BBoy Donovan of Rockforce Crew - Dancer, Breaker, DJ, MC, and Entrepreneur - Noise of the Broke Boys Episode 017

Noise of the Broke Boys Episode 017

BBoy Donovan, of the world famous Rockforce Crew, discusses the hard work and dedication needed to be a successful entrepreneur and the importance of tough mental fortitude and using therapy as a way to strengthen himself. He also shares his predictions about the covid crisis in America and how it will effect the hip hop scene.

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A broke degenerate hooligan documents conversations about being a Bboy, Breakin', Hip Hop, Dance, Art, Music, Creativity, Innovation, and the slow subtle crumble of society in audio form.

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[Music]

in this episode I talk with one of the

most industrious guys I know he's known

for organizing some of the best hip hop

events in the northern and southern

California areas not only does he have a

ton of experience in entrepreneurship

but he is an amazing b-boy skilled MC

and a dope DJ I forgot to press the

record button in the beginning because I

have a complete and utterly incompetent

production staff written directed and

produced by Kurt the hurt so please

pardon the audio quality at first it

gets fixed at about the five minute mark

please enjoy the episode with b-boy

Donovan welcome everyone to this week's

episode welcome everyone to this week's

episode of chaos in the streets nothing

makes sense and the world is falling

apart today I have an amazing guest he

grew up in the mecca of hip hop

Fairfield California and has much

experience dancing rapping DJing event

planning and much more I'm happy to

introduce the king of government the boy

names b-boy dominant actually it's your

middle name

I actually kind of wanted to hear the

like this super petty gripe about like a

service described about like Lululemon

pants oh yeah what's your which is which

are cool is they like looking up and

like I mean girls are paying anywhere

from seventy to a hundred person

freaking pants with the Lululemon's logo

yeah but it's a not to be all

superficial when a girl's like kind of

too skinny

mm-hmm they don't hold up his nice and

the logos all saggy

you know y'all know Pantera trip

but anyways thanks for having me yeah

yeah man so we're living in some kind of

crazy times dude that's like like Kovan

stuff I mean it's been kind of crazy for

me because I've been trying to push out

more episodes on less and stuff and so

I'm really interested because you know

me and you starting to like train a

little bit recently

um and I'm curious like how do you think

COBIT is affecting the hip-hop scene oh

well I think hip hop's gonna keep on

going you know and if you're talking

about martial events with hip-hop live

events with hip-hop I mean for now it's

just gonna be what its gonna be you know

I just I just seen a live stream

yesterday you know events or scaled-down

you cater to social distancing and not

having too many people and you know

having a high risk people catching

Kovach 19 but I think we're just gonna

have to take what we can get for now I

think eventually I can't tell if it's

gonna be months from now a year or more

than that I think eventually it'll get

back to normal mm-hmm because as much as

like people are trying to improvise and

pivot and some people are doing a damn

good job like Dana White is it doesn't

mean yeah and I'm sure he's faced but

he's someone I look at like damn he's

making no excuses to keep his little bit

yeah you know I'm here like tamanna like

dude this is so wack you know what it

was a right when they were promoting the

Tony person and I forget who it was but

someone one of the

the news reporters got up and said are

you worried about copa90 nandini I was

like no like basically shutting the dude

down yeah the next week they had to

cancel stuff and I was like oh man this

is kind of crazy

I feel like Dana White probably was like

dude fuck this we're gonna make this

dead and now to like make it happen so

he's been he's been hustling to me that

guy he makes it happen yes I've always

looked up to him in regards to being a

promoter I guess you could say I could

call myself that but since I kind of

want i'm always looked into my like I'm

not a promoter Dana White's promoter and

now he's showing like you I still think

it'd happen yeah you know and most

people would be like well yeah he uh Fox

owns UFC and there's millions of dollars

that they have at any time but I

honestly feel like Dana White would do

whatever the hell he wants even if he

was in my position you know so it's

pretty cool that he's doing that but

going back to your question um so I

think you know we're just gonna have a

table you get for now mm-hmm

we're all kind of looking forward to

things normalizing so to say and once

that happens I think people are gonna

have to incorporate all the the live

resources that we've been using and the

the streaming and all that I think

that'll be implemented more so with live

events I know Coachella was already

doing a live stream a lot of the b-boy

events excuse me breaking events that we

go to I wanna go do we watch the live

stream but now I feel like things are

gonna get a lot more virtual but the

actual live event catering to the masses

you know will still need to happen in

regards to them both being SuperDuper

effective but um you know I'm just kind

of waiting waiting for that you know

people are really itching to to compete

or to do whatever you know there's

platforms through the internet through

zoo or whatever they're using

they could go ahead and battle I'm sure

I'm sure a lot of you know people in the

music industry or finding different ways

to either get hurt or connect and build

right now secure that fools careers like

blowing up from jail I didn't get caught

snitching you know I'm not trying to set

up crazy fights and uh you know I have

no excuse not not to stay busy social

distancing saved his career I think he'd

probably be Jeff probably dead if it

wasn't yeah I think he's he's coming out

with new songs and you still haven't

liked some super crazy features on his

tracks yeah I think he had Nicki Minaj's

he's something like that yeah yeah yeah

I mean he's making it happen he's a

hustler - yeah props to that guy for

sure um definitely but yet like hip-hop

for me it's it's such a social theme oh

yeah like it inherently doesn't work

with social distancing you know what I

mean like we grew you know battling is a

thing you can't do that with social

distancing I know people are trying yeah

the internet with these like yeah video

battles it feels like this is freaking

you know 1999 back when they had the

free year there's a website where you

post a picture a boy dot-org that'll is

um there was a whole bunch of all right

not a whole a handful of them yeah yeah

b-boy or yeah so I don't know I like I'm

what I'm worried about is that the

social aspect of the dance which is like

uh I want to say it's like 80% of what

we do I'm really curious how that's

gonna get affected by it I mean I'm

hoping that everything closes down but

then I know that it's never gonna be the

same because they're still gonna be

people you know I mean this has been a

huge wake-up call to people that you

know this is an issue that can happen

again

and so I'm just I'm really curious if

that's actually

you know how the scene could really mold

itself to be I guess I guess more of a

scene that accommodates for that but

still have a social aspect it's such a

way you know I definitely I definitely

get what you're saying especially with

breaking I mean to be honest I feel like

there's a lot of things that kind of are

in the same boat mm-hmm I mean Kevin

Durant posted tested positive right

mm-hmm Donovan Mitchell yeah it's like

they got a play ball all right Rudy go

bears yeah brought it in probably and I

you know I don't know I they're just not

gonna let them play yeah I don't know

yeah and I can Stage four can't happen

unless there's like proper treatment

and/or vaccine

I think so I mean there's a lot of

companies out there I mean the industry

the industry that I'm involved with is

all about live events you know and

everyone's just out there praying for a

vaccine or yeah well I feel like I see a

lot of people trying to improvise but I

feel so bad because you know it's not

the same and then you get you got shut

down again because of rising numbers

mm-hmm but man we should say we shall

see you know I don't know yeah it's just

weird to think you know if you know say

like you threw your next event

uh-huh let's say it's in let's say it's

even in a year people come in they're

still you know coming off of this whole

like Kobe let's say we're already past

Stage four oh yeah it's completely

opened up okay

I feel like still people will be a

little bit skeptical to come to an event

uh-huh you know there'd probably be a

lot of people wearing masks and doing

some stuff do you think that's gonna

affect the events I think it will yeah

but that just means you know it's up to

whoever still in the event to step up

their marketing ten times a hundred

times more so let's say you're the way

you know you're used to marketing is

good for 500 to a thousand people mm-hmm

post post Co vid that's those same

methods will bring maybe half or less so

you're talking about 200 people okay to

be

back to just a 500,000 I got a freaking

step it up five to ten times more that's

how that's how I look at it um I'm just

trying to be positive with whatever the

hell were going through yeah uh not not

that I'm demeaning all the unfortunate

things that have happened the lives lost

the jobs lost the money lost he all that

but um you know I think mmm

we all realized what we took for granted

we all we all should kind of hone in and

learn all these virtual tools and all

these other ways because eventually

again things will get back to normal and

I feel like there's gonna be some people

that were on the same bullshit you know

prior talk all the shutdowns and they go

and they're gonna be those people that

have been really learning really trying

to adapt or just add to when things get

normal again hmm

so you know just really trying to take

the time I should probably speed it up a

little bit or learn a little more in

regards to resources I can use but you

know I think I think Colvin's gonna

teach event promoters I hate it I hate

that word promoter I keep saying that

