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But Then the Handle Broke with Devon Walker
0 Playsin 14 hours
This week Devon Walker is on the podcast, we talk about growing up in Texas. Being a funny kid growing up, how much music played a role in his life. Starting out doing comedy and what the comedy scene has become in Austin. Moving to NYC and picking up sneakers while working at SNL. How much he loves aspects of fashion plus a ton more
Follow Devon:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/internetdevon
My Favorite Lyrics Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/myfavoritelyricspod/
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Intro & Outro by Sango: https://www.instagram.com/sango_/
Backing Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Recommended
Transcript
Childhood Stories and Lessons on Fashion
00:00:00
Speaker
I don't think I've ever told this story on a podcast or anything, but my friends know it. And when I was in elementary school, like I was like a funny kid. You know what I'm saying? I would hope so. You know what I mean? I was like, ah I was a funny kid. And like, I thought it was really sick to get these like t-shirts with like sayings on them. I don't know if you remember this, but like. Big Johnson t-shirts? Not, not the, well, maybe, but I don't remember the brand, yeah but my, ah my mom would take me to like Marshall's or like Kohl's and they would have these shirts. i remember i I used to have this shirt that said, uh,
00:00:32
Speaker
that said, I thought I had a handle on things, but then the handle broke. And I remember being like 10 and being like, this shit's going crazy. Really special. You're not here with this shit. really um I got a real silly spirit on my t-shirts and y'all not really doing that.
00:00:48
Speaker
And I remember I got to middle school and I was wearing those types of shirts with little funny sayings and niggas was flaming. No way. I was, they was not letting me make it at all. They was really like, Hey man, that sucks.
00:01:03
Speaker
You need to change. And I was like, bet.
Podcast Support and Guest Introduction
00:01:11
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. This episode 253. I think it is. I think two... No, no. 263. Shit. Okay. Yes. Right? You've been in the mix. I don't know why i messed up this week's episode number, which is 264. But since we're here,
00:01:27
Speaker
I'm jumping in to remind y'all to like, subscribe, and of course, leave a comment if you're you know watching this on YouTube. And if you're listening to this on Apple Spotify, leave a comment, leave a review, five stars. it really goes a long way. And if you write a review in Apple Podcasts, I will read it at the end of an episode. Still waiting on some more new reviews so I can read them at the end. And of course, if you want to go the extra, extra, extra mile, please do not forget to sign up for the Patreon at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. I only have one tier, $5 tier. You get two Patreon special episodes with Joe and AD Sneaks.
00:02:11
Speaker
I'm going to be putting the walk through from the jinx episode where we walk through the entire nike installation that's going be living on the patreon so please make sure you sign for the patreon patreon.com so let's jump back right into the episode with devon walker in the mix yeah yeah yeah and this week my bad and this week i bring to you another special guest welcome to the podcast devon walker man what's up man thank you for having Nah, man. Thank you for pulling up. But been loving that you're doing, missed your show, which I'm tight. It's all good, bro. I'll be back. I know. I mean, I hope so. Because you're like, never doing New York show ever again. Yeah. No, I'll be back. I feel like I've been just running around so much that when I'm in the city, sometimes I'm like, I don't want to work. You know what mean? Because so much my work is like, I'm flying here, I'm flying there, going on tour here. So sometimes I'll just be trying chill, but I'll do another one. I got you. Yeah, shoot me a text. like, yeah, going to pull up. For sure. But man, really appreciate you pulling up, you know, just even jump in and plug your stuff about, you know, My Favorite Lyrics. Like your new podcast. Yeah,
Devon Walker's New Podcast on Music Lyrics
00:03:20
Speaker
for sure. It's called My Favorite Lyrics. We just talk about music lyrics. It started because I love like silly rap lyrics. Yeah, same. It started because like when I was like coming up in my like early 20s was like, Big Sean and like 2 Chainz was saying like the silliest shit imaginable. And I was just like, oh, like I wanted to start a podcast. was like, what's something that I could talk about forever? And it's silly ass music lyrics. That's always the key. If you ever want to start a podcast, that's the key.
00:03:46
Speaker
Pick something that you can talk about endlessly. Yes. Something you never gonna get tired of. yeah And I really, yeah, I picked music lyrics and I'm not gonna hold you. I legitimately do think we have a list of guests that no other podcast has ever had. We really have, obviously it's like a bunch of comedians. We just had, we had Cash Cobain. We just had him on there. was mad. He got Slizzy on there. You feel me? He was really, he was mad cool because he kept like throughout the podcast, he was like being like real kind of like laid back, like very rappery at the beginning. But like throughout the podcast, the one like through line was he was like, bro, these niggas don't get bitches like me.
00:04:24
Speaker
yeah I was like, yeah, bro. Talk your shit. I got a couple
Sneaker Stories and Personal Growth
00:04:28
Speaker
guests for you. that i definitely One, you got to have Bruiser Wolf on there. i would love to. We follow each other on Instagram now. I got you. I would love. Have you had him on here? Nah, he's going to pull up on too. Bro, yes. I got to get Bruiser Wolf. He's got some of the shit. He's got some of the That's some Detroit shit. Like all the Detroit guys are like mad, mad funny. I forget if it was, I forget if it was a Detroit guy or if was Lil Yachty when he did his Detroit, ah like he did like a Michigan rap album called like Michigan Boy Boat. yeah And ah he had a bar on there where he was like, I don't let my bitch drink it all in case I need a kidney.
00:05:03
Speaker
And I think about it all the time. Like that's the type of shit that like made me want to talk about this on the podcast. Cause this shit really, It's so funny. I mean, look, just because I've been listening to it, I do have a set lyrics ready. Okay. Whenever you need to on there. Bro, we ready. We ready to talk, Let's converse. Because I got some crazy-ass lyrics. I believe it, bro. Yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker
But you know you talked about a through line, and let's use my through line for this podcast. my my My question, which I ask everybody each week, and that question is, what's your first kicks? What's that first pair of sneakers you absolutely needed to have? So um the first pair of sneakers that like really, i like really remember were because it was, I was, I was young. So I was probably like, I must've been, this was late nineties. So I must've been like probably seven, eight years old.
00:05:49
Speaker
And i got just like a pair of sneakers that I liked. We were at like, I forget what it was called, but there was might've been like foot action or like foot. It was some type of store that was in, I'm from Texas. I'm from Austin. was just about to ask that. I'm from Austin, Texas. So then it's definitely like either the south the Southern foot stores are always like a foot action. yeah ah Maybe you you had a finish line down there. Maybe. yeah All I remember is like, again, I was really little. All I remember is they had a basketball court in the sneaker spot. oh Oh, okay. All right. All right. so you could like, if you wanted to- Athlete's foot, maybe. Maybe. yeah I forget. I don't, it does not exist anymore. yeah It was not around by the time I was like a teenager. Like it was already out by then, but I need to look it up. if It's probably at athlete's foot because they all, they all went down. Like they all closed. Yeah.
00:06:34
Speaker
And there's like like only one in Atlanta now. And does it have, it has a basketball- Jim in it. I mean, a lot a lot of these currently have basketball. do I think better generation now in Texas, which is PJ Tucker's. Oh, that's his spot. Yeah, I think it has ah a sneaker. It has ah a basketball court in it, too. Respect. I didn't know that was even still going on. Yeah, man. Like, if you go to Detroit, Detroit, ah the... Is it a, what's the name of the store? i went So I went to Detroit recently for Blackfootwear Forum. yeah And they we we did them like a pre-meetup.
00:07:07
Speaker
And it the the store was, got social status. okay And it's says it's like one ah one of the stores that um are part of the Amar Muneer family. i don't know if you know Amar Muneer. I don't. All right. You should definitely hit up Amar Muneer. Okay. You would love it. I even know how to spell what you just said. I'm really not clear on that. i got i' ah I'm not gonna hold you. I just let you say it a couple of times. And in my brain, I was like, all right, this next time he says it, right, I'm gonna know what the letters are and the word. I'm really not clear on what it even is. so I'm have to see it phonetically. I got you.
00:07:40
Speaker
I'll write it for you. Yeah, please but all But I'll go. Yeah, whatever it is, I'll participate. But they had also, they had a a basketball court, but it's like a half court. Yes, that's what that's what it was in this one. And so there was a there was a half basketball court. so that And that was also a time where like, I mean, I don't know what your relationship is with it now, but I feel like presently most hoop shoes are not also casual shoes. yeah yeah And like, I feel like in the starting with like with Jordans in the 80s and ninety s like, Shoes that you would wear on the court would be the same ones that you would put on with jeans. Now all the hoop sneakers are so like athletic looking.
00:08:14
Speaker
You really, I mean, some some dudes do it and they pull it off, but like speaking of bringing it back to lyrics, ah there's a Dom Kennedy lyric that I always think about all the time where
Basketball Shoes as Fashion and Y2K Trends
00:08:23
Speaker
he says, don't wear LeBron's to the club. That shit's ugly. yeah yeah And I was like, i remember hearing that and be like, yeah, cause like niggas do be putting on like an on court sneaker with like some jeans, like you doing some shit. it's like, no, no, no, you gotta take those to the hardwood.
