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Deadass Sneakerhead with Mouse Jones
95 Plays23 hours ago
This week I am joined by Mouse Jones, we talk about how we got connected. His love for kicks and where did it stem from, growing up in Long Island. Becoming the host of Trap Karaoke and how that came about. Creating Deadass Comedy Show and how it is the toughest room in New York. Being outside and what he has seen. The one time he's made a line and much much more!
Follow Mouse:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mouse_jones
X/Twitter: https://x.com/MouseJones
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Mouse Jones
04:01 First Pair Needed
07:15 First White Shoe?
09:35 Rockefeller Era
12:12 First Cardigan
14:53 Top Influence
17:37 Trading Sneakers
20:27 Line Story Begins
22:55 Tripled Up Pairs ️
25:19 Trap Karaoke Start
27:45 Viral Melodies
31:39 Dead Ass Check Out️
33:52 Comedy on Phone
36:44 Sneaker Battle
39:05 Appreciate These
41:40 Patreon Shoutouts
Recommended
Transcript
Nostalgic Sneaker Memories
00:00:00
Speaker
Joe. um And I'll never forget Joe bought these home, the retro card. I was like, what is going? And I knew about Jordans. I knew that at the time, my favorite Jordan growing up was the ah the Bugs Bunny because of Boy in the East World.
00:00:15
Speaker
So I always, I always remember in those first two seasons, Corey was beating those oh yeah joints up. And I was like, oh, want those so bad. But my mom was not, she wasn't jacking none of that. Like,
00:00:27
Speaker
I remember getting like so many like off brand. I don't know if any anybody remembers, but like back in 90s, like the NHL had a Nike. I had those. don't know. I know. That's how bad. That's how bad it was. So ah this was but this was the first time I seen a sneaker was like, oh, I got to get this. Yeah, I got to get this. And ah I was able to get that pair.
Introduction to Mouse Jones & 'My First Kicks'
00:00:48
Speaker
what's good everyone welcome back to my first kicks and this is episode 229 and this week this man you you know showed on me one one time to bring that up right now it's crazy yeah hell yeah from the jump because Nah, but Mouse, you my guy, so welcome to podcast. Mouse, what boy? Thank you for having me, man. I love this platform. I've been watching you for a few months now, so when we met, I was like, oh, I mess with him, so I'm glad that we made this happen.
00:01:17
Speaker
Listen, man, I don't know how to take compliments, but it was crazy when you told me that, and I was like, how do you even know who I am? Nah, bro, the platform is... People like to think everything is niche, but...
00:01:29
Speaker
ah Like the nicheness of this community Is like there's so much overflow yeah yeah You know i mean so just cause I'm You know just cause I might like this Or I might be successful at this over here Doesn't mean that I'm still not an avid lover Of this and then you know I lean into you guys like you And and and and Kari Sneaker fetish and Like you two are like kind of like the people I probably lean on the most for like, ah, man, if I miss something, what do I need to know? What do I need to be up on? yeah So, you know, I love you guys, man. i love what y'all do for the community. I love what i do for the ah for the space overall.
00:02:04
Speaker
No, man, I appreciate that. Like, you know, what you have done in you know, I feel like just black culture in general. Like, you know, you're a huge, like, I remember fall like finding out about Trap Karaoke like,
00:02:16
Speaker
shoot, when like when it was just like small rooms. Right, right, right. And i was like, this is crazy. I just want to see the projector. Yeah. And then for you to tell me like, yo, I fuck with your shit, I was just like, what is going on? ah You know put me up on you? ah Robbie.
00:02:30
Speaker
Yeah. Shout out my boy, Robbie. Shout out Robbie. Robbie would, y'all would always be interacting on the live. And like, who is that And I would see it. And then I didn't put two and two together that I was seeing your clips on Twitter. Like, yes your clips, you got a few clips that, like, caught fire on Twitter. yeah So then I was oh, that's the same dude. right, bet. Yeah, man, i appreciate you. But the reason why i brought that up, why you no-show in that episode is because without him no-show, I wouldn't have had the solo episode, which is actually one of my most successful episodes. You're welcome. Yeah. yeah
00:03:02
Speaker
But for people who are not ah familiar with you, how about you introduce yourself? My name is Mouse Jones, a.k.a. The Guy Next Door, The Man to Put the Jux in Juxtaposition, a.k.a. The Best Host in America. Yes, sir. I'm just ah a media a media personality and comedian, host of ah Deadass a Comedy Show, creative Deadass Comedy Show, host of track karaoke.
00:03:26
Speaker
ah Host of BT Awards. Host of the BT. Black carpet. What carpet? CookColor Co. It's a red carpet. It's a red carpet. Yeah, I've hosted the BET Award pre-show two years in a row now.
00:03:42
Speaker
Do some pretty cool things with Amazon. I do some pretty cool things. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah, man. That last one was fire. You and Wayno. Oh, man. Shout out to Wayno. Shout out to Naila. Shout out to Erykah Badu, the legend. Thank you. Thank you for having us.
00:03:53
Speaker
ah Yeah, do I do some cool stuff. My life's pretty cool. Got some cool things on the horizon. Hell yeah. So let's, ah because, you know, we got talk about it. We jump into the question, straight into the question. I'm going ask you, what's your
Mouse's Favorite Sneaker Journey
00:04:04
Speaker
first kicks? What's that first pair of s sneakers you absolutely needed to have? Right here, bought them for you. Yeah. I bought them.
