Episode #159 w/ Chico Brown

Chico Brown is living proof that transformation is possible — even when the odds are stacked against you.

Raised in the heart of Compton, Chico once found himself caught in the middle of gang life, systemic neglect, and survival mode. But in 2005, he made a life-changing decision to turn his pain into purpose. Since then, he’s become a powerhouse community activist, youth mentor, developer, and advocate for justice-impacted individuals.

In this episode of Dog in the Yard, Chico opens up about the journey that led him to start Ex-Contractors, a movement that brings together former gang members (Crips and Bloods alike) to learn real trades, earn real income, and rebuild their lives. His work directly tackles recidivism by turning ex-cons into entrepreneurs and mentors.

He also shares how he helped create Compton Empower, a youth center that launched the careers of NBA stars like DeMar DeRozan and Michael Beasley, and how he’s used his platform to raise millions for at-risk communities with the backing of celebrities like Mark Wahlberg, Penny Marshall, and others.

 Now an entertainment consultant and developer, Chico continues to build bridges between street life and opportunity, between incarceration and redemption, between silence and a powerful voice. This conversation is about growth, grit, and giving back. Don’t miss it.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Himself.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
That'll be.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Hope a south darks a over your mouth, red' less clear.
That's right.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
Welcome back, VX Tone Dog in the Yard.

Speaker 5 (01:32):
Shout out to Chico Brown coming from West Coast Compton, California,
Transition Youth Centers doing the movies. Look for his movies
on all the movie platforms. He's a real one. We're
gonna support him. Chico Brown, appreciate you. VX Tone Dog
in the Yard till we see you next time.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
What you already knows, your boy, Pistol Pete. Welcome back
to Dog in the Yard. And today we got Chico
Brown building and we got my new co host, Tone
from the Beat Accident the building. What's good?

Speaker 4 (02:06):
Was good?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Was good.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
I want you, I want everybody out there to start
getting used to seeing Tone because he's in the building. Man,
he's taking that he's taking that yard walk with everybody
else that we're gonna have in our presence. Man, So
Tony's gonna be in the building. It's my new co host,
it's my brother for a hundred years and being and
this is how we do it. And with that being said,
what up, what man?

Speaker 6 (02:28):
Man up?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
My brother man pledgere having you.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Man, appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Mano Man, this is Chico Brown Compton. Let's just get
it straight off top. You know what I'm saying. You
know what I mean before we get into anything else,
you know what I mean. So, what's up? You've been brother?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Man, I'm good man. Travel here was good man nicely
coming out here, you know, especially coming out here doing
what we did today.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, it was great. I mean, we've been with it
was definitely what we've been doing for the past week.
Man is super legendary, you know, and I'm proud of
myself and I'm proud of all the brothers. It's like
every time I get together with with with Andre Norman,
it's just a good feeling because we're doing greatness.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
You know.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's just it's just that feeling that we were moving,
but we're moving to move buildings and you know what
I mean, were moving mountains.

Speaker 4 (03:12):
That's a fact, you know.

Speaker 5 (03:14):
Just thinking about giving back to the community and organizing
the community and developing the community, I mean something that
I know Chico Brown have a clear understanding of. But collectively,
as we organize ourselves, we bring that same energy to
individuals inside of the cost row setting. Dudes in State
Prison and right Gazal in New York City jail and
just giving back to the community, letting dudes know that

(03:34):
we ain't forget about them facts.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
And with that being said, what's up, Chico, man? So
how new York treating you? You like New York? Man?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
I'm loving it man. Like I said, it was special, man,
it was special. We've been here three four days, going
inside of prison, speaking the kids that the kids but
growing up said, you know, just just the insight of
on some of the stuff that we did and just
trying to encourage them that one day they can't come home.
That was special. Man.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
H It's sue was shit. I ain't see brothers. I
ain't seeing thirty years. That's a fact, you know what
I'm saying. So it was like whoa, you know what
I mean. So that was a definitely great experience, and
we'll be there again. So this is don't stop. This
is the mission just started. Mission just started, you know
what I'm saying. So she go, how long you been home?

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Twenty four years?

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Now?

Speaker 3 (04:24):
You know I came home in two thousand and one,
and I left it when I even ninety eighty nine,
ninety You know what I'm saying. So I came home
two thousand. Yeah, man, it's everything I'm telling you like
a blessing for me to even for me to go
into New York prison and tell them about crips in pirules,

(04:48):
you know, because I have. I felt it was part
of my what I do. They need to know from
somebody who really did that to somebody with his place
where the crips and pinerougs started that if they hear
from me, maybe the insight of what they doing would sange.
So when I came in and I started talking about, man,
I'm a crip. Man, I got shot in nineteen seventy six.

(05:12):
So my my reason for saying that for them to
know seventy six, Damn, they've been game banging. This is
seventy six. When I say I got shot in seventy
six and my best friend died at Centen Year High
School in Compton nineteen eighty. I carried the body at fifteen.
That was just the first of many. I think I've
been apartment over a thirty seven times. So I'm my

(05:34):
point to not that I'm a game banger, not that
the dudes we was talking to is I don't know
but I just wanted to know you came in that
you're potruinself. But for me, pot Roux Street, Compton is
a street man this one street real, what is a
street man street? That's where it came from. That's how

(05:56):
it started. I know the founders who started, I know
the reason why they started, but I wanted them to
do to know you claiming this, and this is what
this is about. You claim that you're a crypt, but
this is what it's about. I can tell you how
all this shit started. So that that was my point
of me starting off like that.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, I got you, but those that are no cheek
go out there in the world and all that. Like besides,
you know you're coming from Compton and being an ex
crypt that I mean, you know, like you was raising
Compton like with siblings.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Father born and raised in Compton, man born and raised
nineteen sixty folds. You know what I'm saying, a lot
of people say they're from guns, but authentically born and
raised in contents. Parents was married for sixty seven years.
Both of my parents passed away the last five years.
But my parents, I don't have an excuse of getting
raised by a single family parents. My parents stayed together

(06:50):
sixty five years, sixty seven years. You know, so that
was never my excuse. My two brothers. They never one
of my brothers got he got We all got shot together,
like seventy six all of us one time.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
How many brothers you got.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Two and we always in the hospital at the same
time we got shot and the drive by shooting. All
of us got hit. That's serious.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
That was great.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
So this is you know what I'm saying. This is
seventy six and so you know, so it was.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Tough, tough, tough, tough content that shit.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Man, like you know, I don't I'll never try to say,
like you know, this game, this is, this, is this that.
But when it comes to the shooting and content, No, no,
this was an every day base. This happened every day.
We back and forth, back and forth for years. And
I know, like in say eighty five, eighty six, eighty seven,

