Overcoming Your Environment To Turn Your Life Around with Mario Canon - 099 - Not Most People

Episode Transcript
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(00:32):
Hey

Bradley Roth (00:32):
everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Not Most People podcast.
This is your host, Bradley, andthis is the show for those
allergic to mediocrity groupthink and following the status
quo.
And before we get into today'sfull-length guest episode, just
a couple quick things I wannamention.
First I have one, ask everyepisode and whether you are
tuning in for the first time.

(00:54):
Or you're a repeat listener, Ijust ask that if you get value
out of the show, out of thisepisode outta any other episode,
that you help me grow the showby sharing it with someone who
you think will get value out ofit.
Cuz if you got value out of it,you're gonna know someone else
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So I just ask that you shoot'ema message.
If you wanna share the podcaston social media, that's awesome.

(01:15):
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review on iTunes, Spotify,wherever you're listening, that
just takes a minute and isgreatly appreciated and helps
really get the word out topeople who otherwise wouldn't
find the show.
So that's all I ask.
If you don't enjoy the show,don't share it.
But that's just kind of thevalue exchange that I'm putting
out there.

(01:36):
Put a lot into the show, a lotof time, energy, money, and I
won't run ads as long as youguys continue to help me grow
the show organically.
So that's all I ask.
With not most people beyond thepodcast, we have, depending on
when you're listening this.
Listening to this, the Not MostPeople Summit coming up here
soon.
This is kind of the biggestthing that's happened with not

(01:57):
most people since it began overtwo years ago.
This is gonna be a multi-dayevent.
World-class speakers, lots ofnetworking, unique venues, all
kinds of good stuff.
And you can learn all aboutthat@nnpsummit.com.
And that's really it.
Everything else can be found inthe show notes.
And without further ado, we'regonna get into today's episode.

(02:18):
I have Mario Cannon joining meon the show.
Mario, welcome.

Mario Canon (02:23):
Yo.
Thank you for having me, man.
What's going on

man?
A lot's going on.
But for those of you who havenot heard of Mario yet, He is a
rapper, actor, and motivationalspeaker.
He's creating vibes and changedlives.
He has guest starred on Fox ShowEmpire.
He recently just charted at 67on iTunes and just received the
All Hands On Deck Award inChicago for his outreach and

(02:47):
community service.
So, Really kind of a, a variedresume.
I feel like You don't hearrapper and motivational speaker
in the same line very often.
No.
No.
So no.
So I was like, all right, that'snot most people.
We gotta have'em on, so, uh,makes it hard, man.
Yeah, right.
It's kind of the, I get a lotof, I get a lot of flack for
that.
Yeah.

For which one more?
Um, you know, the, the, the, theindustry I'm in from the music,
because, you know, I do a lot ofmotivational speaking and I, um,
you know, as an artist and, andas a rising artist, you gotta be
able to, you gotta deliver thatraw stuff, and I'm delivering
that raw, but the rawness I'mgiving is different.
It's totally left field because,um, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm
empowering people with my music.

(03:28):
Even my, even my hardcore, youknow, when I, I'll call'em hard,
hardcore music or some of mymore darker music.
I'm still encouraging people todo things that are gonna better
their lives and not to makeirrational decisions, um, that,
you know, that will still theirfuture away from, because right
now we, I, there's enoughartists out there that are, that
are putting out whatever theywanna put out.

(03:48):
That's fine.
I'm not hating those artists.
I, I listen to some of them andone day I hope to work with
them, but I'm not gonna changemy mission and plan.
Yeah,

no, it's cool that you're using.
I feel like rap has thisassociated like rap culture,
right?
That's about like girls money,cars, like that whole kind of
thing.
Gang culture.
Yeah, gang

culture, you know?
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Now rap is, to me, rap is morepromoted for gang culture and
death, and then you have.
You have the, uh, there's alwaysbeen about gloating, right?
It's all, you know, it's alwaysbeen about, you know, girls cars
and mm-hmm.
Money and lifestyle, right?
Lifestyle raps, yeah.
Lifestyle.
Yeah.
Con you have conscious rap, butwith the, you know, what you see
in the media now is mostly isit's a lot of, you know,

(04:30):
lifestyle rap and gang gang rap,right?
That's what, you know, it's gota dark connotation on it right

now, so, yeah.
Yeah.
So it's interesting that you'rekind of providing a contrast to
that.
So was it like, You were like, Iwant to be a motivational
speaker, kind of share thismessage.
And then you got into rap, oryou got into rap and then
decided like, this is the anglethat you kind of wanna take

it.
It actually happened.
Mm-hmm.
Like, literally, like I, I'm a,you know, I'm a, I own a gym,
I'm a trainer, right?
Mm-hmm.
So I'm always like, motivat, Iwas already motivating people.
I started training, like, um,man, I started doing personal
training and stuff like eight,nine years ago, almost 10 years
ago.
Hmm.
And like, I was a rapping still,so, so I was helping people get

(05:13):
in shape and, you know, helpingthem feel better about
themselves.
Like, this is cool, man.
You know?
Mm-hmm.
And so it kinda transtransitioned to the music,
right?
Mm-hmm.
At the same time.
And I, and I felt reallypowerful and empowering people,
so I was like, I want, I want tofeel like this when I make music
as well as me helping somebodytraining, you know, and get in
shape, so, right.
For sure.

Kind of having that alignment across
everything, so Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
So what is kind of your, youknow, motivational speaking is
kind of this like, big nebulousterm.
What is one or two of kind oflike your key messages that you
like to share through yourspeaking, through your music?
Um,

just, just finding your, uh, your passion and your
gift and, and, and learning howto separate those two.
Um, and I, and I know, uh, youtalk about not not being normal
and not following a crowd.
Mm-hmm.
That's one of the things Ireally, really, really.
Push when I speak mm-hmm.
Is individuality, right?
Yeah.
Yep.
And being, being a, being a selffigure and being a researcher.

(06:14):
So I really push that,especially when I'm speaking to
the, the younger groups that Ispeak with, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I, I try to instill life in themand I want them to, I encourage
them to go out and meet otherpeople, make a new friend every
day, and I encourage them to bedifferent.
Yeah.
Don't follow.
It's okay.

(06:35):
It's, it's okay to be differentright now cause these people
you're friends with in your highschool, you probably, you
probably not gonna talk to'em,right?
Just being honest.
So you don't, you don't have tobe cool right now.
Just put into work right now.
So,

yeah.
Yeah.
It's, I think it's especiallyimportant at that young age cuz
that's when people really wantto try to blend in or to kind of
like do whatever the crowd isdoing or deems cool and that
kind of thing.
Um, and then, You know, I thinkonce you get into that, you see
kids who kind of change who theyare to try and fit in or, you

(07:09):
know, whatever it is, and thatsticks with them and then they
never learn to kind of think forthemselves or their
individuality kind of fadesaway.
You know, it's, it's like thisripple effect.
Yeah.

