0:00 So, I saw you on uh David's podcast recently. >> Traitor. >> Yeah, traitor. >> How could you, dude? >> And I saw that you were uh you got you were talking about like leaving the gang and all that ████ right? But I don't think you ever talked about what started that thought in your mind where you're like motivated to be a crime boss and then all of a sudden you're like skrrt, maybe I should be a square. >> [laughter] >> Damn, dude. You think you're a square, bro? >> I like those words from skrrt, maybe I should be a square. >> You do got kind of like a square head. >> Yeah, like what was that that even started the thought and then what was the process of like leaving and ████ >> Well, yeah, that's pretty deep, actually. I think what started the process
0:50 was So, as you guys know, I got kicked out of bunch of schools. So, the the sad part of that is you have to remake friends every two or three years. So, every two to three years you go to a new school, you have a new best friend, you have your new clique, and then you do something stupid, so you have to go to another side of town that no one knows who you are, you restart that process over and over again. And you don't have those like childhood friends. Like, "Oh, this is my buddy since second grade or whatever." So, I remember by the time I got into middle school, I would everyone is clicked the ████ up, everyone's been friends since kindergarten, and I have nowhere to fit in. And then um what the the main cliques that you could like funnel yourself into is either uh little thugs, little skaters, little break dancers,
1:42 um or little magic cards people. That was like my school. And I I didn't really fit I didn't really fit in magic cards people. I don't even know how to play that ████ And then um >> You and Steve would have been in there. >> your squad? I sucked at skating. If I would have been good at skating, that would have been so good. I sucked at skating. And then Oh yeah, and then there's like the There's always the scholastic people. I wish I was did good at school, but but I never did good at school, so I could even be preppy if I wanted to. >> [laughter] >> And then so it was just And then I tried breakdancing, but Filipinos are too ████ good. There is no way you're >> Another ethnic group is too good, so I'll stop. >> Right. Took me out of the game. >> Made you retire. >> It's Olympics or bust. >> [laughter] >> When you see a guy try a flare for the first time and they land it, and then you secretly been doing it doing like 30 of them at night and you land zero,
2:33 you're like, that's not for me. >> Yeah. >> Cuz he's Filipino. >> You know what's so uniquely Southern California millennial though? Is that like it's like magic card nerd, basketball athlete, or criminal. >> Like [laughter] you're >> That's actually one of the groups >> Yeah. >> that is you can consider >> Yeah, obviously I played magic cards to stay away from the gang life, Joe. >> Yeah. >> Or it would have got you, bro. It would have got you, bro. >> And now here I am, your employee. >> But you know how ████ weird that is if you think about it? Like that's one of the options of a squad that you can join in high school. >> Bro, now an option of a squad is ████ broccoli hair TikTok boys. >> That's a new one. >> That's sick. >> Come on, it's not I don't think we're reinventing the wheel that hard here. >> Yeah, so mine was Those are my categories. So it just led to be either
3:25 And then if you're not in one of the categories, you have nobody to protect you either, so you're going to get bullied. So if I'm going to get bullied anyways, then now fighting is the way, so I have to be >> So be the [clears throat] bully. >> I have to be in this group, right? >> The most unbullyable. >> So I don't have to be uh Yeah, so I'm just trying to like this is the group that I gravitate towards. I still didn't really make too many friends in middle school cuz I kept getting into trouble. Like I didn't go to eighth grade promotion. Uh everyone that got to do the Disneyland eighth grade trip, I stayed back with a bunch of other rejects. Usually like pregnant moms or whatever, and we have to be in one room while everyone is off doing Disneyland. >> [snorts and laughter] >> What's so funny? You know those those eighth grade or sixth grade trips? >> Yes, but like we don't know the other side of it because we were participating in the trip. >> Yeah, so I