(07:45):
the city of Los Angeles average twenty twenty four hundred
murders a year. So you divide that by three hundred
and sixty five days. How many bodies is that a day?
So that's what they average. Like now, l A, it's
come get four hundred moders a year. Four hundred to
five hundred, that's like, damn, that's great. But then you

(08:07):
have for me to felize how many people. That's still
a lot. But you know what I'm saying, that's a lot.
But four or five hundred people, Yeah, that's that's an average.
That's a year. Like but from twenty four hundred eighty
six eighty seven.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Ain't nothing, man. That means it definitely changed a little
for the better.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
Yeah, it did change a lot. It changed, you know,
from you know today. You know when I see stuff
on TV that glorified game man, like crip walking or
shoe wooving and stuff. Man, that's like, damn man, gang
banging had to be one of the stupid thing I
ever did in my life for me to even think

(08:47):
about it. I A'm not speaking to you because you
got on red or don't don't look at me. You
can't come up with my neighborhood because you from three
blocks from wild If I if I was born at
three blocks from where I lived, I would be from
food Town. I'd be a Piroot. It's just three blocks.

(09:07):
And the dudes that's pi rude from Fru time, if
they were born three blocks ball Way there'll be a crib.
We all grew up together, man before before say sixty nine,
when the Crypts and Pope started saying, we all played
baseball together and the same part. By the time we
were in high school, we can't ride the same school

(09:29):
bus together. We ain't jumping on the same but we
can't even talk together because it's on on site. It
ain't like now like Crypts gang with Piute. No, that
never happened, not in competas.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
So that was your upbringing, was That's how you That's
how it was. It was on and popping.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
I think it was popping on site, on site. Like
when my when my friend Norman got killed in nineteen eighty,
that's when they kicked all the crips out. It was
Crypts and Pius that went to school. It's ex continued,
you know. Now it's all pirue that go to Centinia
in Compton is all cribs. Compton High School is all
blue and white. Sintenia High School is all red and white.

(10:09):
So you figure that out.

Speaker 5 (10:11):
So I want to ask you, how would like growing
up like that? How does that impact the way that
you make decisions about your engagements with people today? I
mean you seem to be a very intelligent man. We
know you, you know, very successful or whatever, but how
does that inform your decision making process today?

Speaker 3 (10:28):
But it's like, you know, like I think about that
a lot, like, well, how you know, how did I
How did I end up being a person who doing movies,
who's successful? And why did I go the other way?
But I realized that we were all from the same
game for real. And when I realized that when I
went to prison, like one of my best friends was

(10:49):
the blood of Pirroot, it's still like my best friend
from the same neighborhood. I'm telling you from fruit time.
So when I get on the yard, as soon as
I walk on the yard, they shut the yard down.
All that you cant see.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
You don't want to I don't want to cut you off,
but I want I want to stay to the strip
right up. So your upbringing, it was a lot of
beef and all that your brother, You and your brother
got shot at that point, I mean, what what what
trigger like you still get in trouble and when you
went to prison and all that we did to get
to you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (11:19):
So on an everyday basis, this is like from I'm
telling you the seventy six you got shot from seventy all.
This is old game. But like, I've never joined the
gag because the gang joined me. Like my neighborhood was
always the neighborhood, but the but the CRYPT started. So
when the Crypt started, this neighborhood, ain't like I'm joining
this gang. No, the crip started in my neighborhood. So

(11:40):
now I'm a crip because it started in seventy. The
prior clip started in seventy sixty nine. So I'm telling
you the crips in my neighborhood started in sixty nine seventy.
So by the time i'm that age, I'm a crip.
It ain't no question. Am I gonna be a blood
or power route. No, that's your neighbor that's my neighborhood.
I have to join the gang joint, the gag joint me,

(12:01):
it was created it and created I got you. So
when people say that you get put on that don't
even make sense to me that I get put on.
Anybody in my neighborhood or anybody in flud time they
get put on joint, the game joint us.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
It might be like that for everybody else but not
for you safe to say that. Yeah, yeah, that's anybody
else got got down with with with the gang. But
you was, you was part of the berth. Yeah, yeah,
saying because just where you're from basically, so once you
became back, you became a crypto. I mean they cost
you more issues and what escalated.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Let me know what, Like I was going to Centenia too,
Like like I said, my best friend got shot, got
shot in the head. We actually was headed the school,
but we never made it because we stopped and we
were shooting knights on the bridge. It's a bridge that
go to Centennial High School. So while we're shooting knight,
dudes on the bikecade and they had the red rags on,
they threw up, they signed, threw up my son. You know,

(13:00):
we said what they said and they start shooting. So
you know, for me, like back then, this is nineteen
six ninety, this is nineteen seventy nine. You watch the car,
do you think this it is like cartoon type shit,
Get up, man, get up? But it was a you know,
him right in the head, no blood, This white stuff
came out and said so when the white stuff come out,
you know, I'm not thinking that he shot in the head.

(13:22):
I don't know what I'm thinking, but when I noticed
him get out fifteen years old, when he don't get up,
I'm like, damn, you know he shot, but still not
thinking that he was gonna die. So when Norman got
shot and got killed like that was just the back
and forth, the back and forth like somebody gotta die,

(13:42):
somebody gotta go back. And so it never sat.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
It was upset off that. There was a lot of
trauma though, and.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
There's still it. Never it's still you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
That course unit trauma as far as like they fucked
you out, as far as your way of thinking you're going,
you're going to he died in your hands and all
that you fifteen years I.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
Still think like, never received no kind of therapy for this,
Like you know, like sometimes every thinking like damn, that's crazy. Man.
I'm fifteen years old. Somebody, my best friend died in
my own somebody got to be with every day we
walked to school together, we do this, we do that.
At fifteen years old, seventeen, somebody else died. You know
what I'm saying, just keep me. It just kept going.

(14:20):
My friend Kate nine died. I'm talking to him on
the phone. It's shot in the chick. I mean, it's
so many murders. I get to sit up here and
talk to you about that. That affected me. But I
don't know how I get over it. I don't really
don't for really, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
It's just something that you know.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
It's here, But I know it just didn't happen to
me because it happened on the other side. It happened
to a lot of power rules, other crip. You know
what I'm saying. In this whole thing of gang bank,
thousands of us died when you got shot out that
shot in the hand and the lag. My brother got
shot in the face, in the and in the head. Right,
your father terrible. You ain't even want to hear this story.