00:04:09
Speaker
So the this is the 2012 release. hu ah This is my favorite sneaker of all time. This is the ah Air Jordan 3 True Blue. whos They get a lot of slack. I don't know how, yeah but I'm happy because I'm always able to get them. As you can tell, paint is coming off.
00:04:29
Speaker
I always have that same problem with the with fours and threes with the the paint scratching. It's an oldie, but, you know, i put I put these on as much as I can. But yeah, this is the one this is this like I want to say when they retro the first time in 01.
00:04:47
Speaker
Yeah, they retro 01. Yeah. um At the time. And I i won't just say at the time. ah To this day, my my cousin Joe is like, he he's like my first brother. Because I'm the oldest of my mom's kids. I'm oldest of all my parents' kids. But um I didn't have a sibling. yeah But my cousin Joe was the closest thing I had to a sibling. Only child?
00:05:04
Speaker
No, no, no. I'm the oldest. yeah So i'm I'm the oldest. So there's also but then there's so much space. but like there's There's four years between me and my siblings. You know what I'm saying? yeah yeah And I'm the only boy. yeah So...
00:05:16
Speaker
There's just certain, I didn't have anybody look up to like that except for Joe. um And I'll never forget Joe bought these home, the retro card. I was like, what is going, and I knew about Jordans. I knew that at the time, my favorite Jordan growing up was the ah the Bugs Bunny because of Boy Meets World.
00:05:35
Speaker
Yeah. So I always, I always remember in those first two seasons, Corey was beating those oh yeah joints up. And I was like, oh, want those so bad. But my mom was not, she wasn't jacking none of that. Like, I remember getting like so many like off brand naked. guys I don't know if anybody remembers, but like back in the 90s, like the NHL had a Nike.
00:05:55
Speaker
I had those. it no I know, that's how bad that's how bad it was so ah this was. But this was the first time I seen a sneaker and was like, oh I got to get this. yeah I got to get this. And ah I was able to get that pair a few years later. So if they dropped in the 01, I probably i got them like 04.
00:06:12
Speaker
And then shout out Pop. It sounds so funny, out to my man Pop from the barbershop. He made sure I was able to get those. In a barbershop? Yeah. Like, so like, like, like Biggie said, so shout out my man Pop from the barbershop. But, but now Pop held it down. but ah Pop was like the first sneaker plug. uhh Pop was the first official sneaker plug. So, um I remember it was, I remember it 04.
00:06:36
Speaker
oh four I was going into,
00:06:39
Speaker
Junior year. Yeah, because I went to high school in 03. So it was 04 going into junior year. And I was like, ma, I got to get this. She was like, ain't happening to Pac. And I, know what mean? Threw my own ways.
00:06:51
Speaker
Made sure I had the bread to get these. So Pac made sure I had them. and I beat beat them. I'm talking about, and in high school, you don't beat you. You're not out here beating your sneakers in high school, not at our age. Playing tag? I mean, not well, no. now I wasn't playing nothing in them. I'm talking about- Middle school playing tag. Yeah, but like I wasn't playing nothing in them. I was wearing these, but I wore them so much. I really loved these sneakers because they just represented everything. Was that your first white shoe?
00:07:18
Speaker
Nah, nah, nah. We had mad, we had mad Air Forces. Your parents would let you? I still have Air Forces. Like my mom would get me a white pair a black pair. Oh, okay. Start the year off. All right. And then, you know, just, you know, I'm telling my parents, financial business. But like, you know, I would get a white pair and a black pair of Air Forces to start a year off.
00:07:36
Speaker
Then when tax season happened, I'd probably get whatever Jordan came out probably like a month prior. Mm-hmm. And then my birthday is in April, so that's like a month and a half after tax season. yeah And then you got to you gotta wear everything from that year, you gotta wear it during the summer. oh yeah for sure So it was, yeah, it's it's a far cry from where I ended up at, where I'm at now.
00:08:01
Speaker
I hope you've been enjoying this episode with Mouse, but I wanted to jump in and remind y'all to like, comment, and subscribe on this video. And also, if you've been listening to this on Apple or Spotify, leave a review.
00:08:12
Speaker
Plus, at the end of this episode, we're doing Patreon shoutouts. And you can be shouted out on next week's episode by subscribing to patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. But back to the episode.
00:08:23
Speaker
But ah I remember in 2012 when they, when he dropped, wasn't missing these for nothing. ah Shout out, shout out my baby mother. um She, she made sure she i stood on line.
00:08:35
Speaker
Oh, that's love. Online? That was the line days. That was the line days. That was crazy. That line days. So, i I mean, I want to know about, like, yeah your transition into being
Influences on Mouse's Fashion Sense
00:08:47
Speaker
fly. I think you fly. Thank you. I appreciate that. So, it like, the fist you be throwing on at Deadass Comedy, and I'm like, all right, man, you got it. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We love putting together fit. um So, like, where did that was that high school or were you just always fly? I always had the vision. Yeah.
00:09:04
Speaker
Didn't have the means. Right, yeah. So, I was, you know, I kind of shifted away from whatever, like i very much I was a follower at one point. You know, a big white tee, some jeans, um a do-rag and a regular scully or fitted or a big baggy fitted or something like that.
