Druski: They're Lying To You About Overnight Success!

0:00A lot of my friends that I grew up with

0:02were going to jail or ended up dead or

0:04shot in the streets. So, I [music] fell

0:06victim to doing illegal stuff. But it

0:07was the moment that we got arm robbed

0:10where I have a gun to my head now. And

0:12once I saw the barrel of that gun being

0:15pointed at me, that was the moment I

0:17noticed, okay, if I survive this, I'm

0:19going to become a comedian or die

0:22trying.

0:24[screaming]

0:26My comedy comes from that place of a

0:29healing, wanting to make our situation

0:31better at home. Like one time I watched

0:33my brother get beat for wetting the bed.

0:35It was a lot. So I would always try to

0:37step in to try to be like a coping

0:39mechanism for him. Maybe it's my mom. So

0:41I knew I was funny. I knew I was very

0:43entertaining. But it didn't hit me until

0:45like college. And I started to figure

0:46out, okay, wow, all the people I look up

0:48to are all like comedic legends and I

0:50feel more connected to them than

0:52anything I've ever felt in my life. That

0:54is my purpose. So, I left college. I

0:56went home. I wrote all these goals down

0:58on the sheet of paper. Now, I'm locked

1:00in. I have no other option. I'm sitting

1:02here in a room, no mattress. My car got

1:04repossessed. I actually made that like a

1:06content piece. But I feared nothing

1:08because I'm like, I have nothing left.

1:10But I knew I'm like, I'm going to keep

1:11going. I'm going to continue to keep

1:13pursuing, making videos. Boom, boom,

1:14boom, boom, boom. And then the thing

1:16that changed my life was Drake calling

1:18for the laugh now cry later music video.

1:20Everything shifted after that.

1:22Interesting. I had this crazy story

1:23[music] that they accidentally sent you

1:25Jim K's money. No, that they sent an

1:27email showing how much he would be

1:29getting paid for that hour. People are

1:31saying it was in the region of insane. I

1:33hope he didn't see mine cuz that would

1:35have been a little bit embarrassing.

1:36>> And then in March, you did a skip and it

1:38did hundreds of millions of views and

1:39then it sounded like Trump did ask to

1:41sue you.

1:42>> I don't know if that's true. I'm not

1:43looking to get sued by nobody. I'm not

1:45looking forward to

1:46>> Who is he talking about?

1:47>> Uh

1:50before this episode starts, I have a

1:51small favor to ask you. Two months ago,

1:5261% of the people that watch this

1:54channel weren't subscribed. We're now

1:56down to 58%. My goal is 50%. So, if

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2:08guests and the production. Thank you and

2:10enjoy this episode. [music]

2:14Trusky, I I really believe that to

2:16understand somebody somebody who is an

2:18anomaly, and you very much are an

2:20anomaly, you first have to sort of

2:21understand their earliest context. And I

2:23went through all of these old photos of

2:24you as a as a young boy.

2:27>> Um to try and build some of that context

2:29in my in my own head. Um

2:31>> Sure.

2:32>> What is it that most people might not

2:34know about that earliest context that's

2:35most informative to sort of who you are

2:37today?

2:38>> What remains?

2:40>> I still literally feel like this little

2:42boy in all these pictures. It's like I

2:43see these moments and it reminds me of

2:46how free I was able to be as a kid. And

2:49I wanted to be so much. And my mom and

2:53my grandparents, they always supported

2:54me being just open and free and having

2:57this. What is that right there?

2:59>> That was uh your dad and your brother.

3:01>> Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My dad and my

3:02brother right here for sure. Even

3:04looking at these pictures, I had no idea

3:05around this time who I was going to

3:07become. This is this is dope. How did

3:09you get these pictures by the way?

3:10[laughter] Where did you find all this?

3:12till my mom send you these.

3:16>> I was looking through some of the the

3:18videos that your parents recorded of you

3:21at that time.

3:22>> And you've got like

3:27[laughter]

3:30>> it's hard.

3:32>> Do you have any more questions about me?

3:34>> About your teacher and how you doing at

3:36school?

3:38>> Great.

3:40build. I was just

3:43>> That's me in character right there.

3:45That's literally in character.

3:47>> So, she would put on these these

3:51camcorders to let me be free. So, that

3:54was like my outlet to be able to do

3:56these characters and and and be myself,

3:59you know?

4:01>> Yeah. Yeah. I have multiple videos. I

4:03know you probably got more. There's one

4:05of me in a in a diaper like rapping.

4:07[laughter]

4:08That's another crazy

4:09>> I was in church. This was last week.

4:14>> Yeah, that's my cousin Bri.

4:28>> Oh my god.

4:29>> What did you come up with? Those those

4:30balls.

4:31>> Nah, it just [laughter]

4:33that's the beginning of Could have been

4:34records, right?

4:36Nah, th those are the moments, you know,

4:38we used to put on these performances for

4:40my family and I'm just grateful that we

4:43were able to be ourselves and and and I

4:47was able to be supported somewhere

4:49because you do get confused in these

4:52settings, sort of to say, you know, you

4:54look like you have something to say to

4:55that.

4:55>> You know, I've interviewed a lot of

4:56comedians and one of the [clears throat]

4:58things that I tend to find is that

4:59comedy is some sort of like tool. And

5:02when I spoke to Jimmy Carr or some of

5:04these other comedians that I've

5:04interviewed, they're always able to sort

5:06of understand in that early context

5:08how they were using that tool to often

5:11solve a problem that they had in that

5:13context. So I remember Jimmy saying to

5:14me, he goes, "You often think of

5:15comedians as being depressed, but

5:17actually for him it was a case of comedy

5:20was a way to help his mom who was

5:22depressed. It was like how he saw her

5:24smile."

5:24>> Yes.

5:25>> Was comedy for you at that age at tool?

5:27>> Very much so. Very much so. I I and I

5:30speak about my dad cuz he was one of

5:33those tough guys to deal with around

5:35that time. He wanted us to figure it out

5:36early and like my dad was like the lead

5:41person of pushing that narrative. My mom

5:44somewhat would do it but she would

5:45always try to tell him relax. It's you

5:48know he's still he's still a kid like

5:49he's I'm at the time like 8 n years old

5:51and my dad was like what do you want to

5:52do? Figure it out. You're either going

5:54to go to jail, you find a a craft or or

5:59you're going to end up in a warehouse or

6:00something. You got to figure out um

6:02whatever you're going to do, or you go

6:04to the military, get your ass blown off.

6:06And that was the only three [laughter]

6:07options.

6:10>> He said, "Get your ass."

6:11>> Yes. So, imagine me at like 8, nine

6:15years old. Those are my three options.

6:16Is school, find a trade, or you go to

6:19the military, get your ass blown off,

6:20cuz we're going back to war. He was

6:22always talking about we're going back to

6:23war. are we going back to war? And I'm

6:24like, what the Are we going to

6:26war? Like, so, so [laughter]

6:30early on, he pushed that he wanted me to

6:34figure it out. And he had great lessons,

6:36but his teaching skills was was very

6:41tough and physical. You know, he's old

6:44school. I'm sure you heard it before.

6:46He's very old school about his teachings

6:48and how he goes about doing it. So, he

6:49has a short temper. Immediately he asked

6:53he used to ask these rhetorical

6:54questions all the time of like he'll be

6:56like go get me a Phillips screwdriver

6:58and I'll go get a regular screwdriver.

6:59He's like this is not a Phillips

7:00screwdriver. Bam. Upside the head. Then

7:04my brother goes he's like I want you to

7:05go get me a Phillips screwdriver. My

7:08brother goes and get a hammer. The

7:12dumbest right and he would come

7:14back and bam upside the head. So that

7:17was like the immediate of teaching. It's

7:20not the best way of teaching.

7:22>> And [clears throat] from an early age, I

7:24learned that

7:26>> speaking to other people's fathers and

7:28parents, I learned that this is not a

7:30normal thing.

7:31>> And I didn't know that until we would go

7:33to like neighborhood parties and stuff

7:36and maybe my dad would be like, "Oh,

7:38these my boys right here." He'll reach

7:39out his hand and we'll flinch like that

7:40because it became a a normal thing for

7:43him to always lift up his hand like if

7:45we said the wrong thing. So, I wouldn't

7:49say that my comedy necessarily came from

7:52that, but it definitely came from like a

7:54healing, wanting to make our situation

7:57better at home. It's not like we we

7:59don't come from a like a broke home. I

8:02ain't going to say we wasn't a broken We

8:03were a broken home. We weren't a broke

8:05home.

8:06>> My dad was a airline pilot for United

8:08Airlines for entirely my whole younger

8:11life. Um, my mom worked for the CDC.

8:14Very two good jobs. Um, my mom was

8:17always home. My dad would travel in and

8:18out. But I think what I wanted to do and

8:23my personality as a kid was always to

8:26make the family smile. No matter through

8:29all this stuff that we're going through

8:30and these teachings being too far

8:33sometimes or maybe this ass whooping was

8:36too much, the ass whooping went too far

8:38because I don't got I'm not going to get

8:40into details on here, but we had some

8:42ass whoopers in the house that went too

8:44far. Um, but yeah, I think I I I feel

8:47like my comedy comes from that place of

8:50I never tend to punch down. I like to

8:54find the funny but also the good side of

8:58funny and not look at the negative for

9:02my type of comedy. I can find a negative

9:04situation and bring the funny out of it

9:05for both sides, me and the other person.

9:09>> So, I I guess as a child, very

9:11perceptive children, you you're you're

9:13on edge a little bit then. For sure.

9:15>> And it's funny cuz I remember sitting

9:16with Gab Mate and him telling me how

9:18kids that have an early context where

9:20they are they have to be a little bit

9:21more

9:22>> um aware.

9:23>> Yeah.

9:24>> They often become very good at

9:26observation.

9:27>> Yes.

9:28>> And they very they become good

9:29therapists. They become the most

9:31empathetic.

9:32>> They also sometimes have struggles with

9:34mental health because being

9:36hypervigilant or being aware comes at a

9:38cost. It's not free. For all the

9:40upsides, there's always a downside.

9:41>> Does any of that resonate? 1,00%, man.

9:45And I think sadly in my brother's case,

9:47that went a negative direction. He was

9:51diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar

9:54disorder as we continued to go through

9:56puberty and got older. Whereas for me, I

10:00feel like I might have found a coping

10:01mechanism with comedy and maybe he never

10:04found that coping mechanism from that

10:08trauma. And I feel like trauma can

10:10sometimes give you the the good route or

10:13the negative route. And I feel like a

10:15lot of that going on in our house early

10:17on may have played a role in him being

10:20diagnosed with that. And yeah, that's

10:21the that's the sad side of the story.

10:23But yeah, I I even with him like I think

10:27early on I would always try to make him

10:30laugh because I knew we were in a

10:33up situation. One time I watched my

10:35brother get beat for wetting the bed and

10:37it was the simplest thing and I couldn't

10:39understand. I was like why is he like

10:41like getting beat this bad? It was very

10:44far very not the normal belt type thing.

10:46It was very very far. So I would always

10:49try to step in either after or during

10:52these moments to try to be like a coping

10:54mechanism for him or like maybe it's my

10:57mom and and he's arguing with her and

11:00they're getting physical as well. So, I

11:01would always try to be, oh, the funny

11:03guy, maybe at the dinner after or maybe

11:06after the next day goes by and I'm

11:09trying to lift everybody's vibe up. Um,

11:12so you watched your mother get hit as

11:14well.

11:14>> For sure. For sure. For sure. Not not

11:17physically hit, but I've seen different

11:19things of like the choking and, you

11:21know, pushing her out the door and then

11:23locking the door and then I got to go

11:26and be the one staring at her at the

11:28door and she's like, "Open it." And he's

11:29like, "You better not open that door."

11:30and I'm in between a rock and a hard

11:33place trying to figure out do I open

11:35this door with my mom or is he going to

11:37come? So I it it was a lot of different

11:40situations of

11:42trying to figure it out at a very young

11:44age and and and it started so young that

11:46I some back to some things are kind of

11:49blurry for me. But I do know that my

11:52comedy comes from that comforting type

11:56of space. I can read a room and and

11:58sense any type of danger. I can read a

12:00room and sense any type of happiness,

12:02sadness, anything in any situation.

12:04Somebody could be mentally ill, somebody

12:06can be physically hurt, somebody could

12:07be anything. And I always have been a

12:09good judge of character as well. So I

12:12feel like that has helped me in my

12:13career for sure.