And get out at the, and guess what, if they and one,
once they're pretending.
They lose themselves.
And that's a lot of times we, welose our youth as adults to the
system.
Mm-hmm.
Um, their lives, right?
Yeah.
Or we listen to, they'rehomeless or they're, they're,
they get on drugs cuz they'vebeen, they never had a chance to
really fully blossom and trulylove and, um, appreciate who

(07:43):
they are.
If they too busy trying toemulate or replicate or
duplicate what's been presentedonline and, and then social
media, right.
It's just, it's crazy, man, thatyou can think about, but I was
one of those kids, so, you know.

Yeah.
So I mean, yeah, you're speakingfrom experience on what you're
talking about to these guys.
So was there.
I'm guessing there was some kindof like turning point, right?
Because we were talking a littlebit before the episode and you
said you kind of grew up and,you know, you weren't really
spreading a positive messageearly on.
You were getting into troublehere and there and stuff,

right?
No, you know, I, you know,listen, let me, let me tell you
this.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not saying I was just agangster.
Right?
Right.
I, you know, I'm just saying Igrew up in a area that was not
safe.
For the average individual andI, you know, and you had to
write your, watch it back now.
I did.
I did some street stuff.
I was in the streets, right?
Mm-hmm.
Um, I had my run-ins with thelaw, but one thing that changed
my life honestly, was justlosing my siblings to gun

(08:39):
violence all around, because,you know, it's not real until
it's r until it's real.
And when, when lives are, arestart, when you start losing
lives all around you, that'swhen that's a game changer, man.
And, and, oh yeah.
Not only does it hurt you,you're scared.
Mm.
So, When you're constantly infight or fight mode, you don't
have time to really think and,and, and formulate structured

(09:00):
thoughts to get out of aparticular situation the right
way.
Yeah.
I'm in the streets.
So the turning point for me man,was honestly just losing people
I love and not knowing why,like, less violence, man, that
man that scared me, man.
I don't care how tough, youknow, how you, how tough you
think you are, man.
Mm-hmm.
When, when you, if you're, ifyou're around.

(09:24):
Gunshots and you, you losepeople you love and you have to
see your relatives.
Mm-hmm.
Not make it past 25.
Mm-hmm.
Yo, that, that's enough for me.
I don't know about anybody else,but I'll tell you what, I don't
want to be that, and I don'twanna do that to my mom, you

(09:44):
know?
Yeah.
And I think one of the mosthardest moments for me in my
life too, was seeing my mom andthe grandma in the courtroom.
I had no, none of my friends,none of my homies, nobody was
there.
Mm-hmm.
And I was at shackles and I hadto look at them and they were
the only, and they were just sosad.
And I felt like I let down, man,I felt like a failure.

(10:06):
You understand me?
Yeah.
Um, I never want see, see, makesomebody feel like that again.
I never wanna disappoint peopleor people I love cause of the
decisions I've made.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
It hurt him.

Hmm.
So was that moment that you justdescribed, was that before or
after you lost your

siblings?
I mean, I'm gonna be honest withyou.
That was before.
Hmm.
Because even though that hurt, Iwas so young, man.
Mm-hmm.
I got right back to the streets.
But when I think about it now asan adult mm-hmm.
It hurt still.
Cause I still remember theireyes, man, when I was in the

(10:53):
courtroom.
Yeah.
I thought I was such a badass.
Mm-hmm.
And I seen him, man.
I was like, and I, and look atme.
I'm in a uniform.
I'm chained up like an animal.
And I was a freaking honor rollstudent scholarship basketball
player, bro.
In fact, that was even enrolledinto the Air Force.
I had a really high score on battest.

(11:14):
Wow.
I scored a, um, 80, 85 on anasba test.
I scored really high.
So you could have done any job,any job.
But the problem was I had toldmy recruiter at the time, I
said, man, you gotta get meoutta here or else I'm gonna
either be in debt or I'm gonnabe dead or in jail.
When I told him that, man, I,uh, was in jail two weeks later.

(11:35):
Wow.

So you kind of like, you

knew like Yeah, I told him move up my, uh, date to
go do basic training.
Mm-hmm.
I already did maps andeverything.
Yeah.
I said, I said Move me up cuz Iain't gonna make it.
Mm.
I'm not going to be alive if youdon't give me, and it's not like
I was just this Billy badass.
I was just young, wild, tryingto figure it out.

(12:03):
I want to impress the homies inthe streets.
I want to impress the big bros,the big dudes.
You know, the guys I looked upto.
Mm-hmm.
And they were, and the guys Ilooked up to, they weren't
career man.
They were, they were streetguys.
Yeah.
They had the love man.
They had the.
They had all the respect, theyhad all the women, they had the
goals, they had the rims, theyhad everything I wanted, all
that.
That's what I wanted.
Mm-hmm.
I wanted to be loved andrespected, and I wanted to be

(12:23):
feared.
Hmm.

And you knew it was either like this life or
something totally different in asense with the Air Force.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's crazy.
I mean, it, it just shows Ithink how powerful like the
environment is.
Right.
Your environment.
Yeah.
Because like kids don't justgrow up wanting to like.

(12:46):
Cause vi like it's not a naturalthing, right?
Like as kids were prettyinnocent growing up and, but
like, what a look, you'resurrounded, you're
impressionable.
Like that's, you know, that'swhat you see.
That's what, you know, you feelpressured into certain things.
Like, and that goes both ways,right?
Yeah.
And negative, positive.
So, you know, and that's alsokind of the danger of

(13:08):
groupthink, right?
Like in, I said in the verybeginning, in the intro, like
our.
Our, uh, tagline is allergic tomediocrity, groupthink and
following the status quo.
Right?
Because groupthink is so, can bereally dangerous, you know?
And it sounds like you hadluckily just enough kind of like
independence or like awarenessthat you were, you kind of saw

(13:29):
where things were headed and,yeah.

Well, save me man was being mobile too, right?
Hmm.
Like I was, I would leave andtry.
I, I wasn't afraid to try newthings.
Yeah, I, I would, you know, I, Iwas in college.
I want to transfer to adifferent school.
I'm gonna try, I'm gonna try toget into school.
I don't know if they're gonnaaccept me because of my, my
background.
Mm-hmm.
But I'm gonna do it anyway.
And I, and again, I got intoschools in different ci,

(13:55):
different towns of cities.
And that's when I startedmeeting my, my friends now that
are, that are, that are mylifelong friends who got me into
acting, who got me into, um, allthese different programs.
And I got to see functionalfamilies with successful people
who look like me.
Mm.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Cause I wasn't used to that, youknow?
Yeah.

So, so was that kind of like a big turning
point?

Yeah, that was too, man.
Like, you know, I, I went toschool with LaRoyce Hawkins on
Chicago pd.
I don't know if you know theshow, the show Chicago PD on
nbc, but my mother-in-law lovesthat show.
Hey.
So I'm, I'm actually on thatshow a bunch of times if you
watch some of the older seasonsand stuff.
Oh, wow.
Um, but he, um, he's the onethat got me into acting.
Hmm.

