Hawaii Mike: High Vibes, Higher Purpose — Culture, Cannabis & Community

In this elevated episode of TMHF, we sit down with cultural curator and cannabis pioneer Hawaii Mike Salman- the visionary behind Chef For Higher, Fly Private Social, and the deeply introspective Mask Off Podcast.

From managing hip-hop legends like Mobb Deep to hosting intimate infused supper clubs that blend food, music, and plant medicine, Hawaii Mike breaks down how he turned a lifestyle into a movement. We explore the healing power of community, the sacred rituals of consumption, and why taking your mask off—figuratively and literally—is the highest form of freedom.

Whether you're here for the flavor, the vibes, or the wisdom, this episode is a masterclass in intention, authenticity, and cultural elevation.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is the strongest fucking marker.
Knowing the mankind, Gabe. Yeah, this is.
So when I was out tagging, this is.
This was those markers. This is.
And I didn't ask you this too. What's your wildest Mob Deep
story? I didn't ask you this on the
joint, but I know you got a bunch of them.
I mean, just on a regular night,every time chucklers came on, it

(00:22):
would just be fights or fight. One time we're in Cleveland and
Pete used to tell this story allthe time.
Also one time we're in Clevelandand you know, we're at a
steakhouse and I see them after we eat dinner, they take the
steak knives. I'm like fuck y'all dude, why
y'all take the steak knives? They're like, they're like, cuz
we ain't got nothing on us. Like we got nothing.

(00:42):
We're flying, you know, to each location and you said like I
read something, but this is likebig ass serrated steak knife.
They're not even like you wouldn't.
Handle everybody. Like to hurt them, you know,
they're blunt tips like it's crazy.
And so that night we're on Biggie's, Biggie's, it's us,

(01:08):
it's Biggie and I forget who else.
And and so I they give us their mics.
I'm with the sound dude. You know, they have their mics
on the DAT ready to play and allof a sudden I hear Biggie's
music come on, is DJI think it was enough for I figured who was
DJ? I'm like what the fuck?

(01:28):
And so all of a sudden he's playing, they're backstage and
then he next thing you know, they fucking rush the stage,
they pin the security guards, they're fucking chasing big and
all that. It's mainly and it's just mayhem
in the old spot. Finally when everything fucking
calms down I finally get backstage and I just see pee in
half in the back standing with the knives.

(01:50):
So that's nothing to be said. So you, you, you are the biggest
cat in the group. So I, I, I, you know, I've, I've
met yo-yo, yo, you, you what, 5-10 Mike.
Yeah, I'm 510. So.
And I was like, and but back then I was like 145 lbs.
Like, I was skinny as shit. Yeah.
So like, and I was like, exactly.
I'm the biggest dude in the group.

(02:11):
That's that's. Like 4 feet 10, you know he's
like 5-4. Yep.
Yep, I always said I always feltthis way, that that P should
have been mentioned in the same breath as Nas.
Think about the age P was when Infamous came out and in the
subject matter exactly so the subject matter what he was

(02:33):
saying and and if you can't makethe parallels to to what the
Magnus opus for Nas is, which isillmatic this there's peace
should have definitely been mentioned in the same breath
even more so because of how he had to go about doing it.
We talked about, you know, Nas kind of had that that whole
thing busted open for him when when you signed to Columbia and

(02:53):
this was this was not that they they grinded that from the from
the bottom, the ground up. Shook one's Part 2 is the most
recognizable hip hop like next to like rapper's delight.
Like it's that level. They like everybody that comes
on again, thanks to him too, Butthat comes on.
You know what it is immediately,so much so that when you hear a
track that has that snare in it,that somebody sampled that

(03:15):
snare, you know. Oh yeah, that's the Shook one
snare. That's nothing's.
Nothing's crazy like that. Nothing could be, nothing could
be. And the energy, the energy of
that record is like. Yo, it's insane.
And then I know that the groupies so that they they
attracted a different type of groupie.
So the the the the groupies for mom for mom deep had to be all

(03:36):
over the board and and and and it was some it was gutter shit.
So it's if. I don't even know if we had
groupies yet. Stop it like.
Yo it was not bro. You gotta remember this is 90.
I get it. I'm telling you, listen.
I used to listen When, when, when, when Havoc used to roll
through. And this is early.
It's hard to go back because youwent back in time as you see.

(03:57):
It was rainy, bro. It wasn't it's like, Nah, it was
grimy back then, so we didn't have no, it wasn't like no
groupies even before real shiny soups and all that shit you.
Know what takes a special track to do this?
I need to remind you all I'm sick with it.

(04:21):
Meaning it's one of the same. Simple and plain.
I'm all about my paper. The bacon cheddar got these
lanes running for the border. The talents and Mr. Porter keep
it flowing like it's water. Here we go, Here we go creeping
to below speed. Is it him and his friend sitting
in the nose? Please play it cool.
He is special. Just because he's on TV,

(04:43):
everybody's hands up acting likethey know we welcome, welcome,
welcome. Welcome to another episode of
the Taste Music kid food podcastshow.
I am your host Ed Porter. This is the home for all things
food, music and culture and how they all connect today.
My guest today is is one of those guys that's the Swiss Army

(05:06):
knife of of the culture. This this, this cat is has the
things you've seen, the things he's done, the things he's
currently doing and the manner in which he goes about that is
obviously awe inspiring and all about community.
And so I'm going to attempt to give this man his flowers with

(05:30):
the central right here. So here we go.
In a realm where flavors elevate, music resonates, and
the plant heals, today's guest moves like a conductor of
culture. From managing hip hop royalty in
the 90s to hosting cannabis and few supper clubs that feel more
like sacred gatherings, he's turned lifestyle into legacy.
As the visionary behind Chef forHire, Co founder of Fly Private

(05:53):
Social and the host of the Soul Bearing Mask Off podcast, he
doesn't just build brands, he builds bridges, rolling up
truth, taste and tradition. He's shifting narratives and
feeding communities 1 elevated experience at a time.
Let's light it up for a true architect of the culture, my
brother Hawaii Mike. Hey, it was good.

(06:16):
Thank, thank, thank you for thatintroduction.
Absolutely, absolutely. So like I, I tell everybody that
that's on the the pod is that I selfishly cherry pick everybody
that comes on this joint. So I have ultimate reverence for
anybody that I interview and we go back anyway.
So, you know, you're my guy. So this was, you know, something

(06:39):
that had to be done. And let's talk about, let's just
jump right in, man. So you, the things you've done,
the things you've seen, the things that you currently do in
the spaces that you move in are like, you live like 4 different
life lifetimes. I don't even know if you sat
down there and really think about it.
Like, like the like, yeah, You you ever seen that?