12:14>> There's two things I wanted to add to

12:15that. Part of the reason I noticed this,

12:17obviously I've sat here 700 times or

12:18something doing these interview and

12:20you're one of the first people to stop

12:21mid conversation as you were speaking

12:24and say,

12:24>> "You look like you had something to say

12:26there, Steve."

12:27>> Yeah.

12:27>> Because you were looking at my face.

12:28Yeah, I can read.

12:29>> People don't usually do that.

12:31[clears throat]

12:32>> So, it's funny cuz I meet some people

12:34who are much more aware of me.

12:37>> You know, some people there are just

12:38talking and they're giving their answers

12:39to my questions. And then there's this

12:40other very rare group of people, often

12:42comedians, who I almost feel like I'm

12:44speaking to them even when I'm just sat

12:45here thinking because they're like hyper

12:47aware in that sense. And you just did

12:49that to me. So, I thought, "Oh, he is

12:50super super aware."

12:51>> Which kind of correlates to everything,

12:53you know, you were saying there.

12:53>> For sure. For sure.

12:54>> But it always comes at a cost.

12:56>> Yes, I agree.

12:57>> All gifts do. I sat with um I think it

12:59was Michael Jordan's trainer

13:01>> um who also then trained Kobe and he

13:03said to me, he goes, "Our dark sides are

13:05linked to our light sides." So the

13:06things people clap for are inherently

13:08linked to the re the things that we then

13:10struggle with.

13:11>> Yeah.

13:12>> That that's true for yourself. I'm

13:13presuming

13:14>> very true. And I think through life I've

13:16learned that not all teachers have the

13:21best way of teaching, which I speak on

13:23his lessons. like he had many of lessons

13:26that were really good and on the

13:27positive side of life where I had to

13:30eventually come to

13:32>> sources and just tell myself like wow

13:34like I cannot look for more success and

13:38look for the light at the end of the

13:39tunnel without forgiving any and

13:42everything in my past and that came with

13:45having to forgive my father in my head

13:47and also to him face to face of like

13:50it's all we just let it all go And I

13:54think that helped me continue to move

13:56forward and h not have any grudges.

13:58Grudges can really hold a lot of weight

13:59on you. Maybe his mother was abusive to

14:02him or um his upbringing was in a

14:05different type of area in the world

14:07where it's like northeast DC, very

14:11trauma

14:12neighborhood that's very like, you know,

14:14a negative place to grow up in. And he's

14:17from like the project buildings of that.

14:19But yeah, I I think the lessons he had

14:22were very good. He always talked about

14:24not halfassing anything. If you're going

14:26to do something, do it all the way. If

14:27you're going to mop the floor, don't

14:30just do this side of it. Do it like

14:31this. If you're going to clean the

14:33dishes, do all the dishes. Don't just

14:35don't half ass rinse it and then put it

14:38in there. But his lessons would be over

14:40the top. He's going to break the dishes

14:42if you do it. He's going to throw it up

14:43in the air and watch it crash on the

14:45ground and then he's yelling to the

14:47highest he could yell and it's just so

14:50there used to be a lot, you know, and I

14:52think it it almost like

14:55you know people talk about you like how

14:58can I be broken if I've already been

15:01broken

15:02at an early age? And I and I kind of

15:04feel that way like people like oh it's

15:06not too much of a burden on you in your

15:07career. It's not too much. I'm like, how

15:09could I be broken if I feel like I've

15:12already gone to my furthest extent? I I

15:14I I can only continue to push myself to

15:17higher levels because I I feel like I've

15:18gone through everything that could be

15:20the worst possible situation at least in

15:22my brain.

15:23>> Yeah.

15:24>> But yeah, he had very good lessons and

15:26and always had quotes and sayings on

15:28things like I actually have to bring it

15:31up. It it's but it's confusing because

15:33at a at a at an early age I had no idea.

15:36Oh, okay. It only takes one. Wo I

15:39really this up to negate 10 attab

15:41boys. I have no idea. Still to this day,

15:44I get confused. But I understood. Let me

15:46tell you when I understood that. I

15:48understood that as life went on and I

15:52started to notice a lot of my friends

15:54that I grew up with and the area I grew

15:56up in were going to jail or falsely

16:00being accused of things or

16:03ended up being dead or shot in the

16:05streets. And like we seen a lot of that

16:06stuff cuz I I come from a neighborhood

16:08where it's this suburb, but it also had

16:11a mixture of the real Atlanta in there

16:13as well. But yeah, so these things were

16:16very confusing to me early on. But as I

16:19continued to grow in life, every single

16:22lesson that he had taught me and that he

16:24had told and talked about and constantly

16:27over over again spoke on it started to

16:31come back to me in my later years of

16:33life. And I began to grow an

16:35appreciation for it

16:38after I forgave him for, you know, all

16:42these, you know, past trauma situations

16:44and everything that happened. But yeah,

16:46>> and when you say forgive, are you do you

16:48have a good relationship with him now?

16:49>> Yes. Very, very good.

16:51>> For sure. [clears throat]

16:52Um, yeah. And I think you just you in

16:55anything in life, you have to move on

16:58from things and

17:01continue to push. I think you can you

17:03can never grow to do great things

17:05without looking back and being like,

17:07"Okay, I have to close the door on this.

17:09I cannot hold this grudge." Cuz if you

17:12hold a grudge, you got to think about

17:13what a grudge is. A grudge is on you as

17:15a burden. That's a burden to everything.

17:18It's not just physical. It's a mental

17:21thing that can really rot people's brain

17:23out. It's a thing. I'm sure you

17:25probably, you know,

17:25>> of course. Yeah. But a lot of people

17:27think of forgiveness as

17:30letting them win or justification

17:32>> or they feel like a loser because, oh,

17:34I'm not going to forgive them for that.

17:35I'm never I'm hold that grudge to the

17:37death. It's like, yo, you're not helping

17:39yourself. That's actually a a you thing.

17:41That has nothing to do with them or what

17:44they did. If you if you hold on to that,

17:46that's a forever thing for you.

17:48>> And uh one of the things that will give

17:50you is great resilience, I imagine. Um

17:52and you talked about it there. You said,

17:53"How can anything break me when I've

17:54already been broken to the fullest

17:55extent?"

17:56>> Again, with that comes a set of issues

17:58you contend with as an adult. I mean, I

17:59experienced it myself, which is you if

18:02if my parents were quite um there wasn't

18:04a lot of love between them.

18:06>> So, I I one of the lessons I inherited

18:08was that relationships look like this

18:11and this isn't necessarily a great thing

18:13that I want,

18:14>> right?

18:14>> So, I swerved relationships at every

18:16opportunity I was presented. I'd pursue

18:18people and then the minute they turned

18:19to me and said, "You want to be in a

18:20relationship?" I was like, "Too much."

18:21Yeah, [laughter] I was like too much.

18:22Yeah, I've seen this before. This is I'm

18:25getting away from this now. I know where

18:26this goes. I know what you mean. I I I

18:28deal with that as well for sure. I know

18:30exactly what you mean.

18:31>> Yeah.

18:32>> Have you Have you you've experienced

18:33that yourself as well?

18:35>> Yes. I I feel like I continuously have

18:39grown a relationship with women

18:42in a way where I feel like I almost get

18:45scared with getting too close. kind of

18:47like how you explain because of maybe I

18:51haven't seen the successful

18:55home of two parents or people in a

18:58relationship. Yeah. Maybe I haven't seen

19:00it with my own two eyes to work. And I

19:03feel like that kind of does hinder me a

19:06little bit because it it it does come in

19:08between

19:10when I I feel these feelings for this

19:13girl and I almost jump back immediately

19:17as soon as they're like, "No, no, I

19:18don't trust it because I know what this

19:20comes with." And they're like, "Yo, what

19:22do you what do you mean? We never we

19:23didn't even get a chance to fully." And

19:26I don't know. It's it's a natural mind

19:30thing that happens to me and I still to

19:32this day I have no idea if you want to

19:34be my [laughter]

19:35my doctor for this. No, no. I just I'm

19:38just hypothe I have no idea why. I feel

19:40like that has something to do with it.

19:42Maybe I haven't seen it in a way that's

19:43healthy

19:45>> and that might be the reason why. But I

19:46still that's a that's a question that I

19:49need answered.

19:50>> If I spoke to someone that you were in a

19:51relationship with and I said to them,

19:52"Is Drew affectionate?"

19:56>> You laughing. [laughter] You know the

19:58answer. You start

20:01>> No, no, no. I I feel like they they

20:03would tell you that I am until I'm not.

20:06And I I eventually [laughter] just I

20:08just pull out like I I pull back. I like

20:10I almost feel

20:11>> once I I get too close, I can't trust

20:14it.

20:16>> It's just It's almost like a magnet when

20:17you reverse it on the other side. It's

20:19like when it comes too close, it starts

20:20to repel itself. That's how I feel when

20:22it comes to me getting more and more

20:25closer with the female. Yeah.

20:26>> Mhm. [clears throat] That makes sense. I

20:27think that's what I experienced up until

20:29I was about 27 years old.

20:30>> Sure. And

20:31>> but I'm 31 still experience.

20:33>> Yeah, [laughter]

20:34this ain't about that. It ain't about

20:35that.

20:35>> YOU GOT TO FIND A WIFE. You have to find

20:37a wife. You have to find a wife.

20:40>> No, it it'll happen. It'll happen.

20:42>> Does it does it matter increasingly as

20:44you become more successful to you? Do do

20:45you think more about it and as you go?

20:46>> It's just it's hard to trust after you

20:49become

20:51I think when you're when you when you're

20:53kind of successful at the beginning.

20:55It's not hard to trust. You're just

20:56like, "Yo, she likes me for me, but also

21:00she can still like me for this celebrity

21:04I am." And kind of 50/50. But as you

21:07become more and more successful, you

21:09have this doubt in your mind like this

21:11could absolutely be her in love with

21:13just Duski and not Drew at all.

21:15>> Is that just a convenient excuse for the

21:17whole avoidant?

21:18>> No, no, no. I'm I'm serious. I I I

21:20promise. Like it's it's a question in

21:22every superstar's mind. I guarantee you

21:25even with when they are with somebody

21:28fully they still have a question in the

21:31back of their mind. Does this person

21:33just love the superstar of me?

21:35>> That's so interesting. And it does

21:37bother somebody who is super successful

21:40because

21:42you see all these people will scream and

21:44and chase you and you have a show or

21:47maybe a meet and greet and you see how

21:48people react to you or you go on the

21:50street and you almost want you want to

21:53believe that this person that you're

21:55dating also is genuine like how these

21:58fans are like, "Yo, okay, maybe she just

22:00loves me for me. Maybe this is uh not

22:03kind of like how the fans are just

22:04loving me for that." You want her to

22:06believe that this is the same type of

22:08real thing. But it's hard to believe

22:10after you see all of this stuff. You

22:12only know me for that. You didn't meet

22:14me when I was just at home living with

22:18my mom, broke on the sofa. [laughter]

22:21You know what I'm saying? Like, you

22:22didn't see the real side of who I

22:25actually am.

22:26>> You know, if you get what I'm saying.

22:28You see the You see the new personality.

22:30>> Mhm.

22:30>> Sort of say. Yeah.

22:33>> It's tough. stuff out here, man. Could

22:35have been love.

22:36>> Could have been love.

22:38>> So, you go off um you go off to college

22:40and you um you last was it two semesters

22:44before you dropped out?

22:45>> Yeah. No, I I I I started at a at a a a

22:50school that was in Gwynette County where

22:52I grew up.

22:52>> Mhm.

22:53>> So, I spent like a year and then another

22:55half of a semester there and I got my

22:58enough credits to transfer.

23:00>> Mhm.