(14:37):
And I did a couple plays and wegot a bunch of music together
too.
He's incredible talent.
But, um, meeting people incollege man is what really
helped me as well.
Cause I gotta see other youngmen doing great things and they,
and I had to even, I evenchanged the way I dressed it,
everything when I got thiscollege, you know, I was like
rocking the, you know, thegangster stuff and they're like,

(14:58):
Know the women wasn't impressedwith that man.
Right.
Yep.
I wasn't gonna get him.
Yep.
You know, a different breed.
It was, it was a differentballgame.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
It wa in that time, everybodydidn't want to be gang and
thugs.
Like now everybody wanted begang now, but it wasn't like
that then.
Right.
It was kinda like trying to bestreet on, on campus.
You know?

(15:19):
That's what I look, Hey, I, Iwon't, I can't make this up.
I went to school, man.
I had gold teeth.

What school?
What school were you at?

I went to a couple.
So the first one was Universityof Illinois and Springfield.
Okay.
I just recently went back thereto speak too.
It's crazy.
Mm.
I dropped and I got low key,dropped out outta there and you
know, lost everything cause Iwas in trouble.
Mm.
It's crazy how like I went backthere to speak and crazy.
Oh yeah.
But, um, circle.
Yeah.

(15:50):
Yeah.
It's crazy.
They ended up going to school atHeartland Community College in
Bloomington, in isu.
So, cause they're like, they'relike partner, you go back and
forth, you can take classes.
Right.
And, um, Bloomington, that'swhere I, I got all my friends
and changed.
I changed my life and it wascrazy.
So.
Mm.

That was cool.
Yeah, man, it's funny, it's asmall world.
Like both my parents grew up inPeoria.
So Fe town.
Yeah, Fe Town.
I was just in Peoria.

Yeah.
I love period, man.
I want

people out there, man.
Yeah.
I've been there a ton of times.
That's where all our extendedfamily is from.
And my parents both went to, Ialways mix it up, but I know at
least one of'em to U U r I U ofI, one of'em went to Southern
Illinois like,
so.

Um, that's dope, man.
Yeah.
Puria is a, driving is a coolcity, man.
They got a lot of culture there.
Yeah.
I like Puria.
Um, it's different man.
Mm-hmm.
But I, I love Puria.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah,

my, my mom always jokes that my dad named me after
Bradley University in Peoria.
Are you serious?

Yeah.
That's funny as, that's funny,man.
Yeah.
So

man.
Yeah.
Small world.
Kind of funny.
And for those of you listening,we met on a hike, hiking up
Campbell Back Mountain withfirst form crew, like you
already know.
Yeah.
Like a month.
I had first born baby a month ortwo ago, so, um, yeah, just
small world.
We just ran into each otherlike, oh, you're from here, I'm
from there.
So, It's just funny how thingsconnect, but again, it comes

(17:17):
with trying new things, gettingout there.
Like I went to this hike, Ididn't know anyone, but I met
Mario.
I met a few other really cool

people.
You know me, boy.
Yeah.
Yep,

exactly.
My bro, my

boy blue.
Yeah,

man.
Love it.
Yeah.
And then we'll, we'll, we'llconnect out here in Arizona soon
too, it sounds like.
But, uh

oh, it's over, man.
Over locked in.
Knock and loaded.

Yes sir.
So, so you went to college andkind of ch a, again, you like
your environment dictated kindof your.
Your direction in a sense.
Right.
So you said you met thesedifferent people, they got you
into these different things, butalso like Yeah, kind of like
immediately woke you up to like,you know, gang gangster culture

(18:04):
on campus.
Like that's not the cool thinganymore.
Right.
And so kind of, kind of, yeah.
So

I, I was living a double life.
After a while I went, Irelapsed.
Mm-hmm.
I relapsed.
I got a real bad, um, alcohol.
Mm.
Because like a campus and I waswith the fraternities and stuff.
Oh.
And then I ended up, um, goingback and forth because, you
know, it, it, I was, I was inthe life.

(18:29):
So like I relapsed.
Yeah.
And so what happened after thatis I started going back to my
neighborhoods back of the streetagain, man.
Now I'm a school boy during theday and a street due at night.
Mm-hmm.
I relapsed, man.
And so the, the relapse is whenI, I lost so much weight cause I

(18:53):
wouldn't eat food.
I just drink alcohol and takepills.
And, um, I ended up moving downto Missouri and, um, getting a
job in St.
Louis.
And, um, I was again, stillliving a double life, but that's
when all the bad stuff startedhappening.
Gotcha.
They started catching up to me,and then I had to make a 360.

(19:14):
So I, I took a leap of faithonce I, I lost my siblings.
I took a leap of faith and Imoved to this town.
I had nothing.
I got anything.
I got the wrong way.
I lost everything.
Mm-hmm.
So I ended up, I moved, movedhere with whatever money I had
from working in St.
Louis, and then I ended up, fora minute, I was homeless.

(19:38):
Because, um, I had a roommate,you know, and it didn't work
out, so I ended up sleeping inmy car a lot of times, or just
kind of like finessing motels.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and then it clicked on me.
Yeah.
Nobody was around me.
Nobody wanted to be around mewhen I was nobody.
I, I couldn't count on nobodybut my mama.

(20:00):
Mm-hmm.

And how old

were you at this point?
Uh, man, you know, I don't evenknow, man.
24, 25.
Mm-hmm.
Yo, what a crazy moment to sitthere and realize I had no
furniture.
I'm in this freaking, um, I gotthis studio apartment in this
small town, you know, my livingroom's, my kitchen.

(20:26):
You know how it goes, right?
Yep.
And I guess one room, all I gotis a CD burner and I'm sleeping
on my floor.
So I'm, I'm selling CDs.
Mm-hmm.
I'm rapping about all thisstuff, all this money I got and
killing people, all this,whatever.
It's rapping some crap.
Yeah.
And I'm, I gotta start tellingmy story, man.

(20:46):
Cuz people need to hear whatthey hit, or real, they need to
hear me, what I'm, I'm, I'mwalking to work.
Let me rap about this.
This is what I'm really doing.
Mm-hmm.
You know, I lost all my cars, Ilost everything.
I'm.
So when I start, now, when Ifocus on this work and building
myself and growing, it changedman.

(21:08):
When I stopped entertainingpeople who didn't mean me well,
when I stopped trying to fit in,when I stopped trying to fit in
mm-hmm.
Everything changed.
Mm-hmm.
When I stopped caring whatpeople thought of me, but
really, really stop, like notjust the antagonized people, cuz
I was smart.
I would, I would do stuff.
I knew how to get people'sattention.
Yeah.
But I had, I, but I had to, Ihad to learn how to.

