0:00 Are we washed up YouTubers that's never reached legend status? Because I always thought that we were kind of OG's in the game and maybe I was on my high horse. But when they had the freaking Mr. Beast games and we NOT EVEN IN THERE, I WAS LIKE, MAN, they didn't even invite us, dude. >> What was the It was supposed to be YouTube only YouTubers. >> All the old school OG YouTube. And you know what? I even checked all of our spam like old emails if we got invited or not. >> [laughter] >> I'm telling you, me and Bar used to get mad cuz we're like, they never want us to be a part of the Asian Excellence ████ gold house, any of that. And I realized they're just emailing the other email that [laughter] that's our fault. We have a booking email. You guys don't check. >> Yep. And then we get so many opportunities with people that wanted to
0:51 collab and spend money on us. And we >> Why don't they just DM us like regular human beings? Well, I we also got DMs, but we never check our DMs. So, that whole hidden section probably has a >> Do you check my DMs? >> No. I remember when Ryan started doing social media, he said he just checked all the DM. >> No, my DMs. The JK DMs hadn't been answered for like years. >> For years. Yeah. No, he's right. He's right. >> So many missed opportunities. But check this out. Okay. I was watching Tim's vlog. Pull this out. >> Boom. Tim's vlog. >> And I got hella nostalgic, man. >> Am I doing this with audio or no audio? Maybe just skip around. You ain't got to watch the whole vlog. >> Oh man, they look Wow, they look so successful and legendary. >> Vlog number 1190. Wow, this guy's dedicated. >> 1100. >> Wow. You can fast forward. We don't need to see his ████ face. >> Oh, wow. Jesus. Here we go,
1:43 >> dude. I batch ████ DTOR. >> These are OG YouTubers, dude. I felt like Oh, man. Like that would have been so cool. And he's eating spam. No one wants to hear you talk to him. Move on. >> It is a vlog. >> ████ out of all these people. Didn't he just get cancelled and ████ for whatever reason? He's at Beast Games. >> That's what I'm saying. Why the ████ did he go? I'm not No hate. I'm just saying. >> Yeah. No hate. But is that Santino? >> I remember when Fousey started. So if you're going to do OG, OG needs to mean OG. >> Yeah. [laughter] Hey, is that Hank Green or Steve? No, not uh Steve Green. Is that Steve Green? >> Yeah. >> Young Steve Green. >> Lame Steve Green, dude. Who's that guy?
2:35 >> Oh, Jesse. >> Oh, yeah. Okay. He's OG. Yeah. And then I ████ He ain't even OG, DUDE. WHO'S THAT? RICE GUM. >> OH, THAT'S NOT OG. >> Alex isn't even OG. >> Oh, no. It's Alec. Casey's not even OG. He's legend status legend, but he's not OG, though. >> They're all legends, though. >> Well, that's that's the thing. They didn't say they didn't say he brought 50 OGs. He said he brought like 50 legends. So, maybe you guys are OG, >> but we're not legends. I agree. I agree. We're not legends. >> They're sponsored by Motrin. Damn, that's pretty legendary. >> I need IB prof. >> Is that mystery guitar man? Where? >> Right there. >> That's not him. >> It's Mystery Guitar Man. Oh, it was it's from my side angle. Yeah, he's OG. >> He's OG. >> Rug.