(06:59):
What's that quantum leap when Doobie?
No, like, like that's you for like you.
I mean, I told people I feel like I live 5 lifetimes, but I
still feel like a kid at the same time.
Absolutely. You know what I'm saying?
Like I always tell people like when they ask me what I do, I'm
like I'm the executive intern. That's.
Dope, that's. Dope, that's the bomb.
T-shirt. He's like.
Yeah, well, because like I'm always learning.

(07:20):
Like if I, if I get to a point where I feel like, you know, I
feel like I get stagnated if I think I learned everything
already. Absolutely, you know what I'm
saying? And every business I'm in, it
starts from the ground floor. And I'm like, how do I do this?
And so it's figuring it out. So again, if I, if I stop
learning, that's my last breath.That's the last lesson I
learned. Yeah, yeah, you gotta, you gotta

(07:41):
do, you gotta subscribe to beinga forever student and no matter
what, no matter what field you're in, specifically if
you're going to bounce through acouple different things.
So let's talk about that. Let's talk about your journey
through, you know, the managing and, and, and then getting into
the, the, the, the food and thenhow, you know, bringing cannabis
into the fold and, and you just basically just bringing people

(08:06):
into to, to, to the lifestyle ona different level.
So let's talk about how you knowthe inception of all of that.
So let me take it all the way back to the beginning.
I'll just say kind of like through life, my 3 pillars have
been cannabis because like my mom smoked with me in the womb.
You know, when I was a kid, my dad was, you know, told me to
smoke in the house. You know, I got in trouble for

(08:28):
smoking outside of the house. Food was an interesting thing
for me because I was raised vegan and like very strict
vegan. Like, you know, my mom is like
still sprouting vegetables and things of that nature.
And you know, when I was 9, I was living in Hawaii and I was,
I felt left out. So I was like, you know, I want

(08:48):
to eat chicken or something like, And so my dad sent me a
recipe. They weren't together.
My dad sent me a recipe. And that's, that's when I first
started cooking. And then Fast forward, I moved
in with him. My first job became prep cook,
was a prep cook at a restaurant in San Francisco.
And then like, I don't know, community with me I think has
been something for me because I'm multi ethnic, like I have so

(09:14):
many different, my grandfather'sin Palestine, my father's in the
Philippines, my mother's from Brazil.
So it's kind of all over. So community became like, you
know, this thing for me. And so I was selling weed as a
kid, taking weed from my dad andsneaking into a music convention
called The Gavin back in like 1991.
And then by 92 people were like,yo, you got to hustle.

(09:36):
What are you doing? Do you know where you're at?
Like if you come to New York, we'll get you an internship.
And so that was like February 92.
I moved to New York June 92 and got an internship at this record
label called PW Well, America and Diamond DI got hired at
Diamond BS best kept secret video shoot.

(09:58):
So I got to go to that shoot andthen met like the principal at
the label and they, you know, got me the internship.
And ironically, my brother, I just got a shout at my brother
who just passed away last year. School, So school was the intern
at PWL when he got his job at Tommy Boy.
That opened up my opportunity, you know what I'm saying?

(10:20):
So I got always shout him out for that, you know, not that he
did it on purpose, but it was just timing.
And you know, I'm obviously knewhim until he passed away last
year. And so, you know, cannabis is
what really got me into the music industry.
And so I've always been known for that.
And I hopped around, did a few things in the industry.

(10:41):
I worked at that label as a national director of radio
promotions. I worked, you know, Diamond D,
Edogi and the Bulldogs, my brother Scientific, who passed
away. And then after that when I lost
my job, I ended up becoming MobbDeeps Rd.
Manager during the infamous album so that just celebrated
this 30th. Anniversary, which is.

(11:04):
Why it's like to think it's been30 years, like when you say, so
when you say 5 lifetimes, that's30 years ago.
And, and you know, blessings on blessings and with all the
gratitude, like, you know, people still think I'm in my
30s, you know what I'm saying? So, so it's, and that's why it's

(11:25):
really like, I really don't believe in time the way they
presented to us, you know, like,you know, I don't believe in
age. That's more of a mindset to me
than anything because I see a lot of people that are very
vibrant and healthy and active in their 70s and 80s, you know
what I'm saying? And I see other people that are

(11:45):
lethargic and depressed and totally gone in their 50s, you
know? You know what I'm saying?
So it's like all of these thingsare, there's this kind of
mindset to me. But to get back, I started on
managing my deep during the infamous album, I went to the
source magazine as the the marketing manager, the mobile
marketing manager. So we had these big vans we used

(12:07):
to go all over the country once tours and you know, create block
parties and stuff like that. So I managed that with my man
who's and then later became the lifestyle editor at the source.
So I did like flavors of the month.
I did basically all of the products you would see in the
magazine that weren't on models like the fashion director did

(12:29):
all of that. I did everything else that was
product oriented. So if you saw like an artist or
a basketball player in their cars or their motorcycles, like
I did all of those things as well.
So ended up creating my own magazine Ltd and then started
the agency with some friends where we did a bunch of
websites. We also created Inked Magazine,

(12:51):
the tattoo magazine. So I'm the founding editor in
chief of Inked magazine as well.And they got into management.
Nigel Sylvester, the BMX athlete, I'm sure everybody's
heard of him at this point for his BMX athlete on Jordan brand,
Mercedes, like all kinds of crazy stuff now.
So DJ Clark Kent, so on CNLV producers, Jonathan Mannion, the

(13:16):
photographer and all the while I'm selling trees, you know, and
again, everybody knows me for it.
And so you know, you talked about the supper clubs 2000 I
think 12:00 or so when legalization in Colorado, when
Washington happened, everybody started looking at me like how

(13:37):
you getting into the industry. I know you know you're going to
be in the industry. I know I again, I've kind of
been one of those people that just kind of goes with the flow
of life and happened to meet a chef from Seattle that was doing
it and we started a company. It didn't work out and then I
just kept doing it and self-taught, you know, in the

(13:58):
kitchen. You know, we did once we started
the actual supper club. Dinner is dope.
We did it from August 2015 untilMarch, I think, or 16th was the
last one, 2020 that we did in a row.
But I've done hundreds of them since, you know, and all
together. So it's just kind of become, you

(14:19):
know, my alchemy for sure. That's the that's the long short
story. No, that's dope.
So and what's crazy is that so we we could have very well ran
into each other back in the infamous days, because that's I
was wondering why then? You know I was a young stand
matter of fact, I think have used to mess with a chick in
Corp city, which is right by right, and I've seen him in the

(14:42):
Honda smash through there. You know this is way early.
You know this is way. This is what?
That that you know, so real talk, I might have cosigned for
that car. That's great.
So. So so.
The hatchback. Thing is, I don't know how I
cosigned for somebody in that age.
They have no credit. I have anything but P God bless

(15:06):
the dead had decided to abandon his whip and left it on the side
of like the L i.e, the southern state or some shit like that
with the plates and everything on.
Oh, and your name in our name. So there was a bench warrant out
for both of us and I had no clue.

