a whole different world. And you had a little bit more freedom. You had, if you played, I grew up playing sports. And we got away from it to make revenues because usually these like ABC market, Golden Bird chicken, boys market, these type of businesses used to support single families, low income families doing baseball season to where McDonald's would buy the uniforms. And they had a logo on there. You win. We'll go get a hamburger, French fries and Coke. That was at the Cardinals in 69. But we don't got away from that to where we have these parents and this video game. A lot of times these single parents, the video game has become the babysitter. Correct. And the teacher. And they don't pay attention to what they kids watching or doing. So cell phone raiser. The cell phone is like the new babysitter. They quiet. They ain't going nowhere. She can go or whoever. That's from a single parent. It replaced the pacifier. They quiet them. So that's that. And that's that's that's good to it's crazy, but it's so true. You know what I mean? It quiets them. It suits them. It suits them. And so let me ask you this because I wanted to ask you this because I didn't get to ask you last time. When took it took it Williams when he passed, were you locked up during that time when he was you know when when where were you at? When took it was on this last two weeks, his lawyers, Barbara Becknell, this other lady out of Richmond or something because I knew about the case. So I had to fill out an affidavit because I had some newly discovered evidence where they wanted to hear my side of my testimony on the sworn affidavit. So once they closed the prison down on the Sunday and shut down to where after the visiting was on a Sunday, it ended at about three five o'clock. They called me up into the visiting room to talk to his attorneys and fill out the affidavit. So now that was on a Sunday took he got executed that Wednesday. Okay. So once I filled out the affidavit and they left immediately I had a gate pass at that time they took that took me off and made it where I couldn't work no more and didn't give me place me up under pretty strict restrictions. So we're waiting on the decision from the Supreme Court. You had the option of the governor signing a clemency or you had the Supreme Court which could overturn the conviction on what we had filed because you also had some white guys that were in high power with him that had testified that when he said certain things he was high on drugs and this now they were recanning. So you had three affidavits I believe and then one of them was mines and unfortunately they they I think they aired in my affidavit which could have spared this life and I think that's where the error occurred. Wow. So and yeah man I so and I knew that you so how what was the atmosphere like because you would you were locked up during this time? Yeah. What was the atmosphere like after they executed uh Tukey? Well uh prior to them executing Tukey what happens is they lock everybody down 24 hours before an execution because you got to remember uh they just had started back very few people have been executed in fact Tukey uh in 2005 I believe has been basically almost the last one to be uh executed in the state of California but in other states they do but uh at that time it was like it wasn't no like the tension in its media grabbing in its talk because you're talking uh where Tukey had been gone since 1979 uh when he was arrested so that's 21 and about five so Tukey had been gone 26 years so uh it's an attitude that you have in prison on him uh yours to where uh it was understood but not accepted and uh if it wasn't going to be no moves on the police behind it no retaliation uh it just was a sad thing but also treachery evil who wrote the books with him a diesel and a Johnny uh that are still on death row they locked them up for eight years in solitary confinement behind Tukey execution to where they had to do a hunger strike uh to get off those conditions uh that was set forth behind Tukey's execution. Wow so when I think because I remember during that time Snoop Dogg was uh really you know in the media trying to press for change of course um when you think about Snoop Dogg and all the times that he's been uh pushing the Crip narrative uh what type of influence did they have on gang culture in California? Well Snoop is just one of many in an era that has uh influence on the gang culture he's been around he's a veteran see the west coast is not the same as the east coast where they spit knowledge we've got a different uh uh mentality and the way our get down is in the state of California nobody does it like California particularly when it comes to this banging many emulate but until you come to the land the Comptons the Long Beach uh and these areas uh that are uh infested with these uh community influencers then you'll get a real taste what this game is all about and I promise you I promise you you ain't gonna want to come back so when it comes to Snoop it's been a lot of influences uh uh starting back with NWA uh uh who I was ice cube ice cube but nobody's been more influential to me than Michael Conception okay as far as coming from and I know you say that yeah I grew up with Mike yeah when he was walking in there when he got out watched him I was part of grand jury records when they first uh started him Fred uh uh uh hot dog uh uh and this other boy uh Steve Goods took he was married to his sister Michelle at the time that he was done and Mike does a lot good in the community and