00:08:39
Speaker
But in the you know it was different. In the like you really- In the 90s, you could get away with it. They were more built to like do both. Right. now I feel like just the styles like mostly don't compete. Like they don't, they don't, they don't compute. The only guy that I really have seen that like really can do like modern hoop shoes and make it look normal is- Wale. Wale. Yeah. How did you, yeah, that's exactly, that's literally exactly what was thinking about. He's going viral right now. what's got going on? No, because somebody comment, somebody reposted it and said, you shouldn't be dressing like this as a 40 year old.
00:09:11
Speaker
i don't know you've seen that. I didn't see that, but you know, you know, that that makes, people are always saying shit like this. yeah i And I will say, i think this just in general about rappers, I think in every way possible,
00:09:22
Speaker
I think oftentimes we're trying to apply our normal people lifestyle perspectives onto niggas that don't live normal at all. exactly Like Wale's not like, you're 40 and Wale's 40. That's a completely, you have no idea the type of shit that he been around. You know what I mean? Like he's been in places that like we can't fathom. exactly So it's like, he's not,
00:09:44
Speaker
I always think that's silly. always think that's silly. I think about like... I was like... I reposted it and I go, you watch one Kevin Samuels video and you think you know all. That's what I'm saying. You think it's like, yeah, it's like most 40-year-olds should be wearing a hard-bottom shoe. You know what I'm saying? Get you some loafers, get you some... But like if you're not selling car insurance or you've not... Like if you're not... Don't have like a... If you're not like a CEO of a company or something like that, even though probably Wale owns stuff. He probably owns something. But like...
00:10:14
Speaker
I don't know. I think the whole, cause like I work in corporate America. So like my business casual, I'd be bugging out. This is what I wear work because get away with that Well, yeah, now I'm like startups and stuff like that. Nah, this is a big company. Oh, gotcha. Yeah.
00:10:26
Speaker
I just, you just be, I just be in there fucking out, yeah. And I respect that. But, I just think, like, yeah, if you're, but look, I'm not the president of the company. If I did, then I'd be like, all right, you You gotta put on. Yeah, I would put the suit on. But, I just think that, like, yeah, Wale's a rapper. Why would he need to be, he's not, who's the dude that did Classic Man?
00:10:48
Speaker
JaDena. Yeah. Yeah. yeah I bet Jadenna was a nice guy, but yes, he's got a whole, like Jadenna, like exactly. Like he got a whole, he wearing a lot of vests. He got a lot of vests. He had the the the thing, the chain that connected to the pocket. He got the pocket watch on Exactly. Wale, that's not, that's not his message. Or YG. YG's a big hard bottoms um ah fan. He be putting on the loafers with the white socks. That's like a big, think he had a song or album called Hard Bottom's White Sox. I forget. Anyway. But what was the shoe? My shoe.
00:11:21
Speaker
And I had to look it up to make sure it was the right one. It was Penny Hardaway's second shoe. Yeah. We need those back. The Air Max Penny 2. Yeah. Because I knew they were pennies, but they weren't the foams. i never Foams have never. That's not my journey. That's not. i know that's like some real East Coast shit.
00:11:36
Speaker
It is. Niggas is not really doing foams in Texas like that. I feel like, yeah, I feel like a foam and a Texas heat, they just don't really go together. Nah. In the same way, like, I had Tim's when I was in eighth grade, and, like, I was the only kid who had those because for what? Ain't no ice here. Ain't no ice. There's not a single, there's barely even water on the ground. Like, it don't get cold. But, uh...
00:11:56
Speaker
That was hip hop, man. Yeah, that's real. That very real. You was in there like, I gotta be like Wu-Tang. Yeah, it was very like, yeah, it was definitely that. It was definitely like, was like trying to jock some like, some East Coast shit that like did not belong to me at all. And this was like during the like, that was during like the Air Force Ones phase when everybody had forces on. I had some forces too, but I like to, you know what I'm You know, everybody, when you were kid, you always trying to find a way to be like a little bit different. Yeah, for sure. Especially like black and brown kids always be like, oh, y'all doing that. But like, I'm over here with it. You know what I'm saying? Oh my God, we need a shirt that says I'm over here with it. over here with yeah. I feel like you're from here? Yeah, from here. Oh, then, I mean like New York niggas is like,
00:12:37
Speaker
They're always really, I mean, this is where it all starts. So like New York Knicks is always trying to be like, over here. um Even now, like even now with like, I don't even like buying all the stuff that everybody, if you, like this is how I am. And I'll tell you what I used to do, right? If a shoe comes out and I know like everybody's going rock it. Like for example, there was a, there's a Jordan. It's called a Jordan one. It's called a top three. Okay. Right. So what they did is the the first three Jordans that came out, they pushed, they smashed it into one shoe. The Fusions. No, no, no.
00:13:04
Speaker
It's just the colors. it's oh it's just the colors. I see what you're saying. I think I know which ones talking about. There's like blue, red, black, and then you like- Yes. yeah which is I've seen these. I knew everybody's going to burn through their pairs, right? So I just waited a whole year until I broke broke those out.
00:13:18
Speaker
I respect that. I think sometimes with certain sneakers when they're really hyped, I feel like it like takes the fun away from like, and we we were told we've talked about this a little bit off mic. It's like, I really do like sneakers, but like i really I'm not like on the website, on the forum, being like, oh, these are about to come out. I legitimately will just like every now and again, like I'll see some somewhere. I'll just be like, oh, that's, it's kind of it's like, um I don't know. it's It's so much just based off of aesthetic. It's so little based off of like a hype thing. yeah Every now and again, like a hype sneaker. bought these ah these like Supreme Nike joints. the ah God, they're these low, the Darwins. Oh, yeah. I wanted those bad. The baby blue one was like my got favorite. i got the baby blue ones and the black ones. What size of you? I'm a 12.
00:14:01
Speaker
yeah You're we might be able to figure something out. Nah, my foot's, I'm a 13, I can't get in. Okay, we can't figure it out. yeah yeah But like, yeah, i feel like I feel like I do it kind of like the same way i am with watches. Like I don't need it to be like the watch of the moment or the most expensive shit. I really just do feel like, oh, like that's pretty. yeah i' ah I'm a cop those. like or Or stuff that like I always wanted when I was a kid. Like that's, I feel like, I feel like that's what so many of us are doing. yeah yeah going no no no yeah the I think that's like that's what we need to get back to because like we you know the I talk I preach about this all the time on here the individuality has gone away right yeah like you know either that and recently we talked about this too where you either go super far left with it yeah or you are like kind of copying whatever's going on or you're like I just want to be myself and and I think that we need more people that are like I just want to be myself but
00:14:56
Speaker
with it with the With everybody getting into Get Ready With Me's and all this stuff, it kind of like mushes everything together. And we were talking about this before. I feel like that like goes into like regionality, right? Like regionality. like Obviously, I do a music podcast and I think about like, oh, like if you're if you were like a kid in Texas in 2008, you were listening to different shit than like a kid. Like we didn't get Max B. now Like he just didn't make it down to us. So I found out about him like after he got locked up like later on down the line, because it was like that was like some East Coast shit. And now for better or worse, like it does feel all meshed together. And I think with sneakers, because yeah, you can see you can see what's going on in China. You can see what's going on Paris. yeah And so you can just be like, all right. and And so much of what happening is happening right now feels like it's based on like
00:15:44
Speaker
all right, I gotta get on trend. So many people are like, oh, like I've been seeing the the burrito trend. And so like, all right now, the Smashburger trend is taking over everywhere. So then that becomes like what everybody's like chasing, which I guess- Now you got me down a rabbit hole of just like, yeah, as soon as something gets hot with food, yeah it just goes, you just see everybody starting to pop up. You just see like eight of them pop up. When Chipotle was going crazy, oh yeah We didn't have the Codoba. We didn't have any of these spots. And then all of a sudden now we got Dos Toros, Chipotle. It's everywhere. Yeah. So I usually, i hate this because I've been telling a lot of these food influencers to stay out of my area because they start coming. I live in Queens. So like they starting to go to Roosevelt. Well, that's where all the best food is. I know, but now we're getting lines of spots that I was like the only one sitting in. Brother, I could write an essay about this. I could write an essay about this. I think i think i think the internet and TikTok is like bad for us in a myriad of ways that have been like reported
Influence of Food Influencers on Dining
00:16:45
Speaker
and studied. But like the fact that like now there's been certain spots that I will not name that are like some of my favorite places to go eat yeah that have like got a TikTok on them because other people were like, this is the best thing. And that TikTok gets like a million something of them views. And now i gotta like now I gotta text them. Now I gotta get somebody's phone number yeah to go to the spot that I used to just be able to drop in all the time. That shit
00:17:05
Speaker
It makes me so fucking mad. Stop doing it. Stop doing it. We gotta gatekeep. I really do feel like it's- Bring back gatekeeping. Bring back gatekeeping, bro. We need to keep secrets. There's shit that like everything don't gotta be for everybody all the time, bro. Keep some shit to yourself. I'll tell y'all very much. I did a deal with Hypebeast and part of it was like, they were like, yeah, like name, we wanna do a hype map. Name some of your favorite things all around the city. And I put some of them on there. I put my homie Sam's restaurant on there. Cause that's homie. He was just opening it up. But I didn't put a lot of my real shit on there. Y'all niggas don't need to know where I hang out.