00:09:24
Speaker
The size eights? Yeah, it was fucking. tucking your ears in there? Tucking the ears, flipping the brim. It was bad, bro. It was so bad. um But yeah, man, at that time, like, you know, very heavily influenced by Rockefeller, heavily influenced by Dipset, heavily, heavily, heavily influenced by Fab and a lot of the niggas in Brevoit. My pops is from Brooklyn, so by the time I'm in high school, I'm getting on a train coming up to Brooklyn on my own. I'm going over to Fulton on my own trying see the spots. Where are you originally? So I was born on Long Island.
00:09:57
Speaker
Oh, okay. Yeah. So, you know, growing up out there, no real fashion sense. You just, you just, like, you threw me off. everybody think I'm born and raised in Brooklyn. My pops is from Brooklyn. I've been coming to Brooklyn. I've been in Brooklyn my whole whole adult life. but But I went to school. on I went to high school in Long Island, went middle school in Long Island, elementary school, all that on Long Island. oh But yeah, there's no real fashion sense out there. Nah, yeah. There's no fashion sense out there. so from my like Especially like our time, I feel like we're the same yeah around the same age. thirty so I'm just turned 37. Oh, we're same age. I'm 36.
00:10:30
Speaker
So like that's during that time, yeah that is like... No fashion. It's like it's nothing but like glass drawing hardcore kids. just like It's very bleak out there. Especially being like black out there, too. I mean, it was a trickle down, right? So whatever they was doing in the boroughs,
00:10:44
Speaker
on whatever they were doing in Queens. Because where we was at, everybody would ah would would like go to the Ave. To make an Ave with the Coliseum. With the spot. Shout out to my Aunt Sharon. My Aunt Sharon always kept us in.
00:10:58
Speaker
Me personally, she kept us in in and and a kept me at the Ave. Kept me in Brooklyn. Kept me in Fort Wayne. Kept me at you know on Delancey. So I knew the fly stuff. My pops always kept me on Delancey. Always kept me with a good level.
00:11:09
Speaker
So i knew what I wanted to do. yeah It was just the funds. And being the oldest kid in the boy, huh essentially everything was more expensive for me. So my parents made the best they could do.
00:11:22
Speaker
So in that, I want to say when Kanye came out, that's where the turn really started. I like, ah could go I could go to the store and I could get a polo for Marshalls or something like that.
00:11:40
Speaker
And I could flip that with some, but some ah ah what we used to call them, Bahama joints. Oh, yeah, yeah. I could flip that with that. yeah Get a small t-shirt. I could do that. So once I started doing shout out to my man Swift, my man Chris.
00:11:54
Speaker
He really was like the first fashion influence I could like reach out and touch. yeah Chris was the first person I'd seen in the Vizu. And Chris was... I don't know where Chris is from. Shout out to my boy Chris, my man Swift.
00:12:07
Speaker
he He's still a fly nigga, still doing it up. But I don't know where he from. I don't know how he ended up on Long Island. He not from there. never seen him until we was like...
00:12:18
Speaker
mad old. So his family must have moved out there from somewhere. When he moved out there, he was the first person I seen wear a cardigan. I never seen a person wear a cardigan in real life. ask like That's typically what we would see. That's typically what we would see someone do, a rapper do like second album, third album, or you gotta go to the carpet or something.
00:12:37
Speaker
I never forget Chris backed out the cardigan with the goody Vizos. And I said, this nigga's going crazy. a flat He's walking in a hallway. He's going crazy. Yeah. that summer was over.
00:12:48
Speaker
Oh yeah, everybody. That summer was, a that for me, that was the turn. So then, ah shout out to my boy David, um him and his brother, they twins. His brother, Black, cut my hair to this day.
00:13:00
Speaker
um But David, you know, he was gay. all My little cousin, Sean, they was super fly. Yeah. we all wore the same size. So I was able to kind of trace clothes yeah with my cousin Sean and David.
00:13:12
Speaker
so we So if there was one pair of visas, two pair of visas, we was trading them through. So you know i mean So then it just became, you know, and then around our time in high school, that's the retro kids and V kids. yeah So it was a lot of inspiration, a lot of playing with fashion.
00:13:28
Speaker
um But it was definitely 10th grade because that's when I started earning my own money. I could really do with it what I want. So it was crazy. I so i always from day one, I would start to feed up.
00:13:41
Speaker
So I got my hands with some money. I'm going to pop. Pop. What up? ah going I'm going. I'm getting on the train. going to I'm going downtown. What's up? I'm going downtown Manhattan. I'm going to LES.
00:13:53
Speaker
I'm at Atmos. What up? I'm at What So at that point, it was over. Then the the the inspiration just grew from Pharrell and Nego and... Once again, Jim and Jewels, specifically Jim. Jim was one of the flyest people I'd ever seen when i when Jim came out. So it was pretty much those
Sneaker Con Stories & Culture
00:14:14
Speaker
fashion senses, when but my own eye right was really responsible for that like explosion. And you were very outside during this time, right? Very. Very. very that Because I was the only boy who couldn't stop me. yeah Once I hit my...