3:25 >> But that's Face Clan. No. Who the ████ is Rug? [laughter] >> I think that's Faze Clan. >> Who the ████ is Rug? >> So, this isn't OG is legendary. I It's just like >> Who's that? >> I I recognize her, but I forgot her name. >> You're supposed to know all these people, man. >> We were not Okay. All I want to say though is we uh for being YouTubers, we weren't very good YouTubers. No, >> we never embraced the role of a YouTuber. >> In what way? >> So, like a lot of our friends, they loved being a YouTuber. They loved the title. They went to all the events. Um, we were like embarrassed that we succeeded on YouTube and we were judging ourselves while we enjoyed it. It was like it was like my teenage self was bullying me and going,
4:16 "You gay, bro. like why you so gay? You like with your friend making clown things on YouTube? And then so when they had these events, I was like, you know what? I'm going to change the game and we're going to go in with tank tops and dickies cuz we're not like others. It was the gayest ████ It was even more gay cuz we're like, we're different. We got to represent. So I'mma come in looking like um like a like a straight thug, but I'm not thugging anymore. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> It was so gay. And then we we went in there. >> You scared everybody away. >> Everyone's so nice. They all think we're batshit crazy, by the way. >> Yeah. >> David Tomy. So, everyone's hella nice. Asian, but also like Ryan Higgo wasn't there. Kev Jumbo, all the real goats weren't there. We didn't see no uh Wong Fu. They weren't there. But after I saw this, I was like, man, like looking
5:08 back, man, like why was I so gay? Like why didn't I just like full on just go with the YouTube flow? like why was I >> Do you feel like you pushed it away a little bit? >> I didn't embrace the role I was given. >> I didn't own being a YouTuber. >> Do you feel like you have regrets about it? >> Looking back, I think there was a lot of uh I think the first generation of YouTubers, like our friends, a lot of them did when we went to shows, like college shows, they're like telling the announcer, "Oh, can you not call me a YouTuber? Can you call me a musician? Can you call me a dancer?" Like, you remember this, right? We wanted to be presented as like the world famous comedians. We didn't want to be known as YouTubers, but the next gen, some of the guys on there, they wanted to be YouTubers. And I wish I had that kind of
5:58 like ownership of like I'm a ████ YouTuber. It was just it was also just so talked down in your subindustry, you know? Like uh I'm sure like like we were talking about at lunch like if you guys are doing comedy in the YouTube space, if they call you YouTuber, it just means that you weren't good enough to be a comedian, right? If I'm doing like dance in the YouTube space and you call me a YouTuber, that means I'm not good enough to be a dancer. I just happen to be YouTubing with dancer. Like OG's in the dance game, seeing us do like YouTubers be like, "What is this s███?" Because they weren't doing it wasn't like the culture that they crafted and like were a part of. And it's easy to do every single generation and iteration of it. But like to his point, I I totally understand and agree. I remember that era just being like being called a YouTuber came with a negative connotation to your respective field. YouTube was purgatory. It was a stepping
6:50 stone. So like Justin Bieber la, it's a launch pad, right? Childish Gambino like a lot of like when he was Donald Glover um doing skits like it was kind of like it was a launch pad to go into mainstream. when you were mainstream, that's when you're like, "Okay, you got a TV show, you got whatever." And then when we started pitching for TV shows and we were like, "Wait, you only got five grand for this pilot budget? Like, we ████ that on a short, bro." And then we're like, "Wait, why?" I was having this like conflict of like this is supposed to be like the goal and then like the official thing, but like I'm making way more money on digital and I control the fan base. So I had my own like internal thing of like I want to do this big stuff like movies and like
7:41 Hollywood but like also it just felt like a facade almost like they're pumping their numbers up like they're super popular and yeah they work with bigger budgets but the money is actually super by the time we get in there it was already super tight. So like unless you're Tom Cruz, like you can't on the internet, you could still be millionaires, but unless you like get up there, bro, it was like not a real chance. So I was like, "Oh s███." Like everyone's idolizing Hollywood and these big stars at the time and thinking that that's where that's what's legitimate. And then I saw the future. I was like, "Oh, digital is going to be actually bigger." Like the personalities on digital is going to be way bigger than Hollywood. And then like that time came, but then um I couldn't take ownership in
8:33 being like I'm a YouTube star and I want to be number one. Like it was so weird to me that feeling. Yeah. I think it was also scary at that time cuz it was so unknown too. So it was kind I think because the feelings that I felt at that time was like I think my two biggest insecurities was one no one knew what YouTube was. So if you told people I would tell people peeper [laughter] >> oh peeper >> told people you're a YouTuber the first thing they go is like oh so you got like cats dancing on pianos and stuff. I'm like no it's not that right cuz it's like they associate with what they watch >> so they think you're that and oh no no I'm not that. So it was easier to just say oh we do comedy and then they'll go oh like standup or like sketch. Oh more like sketch like in Living Color. So, it