(15:28):
Ended up getting pulled over at LaGuardia.
We're sending some stuff down tohow can I be down?
I went to the interlane and you're not supposed to do that.
Yeah, and I went, so I got pulled.
Over they ran me and they ended up locking me up at the.
Airport jail. Yeah, yeah.
Man, and I just remember the dude in there knew I worked at

(15:51):
the source and started asking meabout Chino and all this other
stuff and saying he knew him andstarted talking about graffiti.
And then he started doing all these pranks over the
loudspeaker. It was like it was a real weird
experience. But yeah, that's that's.
Crazy. That was probably.
A car I could sign for that's sothat's.
Yeah, I'm telling you, I, I, I I've on many occasions he was

(16:11):
messing with this chicken in Co-op city.
So yeah, we could have came and then so right before you started
the the Dinner series, that's when that's when we actually met
Dupi. And so yeah, 'cause I was you
were source, not it might have been after.
That all I'm I'm pretty sure it's after it was it.
Was pre 2015, yeah 'cause I was still in the Bay.
I left the Bay in 2015. So we, we, yeah bro.

(16:34):
So this was like 20/12/2013 and the reason, the reason why I
know that is because I just we just finished with the Willie
May Skybox Lounge and I had timeand me and Pete was hanging
tough. So that's that's when that all
happened. So yeah, it's crazy, crazy,
crazy, crazy. All right, so right about now we

(16:55):
like to play a little game called this or that.
So I'm going to give you some items.
It's very simple. You choose one or the other,
very straightforward. Cool.
All right, can I ask the question?

(17:16):
Can I? Can I?
So yes, go ahead, tell me the story.
Oh, that was like. You didn't ask a question.
I thought you were just I'm. Not, I'm going to say it.
I mean, not everybody knows, noteverybody knows that that's the
Air Max 95. I mean they should and they
definitely should know the Sheltos, but OK.
Air Max 90 Fives. Worn a pair of shell toes?

(17:39):
Never. But like a whole day.
Oh, you know why? Because did not coat my big.
Toe like I mean, it might be TMI, but I used to get ingrown
toenails in my big toe and Nah, I couldn't knock shell toes,
bro. Like you stub your toe with
shell toes. Ow, yeah, that's.
Yeah, facts. That's why you got to wear, you
got to wear them a half size toobig to have the room.

(18:02):
That's that's I'm telling you. That's why, that's why one DMC
did that, that they had to, well, actually they had to go
down the size and wear no laces.Anyway, That's the OK.
So MX-90 fives, MX-90 fives. All right, next for sure, Beef
Patty with cocoa bread or bacon,egg and cheese on a roll.
United. Now it depends where it's from.

(18:24):
You, you. Your.
Pick your pick your pick. Yeah, let's just say, let's just
say Brooklyn. I mean from the.
From the right spot. Yeah, I'm going with some beef
Patty or some cocoa bread. Facts.
Facts. Facts.
Especially if the cocoa bread isfresh.
I Oh for sure all. Right next.
Now we're doing soundtracks. OK official soundtracks Boyz in

(18:45):
the Hood official soundtrack or Above the Rim official
soundtrack. All right, so if you.
We can, we can, we can start naming some joints of them
because they were both, they're both smashes.
In my. Opinion Two of the best movie
soundtracks to ever be crazy. That's a tough.
One man, but I think I'm going to have to go with above the

(19:08):
rim, Above the rim. OK, OK.
Any reason why? Because I was out here at that
time and I was more in the industry and everything and it
just was like, I don't know, it just felt like I was more
attached to that, even though boys in the Hood was such a that
had that had. That Tony that had just me and

(19:29):
you on it. The boy in the hood had just me
and you on it. But I I agree with you, but
above the rim will be for my forme as well.
OK. And finally.
We don't go with. FUBU or Carl Kanai.
I never wore it either. This is just about impact.
I I no, I know. Me neither.

(19:51):
I'm going to say Carl Kanai because he opened the door.
Facts. Facts.
You know facts. I think, you know, FUBU
obviously got way, you know, bigger as an entity of the
company, right. But I think without Carl Kanai,
yeah, this doesn't. Happen they might they?
May not do what they do, you know right?
Agreed. Agreed.

(20:11):
OK, All right. Dope, dope, dope.
That was this or that I so let'slet's talk about your you talk
about your alchemy about how youdecided that OK, cool.
Cannabis has always been a part of the the, the, the, the, the
landscape. But now I'm going to we did

(20:32):
this, you know, this joint venture that didn't work, that's
fine. But when you decided to run with
it, because just for the people that are out there that that
that don't know, we're not just talking about these, these were
this the Dinner is Dope series was an event that was very much
the place to be for culinary as well as the experience of having

(20:56):
that mixed with cannabis. It was we're not talking about
basic food items. We're talking about like an
actual event, like very, very high brow above standards on
everything across the board. And it wasn't run-of-the-mill.
And that's why I think, you know, they were so such a an
event and such a a place to be and people wanted to be in the

(21:16):
room. And so talk to you about how,
how you went about, you know, making sure that these events
were felt like you were bringingpeople into to your your world,
but still giving them a dining experience that was bar none.
So I mean we, I honestly say we grew into that.

(21:39):
The first ones were very much like they were like tasting
menus, but it was me figuring itout like I can't front like I, I
had no real experience in cooking for people or cleaning
or like I can show you some of the first photos.
It'd be like, damn, that's what y'all was making, you know.

(22:02):
And I think after probably like the first four or five, like
they were always steamed and things of that nature.
We were finding our footing and,you know, because the main thing
was like, how do we introduce the endocannabinoid system in
our relationship with this plant?
And it was like, well, everybodyeats, you know what I'm saying?
Like how to sell? Everybody has an endocannabinoid
system, but they don't know that, but everybody eats.