23:00>> Because I was like, "Okay, I've got to

23:02get out of here like I know my life is

23:05bigger than this. And also at the time I

23:07wasn't thinking, oh, I want to be a

23:08superstar. I was just thinking I wanted

23:10a real college experience. I wanted to

23:13go to a 4-year college. I didn't have

23:15the grades to do it in high school and

23:16go straight there. I want to find a way

23:18to do it in college. So, I think when I

23:21went to Georgia Southern as the school

23:23following that, I just wanted to find

23:26the college ecosystem of like what's the

23:28vibe here? Oh, let's party, let's do

23:30this. And I didn't find that as soon as

23:32I got there. It's almost like I didn't

23:34get the immediate

23:35>> this is college like I thought I would

23:38get after I got there. And I went into

23:41like a deep depression because

23:43>> I had two guys that I knew went to the

23:46school from like

23:48>> like you know somebody from your county

23:51of course and I was like oh okay I'll

23:52link up with him. He'll be a great

23:54friend to be along with on this ride of

23:57whatever this new school is. And I would

23:59try to link up with them. And for some

24:01reason, it always was a hassle for me to

24:05link up with them. They always would be

24:07like, "Oh, uh, we always got to pick you

24:09up. You don't have a car." And I'm like,

24:11"No, I I'll get a Uber to y'all." Well,

24:13if you don't have any money to get into

24:14the game, there's no point in coming

24:15because we can't pay for you. Or I want

24:18to come to the party with y'all. Oh,

24:19well, you have the same shoes that you

24:21hoop in. Why would we bring you like

24:23you? They will always have jokes about

24:26maybe I I felt like I wasn't deserving

24:28enough to be around them so to say and I

24:31felt like almost very for the first time

24:35in my life very depressed and that kind

24:37of bothered me because I started to just

24:39not even go to classes anymore at this

24:41new school. I was just staying in my

24:42dorm room. So I went to not even going

24:44to class anymore. I stopped going to

24:46classes for like the whole second

24:49semester of being at that school. No

24:50classes. sat in my room and would just

24:54sit and think. I'm calling my friends

24:56back at home. They're not doing nothing.

24:58So, I kind of didn't want to go home cuz

24:59I'm like, damn, they're not doing

25:01I'm not going to go back. But also like,

25:03what am I doing here? I'm not doing

25:04anything here either. What is my purpose

25:07in life? So, sitting in there and being

25:11depressed and sad and looking at myself

25:13in the mirror, I started to figure out,

25:14I'm like, damn, what do I really want to

25:17do in life? Does any of this really make

25:19sense? It's like I'm here for sports

25:21journalism, but do I want I know I want

25:24to be on TV. Like I took sports

25:26journalism to be maybe a ESPN sports

25:29cast just to get my face on TV. I didn't

25:30know. I was like, maybe I want to do

25:32that. It sounds cool. But as I continued

25:35to do more, I guess soularching, so to

25:39say, just sitting in the room and

25:40thinking about what I want to do these I

25:43would sit and watch Steve Harvey

25:45interviews on like what is it uh you

25:48want to do in your life? jump jump off a

25:50mountaintop and take a risk and like I

25:52would watch all these videos of

25:54everything of people I looked up to

25:56Kevin Hart and

25:59and I started to figure out I was okay

26:00what's my purpose these are the people I

26:02look up to but what exactly do I want to

26:05do and as I continue to do more search

26:08and I started to figure out okay wow I

26:11think all the people I look up to are

26:13all like comedic legends I'm watching

26:15Will Ferrell stuff Chris Farley these

26:17are guys that I find as my heroes. I

26:22think since I've always been the funny

26:24guy in every classroom, everything I've

26:27done, sports, I get kicked off the

26:29football team for being funny, all this

26:31stuff is because I am a comedian. I I

26:35and and it was almost like I'm an I felt

26:38like an idiot cuz I'm like, damn, I'm

26:40sitting over here in college. That is my

26:42purpose. This is it. I'm I I feel more

26:45connected to them than I've ever felt to

26:48anything I've ever felt in my life.

26:49>> Why? The things they would say in a

26:53Kevin Hart interview, the things he

26:56would say in a Steve Harvey interview,

26:58the things Will Ferrell would say or

27:00Chris Farley would say or Jim Carrey, I

27:03felt more attached to it because they

27:06also felt a need and a purpose to become

27:09like a hero of comedy. I don't I don't

27:11know. It it sounds dumb because when you

27:13tell your parents, "Oh, I want to be a

27:16comedian." They're like, "Oh, you're

27:17like basically a clown, I guess, and

27:19you'll go start doing standup rooms and

27:22maybe you make it, maybe you don't." It

27:23sounds kind of silly telling people or

27:25your hometown friends, "Oh, I'm going to

27:27be a comedian." But as I continued to do

27:30more and more research on everything I

27:32wanted to do, I started to figure out,

27:33okay, this is my purpose. And it always

27:35has been. And I see these videos of me

27:38as a kid. I I'm remembering memories of

27:41all this stuff early on. This is it. And

27:44that and that's when I just had like a I

27:47don't know what they would call like

27:48epiphany, [laughter]

27:49you know. Um but yeah, that was that was

27:51a big uh change for me in my career.

27:54Well, not even my career at the

27:55beginning processes.

27:56>> When you say I was depressed, that word

27:59can mean lots of things to lots of

28:00people

28:01>> for sure.

28:01>> What what does it mean in your

28:02definition in that moment of your life?

28:04If I was a fly on the wall or you know

28:06just in the room but also if I was

28:08inside your head at that time what would

28:10I hear and what would I see if I was a

28:11fly on the wall? I think you would just

28:14see me in there confused man. I would

28:16sit in my room for hours.

28:19I would sit there and play 2K. I would

28:22sit there and play

28:25music for hours and not I I wasn't

28:29really doing anything. I had no friends

28:30at that school. I would walk to like the

28:34corner store. My mom will send me like

28:37$20. I'll buy as much as I could get to

28:40be able to stay in the room and not go

28:42out and socialize with all these people

28:44at this huge school. I would get as much

28:46food as I could get at the time to go

28:48back and just be in the room. And that's

28:51when I knew I was like, "Yo, I'm really

28:53like in a state I've never been in in my

28:55life." Imagine I'm used to being at a

28:57high school where I was known as the

28:58class clown. Anybody in my family knows

29:01me to be the the guy that brings the

29:04warmth to the room and to make everybody

29:06laugh. And he's he's always bringing

29:08good energy to now I'm sitting here

29:10almost hiding away from society and very

29:15very dark on myself. I was I'm I'm very

29:18like hard on myself about everything

29:21that I want to do. And and I was it took

29:24it took a while for me to understand

29:26what it was. I think [clears throat] me

29:28going on YouTube and trying to research

29:31successful people, I started to line up

29:33the people that I I found inspiring and

29:36every single one of them were all

29:38comedians. I I I felt more attached to

29:41every single one of them than I've ever

29:43felt attached to anybody else in my

29:44life.

29:44>> It's funny cuz through your childhood

29:46you were you were a comedian, you know,

29:48[clears throat] clearly from all the

29:49videos that I've seen. And uh people

29:52think of comedians as giving like you

29:54you make us laugh.

29:55>> But obviously that you get something

29:57from that too.

29:58>> For sure.

29:59>> And then suddenly you're in this room

30:00and you're no longer getting that thing.

30:02>> Yeah.

30:03>> Whatever it is.

30:04>> For sure.

30:05>> What is that thing?

30:06>> I knew that was a thing early on when I

30:08was a kid. I would have these

30:10conversations with myself of at home

30:14after elementary of did I make the class

30:17laugh today? And why was why does that

30:20feel so good to me to brag about? Or I

30:24would ask other students, who's the

30:26funniest to you in this class? Or who's

30:28the funniest in our grade? And I would

30:30really ask. I was like, why why do you

30:31feel like he's funny? Like why is why is

30:33Mikey funnier than me? Tell me tell me

30:35why. And it was almost like a

30:36competition in my [clears throat] head

30:40that nobody knew about, but it it was in

30:42me. You know what I'm saying? Like I I

30:44felt like it was it meant something if

30:47they told me, "Oh, you're of course

30:48you're the funniest guy in in our grade.

30:50Duh."

30:50>> And how would that make you feel?

30:52>> That made me feel successful. It felt

30:53like I won the Mark Twain Award of the

30:56school.

30:56>> Like that is like the Oscar for me at a

31:00young age if somebody told me, "Oh my

31:02god, you're the funniest at the school."

31:04>> I think it's it's interesting often that

31:06your your nature was clearly you're a

31:08comedian, but

31:09>> that's not a career that kids are taught

31:10about. They're taugh about like you said

31:11like your dad said like go get your ass

31:13blown off and all these other things but

31:15they

31:15>> find a trade.

31:16>> Find a [laughter] trade. Yeah. But until

31:18you have you're given a word for it

31:19sometimes.

31:20>> It doesn't you don't you don't have that

31:21epiphany.

31:22>> I thought that about like being an

31:24entrepreneur. I didn't know it was a

31:25thing until I was 19 and I was already

31:27doing it and then I heard the word and

31:29someone gave it meaning. I was like oh

31:30that's a thing you can do as a job.

31:32>> Yeah.

31:32>> And then suddenly you know mind

31:34expansion.

31:35>> Yeah. You know what it was? I I knew I

31:37always knew that comedy was a thing. I

31:41didn't know that I

31:44wanted to do it as bad as I was doing

31:47it. I was always watching it. I always

31:51watched My mom would show us in Living

31:54Color movies like What About Bob? early

31:57on. My dad would always have the

31:59Chappelle show on and I would try to

32:02sneak and watch that because I was very

32:04like much rated R. In the kids' mind,

32:07they would they'd be like, "Oh, you

32:08can't watch this stuff. Get upstairs."

32:09And I would still try to sneak behind

32:11the stairs and look like, "Oh my god,

32:13that's so funny." And I would try to say

32:15these jokes back at school that I hear

32:17Dave Chappelle saying or blank man like

32:21he was like [laughter]

32:22he was like a guy in a wheelchair from

32:25Living Color that ended up becoming a

32:27movie and they made this whole thing

32:28called Blake. But the fact of the matter

32:31is that I it was always in front of me

32:33and I always was a big fan of comedy. I

32:37just didn't know that my mom

32:40sort of to say was influencing and she

32:42and and I say my mom because she would

32:44always put this stuff in front of us

32:46because she wanted she wanted the best

32:49for us but she always she she was the

32:55like almost like the seessaw to level

32:57everything out if something bad happens

32:59with my dad. My mom was always there to

33:02level it out. She was the one that would

33:05come in and tell him like, "David,

33:07that's too much." And sometimes he would

33:08bark at her and be like, "Get the

33:10out of here." Like, "These boys are

33:11going to end up being men. They need to

33:13learn this now." But she always had like

33:16quotes or or or good things she would

33:18always say like, "Just just continue to

33:21believe in yourself. Continue to know

33:22this." So, she was my mom was always a

33:25big believer in anything becoming big,

33:28you know. Yeah. So, I got to I got to

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35:46So, you went off to university. You

35:47discover these great comedians. You

35:48discovered, you said Steve Harvey, who's

35:50I think he's 69 years old now. is an

35:52American comedian and TV host, stand-up

35:54comic as well.

35:55>> One of the kings of comedy.

35:56>> One of your idols in comedy.

35:58>> Yeah, for sure. Hell yeah.

35:59>> What was it that he said in particular

36:01that you recall that really sort of

36:02pushed you forward in that moment?

36:05>> I remember he had a video that talked

36:06about just taking a risk and just

36:09jumping. And he spoke on just take the

36:12leap of faith and just jump. Stop

36:14overthinking everything. Nothing happens

36:18without taking this risk.

36:20>> Mhm. And I knew he he he continued to

36:24say something in these videos of if you

36:26believe there's something more to your

36:27life, there is.

36:29If you have that vision that keeps

36:31popping up in your head, that means it

36:33that very much so is in your life. And I

36:36just kept hearing him say that. And I

36:37played the video back. Played the video

36:39back again. Played the video back. I'm

36:40like, damn, what the hell?

36:42That means there is something. Cuz I I

36:45kept feeling that feeling. I kept having

36:47I'm like, there's more to my life than

36:48what it is right now. And I knew it in

36:50the back of my head. I was like, I know

36:52it. I know it. I know it. There's more

36:53to this than than what I feel. It's in

36:56the back of my And I And I continue. And

36:58that's what resonated with me from the

37:00video that I watched on him. That was it

37:02was like life changing.

37:04>> I speak to Steve.

37:05>> Oh, man. What are you about to show me,

37:08man?

37:09>> He [laughter] wanted to send you a

37:11little uh a little video message as

37:12well.

37:13>> Hey, what's happening, Truceki? Hey,

37:15look, man. and uh I heard they was doing

37:16something for you. So, I wanted to jump

37:18on here, man, and just give you some uh

37:20some big ups, man. Let you know, man.

37:21I've been watching you for a while from

37:23a distance, man. We've only spoken once,

37:25but

37:26>> look, man, I think you're special. You

37:28got a gift, man. You're really, really

37:30special. And with that specialness, man,

37:32come responsibility.

37:35And so, just be careful, man. Remember

37:37everything your mom and your grandmama

37:38told you, cuz you going to need all of

37:40that cuz you killing the game. But once

37:42you start killing the game, it's like

37:44chess, man. We're out here playing

37:46chess.

37:47>> The object is to kill the king. Sad, but

37:50true.