00:14:28
Speaker
Once I like them shoulders, bro, I was like, I'm doing what I want, bro. I see you at home, bro. I see you, what time you wanna be home? Seven, I'll be home at eight. So yeah, by then I was outside and then just those fashion, though all those outside experiences,
00:14:44
Speaker
or everything daily influences my fashion sense. Do you got like a couple stories where you've seen something crazy? Oh, absolutely, absolutely. i know like I tell people to the day women are like the top influence for me when it comes to fashion. Like seeing how women interact with male clothing yeah inspires me To wear my clothes Right yeah So I'll never forget ah The first time I seen Vashti in person Vashti had on The flannel With the jersey under it Yeah With some cargo I had never seen All these pieces Put together like that said
00:15:20
Speaker
I have all those pieces at home. gonna go remix it and then i had like 15 of them. You know what I mean? Or like, I remember meeting Cudi the first time oh yeah outside of Bait. ah Yeah, it was just a wild time. that that and If you know, you know that Wendy's over there by the old Bait.
00:15:39
Speaker
time You feel what I'm saying? Like times, like me in the, like remembering the first sneaker con, like over there when it used to be in the little basement, know over there on off green, I believe in the, in the, in the, the cat next to the Catholic school or whatever. like Oh yeah, I always forget about that, yo. That like the first sneaker con, bro. I waited in line to get in there. I in there too, yeah. Flip like four five pairs of sneakers left with like 10.
00:16:06
Speaker
It was a different time. But yeah, every all of those moments, I had stories for days about that stuff, bro. I mean, I definitely want to hear. i want to hear, just bring out like your best one. All right. So... um All right, so ah that's that's being in that Sneaker Con, right?
00:16:23
Speaker
I go that Sneaker Con and I had some bullshit. yeah I go to that Sneaker Con with bullshit. i had I had a pair of Kobe Sixes. They were the blue and gray.
00:16:35
Speaker
And then I had the Notre Dame Kobe 8s. I go in there, like, I'm just getting these off. I'm just getting these off. I'm going come on. I had bread in my pocket, but I'm like, I'm going to get these off. I'm going I'm get three pair of sneakers for these two. I know I am.
00:16:50
Speaker
going there. There's this kid. He got a whole Kobe table. And he got, I'm talking he got like ones, twos. He got Hirachi 2K4. So I see the votes. yeah And I had beat my votes.
00:17:02
Speaker
Beat them. So I play ball in mine. So I was like, nah, need a pair. I need a pair. So he's like, yo, what you want to So I was like, yo, you give me the votes, I'll give you these two right now. he's lucky He's like, nobody knew those Notre Dame, Kobe's that came out, the Crazy 8's.
00:17:18
Speaker
So nobody knew they had came out. So I'm holding them. people at this time, this is when everybody loves sneakers, not just Jordans, Kobe's, whatever. So he's like, i I'll give you these and these. So I ended up getting the all black pair of two K4s and I ended up getting the Volts.
00:17:37
Speaker
So now for one, I just got two. yeah da got the Still got the I could try and get rid of. So I go to somebody who had the I still have these two today, matter of fact.
00:17:51
Speaker
Kanye had just posted a picture. I think he was like with Amber or something. He had just posted a picture in the varsity red sixes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. i knew he was going say sixes. I need these.
00:18:03
Speaker
Kid got him at the table. I said, what you want for He said like 450. said, oh, my God. I said oh my god I said I give you all three of these yeah so I moved the volts the black 2k4s and the sixes for those sixes so now I got the sixes so now I'm like I got I got what I wanted I'm good now now start spending because i'm like all right all this was made from just trading sneakers back right yeah and then i think from there i met that's the day i ended up meeting what i meet that day i met rooster 59 that's where i got cool with rooster five now shout to nickel yo shout out but that's where i got one of my favorite rappers i'm just gonna say my back literally that's where i met him at um who else i met a few people that day
00:18:57
Speaker
In that sneaker con? In that sneaker con. That's crazy. I met like a few people that I'm still friends with today, still cool with today. ah want to say- can't even beg some of these people to come back to this. the No, you shouldn't.
00:19:09
Speaker
You shouldn't. you You shouldn't. You shouldn't be able to. But no, like, I just remember that day specifically because it was like everything I said i was going to do, I did. Yeah. And it was just a great time at sneakers. Yeah.
00:19:20
Speaker
Nobody was- I mean, 450 was crazy. I wasn't paying that. But- Now? that Yeah, right. ah That's not happening here. nobody's I don't think anybody's... but My favorite part of that, like sneaker con or like going to sneaker pimps dunk exchange, was the haggling. The haggling and the trading. The trading and the haggling was at the peak moment. you I walked in one time to a dunk exchange and this is when SB's was down. yeah yeah And so pull up.
00:19:50
Speaker
And I'm like, i you know, ah got, uh, I think I only had like 200 on at the time, right? Pull up. I'd left out there with the, and I still have these to these days. Iowa's SBs, FOG SBs, BS, BS.
00:20:03
Speaker
And then, and then I think I like sold, I sold off something that was like not my size. It wasn't Brian. Maybe it might've been Brian Anderson. had Brian Anderson in a size 12 that were like They're mad tight. All of those were tight around that time.
00:20:17
Speaker
And that's when we still were trying to figure out like, yeah wild that why is my foot, why is the SBE way bigger or or way smaller than my size than regular dog? yeah yeah Just that time, bro. That time of copping sneakers.
00:20:30
Speaker
Tell you another story. like The only time I've ever stood on line for a sneaker, the only time I've ever stood on line for a sneaker, shout out my boy Manny. Manny, you did well by me, my boy. I don't know where you at right now, but. Shout out my boy, Manny. If you're watching. Yeah, Manny from Long Island. Good Dominican kid.