(14:58):
This started me said, let me tell you how to
deep this story. So I got shot October.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
No.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
My sister died October to sixteenth, nineteen seventy six. We
got shot November to sixteen, nineteen seventy six, thirty days
after my sister died, right after I told that. Come on, man,
it was it was fucking hard. I bury more of

(15:26):
my friends than my mother died. My mother died at
a hundred and I buried more of my friends than
she did.

Speaker 5 (15:33):
Right, just so just thinking about you know again, you know, Pete,
you brought up, you know the aspect of trauma, and
you know Chico you spoke about, you spoke to like,
I don't even know how I I don't even know
how I get past it, Like, you know, it's like
it's a built in triggering mechanism at this point, right,
but we do know that something I love to exemplify

(15:54):
that although you experienced those things that could have been
traumatic or may be traumatic, and may still be residing
with you to this day, right, you have found a
way to be resilient and be successful outside of you know,
despite those experiences that you had as a young person.

(16:14):
I mean, you know, we always speak about mindset shifting, right,
changing from you know, maybe a negative perspective to a
positive perspective, or you know, seeing things from a negative
angle right to seeing things from a positive angle, or
having the ability to understand that somebody else's viewpoint of

(16:35):
a particular situation may not be the same as yours.
For me, I know for Pete, and I know for
you because again you know, we conrades, we engage in
other individuals that seeking to change their lives. Tell us
about that transition, right, because your life you have a

(16:56):
dynamic life like so you have that foundation, which is
you know, for me, I like to speak about the
social determinants of health as a public health expert. Right,
it's the environment that affect the way that we make decisions,
the way that we move forward in life. And without
a shout of a doubt, what you've explained is that
the environment had an overwhelming impact on the way that
you see the world today.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
However, we do know.

Speaker 5 (17:16):
That despite all of those challenges, you made it out right,
you didn't just survive your hood, you thrived in your
hood out of your hood and all.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
Sets of circumstances.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
Talk to us about that that transition and how you actually,
you know, went through certain things in life that that
triggered you to begin to think on a deeper level,
to make certain and certain.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
You know it was the cause the time that you
got I mean, was it.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
No, I think after you say it said some fourteen
fifteen years old. So by the time I'm eighteen nineteen,
that's when I become this drug dealer. I think that
I think me wanting not to be just a drug dealer.
I wanted to be the man I wanted to be.
You know, if I if I'm a drug dealer, I'm
gonna go take it to how far I can go

(18:03):
with this. And so I think the motivation was the
motivation for me had to be the money, because I
wanted to get all the money, you know, and I
think that was my goal. She's getting so much money
through what we're doing, especially when, especially when we talk
about city of Compton went at this time, we weren't

(18:26):
hearing about it. Like we're talking about the eighties, the
early eighties, eighty eighty one eighty cocaine, you know, like
that we got hundreds of thousands, like keys of coal
link kine. That wouldn't happen until I don't know how.
I'm not gonna say how I got that, whatever happened,
but it just was a flood of cocaine coming through

(18:46):
our way, and I become a drug dealer, you know
what I'm saying. I become this drug dealer who is
that You could come on my street which is called
Door Street in Compton if you wanted to buy it,
because we called it. We never called it crack. We
always called it rock. You can you can come on there.
You're about twenty dollars rock for me or my people

(19:08):
in there, about one hundred kilos on that one street.
You can spend twenty dollars or you can spend a
million dollars, just like that. So so so this street,
door street becomes this place where you get anything you want.
And that thing was like, so so now I'm getting
I'm shopping. I'm living Compton, but I shop at Bijon store.

(19:32):
I was shopping at Pansacity before people start talking about Phasasgy.
I was going there in eighty dudes, wasn't wearing a
Phansacity in the eighty people still having like the Bejon
jackets that I was wearing twenty thousand dollars for cash
man thirty thousand. I was paying that shit. Bejon is
the store is like appointment only. So the money I

(19:55):
think that we got me over a lot of stuff.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah right, there was able to cover how you felt
fell and all the trauma that you went through through
getting money, hustling and just just letting it go, just
let me just keep moving. So go ahead. So well,
when when you actually you getting money there? So getting money?
What what year and what age you went to jail
and with everything? So he got caught with you.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
So I never thought like, Okay, you know when I
first went to jail, No, I the first eighty eight.
I actually didn't go when they when when when the
fairs raided?

Speaker 4 (20:31):
Ay?

Speaker 3 (20:31):
But it actually was went on the run the funny thing.
I'm talking to you. But I ran. I ran to
New York because I wanted to go somewhere with a
lot of people that looked like me. So I said
the fun I'm going to New York. I ain't never
been to New York in my life.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
I was planning right in.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
I blended right in. I stayed in New York for
two years. I was in I was in Harnor, and
then I was in the Bronx. I stayed there. I
spent like a regular person. Nobody knows where I am.
I've been blend in with everybody. Was in Harnor. And
I think I told you. I went to get an
I D and I got an ID a Columbia University
at a Columbia Riff, Columbia.

Speaker 4 (21:06):
Yeah, you did tell me that.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
So that's how I got called for getting the Columbia
University ID. But I didn't know. I didn't know Columbia
University was an Ivy League school. Yeah. So so when
I go back to you know, I go back to Compton,
and I'm out here like I'm just I'm running around
here like you know, I know who out here out here,
but I've never been out here, and I'm like, but

(21:28):
I gotta go home. I've been out here for two years.
Grandmother passed. I couldn't go to the funeral. Fans looking
for me. I found. I go home, go to my neighborhood.
I was here five minutes. I see a police pass
in mind, but it was a higher patrol, like it
was a high patrol. Ain't gonna do that. But they
was hiding in the back seat of the car. If

(21:50):
the Faith was hiding in the higher patrol car, so
I'm not thinking.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
As soon as you got back, soon as I got back.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
But that ain't a coincidence. Somebody call that was from
my neighborhood, like, he's here, you know it Rewards. So
they called right say he's here. It's when I get busted,
like it in eighty nine, I get busted. Men the
Fed no bear my pott is on who was on
my case or whatever? They took deal for forties and thirties.