37:51>> Keep your faith, brother. Stay funny,

37:52man. If you need me, call Unk. I got

37:55you.

37:55>> This is crazy. [laughter]

37:59That That is nuts, bro. That is amazing,

38:02man. And that and that really is a full

38:05circle moment even hearing him say that.

38:08And [clears throat] wow, man.

38:10somebody somebody that definitely I

38:13looked up to him amongst you know the

38:16other kings of comedy as well is like

38:19wow man that's that is that's deep

38:22that's deep

38:23>> what happens from there you go from

38:25being in that room you're watching these

38:26Steve Harvey videos presumably you got

38:28to call your mom and you got to tell

38:29your mom that you're dropping out

38:30>> yeah she uh [laughter] she wasn't happy

38:33about that she I remember she cried and

38:37she she hung up on me and she was like

38:39this this is just so dumb. Like what are

38:41you talking about?

38:42>> What did you say?

38:43>> I couldn't get any words out. She hung

38:45up. But I remember seeing her crying on

38:48the FaceTime after I just wanted to tell

38:50her what my vision was on cuz you know

38:53you you say I'm dropping out. But then

38:55of course I have a rebuttal. I have a

38:57great idea.

38:58>> Yeah.

38:58>> And she hung up immediately. So then I

39:01called my friend. He came and grabbed me

39:04from the school in the middle of the

39:05night. I was like 4 hours away from

39:08Atlanta, Georgia. I'm deep down in

39:10southern Georgia. Um, and we drove all

39:13the way back. And when I got there, of

39:15course, she let me in the house. And I

39:19think it was just a confusing time

39:22because I'm also not making any money.

39:24So, she's like, "Now what? Like, now

39:27what are you going to do?" And I had

39:29this big plan and I told her what I was

39:31going to do. I'm like, "I'm going to be

39:32a comedian. I'm going to be on TV. I

39:34promise you in a year I'm going to make

39:36sure I'm on TV. And if I'm not, I told

39:38her this wild story of I'm going to kill

39:40myself. I said, if I don't become a

39:43comedian and I don't become a famous

39:44comedian on TV, I'mma kill myself. And

39:47she's like, don't say stuff like that.

39:48That is that is so dumb. I want you to

39:50go hard for whatever you're doing, but

39:52that is just why do you feel like it has

39:55to be comedy? And I was like, this is

39:57something that And I continue to break

39:59down everything. I'm like, this is what

40:01I've always wanted to be. And I had it's

40:03almost like you have this great idea,

40:04but nobody sees the vision. And so then

40:06I went to my grandparents. I told them

40:08the same vision that I had. They lived

40:10down the street from her. And they were

40:12like, "This is so what? Like what are

40:14you talking about? Go back to school,

40:15get your education, and then you do all

40:17that other stuff." Because they had the

40:19old school mindset of they probably seen

40:21people that didn't go to school. And

40:22they seen people that did go to school.

40:24People that did go to school get a job.

40:26People that didn't go to school became

40:27maybe crackheads in their era. I don't

40:30know like or became failures in life. So

40:32they didn't they never really saw the

40:36good side of what is and I was like the

40:39the 0.1 of people maybe even less than

40:420.1% of people that are able to

40:44accomplish that after dropping out is

40:46like very unlikely. So immediately when

40:49I told my grandparents they were like oh

40:50no no no. They said don't we know what's

40:53going to happen. You going to drop out.

40:54You're going to be calling us asking for

40:56money. Don't be calling our house and

40:57pulling up and you going to be doing

40:59drugs. And I'm like, "Gosh, listen. I'm

41:02not gonna be doing that." They're like,

41:03"No, no, no, no." You know, your

41:05grandparents, black grandparents, they

41:06don't give a They like, "Don't be

41:09coming over here and bothering us. We

41:11know what's about to happen." Like, you

41:12going to be a crackhead. And I'm like,

41:14"Listen, guys. I have a plan." And

41:17essentially, I didn't do it immediately.

41:19I started trying to work at um Red

41:21Lobster and then I worked at like a

41:24Longhorns and I worked at Outback

41:26Steakhouse and McDonald's. I I started

41:28to work jobs because it was like a quick

41:30money thing and then I fell victim to

41:32being living in Atlanta where I was

41:34doing illegal stuff and now I'm seeing

41:37myself go into this whirlwind of damn I

41:40came home to do this

41:42>> drug dealing.

41:43>> No, no,

41:45[laughter]

41:46you said I said no is in Atlanta there's

41:50like a it's like a scamming circle of of

41:54where a lot of people fall victim to.

41:56like you can do quick easy scams with

41:59banks or doing card scams, just stuff

42:01like that. And I never was a bad guy. I

42:03just

42:04>> I I felt like

42:06>> that was an easier way to do it while

42:08I'm trying to pursue this stuff. But I

42:10felt like the karma of this stuff was

42:13weighing on me. It's like, "Oh, I'm

42:14going to do I'm going to try to pursue

42:15comedy while doing this." And it never

42:18worked out. I didn't even pursue it. I

42:20just was

42:20>> flirting with it.

42:21>> I was going back and forth. Yeah. I was

42:23just continued to flirt back and forth

42:24with the idea of it. And then

42:28it was the moment that we got arm robbed

42:32where I had a a outer body feeling of

42:35wow I came home to be in this

42:39predicament where I have a gun to my

42:41head now and now it's like how did I

42:45even get here? So let me rewind back.

42:48That was the last moment I said, "Okay,

42:52if I'm going to do anything, I'm going

42:55to become a comedian or die trying."

42:59That's it. I have no other outlet. Now I

43:02know once I saw the barrel of that gun

43:05being pointed at me and my friend at the

43:07time it was a bad scamming situation

43:10gone left. That was the moment I

43:12noticed, okay, if I survive this, I am

43:16going to turn my life around and I'm not

43:20going to go to a job. I'm not going to

43:21go back to my mom's house and try to

43:23say, "Oh, I'm doing this, that." I'm

43:25going to lock and actually do it. And

43:29from there on, I went home. I wrote all

43:31these goals down on the sheet of paper.

43:34And my mom, she was kind of in the mix

43:37of what happened a little bit, too. she

43:39had heard cuz she saw me walking around

43:41the house being stressed out. I told her

43:43what's going on. And I wrote down all

43:46these goals because she would always

43:47say, "You can't do anything without

43:50writing things down." Ever since I was a

43:51kid, she was like, "You should write

43:52that down. If you want to remember

43:54something, write it down. Write it

43:55down."

43:55>> Do you remember what goals were?

43:57>> The first one I ever wrote was don't

43:59have a plan B, your plan A will work. No

44:03plan B, your plan A will work. The

44:06second one I wrote was about

44:08>> Was there about hosting a tour on there?

44:11>> Yeah. Yeah, hosting a tour was

44:12definitely on there.

44:14>> Hosting

44:15an awards evening.

44:17>> Yeah, that both of those was on there. I

44:19I wrote down that I wrote down being a

44:21comedian. I wrote down amongst a lot of

44:22other things. How do you How do you know

44:24that? What is it? What [laughter] is it

44:25on that? How do you know that? That was

44:28that was on there. I haven't sent y'all

44:29a production that [laughter]

44:32>> we got this scamming thing we did where

44:33we can scam

44:35starring a major movie.

44:36>> Mhm. For sure. All that is down there,

44:40man.

44:40>> And you were 23 at the time roughly.

44:42>> Yes, 23.

44:43>> So, what's happened then? So, you left

44:45college at what what age?

44:46>> I left college around 21 22.

44:49>> Okay.

44:50>> In between 212, I left college.

44:52>> So, it's a year or two at home with your

44:53mom?

44:54>> Year and a half. I'll probably say a

44:55full year has been at home before all

44:57that transpired. I tried the jobs and

44:59tried the legal stuff that didn't work.

45:01And now I'm here and I start to actually

45:04do the things that I wrote down.

45:06>> What does that mean specifically?

45:08>> Like I think the first thing that

45:10happened after I wrote these goals down,

45:13the first thing that happened,

45:14everything was taken away. It felt like

45:16everything dropped out before it got

45:18good. Everything. I wrote down these

45:21goals. I wrote the date on there. Boom.

45:23I'm doing it. I was like, "All right,

45:25now I'm locked in. This is it. I'm I'm

45:27all in. I have no other option. There's

45:30no other plan B, nothing. Immediately my

45:32car gets repossessed. [laughter]

45:36I'm like, yo, what the Now I can't

45:38travel and do nothing. So, it's funny

45:41because [laughter] it's like as soon as

45:44you want to pursue all these things,

45:47everything has to come out. And and

45:49you're it's confusing because most

45:52people never get a chance to see the

45:56real side of success because they quit

45:59at that moment. That breaking point of

46:00everything falling out of your life.

46:02They're like, "Oh my god, I done prayed

46:03for all this stuff. I done wrote

46:05everything down. I got this this board

46:07of this mood board. I got everything."

46:09And then I'd lose this and oh, see it

46:12don't work. But I knew I'm like, I'm

46:14going to keep going. I'm not going to

46:17stop here. I actually made that like a

46:18content piece. I recorded my car getting

46:20repossessed and people were like, "Yo,

46:22what the hell are you posting this for?"

46:23I was like, "Well, there it is. There

46:25she goes." But really, I was sad as

46:28I was like, "Damn, I got nothing."

46:30But I I feared nothing because I'm like,

46:32I have I have nothing left. I'm sitting

46:35here in a room, no mattress. I'm laying

46:39on the floor. I'm using my little

46:40sister's blanket that she had as a

46:42blanket on the ground. Like, I don't

46:44have any dressers in here. Like you know

46:46when you you go to college your mom

46:47gives away all your Like she she

46:49sells it or she puts it in some

46:50warehouse. So I didn't have none of my

46:52stuff. I just was laying on the floor

46:54and I was like I had my car but now

46:56that's gone. So what else could I lose?

46:59Like I I'm my back's against the wall.

47:01I'm going to continue to keep pursuing

47:02making videos. Boom boom boom boom boom.

47:05And that's what I did. I continued to

47:06boom boom boom boom boom. I wasn't going

47:08to stop. And I was using my mom's house

47:11as essentially a a movie set. I started

47:15to flip the couch upside down. I wanted

47:17to do a surveillance camera at the top

47:19left side of the room to make it look

47:21like I'm on First 48. I'm interviewing

47:23myself on a First 48 episode. Boom.

47:25That's one of the skits. I have another

47:26skit where I'm using this jacket that my

47:29mom had in the closet and I'm putting

47:31that on. I'm acting like a news

47:32reporter, Fox 5 in the backyard and I

47:35I'm putting the phone cropped up on the

47:37trash can outside in the backyard and my

47:39mom used to come home. She'd be like,

47:40"What the are you doing?" and she

47:43she used to see the house in shambles,

47:46but I got to give it to her cuz she she

47:48stuck through it with me. I would always

47:49give her these updates like I have 10k

47:52followers now. I have 15k followers.

47:54She's like, "Okay, so what does that

47:55mean? Did you make any money?" I'm like,

47:56"No, but I have people watching." And I

47:59was like, "Oh, I got 100K followers. Did

48:01you make any money yet?" No, but people

48:03are watching. And I continuously just

48:05kept giving these updates as eventually

48:07I started to make money through

48:09promotion. and I would promote people's

48:11music and their their videos and throw

48:14it on my story and I would do a full day

48:16of promotion. It would make me a couple

48:18hundred dollars maybe and that would be

48:21enough to maybe go out that night or it

48:23just wasn't like it wasn't anything real

48:25fulfilling or I would help my mom with

48:27groceries like I I would try to do

48:30things to you know make money but it

48:32wasn't really making any real money at

48:34the time and then I continued to keep

48:37building. So yeah, no, I think those

48:39those early moments really shaped a lot

48:42for me.

48:43>> I mean, I've got a a video here as well

48:46that I [clears throat] found. Um, you

48:48can explain what this one is to me,

48:50>> man. Yeah, man. I know what the

48:53going on, man.

48:54>> Counting me up. [laughter]

48:55I ain't never been at the gas.

48:57>> That was That was fresh off of scamming

48:58right there.

49:00>> Fresh off of scammer.

49:00>> Shot me out. Shot me out when I got shot

49:05me out. GOT ALL HIS ICE ON. Sound me up.

49:08Yeah. Ain't know I'm going up like this.

49:10Now

49:10>> that was actually my first video I ever

49:12posted on socials.

49:14>> Ever.