4:15 >> So no, that's interesting to know what was going on in that room. >> me, it's me it's me, uh, and like maybe 15 other kids in a room and we have to spend all day there cuz we couldn't go to Disneyland. And it's the most ridiculous room cuz you have the pregnant moms, and then you have the cholo, you have the other Asian thug guy that got kicked out of every single school. This is the last one left. And then there's me forced wearing the school uniform cuz then no one wears a school uniform, but only I have to wear it cuz my dad forced [laughter] me. So it's like I'm not even gangbanging or anything. I'm just like this odd-fitting kid. So that didn't work out. We finally go into, uh, high school and now like I'm starting to know people a little bit more and, uh, that's when I was like, "You know what? Let me just fully embrace this since I'm already kind of like a rascal and I kind
5:06 of more mischievous, let me fully embrace this cuz obviously these guys seem to take me in." And I'm down. Like I'm down to fight whenever, I'm down to do whatever. But the whole time the the conscious in my heart is like, "You're a bad boy, man. Why you doing the bad boy stuff? You hang out with bad boy people, smoke bad boy cigarettes." And it's like >> [laughter] >> so it was always like this like, "Why you so bad boy?" But then I'm like, "But you know, the good boys don't want to be my friends or whatever." And then from that you start doing a bunch of stuff that like is just peer pressure ████ you know, like you you fight, then you start stealing, then you rob houses, then you ████ rumble with people, and And just you're just fully in the lifestyle. Then you have the camaraderie. This is ████ cool. We're ████ badass or whatever. And then when I finally got kicked out of Cerritos High School, that's when like
5:56 you come face to face with your conscience and you're like Man, I told you that bad boy stuff going to leave you in no leave you nowhere. >> That's your angel? >> Yeah. >> You got a Cantonese ████ JJ's waiter as your ████ angel? >> Yeah, so I'm like man, I know. I know. >> On your shoulder. >> man, I know you're so ████ right. This ████ bad boy life not for me. And it was convenient because at that same time um a bunch of us all got kicked out of school together. And so the it was easy for the gang to disband. And I so word on the street is one of the other homies got sent back to China. Another one, I don't even know where where. And then that was when my dad was telling my mom like hey, maybe he should could try living with me because he's grown up in Cerritos this whole time, hasn't had a good life. Maybe he could have like a change of scenery. And my mom was down and I was
6:48 down. So I moved in with my dad. But that's what was like starting at Keppel was when I was like okay, no more listening to bad boys. Try to do well. But then I found out about E and that was so hard to to give up. >> Cuz I bet your head is like at least I'm not robbing houses. I'm just doing drugs. >> I'm spreading love. >> Yeah. >> And I'm having a good time and I'm yeah, I'm not robbing houses. I'm not doing like violent criminal things besides selling ecstasy. >> And how old were you at this point? >> Um 16. >> 16. Even though we know about the 19-year-old fight that you and Joe did in that one spot. >> That's not bad boy. That's brotherhood. >> Even though we know about like the selling the selling of the dildos during college time. >> That's later. >> That's later. That's entrepreneur. That's entrepreneurship. >> Okay, got it. I just want to
7:39 understand the timeline is all for my own. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I'm >> Helpful. >> I'm I'm a like color outside of the box type of guy understand but I'm trying to >> I think you're color off the page onto the ████ table on the floor is going to >> I was trying to find a way to fit it. But yeah, but that was like >> your mom brought you a marker and a piece of paper and then came back and suddenly there's ████ on the ceiling. >> to this man. I I sold drugs to stop doing drugs and that was my gateway out of drugs. >> Did you have a angel too though? You have a angel telling [clears throat] you what? >> ████ no. I had two devils. >> Oh ████ >> I don't have no angels like you. I knew what I was doing was right. >> [laughter] >> It was right for me. >> Oh my goodness. Okay, so Joe asking about like you knowing and finding that feeling to like walk away