(22:19):
Everybody take a deal, you know. But I was gone
for two years on the run. They offered me a deal,
like I'm not taking no deal. I'm going to try.
Everybody don't like cheap man. You about to take it. Deal.
You don't take a deal, You're done, you know I was.
I'm twenty four years old. I thought about it like

(22:39):
I would take for ten fifteen, get the shop with
I'll still be here. Something else. Tell me, now, I
don't take the deal, go to try. But I went
to try, try last about four months or something, was
found not guilty, walked out of there, bought walked out there.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Well that's a different story because nobody really beats the.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
Pulling my story out and walked out on the big case,
the big drug, a big case, and walked out the door.
So now you know twenty I think I stayed like
almost two years by the year and then they have
fighting the case. Walk out the door. When I say
walk out the door, I walk through the back through
the door court. So when I go back to the

(23:24):
door to my thing, everybody thought I was sorry, guilty
of something like man, check, I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry.
I don't know what you sorry about it. Now I'm
going home.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yeah, I gonna beat the case.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
Case. They didn't know I beat the case. They thought
I lost because you know, you know, I came in
at the hend. They're like, man, I'm sorry, you gonna
be all right. I turned around, I said, man, chicks out,
I'm gonna be great because I'm about to go home.
They about to release me. Nigga one in the fucking
case walk out the door.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
What year is this?

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Ninety ninety one?

Speaker 2 (23:56):
There?

Speaker 3 (23:58):
Walk out the death. So now I'm thinking, I'm I'm
bigger than life.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Like I just beat the you know, I go beat
then I go.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
By the seven fifty b W yeah, bro, like, yeah,
I beat the kids. You know I'm done with this ship.
This is me talking. I'm really done, man. I beat
the fed. All my partners got thirty and forty. They
got thirty forty years. They were like, man, cheek graduation. Damn,
we're gonna take our fleeback. Everybone will take their flee back.
But it's too late and it got centered get out.

(24:31):
I'm on the street for two years a Freeway get out.
Freeway called me like cheak cheek man, what I man?
You I'm doing the youth center over there. Want to help, man,
I need some help, you know, like, man, come on,
I help you. Man. You know you want to be
part of the youth center. Because I was already open
ship for the kids and we just called it the

(24:53):
Polo West. We had a bigger, like one hundred times
square foot building we can't bought before before he getting
incunstrated the first time.

Speaker 5 (25:03):
I want to ask you a question though, because just
to give a little context, as you dropped Freeway got out,
who was Freeway? How was Freeway associated with you? Because
we didn't like I don't think we really got that
part of it.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
This is the funny thing, man, Freeway was always friend.
We never did business together because I was He had
his own plug. I had my own plug. Got you
Sometime when I need something, I go get it from him,
so tiny something can get it from me. But always
like okay, if you you know, if you need some help,
I got you.

Speaker 4 (25:29):
You're talking about the original Freeway.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
I ain't talking about the record. I'm talking about Freeway.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
Rig from from from California, California.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
So when Freeway got out, like cheek, you want to
go in with me on the studio. Then, so we
started building the studio. We got the record, we got
every rapper coming over there. Rig name is you know Freeway,
the Freeway Boys, and the Freeway Academy was doing the
Freeway Academy for for the for the youth in the
in the community. Freeway was really getting tennis like a

(25:56):
pro tennis player. People don't even know that, but he
played in it. And so he was like, Ben just
helped me. I need some help to So you want
to man, I'm okay, I'll pay. I'm gonna pay for
all this stuff. So I pay for studios. We rebuilding
about the building. And then while we're doing this, he
get a call from the people who Black and the CIA,

(26:20):
the government, however you want to put it. He get
a call. We'll say whatever. He get a call. So
I've been we in the car, in the car with me,
We're going back and forth like and I can tell
you all this, I can tell you. Frick kept saying no, no, no,
he didn't want to do this. He kept saying that,

(26:41):
and I overheard the conversation and I said, man, you
need the money. I give you the money if you
want to go. You know I did say that. I said,
I'll give you the money if you want to go
do this. Sh like, no, I don't want to be
than the dude, the blade dude, you know, like, oh man,
just help me this one more time. You know, you know,
after you do this. I just got a one hundred,

(27:01):
one hundred and fifty them right here. If you buy
a hundred, you know, we're good. I just need some
money because I'm coming back. You know. It was just
a fake start, like you know, like I said, Man,
all right, man, fuck it, I'm gonna give you the money.
Just go get it. But we go down there, esu is,
we go to Mexico, we go to the border. But

(27:24):
this is the thing that would happen, so when we
go down there, So I'm in the cut. I'm not
saying nothing. I'm not saying that. But they they knew
that they wasn't rinking money, so they were like and
then they ran my name because I drove my truck like,
oh that's Chico, would break Chic. She's gonna just beat
the case. He just beat us. We gotta get him.

(27:45):
He gotta give us the money. You know, you know
how they work. Yeah, so they told to so so.
So the situation is like, we need to have a
Chico head because I had left that day, so I
come back. We need to you know, no, we need
a man who got the money because they want to
make it. You know. Rick failed for that ship. I

(28:06):
felt for the shut up matter fucking I'll go with you.
I'm gonna go. So I ended up going down there.
I went to the border and they were like, if
you come over here to Mexico, we give them to
you for like I think it was eight thousand key
at this time keys was fifteen mm hmm. But if
I bring him to you right there, ten thousand ten

(28:28):
said million dollar. Okay. I said, all right, fuck, let's
do it. I'll bring you the money. So I Memorick
went down there balling the money and I'm acting Rick
and this is like I'm like, I'm still like, I
don't know, man, this is I'm feeling this ship. I'm

(28:49):
saying that they won. To the end of the transaction,
I say, ring, talk to talk to you, you sure man,
because something and this is me ke like that. You know,
it's like my father cheek. You know, it's like my father.
I know to do because I've met a few times,
like and I was like hesitant, like really hesitant. And

(29:11):
then they're like they asked me for something about the
kids and some butter like butter some heroin too. No,
they asked me I want something. I was like, no,
that's that's to make my charges go up, really like no, no,
And then they said they didn't want break together, buddy.
They wanted me to get the body. This is the trick.
This is hod enough. So they're like, okay, So I'm

(29:35):
asking them, okay, where the ship at, like round the corner,
like round the corner. Man, All right, let's go. I'm
gonna talking about round the corner. I ain't you know,
I ain't give it. I ain't giving you my money
before I see this ship, you know, it's in the
around the corner, in them all around the corner. So
I'm driving wreaking. The guard drove around the corner. It's
a truck parked there. So we got a driver to
drive back. I said, they go check my ship. That

(29:56):
ship is there. So he went checked the sims and there.
So it was like that, I start the car up
like I'm gone. I did my part. I'm gone. As
soon as I start the car and Rick. Rick jumped
in the truck. And Rick was in just another truck.
I was in the car and the driver was driving
the car that they set up. So the dude jump

(30:18):
in the car, touring the car. By this time, I
see everything in the parking like putting on da jack,
FBI jack. I see the helicopters coming off the road,
so I'm like, this is a drop on you. This
is over. So soon as I trying to get up
out of it, then hundreds for fairs, helicopters, It's just

(30:43):
surrounded like it's over. Before I could look at Rick,
Rick no, already he took car. Rick go down the freeway.
He lived up to his name, might gonna live freeway.
So he went on the freeway a highest beach. We
got about half of my because they was older. Boom
they got me. They got the red beams on my
head like so you know, like damn, this is like

(31:07):
so that feeling right there, like damn, what's over?