(22:24):
So that language of food, we canbring people together.
Once you kind of have their attention through entertainment,
you can kind of educate them. And that's what we would kind of
do by talking about, you know, how we infused it in the
beginning. I think we used to put like
different strains and things of that nature.
What I actually learned with that was the the experience

(22:47):
could be so much different for everybody that it, for me and
the way I did it, at least it was better have a singular
experience. That ended up being our goal and
kind of how we did things. Then as I started to get
comfortable in the kitchen and started to bring in other people
to chef with us, that's when I think things started to really

(23:08):
kind of elevate because now I'm starting to learn real technique
and understanding actually, you know, real talk.
I went and took some classes that I used, you know, you know,
I was, yeah, I, you know, I was just to get, you know, my
culinary or even my, my cutting skills, my knife skills, right
understanding, you know, all thedifferent sauces and, you know,
even like little plating things and things of that nature.

(23:28):
Plus just being in the kitchen and seeing all of the different
tools that they have or equipment that they have and
going all right, well, how can Ido this if we're doing this out
the crib? So we ended up doing like 200
person catering jobs out of the crib, you know, saying at
certain points, but we were cooking for 40 people, 5 course
meals and doing that all out of the crib, you know, a real 4

(23:51):
burner, regular ass, regular, regular oven, like, you know,
And so we would create menus that wouldn't put us in the
corner and you're able to execute, but still fell high
level. And that was always the goal,
man. So I, that's why I said it
became my outcome because it waslike, you know, turning that,

(24:14):
that, that brick wall into something that people were like,
wow. Because you know, the, the great
thing about what we was doing this, nobody else was doing it.
And wait, we see. We got to a point we were
charging $150.00 a head. You didn't know the location to
the day of the event. You didn't know who was going to

(24:34):
be there till you walked in the door, and you didn't know the
menu until you sat at the table.Yeah.
And. That's, I mean, that's yeah, New
Yorkers love shit like that. That's just, that's really what
it like, like because you're in,you're still in.
I don't care what's going on. I'm, I'm, I'm in here and I can
talk about it. You you once was quoted by
saying that food is the glue of communal celebration.
And then cannabis is the lubrication for the engine.

(24:57):
How did you, because you're alsothe music guy.
So how and how did you, how did music play a part in that triad,
that triad, sorry of those moments being as special as they
as they were and are? I mean, sometimes the music was
as simple as the playlist, you know?
I mean, for the background we bring a DJ in and things of that

(25:19):
nature. Other times we really built
menus around music. Like one of my favorite menus
was I think it was September 28th and 20 Nineth, yes, the
28th, 1998. There's like 5 albums that came
out on that date, yeah. The the.
The the the probably least knownone is Foundation by Brand

(25:42):
Newbie in their second album. It was Southpaw Quest, The Love
Movement, and then you just had Black Star, you know what I'm
saying? Then you had Outkast Equipment I
and then you had Jay-Z Volume 2,and all those albums came out on
the same day. Yeah, and we.
Built a whole menu, you know, reflective of influences on

(26:05):
their like, that's where that's where hard knock rice came from.
Actually. That was the first time we used
hard knock rice and you know, use that and you know, we I
think because he says something about beef in that in that soul.
And so we made like a steak withsome like rice and peas.
And you know, so it's like just,you know, taking music and the

(26:25):
influence. But I think it's just all of
these things. I look at hip hop as as the
thing that brought us all together.
You know, it it it's, it's so universal.
It's so communal if we allow it to be because it's all energy.
And so, you know, hip hop was always a part of it.
Just culturally, you know, culture is just how you express
yourself and what you look like and how you dress and how you

(26:46):
talk. And for me, you know, hip hop is
how we live. And that's, I don't think
anybody would be like, yeah, I don't know where this kid, you
know, or what he likes to listento, you know what I'm saying?
Like, I don't think that would ever be a question with people
here. We talk or see me dress.
So, you know, there's always that.
And then food is part of every celebration.
Like every celebrator. There's no even even the

(27:08):
celebration of death and people passing.
This is a repast. There's food, you know, saying
like food is everywhere and everybody eats.
And so, you know, having all of these kinds of things.
And then the other thing that I really learned about this is
hosting people and now having a flat private social is
intention. Intention really creates the

(27:31):
containers and it's like, what'syour intention is really in a
positive building way like people to me, and they'll
probably feel it was negative aswell, But for me, people really
feel that. And, and that's what I think
draws people in and makes peoplecomfortable with.
It's like, I still got people that talk to me about those
dinners and they'll randomly send me a picture because you

(27:53):
know, it came up in their, you know, their photo album as a
memory, you know what I'm saying?
Like and and it's just wild to think of like how many people be
cooked for and how many different dinners and, you know,
till the other day, even at the restaurant, my favorite
compliment is, you know, I nevereaten, but every time you make
it, I'll eat it. Right, they're usually talking.

(28:14):
About yeah, they're usually talking.
About something like. Brussels sprouts, or they're
talking about, you know what I'msaying?
Like or a salad or a soup or, you know, because it's like, you
know, you get a good steak, as long as you're overcook it,
you're not really going to mess that up.
Yeah, but to. Get some people to eat out of
their their comfort zone is a whole different thing.
Tell me about your experiences with, and I know that hip hop

(28:36):
plays a major role into just whoyou are and how you are, but how
you basically seamlessly just, you know, everything you do.
And that's why it's a lifestyle,it's a culture.
And you just touched on that too.
But but speak to that because ofthe pillars of hip hop and
community and what that means and why it's just a natural
progression of what it is it's doing anyway, Yeah.

(29:00):
I mean, like Chris said, like Harris always said, rap is
something you do, hip hop is something you live.
Like that's just how you live. It's culture.
So for me, I, how I know everybody, you know, I know
everybody through literally through either hip hop, through
cannabis or through food. Like I, it's, it's all some type

(29:20):
of connection through those three things.
I mean, I can't think of how I know people, you know, besides
that, you know, And so for me, it's also like, I don't know if
you've seen DJ Rob Swift's book.He wrote a book with this other
dude. I forget the guy, Russell, so I
forget his last name, but they wrote a book called The City of
Hip Hop. And basically what he's saying

(29:42):
is like, there's nowhere else orno other time that hip hop could
have started except New York. And so, you know, it's I think
it's just that happened to be aligned with the time we're
living in and me being a part ofit from such a young age and
being aligned with it's kind of like, you know, it is growth,

(30:04):
it's arch into the world. And so I think we hit these
certain pinnacles right around the pandemic, actually, or
right, you know, even before that and after like saying, you
know, Virgil being, you know, atat Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton
is somebody who never wanted us.They need us now, you know what
I'm saying? Or after the pandemic, you know,

(30:27):
break in in the Olympics, like that's, that's that was amazing,
you know, largest sports stage, you know, and most respected and
honored tradition of sports in the world globally, you know,
and for something that was aboutgang culture, right?
And peace to hit that stage, I think is incredible.