49:14>> Ever. [clears throat]

49:16First video ever. That's when Instagram

49:17first started the whole 15sec video post

49:21thing. You know, Vine was doing it for

49:23like 6 seconds and I didn't never was on

49:25that. And I came around and it was like

49:2815 seconds on Instagram you could post a

49:30video. my friend Chanty and now he's

49:34like my lead comedic writer and he was

49:37like, "Bro, just go like just post it."

49:40And I was like, "This is kind of silly.

49:41I'm just acting like I had like those

49:43are like $1 bills, bro. I was acting

49:45like I I ones." And I'm just And

49:48he was like, "Just post it." I I think

49:49that got like maybe 80 comments, 60 or

49:5370 comments, something like that. It was

49:54like hometown people.

49:56>> And they were just like, "Oh my god,

49:57this is so funny. We see what you're

49:59doing. that's that's dope. Hopefully you

50:01do more. Like people were just

50:02supporting it. I was like, "All right,

50:03well, I'm more creative than this." And

50:05I started to continuously become more

50:07and more creative because I was like,

50:09"All right, I did that, but that's like

50:11silly stuff. I know what I'm capable

50:13of." But yeah, that that was the very

50:15first video I ever threw up.

50:18>> This one I found really interesting. I'm

50:19just going to play it fast.

50:20>> Mill perform.

50:22>> Yes, bro. I'm telling you. No.

50:24>> Yo, Mick Mill's my wife. But I said,

50:26"Yo, let me be on your level one day."

50:28He shot hit you.

50:29>> I promise you. I like I told him. I

50:31said, "Yo, let me be on your level one

50:32day."

50:33>> You're saying in that video that you're

50:35going to be on Meek Mill's level someday

50:38>> and that you dapped him up and told him

50:39that.

50:39>> Mhm. [clears throat] I lied about that.

50:41I did not dap him up and tell him that.

50:42I saw him at a party [laughter] and I

50:45was so influential. I I shouted it over

50:48somebody like, "Yo, Meek, I'm a big fan,

50:51man. I'mma be on your level someday." I

50:53didn't shake his hand. I was just I was

50:55just chatting. But in our in our county,

50:58we have almost like what you would call

51:00like a hood legend. Lou Williams. He

51:03went to the same high school I went to.

51:04He made it to the NBA, played amongst a

51:06bunch of teams. Sixman. You probably

51:09know him. Drake did a song about Lou

51:11Will, you know, balling out of Sonet

51:14like Lou Will. So he was almost like the

51:16hero to us. He would throw these parties

51:20which were like essentially like you

51:23know have all these celebrities come to

51:25Gwynette County and at the time Gwet

51:26County is not on the map. It's not like

51:28a known thing like we're just like a

51:31suburb outside of Atlanta and he would

51:33have these celebrities come to these

51:34parties and we would be able to go

51:36because we're locals and Gwynette. So

51:39you would see all these celebrities and

51:40I was like wow I would look at Lou

51:42Will's house. He's currently in the NBA

51:44and I'm like wow this is insane. And

51:46Meek Mill came one night and I I said I

51:49told him that but I just shouted it and

51:51he had a bunch of security with him. He

51:52didn't even let us over there. But yeah,

51:55I was you could tell I was man I was

51:57it's a kid manifesting in

51:58>> Yeah. manifestation and like there was

52:01no stutter in my speech right there. I I

52:03definitely felt that way about

52:05everything I was doing and I probably

52:06have said a lot of things around that

52:08time that probably weren't recorded

52:09where I was very like trying to pursue

52:12greatness. I've always been a big fan of

52:15pursuing greatness my entire life. I

52:17never want to just be good. I always

52:19wanted to be great. Um so yeah, that

52:22that just shows right there. Now I'm

52:24surprised one of my friends, he still

52:25had that clip. He sent it to me

52:27>> and I posted it. Yeah. The thing I find

52:29interesting generally is in that

52:31situation, look at that context. You're

52:33in your mother's house. You're using the

52:34the uh front room and a blanket as both

52:37your bed and also your sort like

52:39creative studio. Objectively in that

52:42situation, the odds are stacked against

52:43you. But but in your head, you're

52:45thinking, I'm either going to be great

52:47or in your words, I'm going to kill

52:49myself.

52:50>> Yeah, it was a little far. A little far.

52:53When you said that, what did you

52:54actually mean?

52:56>> What did you mean?

52:57>> I felt like I

52:58>> You meant it. But I was I was You know

53:02what it was? I was so

53:05I was I was chasing being great. And I

53:10and that might have been far-fetched

53:13in me to say something as wild as that,

53:16but that's honestly how I felt like I

53:18was going to make it happen or I was

53:21going to see perceive myself as a

53:23failure. I didn't see anything

53:26different. I saw nothing else but a

53:29green light down this tunnel. I saw

53:30nothing. I I I I knew in the back of my

53:33mind what I was capable of. I already

53:35knew. I felt like my entire life I knew

53:37but I just didn't put the pieces

53:39together. But when I told my mom that I

53:43knew I said okay I have committed to

53:45something that I know there is no

53:48possible in or out. I'm going to do this

53:52or die trying truthfully, you know, like

53:55I feel like I I'm either going to do

53:57this or I'm not and I'm going to make it

53:59happen. So I knew I wasn't going to kill

54:00myself essentially. I knew

54:02>> Mhm.

54:02>> I'm not going to kill myself.

54:03>> Because you believe.

54:04>> Because I believe I'm going to do it.

54:06But if I don't,

54:08>> M

54:08>> I'm out of here.

54:10[laughter]

54:13>> Sounds crazy, but it's true. Sounds

54:16crazy, but it's true, man. That That's

54:17how much belief I had in myself. And

54:19that's how I felt like with my back

54:22against the wall. Like I really did

54:26want to do it that bad. And still like I

54:28do feel the same about achieving

54:31greatness. I don't tend to like things

54:34that are just good.

54:36>> And people are like, "Oh my god, I

54:37became rich. I'm I'm good, man. I'm

54:39going on vacation." I don't do any

54:41vacationing. I I I I I I find it

54:44soothing to be in a chaos situation of

54:48work and juggling a a multiple projects

54:51at once. Like that is what I want to do.

54:53This is what I got into it for. So that

54:56that's my full goal. Yeah.

54:57>> And when you look back on that season of

54:59life where your you first move home with

55:01your mom as as a 31-year-old now, what

55:04has it taught you about what it takes to

55:06be successful broadly? Again, remove

55:09luck from the equation. Let's remove

55:11some people getting fortunate with

55:12lottery tickets, whatever else. But

55:14generally, what has it taught you about

55:16what it takes to be successful in the

55:18pursuit of a goal like that where to be

55:20honest, not many people ever make any

55:21money? the odds of you being successful

55:23as a comedian defined let's define as as

55:26making being able to provide for

55:27yourself in a family

55:28>> slim to none

55:29>> it's it's crazy odds

55:30>> but the thing is most people don't

55:32really want to be great most people just

55:34say it because it sounds good like I I I

55:37would be around a lot of guys that be

55:38like yo let's do it let's wake up in the

55:40morning let's just fall out everybody

55:42eventually just goes away everybody that

55:45said they were going to do it they do it

55:46one day they're not showing up the third

55:48or the second day nobody nobody shows up

55:50continuously for the work. And once I

55:53noticed there's a small amount of people

55:55that are showing up for the actual work

55:57of anything, it it just showed me that,

56:01okay, I'm in a lane of this of my own.

56:03I'm pursuing something that most people

56:05say, but they're not really trying to

56:07pursue. Everybody wants to be number

56:10one. You want to be the top of the list.

56:11Everybody wants to be top of the list,

56:13but nobody really wants to do the work.

56:14Nobody's obsessed with it continuously,

56:17every day and night, having dreams about

56:20it. Nobody's sitting and editing with

56:22their editors

56:2418 hours plus of like just sitting

56:27looking at clips. Nobody's going and

56:29doing tours while trying to continuously

56:32film a TV show. Could have been love in

56:34the middle of that tour. Nobody's trying

56:37to also shoot a movie like right now

56:40we're shooting with Universal the catch

56:42with Emma Stone and Chris Bond while

56:44also still trying to fulfill my social

56:46media presence. I'm trying to juggle all

56:49these things in one because I want to be

56:50great. I don't want to just do it and be

56:52like, "Okay, I'm going to take some time

56:54off and just No, I really want to be

56:56number one. I I I don't I'm not really

56:59falling victim to being okay with being

57:01cool with number two or three." And I

57:03joke about it all the time because one

57:04of my favorite movies is Tallaladega

57:06Nights. And Ricky Bobby said, "If you

57:08ain't first,

57:10>> you're last." And I and we me and my

57:12family joke about it all the time. We

57:13laugh about it, but I kind of took that

57:15vision seriously cuz that's really how I

57:18live my life and that's really how I

57:19feel because what else could be other

57:22than wanting to be number one.

57:24>> What happens when you become number one?

57:26>> You still got to keep pushing the

57:28mountain cuz somebody's chasing.

57:29[laughter]

57:30There's somebody coming. Somebody's on

57:32the way. So, I feel like the journey

57:34never ends because you're always

57:37continuously chasing.

57:39>> Mhm.

57:40you know, if it's not the people before

57:42you, it's trying to continue to set the

57:43bar high for the people behind you.

57:45>> Yeah.

57:46>> So,

57:46>> and what does being great mean in your

57:49definition of the word? Like, if I say,

57:50cuz you know, you said that you stated

57:51that the goal is to be great.

57:53>> How would you know you've become great?

57:55>> I think being great has a lot of

57:58different meanings. It it doesn't it

58:00doesn't have a money value or a certain

58:04touring value or or I think just being

58:07great in all ways just comes down to

58:10just how far you're willing to set the

58:13bar. There's always people before you

58:15that have done great things. You got

58:17Eddie Murphy that has set the bar

58:20way up here. Then you got Kevin Hart

58:22that's damn near where Eddie's

58:24at. And he looks very healthy. He looks

58:26like he might take it further than

58:29Eddie. Who knows? I don't know. But

58:31there's always somebody gaining on that

58:34right behind the great before you. The

58:36same with Kobe, Jordan, LeBron.

58:38>> Mhm.

58:39>> Somebody's going to continuously keep

58:41setting the bar high. So, it's like

58:43we're all trying to just leave a legacy,

58:47sort of say. Like, I think that's what

58:48we're all trying to do. And

58:50>> you want to be in that conversation.

58:51>> You want to be in that conversation when

58:53it's all said and done. I would love to

58:55be in that conversation. It's not saying

58:58I want to be surpassed and we all want

59:01to surpass great things. We all do.

59:04>> But just to be in that conversation and

59:05to be remembered and to leave a legacy,

59:08that's what matters. One of the things

59:09that I've observed with people that go

59:11in the pursuit of greatness and achieve

59:12it is just they have they have like a

59:14different level of like patience and

59:17they have a longer time horizon. Because

59:19with Eddie, with Kevin, it takes a lot

59:21of like lonely, lonely years, decades

59:24sometimes. I was sat here with the

59:26greatest illusionist in the world and he

59:28told me that he spent 10 years doing

59:29card tricks on restaurant tables and you

59:31go, "What a crazy thing to do."

59:32Like whatever or like this other I mean

59:34even Jimmy Car said to me like he

59:36dropped out of his his great job. I

59:38believe it was in marketing and spent

59:39five six years getting paid absolutely

59:41nothing just cracking jokes in pubs and

59:42stuff. And you go like what a what sane

59:45person

59:45>> Yeah.

59:47would would think would take that trade.

59:49>> Yeah.

59:50>> When I zoom back into where you were in

59:51your mother's house, how long was it?

59:54How how from that I guess from

59:55university from college to the moment

59:58where you go actually chit this is this

1:00:00might be able to pay my way that I so I

1:00:04can move out. How long was that period

1:00:05of time?

1:00:06>> Years, man. Honestly, years. We're

1:00:09talking like years of seeing nothing.

1:00:11And I think people don't see that.

1:00:12People see with social media, there's a

1:00:16bunch of quick reaction to things and

1:00:18people like, "Oh my god, this person,

1:00:20oh, they went viral for that. Oh my god,

1:00:23now what can I do with this?" People

1:00:24always worried about, "Oh, I'mma take

1:00:25this thing. I I did this video or I

1:00:27did." And and now I'm trying I'm going

1:00:29to go get a team. I'm going to go. It's

1:00:31like, what are you doing? You don't need

1:00:32a team. Keep grind. Do it again.