Speaker 4 (31:11):
This?

Speaker 3 (31:11):
It is over. I just you know, I'm thinking about that.
I can't why did I do this? I don't need
the money why did I do that? This is my
feeling by this time. Now it's over the next thing
we know and this this is how that's how funny
life works, you know. So we imprisonment and Rick we're
in jail. Probably two weeks later, we get a letter saying, y'all,

(31:37):
I need to this dude name, what's his name? Who
wrote the gay with He said, I have information I
need to know. Like, man, we take a deal with
the life. Whatever the No, this is way bigger than y'all,
Like what you mean said, I got some effidence to
show up that the people he was getting a drug

(31:59):
with from they've been working for the United States government forever, y'all.
Just punch, he's been selling drugs, y'all forever. And I
got proof. The guy who was supposed to testify against y'all,
he's a dirty He got caught with ten tons of
cocaine and they let him go just to get y'all
like ten tons. He got caught with ten tons. This

(32:21):
is like, man, he said, I'm gonna put you off
a bit. I'm gonna come see y'all, san diego, come
see us. Come with the paperwork. Sure, give us the paperwork.
Were reading this shit like damn man, nod yeagen Bush

(32:42):
like the people and people that what you mean like
these people involved in like case like this is me
and ricked like Chee and the government. What the fuck
is this? Man? He said when we're going home. This
is the first thing he said, when we're going home. Man,
look at this month past. We go through this every day.
They lawyer's coming back like no, no, now the story

(33:03):
breakout that the CIA is puponing us with drugs.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
They denied every bit to the last day, like that
didn't happen. So now I'm like, what the fuck is
this real? Every piece I'm telling you is we had
every discovery Mexican waters and came in in. By this
time they coming now they we got redacted paperwork. She
get ordered unredacted paper and give it to him. So

(33:30):
we're reading the names like, man, this is so crazy.
Ship for all these years we've been selling drugs for
the government. Mm hmmm, Rick like man, man, By this time,
they like, but this ship is really happening. I was

(33:50):
really surprised when people say we never knew that we did.
Don't that we didn't we didn't seek out to sell
drugs for the government. We didn't We didn't even know
until we got arrested. Yeah, that's how all the story
break come out to c I a selling drug. They
never wanted us to know, but we had an investigator
after that, so.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
Y'all want to they locked, y'all, y'all went to the
fact and no more. So what happened with that situation,
y'all capped out?

Speaker 3 (34:19):
No, no, no, no bear so so so this is rigged.
Three time offended. So Rick definitely been looking at life.
So same situation. I faked like I was going to try.
But I'm telling Rick like, man, I you know if
you want it, I told Rick. I told Rick like, man,
if I can't get life, I'll get what they said
because it's guidelined. I need you to try me for

(34:42):
because they stole some money too. It took some money,
so it wasn't what I really gave him. So okay,
you need to try and read for how much money
I had. This I don't know if it was don't work,
but that's my Lloyd's argument. No, he needed to get
try to. They said, I'm paying ten thousand and the key,
so three hundred cy thiland he need to get caught
with the money, amount of drugs, with how much money.

(35:06):
That's how the guy last. I think I forgot my life.
I think level thirty two or something like that. You
know the fairy yes right, God and all that. So
we went all the way into that, but I still
don't mind knowing what I won't get until Rick gets sentenced.
We got we got sentence at the same time. So
when I went up, I got sentenced. So we're like

(35:28):
it was ten, say, say ten and a half years.
So I've said twelve years because I had already did
a year and a half one other case, so I
always say for twelve years. But it was like that
Rick coming a thing cheat man like game life. So
when he come to the sale withman like, I said, man, life, damn.

(35:50):
So I really like trying to figure out what to
say to him life. I mean, what could you really
tell like, because because this is a different situation in life,
fairs all life, and so I said, man, we gotta
get back, we gotta get back you know appeals like
like life. I got life and gave me life, man,

(36:12):
and they did this to us. So at that moment,
I was like, damn, man, that's it's a rap. So
I said, I'm coming home, man, And I told him
that too. Man, you know, I'm gonna come home and
do some positive shit. Man, I got you, I got
your back. I always told them that, and I was like,
you know, knowing I was gonna do something that's positive.

(36:33):
Knew I was gonna go home and open up youth centers.
From day one, all my time and job, I was
just figuring out what to do, and that was one
of them. And I came home, you know, I opened
up youth centers. Man, I was I just wanted to
get back to the community, helping the kids like to
be just stay out of trouble, don't do the same stuff.
That was my whole my whole goal in life was

(36:55):
helped them. And so when I came home, I opened
up youth center, and I opened up another one opened
up one in Compton Watts and one in South Central.
I ended up being like a bunch of kids, individual
and college Mike bs the the more de Rosen was

(37:20):
my nephew oj Mayo. All of them practice or coached
them or something at my facility at my youth center
in my gym. I go to the NBA drift here
back to back because I got players, because I got
an AAU team. I got kids that's in the league
today right now, from then that's been in the league

(37:42):
seventeen years. From my program that I started after I
came home.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
From prison, Trouble Kids was just regular.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
Trouble kids from Compton. I used to go. I used
to start. I was picking them up in my bus
and beating them from Compton to South Central to my organization. Man,
it's like, I'm going to get these kids. Kids. I've
lost a few, like she got going, like like one
in my little home and I got his own video
tap to me. It was like fifteen. He didn't want

(38:12):
to get in the man, go to the center that
same day you get shot.