00:20:44
Speaker
he was a well my when He was real close with my little cousin. Yeah. But he worked at the finish line a little further east well from where from. So um ah he would always look out.
00:20:57
Speaker
The concords was dropping. I said, brother, what can we do? He's like, I'm not saying a lot you. I can't backdoor. Like, you got to show up. You got to be in the line. I said, bet.
00:21:10
Speaker
I didn't know nothing about line coaching. I heard about it. knew nothing about it. I'm like, right, bro. going to get out there probably like still open at seven, whatever have it opened. I got that by two.
00:21:21
Speaker
Mm hmm. Bro, when I got there at two, bro, I'm at Smith Haven Mall. Bro, the line was wrapped around the security. So I do what I know how to do. There's a little white kid at the front. Yeah.
00:21:34
Speaker
Paid the nigga $100. Oh, yeah. He came up. Paid the nigga $100. I said, bro, let me let me get in front of you. Like, when the door opened, you gonna go in front of me. But boom. He's like, all right.
00:21:44
Speaker
Pay it. I'm sitting out there. I done watched fights happen. Yeah. I done watched people get talked to super crazy. I'm like yo this is what we do this is what we go through bro this is what we go through man them doors open I only had only had to go ahead to go to foot action where Manny works and pick up my sneaker pick up my size cause that's when they would come to the door besides you yeah give you your tag boom Nigga something, I don't know what it was. I go to foot action.
00:22:19
Speaker
Rest in peace foot action. I go to foot action when Manny works. I get my size. I'm walking out. Champs is right there. Bates look super lax. So I just walk in. I still have the foot action bag. yeah I walk in. Size 10.
00:22:34
Speaker
They say, yep. Boom. Boom.
00:22:38
Speaker
So I asked, I just asked. I was like, yo, I see the people coming in or whatever, everybody moving around. I lean over and ask my, the girl checking me out. I say, you got another size 10? She said, I can't give you another size 10, but I give you a nine and a half.
00:22:55
Speaker
I said, boom. So now I tripled up, right? I had two tens and a nine and a half. I'm walking out, Foot Locker right there.
00:23:07
Speaker
If anybody from Long Island is watching this, y'all remember, this smith and you've been to Smith Haven more, you remember the way it was set up Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Foot Action, Champs, it was all in that same row. So I'm like, yo, worst they can say is no.
00:23:21
Speaker
I go in there. Y'all got a 10? Yeah. Boom. Yo, cleaning up, yo. So I walk out that motherfucker with six pairs. All my children, I walk out there with six pairs.
00:23:33
Speaker
I paid retail for everything. yeah what? I'm looking, I'm down like a band, 12, whatever. Brother, brother I sold two pair in the parking lot for that. I was like, oh, I'm up.
00:23:49
Speaker
Man, listen. Pay for everything, yo. I said, I'm good. I'm so good. I'm so good. But yeah, that was the only time I ever waited on line. I'm the only line story. Everything else, my Yeezy ones, everything I've had, Manny, everything was either Manny or Shout out to my boy Nav.
00:24:07
Speaker
I know Nav is going watch when I post this. My boy Nav, he has a sneaker store now. His new sneaker store on Long Island is called ah First Class? FCS. FCS. Shout out. FCS. Shout out FCS. oh my The last time I was on Long Island, I stopped by there and spent some money with them. um But yeah, Nav and Nav is heavy with the the heavy and the queens. are People like, you know, well that yeah back when ah Slow Bucks was big and Who else?
00:24:37
Speaker
Who else was going through there? Chinks would run with them. Yeah. Jewel and all of them. So my man Nav, but me and Nav went to high school together. family used to own the athlete shop, which was like our little local yeah sneaker shop. We'd have sneakers that already released but still have them. You what mean? So ah yes yeah. What part of Long Island is this?
00:24:59
Speaker
nor North Babb. Yeah, North Babylon. North Babylon. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, because I only knew about ah Extra Butter and Renard's. Extra Butter. Extra Butter was big. That's when you start going out west. Start going towards Queens. But yeah. um yeah shot that but Yeah, that was my only, only, only line store. I never waited on line for nothing else ever in my life.
00:25:20
Speaker
I'm um'm curious, like, how'd you get your start into, you know, starting Trap Karaoke and, like, actually becoming, like, this personality?
Path to Trap Karaoke Host
00:25:27
Speaker
So, Trap Karaoke was running already when, they had been running for, like, four or five years when I got on board with them.
00:25:36
Speaker
I remember going to the very, very, very, very very very very first Trap Karaoke. They did it in, like, this small bar in the LES. it was just mad fun, bro. yeah It was so fun. This is like, 2015. Mm-hmm.
00:25:49
Speaker
this is when everybody was getting newsletters yeah so this is you know during that time and it was fire bro and i was like oh this is gonna be huge like this is so fire were you already big on twitter during this time yes yeah that's how i got my invite yeah i was living on twitter um pissing people off and whatnot you yeah and then uh And then from there, you know I would try and get the owner's attention.
00:26:17
Speaker
But he had his host and he was comfortable with his host and they were building and I was like, all right, whatever. You know what I mean? That ain't only work in town. I'll go do own work. I still have my podcast moving.