organizes the set a little more

professional to implement those kind of

things you know so if you have a badass

live event now people are gonna kind of

expect you to be in that online space

you know at the same time because you

know I mean I really wasn't too big on

it with my events I mean cross did it I

be so many people did it which was cool

which is automatic I'm talking like live

stream yeah live streaming it yeah but

now I feel like you kind of have to you

know even though even when things get

back to normal then that is gonna be the

new norm is to live stream your evenings

so what I've been seeing a lot of

recently is like I think what they're

doing is they're doing like it's like a

like a zoom battle or whatever yeah

which is kind of goofy but it seems to

me like what they're trying to do is

then get it like they're doing a

qualifier

way and then once they get there top

group they're gonna try to maybe do an

event with just them mm-hmm

I guess kind of similar to how UFC is

doing it now and it's just like that

they're just battling and then they'll

livestream it do you think that that's

probably a viable way so there is each

dancer in their own space so they're all

in the same space together I think it's

it's I think well I actually don't know

this is what it seems like I've yet to

talk to someone who's actually throwing

one of these events but it seems like

what they're trying to do is in stages

do like a qualifier to get down to like

a certain amount of dancers and then

then they would do a regular battle in

person oh okay I don't know if that's

exactly what they're doing but let's

just say that was what I'm doing do you

think that that's a viable way to do I

mean that's kind of how the UFC is doing

yeah I mean it wouldn't be the way I

would want to compete yeah but if that's

one of the few things offered I mean you

kind of got to take it right I get it

there are some dancers that thrive off

of the energy of the crowd a lot of us

do just actually it's weird to not yeah

yeah it was like a practice if you're

just dancing and like there's no one I

mean that's that's the thing but if you

love it you know and you're really doing

it just because you love the dance I

feel like you know it is what it is and

you know the top guys that could that

could hone in and you know do it yeah

you know we'll kill it shoutout to moyes

been doing a lot of work with the online

battles yes and still making it happen

yeah yeah I think he's been putting

together like a lot of classes since -

yeah class yeah yeah for real classes -

but really just he it doesn't seem like

he's wasting time I feel like he's being

a really good example on you know what

there's no break free in Houston this

year mm-hmm but I'm still gonna have

something for the community yeah for the

culture yeah

and where was the bullseye gonna I was

gonna say something after that but yeah

anyways just hopefully I feel like I

kind of want to do something like that

but it seems like it's a little more

tricky mm-hm then than I thought it

would be because not everyone's gonna

have some fire internet you know yeah

and then it's like you have a live DJ

like how you know you can't really

expect them to be on beat if they're

dancing your G so I'm assuming over the

Internet yeah like is there a song pool

they they choose from yeah it's it's a

weird it's a weird thing i I mean or do

you just let them play whatever music

they wanted yeah or you give them the

mix or something I don't know it's weird

vacancy yeah no I mean it and this and

these these are the this is the reason

why it's like a problem for me is that

because again we're like it's such a

social thing that when you cut out the

socialness of it you get into these

really weird situations that I don't

think any of us have even thought about

and yeah breaks it breaks down hip-hop

to its core almost you know it does but

you know it kind of breaks down humanity

to its core it does because we are

social beings I get it I could be a

super-duper introvert you know I

definitely love being alone but you know

people are starving for social

interaction mm-hmm you know shoot I was

it happened like twice this week and I

was at Ralph's and then I was at a state

herb rose and I just said hi to a couple

people and they were trying to get him

to some like conversation conversation I

kind of like more so than that are you

doing good oh yeah like tell me how the

process of cooking is steak and shit or

is roast I do that sounds like a

three-hour process like yeah you got a

lot of time on your hands to do that and

you know a lot of time your hands cuz

you're trying to break down the whole

damn process to me yeah but I was

telling my partner Peter from feel-good

collective we were talking about these

online battles if it keeps going this

direction I feel like we're gonna see a

lot of new talent we haven't seen mmm

for a few reasons

because they don't need the plane ticket

anymore to go to a jam mmm that's

interesting and just imagine right you

got this b-boy that just his talent

level is so high and it's like this in

sports it's like this in different arts

and different in even different dances a

guy that just he is skill level so high

or he's so good in sparring just when it

comes to those performing under the

lights they're just not they don't

perform as well yeah so now what if you

got this dude or this girl in the

comfort of the studio garage or whatever

they practice that every day they train

out every day you should maybe even have

some padding under the floor cement some

puzzle mat under the linoleum or even

softer then you got your friends like as

close homies that thing he or she is the

best dancer in the world hyping them up

and they're in their comfort zone you we

might get some talent

we don't even know come yeah yeah I have

a feeling that we're gonna see some some

dudes just out of like I don't know

India or some random country that we

haven't really seen competing at the

high level before but now that I guess

the spotlight has to be put on to the

online community and that they've

already been in that online community

you know for a long time because they

don't they never really had native

b-boys in their trailer countries so

it's like they've always been getting

everything from online and now they have

it's like a home game for them now you

know what I mean it's like yo let's

throw our shit out there yeah maybe

people are seeing it now and you might

see I don't know like some super star

online b-boys and maybe no I really I

really think it might be like that you

know again I'm really trying to be

optimistic I think everyone's like

everyone's trying to be optimistic about

this whole thing because it's so

uncertain but for the you know but

sometimes I get caught up in like damn I

really I really don't know what's gonna

happen you know and just try to embrace

uncertainty I guess you know you know

and make the most of it you

because I don't know man but anyways

with online stuff shit people need to

get their decks ready and all their

pitches the sponsors ready because I

feel like you know whether it's an

online battle or it's sports or more

maybe you're more on the broadcasting in

sports are still gonna happen people are

gonna watch I mean I get it there's no

live gate you know those ticket sales

are very crucial to profit but since

there are gonna be more views you know

God willing the sponsorship could

balance out the ticket sales if not

helped out a little bit you know so I

guess you know you as I guess an event

promoter or whatever I like to be called

it a coordinator coordinator as long as

I've known you've been like this kind of

Hustler an entrepreneur type of person

if you're in the situation right now I'm

going to do an event like say say you

had a big sponsor already lined up

they're like you got to make this happen

what would you do what would be your

game plan um game plan so it's okay like

it for instance the the sponsor said I

could do it online they said you can do

it online they have you know they're

giving you the full support whatever

what would be your first thing to do I

guess to get that event off the ground I

mean I mean I'm just imagining some if

somebody who's listening right now wants

to throw an event mm-hmm you know you

with the long history of experience

throwing events what would be a thought

process to actually start getting into

this I guess new realm I guess it all

depends what kind of event you know I

mean I'll just keep it simple so if it's

breaking mm-hmm you know reaching out to

the people in my circle that you know

are very very vital and very important

to the scene getting them involved but

obviously I have to go through that

because I know there's some people that

probably do not wouldn't want to do it

you know either they're getting older or

you know their parents are getting older

they're just around people where I can't

even take that risk so you know getting

everyone involved if I'm talking about

something more musical booking the

talent you know just making sure

everyone's down to you know be a part of

it I guess this is just me saying if we

were happy to have an event with a small

group altogether and then live stream it

if everyone is individually kind of

zooming or facetiming that might be a

little different but I would honestly

really invest in the marketing I'm like

obviously Morgan Marketing okay cuz

marketing is kind of everything right

yeah yeah and obviously production you

know really really get keen on the

production and you know everything else

should fall into place I I know it's

very vague but I feel like that's all we

can do I just try to focus on how we're

gonna get a bigger reach mm that we have

quality talent and that the productions

on point because we I feel like now

deejays and now a lot of people that

started live streaming are getting the

hang of it you know you no disrespect to

the people that were doing the verses

battles and I'm not disrespecting that

company just like there were some

battles where it was like damn the OGN

really up on these damn which ones were

those there was baby face for his Teddy

Riley okay

there was primo versus RZA there was I

think t-pain and Little John kind of

just did it on off the strengths like

together unless it was coordinated I'm

not sure but it was stuff like that

which was pretty dope think they had

some dope ass battles you know yeah my