Speaker 5 (38:17):
Then I want to give you your props for that,
like just reaching out and you know, at risk youth
and so on and so forth, for just contributing to
their lives. Because we always speak about the school of
prison pipeline, right, So when you can get a youth
at a younger age, you stopped them from ending up
in prison. And then I mean, I think your work
speak for yourself. Demort de Rozan is a bad boy

(38:37):
in the NBA. Beasley is a bad boy in the NBA,
so definitely kudos. The youth would definitely play a part in,
you know, generating those NBA legends.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
The more and the more Uncle's kin Kevini, he got
shot in front of my myuse got killed. I was
just pop too. He got killed right in front of
my shot. The chat well I'm talking to a phone,
like you know, so that stuff can't happen to me.
And this is even after I came No, Kevin got

(39:08):
killed me. But then their real life story like the
more successful all Star Beasley, Nolan Smith, O j Man
like and then like, I'll tell you a story about
Big you like Big U. We had a conversation about
this like because I was said, Man, people don't know

(39:31):
how much work you put in for your son. Man.
I was in with you. I saw all the work
that you did. I was up there with you when
you said just go to the gym, I take my
son and the big you tell me cheat man, you
inspired me. Man. I saw all the work that you
were doing at the community that you know, at your center,
and I was like, man, she came home and started
doing this. So I inspired him to do what he

(39:53):
was doing, and I'm like, man, that's crazy. You never
told me next time. I'm just telling you that. Like man,
I said, I was just doing the work, not just that.
Like I'm just using this as an example of how
life is. Because he came to one of my movies
from me. He said, Man, when you actually come to
your movie from here, I thought it was just gonna

(40:14):
be some bullshit, black shit. This is he said, Man,
you got some man. You know what, Man, this is
some real ship you're doing. Movie did. Yeah, it's a fact.
That's what he told me. We did this ship. I said,
I really ain't you know I do this, man, But
I don't care.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
Nobody don't know how you got into the movies. So
how you get into that when you came home? Right
did twelve years? Now what year is this?

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Two thousand one? I got right in? Okay, so two thous.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
You got when you started that you felt that, you know,
it's always was like you know, it was in you,
like you know, I'm gonna do it.

Speaker 3 (40:53):
I'm gonna take this right back to you to New York.
You ain't gonna believe this story. But so Peennie Marshall
is from the Bronx. So she she when we had
a conversation about it, she said, she could, you know what,
tell me more about your youth center. So I'm telling
my youth center and she's like, oh my god, that's great.

(41:15):
Doing the cents, she said, I'm doing a hip hop
she said, I'm doing a be bop breakdancers from out here,
from dudes from Brooklyn. They was in the l A.
She said, I'm doing it in Hollywood. You're going to
bring some of your kids to see these kids, the
breakdancers from New York. I forgot their names, but I said,

(41:38):
all right, I bring some kids. She said, like, bring
ten kids and something. So I got the buzz. I
bring them there. Kids like they enjoyed us and the
dudes from New York pop like breakdancing. I'm trying to
think your name, but I can't the boogoloo or something.
I don't know nothing right, So when I bring the kids, like,
I'm really I want these kids to think about something

(42:01):
other than being in the game. And so Penny so
that I was really true to what I was doing.
And then she invited me, like I just want you
to come to the house. I need to talk to
you when I came over that she you know, and
I know she got to know everything about you. I
know the case and stuff. But I want you to
do better. I want you to achieve more than what
you're gonna do. What you're doing. It's good that you

(42:23):
do basketball, but what else could you do? A lot
of kids don't play basketball. She telling me what can
you do for a kid that don't play basketball? And
she just gave me some suggestion. She said, maybe you
want to get into the film business. Maybe you want
to do that. And like I don't know nothing about
the film business. She said, I'm gonna teach you. I'm

(42:44):
gonna show you. And then she showed me. She had
me in her kitchen. Edity like she got crips in
her kitchen. I got dude from in her house and
didn't make a difference to her that I had crypts

(43:05):
from Compton in her house. She was down and showed
me the right thing. When Penny had a party, Celet,
I'm talking about a list. She said, I want you
to get security from me. But I wanted to be
all cryps and bloods.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
M hmm.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
She was all Crimson blood muggs as well of them
mugg lutaty. He was there like mugs. I got Eaglewood,
I got the Bloods and crypt protected her house. She
got regarded there, she got shocked, and she got every
A list celebrity at her house. And the security is
crips and Bloods, Crimson barbers from COmON. So she got

(43:45):
me into the business. And her last, her last film
she did was my family is called Compton Compton Rising,
and that's me putting Crypts and powus together to rebuild
houses and content nice. So I was doing that and
she said, I want you this is what I'm gonna
do too. That's a great idea. But what about it?

(44:08):
What if you rebuild the whole city account and forget
about houses, think bigger? Like shit, I'm just going by
with the money I got. Said no, let's call him Mark.
Let's CALLI Mark. I said, Mark. Okay, Mark Webbert called him.
We'll call him right now. She called him. She tell
him what I'm doing. He like, she could come to
my house tomorrow. Let's talk about go over mark house,

(44:29):
pump up the conversation, like this is what I'm doing.
Showed them on my phone, like, man, that's some good ship.
But what if. What if you have more money and
you can do build youth centers and all kinds of
other stuff, not just houses, refurbished this building and refurs
So More I came up with the idea, this bill

(44:49):
youth centers. Let's refurbish this building, that stuff. He said,
I'll help you raise the money. They raised like a
million dollars for.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Me at you.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
So I started doing that. Not only they took me
in Netflix. More made the call this is what she
goes doing, and they gave.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
Me a deal.

Speaker 4 (45:18):
Mm hmm, yeah, I want to I want I want
to add.

Speaker 5 (45:21):
Right, you know you you started in the hood in Compton, right,
tumultuous childhood, adverse childhood experiences, things that could have totally
altered the directory of your life. We are our experiences
as human beings right environments and you know, and and

(45:41):
impact the way that we develop, the way that we
make decisions. You go to prison right, due to some
bad choices. You come home from prison, you have a
mindset shift.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
Right.