(21:29):
Not look for acceptance in, in,in groups.
Mm.
Not, not try to get into groupthinker.
Yep.
Man, once I, once I did that,bro, that was it.
Mm-hmm.
All true.
You could, you could smell it onme, man.
Mm-hmm.
I, I was losing friends left andright.
They didn't even, they did not,they did not like me anymore cuz
I was so sure of myself and theywould question me.

(21:52):
You really trying to bepositive, bro.
They'll like, that's all, that'sall bs right?
You're just doing that for theinternet.
I said, no, bro, I'm, I'm reallytrying to make a change.
I'm time to change my life, man.
Could you just help me?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Just accept me for me, trying tochange my life, man.
And, um, once anybody thatdidn't accept me trying to

(22:13):
change, kept it moving, that wasit.
Yeah.

That was it right there, man.
So, so was it kind of likeyou're, you're in this empty
studio apartment and you were atlike, kind of rock bottom and
you're like, that's it.
I'm, I'm changing.
Was it like one moment you canremember or was it a gradual
overtime thing?
I,

yeah, I got you.
Watch this.
Watch this.
Mm-hmm.
Working at at and t, my boss.
Super cool.
All right.
Um, you know, I invite him overfor lunch.
To my apartment to have a beer.
Now again, I ain't got nofurniture.

(22:51):
Now we just going lean upagainst the thing and drink.
You know, I, I wasn't ashamed.
Yep.
When I got to my apartment, man,no joke.
I had that pink sign on my door.
My power was off, bro.
Mm-hmm.
So before he even got to thedoor, I said, man, And I know he

(23:16):
is seen it.
Mm-hmm.
We, we should just go somewhereelse, man.
And I was like, man, I can'tkeep doing this.
It's time to, it's time to stepup and have accountability, man.
Mm-hmm.
And make a change.
So that's, that's what it was,man.
That was the biggest turningpoint.
That's one of the craziest partsright there.

(23:37):
Just inviting my boss to have abeer.
And my power is off.
Could even, I didn't even openthe door.
No.
Opening the door and I walkthrough that door.

I think, I mean that's, that's powerful.
But I feel like it illustratesthat like, we'll bullshit
ourselves all day a lot oftimes, and sometimes we need it
to be.
You know, kind of publiclyexposed.
Right?
Because if it's just us, we cankinda like push it to the side.
Oh no, I'm good.
You know?
But then something like thatwhere like other people like see

(24:12):
like, ah,

man, like this.
See it.
Yep.
This shit was a person.

Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That

creates change.
Creates change, man.
Humility creates change.
Mm-hmm.
For real, man.
Yeah.
Yeah,

man, that was it.
So then you went out and I feellike this is just, this is like
what you said is such a commonthing when people are like, all
right, you know what?
I'm changing for the betterfriends aren't on board.
It's like, it's like, dude, I'mtrying to like do good things
and you're giving me crap.
Like it just, you know, it'ssuch a crazy thing when you
think about it, but everyoneencounters that, or most people

(24:51):
encounter that.

You know, cuz I, one thing I always did the
entire time was I always mademusic.
I never stopped makeup music.
So always putting on a productand I was still doing shows, you
know, even though when Icouldn't pay my bills and some,
I just did shows you didn't knowthat I was broke, but I wasn't
even, I was yeah.
From the street, you know, yougotta can't, it's, you're

(25:15):
prideful, you know, you gotpride and stuff.
But I, I, uh, fun, fun fact, mycar got repoed at one of my
shows While you were at theshow.
Yeah.
Hmm.
I told all the people that waswith me and got stolen.
It was a repo

stolen by the people who you owe the payments.
Yeah,

man.
But, you know, those are, thoseare times, man, I never forget,
man.
Mm-hmm.

Now you probably use those as leverage, right.
You're like, I never wanna getback to that.
That keeps you, keeps

moving.
What?
Keep it in my, I keep it with meall the time.
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
Okay.
Got them my pocket.
That one.
Oh, that happened.
You know?
Yep.
Put that close to my heart.
Yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah.
So you kind of went through thischange in your mid twenties.
You started to like, you know,you said it, you're like, I'm
gonna, Get on the right track,I'm gonna change things.
Yeah.
You know?
Never again.
So you started, you know,getting into positive.
Like, did you get into likepersonal, did you start reading
books?
Did you kind of find mentors?
Like what was that journey like?

Mentors, um, yeah, I found the gym.
Hmm.
And I found my mentors in thegym at first, and then I'll take
that back.
One of my first mentors, I methim in St.
Louis, one of my, he was older,uh, his name was Charles.
And he wore suits.
He was just this older guy, buthe was so sharp, man.

(26:50):
He was mm-hmm.
So powerful.
And he told me, he said, youngman, you're bigger than this
job.
And we worked at, um, we wereworking at Nordstrom and
Nordstrom's a great company, andit, it paid me well.
I loved what I did.
Mm.
Um, his shoes, I was, I had nosuits.
I loved that place.
Like I, I loved Nordstrom.
If I ever had to work a jobagain, I would love to be, do

(27:10):
something like that in fashion.
Mm-hmm.
Um, And he said, get your bodyright.
He said, go down the drugs.
Stop doing the pills and thealcohol.
He said, cut your friends off.
It don't mean you well.
Mm-hmm.

(27:30):
He told me that.
He said, he said, he said, dude,you're talented.
Get your body in order.
Get your, get your healthtogether.
Fix your teeth.
Get everything done, man.
Stop wasting time.
That was it.
Hmm.
And that stuck with me cuz hewas really stern about it too.
You know, like, cause I mean, Igrew up, I didn't grow up with a

(27:52):
father, you know?
And Mm.
Not, not to take no.
My father, cause we're cool man.
And my father's cool to say.
Mm-hmm.
He's a laid back dude, man.
You know, don't to talk everyday, but we don't have an estr
relationship, you know, we'rejust, we cool man.
But I grew up, I did grow up ina, in a, mostly in a single
parent home.
Mm-hmm.
You know, mom did raise me so,Yeah.

(28:15):
So I, having that maleinfluences barely me.
My, my coaches in high school.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I coach young man, hereally, um, I tried to quit
basketball my senior year andhe, you know, he didn't let me
quit.
I was a starter trying to quit,so I said, I gotta get money.
Mm-hmm.
And I gotta help out at home.
Hmm.
And yeah, I wanted to quit.

(28:37):
Yeah.
You let me have it.

Yeah.
So did you stay on the team?
Yeah,

yeah, yeah.
I ended up getting a couple ofJUCO scholarships too, for
basketball, but I didn't takethem, but, cause I didn't know I
should have took them, but Ididn't have nobody, like, you
know, my coach got for me, butI, no, I had no men directly,
like my life to gimme realadvice on life.
Mm-hmm.
For, for a young brother, like,Hey man, you're getting a free

(29:05):
ride.
Take this free ride and then youcan decide if you wanna go to a
university.
My mindset was, you know, causeI played video games and stuff.
My mindset was like, man, Igotta go to D one.
If I don't go to the university,people gonna think I'm weak.
I'm right.
They don't think I'm a failure.
Mm-hmm.
And the whole time, like, no, Icould've saved money and

(29:27):
developed myself even more at ajunior college.
I would've been better off doingthat.
Yeah.
And it would've took me awayfrom my nest.
It would've got me out of the,the hometown.
Cause one of the, I think one ofthe biggest things that people.
When people have issues with thestand where they were, where
they went to high school at alot and being around the same
groups and never reallyexperiencing different things to
grow themselves.
Mm-hmm.