thing now people like okay we got to

keep it either keep it simple or if

we're gonna kind of be a little more

intricate with our production really

really really beyond it yeah

like make sure you have a good product

and then get it out there in market a

online is that's kind of yeah I mean I

feel like the focus of having worrying

about your door person your security the

venue the parking and all these other

logistics aren't there so those efforts

definitely should go to make sure that

the event runs good on time the

production is good the marketing the

promotion everything is on point

you know I've yet to I've yet to even

like entertain that idea there's a you

know with the feel-good collective we've

done some live streams but nothing as in

like a live stream show or a battle we

we we actually were talking about that

recently if we might do it but um yeah

that's pretty much I do hmm marketing

and production yeah um so you mentioned

feel-good Inc which is your company

right outfielder collective yeah and

that's basically like your event uh yeah

we do oh we do events we do marketing we

we have a collective of different

artists we have DJs photographers oh

I'll go first so it's like a we do yeah

so our bread-and-butter are events his

events excuse me uh we're kind of like a

mini agency I guess you could say we

don't really it like it's like a non

verbal agreement we have all the

resources to mark it you know I'm saying

the artistic things we do okay and yeah

we just kind of we kind of build off

that we have we have a clothing line

called feel good supply yeah we were yet

to put out the new line most of this

stuff has been is sold out already okay

but yeah you guys have like a website

the website is under construction right

now but you can still check out the

clothing and feel good dot supply the

website the feel good collective calm

should be up soon you can check us out

on soundcloud we're still putting up

weekly mixes you know for okay for

people to at least get that feel-good

vibe you know out there at their parties

or freaking

zone parties or whatever they're doing

and are you making the mixer you got

like I got we got a whole bunch of dope

talented DJs I mean I've it's very

important to me and my partner would

feel good Collective Peter just kind of

be surrounded by creative individuals I

know the word creative I know the word

entrepreneur everything gets thrown

around so crazily nowadays yeah but I

feel like it's very helpful especially

for me because I get to stay I stay on

point and get put on game with what's

happening whether it's on social media

whether it's entertainment music and all

that so we're just really um you know a

collective of creatives that just makes

shit happen yeah cool shit happen that's

dope though I mean cuz it's kind of like

it's a group of just probably

like-minded individuals

yeah you guys have a new project or

whatever you're like let's all get our

brains together and make that happen I

mean I think that's really tight because

in my perspective I feel like when

people use their creativity they can

really push through bounds yeah to make

something happen so you as like an

entrepreneur I feel like you know you

constantly have to use this kind of

creative mentality then you've grown up

you know developing through through all

the arts you do dancing music to become

a better entrepreneur and I think that's

probably why you're so so good at it

would you agree with that or no no no

yeah I totally agree

you know i-i've had a team I had another

company when I lived in the bays some

small-time stuff but he was a lot of fun

called plus I'm vibes like I come I had

a team I kind of had a team mm-hmm and

there were times I didn't have a team mm

you know I think again a lot of people

are okay just running things by

themselves but the team makes a big damn

difference you know and you have a team

work could be delegated more ideas could

be freaking ideas and resources

and shooed you'd even be enlightened you

know just like oh shit maybe I was doing

that wrong you know thanks to a team

member but yeah everything kind of it's

still coming together the it's not a

full circle yet but I could see how

everything has came together throughout

these years of hustling and putting on

events trying to maintain as an artist

and all that stuff yeah I think I think

what's cool about what teams is that

you're pulling in everybody's little

idea that maybe they think is shit but

let me just throw it out there yeah and

you know everybody's little shit idea

kind of comes together to become like in

real city that's how it really be not

not such a bad idea and then you kind of

you're all like thinking on the same

wavelength to get to like an actually

good idea and I think that's probably

why it's so good now it's amazing it's a

mate

I am so freakin blessed to have the team

that I have to have the leaders that I

have and that team I miss sometimes will

have meeting meetings and sometimes I'll

put out some stupid ideas you know and

sometimes someone else will have a fire

idea sometimes I will some people

sometimes people just have some ideas

we're all just kind of like okay you

know were just like acting like we

appreciate the idea but you know like

you said sometimes it's just like there

it is

you know like you have to get those

ideas out some are gonna work some are

it you know but yeah having a team is

great we've been we've been a little

quiet obviously due to Co vid mm-hmm I

think everybody yeah everyone's been a

little quiet but all I could and I

respect it you know I totally understand

even myself you know I'm just hoping

after all this is done everyone's kind

of been working whether it's on their

own craft or just on themselves everyone

has just been working on themselves so

that we're all just stronger

individually so when when we are the

collective that we are you know we just

we just murk shit

and what else was I gonna say after that

do you think that the way your team kind

of works together is similar to like a

breaking crew or like a rap crew a

little bit but with it depends what

breaking Coon what rap crew you're

talking about right so what I really

really encourage with everyone from the

feel-good collective but everybody got

to focus on them damn selves you know

their art yeah aircrafts on whatever

hustles they're doing you know be solid

with your with your own foundation you

know when we come together yeah it's

like a it's like a commission table so

to say it's uh it's like Voltron yeah

yeah I need to show my age yeah it's

like Power Rangers yeah yeah but Captain

Planet intend oh that was like one of

the Yankees games but I love the card

too and so yeah I feel like the Warriors

right we're like the Power Rangers oh so

would you would you agree me on this and

this is very subjective if the Warriors

are the Power Rangers middle east were

talking about to like three years back

three seasons back uh-huh

we Kevin Durant be the Green Ranger so

we're just like don't really need me but

I'm here and I got my own fucking sword

yeah no yeah well at first he was the

bad guy oh fuck that dude and then when

they're like oh actually I'm not the bad

guy let me join and they're like oh hell

yeah now we're gonna really fuck these

uh buddies all the buddies yeah dude I

would agree with that yeah he was the

one I was trying to discredit his staff

maybe Steph could be the freakin Green

Ranger the white ranger but I was just

saying he was kind of like you know he

had a fire team without him and then

they bring him in and it's like oh we're

just that's icing on the cake we're just

gonna blow everybody up even yeah so

yeah no he was the Green

that's tight yeah yeah but going back to

uh feel good collected man I just yeah I

love it because we're all individuals

interested in either the same thing or

really freakin different things yeah you

know and that and I look at it more so

as uh you know as well it was the word

I'm looking for mainly we get back to

that man but I'm very thankful for them

and you know that circle keeps me very

very charged up you know there been

times you know even you know before but

before Cove it was just like I'm tired

from these these other projects that I'm

working on these other jobs from from

training from other things and you know

when I see them they give me energy

oh yeah you know they're very they're

very big source of inspiration for me

just like it's different having a team

you know the energy it's about support

yeah it's support things are

reciprocated and you just you know it's

hard to explain it you can't even

quantify it you know yeah well you guys

are better the sum of your parts makes

you guys even better you know no I think

that is one of the most important things

about the team is that you got all these

brilliant people coming together and you

make something even more broad from the

summer nah definitely definitely just

look just like a b-boy crew just like a

b-boy yeah yeah I mean DJ crew yeah so

it's a feel-good collective yeah so um

what actually got you into like I guess

being an entrepreneur I mean like as

long as I've known you you've been like

that I mean and you're in Fairfield I

think when I first met which despite

what I said in the beginning it's not

quite the mecca of hip hop yeah it's

kind of just what a cow town you know

that's back of the old vac appeals back

of the cow town pocket yeah this is next

to the the came here the second last

city of the Bay Area right so I think

Vacaville is the last city consider Bay

Area so goes Vallejo Fairfield backfill

the bay doesn't actually touched

it touches Vallejo right edge Fairfield

I don't know get a touch Cordelia no

Green Valley corner maybe doesn't know I

actually I mean I guess I don't really

understand what is the Bay Area yeah

because some people will even say

Sacramento is the Bay Area my god I

don't think so it's a it's in a valley

and it doesn't touch a bay there's like

and people from the city won't even

consider them like anything really

outside of you know San Francisco or

this Oakland you know Daly City some

they don't consider anything outside of

you know the Bay Bridge San Mateo Bridge

and the Golden Gate Bridge to be even

the Bay Area yeah is what it is I mean

he's still 7 l7 all day I'm not really

worried about it but yeah Fairfield uh

yeah that's home and I miss it I miss it

I need to go back uh-huh but how I got

into like events but I mean just being