1:00:36Do it again, man. And and and when

1:00:38you're trying to be great, you never get

1:00:39a chance to celebrate the things that

1:00:41you have done. you almost don't feel in

1:00:43the moment because you're looking for

1:00:44the what's the next thing and I kind of

1:00:47give credit of that cuz I do the same

1:00:48thing. I do it all the time. We did the

1:00:50BET Awards and the next day I was

1:00:53already flying to go shoot my TV show

1:00:56Collect and Praise with Mike Eps that we

1:00:58just shot.

1:00:58>> I had somebody in the congregation ask

1:01:00why I'm wearing Christian Dior and

1:01:02Christian Lupatons.

1:01:04>> CUZ I'M A CHRISTIAN AND I WALK IN THE

1:01:06BLOOD OF JESUS. GIVE HIM SOME PRAISE.

1:01:12IMMEDIATELY the next day, we almost I

1:01:14didn't even get a chance to take it in.

1:01:15I'm like, "Oh my god, I just did a BTS.

1:01:17Something I always want to do in my

1:01:18life." Boom. I'm on a plane. I'm at the

1:01:20next thing. Immediately after I do

1:01:22Collect and Praise, we shot that for two

1:01:23weeks back to back. Boom. On a plane.

1:01:26The next day after the final day of

1:01:28that, we're all clapping everything on a

1:01:30plane. Next day, we're shooting the

1:01:32catch with Emma Stone and Chris Pine.

1:01:34>> Mhm.

1:01:34>> The [clears throat] next day. So, it's

1:01:36like you never really get a chance

1:01:39to take a lot of these things in because

1:01:41you're continuously progressing,

1:01:43progressing, progressing. And my mom

1:01:44would always I feel like she influenced

1:01:47me to be like that because I would come

1:01:49home from school all the time and be

1:01:51like, "Oh, I got to a B on this test."

1:01:52She's like, "Oh, you could have done

1:01:53better." Or I like, "Oh, I I did this at

1:01:56school. They told me I was Oh, come on.

1:01:59You could you could have done better on

1:02:00that."

1:02:01>> Mhm.

1:02:02Not like it's not enough, but it's like

1:02:04you always can do better. There's even

1:02:06if you got an A on this, why did you get

1:02:07an A+?

1:02:08>> Do you want to be a a dad yourself?

1:02:10>> Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Of course.

1:02:12>> Where's that going to fit in this crazy

1:02:13life? [laughter]

1:02:14>> We have no idea. That's

1:02:17We got to find a wife first, bro. I'm

1:02:20[laughter]

1:02:21trying to find love first, bro. I have

1:02:23no idea. No, but I I I think both my

1:02:26parents, they they they both did that

1:02:27same of like I would bring my dad

1:02:30math equations and him being a pilot, he

1:02:33would break it down in crazy ways of

1:02:35like what the like I would say, oh

1:02:37this is division. Could you help me with

1:02:39this? And he'll take 40 minutes be like

1:02:41oh you you answered it but you could

1:02:43have done the long division this way.

1:02:45Okay, let me tell you mx

1:02:47time bx^2 and you could get this answer

1:02:50reversed. Let's reverse this answer. If

1:02:52you get this, you get it multiple

1:02:53different ways. So I be like, "Yo, what

1:02:55the hell, bro? I just brought you a

1:02:57simple division equation. Why did you

1:02:59make it long division and then go into

1:03:00MX * bx squ?" But these are my parents

1:03:03though. They're always looking for the

1:03:06greater thing. Always, no matter what it

1:03:08was, even if it was academics, you could

1:03:10have done better or you could have

1:03:12gotten it a different way or there's

1:03:13other routes to get to it. It was almost

1:03:15never a a correct answer in my household

1:03:18because there's different ways you could

1:03:19find an answer to anything. So imagine

1:03:21what that does to my mind of damn,

1:03:25>> I've got to find a way and not just in

1:03:27one way. I got to find it in multiple

1:03:29different ways.

1:03:30>> So when I do my type of comedy, I never

1:03:32sit on doing one thing. If I do one

1:03:35thing, that's amazing.

1:03:37>> I'll come back and hit another situation

1:03:39or I'll hit another situation. I'm going

1:03:42be funny in this way, too. I'm not just

1:03:43going to be funny in this way. I can

1:03:44also be funny at a live show. I can also

1:03:47be funny in a sketch version. I can also

1:03:49be funny in a movie. I can also be funny

1:03:51on a TV show. I can also be funny in a

1:03:52commercial.

1:03:53>> You see a T-Mobile commercial, you see

1:03:55Drewuski's face on it with Zoe Zaldana

1:03:57and Jeff Bridges. Why the is Duski

1:04:00on here with Zo and Jeff? I don't know.

1:04:02But it works. It's a comedic relief of

1:04:05this commercial. But I feel like my life

1:04:09has gone in that direction because of

1:04:11these upbringings, of these teachings

1:04:13that both my parents had set for us.

1:04:16Listen, I've been catfished by furniture

1:04:18my whole life where something has looked

1:04:19fantastic in the picture, whether it's a

1:04:21sofa or whatever it might be and I order

1:04:23it and I get so excited and then it

1:04:25comes and it's something entirely

1:04:27different. The quality was significantly

1:04:29different to what it said or looked like

1:04:31online or the the texture was different

1:04:34or or it it didn't hold up in the same

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1:05:06amazing. There should be a button just

1:05:09down below here. And if it says

1:05:10subscribed, you're already subscribed.

1:05:12If it says subscriber, that means you're

1:05:14not yet. And if you're not subscribed,

1:05:16please could you do us a favor and hit

1:05:17that button? It helps the show more than

1:05:18you know. And according to the

1:05:20algorithm, you're someone that watches

1:05:22our show, but you haven't yet hit that

1:05:23button. Thank you so much. Was there a

1:05:26first check or first opportunity that

1:05:27you really like wanted to tell your mom

1:05:29about because this was kind of proof

1:05:31that you were right?

1:05:34Uh, or was there a moment at all?

1:05:37>> I think

1:05:39you're saying like a big check moment.

1:05:40>> You know, like one of those moments an

1:05:41opportunity comes in and you can't wait

1:05:43to tell your mom because suddenly you

1:05:44were right when she should.

1:05:46>> Well, well, well, I had one moment. I

1:05:48went I went like quote unquote at the

1:05:50time. It might have been

1:05:542022, like kind of after CO died down. I

1:05:58was gaining a little bit more traction

1:06:01everywhere. And I had told her that a a

1:06:04celebrity had posted me and I was so

1:06:06excited. I was like, "Oh my god, a

1:06:07celebrity posted me." And she was like,

1:06:09"Oh my god." She's like, "So, so she's

1:06:11like, "So what happens now? Did they did

1:06:12they tag you in it? Did people follow

1:06:14you?" I was like, "No, they didn't tag

1:06:15me. It's just they just posted the

1:06:16video." She's like, "Did like is there

1:06:18opportunity? Like are you going to shoot

1:06:20like a video? Are you doing anything

1:06:21with them?" I was like, "No, no, no.

1:06:22They just they just reposted my video."

1:06:26And she's like, "Now what?" And I'm

1:06:28like, "Well, I'm back to square one."

1:06:29And it's like, yeah, my parents were big

1:06:31on breaking things down. So, you feel

1:06:34never really fulfilled. You don't feel

1:06:36fulfilled with anything because you are

1:06:39always trying to figure out, okay, this

1:06:42opportunity is great, but what's next?

1:06:43>> Do you feel fulfilled with your work

1:06:45now?

1:06:45>> No, not yet. Too young. It's it's too

1:06:49much more to go, man. Way too much. Look

1:06:52what Jim Carrey did. Look at Eddie

1:06:54Murphy, man. Look what uh Chris Farley

1:06:57has achieved. Adam Sandler, man. These

1:06:59guys are

1:07:00>> Are you happy though?

1:07:01>> I'm very happy. I'm very happy. But

1:07:04fulfilled? No. I have so much more.

1:07:07>> Is it not possible to be fulfilled and

1:07:09also to be in pursuit?

1:07:10>> Is there a way you're saying to be both?

1:07:13>> Yeah. Like to be fulfilled with

1:07:15>> No, your hunger has to always continue

1:07:17to live. Any anybody that's pursuing

1:07:19[laughter]

1:07:19>> me like nice try, man.

1:07:21>> Nice try.

1:07:22>> But anybody that is pursuing greatest

1:07:24will never tell you that the hunger has

1:07:26stopped. It has to continuously keep

1:07:28going. There's there's no way. No way,

1:07:29man.

1:07:30>> So, closing off in this period of your

1:07:32life where you're still at your mom's

1:07:34house.

1:07:35>> When did that change? What was the

1:07:37moment where you were like, I can leave

1:07:38now?

1:07:39>> Well, I had all my clothes stacked in

1:07:41the living room because I people started

1:07:43to send me so many merch clothes, you

1:07:46know, when you become, you know, at the

1:07:48time like everybody's an influencer.

1:07:50They they would send influencers all

1:07:52type of loads of clothes. They want you

1:07:53to wear it in your next video or

1:07:55whatever you're doing. So, I had all

1:07:57these clothes stacked up in her like

1:07:59dining room area. I wouldn't even say

1:08:01living room. It was like the dining room

1:08:02in the front of the house. And I started

1:08:04to kind of make some money to where I

1:08:06was like, "All right, maybe I need to

1:08:08find like an apartment now that now I

1:08:11have some type of money, I can actually

1:08:12get out of here." But I think me

1:08:14crowding up that dining room, I started

1:08:17to notice, okay, now I can kind of live

1:08:19on my own. But it wasn't until I started

1:08:21to actually

1:08:22the thing that changed my life at the

1:08:26time

1:08:27was Drake calling for the Laugh Now Cry

1:08:31Later music video. Everything shifted

1:08:34after that because brands started to

1:08:36take me seriously. It wasn't no more

1:08:38send in free merch and oh you get this

1:08:40or we'll bring you out to this event and

1:08:42we just want your appearance and you can

1:08:44get in free. Now it's transactional with

1:08:47everything. Once I was seen on a higher

1:08:51level with you know Drake is I think at

1:08:54the time Lil Durk we had Marshawn Lynch

1:08:58Kevin Durant Odell Beckham Jr. all in

1:09:00this video alongside with me and me

1:09:02being the comedic relief in this video

1:09:05which was called Laugh Now Cry Later.

1:09:07This meant a lot more than just

1:09:09>> another music video. Where where were

1:09:11you when you found that out that he had

1:09:12called?

1:09:13>> No, he just he just was a was a big fan

1:09:15of a lot of the stuff I was posting

1:09:17during that early time, but it wasn't

1:09:19until then no real money was coming in.

1:09:22No money at all. But that that shifted

1:09:25everything because brands started to see

1:09:28me in a broader light. Um, and they

1:09:32started to see me as an actual star, so

1:09:35to say, instead of just another amongst

1:09:38all these other guys who are doing

1:09:40comedic things, you know.

1:09:42>> But were you speaking to him directly on

1:09:44DMs or something?

1:09:44>> Yeah, it was just all through DM at the

1:09:46time. Um, up until I met him. But yeah,

1:09:48all that was like it was very just short

1:09:52back and forth laughing at this video,

1:09:54laugh at that video, find this funny,

1:09:56find that funny. And then we had like a

1:09:57long conversation once he told me that I

1:10:00would be starring in that music video.

1:10:02And that was just about like leading

1:10:05this generation of comedy and just what

1:10:07I am to, you know, the world at the

1:10:10time. And and then I'm I'm hearing his

1:10:12words. I'm like, "Yo, maybe this dude's

1:10:13just gassing me up. I don't This is This

1:10:15is wild to hear from somebody who is in

1:10:18my eyes a full-blown superstar, mega

1:10:21star." But yeah, could that that's one

1:10:23of those things is just like could never

1:10:26repay him, man. Like that was to take a

1:10:29chance on me at the time just doing

1:10:31silly stuff of what I I thought was

1:10:34great. But at the time it was so looking

1:10:38back I've had great stuff, but it's like

1:10:40so minimal to what I do now. It's like

1:10:43>> I can't believe he took a chance, you

1:10:44know, on me in that circumstance. But it

1:10:46it shifted everything.

1:10:47>> It shifted everything almost

1:10:49immediately.

1:10:50>> Almost immediately. Yeah. I think it was

1:10:52it was almost a more of a seriousness

1:10:54that people took me more than just

1:10:56showing up for things.

1:10:58>> Mhm.

1:10:58>> You know, the transactional conversation

1:11:02started to go into play.

1:11:03>> When you look back on your arc and you

1:11:05hear about other people's journeys and

1:11:06arcs, what else have you learned about

1:11:08again what it takes? There's the

1:11:10obsession, there's the dedication,

1:11:11there's the hours. What about like the

1:11:14business part? Like how do you climb

1:11:15ladders? Is it people? Is it knowing a

1:11:17guy?