00:17:41
Speaker
Find your own shit. you know I feel very much like that shit. Remember the guy that like DM that got, ah that like went around where homie was like, oh, this food looks good. Like, where'd you get it from? Oh yeah And it was like nah bro You know it like no were kind of strange to me bro Like why you need to know where I'm at Like this spot very personal to me So that's for me yeah And I feel that way about a lot of a lot of shit i Look that's definitely yo there was It's so funny I was with with my boys And I'm wearing this ah I'm wearing a ah ah Jet Drunk Radio ah shirt I don't know if you ever fucked with Jet Drunk Radio that was I loved it that's my that's I love Jack Ryan right now. I bought this shirt.
00:18:20
Speaker
It's on my IG. And people, whenever I rock it, people are like, yo, where'd you get that from? I'll just be like, Yeah, that's it. I got it. got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. And you don't. Very much like when you was a kid and somebody, be and you got some new sneakers and somebody be like, oh, what size it? You be like, I'm my size. Yeah, my size. I'm the size. I need to be for the sneakers that I got. And that's all you need to know for the time being. Don't worry about that because you, this doesn't apply to you. This is my own situation.
00:18:48
Speaker
Man, so growing up in, you said San san Antonio? No, austin Austin, my bad No, you're good ah So like, the did you have like s sneaker culture? Or like, what what did like, because like I've always been curious about that area and sneakers Because like, I've had like Professor Schooler on here we talked about like vintage sneakers because he's big in Dallas with that And I mean, he's a he's a Cowboys fan Yikes My dad's from PA, so he raised me to be an Eagles fan. oh I mean, I'm a Giants fan. o Sorry about that. yeah We're just going, uh-uh. Yikes. yeah I actually got no i got no ill will towards the Giants because I feel like they just be doing bad so often. I know, yeah. And I feel like Giants have been giants fans have been humbled. yeah like If you're a Cowboy, Cowboys fans, like I'm a Eagles fan who grew up in Texas, so it's like,
00:19:38
Speaker
Cowboys fans think they're gonna win the championship every year. oh Every single single, look, oh, Dax, that got it we're gonna be going good. No. Despite the fact that they have not won a championship, they've won like two playoff games since like 1996. Yeah. And they all they're always like, no, no, no, we got it together. a Giants fans have been humbled so often and so much that I feel like they don't really be puffing a chest out too much. And I respect i respect that about them. Giants fans are like, you know, we're just doing our best. The two chips I watched. I remember that he starting off the year like, oh, here we go again. like it was it was it was like, I don't know where we're going. Then they limp into the playoffs. And they and they won it yeah both times. But I feel like that probably makes you appreciate a championship even more. yeah When you're like, oh, yeah, I didn't know. like there's
00:20:20
Speaker
Most of the times when your team starts out on top and the Eagles have been really good for like – the last like half decade or so i mean honestly i've been good most of my life i mean i was a big because like i used to play madden semi-professionally yeah yeah yeah i used to be really nice but um no i don't want to tell you I like that because I know y'all have talked about this. I know it's like- don't think he knows. I don't think Connor knows. Okay. yeah I don't know. i don't I haven't heard it before, but this is a- I used to be nice. There's a lot of room for interpretation. The game changed, man. The game changed crazy. I believe believe it. But like, ah I used to be like, you know, I'll throw on the Eagles a little bit, play a little Donovan McNabb with T.O. You know, just because that team was just stacked. Crazy. acted yeah We only had T.O. for one year, but it was ah was a beautiful year. It was a beautiful year. But- um
00:21:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Texas sneaker culture, i mean, again, it's like my parents were not, they were not into the sneaker shit. You know what I'm saying? I came from very much like, you know, certain kids, like they're they're asking for sneakers all the time. Like yeah I wasn't that type of kid. I like... Kind of similar to now, it's like I like clothes and I like care about what they look like, but like that wasn't the thing that I was like, mom, dad, like you gotta, like, please, I gotta to be flying. I gotta get, like, I would get, my my folks would give me like one pair of sneakers at the beginning of the year. yeah And then they would get me maybe one for my birthday or Christmas if I like really wanted it. But that was like, I got way more into like throwback jerseys. That was like, okay actually my shit. Mitchell and That's Crazy?
00:21:54
Speaker
You got like a collection? i so I don't got that many of them left now. The only ones I got left still are like, I got the Mike Bibby Arizona jersey. I got that one. Shout out to shout out to our ah our our our biracial king. I don't even know if he's bi-rac... He's just like the whitest black I've ever seen. He's so white colored, but when you hear him, him and Jason Kidd both, yeah when you hear them talk, you're like, well, that's a nigga, clearly. He has not very few nigga features, but like that's a nigga voice. I've heard a nigga voice about it, and that is what it sounds like.
00:22:27
Speaker
But I have that. I still that i have that. And the Michael Vig Virginia Tech, which I got like in like probably... Oh, like the same year that he was on the Madden cover. Yeah. I got the Michael Vick Virginia Tech jersey. That was like a, it was like a Holy Grail to me. Yeah. That was like so.
00:22:42
Speaker
You gotta the Michael Vick shoes. Like the. I never had them. You gotta get them. I never had the, the Vick, the cleats. yet No, no, no. He released the. the like sneakers. Yeah, the sneakers. No, I never had them. See, i but like I said, I wasn't sneaker focused. I know. I was so. saying you should. Yeah, right. Now I can't. I mean, that's, I bought the, um, it's the Dennis Rodman joints yeah probably like two years ago. The Endostructs. I bought those and they still do look really clean, but it is a very difficult sneaker to like put with stuff. yeah That's what I like. I always wanted them and they were way too pricey. And then I was like, i was working on SNL. And when I was at SNL, I was kind of buying shit constantly to like,
00:23:20
Speaker
to like divert from my depression. Like I was like so not having fun there that I was like, I remember my homie Gary was just like, bro, he was like, he was like, I spend like $300 once a week to feel alive. yeah And I was basically doing that. And every day or ah like, but I was, I was basically like, not every single day, but I was just keeping a steady flow of shit yeah coming into the office.
Coping with Depression through Fashion
00:23:43
Speaker
Like I probably, I would say probably 40% of the sneakers that I own right now, I got while I was at the show just because I was like, okay. Like I needed like a little present for myself to like brighten my day. yeah yeah And yeah, I bought the Indus Drugs. I'll just go say, we've all been there. You feel me? Yeah. that i i
00:24:03
Speaker
I've always said this and I've said this a thousand times. a lot of people that have massive collections and continuously buy is to fill a void. Of course. And it's like that retail therapy absolutely is like, you're just like, Now I get this little burst of dopamine. that's what i'm saying And it's the most it's the most expensive thing you can do. yeah it's Instead of just like- You should do pushups. That's what you should do. Go to the gym. Exercise, start doing pullups. You what I'm saying? Figure how to do a triangle pushup. Or go to a therapist. or yes But sometimes that's not enough. god Sometimes a therapist's not enough. i got And so yeah, I was making a lot of purchases and I got the Indostrux. And then i started trying to like I started trying to wear them out casually. I started like putting them with like jeans and shit. And I was like, this don't really work.
00:24:44
Speaker
So now it's one of I got a couple pairs that are just like They're like shoes that I wear like on the way to do something athletic. yeah Like if I'm like on the way to hoop, I could put on the Indostrux and they make sense in that context. With some shorts and then I'll put the real hoop shoes Yeah, I have like those and the, um what are the other ones? the i have some up tempos that are like that.
00:25:06
Speaker
These up tempos, it was a collab with, oh man, I'm gonna forget. I want to say i wanna to say it's undercover. No. Undefeated? and Yeah. Maybe it's undefeated. They're purple and green. Purple and green. Do you know what I'm talking about? They're actually... hold on. Uptempos.
00:25:23
Speaker
big i mean, Uptempos got the big air on the side. They're really they're really big. Dude. It could be Supreme. yeah I know that was like... wasn't Supreme. Because I don't think... There isn't an undercover...
00:25:38
Speaker
ah tu tuoo to je Who did these? Ambush. Ambush, yes. the Which one did you get? The purple in? Yes. yeah I have these ones. Those are hot. I don't know why I said hot. Those are fire. That
00:25:53
Speaker
was a different type of voice. yeah like I think it's because they're the purple joints. You were like, you turned into Paris Hilton for a second. You were like, hot, hot, hot. You sounded like Kat. Yeah.
00:26:06
Speaker
You put on your Carl Anthony Towns voice. Oh my God. I like that. yeah, yeah. And after all that. And after all that. That's good catapult. I watched that video way too many times. But it's funny. i said The reason why going to just let me reference this. yeah Because i was I've been watching this one video on repeat that I've found on IG. And this guy is like doing a creative wrestler on WWE And he's like...
00:26:30
Speaker
He's like, there's a pose, because he's like going through poses, and he's like, there's like one pose, and it's like this. He's like, I think he's clock-it. Incredible.
00:26:42
Speaker
And so that, I don't know why I said hot, but I think that's that's part of it, man. That's crazy. But you were talking about clothes, and yeah um during your episode with Mandel, yeah you talked about you had a ah a rare denim phase, or like ah you was into you was getting into like denim. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah yeah ah So like, how did you find and did you get real deep into it? Wait, what did I wait what did i say? You were like, you were like you you were really into denim, like Japanese denim.