9:24 was easier for me to get my point across. So, I think that was my first my first uh insecurity is like um instead of helping people correct their vision, I just didn't want to be related to what they thought a YouTuber was. >> And then the second one was um it was such an unknown space. I feel like it was almost like like UFC when it first started where if you told people you're MMA fighter like, "Oh, what is that?" Like human ████ fighting. like I didn't even know how to go into this space and really own this space. So, it felt it felt so weird. So, like VidCon, Playlist Live, all those things, it just felt like more mystery, more mystery, more mystery. I don't know what's happening. There's people like walking around with a talking parrot on their shoulder. It was just like so ████ crazy that I didn't quite know how to navigate it
10:15 compared to like the traditional realm. So, it was so hard to own. >> Yeah. No, you're right. Cuz Hollywood there was it was like traditional school in terms of like the stepping stones. You get your agent, you do your auditions, you land a show. >> There was like a path. You're not an entrepreneur basically, but like in YouTube, not only do you not have mentors, you are creating as you go. Like we built all the systems, we're just sharing information with other YouTubers of how do you like build a team and like how do you script out a story, whatever it is. And then um looking back though, I miss that creativi like I think the creativity and then like that was the forefront and money was like the business was to support my lifestyle for a lot of people. Like right now it's all about
11:06 the cash. right now it's like what's the quickest way to like make a make that bag like lowest cost way like streaming's pretty big and I think people are being creative in their own way but I think the energy and invention now they're like building their creativity is building upon a foundation and I think ours was like blank canvas creativity and I ████ miss that dude >> for sure blank canvas creativity was like, I don't know if we'll ever get that back, right? Because like we were we've we've been the generation that lived and defined the social media revolution. There's I'm sure there's going to be new iterations and stuff like that, but like there's only going to be so many new iterations. Nothing's going to be as groundbreaking as like
11:57 YouTube and Instagram and like Twitter, you know? Like it it I could stand corrected and we all get sucked into a brand new social media. >> Could be. >> There could be for sure. >> But it hasn't been so far. >> Reading something or seeing something still or processing something in video. That's basically the most that we can do with like the technology and hardware we have. It's like we got to be a part of the beginning which also meant every mistake. >> Yeah. >> As well, >> but like we got to be at the beginning of it and and be a part of the blank canvas. Anything else after that is going to be uh our next billionaire is going to be some kid from like Uganda looking at Mr. Beast and be like I want to do YouTube videos and like he's he's going to do it. >> Yeah. It's like building upon a different like a foundation, right? Like Ho Gracie like basically built UFC with
12:47 his branding and everything, but like he wasn't the top money maker. Like he didn't I don't think he reaped the fruits of his labor. >> Yeah, he did. >> You're talking about the Hollywood stuff. Like we just saw Obsession, right? That basically broke $230 million on a $750,000 budget. But the the whole controversial conversation, which is it's again, it's so funny to scrutinize an anomaly when this is the system that's completely in place, but what you got like the art director that got less than $7,000 for the whole movie. And the argument is like, well, somebody put up the money when nobody was making money. So it's like when you sign on to do a job, you do your job and that's it. like whether it flop. If it flops and makes zero money, it's not like you got to pay your money back. >> So, it makes So, there's an argument there. But at the same time, when you're going from $750,000 to $230 million and you hear rumors that the main actor, the indie actor, the girl made like 20
13:38 grand, you know, it's like there's room there's room to say, "Wow." But what if the movie made nothing? >> Yeah. >> Yep. Absolutely. >> Would anybody say anything? You know what I'm saying? >> The launching pad of all their careers. Whereas though if it was like a YouTube project hypothetically, what that's that's the blank canvas we got to run with. You didn't know you're going to make $15 on a on a project, >> but you take on all the risk cuz the YouTube >> But you also know sometimes if if like an extra $5,000 came in from it, like that was your 5,000 to play with. >> So it was it was a different riskreward era. But the the truth of this entire video is that no, you're you're just not a legend, Joe. >> I was asking you to run it around YouTube, [laughter] too. Let us know in the comments. Are we legends, dude? [laughter] Are we ████ legends?
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