So you have that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's, I mean, a couplereally interesting things you
brought up there first about,you know, kind of the father
figure and, you know, I give allthe credit in the world to
single moms and stuff like that,and you can, you can show
someone how to be a greatperson, but like you.
You know, as a woman, it's veryhard to show a guy how to be a
great man.

Right?
Yeah.
My mom said that to me too.
She said that to me.
Yeah.
She said, I can't teach you howto be a man.
I'm sorry.
Mm-hmm.
I dunno.
So, but here I

am today.
Yeah.
Well, luckily, yeah, thosepeople are so important.
Those mentors, those peopleyou've, you find, like if you
didn't meet that guy atNordstrom, like who knows how
much, you know, different, yourlife would've turned out further
down the road or, you know, but,um,

And I met a lot of different men mentors throughout
life.
Yeah, man.
Yeah, you're right.

You're right.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Cuz one usually leads toanother, right?
Like that.
Yep.
Yeah.
One

mentor and you got, you know, yep.
Mm-hmm.
Yes sir.

Yeah.
So you started to like turnthings around.
You got mentors, you went andgot in shape, which I feel like
the gym is kind of like thegateway drug to all other
self-improvement.
I like that.
I just, it's, yeah.
Like you, if you go get people,like you're, you're improving

(31:06):
yourself.
You're developing habits,you're, you know, doing things
that are, you know, you'repushing yourself, you're doing
hard things.
There's just so much thattranslates into other areas.

Definitely.
I feel like if you, um,everybody that's successful,
they have some, they have sometype of health, uh, or fitness
routine.
Whether it's gym, whether it'shis dining, walking, stretching,
yoga, something, they have sometype of routine that maintains
or improves them, their physicalmental health.

(31:39):
Everybody that's successful hasthat.
Yeah,

truly successful.
Yep.
Yep.
Yeah.
There's a lot of people whowould be like, oh man, that
guy's successful.
And it's like, well, maybe inone area, but if you're not
healthy, like.
Right.
It's, that's that quote like,uh, everyone's got a thousand
wishes.
The sick person just has one.

Right.
I think too, like people nowconfuse success with money.
It's two different things,

man.
Yeah.
It's this western kind ofdefinition of it.
Yo,

this mother hum can have 200 million.
And this dude right here, Heonly makes 75, 80,000, but he is
happy.
He, he has a successful familylife.
Mm-hmm.
He's well-rounded.
His health's dope.
He's got free time.
He loves it.
And this guy's got all these,all this money he's with, he's

(32:36):
miserable with all these cars.
He's gotta keep up with all thiscrap, all these different women,
you know?
Mm-hmm.
Um, he's so worldly, you knowwhat I'm saying?
He's not ha he's happy, but, youknow, but without this, you take
his things away, he's not happy.
And

it's all external focused.
Every, all of that.
Yeah.

Yeah.
How, how much, how many cardsyou need, how many change you
need.
Like, I don't even like having,you know, having jewelry, like
even, you know, and that's thestreet side of me, like, A young
guy mindset was like, oh man, Igotta buy diamonds as soon as I
can get diamonds and stuff.
Like, and when I, after I boughtem, I thought about that.
I was like, man, that was the,that was the young version of me
thinking, right?

(33:12):
So I was like, well, how can Imake this.
Work for me and it's like, allright, let Mesure it, let me get
insurance on my jewelry so I canprotect my assets and then I can
use them as assets whenever Ineed to get funding for business
loans and things like that.
I can put that on, on part of myspreadsheet or mm-hmm.
You know, some, you know, put iton, on my financial sheets and
things like that to, to increasemy chances in doing things, and

(33:35):
if something was to happen toit, then I'm not out of the
money because I have insuranceon it.
Right, right.
Yeah.
So, but then, but, but I wasn'tproud once I had thought about
it.
I should have did that stuff,man.
But I always wanted it, so I waslike, you know what?
I know better next time.
You know, to prioritize theirthings differently.

Yeah.
So you got into the gym, you gotstarted getting in shape, and
then it sounds like the other,other parts started to kind of
follow that, like other parts ofyour life, like getting into
everything.

Did man, like that?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Acting.
Yeah, because now I don't have aschedule, so now I can go and.
Go and be in background in CHIin Chicago.
So I would drive up there likeat 12.
I leave at like one in themorning or two in the morning,
and I would go.
To Chicago and, and like sleepin my car by a set just to make
sure I got there on time, youknow what I'm saying?

(34:23):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Or sometimes I would stay withmy, my buddies, but I didn't
like bothering my buddiesLaRoyce and, cause they're
already famous and stuff and Ireally didn't like being a
burden to them, you know whatI'm saying?
Like, I felt like I was a burdensometimes.
I don't want to be there.
Yeah.
Right.
Especially being from thestreets and being a hustler and
always have your own.
I never want anybody to feellike they had to hand me
anything or be it, I didn't wantto be a dependent or anybody.

(34:44):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So I was gonna get it my ownway, so nobody walked me through
the door.
You know, I make sure I work foreverything I got today, right
now.
Yeah.
No handouts, man.
Mm-hmm.
And that's fine.
And I love, and I love it.
Yeah.
And, um, it's, it's a, it's apure grind man.
And, and it's, and youappreciate it more when you
gotta work for everything.

Yeah.
So, fast forward, like what, 10years from then when you started
to kind of get into that worldand now you're acting, you're
performing speaking.
Did the speaking come morerecently?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Once you had kind of more of astory.
Yeah,

yeah, yeah.
Be because, and it, it becameeasier.
Mm-hmm.
It was fluent.
Even like Bradley told me that Ineed to, I need my own podcast.
Mm-hmm.
He said, I need to write a book.
And he said I need to do morespeaking engagements.
Yep.
He straight up checked me, Gchecked me.
Shout to Bradley.
Yeah.
Hit me with the G check, bro.
Drop the bomb.

(35:40):
I like, alright bro.
You're right.
Yep.
So I'm gonna transitioning overto that sector.
Because I, I really wanna domotivational speaking.
I wanna do a YouTube channel.
Um, I want to, I actually wantto, I wanna do a dating channel
for men.
Like I see a lot of men now, youknow that they lack confidence
because of the, the highstandards that, uh, social media

(36:02):
puts out there.
And it's all bs.
Yeah.
You can walk outside around,see, see the average man, and
have anything close to what yousee on Instagram and TikTok.
It's all fake.
These guys are pretending theseguys are miserable.
They don't have that.
They're standing by those cars.
They, they don't have those.
Dude, live your freaking life.
Don't try to compete with thesefake people, or, I promise

(36:22):
they're not.
Yeah, that's not what you think.
It's, I'm in the industrytelling you.
I know.
Yeah.