8:29 from like the the the gang life. >> I kind of always knew, yeah, cuz of the bad boy. >> But the thing is like you were in like a gang. Did you have to get like >> I jumped in, yeah. >> How? >> Yeah, yeah. No, I didn't have to get jumped out cuz everyone everyone left. Everyone got kicked out. And then so >> Everybody got deported. >> Cuz I feel like that must be especially for based off the romanticized versions of gang stories. And I so I talked about this on I think David's podcast maybe. >> Traitor. >> But the part that I was so ████ relieved is my dialos owned a PC bong place in Hacienda Heights. And after I was out and I was trying to be a good boy, I did one last job with them cuz they needed my help. And when I came back to visit maybe a year after that PC bong was shot the
9:21 ████ up. Bullets everywhere through the monitors. >> You came back and the monitors still had bullet holes were there. Nobody cleaned up. >> It wasn't cleaned up. It was dead like bullet holes through the desk, monitors, whatever. I don't know what happened to any of them. And then uh >> Damn. >> This other I saw uh a gang that was tatted over that I always thought in my mind were ████ but I was like, "Oh ████ maybe they're really tough now. I don't know." Or they just got shot up and then by one gang and another gang came and tagged it up. But I was like, "Thank god I was out of that life like many years ago cuz that could have been us." Cuz we hung out there every day. >> Damn. >> Yeah. It's on Colima. So, it's like a very known street. >> Yeah, that's a busy area. >> Busy ████ street. So, it was crazy. >> These are bad boys, honestly. >> Counter-Strike. Playing it real life in
10:12 and online. >> [laughter] >> Was there a crime Was there Was there a crime you committed where it kind of almost snapped you out of it, but you were like, "Nah, this is too sick." And you went right back in. Was there one that made you like kind of question your choices a little bit? >> Um it wasn't the crime. Cuz like I think you're always balancing bad boy and adrenaline rush. >> Mhm. >> And adrenaline And when you're a like a ████ kid, the adrenaline rush feels so good. It feels like you're living in a movie. So, it over shadowed shadows the the bad boy, right? It's like watching porno. Like you're like, "Bad boy, what are you doing?" >> committing crimes at that age. I was like, "This is sick." >> Yeah. >> I remember my homie in the Bay, he was just like not in like full-on gang, but he was just running around with some bad dudes, you know, just like house robbing and stealing stuff. And then one day he got put in the position where he had to hold the 2x4. And if somebody was to come out, he had to hit them. And then uh it turns out the person who was like in the house or coming out was
11:02 like an old lady. And so he didn't hit her, obviously, but like that was the turning point for him. >> He was like, "I could have hit this chick." >> Yeah, but like that was his job, right? Technically, if somebody, you know, was like you're covering for your boy who's like inside the house robbing or somebody >> So, in the last job we did, someone needed we Our whole gang we only had one gun. Uh amongst the kids. So, amongst the kids, someone needed to hold a gun to hold this guy up. And this other guy in our group, his name's David, he's ████ crazy. He volunteered to grab the gun to hold the guy up. And if anything happens I'm going to blast them. That's when I knew that's definitely not for me. Cuz I remember being like 15 or 16 seeing like a handgun for the first time and I don't want to show it. Good thing my pants were baggy, but I was shaking inside the pants. >> Yeah, for real. >> Yeah, cuz I was like, "Oh, f███." >> Cuz that's what I mean is like >> Yeah. >> when you're a kid and you're a boy like that, everyone dabbles in crime.
11:52 >> Yeah. >> Like boys boys will be boys. But everyone has a threshold. I remember my threshold was like we egged someone's house and I was like, "I feel really guilty about that." >> [laughter] >> I don't think I'm ever going to do that again. I'm never doing this. This is bad. I feel terrible. I just feel so bad for doing that. We threw like TP'd someone's house and I was like, "I don't think I'm going to do this again." >> But then [laughter] you see my homie David, he just grabs a gun. Oh, hell yeah, like I'm going to I'm going to do it. And then I'm just like, "What the" He's like, "Joe, he has two rights. >> [laughter] >> He has two devils." I'm like, "That's not me, dude. That's not me." I'm like, "After this, I got to be done done done. This is crazy." >> Let's know in the comments. >> [laughter] >> What are your favorite crimes? >> Which favorite gang story of Bart is yours? Cuz I know you guys heard a lot of >> Who are you? Magic the Gathering or
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