like just hustling was just always

something that I think a lot of people

do as a kid you know like for instance I

remember going to the spot it was in

Pinole or Hercules okay it was called

Ichiban okay and they would have all the

Dragon Ball Z they had you know man I

hate to be you know Ranma 1/2 you

remember that what was it Ranma 1/2 that

yeah yeah you're like I'm old but not

that old you know a Ninja Scroll okay

you know they just they had Sailor Moon

stuff oh yeah Vallejo baseball in

Springs town had it too but anyways so

it wasn't like a typical comics all

right it's more anime focused oh so I

would just you know when we go visit

family around that area be like hey mom

can we stop by there I'm not sure I like

should I know my neighbors will like and

then I was you know I'm saying I would

just double triple the price you know

yeah sell it off like you mean you know

what uh Patrick you may not eat lunch

for a week but this Dragon Ball scroll

is so fire yeah you don't really need to

eat lunch for a week you know so you

know as a little kid I was always

hustling and stuff like that but I got

into a van

because of my first J I only want to say

my or I but my first break and crew NSP

non-stop b-boys we threw unbreakable

yeah

unbreakable one shot out - unbreakable

in Belgium but it's totally different

right we had unbreakable March of 2002

in Fairfield California yeah so how that

came about really was I was driving I

had seen a dance rehearsal they are a

dance recital they're at this church

yeah and I was like owner if you get the

breaking combo if you throw a jam here

mm-hmm

and then I don't know if you remember

spunk yeah okay dope man a lot of people

know him but a spunk we were in my cars

driving I was like I was 17 he must have

been 15 mmm you know probably driving to

Paris and I was like hey man you choose

should we try to throw this Jam

yeah and he's like yeah let's do it

you know so he did it the rest of the

crew everyone was on board this church I

randomly let me sign the contract that

was 17 I'm not even like legally liable

for if something were to happen they

gave me the keys I paid two hundred for

rent uh-huh and five fifty almost six

hundred people come into this like

Methodist Church in Fairfield hmm thank

God the talent level is high because my

resources were small you know everything

was ran very very uh I don't want to say

janky but let's just say it was my first

event but that's one Kareem EJ and our

monkey one okay what year was that

2002 okay yeah right there Ajax battle

drift hmm

there was uh what other was there

another exhibition but yeah man so got

in some more breaking events hmm

somehow I would just always take the

lead on them and then I ventured off to

events nightlife events corporate events

winning and making some decent dough as

a kid losing

you know I remember my first lost being

18 and like you know $800 as an 18 year

old kid you thought it was a lot you

know and just kind of was like okay

these are solid these are hit or miss

this is more miss this is uh you know

some I got events of all kinds car shows

nonprofit events weddings a lot of

nightlife stuff cuz my life was pretty

consistent oh yeah and that that kind of

that that's really how a lot of my

ventures and a lot of my endeavor

started was because I started throwing

breaking events you know and kind of

taught myself other things from that you

know like okay this worked for breaking

let me try in this realm but I'm still

in regards line still in the line of you

the event industry let me try this let

me try that and then you know I mean you

meet different people you you get new

ideas you get new passions and you know

it's I feel like I'm just on to

something new and

kovat has also been a blessing for me to

kind of have some downtime and figure

out what I really really like or love

and what I want to do because before

Kovan man I was my head was literally

all over the place it's like we're doing

events once or twice a week I have my

own gigs like I might have a wedding

that weekend I have my own Club bookings

that I'm doing personally okay I'm still

practicing yeah yeah you know and I

still got other projects I want to

monetize off of I got passion projects

and I'm yeah

socially I'm trying to still be you know

whoever Donovan is to them I was just

very very stretched thin yeah you know

and kovat uh really taught me what I

miss and probably took for granted and

what actually I probably don't mind not

going back to even if things do go

normal again so it kind of reframed like

uh yeah yeah I'm a goalie I'm really

excited for these next few

months man god-willing uh something

comes out of you know fruition with

everything yeah oh yeah so can you

mention any of those projects are they

kind of not really I'm not really the

type to be like you know I can't really

you know I hate when pew yeah he likes

it okay man before it's actually

anything I mean the funny thing is I'm

gonna be a hypocrite and probably not

tell you everything but um so I hate

when you're super close to somebody

uh-huh and I'm like oh yeah what you've

been working on yeah this one thing man

I really can't say cuz I'm like well

fucker I've known you for a hella long

you swear like on the body how

disrespectful but yeah you know just

music I'm working on a few projects as a

as a as an MC as a DJ I'm working with

other a couple other producer homies and

you know some lines and brands that are

some lines and brands that have to do

with other interests I know you a lot of

people see me and ike hip-hop or you

know nightlife they see me in that light

but you know I'm working on a few

projects that's like showcasing my other

interest um that people aren't used to

seeing me yeah stuff like that man yeah

like that ya know it seems like you're

always like busy and trying to work on

the next thing and kind of like lining

stuff up yeah I mean it's important it's

you know the beginning of kovat I

probably wasn't busy I was just living

in my head stressed the fuck out to be

quite honest yeah a lot of you probably

yeah a lot of people were and you know I

mean but pushing through you know

pushing through that I think is probably

something that a lot of people have

trouble with it but you as like this

entrepreneur it's probably helped you a

lot because you've always been like at

least for what I see when I look at

entrepreneurs it seems like they're

always kind of like playing chess in a

way where they are moving like steps

ahead in their mind before they actually

are doing that so then when you know

they when when you know their opponent

takes a that they weren't expecting

right you can actually quickly read

what's going on in and that

essentially what kovat probably did to

you is I mean yeah but it took a while

you know just be completely on it like I

would say the first four to six weeks I

was in a pretty dark place I mean

luckily I already started I already had

started going to therapy once a week not

in February okay you know and so I'm

going to therapy then the shutdown's

happened quarantine happens lockdowns

all that and you know my therapist

reiterated like you're not the only

person feeling uncertain right now you

know and he's like a lot of people are

gonna be stressed not do nothing about

it but they're gonna be those people

that are not saying they're not gonna

get phased but they're gonna use that

energy to be productive to be um to make

something of themselves or make some do

more yeah and then what's expected

during these times you know there are

some people it's like okay I get where

I'm at but there are some people that

already had less than what like or well

where we're experiencing through kovat

here in California United States some

people are like man I wish I could do

that I wish I could be in California on

lockdown

you know and I'm you know I wasn't I

don't have the resources I don't have

the income I don't have the family I

don't like a lot of people have less

than what we're feeling right now and

you know I was kind of like my ego is

telling me don't come out of this you

know what I'm saying not not in better

form than some of these other cuz there

are some people man that are working

right now there are some people whether

it's physical whether it's you know

hustling whether it's starting a new

business or making music whatever

they're gonna be some people out of this

that are actually just gonna be you know

flexing and have a lot to show for this

quote-unquote downtime you know so my

therapist kind of preached that and he

said okay you don't know what to do just

do something he's like in a sense have

productive distractions you know because

it's like stop worrying about this

contract to go through if you did your

best you know it is it's gonna be what

its going it's in the world much about

yeah you can't do much like the word you

know he was always saying like the worst

thing you could do

is nothing you know and sit so whether

it's me working on a passion project me

riding some rhymes thinking of some

breaking moves cleaning the house if

it's me organizing something not to say

I use those as reasons to not do the

stuff I really really need to do that

make me fulfill but it's still better to

do something rather than just dwell on

this craziness that we're in right now

no you know right when this happened

well so for the this podcast I've been

recording episodes since I want to say

October or maybe even September of last

year 2019

I was just stacking shows and shit and I

was always like oh I'm gonna release it

release them but I want to do whatever

the huh and then right when this

lockdown happened I was kind of like man

dude this freakin psycho yeah something

clicked in my mind that was like dude

you got all this work to do to get this

show that you've always wanted to get

and so that was when I I kind of changed

my perspective instead of like feeling

bad for my let me just start putting in

the work to like get this shit off you

know kicked off and so then that I feel

like it almost wouldn't have happened if

I didn't if it's the Kovach's you know

what I mean which so it's kind of a

blessing in a way yeah shitty bless yeah

I was able to like at least like some

some kind of positivity from know that's

important I feel like okay we're alive

yeah you know we're alive I do know some

people whose family members you know

unfortunately passed from it

[Music]