(30:50):
And so now we're at these kind of like crossroads where it's
like, all right, those things are great.
Those accolades are awesome. How come we can't do this for
ourselves? You know, and I think that's
where this thing idea for me at least, celebration comes in.
We're not, we don't celebrate. Like we don't celebrate as a

(31:10):
culture. We destroy, we don't build, we
destroy and and it's like we're not supposed to be here.
If they were writing it, we wouldn't be here.
We're here. Because of that authenticity,
because of that natural power ofenergy, right, that frequency
that everybody for some reason is attracted to and aligns with.

(31:34):
And not everybody, a lot of people.
Because this is a global phenomenon for sure, right?
If you're in modern society, anywhere in this globe, you
know, rap zones, you know, rappers, period.
Yeah. Period.
You go to. Anywhere where they play music
or there's a jukebox or there's something, trust me, there's

(31:56):
somebody rapping in there, you know what I'm saying?
But if you go to one of our spots, you're not going to find
a country music record, right? Like we've permeated every facet
of popular culture globally. And so now what do we do with
that? Like, and that's been my thing
is like, how do we talk to people through this lens of hip

(32:19):
hop to say we can all be together?
Because if we all closed our eyes and went to a party, right,
we all got this invite to a party, but we all went there
blindfold and the party was like, oh, it's hip hop.
It's you get to go see Kendrick Lamar and you get to shake his
hand. You get to go see Grandmaster
Flash DJ and you get to go see Rock McDaniels doing a video
set. You would see people from every

(32:43):
ethnicity, every walk of life, everything you could think of
wanting to be in there. And if you revealed that
afterwards, you'd be like, Oh shit, this is crazy.
You know what I'm saying? And that's how we have to start
celebrating, accepting. The problem is our eyes lie to
us. Our eyes will carry prejudice.
It's not our hearts. It's not our souls.

(33:04):
You know what I'm saying? Those are things that we create
through our eyes, and our eyes lie to us.
And if we allow our hearts to bethe things that connect us to
those frequencies and those vibrations, right, that's when I
think we start to connect. And that's how kind of fly
private social is bored. That's right.
That's a good. Segue because I was about to
touch on that. Let's let's talk to me about,
you know, and you're sitting in it.
Talk to me about fly private social, what it is the meaning.

(33:28):
You talked about the meaning behind it right now without you
talking about it. But let's, let's, let's, let's,
let's, let's, let's paint a picture for somebody who hasn't
been and want to be and what it actually is, because a lot of
people have they they feel like it's a club and that they you
know, it, it, it needs membership and and which is this
it's an exclusive thing. But I want you to to hear from

(33:51):
from you exactly what is fly private social?
What's going on there? Let's talk about the things that
you got going. Well, honestly, I mean that is
the goal is to create social clubs or different iterations of
gathering spaces that reflect our culture, our lifestyle and
our experiences. So I just don't think we have
that this hours right. And so flat private social is a

(34:12):
celebration of unity through food.
We use the the lens of hip hop as as wish to share as as a
culture, and we just communicateunity because unity at the end
of the day is our capital. So when you see us write the
word community, it's lowercase Comm with a capital UNITY and
again, intentions and you know, word and verbalizing and

(34:35):
visualizing things to manifest. You know, these things actually
come to life and people to be able to engage with them as it's
how do we create something organically, but with the
intention of being able to buildtogether, like to create these
safe spaces for us to truly cometogether in collaboration.

(34:58):
You know, and you know, so actually during the pandemic is
how I really came up with the whole community thing was, you
know, I was, it was there's nobody has immunity to COVID,
right? And, and that word immunity is I
am them unity, right? So I was like, oh, wow, well,
this is this is something that kind of connects us all.
And so I looked up how many words have the word unity in it

(35:21):
and I looked at it as an opportunity.
There's thirteen of them. So I looked at it as an
opportunity to communicate unity.
And so using those 3 words of the immunity opportunity and
community really just kind of like starting to flesh out and,
and get this idea into a space of like, yeah, we, we need
these, especially after COVID, right?
We, we need safe spaces. We need third spaces in general

(35:44):
that aren't our home and our workplace.
We need spaces for us to be ableto gather where we feel safe to
be around, you know, the people that are there and, and with us.
And I started looking at like, all right, cool, there's Soho
House. That's probably the most popular
iteration of a, of a social clubthat we know.
And if you look at them, I was actually collaborating with them

(36:05):
for like 4 or five years. I got membership with them being
around 2000 and 1718 to do dinners with them.
So I was already being put in a position to learn, you know what
I'm saying, and to be able to tosee from the inside perspective,
the operations and how these things kind of work unbeknownst
to me, even having this idea later, right.

(36:26):
And and so for everybody listening for me, that's that's
what helps me is those kinds of things is what helps me.
Even when I'm in the space. It's like I'm me.
I want to have social clubs built in every city that hip hop
went. Like how mod are you doing that
right? But for some.
Reason that's what the universe keeps putting in front of me and
so just trust your path trust like that.

(36:47):
You're never not we supposed to be and whatever is in front of
you is ludicrous as it may soundif it makes you feel good you
get excited about that shit. Try it and that's really you
know how I'm here. So it's you know, we're for
green Brooklyn and using this first location as kind of like
the proof of concept, you know and again, you know, like I
said, I started looking at Soho House who look at their

(37:10):
programming. Fifty 6070% of their programming
is really geared to us or from our culture.
I mean DJ Premier was just spentin a Dumbo house.
Yeah, it's crazy. Like who brought?
That there wasn't anybody on their staff.
They brought that in. That was one of the cool
members, you know what I'm saying?
Or something like that. And now I started looking at,
well, what are the other things and organizations that that

(37:32):
bring people together, They create these long lasting or,
or, or lifelong relationships oreducational or just whatever it
may be. And you looked at fraternal
organizations, right? People join fraternities, and
now you have a global network ofpeople you could tap into that
that, you know, come from a place of education.
And then I looked at Masonic lodges, right?