00:27:12
Speaker
oh Oh, I think I was really like, I think I was really on the blogs and like really aware of I do not have a Japanese denim collection. yeah Yeah, yeah, but like there was a time where like- Cause they went hand in hand during the 2010s. That's what I'm saying. Like I was, there were there was definitely a phase where I was like very aware of a bunch of Japanese denim, but- but I couldn't cop it. And now now I can cop it and I still don't have it. You should get one.
00:27:39
Speaker
Don't see, but now you're about to get me in trouble because you're get because I can't have a new clothing interest. Because once I get a new clothing interest. No, but they take years. Just buy one. Sure. Buy by one pair. Put them in the freezer. Or the oven. Or like whatever they do. Those are all myths apparently. Oh that shit's not real? No.
00:27:58
Speaker
carmi put Carmi put his jeans the vintage jeans. i don't know Did you watch The Bear? I did. yeah so cart I don't know why he put them in the oven yeah but I think it started to take life after that. Interesting. but I think that's just a storage thing.
00:28:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think it was. He wanted outside, out of sight, out of mind. i think that's just like, oh, I live in like a tiny little apartment. yeah But also, wait, to go back to to go back to my first kick story, to back to my first kick story, it was the second version of the pennies. It was the Air Max Penny 2s. I can't believe it. I totally forgot we didn't finish it. No, i was like and I was like, I was like, I was like, I got to tell this story here. If not here, where? Yeah. um And I went to whatever. If anybody's like from the Austin area and y'all like remember this foot store, please. Yeah, please. Comment. Comment. DM, like whatever. Because I am curious about what this was. i was so little, but...
00:28:43
Speaker
I remember I didn't really care about sneakers at that time. like at that That was before I was even into clothes, like on any sort of level. And so I literally just picked some. Like I just picked some that I was just like, oh, those are those are fly. Or like, not even those are fly. You know, I'm a little kid. i was just like, oh, those ones. yeah Like, let me get those. They were like, these are your shoes for the year. yeah That's what my parents were on. Like one one new pair for the year. And I got those and it was the first time in my life, i remember going to the barber shop and like other niggas at the barber shop were like, oh shit, like look what like look what he got on. yeah Like look, oh, like, you okay, I see you little man, like you got those on. And I was feeling myself so crazy, because I was never getting i was never getting like compliments or accolades from like grownups. yeah You know what know I'm saying? And so like, it felt so beautiful. was The first time I really thought about what was on my feet,
00:29:31
Speaker
at all, like up to that point. I was like, cause that was my first sneaker that I feel like wasn't like a, like a Velcro light up joint. You was wearing grown man shoes. Yeah. I had like sneakers on that, like a grown man at the barbershop of all places, which like when I was a little kid, the barbershop was scary to me. Cause I like never knew, I never knew what to say. never, I felt like a, also like they don't want a little kid talking to the barbershop. They trying to talk about grown people stuff. And I would try to like come in, all my friends thought I was funny. So I tried to come in and say something and they'd be like,
00:29:58
Speaker
my man, like little man. It's not for you. It's not for you. And so like, yeah, but I remember like, I'll never forget like, and it happened a few times. It at barbershop and just like out, like people would be like, oh, like I see you. Like you got them, you got that shit on. That's people didn't talk like that in the nineties, but like that was like a sentiment. yeah And that was the first time that I ever really thought about my shoes and then I kinda went back to not caring for a while or just picking like random shit but I feel like it, that's a feeling that I like held onto. yeah and And I still have it, I'll never forget what it felt like the first time people were like, I like that shit on your feet. Have you you ever tried to recreate it?
00:30:36
Speaker
Like when's the last time you felt like that beyond that day? Oh man, I mean now again, it's like, Now I got grown up taste. You know what I'm saying? So it's like now I can like, now can get that. You over here in the Givenchy. Yeah, I could get that feeling more often now. Like, I mean, you know, I own multiple suits. You know what saying? it's like. You and Jadana. Yeah, yeah, me and Jadana with the pocket watch. Yeah.
00:31:03
Speaker
But yeah, i don't I'm trying to remember. i mean. Like, is there somebody that came? I mean, obviously you've been around a lot of celebrities. yeah Nobody's ever been like, hmm. Interesting. Probably Questlove complimented me on a sweater I have. I'm really into knits. I bought, that was the thing. I got really into buying like all mad types of sweaters. yeah And I had this one, ah i forget who it was from, but ah yeah, i had this one sweater. I remember Questlove being like, yo, that shit's hard.
00:31:31
Speaker
And it still feels good. It still feels- Questlove saying that, I'm like- He did, he did. And I appreciate you. Yeah, I remember that. And that's just still feels nice. Honestly, if I'm being honest, I didn't care about clothes that much until I got to middle school. I got to middle school. don't think I've ever told this story on a podcast or anything, but my friends know it.
00:31:55
Speaker
And when I was in elementary school, like I was like a funny kid. You know what i'm saying? I would hope so. You know what I mean? I was like ah i was a funny kid and like I thought it was really sick to get these like T-shirts with like sayings on them. I don't know if you remember this, but like- Big Johnson T-shirts? Not not the, well, maybe, but I don't remember the brand, yeah but my ah my mom would take me to like Marshalls or Kohl's and they would have these shirts. i remember i I used to have this shirt that said- ah that said, I thought I had a handle on things, but then the handle broke.
00:32:27
Speaker
And I remember being like 10 and being like, this shit's- This going crazy. This shit really special, bro. You're not here with this. This shit, I got a real silly spirit on my t-shirts and y'all not really doing that.
00:32:40
Speaker
And I remember I got to middle school and I ah was wearing those types of shirts with little funny sayings and niggas was flaming crazy. way. They was not letting me make it at all. They was really like, hey man, that sucks.
00:32:54
Speaker
You need to change. And I was like, bet. And so like legitimately, like I really did, this is why bullying works. Cause I really did get bullied to a level where I was like, oh, I got to, did Y'all can make fun of me about my personality, cause I can't really change that, but I can change my outfits. And yeah, that's when I really started like going in. I remember I got some K-Swiss when that was popping. I bought some K-Swiss. We're back. with Are they back now? Yeah, shout out Anwar, man. i'll show I'll show you some stuff. Oh, the carrots. yeah Okay, where or word, word, word. I did not know K-Swiss was making an appearance again, but I got the K-Swiss with the reversible tongue. hey ah And I started like, From that day on, I was like, y'all not going to get me for my outfits. And I never really got teased for outfits again after that. day That was kind of last time. Bullying works. You feel me? Like, really, like, that was real life bullying. Not internet bullying. No, it isn't. That real life people telling me, you need to change. And I said, fair point. You're like, mom, i can't go to Marshalls no more. No, for real. Well, I still would go to Marshalls in middle school, though, because Marshalls would have, like, i don't I don't know if yeah if Marshalls was popping out here like that. i mean, maybe.
00:34:02
Speaker
Like you could get some hidden gems, well but you spend hours trying to find it, though. That was kind of my thing. Like during the during the Jersey era, when like when everybody was really rocking jerseys, throwback and current, you could go get some joints that was like kind of hard, but it was just like an obscure player. yeah And that was the type of shit I was doing at Marshall. So I had like- Anderson Varejao. I had a Sharif Abdur Rahim jersey. I had a Sharif Abdur Rahim, and you could get the nice joints with the stitching. It just was not, it was never star players, yeah but back then it didn't even necessarily, you didn't have to have a star player. shit Sometimes it was fly if you had the like off the beaten beaten path. yeah I had like a, oh, I still got that one. I had a Yao Ming Houston yeah jersey, the like blue one, they're like alternate. Oh yeah, with the with the the Rocket. Yes, yeah. I had like, I had those joints. You didn't get the one with the Chinese.
00:34:51
Speaker
the one with the chinese on it no but i would have i would have that actually probably would have went crazy because like niggas didn't really have that yeah to but to be honest i didn't like that because you know how like during that time they kind of like flared out the jersey a little bit more sure yeah didn't like like before that like 90s nicks like that like they would be skinnier yeah and that and then during the like the yaoming era they like made it a little bit wider everything was huge yeah everything was huge that's just what was happening that was just like jaredite's i of the time. yeah I think about this constantly because Y2K fashion is back, but it's like, I wonder if this is how like our parents felt about shit from the 70s when 70s or 80s fashion would come back. or I was like, I remember being around in the early 2000s. That shit was not fly. We did not look cool. And so it's so fascinating to see kids who were like born around that time yeah now be like so into the fashion. And I'm just like, if you was, I remember distinctly being like, we gotta we gotta fix this. I remember being like, I remember being a kid and wearing a tall tee and wearing like big ass G unit jeans and like wrapping a rubber band around the bottom yeah hat or tucking or tucking my jeans into my sock. yeah
00:35:57
Speaker
That shit was terrible. That shit was not awesome. We was not doing impressive or cool shit, but I was, yeah, that's the type of time I was on. I mean, look, man, we both from the same era. Cause like I was doing the same thing. yeah I did the tall tees. You know, summertime, bro. You had to get the fresh pack. Yeah. And you had to keep the sticker on. Was that, was that popping for We don't got that. Y'all didn't have the sticker at the, at the Highland mall. Shout out. If y'all from where I'm from, like, you'll know at the Highland mall, which does not exist anymore.
00:36:23
Speaker
You used to used to get the tall T and the tall T would come with a sticker that said tall T on it. And it was only really, you was only really popping if you still had the sticker on. And so like what niggas would do is like they would wear it once or however many times they could while the sticker was still good. And then if they needed to wash it, they would preserve the sticker.