Yeah.
And then there's the whole, youknow, war on kind of masculinity
and, um, and that, that's allanother topic

that I'd go on forever for that.
But yeah, so also, you know, Idon't know if I'm.
I get pinged for saying this,but like what really helped me
change too was red pill.
So I started reading, I startedlistening to red pill content
over a decade ago before it waslike super popular.

(36:55):
Mm-hmm.
Even like some of the, I watcheda lot of the guys that blew up
doing it before they even hadlike 10,000 subscribers on
YouTube.
I was already subscribed to theprogramming.
I was learning how to use it inreal life and translate it over
cuz I was, yeah.

(37:15):
I was messing up because, youknow, I'm learning it and I'm
like, you know how a young kidfirst learned something with one
little trick?
But he, he tries to do thattrick for everything, but he had
to break it down and learn.
You know, you don't know thatman.
I was one

trick.
More tools in the toolbox.
Yeah.

Yeah.
So, yeah, I, I mean, yeah.
I'm

one for, for real quick, for people red pill
listening who are like, what'sred pill?
What traditional.
What'd

you say?
I said one of the

original red pillars, man.
Yeah.
So, so what is Red Pill forpeople listening who are like,
okay, what is like they think ofthe Matrix, right?
Red, red pill, blue pill, like

um, and Red Pill.
Explain.
It was kind in conjunction withMick Towel.
You remember the MidtownMovement Men going their own
way?

Uh, I think I, I, yeah, I hadn't heard about that
in a long time,

but I, yeah, so it was all during that time and all
these different things.
We had all these guys, like, youknow what, so, um, red pill for,
for the listeners is pretty muchjust like being a pretty much
what, what the show's about, um,you know, moving away from the
group thing.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and, and going againstsocietal standards.

(38:29):
Yeah.
Not as much breaking the law.
Right.
But actually having morality andhaving sense and morals and
structure in your life and notbending and breaking to appease
groups.
Mm-hmm.
So when you become red pill, youbecome a self thinker.
Yep.
You become self-aware, right?
Yep.
Self thinker, self-aware.

(38:49):
You're thinking for, you'rethinking you're formulating, and
then you're aware of yoursurroundings, and then you're
goal oriented.
So then once you're goaloriented, you know how to stay
focused on your purpose.
And that's what Red Pill did forme.
And so if you guys wanna thinkRed pill, red pill is just
pretty much red pill as you'repretty much focused on your goal
and you're gonna stand strongand firm on that.

(39:10):
And you're not gonna followcrowds.
You don't care how lonely it is,you're gonna get, you're gonna
get there.
Yeah.
It's

like a level of awareness, right?
Yep.
Yeah.
It is just like the matrix,right?
Like the red pill is likeyou're, you're awake Now you can
kind of see clearly, right?
You're.
Not just kind of follow like youblue pill matrix, right?
All those things is where you'rekind of just like in this cycle
that you don't even realize thatyou're in, where you're just

(39:36):
kind of following, not thinkingindependently, that whole thing.
Yeah.
So, yeah, that's

why I quit my job, man.
I, I, I was red part, quit myjob, dude.
I had just got promoted.
When I quit my job.
I had got promoted health,dental, just to go be a trainer
with no schedule and noguaranteed pay.
Are you kidding me?
Yeah.
You know?
Yep.
And I got kids at the time.
Mm-hmm.
Like, are you crazy?

(40:04):
No, I'm not crazy.
I believe in myself that much.
Mm.
Over whatever entity wasprovided with, with whatever
supplemental income they could.
Yeah.
Bet on yourself.
Give scraps, you know?
Yeah.
Whoever scraps that were gonnaprovide for me to sustain the
position at their company.
Mm-hmm.

So, So you got into red pill and then that's
kind of like the speaking andall that followed, huh?

Yes, man.
And yeah, I, I honestly, and I,I'm, I'm so excited to enter
into this new chapter of mylife, uh, speaking more.
Yeah.
I wanna do it more.
Hmm.
Um, I've been speaking to largerand larger groups, man, it's
been so fun.
Yeah.

(40:48):
Inspiring people with my story.
Because I tell people like,dude, I'm not a genius.
I'm not the smartest guy by bar.
I am not dude, with the numberstelling you the definite.
I even, I mispronounce words allthe time, man.
I'm from the, I'm from theghetto man, from the hood, man.
I lived in the projects as akid.
I lived in Gary, Indiana,Memphis, Tennessee, you, but

(41:10):
what's fun is I get to be human.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'mgoing to, I'm the studies I'm
gonna increase, the vocabulary'sgonna increase, the delivery's
gonna get better, but.
I love being raw and real.
Mm-hmm.
I love it, man.
It's so fun, man.
It's great.
Yeah.
I love making a difference, bro.
Yeah,

I love that because I think all like, I
mean, you know, probably betterthan me, people who come from
that kind of background, themindset isn't like, oh, you can
go do whatever you want.
It's like, this is either yourlife or you become a pro athlete
or like, you know, join a gangor whatever it is.
Right,

bro.
It's either you going rap.
Or play ball or get in thestreet.
Mm-hmm.

You're like, there's this other option here.

Yeah.
Biggie Small said it, man.
Biggie Small said it in in hisrap man.
You know, music used to be sodope, man.
I love music a lot, a lot backthen, but yeah.
Hell yeah.
Mm-hmm.

Sure.
Yeah, I think that's powerful.
Are there, are there otherpeople who, that you look up to
kind of have a similar story orpeers or anyone that's out
there?
Kind of with a similar message.
Um, I

look up to a lot of people in different ways.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Like poll one person, I person.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's not just like oneindividual.
Yeah.
Um, I gotta collect, like all mymentors motivate me for sure.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Like, dude, like I'm, I, I don'tknow if they even wanna be name,
but those guys are like amazing.
Um, you know who you are.

(42:40):
Mm-hmm.
Um, but far as like this.
Like my idols and stuff likethat, you know?
You know, 1, 1, 1 guy recentlybecame like really fond of me.
I've always loved like Tupacs upas a kid.
Like yeah, Tupacs have alwayslike, I can't even watch the
Dear Mama.
Um, by Epic.

(43:01):
I can't watch it cause it makesme cry, bro.
Mm-hmm.
I always thought, you know, Iused to always, when I was a
kid, I would say Tupac cause mydad.
Cause I, you know, I know Ididn't have a dad.
Mm-hmm.
So, So I Tupac's my dad, man.
I, I think Tupac's my dad, youknow?
Yeah.
It's funny.
But he's one of the person I, Ilooked up to, um, and now like,

(43:21):
you know, following peopleonline and, and different
motivation.
I'm like Eric, the hip, hip,hiphop preacher.
Hmm.
Eric Thomas.
He's pretty dope.
Yeah.
I love his.
Um, uh, David G is crazy withit.
And Andy, Priscilla.
Mm-hmm.
I follow him.
Um, I'll be honest with you,man, I follow Bradley.
Mm-hmm.
I'm a Brad Leer.
Um, so to be on his show waskind of weird cause I was a fan.