back door through a lot of mediary works when these artists or things occur to where it has to be handled privately big you uh he's in the game now whack so a lot of these guys have had influence but a lot of times they not they people exploit this culture for financial gain yeah it just kind of threw me off like even with Nipsey Hussle and I know we spoke briefly about him last time but for somebody that was in the same game and I don't know if he was in the same I don't know the whole gamut of it but to be in the same uh to be a Crip and Killer Crip was it's just beyond me I at first but would it be in so many different names and streets and I could see how it happened but it's just a tragic thing to see that happen like that especially in front of his store which me and my wife visited and I said I don't know if I said that last time but we visited that store because it's like our store we that was when I would go to California I would go to Nipsey store as you come in here you see why because I did the same thing I've been there 15 years so when me and my wife would go up there we would go by there you know what I mean and so when that happened that day to see him I've had people to say stuff to me and this in this same parking lot over the years and I wouldn't say certain things because I knew that what I say whole weights because they know they look at you like oh you think you somebody because you're a business owner so certain ways I wouldn't say things I would I would you know I've told you that and we've done this a many days I would turn it down because I didn't want the it's like an amplified thing when I say something versus when just a regular guy out there say something yes sir you know what I mean yes sir so I think that's the uh I think that's the whole the whole um the thing that stuck out the most for me because everybody when they deal with something like that it's going to affect them in a different way right a lot of people can't say that they spoke with Nipsey I actually spoke with him I actually spoke to his daddy I spoke to his brother you know when I went when I went I'm just telling you and we take pictures I didn't even put them up but I got them but it just threw me off for that to happen like it did with someone in the same you know game and don't know the area they lived in but I do know they happen to be on that same parking lot that day how does that happen do that happen often that Crips kill Crips well yeah Crips kill Crips ma'am I said when I come in we were united yeah now they're divided and uh I got a saying that uh any race will kill us because of the color of our skin but blacks only get at blacks because of the areas that they stay in wow over 50 years of this now they're strangers to each other these youths 14 up to 2022 they've never been able to uh come together to create dialogue to know if they like each other or whatever male or female or whatever so over this time and we're in this same little area and once again I told you every 10 blocks you have a different clip a different set so and I mean these border lines are like crossing over in the bay route Afghanistan you might can wear a t-hat on this side of that door once you cross on that other side of that door I don't think you're gonna make it two blocks when wow wow wow so man I didn't help them longer than what I post to but I just enjoy talking to you man ain't gonna lie to you I don't know man I thank god you know any people you know what I mean yes I know he did he did me a deal with you you know and I feel the same way I'm being real I come to Cali tomorrow you call me I promise you're coming you know I'm calling if you ask me now to get back walking I'll be here next Christmas walking so thank you so much man if it's something we can do together like I say we have clothing store if it's a kid in need or something you know because you know a lot of people and I know you plugged in in every way give us an opportunity to help if we have to send a case of shoes if we have to send some you know some clothes or whatever to help somebody we always got that door but that's why we've been here so why aren't we at a give a plug we're gonna have a turkey giveaway also uh at father's a hip hop uh award show uh the 21st of uh November at the Adolanto stadium in Adolanto California uh we have busy bone we have uh uh uh uh justified from uh uh Lynch mob we got uh freeway rick we got barbecue we got cornell ward we got melvin farmer we got barefoot pookie uh we got uh terry uh ice cube man share we got ice cube ice tea ice tea yeah ice cube ice tea ice tea loads you got some ice yeah so uh if you like to donate uh some turkeys or something we we're trying to get up to 500 uh to give the community or come on out and you can support by buying tickets and coming to the award show and they also have a premiere of a documentary uh called uh world epidemic uh where they're addressing senseless gun violence across uh the united states and other places so it's gonna be exciting fun wow man and what day is that November 21st November 21 we're gonna be in atl but yeah i'm gonna call out there mess with him try to get me i'm on my they cash out now you can cash out i don't have one so i love it you don't even mess with none of that stuff i don't know where no cash hey man hey melvin man we love you brother all right i love y'all thank you so much for coming on the show man thank you for having me man hey man god bless everybody hey it's been another great segment of boss talk 101 we ain't out eo man