00:36:42
Speaker
they they'd say They'd pull the sticker off and like save it somewhere like in their room so that after they washed it, they could put the sticker back on. Some niggas would put tape on their sticker so that they could keep their tall T-sticker on. No, they're not having it here. They're not having it here. That's insane. Yeah, man. I can't even...
00:36:58
Speaker
Cause like even during the time, even now, like yeah over here when you'd buy fitteds, yeah like people would keep the the stickers on the bottom. Yeah. We had that going on. And I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't. You couldn't do that. i Like I did it. Yeah. But then like when you, when you finally, like it falls off, you just have this like clean circle under. I know it well. I know it well because I was because i was doing that. they don't even sell though They don't even sell the hats with the stickers on them now.
00:37:22
Speaker
Do they? yeah That one on the front on the on the top level? like It's not on the top anymore. and Now it's just on the bottom? It's on the bottom. Ours used to be like across the top. and yeah You could keep either the whole big one on there. There's a whole big one. Or you could peel it off just so that like that one gold sticker was on there. and ah I would keep my shit on I forgot about the gold sticker.
00:37:42
Speaker
I've not thought about that sticker for a good little minute, but there was, i used I got really into fitteds for a time. yeah I had like at least half the teams in the league. Cause you had to have, you had to be able to accessorize. Yeah, for sure. had to be able to like, and so like, especially once I was getting my like first little job, worked this grocery store called H-E-B, which again, if you're from Texas. I only know about that through Danny Brown.
00:38:03
Speaker
Oh yeah cause he lives in Austin now Everybody lives in Austin now Don't even get me started That's where comedy lives man Don't even get me started I could i could talk about that for hours ah but ah But yeah I learned about H-E-B It's a beautiful place it sounds It's an incredible grocery store It sounds like it gives H-Mart it's money It's run for it's money Ooh, I mean, it doesn't have, I mean, I guess it depends on like which HEB you go to. It probably doesn't have the variety of like cool Asian snacks yeah that you could get at H-Mart.
00:38:32
Speaker
Asian snack, man. And Asian snacks go crazy. They got all types of shit. And i'm not I'm not Asian. I'm not deep enough into the culture to even know where to start at H-Mart. But every now and again, like my, you know, like ah like a Korean homie or something like that will be like, try these chips. Yeah. like Y'all really got some shit. I gotta go to Korea. yeah Everything that I ever have from Korea bussing. Every single thing I've ever had from their chicken is incredible. yeah Their fashion is pretty fire too. yeah Yeah, they're cool fashion. Everybody is like everybody over there seems beautiful. yeah every like Korean person I meet is like stunning.
00:39:07
Speaker
Yeah, I gotta- Yeah, because they spend so much time, yeah you know? like I gotta get over, i gotta I gotta get to Korea. If y'all got any plugs on how to get me to Seoul. Seoul? Seoul? Seoul. Seoul. Seoul.
00:39:18
Speaker
Damn. That's it? Damn. Don't let him find out about that one when I go. I'm going to make sure this is a clip and I'm a tag Korean. Don't let this man in. We'll do a live podcast out there. yeah let's do it. ah For our huge Korean fan base. You know. you never know I'm sure they love sneakers. People, they love, they definitely love. Oh yeah, they're big on fashion. They definitely love black stuff. They love, yes. They love, they love I mean, ah K-pop. K-pop, yes. It is so, I mean, I guess this is just the story of being black, but it is so funny to like, it's so funny that literally everybody likes black people stuff, but nobody likes black people. Yeah, everybody's afraid. You feel me? Like I was in Tokyo and it was it was literally either like people were like moving away from me on the train or it was like people were like in awe of me. Like it was, there was no one between. Nobody was being normal. They would think you're LeBron James or they think you're, I don't know. or Somebody bad. Yeah. They would think, they would think I'm LeBron. Yeah, exactly. I'm LeBron James. They think I'm like r Kelly. yeah those too yeah that's like you're here to do Yeah. You're here to do something awesome or something terrible. But if you're a white person in Japan. Oh yeah. That's a whole other. Yeah.
00:40:29
Speaker
They're just sort like, oh, awesome. Like an American. Anyway. it's crazy because like yeah I love Japan like yeah but there's like there's like sections of like Harajuku and stuff like that where it's just nothing but black culture. Yeah. Or like ah what I'm still trying to go. i That's like my dream place to go. Love anime. Yeah. I was like one day I'm go there.
00:40:51
Speaker
Hasn't happened yet. It's really I mean it's like you're from here so so it's like you're from a big city. You go to Tokyo. Tokyo it's got like double as many people in it as New York City. It is like It's massive in a way that I really... I've never seen a city like that before in whole life. It goes on and on and on forever. I went by myself. And so every night, if I wanted to have a conversation with somebody, I had to just go to dinner and be like, so where are you guys from? And so, yeah, I feel like I met a bunch of Americans who had been to Japan five, six, seven times. And they were still like, oh yeah, we still haven't seen half as much stuff as we want to see. That's crazy. You need to... Go out there for as long as possible. As long as you can make your trip for, make it that long. Because there's so much to see. I mean, I want to do all the sneaker stuff out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's hidden stores out there that just have old sneakers that are just sitting there. I watched this one video. I've mentioned this video bunch, but there's a video of this writer named Russ Bankston. He used to work at Complex, created the whole sneaker stuff. And he was walking through Japan and he'd go to stores. And so there's no real like they like.
00:42:04
Speaker
It's interesting because obviously we know like je Japan culture is all about like ah leaving stuff as it is. So like they don't necessarily make sure the sneakers are in good condition, like in good condition, like in terms of like it's getting airflow, it's it's being worn and stuff like so. So they'll have just like a store and in the store and he's going through the stores, he's like opening boxes and inside the box. like a 1998. Jordan and it just crumbles. It's like, there's nothing but like shoes and there's just but bunches of boxes, just crumble sneakers. whoa And they're selling them for like a ton of money.
00:42:37
Speaker
Why are people buying old crumbly sneakers? I don't know. I can't tell you that part, but it's just it's just there. I think his his the way he explained it in the video was like it's more of like instead of preserving it, it's they like to see how things naturally age. Because i don't know if you saw. don I saw this one video where this guy had like mold age age.
00:43:03
Speaker
mold age Tuna in Japan or something like that And it like had hair on it It was wild no And yeah they're like I mean dry age Stuff thats that all comes from like I feel like some of that stuff comes from Like Japan like all that like aging stuff Outside the cheese cheese I think Is is ah is like France I think i forget what i forget which um nation it is. Forgive me. I forget which Asian nation it is, but it might have been, i don't know. It was an Asian nation. and They have a thing called a century egg. Yes. it safe Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that Japanese? i'm I think that might be Korean?
00:43:41
Speaker
No. But the century egg is intense. It is Chinese. Chinese, there we Century egg. And they gave it to a monkey. And the monkey was like, oh shit, an egg. And then it smelled the egg and it was like, come on, dog.
00:43:54
Speaker
Like, nah, you're good. It was like, don't put this kind of stuff in front of me. Be kind to me. if you thing Come on, I didn't do anything to you. And you talked about, you know, i mean, well, you know, your podcast based about music, but like how big was like Screw and that like movement with you? Because like you, I feel like the music you talk about is very not Southern. Yeah. We don't, I mean, no, we don't, we don't have enough Texas guests on. um We don't have enough people who are like, I mean, also Texas, Texas is such a big and beautiful state. Yeah. Like Texans don't leave that much. Right, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Unless you're like, unless you are like me and you like have a like creative dream that you want to follow, you know, or you like, you really love nature. Like i have a couple homies in like the Pacific Northwest, but like a lot of like, I'm from the Austin area.
00:44:40
Speaker
A lot of people from Texas just moved to another big Texas city. You know what i'm saying? If you're from San Antonio, you go to Dallas. yeah Dallas, you go to Houston. yeah From Houston, you go to San Antonio. If you're from ah like, everybody's just kind of like,
00:44:53
Speaker
Trading around Between the cities Cause there's There's like four real Like solid cities To live in And they're like All fairly affordable So it's like Texans don't leave ah To answer your question About DJ Screw And all that That was something that like I like Didn't realize that like Everybody didn't have that Until I like got older Yeah the screw of it all Is like it's so intrinsic to like the way that I like learned how to think about music. I feel like that was like coming out of like so many trunks. It was coming out of so many like people's again, like establishments, barber shops and stuff like that.
00:45:29
Speaker
and And there's so much of it. All those guys were making so much music during the nineties that like, It was kind of like Wayne, kind of like Wayne and like the aughts where he was just making so much yeah shit. She put it shelling out. You know what I mean? thousand songs. Yeah, where it's like, and you could always, so you could always find something that you never heard before. They used to just like sell tapes out the trunk and they used to just like keep making them, keep selling them. And like eventually that stuff got digitized by the time i was a kid. And so, yeah, they like all that chopped and screwed shit, I feel like it set up my sense for what I like in music. i feel like that's, I talked about this when I had Cash Cobain on, because ah in Texas, like all the music that's like really Texas is like very chilled out. yeah You know what I'm saying? It's made to like drive to. It's made to smoke and drive to. That's like very Texas, and drink lean too, which I've never drank lean in my life. I should though. You should. No. Just to know. That's way too nah. Just so I know. Hearing how addictive your personality is, definitely not. Hell no. I will say i don't get addicted to substances. That's the thing that I've learned. never know. Maybe that's the one. Maybe that's the one.