Speaker 5 (45:52):
You decide that you're gonna do something different. You invest
in yourself, open up one youth center. Driving a van
getting the kids from point A to point B. You
meet Penny Marshall start doing stuff with with with with
the movie industry. From there you're introduced. So we think

(46:13):
now we're speaking about networking, right, this is what we
talk about with the men in prison. Right, network and
building your network and making your transition from there. We
know what's happening today. You're making movies. But I'm just
thinking about it. I just wanted to. I just want
to chart, like your trajectory and how you're consistently moving
forward and developing and staying consistent on the things that

(46:33):
you're doing. And I just give it right back to
you because I think your story is dynamic, and I
think I think we need to really be hearing these
stories so individuals understand what the possibilities are like or
you have to do is thinking and imagine it and
it could be, it could be done.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
So I thought I was making money selling drugs, and
we make money. We think a few'll be cool men.
But the way they was living this way different. They
find on private jets they're doing stuff that we said,
we got money to slide to New York something eighty

(47:09):
thousand one way and stuff they owned planes, and so
I start flying on play. I never did that when
I was so drugged I didn't even know how can
I do that? So by this time, Penny flying me
on jets private, I'm going to the games in New York.
Mean people that she know from New York, not just

(47:29):
see the movie been in the fashion billionaires. That's you know,
that's real billionaires, not like you got a man. They
got twenty thirty billion dollars. So Penny introducing me to
them kind of people.

Speaker 5 (47:42):
Toot. She introduced me to Bill Gates funding right.

Speaker 3 (47:49):
His daddy at at my youth center out of Bill
Gates father in South Central. He can't like powerful Bill
Gates dad. How does this happen? So this is what
I'm thinking. Like so now, not only that, I mean,
I'm not for more the bad pid to this person.

(48:12):
She opened the door for me, like and and she
probably was the only white friend I ever had in
my life. Gotcha, And I always like, you know, don't
talk to the bad people. No, she opened the door
before people look like me would never do. She guided

(48:34):
me in the right direction to do the things that
I'm doing today. Like when ship don't go right, always
think about some ship, she said to me. And it's deep.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
She she she had she definitely had a major impact
on your life as far as just transition and all that,
without a doubt. You know what I'm saying. She she
can't on a critical time because coming home from jail
and all that ship those would be great moments, but
there be critical times because just like you said earlier
tone when we was at the jail, he was like responsibilities.

(49:15):
You know what I'm saying, shit comes. You know, she
get real home, you know, she get real. You gotta
buy clothes, pills, this that, you gotta fall in place.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
Shoot.

Speaker 2 (49:27):
So without the right support, you know, you could crash out,
you know what I'm saying. So she was dead for you, sure, man.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
I often think what would have happened too if if
she if she didn't come through, Do I get back
in the game? Mhmm. I think I told you this
story before this right, just me doing your friend joke.
So it was that by AU basketball tournament, you know,

(49:56):
with the kids twelve years old. Then I get a
call from Mexico, like, chee, where you at? That just
happened to be in San Diego? I said, Man, I'm
in San Diego. We got Fat Joe performing, and like
you want to come over here. Oh yeah, I'm not.
I really don't want to come, but these you know,

(50:19):
I said, oh all right, man, which want me to do?
Said big Fat Joe. Up at the thing, I got
back the shuttles and stuff, so I got a driver.
I was like, all right, I'm about to sun. I go,
and I picked Fat Joe up at the border. Across
the border, Fat Joe looking at me like, well, he
don't know me. I don't know him, m hmm. But

(50:42):
he knows something going on because in the middle of
the freeway some Spanish guys with guns stop the bus
to wait for me to get him, and they're like, oh, cheat,
got where you've been? You know, we go to Mexico.
They see me and like Chico, oh man, you go home.

(51:04):
They don't see me till this was the first time
I seen me this as I came home and oh, yeah,
thanks for picking Fat Joe. Be gonna perform it, Like,
come on, let's talk. Go upstairs and talk Fat Joe
with me. He'll tell you his second story. I'm telling
you we go in there. I don't cart to whatever
it is, what it is, I'm not talking to Fat
Joe as a Fat Joe I'm talking to him, like,

(51:26):
you know, I want to make a conversation, but he,
you know, Fat Joe like, I just came down here
to perform in my bag and we leave it. In
the midst of all this, I'm like, damn, I just
made a bad decision. I'm back in this ship. I'm
back in Mexico. I'm back over here. How I'm gonna
get back? This is what I'm thinking. Why they perform

(51:48):
me like meph These people know I'm over here. It's
over for me. It's time to go back, Like what's
gonna happen?

Speaker 2 (51:59):
Sooner?

Speaker 3 (52:00):
We got to that board of thing. Can't winning the
Troy and said, everybody off the bus mm hmm, second expections.
Something going on? Like no, Fat Joey tell you man.
He was like, what's going on? Like make this story short, man.

(52:28):
They searched, the bus went on. They look at me.
The idea. By this time, I threw it out the window.
I threw it in in Mexico going through. That's all happened,
and Fat Joe said, oh, he's my security, you know,
he's my It worked. That's how I got back over here.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
If not, you would have been done done because you
ain't got no white, no id and you just came
home and I just I just came home and you
was on probation.

Speaker 3 (52:55):
Probation would have been it was like a super bad years.
I think I had two years in or something super
bad first class ticket and I said, Joe said, oh,
he's hedn't say security road manager something like that. Jordan
know whether I come to New York to take the

(53:18):
more to the Rucker Park for the for the high
school best players in the country. So I see Joe
at the UK Park for the high school the best
players in the country. Man, I saw you when I
saw your oh ship, I saw your American gangster. I
know you are now because that's how me and him

(53:39):
start our conversations.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
That would be joke, and then we.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
See each other club like man and then I tell
them who I was. He know me from that. That's
how he know me though. That's what I was telling you.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
Tell us a little bit about before we get into that,
as far as like how many movies and what you know,
everything you've been involved with since you came home.

Speaker 3 (54:06):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Uh? You know did did?

Speaker 3 (54:10):
Uh? As far as the so like Cinema, Leebay Studios,
and was just my studio email, my catalog. I got
one hundred, two hundred and fifty movies. You get.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
Ship, so goes again. You got the plot, so.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
You know, you go look at that my catalog. But
what for me to be like totally involved in this stuff? Man?
I got everybody used to come to my studio, but
they never know who I was. It was club like
the Jamie Fox. Everybody like, damn, man, I know you
was doing this? Can we do this? Can we do that?

Speaker 4 (54:51):
Man?

Speaker 3 (54:51):
I was just I was nobody and big us and
cheek the man or I don't care about that same Well,
what I I wanted to do is just like I
didn't want to be even when I was a drunk,
I never know that. I never wanted to be the man.
I just wanted to be the man that. You know,
all the other stuff you wanting to.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
Get the bag, you know, I said, you don't care
about nothing.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (55:13):
You just care about just work and get the bag
and keep it moving, keep it all the love, jewelry,
none of that.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
Yeah, I can tell. I can tell.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
I mean, it's a lot of brothers like that.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
Man.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
It's smooth. They don't want to be all out loud
and all that.