(37:56):
And, you know, that's steel sharp and steel, you know,
that's building together. And you know, that's kind of
like, you know, the knowledge, wisdom and understanding that
was so deeply ingrained in the beginnings of hip hop culture
and the fraternity assembly werekind of like the unity, peace
and love the more familial side.And so now it's in hip hop, we

(38:17):
sample. So how do we sample with those 3
organizations and kind of come up with something new?
And again, that's how Flat Property Social was born.
That's dope. That's dope.
And then also, you know, you gotthe food side.
And so let's talk about Chef I because these two things all
commune in that building. That's right.
But they both they, but they, they 1, you know, one came, one

(38:40):
pushes the other and the other one is still highlighted no
matter where it's at. And so, well, that's why I say.
Food is my alchemy, right? Absolutely.
Because, because at the end of the day, the food is up here,
right, Right. And then the food kind of like
communicates the, the how we connect with people and, and
that's that's why I say it's really my outcome because it's

(39:01):
like I, I had no intent. I never cooked on the line until
I had my own line. And that's OK, that's OK, that's
OK. You know, but I tell you what
chef for hire as far as a brand in New York City is, you know,
you, you did your thing, you know, and, and it still are.
So let's let's talk about that. Let's talk about how, how that
all came about and then and thenand how that plays a role into

(39:24):
what you're doing as a, as a, as, as a respected name in the
industry. That's the other thing too.
So you also are, you know, you was at the, the, when all this
stuff started to hit you was already there doing it anyway.
And so your name is synonymous with, with all of it.
So that's why everybody was looking to you like, I know
you're doing this because you know, you have to be like, you

(39:46):
got to be, you're the guy, you know what I'm saying?
So talk to me about that. Yeah, I.
Mean, you know, again, like cheffor hire the the evolution after
we was doing the supper clubs was to get into the legal
market. And being from Cali, I really
wanted to launch it in in in California, but Prop 64 is just
not really the move. And so I decided to plant a flag

(40:08):
in New York. And if the 22 immutable laws of
marketing say if you can't be first, create your own category,
like create your own lane. And so we were going to be the
first cannabis brand, right? But we can't be the first
culinary brand in cannabis. And so we came up using extra
virgin olive oil, coconut oil, honey and ghee clarified butter

(40:30):
in our kitchen in our, those arelike the main fats we would use
in the Dinner is Dope series. So those just became our actual
products we came to market with.And so we launched, I think
we've been in the market now twoyears, but really officially
since like I think it's like a year and a half maybe you know,

(40:51):
a little under that. And you know, you can find us in
about 140 dispensaries right now.
And you know, about to put out acouple of new things and
reworking formulations on the gummies.
And I'm actually about to start a podcast with Chef for Hire,
you know, to kind of like the main goal of the podcast is to

(41:12):
get people to understand that your relationship with this
plant is your relationship. How I feel when I smoke
something the same as you smoke the same exact time in the same
exact place, I'm going to feel different than you feel.
And I just want people to have an experience of going in and

(41:33):
approaching their relationship in that way so they can find out
what's best for them. Not listen to all the marketing,
not listen to all of the all effect based stuff.
Not listen, just, you know, do this for yourself and see how it
works best for you. And I think, you know, once we
have that, we'll have a much more educated consumer because

(41:53):
right now it's, it's, it's, it'sscary in the, in the New York
dispensaries to me. Absolutely.
Absolutely. And you, you touched on
something too. You also have the mask off
podcast, you know, in which it'snot a typical podcast, you know,
it's raw, it's introspective andoften uncomfortable in the best
way. And, and, and I say that because

(42:15):
there is a there's a growth thathappens on camera during this
podcast. And so this is the third year
you've done it. So third season, third season.
Third season, yeah. I started a while ago and I
started originally in 2018. I think 2018-2019 was when we

(42:37):
recorded it. And the idea back then was that
as men, especially coming out ofhip hop, we we're kind of like
very standoffish when it comes to mental health.
We're very like prideful. We know we're not trying to hear
anything about therapy or even talk about these things with our

(42:58):
friend. And I kind of went through a
little bit of a bout of depression, but nobody ever
thought that about me, right? And so I decided that we need to
have these conversations. I also look at like rappers, a
lot of a lot of the songs, like we're more vulnerable than a lot
of genres of music when we're inthat booth, you know what I'm
saying? But when we're not in that

(43:19):
booth, we're not really opening up.
And so I wanted to find a way for us as men to be able to
speak to one another and have these conversations because one,
we get to learn about the other person, we get to practice,
practice active listening, whichis a huge skill that I'm still
practicing and working on. It just helps with our community

(43:42):
and our people so much because most people, they just seem to
be heard. That's all it is.
It's really nothing more than that.
Most problems and issues that people have before they get into
a really bad place or, or sands any like, you know, serious
mental issues and things of thatnature, right?

(44:06):
We could be heard having these conversations and have somebody
listen to us and have somebody relate to us.
Like it could be somebody, you know, forever.
You guys never have these conversations.
So I wanted a way to create a safe space for people to be able
to like be OK having these conversations because I learned
that vulnerability is a superpower for sure.
You know, like that's, that's the vulnerability of

(44:29):
authenticity. Authenticity is your heart's
face. That's that's love.
You know what I'm saying? And if you can lead from that
space of love, like it changes how you receive all of these
other external energies that we go through in life.
And I also learned that a lot ofpeople can't even be told what I

(44:49):
love you, you know, they, they, they can't receive it process.
Yeah, they can't receive it. Yeah, Yeah, it's hard to receive
it. They can't receive.
That and, and it's interesting and I also don't want people to
be discouraged by that because you shouldn't tell somebody you
love them for their response, right?
You should tell somebody you love them because you fucking
love them like and, and you wantto say that and it's it's, it's

(45:12):
therapeutic for you to say that as well.
And then the the last part so that's my side of it.
And then the other side of it is, you know, the people that
I'm interviewing are, a lot of them have names.
They've been out. You know, we might know them
from social media, but we know them at a certain level.
So 1 is. Great for the listener to be

(45:33):
able to hear their story and, and, and here's some of the
things that they went through because again, you know, we see
success and we think it's just successful.
Everyday is successful, everydayis great.
What do you mean? I got money, I got this, I got
that. You have everything, you're here
and you're there. Why would you ever be mad?
I wouldn't be mad if I was in that position.
But it's like you don't know that person's story, how they

(45:54):
got there, all the things they had to go through.
So that's for the listener. And then for the person that I'm
speaking to, my guests, they hadto reflect on their lives.
And you know, that's something that that type of contemplation,
that kind of introspection isn'tsomething that we do naturally,
right? Right when?

(46:14):
We do do it though, it is therapeutic, it feels great.
It is, you know, gratifying. It's, it's so many different
things. It's healing.
And and so again, like, I think,you know, for me, I try to do
things that are mutually beneficial to all of those
involved. And, you know, I think with

(46:36):
NASCAR office, it's yeah, man, we can, we can really have these
conversations because as much as, you know, I'm not telling
anybody not to go to therapy, but there's a lot of therapy,
therapy that can be had amongst friends, you know, amongst
coworkers, amongst, you know, because the more we do that,
when we start to understand how much we're alike, right?