00:46:34
Speaker
It's like your brain's like, right, you know, we can smoke a little here. You know, we can drink a little here. yeah yeah As soon as I touch that lean, baby, as soon as I get a touch that syrup, you're going to be there like, I mean, it is it is very addictive. But like, yeah, I've never, but like Texas music is so slowed out and like, it's just chill cruising music. And ah then I moved to New York. I moved to New York in 2018, which was like when pop smoke was going crazy. Right. Yeah. And I was just like,
00:47:01
Speaker
And all the music It was so heavy And I was like Oh I can't do this Where'd you live? Where'd you move to? I moved to Brooklyn I moved to Flatbush That's the first neighborhood I ever lived in It's just like If you lived around where I live I'd be like I barely heard any pop smoke I was hearing pop smoke out of like every car speaker. Cause that was like really when he like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I could get into it in a certain type of mode. I could be in a pop smoke mood, but I was so like, I was like, oh, why is y'all shit not chill? I need New York and I get it now that I live here. I'm like, I get why New York music is not chill. Cause it's not a chill place. It's not, it's not like we at war. It's a loud, noisy place with like mad shit going on. So like the music could really sound like that. And yeah, in Texas is like shit is spread out. And like, especially if you're from like, a smaller town, it's really, it's slow. So none of our shit sounds like gunshots. Even in places where there is gunshots, it don't sound like that. It's not generally loud. It's like a quiet, calm.
00:48:12
Speaker
you know' Just a calm gunshot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You might hear like two or three and then and then it goes back to being quiet. And it's like, yeah, oh, yeah, that's homie right down the block. Don't worry about it. You feel me? but But, like, the fashion sense back then, too. like Like, big... Everybody was rocking. I mean, big jerseys, big chains, yeah of course big pants. yeah yeah yeah You know? Like, how much of that did you get to dabble in? did I mean, the grills? Like, did did you get to... Were you into... i never I never had a grill growing up because, again, my parent my folks just like weren't fucking with that shit. like i didn't even How do you explain that type of music to your parents? Oh, the music? Oh, I couldn't. I don't even know if I ever showed them any like chopped and screwed songs. like That was just not...
00:48:58
Speaker
I i like i like legitimately, like I'm gonna call my parents tonight. I'm call like one of my folks and just be like, yo, mom, dad, like do you know? y'all familiar it? Because they're not from Texas. I grew up in Texas, yeah but like they they just landed there because my dad got a job out there. right yeah So it's like, mom my dad's from PA, my mom's from Virginia, and like,
00:49:16
Speaker
And also that shit didn't really didn't come along to the 90s. At that point, they're like parents raising a family. So like I doubt it ever even hit them. But ah in terms of the clothes and shit, I really wanted to dress like Allen Iverson so bad. like That's like really, I mean, he's just, if you're like around my age, like he was just like, it was Allen Iverson and it was Michael Vick.
00:49:39
Speaker
yeah like Those were just like for sure the ones. Vick wasn't necessarily like a fashion icon. but like was swagged out everything about him everything his like whole i played football his whole like on field aesthetic was so swagged out yeah and he played so fucking cool like nobody that we'd ever seen before what position did you play uh i played tight end oh okay yeah yeah i didn't play quarterback i wanted to but like i wasn't good enough Also we ran like, I was ah i was a pretty decent thrower, but we ran like ah a running offense and I was, we just had way faster kids. Oh, so you're just blocking. Yeah, we mostly were. I would catch. They never dumped it off to you? They did. I got a couple. they would They would, our team, like even by the time I was on varsity, like our team was throwing maybe seven, eight times a game. And mainly like, usually it would be like maybe a couple, like one or two drop offs to the tight end.
00:50:28
Speaker
And then, but like the vast majority of the passes were like, they would throw it like one long pass. yeah You know what saying? to test it out. Yeah, just to test it. Cause our receivers were pretty good. And so like we would throw just like one deep joint, like, or like maybe like three deep joints a game and we might get one of them.
00:50:43
Speaker
Cause our quarterbacks didn't, they weren't good at throwing. They were just hybrid running backs. as Basically. yeah Yeah. They were just like running backs who were like, more handsome like because there's a thing there's a thing there's like a study about quarterbacks like where like coaches oftentimes will just pick like a handsome kid know what i'm saying because that's like they're like people are like built to trust good-looking people more and so like i had a homie this kid chris mercato i wonder if he'll ever hear this but uh yeah big fan chris yeah i mean yeah i'm like i wonder i have no idea don't know what podcast he listens to but like but yeah chris um
00:51:18
Speaker
Had never played quarterback. He had only ever played wide receiver. And we were truly, we were in like like ninth grade. He just got to high school and the coaches were like, you wanna play quarterback? And he just was like kind of a pretty boy.
00:51:29
Speaker
the coaches were like, you should play quarterback. And he's like, okay. And then he just did for all of high school. Had never played the position before. This needs to be a sketch. Yeah. it's like picking the Like somebody who's like real nice with it, but he's like mad ugly. Yeah, it yeah that's I like that. That is really funny.
00:51:46
Speaker
they i need to They need to let me do the ESPYs. They need to let me do the ESPYs I can incorporate this type of stuff. That would be dope. I mean, shout out Rob. Rob Hayes. Yeah, shout out to Rob. I was listening to your episode of Rob before I came over here. That was wild. Well, because Rob is so like, he just, Rob knows everything that he's interested in. He knows every everything about it. He's like, so he's the opposite of my relationship with sneakers where he'll be like, yeah, like they had like this Reebok sneaker and this East Bay magazine in like 2002 and they had the commercials. He's very Rain Man with it. He doesn't like when I say that, but it it legitimately is true. I'm like, Rob, you remember every single thing. He's so tapped into it. So I was like, all right, let me see what he's bringing to see like, because like even like you'll see my face and I'm looking at him like, how does he like, I'm like, how does he know this? It'll be shit from like 25 years ago. Yeah. And he'll like, remember it.
00:52:36
Speaker
Exactly. And I remember like an ad that they did and like a commercial that this guy was in and like all these like, oh i heard Rob say, he was like, yeah, he was like, He was like, Nike loves advertising their athletes when they were wearing Adidas products. yeah And I was like, what? What a what a crazy observation dude just have like locked away in your mind. Because like, yeah, even in that and in that episode, i until he said it, I didn't put it i didn't put it together. Because like I've seen that Kobe picture yeah a gajillion times. Same, yeah, we all seen that. And I've never looked at his feet.
00:53:11
Speaker
And I was like, he was like, yeah, he's wearing he's wearing Adidas. And I go, like literally after that that episode, I'm like, let me go look at this. And he's wearing Adidas. And then I go, because like he's we're talking about the the Air Force that dropped. yeah And i'm like I'm like, let me look at the insole, because the insole has ah the same picture. It just cut off his feet in the insole. And I'm like, that's crazy. You know, all that stuff. That's impressive. I'm also, I'm there i'm fascinated. i'm fascinated by the like footwear rivalries. yeah I'm fascinated by that. Like, have you ever been to Portland?
00:53:40
Speaker
Yeah, i went I went last year. I'm sure they have a big sneaker thing out there. I was part of this thing called The Gathering. i Brought a bunch of people and I got to meet like the ah couple designers, old Nike designers. like yeah I met um Tinker Hatfield, Eric Avar, a bunch of other people too. ah Aaron AC Cooper, who's the one that put it together. And like...
00:54:05
Speaker
uh i got to go to nike campus and i got to go to adidas campus yeah so like i got to see the difference um if my boy who was with us he he only brought one pair of sneakers with him and me i know we're going he's like yeah we're gonna go to the adidas campus you can't i had to i brought adidas sneakers just for that right so yeah go to nike campus with nikes on and then go to these campus with dd's and he was like i don't i only have one pair i only got nikes with me So he had we got in there and he's like the the the person that invited us is like looks down. She's like, we got to go to employee store right now. You got to you got to change this. That's like I got to go like two years ago. i was on tour in Portland and um ah like shout out my homie Shireen. Shireen like used to work at Nike and plug this in and like with some people who like gave us the full tour. Yeah. And it was sick.
00:54:55
Speaker
But the main thing, they were like, yeah, come, it'll be a good time. But I could tell the tone was so different where they were like, make sure you're wearing Nikes when you come here. It was such a, if you are not wearing Nikes, we will make you take off your shoes and we'll have to figure something else out. It's like the Jets and the Shards, it's like the Bloods and the Cribs. And I've learned that in Portland, there's all this espionage where they try to send in spies learn about what each other's doing. It's fascinating. There must be a book on this or something. I don't know if there's a book on it, but they do talk about... There is a book called Sneaker Rivalries, but it's super old. It's from the 80s or Oh, before the business was anywhere. We need a current one. Yeah, because even if you look, sometimes they'll poach other employees. They put it in their company. contracts where they're like yo like if you leave here you cannot yeah they're not compete yeah you like cannot work for like a competitor company for like x amount of time yeah and so they'll have to like you know sit out or like go do some other shit it's i mean it's crazy i love that they're in the same city what did you get to visit at uh in portland on beaverton
00:56:03
Speaker
ah What did I get to like? What'd you get to see? like I mean, all kinds of shit. I saw the like, they had like a LeBron James building. I went to see like this. Yeah, I passed that. The Serena Williams building. I got to see all their different like courts and fields.