but you know though were affected we're

still here mm-hm and if we're still here

what is the good that's in front of us

due to it and you know I think um you

know that downtime is important I mean

to be quite honest uh shoot if I'm done

with the gig sometimes I'm coming home

be like 3:00 in the morning you know and

then it's like I have relationships with

these venues so I'm obviously getting

free drinks yeah fuck around and get a

midnight snack there's a taco truck

outside that yeah you know and it's just

it's so weird because after I snapped

out at that dark place I probably

honestly haven't felt this healthy

physically and mentally and a long

freakin time you know I could look

myself in the mirror a lot more and kind

of you know break down what I see my

sleeps a little better though I got some

bags under my eyes but hey yeah sleepy

be a little better but you know sleeps

sleeps better not having them late ass

meals all the time stress levels aren't

as high cuz man there's a lot of stress

and anxiety that not all the time but

once in a while could come up you know

in the industry that I'm in you know

some people deal with it way better than

me yeah I mean yeah yeah a few people

were like man I think you kind of

manifested that's this downtime because

I used to say like I kind of want to

fall back a little bit I kind of wanna

maybe focus on some other things not

that I don't miss there are certain

events that I do with the feel-good

collective and then also um I do for

certain clients that I do miss but

there's a lot of stuff I was just doing

for a consistent dough you know or doing

more so just for the check and you know

it was really tiring and then like i

like i said earlier trying to keep up

with training you know those just having

such a busy definitely like elevate your

stress yeah you gotta have good

management up that oh yeah I wish I

haven't kind of like I guess a stoic

attitude towards it is

is I think important because it's like

if you're working your hardest to make

something happen and you're putting it

out in the world you know I guess what a

stoic would say is like yeah out in the

world I don't have any control over it

at this point but you you put your

hardest effort into it like and be happy

happy that you were able to do them hmm

so I think that's a good way to like

really Varian you know as artists I feel

like we're so I don't want to say in

institutionalize but in a sense we're so

stuck on the way we process our thoughts

uh-huh you know cuz maybe the those

thought processes excuse me

made you the great artist you were mm mm

or you are excuse me yeah yeah but maybe

on certain day-to-day activities that

mindset is not the healthiest you know

yeah and just learning to

compartmentalize my thoughts

I know super basic stuff but usually it

does go back down I mean if you look at

the the way you're feeling if it's

uneasy it really goes back to some very

very simple thoughts and no whatnot but

yeah man just just trying to freaking

organize my thoughts organize my life a

lot better you know man yeah anyways

that's that I'm gonna getting tired

thinking about mold not playing hey I'm

not getting tired but you were

mentioning um therapy I actually had

someone on do you know you know peter

dinh yeah yeah he's like a family

therapist I had um before and so he was

talking to me a lot about like how

therapy how he uses like therapeutic

exercises to kind of I don't know boost

his like creative men mentality and and

I don't know kind of just run his life a

little bit better do you think I mean

you were saying that therapy's helped

you a lot it's amazing yeah

yeah do you think that it cuz the way he

was talking to me it seems like it kind

of just like aligns your life you know

it really does man I think honest Peter

right the one that always has like a new

stretch frickin kij like every practice

yeah it has a band he'll have like does

he still have dreads yeah he's got your

idea okay the air flare guy right you've

seen him forever but he'll do a hair

flip yeah yeah man therapy I think is

super important I mean me personally I

go every week I feel like it's helped me

so much I could probably go a little

less I could probably go like every

other week but I still go okay every

week I know some people that go once a

month but the reason I really wanted to

go is because I kind of was looking at

my expenses and I was like okay I'm

paying 40 for my 24-hour Supersport

mm-hmm I'm paying a hundred for my

boxing gym mm-hmm paying 16 or 60 bucks

a month for the class pass okay I don't

know if you know the classes classes

beautiful as hell anyway so I'm paying

$200 just to be I'm not fit but just

from my physical fitness I guess you

could say right I'm spending 200 bucks

that's not even counting what the hell

if I you know my food whether whether

it's healthy or unhealthy spending $200

just on gym memberships mm-hmm I'm

reading a book try to read a book once a

month or whatnot but still what what

investment some are really making on my

brain oh my yeah which is like super

duper important yeah and it's been it's

been awesome yes it's been freakin great

and I feel like we all should you know

see it therapist if you're not

frequently once in a while you know I

know it's SuperDuper taboo yeah to talk

about that but man man but it really

shouldn't yes it's kind of like a

checkup

it's like a doctor's checkup but for

your brain uh-huh maybe you that's how

people have described it to me oh man

it's awesome I mean it's your freaking

brain it's your well-being you know

thank god there's been so many advocates

for mental health you know putting it

out there the last you know five six

years

shout out to Paul see Paul's

he's actually when that preached it to

me the most hmm and through that from my

crew from rock for screw pushing mental

health it was kind of like was a wake-up

call like yeah Brad your mental health

my me needs some working out you know

because um you know I noticed I was

getting a lot of anxiety yeah and uh

from from everything that I'm juggling

again yeah if i if i compartmentalize my

brain a little better maybe not but you

know as a kid excuse me not a kid but

you know as when i'm like 18 19 20

actually maybe even up to my late 20s I

was so used to this the anxiety the

stress doing a million things

now I'm getting older it's kind of

affecting me different mm-hmm you know I

mean I'm still diving I still look good

but now that getting season he are just

kidding you know it's affecting

affecting me differently

yeah to where it's almost it was almost

taking a toll okay so that's what I was

like okay time to go to therapy oh thank

God I got insurance yeah we good man but

I think I think it's important man yeah

I know from everything I've heard it's

something that I should really be doing

too I mean even if someone that

SuperDuper positive and maybe someone

that's a million times more mentally

stronger than me

you know maybe go just a few times a

year maybe you know should its your

freaking brain yeah Peter definitely was

like a good he was like a wake-up call

to me to like kind of convince me that

this is its shouldn't be as taboo as it

really as it has been and cuz it's just

it's it's something that like it makes

you more powerful you know what I mean

it helps you kind of just take a step

back and realize your thought process

realize why you feel a certain way

mm-hmm and I think it's kind of really

important for people like us you know

that are trying to balance breaking that

we love mm-hmm

having stable income you know having a

significant other and then it's like

we're wearing so many different hats

every frickin day you know it's like

okay I'm a brother on my son I'm a

business partner I'm a team leader I'm

an employee I'm a project manager I'm a

crew member I'm oh man you know it could

get tiring and you know I think it's

really important I think um I think yeah

people should definitely reach out

especially during these times man it's

crazy time so yeah anxiety levels are

yeah for sure

do you so do you think therapy has

helped you be more creative uh I think

it has to be quite honest okay because

now I'm using the my my energy on you

know building off of ideas as opposed to

stressing over shit I can't yeah and I

have no control over anyway again it

sounds super duper simple and some

people like oh you know I hear people so

as someone told me man why am I gonna go

therapy and talk to someone I don't even

know about my problems you know and I'm

like oh yeah I get you it's that's kind

of funny but I kind of get you mm-hmm

but still it's like well who you gonna

talk to your homey that's just gonna be

a yes man in your damn living room yeah

you know I mean you you you spent you

know hours and days weeks months you

know venting to your your parents and

your friends and your family members

that are probably just gonna act like

they agree with you maybe try to get

another opinion yeah out of your body

yeah getting in a perspective out of

your bubble especially a knowledgeable

perspective is super helpful yeah man

definitely is business artistically yeah

you know everything something that Peter

was mentioning to me was like if you

think about your mental capability it's

somewhat finite um you know you can't

you don't have just like an unlimited

decision-making and so at a certain

point when you stretch it too far you're

just making

bad decisions and so if you think of it

as like a currency and every day you're

spending that currency on a decision or

just some mental activity you want to be

spending it on the stuff now that is

important to you so unfortunately though

stress and stuff like that you're you're

spending currency and so just framing it

that way it's it's I mean it's like a it

should be a wake-up call to everyone to

realize like you know I knew I should

really pay more attention to these

things that I actually care about yeah

and have more of a stoic attitude about

the things that I don't want don't want

to worry about like you know necessary

stress and no it's true you know I've

had jobs that are a little more labor

intensive or excuse me like yeah it's a

lot more physical work involved you know

and I can still go to practice I could