00:26:30
Speaker
I think at that time specifically, had two shows. I had a show with BET and a show with Complex. yeah So I was cooking at the time. And then, ah funny story,
00:26:43
Speaker
ja ah the the owner reaches out to me to host, ah to be a part of like this beta he was working on like this ah it was like a Twitter um like a twitter meet
00:26:59
Speaker
what's the game, like Family Feud style game, right? So he flies me and a few other creators or a few other- Was that No, this wasn't HQ anymore. This was just his own beta. Oh, okay, okay.
00:27:10
Speaker
He flew us out to l LA and we tested it out and it was fun, it was cool. Nothing came of it. But he got to see me in person. He got to see me work in person, see how I'd interact with the crowd.
00:27:20
Speaker
Around the same time, had hosted my homeboy's first concert. My boy, Bino French, he just dropped some new music actually. um But I had hosted his first concert in Philly in Melodies for Heaven, which I was known for dropping in the middle of parties. yeah Like as a host, I would be like, yo, drop this.
00:27:38
Speaker
I'm telling all the beat. And like, you sure? I'm like, yeah, stop it. yes And so I'd drop it. And so we did it. And shit made so viral and crazy. Yeah. Kirk Franklin's label, we posted it. Kirk reposted it.
00:27:52
Speaker
It was a move, so everybody's seeing like, okay, bet. um I did had did the Staples Center a few times with BET, so like you knew who I was. yeah He reaches out and he's like, yo, I want you to host this trap karaoke we doing with AT&T.
00:28:10
Speaker
I was like, word, I'm in.
00:28:14
Speaker
Twitter kicks your ass. This is before tweet delete. This is before the... Everybody get a tweet delete and just scrub it. I don't care how real you think you are, bro. You're to miss out on the bad because you said something stupid.
00:28:30
Speaker
And you deserve it if it's still up there, bro. So there was some unsavory things, to say the least, that the bigger brand cared about. And so he was like, yo, I can't have you do this. I was heartbroken, bro. I was heartbroken.
00:28:44
Speaker
And I just didn't respond. like, man, fuck this shit, whatever. He reaches out like a month later, like, yo, about to do a show in Philly. You want to host that? In my mind, like, Philly?
00:28:56
Speaker
I said, Philly loves me, nigga. So I'm like, absolutely. yeah And came out in the show, did my thing. was March 2019. Been rocking since. It was wild. mean, yeah.
00:29:10
Speaker
ah rocke ever since is wow mean yeah What's the last venue you did in New York here? it was a Paramount. Yeah. Paramount in Brooklyn. I've been back. Shout out to the boss, man. I have been asking us to play that venue for a very long time since it opened.
00:29:23
Speaker
For us to do it, sell it out, pack it out like we did. Dream come true. Man, that's wild. And then like that that ass, man. That ass is fire. I definitely wanted to talk about that because it's just like, you know, you're venturing into comedy, but you've always been funny, my opinion. Thank you. Thank you.
00:29:41
Speaker
I will tell you the first, my story with you, my first story with you. or I don't know, you you do not know this. Okay. hundred percent 100%. I was on a Clubhouse. Okay. And you got into MC Search. yeah Bro, yo, you went in on MC Search, right?
00:29:58
Speaker
And I still had the DMs for this. Is that what he was talking about, like, how black he think, like, all the black people he grew up with? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You was going on him about how, like, I hate that guy. You was going on him about how he's a visitor in this space. He's visitor, man. You a visitor.
00:30:16
Speaker
Hey, man, shout out to MC Search and all the other white rappers I ran down on and a during the pandemic. Man, I was tired, man. I was tired, man. And I was like, i've met I messaged him and being like, yeah, you know, like, yeah, mouse is crazy. Like, I was just like, I was just like trying to, and then he, he messaged me back with like some, some other like long diatribe about like, oh yeah, you know, I've been getting this all my life. Wait, so you threw me under the bus to search? No, no, no, no, no. I didn't throw you around. just said like,
00:30:48
Speaker
I didn't understand where you were coming from. oh And so I was trying to get better clarity. Got you. I you. What's going on. And then he was saying like, yeah, I've been getting talk talk that this was, you know, ah I've been a visitor in this space for a long time. but But when I thought about it, I was like, that shit was mad funny. Like, just yeah like when you're in it. was pretty funny. Yeah.
00:31:10
Speaker
When you're in it. Like, you're like, oh, like, I wasn't familiar with you at that time. And I didn't know about about your Twitter at that time either. And then I was just like, oh, nah, he's a, you, you like me. I'm a button pusher. Whenever get a chance. I was on the other side of that. Like,
00:31:26
Speaker
cackling. yeah yeah I was on the other side of that phone dying. I'm like yo this is so funny to me. But you're serious right now? The white rapper show guy? Yeah. Alright man.
00:31:37
Speaker
So yeah. that But like that made me familiar with your game and so like I was just like okay I know I gotta come check out that ass one. And so when I when i pulled up and you were like Like, I knew you, yeah and then I didn't know you knew me. And then you were like, yo, just pull up. You good? i was like, all right, I'll pull up.
00:31:53
Speaker
So then I come, and I'm like, nah, yeah. This is that, like, seeing that crowd, because, like, one one thing about, like, black crowds, like, I've been to a ton of comedy shows. I love comedy. I used to work Comedy Central. So, like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:32:04
Speaker
So, like, that, like, being in front of a black crowd is so intimidating, but you make that shit look dumb easy. Man, it's easy when you know that they know they trust you. Yeah, yeah. Right?