(43:45):
He's asking me all thesequestions, I'm like, you know,
I'm a fan, bro.
Crump moments.
I love Ben Krump.
Um, that, that's a, that's apowerful, powerful brother.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Ben Krump dope.
Um, Laro Hawkins, um, fromChicago PD on nbc.
Incredible brother.

(44:05):
Incredible brother.
And Deandre Tillman, man.
He's a, in Chicago.
I got so many, I.
My manager, Daryl.
I mean, we can keep going bro.
Yeah.
My mom.
No, my mom.
There you go.
Yep.
She's amazing.
Yeah.
Um,

love her.
So is she still close by whereyou're living right now?

No, my mom, uh, is in St.
Louis.
Okay.
Yeah.
Nice.
She thinks she 21.
Man.
She crazy.
But she dope.
She's so happy.
She's like my biggest fan is mygrandma.
My grandma has all my music onher tv.
She probably watches it likeevery day.
That's awesome.
My grandma, she's the Mario Canfan.
She just, I'm her littlegrandson.

(44:49):
I'd have to take her one of myplaques from iTunes the other
day so she can have it in herlittle, her little, she could
show it off to her.
Little older friends.
Yeah.
She's gonna watch, she's gonnawatch this.
I hope you know about, soawesome.

Yeah.
I can't wait.
I love it.
And, and people also li like foryou guys listening, one thing we
haven't even talked about, likenow you own real estate, you own
a, you own a gym, right?
Anytime.
Fitness, like you got all like

you're doing it franchise.
Yep.
Yeah.

So how long ago did you, you wanna lose
something?
Yeah.
How long ago did you do that?
Like kind of actually get yourown business like that by the
gym?

Yeah.
Uh, six, seven years ago.
Hmm.
Six years ago I started off asa, um, trainer, a manager, and I
started, you know, trainer andmanager.
Mm-hmm.
I just bought the guy out, youknow, it was in my heart.
It was like something that Iloved.
And once helping people waslike, like, dude, I gotta own

(45:45):
this.
Yeah.
It was actually, it actuallywas, uh, not doing too well
that, you know, the guy thatowned it didn't care about it.
He just, he was gonna let it, hetrying to run into the ground.
I'm trying to save it, and he'slike, I don't care about that
spot.
I'm like, I'm trying to save it.
He's like, no, he'd given upalready.
He's like, ok, yeah.
I was like, well, I'm gonna buyit then he's like, how you gonna

(46:06):
buy it?
I was like, I dunno.
I mean, I got the money somehow.
I didn't know how buy it.
I just said I was gonna do it.
And that's how I do everythingin life.
Cause if I'm able to do that andI didn't know how I was gonna
buy the gym.
Mm-hmm.
I was gonna figure it out.
Yep.
So I do that with everythingnow.
Yep.
You put it out there

out and Yeah.
Put yourself under pressure andyou'll find a way.
It's like figure

it out.
Yeah.
I might look like an ass when Imess up.
Dude.
My credit score, when I said Iwas gonna buy the gym was like,
what, even 500 when I said that.
Wow.
Like I didn't even have a 500credit score bro.
Like, and that's how I was gonnabuy the gym.
Yep.

(46:45):
Nobody ever taught me aboutcredit.

Yeah,

I hear ya.
I was in college, I got a bunchof credit cards and then I was
in the streets, so I just ranthem up, got pictures of the
money.
Take pictures of the money.
Hey, what you need credit whenyou got racks?
Come on, baby.
Yeah.
How ignorant is that?

Yeah.
For those of you listening,that's what not to do with, uh,
with credit, but how?
Wow.
Yeah, man, it, it's, it's funny.
I feel like so many people won'tput something out there until
they have all the ducks in therow, right?
Like, for me, a great example.
Of like what you're talkingabout is the summit that not
most people summit.
Like.

(47:31):
I was like, you know what, I'mgonna do this thing.
I don't, I don't have the moneyfor it.
I don't have like a big fall inlike, I don't know how the heck
I'm gonna pull this off, getpeople there, you know, pay for
it, all this stuff.
But I was like, you know what?
I'm gonna get put myself in thissituation where I'm gonna have
to somehow figure it out.
Figure

it out, and guess what you did Figuring it out.
Damn right.
Yep.
Damn right.
It's life, man.
Yep.
Damn right man.

Hell yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah, dude.
So, uh, it's what's crazy toowhen I think back, so you said
you bought this gym like six,seven years ago.
Yeah.
And 37 now.
And you were saying like in yourmid twenties is when you were
kind of like at rock bottom.
So you went from like not havingelectricity and living in this
empty room, like rock bottom tolike five, six years later.

(48:15):
Like you bought a gym.
Like I think that's people whoare.
I mean more so like kind ofpeople who are the whole midlife
crisis, forties, fifties, kindof like, now what do I do?
Like people don't realize likeyou can completely 180 things in
a relatively short amount oftime.

My homies are in their forties, man.
They just, they be so line,they, they became millionaires
in their forties and they'reliving their best lives in their
forties neighborhood.
Most of the time they were allincarcerated through their
thirties and twenties.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
What's, how low, what's lowerthan that?
That's besides death.
Right.
Being incarcerated.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I like, I literally have guyswho just started over in their

(48:59):
forties and they're livinggreat.
Mm-hmm.
It's never too late.
No.
I got, I just, I got a, I didn'teven put this in the notes.
I got a record deal two weeksago with Universal Chicago Creek
trying to freak out.
Congratulations.
When is it known for dudes intheir thirties to get record
deals, bro.
Everybody that's rapping is like10 years old now.

Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
They all have like lil in frontof their name.
Right.
It's lil

blah, like, alright.
Yeah.
Oh man.
But guess what?
I look young, I feel young.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm, I'm rapping real shit.
Yeah.
So I'm, no matter what I'm, I'msticking to, I'm sticking to my
roots of being authentic.
Mm-hmm.
Now I do, I might cap a littlebit.
You know, it was like fivegunshots.

(49:47):
It was like 8,000 gunshots.
You know, it might exaggeratethe story a little bit, but it's
still real.
It's real.
It's real.
Mm-hmm.
Like everything right now isjust real, you know?
Yeah.
But I am, I'm breaking everygenerational curse and every
rule possible.
Red pill, the group think again.
Me being an artist now, I userap as a tool to do business.

(50:11):
Hmm.
Because it gets me through doorsto do business.
Yeah.
Oh man.
We get to rapper.
Mario Cannon, all you didn'tknow was an entrepreneur,
motivational speaker, and, uh,commercial real estate owner
did.
You didn't know I wanted thefuck about this.
Now you what I'm saying?
Yeah.