(46:57):
Like we're 90 and .9% alike, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, it's that point. 1% can make changes.
So. Much and so it's like if we can
agree and see ourselves in one in one another through that 99%,
we can learn how to acknowledge and celebrate that .1% that
makes us different, right that's.
That's that's a beautiful thing.I always say that even the the

(47:21):
biggest bigot on the planet, themost racist person ever, there's
two times of the day where they're not thinking about
segregation or separation. That's usually when it comes to
what they ingest, what they eat and what they're listening to.
And I really believe in that. The fact if and This is why I

(47:45):
always tell people's First off, hip hop is the most diverse
genre of music that will ever be.
There's nothing even close. It has shares DNA and
inspiration from every other genre of music.
You can't say that about any other genre.
The other thing is that there's a as a as a true fan of hip hop,

(48:06):
you have a reverence for the artand therefore you have a
reference for the people. If the bigot put you had a
reverence for the people that made that food, you, you can't
biases can't exist in that world.
It just can't not to the level that they are.
And so really, when, when you sit down and you have these
conversations and you, you know,you give the pink elephant a

(48:28):
name in the room and you're a safe with being able to express
that those deepest corners of your soul.
That's a liberating thing for yourself.
One, but two, you make the some people listening like, Yo, I'm
not, I'm not crazy, I'm not the alien here.
I feel that way too. And so that's that level of
growth. Man is a is a, is a crazily

(48:48):
beautiful thing, specifically among men, because as as little
boys, we're taught to not cry, to bottle that up, to be tough.
Everything about pushing your feelings down to the point to
where you know, you, you, you'rejust numb.
And then that's not a real place.
It's not an emotional, it's not a, a human thing to do to

(49:08):
anybody. So, so yeah, I commend you on
that. So talk to me about where you
know, where people can find the podcast 'cause I think it's,
that is a huge thing for people to, to check it out.
So so. So the audio can be found pretty
much everywhere you listen to podcasts.
So if you want to go to Spotify,Apple podcasts, Amazon Music,

(49:31):
iHeartRadio, it's it's it's distributed everywhere.
The video I think should be on Spotify, but it's on YouTube for
sure. So if you just look up at mask
off, I'm sorry, mask off with Hawaii might you can find it
there on YouTube. So the videos are up now and
we're going to be releasing likeevery two weeks.
I want to try to build the audience and then just have time

(49:52):
to let each episode kind of breathe instead of that weekly
where it's like, you know. Like we're not there.
Yet we got to build that audience up and and really get
that out there. And I do want to say this, this
season I will have my first female guest.
So we broadened it out and brought a female in and I'm
excited about that one. Yeah, that's going to be a.
Big 1, so that that having that,that estrogen in the room should

(50:16):
should balance some things out. That's going to be a good one to
see. I mean, she's a bit of.
A tomboy, so she's always aroundthe guys, but it's it's still,
you know, she's somebody a lot of people know.
So it's a it'll, it'll be it'll be good.
And I'm I'm still working on a couple of the guests that are
that are pretty interesting, Butwe got to like, I think we got a
nice, you know, variety. We got DJs and obviously to

(50:36):
raise and see we got other personalities and it's it's we
got some good pick good, some good folks dub.
Dub, dub. OK, All right, So what about
now? Let's play a little game.
It's the lightning round. Before I let you go, we going to
go through again some rapid firequestions.
You spit out the first thing that comes to mind.

(50:58):
No pressure whatsoever. All right, none.
Tape. All right, cool.
So. Favorite munchie after a long
day? Favorite munchie after a long
day? Probably ice cream Still, man.
Yeah, I. Have that I got that residual

(51:21):
Ben and Jerry's 20 lbs. I've cut it all out though I
will say like 72 or 75 hard, like all last year.
Like I ate like I ate some carrot cake yesterday, but
usually like when I would smoke,I would go ham afterwards.
And I found that it's all a program, so.
Because the majority of. Things that we do with cannabis

(51:41):
are a program. We programmed our minds to
believe it, and it's become something that's called
demeaning response. It's basically like we're
placeboing ourselves because everybody else says it too.
So munchies. Yeah, it's not a thing.
It's. Mental because of because of
you. I I, I did 75 hard.
Only reason I I had to start over because I got sick and I

(52:03):
couldn't do the workouts. I didn't I missed a workout.
So, you know, and, and I love the, I love the approach of, you
know, you're not, you're not cheating nobody but yourself.
You can't. You going to lie to yourself,
bro? You going to lie to yourself.
I'm like that. That to me was the most exactly
that, that right there is the, the most powerful part of it
all. And yeah, and it is, it is about

(52:23):
your belief system. And if you can conquer that,
that little, that little voice inside, if you can do that, you
can do anything. It's amazing.
All right. Go to song when cooking.
Go to song when cooking. I got it.
Made special Ed. I got them.
Yeah, that's a that's a dope one.

(52:44):
It's a dope one. OK, most underrated herb or
spice. I got a feeling what you're
going to say, but go ahead and do this won't.
Underrated herb or spice for cooking cannabis?
Yeah, by far. And so most people don't
understand and think about it, it is an herb.
It's a literal herb. And if you think about it, it's
a herb. It's a herb.
It's flowers. Yep, like it's a point like

(53:06):
that's And so again, like, so back to the other podcast thing
is we need to educate people on that on all of these days,
right? People still think indica
sativa. I'm like, no, those are
botanical terms. They got nothing to do with the
fact. Absolutely.
You know, but we're so caught upin that.
So it's like, yeah, even herbs or spices, like how do you
differentiate? Yep, Yep.
Absolutely most Oh no dream dinner guests, living or dead.