1:11:18>> It's all all relationships.

1:11:20Even in the biggest buildings, majority

1:11:24of it is relationships. Of course, your

1:11:26talent weighs a lot, but relationships

1:11:30are very much key. What does that mean

1:11:33for someone that has no idea what goes

1:11:34on in these buildings?

1:11:36>> Relationship is key because these people

1:11:39want to know that you are a good person

1:11:41to be around. They want to know if if

1:11:44you're going to be starring in my

1:11:45T-Mobile commercial,

1:11:47we want to have dinner with We want to

1:11:49see if what type of person you are. They

1:11:50want to make sure you're not a guy

1:11:52that's going to go out and do nothing

1:11:54wild after we trust you with this.

1:11:56You're going to be all over TV. We trust

1:11:57you with these things. You we sign you

1:11:59to a Nike deal. You're in a T-Mobile

1:12:00deal. You these people. It's all about

1:12:02relationship. Who you know, how you

1:12:04treat people. They they like to sense

1:12:08what type of person you are in a

1:12:09separate environment from who you are as

1:12:11the celebrity.

1:12:12>> Drewi,

1:12:13>> you know what I'm saying? Like people

1:12:15tend to want to meet who the real you is

1:12:18before we present you to our world. We

1:12:21want to see who you are as a person. So

1:12:23I feel like a lot of my upbringing was

1:12:25around this broad horizon of different

1:12:29different ethnicities, different genders

1:12:31of everybody. We we had Indian people,

1:12:34Mexican, white, black, African,

1:12:37Jamaican, everything you could ever

1:12:38think would count. So that type of stuff

1:12:41shaped me to be able to go in these

1:12:42rooms with these bigger brands and be

1:12:44able to talk to anybody. I

1:12:46>> did have to learn to do that. Did you

1:12:48have to mature or learn a skill of like

1:12:50coming from where you come from to be in

1:12:51a a room with these big brands and these

1:12:53people in suits in corporate America?

1:12:56>> Nah, man. It's it's it's funny because I

1:12:58I always have been a people person. Mhm.

1:13:02>> Like I anytime I would as a kid go into

1:13:06a grocery store, my mom, I would like if

1:13:09I saw a kid's parent that plays with me

1:13:11on a football team, I saw his parents

1:13:14walking around. I would go up and talk

1:13:15to his dad and like make him laugh and

1:13:17jok, like, "Hey, man, give me a

1:13:18cigarette, man. Let me get a cigarette.

1:13:20You You better go outside, smoke, smoke

1:13:21a poke, man." And just jokingly talk as

1:13:23if I'm not 10 years old. But I think

1:13:28that is a big part of what I've learned

1:13:30about, you know, just the industry in

1:13:32general. It's about more about

1:13:34relationships and, you know, how you

1:13:36treat people and how this interview goes

1:13:39or how this, you know, this dinner is

1:13:43with this guy who may not know nothing

1:13:45about you. He may not know your

1:13:46background, nothing. Are you able to

1:13:48have a one-on-one conversation with him

1:13:50>> and have him trust you in whatever goes

1:13:53down, whatever you're talking about,

1:13:55>> are you a good person? And I think it

1:13:56comes down to that regardless of

1:13:58anything you do.

1:13:59>> Yeah. So, it's interesting because when

1:14:01you're dealing with like corporate

1:14:02America and you're dealing with these

1:14:03big brands and you mentioned T-Mobile

1:14:05and all these other brands, you've got

1:14:06this this this sort of off camera Drew

1:14:09guy who meets them for the dinner, but

1:14:11then you got Drewuski on camera and

1:14:13Drewuski on camera part of your comedy

1:14:14is you really like push the boat out.

1:14:16You say the part out loud that most

1:14:18people wouldn't say. How what what is

1:14:20your decision framework there with like

1:14:22because there's this term you know I

1:14:24worked in advertising for a long time.

1:14:25There's this term brand safety which

1:14:27means like

1:14:28>> is this person sufficiently sanitized

1:14:31enough that we can you use the word like

1:14:32trust this person with the brand but

1:14:34then on the other end the thing that

1:14:35people love about you is you say the

1:14:37part that other people don't say. You

1:14:39point at it. What's your risk equ when

1:14:41you're thinking about content?

1:14:42>> What's the like framework you use to

1:14:43decide whether this is okay or if it's

1:14:45not okay? For sure. No, that's a great

1:14:47question. Um, I think the way I look at

1:14:49all of this stuff and and people ask me

1:14:52that all the time in person whenever I

1:14:53see him is that I've never punched down

1:14:57with any jokes that I ever do. Any jokes

1:14:59I ever do always come from a

1:15:01good-hearted place. Even if I'm doing

1:15:02auditions, a skit that I do, anything.

1:15:05You can never show me something that

1:15:07I've done that was like, "Oh, that's

1:15:08punching down or that wasn't inclusive

1:15:11of the other person that might have been

1:15:13in that situation." or oh, he doesn't he

1:15:15doesn't touch on this because of that or

1:15:17he doesn't do that. I always come from a

1:15:20light-hearted place and a good-hearted

1:15:21place

1:15:23of my comedy. I never was the guy to be

1:15:27cuz you do have it. You have those guys

1:15:28out there like a Sasha Baron Cohen that

1:15:30has like the dark humor of things and

1:15:33maybe he might have upset some people

1:15:35that were, you know, and it might come

1:15:37from a bad place. I don't know. I've

1:15:38never met the guy. I don't know. But I

1:15:42come from a good place with majority of

1:15:43all mal humor.

1:15:45>> I've just mental flash of you doing

1:15:47this.

1:15:49[laughter]

1:15:51>> But even then, even even with that, even

1:15:53with that comes from a good place.

1:15:55Didn't touch on anything because at the

1:15:57at the in the same tone, I'm not a

1:16:00political guy. I'm not a guy that's

1:16:01going out here trying to portray this

1:16:03like I know anything about anything. I

1:16:06am just the guy here for laughs,

1:16:08comedian. I don't care for none of that

1:16:11serious stuff. People ask me all these

1:16:12deep questions. I'm like, yo, I don't

1:16:14look at anything like that. Like, I

1:16:15think I'm just being me. I never was

1:16:19trying to get into no deep side of

1:16:21anything with nothing.

1:16:22>> You are consistent. That's why I went

1:16:24through I was going through all of your

1:16:25all of your skits. Um, and I was think

1:16:28he's consistent with with your values

1:16:30and what you're not aiming at anyone in

1:16:31particular. You're just pointing at

1:16:33>> the funny OB punching down. That's a

1:16:36that's a big one. People can never show

1:16:37me anything or it's like, "Okay, he's

1:16:39punching down at this. This is a it's

1:16:40coming from a bad place." It's always me

1:16:43genuinely just speaking on what's funny

1:16:45or mannerisms or things that I I see

1:16:48people do where I'm people watching or,

1:16:51you know, just exposing things to the

1:16:53world that we see that we don't notice

1:16:55that we see.

1:16:55>> Yeah. Yeah.

1:16:56>> And it has nothing to do with the

1:16:58political side or the race side

1:17:00and all that stuff. It's just stuff

1:17:01that's going on in real life that we

1:17:03see. Sometimes comedians have a have a

1:17:08way of showing the viewer something that

1:17:11they don't notice that they see. It

1:17:12could be in the back of your brain and

1:17:14you can bring it to life and be like,

1:17:15"Wow, I might have saw that 15 years

1:17:18ago, but that's funny because I remember

1:17:20seeing that. You bring these things to

1:17:23life. This is what a great comedic actor

1:17:25does." I think it's probably there's

1:17:27probably something in the fact that if

1:17:29if both sides at some point are angry at

1:17:31you or shouting at you for doing

1:17:32something, at least that means that

1:17:34you're not politically affiliated

1:17:36necessarily

1:17:37>> because you're not even know what the

1:17:39[laughter] I don't even I don't

1:17:41even touch on none of that political or

1:17:44>> but it means that you're just finding

1:17:46things funny everywhere versus just

1:17:49finding them funny over there or just

1:17:50finding them funny over there.

1:17:51>> I agree. I I think I I just I I've never

1:17:54had the want to do that. And some people

1:17:56like you you have these late night shows

1:17:58that talk about that type of stuff or

1:18:00you know these guys that that's their

1:18:02spill. That's not my spill.

1:18:04>> Same with I don't have Yeah. They touch

1:18:08on that stuff. And I feel like with you,

1:18:10you never

1:18:11>> get too ind depth with any of that. You

1:18:13let them talk and you just ask whatever

1:18:16you're going to ask and it just happens

1:18:17how it's going to happen.

1:18:18>> Yeah. And I'll sit with Michelle Obama

1:18:19or JD Vance or Ivanch Trump or Camala

1:18:22Harris. I've sat with all of them. I'll

1:18:23sit with all of them and I'll ask the

1:18:25questions I'm curious about. And

1:18:27>> I think it's possible just to be

1:18:28curious, you know. So,

1:18:29>> I agree.

1:18:30>> Sounded like Trump did ask Erica Kirk to

1:18:32sue you though.

1:18:34>> But you must be This is crazy.

1:18:36>> I don't know if that's true though. I

1:18:37don't know.

1:18:38>> It looks like it. It looks like it. I

1:18:40read it and I thought that can't be

1:18:41that's there's no way that's true.

1:18:43There's no way that's true. Here we go.

1:18:45In March, you released a video of how

1:18:47conservative white women in America act,

1:18:49and it did hundreds and hundreds and

1:18:51hundreds of millions of views. I think I

1:18:52watched it like

1:18:53>> insane. 20 times.

1:18:55>> Insane, man. Insane.

1:18:57>> And then in April, exactly one week

1:18:59later, Trump made the comment to Erica

1:19:02Kirk that she should sue him. He didn't

1:19:06say who,

1:19:08>> but I'm just saying that is

1:19:10>> who knows. I don't know if he was

1:19:11talking about [laughter] me.

1:19:12>> Who was he talking about? I don't know

1:19:14about me.

1:19:16>> To this day, I have no idea. But people

1:19:17sent me that video. I just didn't know

1:19:19if it was pretending towards me. I just

1:19:22>> It's crazy.

1:19:23>> Just left it alone. I have no idea.

1:19:25[laughter]

1:19:25I have no idea. I don't know. I don't

1:19:28know.

1:19:28>> That's crazy though.

1:19:30>> But even in a weird way, it it does

1:19:32speak to the impact that you're working.

1:19:34>> If if he was I don't know if he was

1:19:36though. You

1:19:37>> You hope he was. [laughter]

1:19:39>> You hope he was. I'm not looking to get

1:19:41sued by nobody. I'm not looking forward

1:19:43to that. No. No, man. No. For sure.

1:19:46[laughter] No.

1:19:47>> Is it a compliment in a weird way?

1:19:50>> Uh, not necessarily. I don't [laughter]

1:19:52I don't think I would looking to get

1:19:54sued by anybody.

1:19:57We have too much that we're

1:19:59[laughter] pursuing right now to be

1:20:01looking forward to that. No, not at all.

1:20:04>> That's crazy. Hey,

1:20:07I love how you like [laughter] That's

1:20:10crazy. No, but that is it's crazy

1:20:12thinking about it. I'm like thinking

1:20:12about you in that room with your

1:20:14sister's blanket

1:20:15>> and then and then I just had this mental

1:20:18>> then Trump's like sue him [laughter]

1:20:22>> in the [clears throat] White House which

1:20:23is just

1:20:25>> that's crazy.

1:20:26>> I don't know man.

1:20:26>> Kind of inspiring in a weird way.

1:20:27>> No, but I don't think that was towards

1:20:29me. You're saying

1:20:30>> I think it was I don't think I think it

1:20:31was [cough]

1:20:33>> Well, we'll never know until until

1:20:35someone asks him.

1:20:37>> But I mean Yeah. So since then it's been

1:20:40you've had a unbelievable career. You've

1:20:41and you've really managed to do

1:20:43something that very few people who start

1:20:45out making content on the internet

1:20:48>> are able to do which is traverse

1:20:49multiple industries and mediums. I feel

1:20:51like I've seen you everywhere from

1:20:53commercials. Did you do the Super Bowl?

1:20:55>> Yeah, we did a Super Bowl commercial.

1:20:57>> Last year it was Dunkin Donuts Super

1:20:58Bowl commercial. This year

1:21:00>> it was T-Mobile with the Backtory Boys.