00:32:17
Speaker
Like, that's an audience I've curated um over the last year and a half. like Me and my team, like, I just wanted to have a space downtown for black comedy, for for all facets of black comedy, not just...
00:32:35
Speaker
The slapstick, super animated. And you're like the smart comedy. The guys that sit down and tell you a story. The guy that hit you with punchline three jokes after the setup. yeah Like all of that. want you to see all of this. And it's still more facets to introduce, especially this year.
00:32:52
Speaker
ah going into second our second year. It's like there's more stuff I want to do with that show. um And a lot of that comes with getting the audience to trust you. yeah Audience know they trust me. They know no matter what, we're going to have a good time.
00:33:07
Speaker
These comics, they're here. We're going to get... I mean, it's a black crowd, bro. Yeah, it is. They work hard for their money. They done paid their hard-earned money, they're going to work hard for their... You got to work hard for their life.
00:33:18
Speaker
And i don't I don't feel bad about it. I got i got to go out there I got to go out there all night. Y'all just go in there one time, So it's like, yeah, you know, it's been officially dubbed New York City's toughest room. It is. It is.
Creating Spaces for Black Comedy
00:33:32
Speaker
That is something I wear with honor because that means our audience is doing their thing. And this is all the other part.
00:33:38
Speaker
The other favorite part of this is this is my audience knows fashion. My audience knows music. My audience knows TV. They know live events. they this is a lot of their first time interacting with live comedy.
00:33:51
Speaker
yeah Most of that audience probably is used to watching comedy on their phone. Watching maybe a special. Never sitting down having to listen to a joke.
00:34:02
Speaker
So it's like... watching the returning faces and the regulars and the new people. Man, it's such a gratifying experience. I mean, like, being in that room is like, because, like, it feels like a family function. yeah But then you also curate it yeah So, like, I definitely want to give you a thousand. Thank Because it's just like, when you go to a comedy show or, like, you just pull up in a a bar or whatever, it's just kind of like, all right.
00:34:24
Speaker
Yeah, that's just rough. Yeah. I i don't miss those open mics. Because, hey, we're in this bar where nobody came to hear comedy, but... We're doing it. We're doing it. Yeah. hey And then you're like, you're getting barked at in the bar. Like, hey, come through to the back. We got comedy show in the back. You're like. All right. I guess. So, yeah, man. I just, what I try to do, especially with that pre-show, is I try and give these people a real opportunity in front of a real audience. Yeah.
00:34:52
Speaker
You figure out what to do once you're up there. Mm-hmm. So shout out to the people from the pre-show that are becoming favorites and moving up to the main show. And then shout out to all the OGs and the working comics and current hot comics around city that's coming by and blessing stage. Oh, yeah. Last show you had Sam J close that joint. Oh, man. Yeah, the All-Star show is crazy. The All-Star show is crazy. All-Star show is crazy. Actually, I feel like should have charged people more. Like, that was crazy.
00:35:19
Speaker
They got like eight shows in one. Yeah. All-Star show is crazy. Sam's a killer. Yeah. Sam is a fucking killer. Uh-huh. And so like you're you're doing a thing and then- In a quiet. Yeah.
00:35:30
Speaker
A very, very, very quiet sneak ahead. Oh, for sure. Very. Hopefully, you know, i'm at I asked. I'm trying to- yeah She said yeah. Okay, okay. I'll plug that for you. That'll be dope. Sam is my dog.
00:35:42
Speaker
And yeah very, very quiet. Very quiet. Very subtle sneak. She went on ah my boy Rob Hayes. Shout out to Rob. My Yeah. And so like he, he yeah she said that she sold her whole collection.
00:35:56
Speaker
Yeah, and i've I've done that too. yeah yeah I think that's what me her connected on. like i When I first got into you know doing this, I had no bread, bro. I had no bread, and I was trying stay out the street.
00:36:09
Speaker
So the only thing I had was I had a collection from 2007 to That's years and i took it to Where did take it to?
00:36:27
Speaker
I took it to the sneaker store up on Deer Park Avenue. ah I took like 300 sneakers.
00:36:37
Speaker
That's gotta be the hardest goodbye. The hardest goodbye, bro. Oh my God, bro. I wanted to, because like I know we're towards the end of the podcast, but before I ask my last, last question, I wanted to ask you about like your experience doing the sneaker battle.
Sneaker Battle Experience
00:36:52
Speaker
Oh yeah, you like that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got a lot of respect that day. A lot of people hit me up and was like, yo, you went up against, shout out to T-Mark. T-Mark's my man. Outside of the sneaker battle, T-Mark is my man. That's really my guy.
00:37:08
Speaker
everybody thought he was gonna smoke me. I remember that, yeah. And said, oh, y'all bugging. Like, I remember getting, like, i remember when it was announced, people hitting me like, what, what? People being in the comments, oh, that's a waste of a spot. Mouse Jones, he's a person personality, he don't,
00:37:24
Speaker
I'm like, oh, yeah, don't know. And I get it because I don't make it my person. It's not a part of my personality. not part of my stick. yeah right like This is my everyday life. I put on good garments every day. like And shout out to those who it is their thing. I respect it. It's not mine.