(53:38):
Bob Marley, That would be dope. I mean, I could, I could
probably talk to that dude and just chill and smoke and
philosophize. You know what I said forever.
Because. Because I look at him as
somebody that like he's hip hop before we had hip hop, you know

(53:58):
what I mean? As far as like and, and I think
how I look at it, he was just always trying to bring people
together through music, period. You know what I'm?
Saying and lifestyle and and cannabis and you know what I'm
saying the only above like yeah.That's yo, that's that's you
bro. But that's what I'm saying.
Like, I'd love to have a conversation with him and be

(54:19):
like, you know, because it's a, it's interesting man.
I mean, you know, they always say being an entrepreneur is one
of the most loneliest, like loneliest things you can do,
right? But I think also, you know, not
necessarily being a martyr, I wouldn't call him that, but that
where you just believe and that's just the way you, no
matter what, anybody, anything, society, family, whatever says

(54:44):
Nah, that's what I believe and that's how I'm going to do it.
OK, one word to describe your culinary philosophy.
Stampling, you know, I look at you know, how we first started
to learn we foraged, you know, we traverse the globe and just

(55:05):
touched, tasted, saw what worked, what did it and then
just put it together and you know, like they say, nothing's
new under the sun, right? Everything's already been done.
And so it's just kind of like, how can we sample, you know,
different things and kind of, you know, EQ them and mix them
and match them and, you know, come up with something new
because the beauty about like cooking versus baking, as long

(55:30):
as it tastes good. Yeah, you got.
Freedom ain't no. Ain't no wrong way to do it.
Cooking. Baking.
Nah, you got to do it like this.Cooking.
This, I always tell people. I tell people that cooking is
jazz and baking is polka becauseit has to be.
It's the same exact. You haven't heard a different
polka song. It's the it's the same same 24.

(55:51):
I mean, it could still. Be an orchestra like a Symphony.
True. Yeah, right.
But you could still take them through the heart and soul.
Of those different things, yeah,but you know you.
Gotta hit those solos. Yeah, You, you, the whole
section has to be together. Yeah.
It's all got to be within those bars and measured in on time.
Like, well, we got to start, youknow?

(56:11):
Like you can. You can cook something with
food, break it and bring it backtogether or.
That broken thing is now a new thing.
Now it's the old. It's a happy accident like we
That's that's that's that's yeah, that's a fact like in.
Baking. That can happen every so often.
I remember I was making a cake one time and man, Andre Harrell,
rest in Peace, and a bunch of other people at this dinner and

(56:37):
the whole cake just fell. Like.
The whole middle just collapsed.Which means it was moist though.
Which means it was moist though.Which means it was moist.
So if it collapsed, it means it didn't have the structure, which
means it was probably real, realmoist.
Which plays right. So it became.
Like a deconstructed kick. Break it up bro.

(56:58):
Hey, so look on on on pressure cooker.
It's my guy Brian bro. He like I told him he should
have ran with this and he still should.
So on the show he had the dessert in in our in our
competition and he made panna cotta and it broke.
It broke. But it but the the judge who was
who was judging the food, she that was her favorite thing.

(57:18):
She said the flavors were amazing.
I said dude, if you don't open abroken panna cotta store
immediately, then just the problem is to break it on
purpose. It's a whole nother thing.
It's a whole nother. Now you have to know how.
Yeah, you got. To figure out right to be able
to. Now you got to replicate it if
you're putting that on the menu.Yeah, yeah, you.
Got to replicate. It I was just doing it.

(57:39):
I was just doing a private dinner.
It's dope in, you know, another state, right?
So for us, it didn't, it didn't matter as much.
But to be able to replicate thatover and over, that's yeah,
exactly. That's what the magic is that
yeah, bro, man, listen, it's been amazing talking to you,
sharing your stories, all that you do, everything that you're

(58:01):
putting together to forge community at the heart and soul
of it all. And to put hip hop again,
listen, hip hop is selling everything from batteries to to
baby formula, which is crazy, especially coming into a town
like when I can't when I got into food, bro, as a kid from
the Bronx and I went down to Midtown Manhattan, I'm in all
these fancy restaurants. I was always made to feel way

(58:23):
too hood, way too hood. And I had to tone down, you
know, don't tell people you're from the Bronx.
Like maybe say, I don't know, I something else use another term,
you know, it was too, it was toourban.
And to see where it is now, how the hip hop is the most popular,
most popular substance on the planet global, like it's

(58:47):
everywhere. And and the fact of you know
what was crazy to me? Seeing seeing Snoop at at at at
the Olympics was was crazy to me.
Like it was because because Snoop has always been Snoop like
he's a known gang member, a known a known use of cannabis
never hit it. And yet and still, he's the most

(59:07):
recognizable face probably on the planet and he's and he's hip
hop going through so well. I'll say this, I think that we
have to be proud of the circumstances we came from
because we didn't create them. I think there's a certain shame
that comes with that once you get into certain spaces.

(59:30):
And I think we're now seeing those boundaries kind of broken,
you know, or those walls kind of, you know, taken down.
And we got to own it. Like, that's what's dope about
soup is like, this is where I came from.
But yeah, I can sit with Martha Stewart, too, but I'm still
going to be me because you guys made me, you know what I'm
saying? Your system created this.

(59:51):
I didn't ask for this, you know?And so it's like, I think once
we start owning that part, then what can they say to that, you
know? And we do sell.
Everything I'm looking at, Ari Milburn, MSNBC, Look at
everywhere we are. We are the most universal global
culture, period. Yeah.

(01:00:12):
Hands down. And you know.
But now. To your point, to your point, we
got to we have to own that culture.
We have to be the benefactors ofsaid culture and not not out
here buying a watered down version of it that they're, you
know, selling this. It's crazy how it came full
circle. They look at Deborah Dan now.
So Deborah Dan is the darling ofthese major fashion houses.

(01:00:32):
When they was trying to shut himdown, they like nobody.
Everything that he did they copied to this day and and it
all came from him understanding what the streets wanted when and
that was a very hip hop, you know, way of going about it.
So again, bro, you know, you know how I feel about you, bro,

(01:00:53):
I, you know, number reference for you.
I, I appreciate you. I applaud you.
You're you're, you're that guy in a lot of ways.
And so tell everybody where theycan follow you and connect with
you on all your endeavors and everything that's going on.
I'm talking about down from the address to where you're sitting
at right now. Because creatives are horrible

(01:01:15):
self promoted. So yeah, yeah, yeah, give them
all. All right, So I'll.
Start with the the the social medias, the Internet.
There you go. My personal is at HWMK Hawaii
mic with no vowels set for hire and just set for hire
CHEFFORHIGHER because they'll take higher, higher

(01:01:36):
understanding is so. And then at fly private social
chef for hire, you find a chefforhire.com,
flyprivatesocial.com and then the address of y'all come to New
York. We're at 240 DeKalb Ave. in Fort
Greene slash Clinton Hill, depending who you ask Brooklyn a
few blocks from the park. Yeah, come through, pull up on

(01:01:57):
us, man. Get some great food.
You know, we might have some dope DJs.
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Again, man, I want to thank Hawaii and Mike for stopping by.
Check him out. Definitely follow him on all the
things. Definitely check out the mask
off podcast. It's for real a dope, dope, dope
listen. This has been the taste music

(01:02:18):
here food podcast show. I'm Ed Porter.
Till next time, peace.