still do all that just fine yeah you

know but some of the jobs I've had where

it's very sales oriented and I'm talking

to people I'm trying to hack people's

brains trying to get them buy this

product or the service that my company

is offering I noticed like trying to

train after that doing a hundred times

less of physical work but using you know

all that mental energy I was putting in

sales actually made me more tired at

practice you know than me doing

something yet is a lot more physical and

you know I've been noticing that a lot

more lately like you know I actually

took a step back from teaching a few

years ago I used to teach a lot when I

first moved to Orange County okay

I just know you know I mean there's

still I teach a couple people

individually but you know God bless the

teachers

god bless the therapist God like it

takes a lot of your own mental energy

you know you're giving it too you're

giving it to your students you're giving

it to your patients man yeah yeah you

know I'm trying to unfortunately these

days be a little more selfish with mine

mmm because I could tell like show my

brain is fried right now what did I do

to uh

maybe a little less time with this

person maybe a little less time doing

this and you know well I feel like

calling it selfishness is what we're

trained to think of it as but it's not

really like that because I mean it's

really you're doing what you need yeah

you gotta take care of yourself first

yeah exactly

well you can't help anyone if you're in

bad conditions all right I mean so if

you actually want to help somebody you

do need to be somewhat selfish to

yourself so that you're actually capable

of helping them

that's how someone framed it to me and

it I was like oh yeah obviously if I if

I if if I'm over here being crazy

there's no way I can help anybody so you

know in a way me being selfish is

actually being so no it's true I mean I

think it was Tony Robbins I was

listening to one of his episodes on his

podcast yesterday and just like they

obviously tell you if you're a parent on

a plane you know if the frickin life

vests come the oxygen masks come down oh

yeah make sure you're good first you

know what I'm saying like so it's

obvious man I just you know I know it's

gonna take more than just me to kind of

let people know that there are options

for mental health but a man why now

we're so obsessed with you know I love

breaking you know I break about three

times a week I boxed about three times a

week I go by him I love I love the

physical aspect of life you know but

everything got to ally me

you freak yeah is that what drew you to

breaking the physical aspect of it no I

just think I was like a low-key like

hyperactive kid like a kind of an

artistic kid maybe you like that just

saw it and was very intrigued by it you

know when I was younger it's just school

was cool

I mean preschool is lit man okay I

remember I went to walk through my pasa

bomb into preschool and there was a walk

blue I named it before I started and I

saw one of the kids there and he had the

Ghostbuster the car the the car they had

yeah yeah and I was like damn I don't

have that this is gonna be so dog

anyways I'm getting off the subject yeah

I I just always like doing things like I

used to play the piano

okay you know I used to play the talent

shows in elementary school okay you know

fifth grade I think I played some boys

too man I took martial arts as as a kid

okay you know I like that I like the

competitive part of that and I was just

like man I would do such cringe-worthy

stuff as a kid just like acting like I

was a radio DJ recording it on a

freaking cassette player and then yeah I

would do stuff like that I would try to

remix songs weren't even the same BPM

but I was like ooh this this tape came

with the acapella on this side this one

has the instrumental on this like

there's a sight you know like it don't

make sense

but um yeah man I've always been kind of

music competition like physically

physical competition I've always been

really drawn to it and you know and

should be told like before breaking the

I actually wanted to DJ before I started

breaking okay but yeah I don't know how

I go this is gonna this is gonna sound

super cliche but you know the term oh I

didn't choose hip hop hip hop

chose me hmm like to be quite honest

that's kind of how it was not to get

off-topic I know we're trying to go into

breaking but I was just intrigued by the

culture I don't know how my dad was

really into music a lot of people his

age were but I saw how much he took care

of his records and his tapes and his age

he took they were in great shape even

his boot the shit he bootlegged had like

typed out labels and everything so like

it meant something to him yeah you know

nothing was warping nothing none of his

tapes were breaking so I saw how much

music meant to him you know with all the

music he was collecting and I remember

and I don't know how I had that idea

hip-hop musta I must have seen on MTV or

something

memories usually good but I don't know

how I first saw scratching I remember in

second grade second grade my teacher

every week would have this little shop

like set up with little like knickknacks

shrink its books and all that like if

you you rack up points during the week

if you did some good shit right okay and

then I know she pulled this gift out of

the freaking you know out of her closet

she hasn't been to in like 20 plus years

but there's a book so it was a

read-along book but the read along audio

was a record all right so she was like I

was like I want this with my points and

she was like oh oh that's a record I'm

sorry and I was like no my dad has a

record player I'm gonna freakin play it

at home she's like are you sure because

I think it's like a Clifford the Big Red

Dog

Audio my god mile something and then I

get home and I'm on my dad's belt drive

yeah record player right but I'm trying

to scratch this audio file and it's not

working and my dad is and he's like what

the hell are you doing with my dam tell

my oh my I got this one my teacher and

he's like what

clearly no cliff I think he'll shut out

the Clifford the Big Red Dog

yeah and going up like I think I was

like around 9 or 10 I would see my

cousin's DJing okay and you know my shy

passive-aggressive ass is like then you

know they even ask me hey you want to

learn I'm like no no I was like shy so

I'm getting a little older and then

realizing all that shit that shit takes

money

you know if the turntables ain't cheap

yeah you know my parents at that time

we're not in the best financial position

and be splurging on me like that okay

yeah but yeah man I got into break you

know because I used to see people I took

fYI Taekwondo and another are called

tongs to do another martial uncle you

can see which a lot of people don't know

shouts a Ryan Porter he's the only

person that I've met that has also taken

tongs sudo okay yes you know I would see

people you know maybe once in a while do

a drill or a flare just on the side it's

like damn that looks that looks cool

okay

but man really got into breaking because

again things I don't think the circle is

finished but I was blessed enough to

live two blocks down from

second-generation rock force members

like two blocks in this little city

called Sassoon City yeah well I mean a

lot of people just say Fairfield

but Sassoon City Fairfield is kind of

like Lake Forest

Irvine or like Midway I'm gonna grow

like like Sacramento even right it's

good like 30 miles apart right oh no no

no uh Sassoon in Fairfield yeah no no

it's like by back it's back to back I'm

trying to think oh the other city would

be like that kind of like Pinole and

Hercules oh you feel me yeah something

like that but um man I was just so

blessed to live two blocks down from

them their names were Elmer Daytona and

Eric Daytona and randomly I went to

kindergarten on Eric

Tona okay you know at that being that

you know I knew nothing about breaking

we're just some baby ice kids and in

kindergarten even went to my so I had

second generation rock force remember at

my fifth birthday is Scandia you know

like and that's why I love rock force

cuz it actually means more to me more so

that like it means more it's deeper than

breaking yeah it's deeper than rap you

fill me so I remember just being a being

a little kid man and freaking riding my

bike around the neighborhood and then I

see the garage halfway open halfway and

I'm like what are they doing and you

know and I'm like oh they're breaking I

just stopped and and stopped and just

watching all I oh that's so cool how old

were you I was probably like during that

sounds like nine eight or nine and then

again I saw Elmer and Eric practicing

one other day and I was like man he's

still he's actually he's braking like

for real and then I was like you know I

see a shirt I mean my memories so crazy

um he had this shirt that was airbrushed

it said babylegs hmm I think and I have

the Filipino flag on and I think he won

a Great America or something okay and

then randomly my cousin my mom and my

first cousin his mom is my mom's sister

had moved two houses down from Elmer and

Eric okay so I guess I'm only two blocks

away he's a kid I'm not really I'm going

there once in a while on my bike you

know but now that my cousin moved right

there I was on the air street all the

time the street was blue jay and you

know my cousin was kicking it there I'd

go I'm like damn what is this uh what is

this big-ass trophy and Eric's like Oh

Erica be all that trophies bigger than

you man uh

Elmer Wanda I believe he wanted at best

of the best okay it was a pretty known

Jam in San Jose back in the 90s

so I was like oh wow these these

brothers especially Elmer are really

serious about this breaking stuff um so

I kind of got reacquainted with Eric

right because we went to a year-round

schools after kindergarten and he was on

yellow track I was on blue Chuck so I

wasn't seeing him all the time like I

did in kindergarten but it was

you know it was it was always love but I

would see him more and I'd see them

breaking I think Elmer may not have been

as active by the time I started coming

around but even before I was breaking I