00:37:40
Speaker
So I don't post every sneaker I own. I don't make content around sneakers. I'm not saying I won't. So if somebody can pay me to do it. We can run this back. We can run it back. But yeah, so I remember and I knew, as I said, got to fight.
00:37:56
Speaker
um I said, i got to fight. I said, because he's going to pull some sneaky shit. I said, I'm going to get team. I said, I can beat him. I said, it's all it's the luck of the draw at this point. I can beat him. yeah like He could win, but I can beat him. It's not impossible.
00:38:11
Speaker
Everybody, I get to i get to Complex. My guy, Fresco, air everybody talking crazy. you know I said, you know what I got here? I start backing out, winning rounds.
00:38:22
Speaker
I would have won if he ain't do the craziness with every Yeezy. Because I had already beaten him in a round with the Yeezys. So I couldn't bring him back. right When he bought that all, he went six Yeezys crazy on me. I said, oh.
00:38:35
Speaker
I said, I owe you. But yeah, I got a lot of respect for the sneaker community that day. like A lot of the chatter. It was, okay. A lot of the chat was different. Yeah. ah So we're towards the end the podcast. i want to ask you this last question. deals with a little visualization.
00:38:51
Speaker
i want you to think back to when you were younger, you're about to get those true blue threes. Yeah. Now you're you, you're older, you behind your younger self. What would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
00:39:05
Speaker
I would tell me to do exactly what I did. And it's like, ah appreciate these. yeah Like, ah appreciate these. This is the beginning. Like, you're never going to feel like this again ah about a pair sneakers. Yeah.
00:39:21
Speaker
You only get this one time. And honestly, in that moment, I did just that. Like I savored my thing. I got home, wiped them down, yeah put them back in a box, like everything. So ah yeah, I would just tell myself to do that same thing.
00:39:36
Speaker
Just do it again, man. Because because of that, time and intention and intention I had around that I will forever be able to associate these with you know one of the most funnest innocent times of you know your like tumultuous teenage years yeah so yeah that yeah That's what would tell them.
00:40:00
Speaker
Man, that's love. I love that. I might have told them to get another pair. and Double up. Double up. Tell Pop to get another pair. Run it back. You couldn't, man. That was the only thing that was rough about them times. There was no doubling up, bro.
00:40:13
Speaker
There wasn't no doubling up. Because you remember that pair was from three years prior. Yeah. You get what I'm saying? There was no doubling up, brother. No doubling up. So, yeah. Let larry everybody know where to find you, man. ah Man, listen, you can find me at Mouse Jones on everything. oh You can find, ah make sure you subscribe to the Guy Next Door a podcast. Yes, sir.
00:40:35
Speaker
ah Make sure you follow at Trap Karaoke. See the next time we in your city. This is going to be dropping before the August show. Oh, August 7th. Yes. Dead Ass of Comedy Show. Pull up. We're every first Thursday. So if you miss August 7th, we'll be at SOB's the following first Thursday. The first Thursday of every month.
00:40:55
Speaker
Go to deadassacomedyshow.com. Get your tickets. you that's that's what That's where we at with it. You can get your tickets. Also, this year... I'm sorry. This month for the first time, we're doing doubleheader.
00:41:07
Speaker
hey So we got an early show and a late show. So if you want to stay for both, we love you. If you, you know, get off work and you feel like you want get a little dinner, do that. And we'll see at the late show. If you want to get it, go to the early show, get you a late dinner.
00:41:19
Speaker
We'll see you there. Either way, we'll see you. mean, you know, I'm there. My guy Haas is in the building. You heard? the building. In the building. And you know where to find me, who is Haas all social media. I'm going to kick it to myself. Going to do the Patreon shout outs and support the Patreon. Before I say that, support the Patreon. Support the Patreon, man. Pay the man.
00:41:38
Speaker
So, yeah. That's it. Thanks again for checking out this week's episode with Mouse. Also, wanted to thank you for staying to the end to hear these shout outs. As you know, you can also get a shout out after every episode by joining Patreon at patreon.com slash my first kicks.
00:41:56
Speaker
But on to the shout outs. Shout out to Adam Neustadter for kicking off this whole thing. Then Ross Adams. Also, Derek, a.k.a. Fresh Poetic. And wow, we got a newcomer, previous guest, Adam Butler, who you may know from the MSR podcast.
00:42:13
Speaker
But starting this Patreon is a way to help me continue to grow the podcast. Also, will help me build out what I guess I'm calling the ecosystem around the podcast.
00:42:24
Speaker
As you know, this is my brainchild. So I am trying to grow this and bring everyone who checks out an episode along for the ride. But I guess this ride starts off in a DeLorean because I'm currently uploading the first 10 episodes that have been wiped from all DSPs to the Patreon.
00:42:43
Speaker
They will only live at the $5 tier and you can only access them there. and Also, I'm promising that for every 10 new patrons, I will record Patreon-only episode with a previous guest.
00:42:58
Speaker
Once we hit 10 patrons, I'll announce the guest and when that episode will drop. Of course, I'll be asking what else you would like to see and drop Patreon exclusive only content on there like newsletters. And you'll get first looks at merch, ah you know, maybe even early guests, maybe even early episodes, just whatever is available to me and to y'all, basically.
00:43:27
Speaker
I also have this trip to Portland coming up that I mentioned previously and whatever I experienced there and witness will only be shared on the, my first kicks Patreon. But if you are new here and want to check out more episodes,