That's awesome.
I love it.
Yeah, and it's one of thosethings too, like people think,
oh, well if I do this, I can'tdo this.
Right?
Or like, You know, you're doingtwo things that gen are
traditionally considered to belike opposites almost, right?
I am.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and it's

working.
What's like more rappers ormotivational speakers?
Hmm.
They might be motivating peopleto do the wrong damn thing.
It's true.
There's a lot of rappers thatare motivating people to do the
right thing.
Mm-hmm.
They just don't get, they don'tget pushed like to the
mainstream.
You know that.
Right.
There's no make money in that.
There's no money into pushingthe rappers that rap about
motivational stuff because thenwe have less crime.

(51:08):
Then we got less money into thepenal system.
Then we got, you know, lesspeople to, to arrest and less,
you know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
I gave up.
Think I gave up some morespeeding tickets at least or
something.
Yeah.
They need crime to make themdimes.
Mm-hmm.
So let's push the music.
Mm-hmm.
But you, we don't, it don't haveto be like that.

(51:28):
Right.
But it's up to people.
It's up to me.
Mm-hmm.
It's up to me to not participateand be okay with not having a
hundred million.
Yeah.
I don't need, I don't need 800chains.
I don't need 10 cars.
I got two.
Yeah.
I don't need a bunch of crap.
Right.

(51:48):
I like nice stuff and I lovetraveling.
Well, if I can travel and get mykids what they need mm-hmm.
And eat the food I want, I'mgood, man.
I'm the same way.
Got my head, I got lights.
Yep.

I'm the same way.
If I could travel, I'm happy.
Yeah.

Dude.
Like, think about it.
There's, there's other people inother countries, man that need
us.
Like there's kids right now inthis country right now who have
running water, ain't got nowhereto stay.
They hungry right now, man.
Somebody fight for their liferight now.
Mm-hmm.
And you got people selling outfor selling, selling themselves

(52:29):
short for a logo on a shirt oror a, or a particular handbag or
brand or a particular group dudeto be a part of.
Yeah.
Not knowing how powerful theyare.
They don't even mean none ofthat stuff.
Yeah.
It's just from first form whatrapper, you know, rocking first

(52:51):
form.
I'll rock this, just you.
Yeah.
I'll rock this to a show.
I don't care.
Mm-hmm.
Every interview you see me andI'm running first form most of
the time every

interview.
Yeah.
Are you, are you like asponsored athlete or ambassador?
Yeah, I am.

I'm actually a sponsor athlete.
Very cool.

That's awesome.

Um, man.
Love, but it was, it was a toughmountain time, bro.

I bet.
I love it though.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't even know whereto go from that.
There's, that was like, that waskind of a great, like some just
summation of everything I feellike, so, um, yeah.
Yeah.
This has been fun.
I mean, we're coming up, comingup on kind of wrap up time, but,

(53:37):
um, I have one question that Iask everyone.
Who comes on the show, and thatis what is your definition of
not most people?
What does that mean to

you, man?
Not most people truly lovethemselves and learn to love
themselves.
Not most people truly learn tolove themselves.
Once you learn to love who youare.
Once you learn to love who you,your identity, what, what God

(54:09):
gave you, what you were bornwith, the abilities you have
right now as a person who careswhat they got, what they were,
what they got, who cares whatschool they went to.
Who cares if if, if they, ifthey, if they're taller than you
or shorter than you, who cares?
Mm-hmm.
Love what you got.

(54:30):
Because what you got, you got,you got a chance every day you
wake up, you got light.
It's not, no.
So not most people learn how totruly love themselves.
Mm-hmm.

And I think, I think the self-love movement can
kind of be confusing at timescuz some people are like, oh,
just love yourself no matterwhat and say you love yourself
and then that's it.
Right.
No, that's all as like, right.
That's

internet love transactional.
Yeah.
So I, you know what I call thatand I'm, I'm, I call that the
hashtag language, bro.
That's hashtag language man.
Yeah.
That's all that is.
Hashtag language.
They, they don't know it.
Like, okay.
When people say, I need yourprayers, please.
They're just tight prayers.
Yeah.
I mean, that's why the song Imade with Elite Chopper was

(55:15):
called Praying Bad.
Mm-hmm.
I said, everybody praying bad.
You ain't praying, you just putpraying in your hands.
Right.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm guilty of it.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not saying I haven't done itand I might still do it in the
future, but I make sure, I tryto pray for people when I say
I'm gonna pray for'em in thatmoment, so I don't forget.
I pray right then and there.
Hmm.

(55:36):
Yeah.
Right there.
Be in the gym or something.
If I write prayer, I'm like,I'll close my eyes and say a
quick prayer for them.
For sure.
Yeah, a hundred percent.

Love it.
Great answer.
And then, you know, I know yougot a lot going on YouTube,
you're on Spotify everywhere,but like, where's, where's the
best people or, uh, what's thebest way for people to find you?
Kind of follow what you've gotgoing on?

If people really wanna find me, man, I, you know,
I'm old school with it.
I'm still rocking with Instagramright now.
Instagram is, um, where theyfind me at, this is Canon one X,
so t a h i s i s c a n o n.
So you guys can follow me onInstagram for sure.
Sweet.

Yeah.
Check out, uh, Instagram andthen you can find everything
else.
Through there.
But

yeah, mario kennedy.com.
If you go, I got my own.
If you go to mario kennedy.com,you can just click and you can
see my latest music video.
You can see what show I gotgoing on next.
Nice.
Um, I'll be launching a merchline soon.
Hmm.
Um, I got my own TC products aswell, so I'm rolling.
I got my hands and everything,so Love

it.
Hey man, I'm excited to followalong and, um, yeah, make sure
you guys follow him.
I'll have all the links to, tohis stuff in the show notes.
So, but man, this is, uh, thishas been fun.
Thank you so much for coming on.
I had like, turn up a little

bit, man.
Yeah, man.
We gotta turn up.
I know.
Can't be no morning talking man.
We gotta really just keep itreal, man.
We gotta just spit it.

Yeah, we, we gave, uh, we gave him a little bit of
everything, so yeah, man.
Yeah.
Fun.
Cool man.
Yeah.
Well, we'll connect soon.
Uh, yeah man.
Thanks for coming on.
Thank you guys for tuning in.
Like I said at the beginning ofthe episode, if you got value
out of this, which I know youdid, um, I'm guessing that you
know someone or you're thinkingof someone who would really
benefit from listening to thisepisode.

(57:25):
So please share with a friend,leave a review, all that good
stuff.
Thank you for support and tuningin.
We'll see you in the next oneand always remember, don't be
most people.

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Overcoming Your Environment To Turn Your Life Around with Mario Canon - 099

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Overcoming Your Environment To Turn Your Life Around with Mario Canon - 099