would ask my cousin if you think it a

bug Elmer let me borrow best of the best

you think you could let me ask him let

me borrow world wars do you think you so

I would just my cousin would just come

to my crate with these VHS tapes you

know years go by I'm not even breaking

yet yeah you know and then I see bow the

year 98 since videos were produced on

VHS right it's like six months to a year

for them to be produced and you could

buy him so I'm actually I actually

bought it from my friend Edie and

driver's ed I mean I think I was like

fifteen and I watch it Rock Force one

that and I was like okay that's the name

of the crew of the kids that I grew up

with yeah if these cats are associated

with some champs you know from the 707

yeah you know rock force was created in

Union City yeah you know but for a

little bit there were some hitters out

of Sassoon in Fairfield you know it's

just like yo this is where you're from -

and with that that was kinda like okay

I'm really gonna try this thing you know

I mean that's a little kid I think I had

a little drill I I learned you know just

on my own try to do it at parties and

stuff like that I think in Taekwondo

someone taught me like the basis of a

flare but it wasn't till I saw value 98

I really started breaking but even then

it was kind of inconsistent for the

first year - breaking because I was

wrestling in high school okay and that

would that was that was awesome and then

after after wrestling you know I felt

like I was in really good shape leaned

out a little bit and then it was just it

was breaking from there yeah so sorry

for the long story but it was it's just

so weird how you know breaking came into

my life ya know it was kind of yeah it's

it's cool cuz it's like it kind of fell

in your lap but mm-hmm

it is it made you who you are who you

are

yes so there's like you know there's a

lot of local local crews you know shout

out to dream team there is nation Rock

UBC was actually before me mm-hmm

but they they were some that was a real

respectable crew out of out of the 707

shout out to ground mm-hmm

but you know though there were all these

crews it was like a les Elmer from rock

force you know that song from rock voice

and then you know oh that's Jeff from

rock force as time starts to go and it

was just crazy how you know especially

being a young Filipino kid we didn't

know who we didn't really have too many

role models I mean a lot of my no

disrespect but you know a lot of my

Filipino homies want to be the first

Filipino Michael Jordan you feel me

unfortunately the average height isn't

you know I'm saying really up there I

mean I still feel like we're gonna get a

full-blooded Filipino or Filipino

American in the NBA one day hopefully

sooner than later but hip-hop to at

least to how I felt was really open arms

mm-hmm you know kind of like you don't

matter where you come from and don't

matter your your height or don't matter

that you know let's just do it so those

are the cats that I looked up to man

it's so it wasn't really just a hip-hop

thing it was just like the kids around

the neighborhood on top of the crazy

shit they were doing his kids bored as

hell in Fairfield California they also

did some hip-hop shit they also breaking

they're also popping oh yeah so and I

know you're talking about DJing earlier

did they introduce you to it or well I

know you were saying that you saw

scratching at some point no I know what

it was um I've always used to um I used

to go to DJ Flo one of my best friend

Chris hey can you dip Flo I used to go

to his house a little bit and kind of

just try to play around with scratching

and little stuff so honestly it was

really just breaking and events um nine

of fives but breaking and events and for

a short period of time battle rapping

right that's what I was doing but I was

throwing events whether it was breaking

whether it was nightlife where there was

a private event and I

and some of these venues didn't have

turntables right there was no

controllers like there are nowadays yeah

yeah and some of these easily on cjs I

can't play on this and that I need

turntables so I was like okay so one day

I just bought turntables just for the

sake of my DJ's having some for backup

if we were at a venue that didn't have

one oh I have a pair okay and then yeah

it was it wasn't honestly till later

well until I was just at my house board

and I was like let me just set this damn

okay set these turntables this mixer up

kind of taught myself got some good game

and some good pointers um from my

friends but yeah that wasn't till later

and it's still kind of weird

I like when whenever you hear me promote

one of my gigs I always say like I'm

spinning I'm playing music just because

being from the bay especially being a

filipino from you know NorCal man

they've set the bar really high for DJ's

you know like and so it's like I don't

want to disrespect the crap because you

know obviously there's cats that just

start dancers like I'm a b-boy I'm like

you just started a month ago you know I

guess you know you are and you know I'm

this and that uh-huh we'll see so I kind

of had this insecurity where I didn't

want to use like the word DJ with my

name but you know just just learning

having fun and trying to be in the

pocket world whatever the hell I'm

trying to do but no man that was kind of

a I kind of started doing that like

around 2005 but didn't really get into

it into it until I moved to Orange

County probably okay yeah hmm that's

interesting yeah I I used to DJ a little

bit when I was a kid um I feel like I

basically started it when I started

breaking oh really yeah I just has this

I started in

no so there was no Serato yet no yeah

there was no cirrhotic as well I just

had this shitty turntable I can't even

remember it was an Gemini it was a

Stanton videos like the shittiest and

well drive it was a belt drive but

really it was it was it was some like DJ

in a box set up basically something I

did

our Center I think what's so like but we

would we would bring it to our practice

and we would just take turns DJ Wow yeah

yeah so it sounds like shit but it was

like we would have you know some legit

break records that we were just juggling

so we'd be juggling for like 10 minutes

like the same frickin song while people

are breaking and stuff and then we

switch out and whatever yeah and so so

that like I learned how to DJ and you

know

soon after I don't know when cerrado

came around it I was already out of the

game

oh okay I've just always been into music

and so it was fun to kind of like learn

how to you know have my elementary level

freaking DJ that's cool though yeah at

least you doubt it doubled into it a

little bit yeah you know I look back in

hindsight I go oh man that actually

taught me a lot about hip-hop and I

didn't even know what the fuck I was

doing I was just like you know being

introduced to hip-hop seeing DJ's do

that house like all that's kind of cool

you know they're taking just some shitty

record that my mom has or my dad has and

then they're just looping it and making

a dope song out of it let me try to like

you know you know my parents got a ton

of shitty records so let's do it so bad

so it's like I don't know we just tried

to we started messing around and like

but I don't know I guess that gave me a

good foundation for like what hip-hop

you know I guess you know as it was

birth it's kind of like we recreated

that almost in our own little yeah yeah

in hindsight I'm glad that I kind of did

know everything kind of come relates in

some weird crazy way you know I mean I

didn't really get in by the time I was

like getting heavy into it or at least

what gigs I should say yeah I could

always practice more right but doing

more gigs I mean unless you're spinning

like a all-vinyl night or all 45 night

or you know specifically playing on wax

I mean Serato was go to or

- right but cerrado cell I feel like

maybe that's why I was like a little

insecure about calling myself a DJ

because I literally seen my friends

transition from a shitload of crates

mm even at the club you know what I'm

saying yeah yeah you're too short your

little John's

yeah and you had all these Bay Area

Records and then you know you go they

transition on Serano kind of like they

earned Serato that's how I feel like

they earn sarado and I feel like now I

don't know yeah they and it's a juggle

with just a button or just cool I mean

to each his own you know I'm not you

know as I'm getting older and doing

things more and seeing the good and the

bad things the elders did the good and

the bad things the you know the younger

ones are doing I'm like to each his own

whatever works I guess

mm-hmm but you know I was collecting

vinyl but definitely when it came to

gigs I was not hauling and no no crates

of vinyl yeah yeah yeah I mean that all

my friends that were like heavy into

DJing they would carry you yeah shit

tons of crates Castle there's some DJ's

man even though they don't look the

healthiest they're kind of low-key

strong as hell yes oh I used to bring in

speakers stuff setting it up by them

sometimes so yeah I mean they yeah they

had a hustle for sure I mean my my boy

in sac he who cool cuts nah cool look

cool come yeah I got a friend named rip

one oh yeah yeah yeah that dude used to

have this thing goes like this crappy

Jeep or something and it was fucking

filled with crates uh-huh and I would

help him set up stuff sometimes and I

was like dude you got hella shit that

you're bringing in here dude is crazy

hello he's playing I get get a clue and

shit right yeah always I used to work

though I think that's how really um I

think I met him there and then he was

just out of practice one time cuz he

used to break - so we and then we were

just we would just dance together and

shit so how is he man Wow I mean I hear

he's still doing gigs and shit oh yeah

he's on his own thing I don't think he

brakes anymore yeah yeah no you look

like you just enjoyed the time you know

with the floor if there was a open floor

we fuck around ya know try some shit out

I liked him cuz he would just play some

tight song and he would just dance for

like 10 minutes like I remember when we

would do shows sometimes I would just go

like oh I want to dance to this song and