00:56:15
Speaker
I want to say, was there a pool there? No, I don't think, I didn't see a pool. But there was like, there was like- Oh, real tour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They like really took me around. yeah and And we went to the employee store too. Like, they really, really took us around. It was really, it was fly. I got to see if all if I can find some pictures from them. Yeah. That would be dope. That shit was hard. I was, ah so there's this area, it's called DNA. okay And you have to get invited to that. oh So I got there. i don't think I was over there. I was there, I was there. It's crazy. okay Take you through, cause my boy works there. So like they take you through the history of Nike and they have the actual pieces. Was I there?
00:56:48
Speaker
I was definitely in a building where they had shit like that from Michael Jordan. That's the Jordan building. Yeah, that makes sense. That tracks. Because, like, you probably went into the hallway, like, the the lobby of the Jordan building. Because the Jordan building, they'll have a display yeah of all the stuff. So when we were there, they had all the Jordan 1s, like,
00:57:05
Speaker
Just like the actual real Jordan ones like laid out and then they have like a wall where it's every single shoe um In white and then there's one where it's like I think I don't know what number it is But it's in color and then it's like oh it's the actual bread colorway and oh no it's the ones that he won the champions in championship so he has six in color So it's like yeah Whoa. That shit was tight. Shout out to, if you're listening and you work at Nike, bring me back. I'd like to, I thought I got the whole tour. Now I'm realizing there's some things that I didn't see. You messed Yeah. let me be involved. I'll come through.
00:57:40
Speaker
You know what I'm saying?
Comedy Career Beginnings in Austin
00:57:42
Speaker
Also, I really just fuck with Portland heavy. I like it city. It's dope. I mean, have to look at the time. But I wanted to talk about comedy, pursuing comedy.
00:57:54
Speaker
How did that feel? like do like Where'd you start? like Did you start in Texas? Yeah, I started in i started in Austin. I was in grad school. and I see, Austin, capital comedy. ah Yes, yeah, yeah, Cap City Comedy.
00:58:07
Speaker
Oh, Austin, I see what you're saying. The club that I started at was called Cap City Comedy Club. See, I'm on it now. I'm on it, see? Inception. No, no, no, Yeah, i was I started comedy in like basically the first time I ever did a mic was 2014. The first time I like really, really started getting into it for real was that next summer, and like summer 2015.
00:58:30
Speaker
um I was in Austin pre-Rogan, pre-Kill Tony. There was none of that there. And it was a nice scene. yeah That's what I always, and I'll say this forever for as long as I live, I think there is this perception now that it is like the place to be. yeah That like now Austin's like a cool place to be. like comedy wise, it was incredible scene. i was like, so I feel so grateful that I got to start there. i started with ah where Andrew Dismukes, who's like on SNL still, um Vanessa Gonzalez, who's so funny, ah Daniel Webb, Lashonda Lester, who's passed, you know, God rest the dead, but um yeah, it was it was such a fun scene. It was such a good place to start. I started at this club called Cap City Comedy Club, which,
00:59:13
Speaker
i'll I'll say this as like ah as ah as a local Austinite. um I think Cap City Comedy Club kind of tells the story of Austin as a city. Yeah. Right. Because it's like when I started at Cap City Comedy Club 2014, 2015.
00:59:28
Speaker
ah It was in a strip mall was in a strip mall off Anderson Lane And it was ah Next to a used car lot And a karate studio Like a karate dojo Where like Elementary school kids would like And like divorced guys Would go like fight and That's fire Yeah and it was so It's always just so funny seeing the clientele because there'll be like ah a nine year old and like a 38 year old man like with the same belt color on leaving the classroom. I was like, ah, it's tough if you're a man. Imagine you had a belt ceremony, you see the the guy not get his. kid goes, James, you gotta work on your form. yeah
01:00:07
Speaker
ah But yeah, it used to be next to the Karate Dojo and the used car lot. And now that same club has been, it's been bought by some like, by a chain of comedy clubs. And now it's next to like a Tesla factory or like a Tesla dealership and like a Prada store. Sounds right. Like that is very much like the story of the city where it's like, it is, there's way more money there, but I don't know how I feel like,
01:00:30
Speaker
and i I mean, also also, this is kind of the story of Austin in general. I guess there's a version of this in New York too. Or like people in New York has always been like, oh man, it used to, you wasn't there like during, you wasn't there when this was going on and when that was going on. yeah I guess like, I guess every kind of like actual city has the story on some level. But like- you know, when rich
Urban Transformation in Austin and Soho
01:00:50
Speaker
people move in. Yeah, rich people It changes things. You feel me? Like, it's like, I don't know, like- I'm sure, I'm sure, like, you hear stories or, like, I've read stories about, like, Soho in, like, the 90s and, like, the 80s and shit like that. Yeah, it fun. You know what saying? Like, it sounds like before it was, and now you go to Soho and it's, like, it's a mall. No, Soho sucks now. You know what I'm saying? Soho is, like, everybody, so basically I learned this and I learned this the hard way. So, like, yeah, I used to, in college, in the 2000s, I used to hang around Soho all the time, right? We had
01:01:20
Speaker
We literally had crews that we walk around with and you'd have like the 90s kids. You'll have like all this other stuff. And it was you'd hit the stores. You all go see each other, say what up. And like there was a lot of like we stay on the street and like we chilling. Right.
01:01:34
Speaker
Yeah. Now that's actually moved. to Bowery. So if you go to Bowery, you get the same and it's like gritty down there too. But the thing is, it's it's mixed because it's a lot of like the fashion people um and like the streetwear people like me and like the sneaker people. We all congregate around there now. um and like we throw events down there too as well but the what's missing is like the easy access of like you know this store is here this store is here this store there right so like supreme was like the hub for a hot minute of course and then it around supreme was like a bunch of other stores so everything was in walking distance now supreme's still like uh in the bowery but like towards soho right so like you can still walk to it yeah but it's so dis this uh it's so disconnected disconnected from everything else and so the and it's also lost it's like you know it's lost it's like but not that i guess hype you know well it's just it's like a thing that like brands come against like all the time right like where i feel like you're always trying to balance like you're always trying to balance like, all right, I wanna be where the cool kids are, but also like every business is like trying to
Evolution of Streetwear Brands
01:02:46
Speaker
grow. And at a certain point, like the exclusivity was like their whole thing. And then like once you continue to grow the business and you want more people to have it, but then it doesn't have the exclusivity, I feel like hype, you know, like streetwear brands are always yeah doing that dance. Remember How to Make It in America? Yeah, I watched i've i've watched both seasons like a couple months ago. I rewatched it. i know you know
01:03:08
Speaker
I liked it a lot better when I was like 18 when was watching it. Yo, because I was watching I to watch it with brain being like, i i when i remember i had to watch it with my brain being like all I remember how you thought back and back in during those times. Totally. And it still is a it's a really sick. That second season. don't know. They didn't do it for me. it's I mean, it's it's not a very good show. But like, I also know way more about TV now. You know what I'm saying? Because I like work in it. so I like understand what makes a show good. And yeah that wasn't that good of a show. But I liked it at the time. yeah Everybody would not stop talking about it. Yo, you making jeans. Of course. yeah I got to make my own jeans, man. Yes. And like, I feel like. It is not very good, but it is such a cool time capsule of that era. yeah I was watching one of my buddy, who's also named Connor, and i was staying in his place in LA, and we were just like, man, like a lot of this story stuff like doesn't make that much sense, but man, like I remember these songs. remember this is such a 2009, 2010, and I didn't even live in New York, but I like could really, like just the the cultural like touch points of it was like, So specific and them trying to be like, all right, we want to make the street wear brand. Yeah.
01:04:18
Speaker
And ah yeah, like their whole thing was just like, I remember they, they, they, I think if I remember right, they kept being like, we don't want to turn into zoo York. Yeah. That was like a big, big idiot. they They said that. And then it's because yeah, the history, I mean, we don't have enough time to go into it, but the, I love zoo York. Right. yeah And like,
01:04:36
Speaker
it It spawned off Supreme. It spawned off you know DQM. Days Quality Meet. Stussy. All these people worked within ah all these like smaller brands. um And like Zoo York became this thing where it's like all of a sudden now it's it was this thing that like only skaters wore. And all of sudden it's in Marshalls. you're like How did that happen? And then it's kind of over. yeah And then it's kind of over because now like...
01:05:02
Speaker
Because again, that exclusivity thing. Now like ah suburban teenagers can wear it. yeah You know what I'm saying? i mean that right That's with the off-white shit right now. don't know if you saw it at Costco. Is it Costco? Yeah.
01:05:12
Speaker
Interesting. so It went around the same way. It's at Costco? Yeah. What off-white shit is at Costco? and They put... it's So basically, ah ah they sold off the the trademark.
01:05:25
Speaker
And so course the a Blue Star Alliance, which is the company that owns them, they were like, yo, we're going to put off-white hoodies in Costco. So now they have off-white in Costco. um Man, that's it's it's so tough because it's like I get why that kind of stuff happens. Yeah.