1:21:02>> This Dunkin Donuts commercial.

1:21:04>> Yeah. Yeah. I heard this crazy story

1:21:06that they accidentally sent you Jim

1:21:07Car's money.

1:21:08>> Jim Car's No, they didn't send the

1:21:10money. They sent an email showing how

1:21:12much he would be getting paid for that

1:21:13hour.

1:21:14>> Oh.

1:21:15>> Or the two hours that he was there.

1:21:17Insane. And they weren't supposed to.

1:21:20They were actually mad that I even spoke

1:21:21on that. But he didn't even show up. He

1:21:24didn't even I don't I don't think he

1:21:26ever

1:21:27>> said yes to it. But they accidentally

1:21:28sent it to me assuming that it was I

1:21:32guess Jim Car's management. They sent it

1:21:35to my management and I think they

1:21:36accidentally sent the proposal.

1:21:39>> Oh, which was supposed to be for him

1:21:42and they might have sent my proposal to

1:21:44him, but his proposal to me. [laughter]

1:21:47I can only imagine if he saw the amount

1:21:48I was getting.

1:21:51That's probably why he didn't do this

1:21:52Did anybody saw my [laughter]

1:21:56Jim Carrey saw the proposal? How much I

1:21:58was getting paid for the I don't

1:22:00know. I don't know. But um yeah. No, it

1:22:02was it was an insane amount of money.

1:22:04And I was like, "Wow." I I that that

1:22:08gives me a lot of inspiration to become

1:22:10on that level one day.

1:22:11>> People are saying it was in the region

1:22:13of $5 million.

1:22:14>> It's around that.

1:22:15>> Yeah.

1:22:15>> For two for two hours of shooting.

1:22:18>> And they sent you that figure so you got

1:22:20to see what he was being paid for two

1:22:21hours, which is two

1:22:22He didn't see mine cuz that would have

1:22:24been that would have been embarrassing.

1:22:25>> So that's a $2.5 million an hour to

1:22:27shoot a commercial and he said no.

1:22:29>> He said no. So imagine what he wants.

1:22:32>> And I'm not sure if it's money.

1:22:34>> Yeah. And that is something I look up to

1:22:36him about. He's one of those guys that

1:22:39doesn't look at a money sign and just

1:22:42say yes to. He's one of those guys that

1:22:44genuinely cares about his craft and his

1:22:47legacy. He still hasn't done a Grinch 2

1:22:50yet. I know they're shooting it right

1:22:51now, but up to this date, they didn't

1:22:54until last week, they didn't announce

1:22:56that they were shooting Grinch 2. So,

1:22:58how much money was he wanting before? Or

1:23:00was it even about money? Or did he just

1:23:02not want to do another one? You never

1:23:05know. I don't know. But I feel like he's

1:23:07very specific about everything

1:23:10that he does. You ever seen Fire

1:23:12Marshall Bill from In Living Color?

1:23:15>> No.

1:23:16>> Oh my god. You have no idea. You haven't

1:23:18seen That's the like damn near the

1:23:21beginning of the character of Grinch.

1:23:23Fire Marshall Bill is like the teaser of

1:23:26what the Grinch became. And the mask, it

1:23:28has a a twist of the mask in there, too.

1:23:30But like

1:23:31>> he was like the only white person on a

1:23:32living color at the time.

1:23:33>> The funny checking guy. He's like a very

1:23:38philosophical.

1:23:39>> For sure.

1:23:40>> Wise.

1:23:41>> Yeah, he's very wise man.

1:23:42>> Have you met him?

1:23:43>> Never met him. one day. That's another

1:23:46guy that's on my um list that I would

1:23:49love to meet, man. Love love love to

1:23:52meet.

1:23:52>> Part of the game that we often don't

1:23:53speak about as well with people like

1:23:55yourself is just the rejection along the

1:23:57way

1:23:57>> because your story could quite easily be

1:23:59portrayed as this sort of like, you

1:24:00know, bump in the road here, college, a

1:24:02couple issues here,

1:24:03>> this situation happens, Drake calls

1:24:05after you've spent

1:24:07>> a long time on your own posting and

1:24:08compounding and then off to the races.

1:24:11>> Happy ending. But there's still

1:24:13rejection along the way. I was reading

1:24:14that you were rejected by both Netflix

1:24:16and Amazon.

1:24:18>> Yeah. Early on.

1:24:20>> What was the proposal you made to them

1:24:21and what was that?

1:24:22>> I think it it was multiple. It wasn't

1:24:24just one time. I think we've we've

1:24:28years and years of proposals and I had

1:24:32like

1:24:34different FX proposals. Like we were

1:24:36supposed to get a show with FX, it was a

1:24:38no. We're supposed to do a movie with

1:24:40Amazon. It was a no. supposed to do

1:24:42multiple different products, do Netflix.

1:24:44No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And

1:24:46we just never gave up. And I eventually

1:24:48said, if I'm getting money from these

1:24:51companies

1:24:53and they're paying me, instead of going

1:24:56and buying a car or another house or

1:24:59maybe a nice jewelry and all this stuff,

1:25:02I'm going to invest in myself.

1:25:06And I decided to just go and all these

1:25:10show ideas that I had, I'm going to do

1:25:12it on YouTube and spend my own money to

1:25:14invest into it. And that and that is

1:25:16essentially what I

1:25:19did. And I think that's brought to you

1:25:21could have been auditions that's brought

1:25:22to you could have been love that's

1:25:24brought to you could have been house

1:25:25could have been daddy amongst other

1:25:27things like you've seen in the Druski

1:25:29universe of taking it to another level

1:25:31with all the sketches and the production

1:25:33I've done and the millions of dollars

1:25:34I've spent and all these things I I

1:25:37started to just believe in myself and

1:25:39not turn around and try to oh I'm going

1:25:41to come back and try to do the same

1:25:43proposal again in a better way. It's

1:25:44like I'm just bet on myself

1:25:46>> and then they cool. Now it's Yeah. It's

1:25:49a whole different story now. Now they

1:25:51want to purchase these shows that we've

1:25:54made and do more in the future. Yeah. So

1:25:57now it's a bidding war. What is the

1:26:00lesson there?

1:26:01>> The lesson there is just believe in

1:26:04yourself, man. Before anybody

1:26:06sees the vision, you have to see it. If

1:26:09you don't see the vision yourself,

1:26:11you're almost doing yourself a

1:26:12disservice. It has to start with you.

1:26:14And I think most people don't understand

1:26:16what they have in front of them.

1:26:18Everybody's like, "Oh, I'm waiting on

1:26:19the big movie. I'm waiting on my big

1:26:20movie break. Once I do it, d I'm going

1:26:22to do this." Once they give me an

1:26:24opportunity, I'm waiting on my

1:26:25opportunity. I'm going just keep d

1:26:27until they give me I'm keep You don't

1:26:29even believe in yourself, man. All that

1:26:31money you got last year from this and

1:26:33that and all these things. You didn't

1:26:34put not one dime into your content. You

1:26:37still shooting the same with the

1:26:39same phone. And that's cool. Some people

1:26:41are cool with that. You don't need much.

1:26:44Not saying you need the big productions

1:26:45I have. You don't. But are you really

1:26:50doubling down and betting on yourself if

1:26:52you're not investing in your own stuff?

1:26:56And that was a conversation I had to

1:26:57have with myself. And I was like, damn,

1:26:59I'm going to show them not by coming

1:27:01back and doubling back. I'm going to

1:27:02show them by doing it myself and having

1:27:05them wanting what I did in reverse. And

1:27:07maybe they don't want that. Maybe

1:27:09they'll see what I was capable of doing

1:27:11and then wanting to do other things. But

1:27:13along the way, you're going to have to

1:27:14have a lot of smart people for sure who

1:27:18by their job title or their status or

1:27:20their LinkedIn bio evidently know much

1:27:22more than you do telling you that you're

1:27:24wrong. Telling you that that idea is not

1:27:26a good one.

1:27:27>> Yeah.

1:27:27>> And that is something that I guess you

1:27:29have to like conceptualize in your head

1:27:30like how do I deal with that? This smart

1:27:32person at insert streaming platform is

1:27:34telling me no.

1:27:35>> Yeah.

1:27:35>> But I think yes. And they

1:27:36>> plenty plenty of people have told me no,

1:27:38man. even down to the dudes that I was

1:27:42telling you that were making fun of me

1:27:44at the college saying, "Oh, you don't

1:27:46even have no shoes to go out with us.

1:27:48Why would we pick you up?" I told those

1:27:50guys on the

1:27:52the second to last week I kind of was

1:27:55going to classes that I was going to try

1:27:57to pursue comedy and they were like,

1:27:59"Bro, come on, man." They were like,

1:28:00"Yo, you're funny, bro, but you ain't

1:28:03you ain't that funny. Think about what

1:28:05you going up against. you going up

1:28:06against like Kevin Hart or like the

1:28:08Kings of Comedy, Bernie Mack and all

1:28:10these guys. Think about it, bro. What

1:28:12they doing that's big. That's like

1:28:13unfathomable. Like you can't even till

1:28:15that day. I'll never forget that

1:28:18conversation cuz it was like a little

1:28:19side conversation with them. Maybe they

1:28:21was like, "Oh, whatever." They probably

1:28:22might not even remember that convers. It

1:28:24was just like a whatever conversation to

1:28:26them. Were they right when they said,

1:28:28"By the way, Drew, those legends are up

1:28:31there and you're down here."

1:28:32>> Not a not a shot.

1:28:33>> They weren't right.

1:28:34>> Not at all.

1:28:36I believed even then I I could already

1:28:40see it happening. Like I had visions of

1:28:42it already being in front of me before I

1:28:44even got a chance to actually do it. I

1:28:48guess also what I'm saying is like they

1:28:50they they could have been theoretically

1:28:52right that there was a long gap. It's

1:28:54not to say you couldn't close it.

1:28:55>> No. No. There's not to say I couldn't

1:28:57close it. I agree.

1:28:58>> Yeah.

1:28:58>> But what they were saying is almost like

1:29:00as if it wasn't even possible.

1:29:02>> Possible. Yeah. Okay. The way they put

1:29:05it was almost like, "Come on, man.

1:29:07That's so that's so wild to think."

1:29:10>> Do you know why I say this is because

1:29:11there's so many kids right now that are

1:29:13looking at you

1:29:14>> or they're looking at, I don't know,

1:29:16insert sports athlete or insert

1:29:17podcaster and they're going, they're

1:29:19looking up at a mountain top and they're

1:29:20going

1:29:21>> objectively that person is better than

1:29:23me.

1:29:24>> They have the skills. They have the

1:29:25mannerisms. They have the body language

1:29:27down. Like the gap is so big that I

1:29:30won't even bother. And that's kind of

1:29:32what I'm pointing at is did you ever

1:29:33feel did you ever know the gap was big?

1:29:36I never looked at it like it was a big

1:29:38gap. I always felt because when what I'm

1:29:40going to tell you the the problem with

1:29:41looking at it like it's a big gap. Once

1:29:44you process your brain of thinking this

1:29:46is so far unattainable,

1:29:49the journey becomes not even like you're

1:29:52not even thinking these steps could

1:29:54happen.

1:29:55>> There has to [clears throat] be steps.

1:29:56So I from me seeing that those guys are

1:29:59great. They've all done amazing thing. I

1:30:01look up to all of them. But I know it's

1:30:03achievable. I I had steps in place that

1:30:06I knew and nobody else could see these

1:30:08steps up to this level of trying to be

1:30:12great.

1:30:12>> Nobody else sees that. You You're the

1:30:14only person that is able to see these

1:30:16small steps. So once I started to see

1:30:18the small steps, I'm like, I'm only

1:30:19going up a ladder.

1:30:21>> I'm not not getting closer. I said I

1:30:24know that this is a far maybe thing, but

1:30:27I'm not looking at it like that

1:30:29>> because every small thing I'm I feel

1:30:31like I'm gaining in on it.

1:30:33>> So, you're just focused on the small

1:30:34steps.

1:30:34>> I was focused on the small. I never if

1:30:36you focus on the far goal, no, you'll

1:30:39never achieve man. [laughter]

1:30:42I'm saying it's funny, but it's the

1:30:44truth. It's like, let's say you're like,

1:30:45"Oh, I'mma win an Oscar." And you just

1:30:47started as an actor. Yes, you can say,

1:30:50"I want to win an Oscar." But what are

1:30:51the small steps you're going to do

1:30:52before achieving? What are the all these

1:30:54stairs all the way to where the

1:30:56this Oscar is at?

1:30:57>> Mhm.