he would dance the songs oh yeah it's in

the middle of like a show that we're

doing yeah ever and it's like oh dude

you kind of like took the whole time oh

yeah shout out to him shout out rip one

rich I don't get a clue we're in hour

and 17 minutes right now um we didn't

even talk we did bad if I was going on

crazy-ass tangents no no it's good I

think this has been good this has been a

good discussion we hadn't talked about

rap yet but maybe we should just close

that out close out the show with just a

quick discussion of that cuz I know you

you've been like a battle rapper for a

real long time right uh I mean I dabble

I did it for like two for like three

three almost four you're only a little

bit lonely a little bit I I did it I

started doing in 2002 yeah

and I think I stopped around 2000 so you

don't do much anymore no no I mean I had

a such a good time doing it mm-hmm don't

get me wrong I mean I was pretty garbage

I mean a lot of this shit

it's pretty cringe-worthy I just happen

to get lucky to get those wins that I

did surprisingly I don't know how I got

him but you know for the little amount

of time I was in it I mean you know I

had some fun with it the first the first

trip like actually got out of state

through hip hop wasn't even through

breaking it was through MC battling oh

yeah yeah it wasn't even through

breaking um but yeah it was kind of

short-lived but you know I'm still I'm

still riding even more so now like I was

always kind of writing but now I'm like

okay I actually like the stuff that I'm

writing oh I'll probably be spending a

lot more time in the studio hopefully I

will be putting out a project maybe

closer to the fall or maybe during the

fall but you know but battle rap I don't

know if it was cuz the environment I was

in I was just able to like kind of you

know grab their energy a little better

than the people I was battling but man

those are some interesting times but uh

yeah what's fun man that's just one

aspect one little aspect of rap you know

cuz rap is really a lot more complex

than idiot and a lot of people think I

mean but just the justice complexes yeah

I mean me being competitive and like

growing up on people roasting each other

yeah the older kids around my block is

roasting each other I just felt like

okay this is this is something I kind of

want to go around with batter I've

always looked hella fun to me but I'm

like dude I don't know if I'm witty

enough to do that moment like make it

rhyme in like just clown someone hella

hard I'll tell you this much man the

gentleman you get that's why I know

there's some battle rappers like til

this day that I've been better would

like seasoned whether you're watching

King of the dot or you're watching URL

smut or these other leagues so many

human doing for a while but I know why

man that that adrenaline rush you get

from the crowd reaction is ridiculous

just do more at least for me personally

moreso than breaking oh really it's

ridiculous yeah but I would also notice

especially how you know I never really

tried my shot at the written leagues you

know everything back down I was like

freestyling over B or whatnot my brain

would be freakin exhausted you know

trying to freestyle trying to freakin

size up your opponent trying to you know

sometimes she would hear sometimes it

wouldn't but yeah man it's a it's

different it's different you know yeah

because you definitely got to use your

mind your body and all that for breaking

don't get me wrong the physical aspect

not so much with MC battling but damn

you my brain would feel fried after

after after a battle you know but it was

so fun

yeah are there any similarities between

like battle rap and in breaking um I

definitely think there

is so if you don't mind I'll kind of

like compared to rap in general right so

there is right so me being a b-boy me

you know breaking for Holi breaking for

three years three four years already

before I started getting into battle MC

battling yeah being from Cali the Bay

Area the style I had was very kind of

based on bigger moves right the bigger

execution so when it came to battle rap

it's like I'm all it's all about the

punch line it's all about the boom the

bone the bump and now when it comes to

me trying to compose songs me trying to

write music you know yeah I can maybe

take the same idea of just the punch

line or the blow up but you know I

remember Flo DJ Flo I always just stay

here I'm talked about yeah this project

school and this is cool because he's

just in the pocket as someone that's

pushing creativity I'm like no man fuck

being in the pocket you got to be

outside the box you know and then I'm

hearing and then when I did the tour I

was blessed enough to do a tour in China

in 2017 with Jabbawockeez I would hear

them preach about stay in the pocket you

know when you're moving but sometimes

you're doing too much not just stay in

the pocket hmm and that's good and so I

saw that I I heard that from fee a lot

shout-out to feet mm-hmm from Jabba and

then when it came to music I heard that

from Flo and then when I started like

it's so basic but it was something I was

like overlooking was when it came to

even breaking but music like oh

sometimes you just gotta stay in the

pocket you got a like like you got to

find you know the cadence is and the

flow deliver you got to be on point

regardless if you're you know spin bars

a punch line or you're just talking some

shit on a track but same thing I think

would break into kind of you know

sometimes you just got to be in the

pocket and then once in a while come

with that punch line you know

maybe punchlines back-to-back you know

so now comparing punchlines to blow up

right which is a big was like your

crowd-pleasing move and breaking so now

it's like okay but me coming from like

breaking that so battle and competition

oriented me coming from MC battling

which is just all you know competitor

when it came to when now when I'm

writing music I'm trying to understand

pockets I study a lot of artists and

I've been studying you know even after I

quit battle rap in 2005 I've always

studied different styles but even more

so the pockets and saying like okay you

know what maybe you don't have to be so

in term a B don't have to have a punch

line every freaking bar yeah you know or

maybe you could ride the beat in a more

chill way but same thing that same thing

I feel like when breaking you don't

always have to be it a hundred percent

and you know you'll always have to go

110 you got to fall back to fifty maybe

forty and then get up to eighty and then

boom hit him with that with that um that

line so yeah it there's like a you can

control the build up a little huh I mean

it's a story right I mean you're telling

a story whether you're rapping whether

you're doing whether you're dancing

you're telling a story and a story isn't

a bunch of damn exclamation point yeah

you know exactly that's like it has its

ups and it's downs and as its build ups

and has its climaxes pause it has

everything and it applies to to spinning

it applies to DJing as well you know

because when I first I was so obsessed

with this trying to drop fire ass tracks

at these parties or even trying to go

over people's heads like I picked you

them they don't know about this shit

yeah it's like Donovan you're at

Sharkey's in Newport Beach yeah there's

three people on the dance floor like

come on yeah like you think this dude

and some flip flops and cargo shorts

really cares about this crazy yeah pop

shit you just came up on yeah yeah but

anyways whether it was a big nightclub a

bar you know less than a hundred

hundreds thousands of people you know

pockets really important some people

especially the younger cats

I get why they do it now it's like

they're so impression of bullets wanting

to just go hitter hitter hitter banger

hitter when it's like gauge the crowd

stay in the pocket of what they like ok

now you could kind of feed them some

some left-field shit maybe you could

feed them some something different but

you got him now and I feel like same

thing would rap same thing would break

in at this point at this time in my life

me being in my mid-30s I'm not that you

know I'm still learning I'm still

studying new moves no new rappers new

DJ's and producer I'm still studying I'm

still trying to add to my vocab but also

be trying to be resourceful and

efficient with what I know you know so

with breaking ok I want to learn to do

this and that but what do i what do I

have right now that I can make dope as

hell you know yeah there's a lot of shit

that I have that other people I don't

have that people have but there's a lot

of stuff that I could do a lot of people

can't do you know so trying to really

just be resourceful safety with the

Reimann ok maybe I don't have this

artist as the same strengths as these

artists I could kind of be witty I could

be fucking clever you know I have a

strong voice so yeah man it all goes

hand in hand like straight up like at

least in my experience I'm not a master

in any of the things I do so it's hard

for me to say you know what it really is

but at least for me personally with

DJing rhyming and dancing everything is

uh everything relates and everything

it's kind of like yeah based off the

same rules yeah this is really crazy

yeah it all kind of yeah do they do

that's dope well yo with that being said

I think that's a great way to end the

show yo man thanks for coming on yeah

follow you and what's your Instagram

Instagram is do and OVA and underscore

7:07 this

on event underscore 7:07 feel-good Inc

is or you got elected happy to feel good

Collective follow us on facebook follow

us on instagram soundcloud Forshaw I'm

in we're around yeah

reach out man yeah yeah we still working

still working yeah dope thanks for

coming on I feel like I can keep talking

you forever place I know at a certain

point people are gonna be like so you

know I'll probably hit you up to do

another episode if you're down with that

yeah anyways thanks for being on the

show

thanks for listening thanks for

listening y'all shit my camera turned

off oh well fuck it

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you

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