01:05:44
Speaker
I understand wanting to like keep the vision and the like the business going after like Virgil passed but it's just like you know I'm sure that's not what he would have wanted that's exactly what I was saying and and people are like oh Virgil's always about accessibility but I'm like but to a certain point like here's I don't think he was about accessibility. No, he's had... he's Because he he it's it's different because, like, I'll explain it. Go ahead. He wanted things accessible by using the brand as, like, a bridge gap. So, like, you'll do is collaboration. So people will always bring up the IKEA collab. But people don't realize there's a difference between...
01:06:22
Speaker
Trademark ah licensing, you're a brand out. yeah And collabing with it. sure So like, if you collab with a brand, you're going by their price point. But if you're licensing out your own brand, it's you're basically whoring it out. look at Look at Peanuts. Peanuts is everywhere. it's peanut I feel like I will scroll through Instagram and I see eight different brands pushing out peanuts, shirt, shoes, whatever. You know where they love, well, they don't love the peanuts, but they love Snoopy specifically in Japan. yeah He's like the one. Snoopy's everywhere in Japan. And I was talking to a Japanese guy out there and he was just like, he was a Japanese like American guy.
01:06:59
Speaker
And he was just like, he was like, the funny thing about like Snoopy out here is like, in Japan, they don't know that it's connected to like a larger story. oh really They don't know that it's like- They treat it like Hello Kitty? Yes, they just like him. Yes, like how we are. well It's just like that snoop that's Snoopy. yeah And we fuck with Snoopy. We don't know what he got going on. We don't know who his friends are.
01:07:18
Speaker
We just like, that's our guy. and You gotta show him Lionel. yeah Gotta get him introduced to Lionel, Charlie, Lucy, the whole squad. Devin, we're towards the end of the podcast and i asked a last question which deals with a little bit visualization. i want you to think back to younger you. yeah Now, ah you're about to get those box
Advice to Younger Self and Upcoming Tour
01:07:39
Speaker
the penny twos, right? yeah right Now, your older you behind your younger self, what would you tell him as he opens that box?
01:07:48
Speaker
this is this is the first in this is the first in a series of really cool events that are about to happen. This is like, you're just, remember this feeling. Remember this feeling because you're about to start getting complimented on your clothes and you're gonna love it for the rest of your life. yeah So.
01:08:05
Speaker
Yeah, i would I would tell myself you're you're you're headed in the right direction. Yeah, yeah. Hell yeah. Let everybody know where to find you. um I'm on at internetdevin on Instagram. We already plugged the pod, but please check out my favorite lyrics. It legitimately is... very fun. It's a good time. It's a very good time. We've got like all kinds of like cool ass guests and it's only going to grow. It's only going to get bigger. um Check out ah check out my Instagram. Go like I'm going on tour to a couple cities going to Salt Lake City. I'm going to to Pittsburgh. You know go see it. It'll be on there. Go see it. The stand-up is going to be fun and ah yeah that's it. Yeah. how You know where to find me. Who is Hassel social media is follow the podcast. My first kicks pod. If you have a my first kick story, hit me up. Info at my first kicks dot com. Support the Patreon. Patreon dot com slash my first kicks. It'll go extremely long way. I supposed to do that plug in the beginning. I'm going to have now cut in a piece ah of me saying that. ah So appreciate you. going to pass it on to myself. to Do the Patreon shout outs. Peace.
Reflections on SNL Career and Personal Stories
01:09:06
Speaker
I hope you enjoyed this week's episode with Devin Walker. Man, it was a really fun episode. I know we jumped all around and finally got to talking about his first kicks, but you know getting a chance to talk to Devin, like seeing him on SNL for couple years, and just like my love for SNL. We didn't really get to touch on it, and he did touch on talking about buying sneakers because he was depressed while his time at ah SNL. So i don't want to be like, so what was it like? So, you know, I'm a big read the room person and I'm not going to pry. And I thought that like,
01:09:48
Speaker
you know, we would definitely touch more around, you know, the influences that he, he has gotten over the course of the years, especially within music because his podcast is music based while he is a comic. We talked a lot about, you know, just growing up in Houston, the, the culture shock. and I really hope you, you enjoyed that. If you are in Cincinnati ah for the piggy runners release, I, I,
01:10:16
Speaker
By the time you listen to this in the morning, if you're there, you'll see me at the event. If not, um thank you for checking out the episode, especially if you're just listening to this on the line. That'll be very dope.
01:10:29
Speaker
Please let me know. put ah Put it in the comments if you're just like, yo, I'm going to tap into my first kicks while I'm waiting online for these sneakers. But I really appreciate everyone for you know listening to the podcast. ah It's been a really interesting year. um you know There's been much ups and downs and currently going through a personal thing right now that not going really get into because it's like extended family. But just know, this when
01:11:06
Speaker
you know, on the D episode and a couple episodes after, um even some guest episodes. But, like, make sure you you love the ones that are around you while they're still here. um You know, it's a super sensitive topic. We don't really talk about these things. um You know,
01:11:28
Speaker
My best friend's birthday is the 26th who passed away. um and you know, I don't know. He's connected with me forever. um you know, with his with my my first kick story, I now have implemented him. So whenever somebody asked me what's my first kicks, I've, you know, always have my boy Chris with me in that. um And.
01:11:54
Speaker
When dealing with something like this or. dealing with somebody passing it's it's hard you don't know how grief shows up in your life and so um it's just there's no real way to go about it uh i still to this day wish you know i'll get a message and be like yo it was all fake you know like Um, but like that is just something I'm dealing with, which I deal with every single day. And it's something I feel like i needed to, to kind of like get off my chest.
01:12:36
Speaker
Um, in the, in this, in this, in this outro specifically because of what I'm going through currently. So, you know, appreciate the people that are in your lives right now. Um, if you haven't heard,
01:12:48
Speaker
from somebody in a really long time that you have a really good relationship with and you just feel like you're too busy, please reach out to them. um You know, I'm terrible at that and I need to take my own advice, but I really appreciate, you know, every one of y'all that tune into me,
01:13:07
Speaker
And to this podcast every week, hoping to bring more cool and exciting guests to your ears every Friday. So please pass this along to everybody and or anybody that you think would be interested.
01:13:21
Speaker
And I really appreciate you for tapping in. so this this might be a short outro. I'm going to jump into Patreon shout out. So please, please, please support
Supporting the Podcast via Patreon
01:13:30
Speaker
the podcast. I only have one tier, $5 tier you get.
01:13:34
Speaker
Extra episodes. You get the walkthrough with me and Jinx. I'm still waiting on JD to send me that. But once that's going up, you will see it in your Patreon emails. Hey, this is up and and ready to go. So I'm still working on that. And I will post on socials when that goes up as well. So don't forget, patreon.com slash myfirstkicks.com.
01:14:00
Speaker
$5 tier, you get extra content and you support the podcast. And it helps me like tremendously. i don't get paid for this. Um, so I'm trying to make sure, you know, i have money for a studio. I have trying to get new equipment so I can do more episodes, much like the jinx episode. I can do it wherever I want. Like I'm trying to, you know, figure out ways to, to build around the, my first kicks, um,
01:14:27
Speaker
universe like ecosystem, I keep saying. You already know what it is. Don't forget ah these on tour right now. So check out Oxymorons if they're in your town. Check out Oxymorons on whatever city you live in.
01:14:42
Speaker
um Appreciate y'all when you tap in, especially with them and me. And you too can support the podcast by becoming a Patreon member at patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. So In order to do that, we only have one tier, $5 tier. You get ah episodes that are only on the Patreon. We got an episode with higher living, and higher learning, higher loving.
01:15:04
Speaker
My guide, Thoughts for the Soul, Joe. And we also have a special, only you can find it on the Patreon episode with AD Sneaks. um And then, of course, we have the walkthrough for the space that I filmed Jinx's episode at 47 Christie. We talk about, you know, all his nike all the Nike products that are on the wall and he walks us through it. and why they're on the wall, that only will live on Patreon. So patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. $5 tier. $5 tier. And of course, you get a shout out. So let's do the Patreon shout outs for this month or this week. We've got Plox.
01:15:46
Speaker
We've got Ross Adams. We've got Adam Neustetter. We've got Jordan Kaiser. We've got Samia. We've got Adam Butler. We've got Derek Hawkins, Derek Lipkin, Sean Hates You, Brett, and Jesse, Jesse G.
01:16:06
Speaker
11 Patreon members. I really appreciate each and every one of you for supporting the podcast. It goes a very, very long way. Please, please, please sign up for the Patreon because all the money from the Patreon goes right back into the podcast.
01:16:23
Speaker
and it it will help me tremendously. I'm trying to make sure i can get ah mobile setup so I can do more in, like, store podcasts, wherever somebody wants me to do it at, so that I'm able to kind of, like, maneuver, especially because, like, if I want to interview an artist or, you know, a recording, like ah like, a rapper or a rock star or whatever, whoever that intrigues me, um I want to be able to to kind of, like,
01:16:50
Speaker
also do in studio but also go to their studio or like go to their stuff and do something much like the jinx episode where i'm doing something really really cool in a different spot that kind of changes the background and adds more not like you know busy but like adds more to the episode so really appreciate y'all uh for helping out the podcast Really appreciate y'all. But if you want to check out more of the podcast, you can check out these two episodes here or subscribe the podcast if you're on YouTube.
01:17:22
Speaker
And of course, you know what we say each week, wear your kicks. Peace.