Speaker 5 (55:26):
Never just living your life, living your life. But he's
just that type of brother that you don't want to be. Nah,
you you live in your life again, you said you
started with that and you're consistent with that. And it's
one other thing I want we want to ask, right
is important? You know, we spoke about the work that
we you know, did inside of the state prisons and
the city jails.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
What do you think about.

Speaker 5 (55:48):
Prison reform, restorative justice, you know, changing the prison environment.
What do you think about that? And do you think
it's necessary? Do you think it's something that's needed in
these modern times?

Speaker 3 (55:57):
Very need, very necessary, And to like going inside the
prison with all like this, it's a total different experience
of somebody who went in prison, somebody who went in
prison who's been time. We all did time. But just
to walk through the door, to go back to see
the people that we was in prison with, trying to

(56:18):
help them to get home. And that's like the chills
that you talk about that you had. I had the
same chills man, to see the dudes like man, if
them dudes can come back and get us if we
ever get out, we can come back and get them.
We can help them. The cycle of us going to prison,
it is not a mistake. There's no way all of

(56:39):
us go to prison for some of the same stuff
and get all this time designed that way. But if
we don't, if we stay sleep, nobody else will know.
So for me to come back, there's like there's a blessing,
but I can do this. Shit.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
It's God's plan. That's how I look. That's right. Only
God could put in the way we all over the
world put us together inside of a prison, inside of
a prison, not just a prison of max security, yeah,
where they're not really basically listening to nobody body.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
I saw tears today, I saw laughter, I saw smile,
and I was like, damn man, what we said our
voice made a big difference somebody tonight thinking about every
exactly everything we said.

Speaker 5 (57:26):
That's a fact now without a shout of down. And
I love the fact that you emphasized that, just giving
that bringing hope back to the people.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
You know, prison reform was definitely, you know, something that
has been overdue, you know what I mean, you know,
like so much things that happened throughout the times that
all of us had their time at different times, different
different part in the world, different errors, different ever, and
it's still the same, you know, we still get the

(57:57):
same results what I'm saying, So.

Speaker 5 (57:59):
The gold for us as individuals who made the transition
from the cost role environment back to society to actually
be able to go back and uplift individuals and give
individuals that sense of hope that it's a possibility for
them to make it out here and do the same
work that we're doing. Is not only commendable, but it's
laudable work. It's work that we want to we want

(58:21):
to continue to you know, continue to do, and we
want to continue to share the message to other individuals
that building the community is not only in society, but
that starts with individuals who find themselves inside that cost
role center, for.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Those who are.

Speaker 5 (58:36):
You know, wrongfully convicted, as well as for the individuals
who are convicted for doing something but right, but giving
them that second or third or fourth for fifth chance
so that they can get out here and play a
part in society and be an asset to society as
opposed to a liability.

Speaker 4 (58:50):
Appreciate you, Chico.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
One thing I got to want to say to me
Listen to y'all story inspired me like I'll listen to
your story. And you said you was a doctor and
you got your degrees, you with you did that, So
I'm like, damn, I'm lacking or whatever doing Like I'm like,
I don't have to.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
It's better, no bullshit.

Speaker 3 (59:11):
For you to do what you do, like the music
and all that stuff. Man, Like I know you, but
I don't know you. You know what I'm saying. I've
been hearing your name. I know I know a lot
about you, man, and so the same way that y'all
inspired me, I know it has had some kind of
effect on you without a shotow a doubt. You know
what I'm saying, Like I tell me man killing me?

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Man?

Speaker 3 (59:32):
You you do that?

Speaker 2 (59:33):
Brother, Man, you're killing me everything you have a cheap
and your focus and how humble you are is I
love that ship.

Speaker 5 (59:40):
But you got to add right like I have a man,
I got my MPH, my master's in public he with
a stipping in the history ethics and more from Columbia University.

Speaker 3 (59:47):
Right, but you have I tell you this story about
my COLUMBU Oh yeah, you did Columbia experience. When I
was in New York, they told me to get I
d So I gonna get a Columbia University. I d
so when I get caught and Compton and I told
him it wasn't me said, this is what they said
to me. She got She goes, Bro, we know this

(01:00:10):
is not you, and you're gonna lie talk about you
went to Ivy League school Columbia University. You fake, But
I did never know Columba was an IVY League school. Bro,
Like you faking with this fake as like you from Columbia,
Like exactly they knew I was lying at the top.
I like, well, Columbia even know when Columbia heard the

(01:00:32):
Columbia I was like they went, but they were laughing
at me, Like you could have used any idea for
the Columbia University. You're like one. You got life man,
to know that you gotta agree from Columbia. Man, it
just all comes around.

Speaker 5 (01:00:49):
It's like, appreciate you definitely, you know, coming here, sitting
with us and sharing your experiences for other end.

Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
Choice.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
Appreciate you joy Chico. What is your what is Chico
for the future? What you're working on and what you're
doing on that?

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
Uh? As you talking, I just finished writing my book, man,
I got a book. I got the book in my
phone ready ready to be publishing everything. I got a
movie coming out this called The Last Game. The Last
Game is it's about me and Penny Marshall. It's not
about me selling drugs. Me selling drugs is in the
book because that's the foundation of the story. It's about
how I went to prison me and Rick is about that.

(01:01:29):
But the found the meaning of this story is like,
you got Penny marsh who's the first one hundred million
dollar movie woman movie. Ever, how our relationship in our
bond created this movie that I'm telling you about. It's
just deep. I'm gonna let you read. I gotta I'll
let you read this story like this is you read

(01:01:49):
this script like you know it's unbelievable script man, because
in part of this story, I'm telling you this, this
is this is a real story. So I'm with Penny
all the time. So I got my little pie in
the boo who's with me all the time too, just
ride with me. But Penny so so I don't call

(01:02:11):
it this day, and she knew that something was wrong.
So boom, my little pie was with me all the time,
got shot, got killed in the church while we was
going to another funeral. Was that one of my other
homeboyfriendals when we go to this to his funeral. So
while we at the funeral, he gets shot. It's a

(01:02:32):
drive by in the church. At church, so Pennie like
call me, like, you're right, you're right. I found I
just saw the new like when you had come over,
come over, and I'm like, I can't you know. I'm
like no, I'm crying, I'm doing all kind of stuff.
She kept calling. She goes, come on, don't do that,
don't do that. When she called me, I'm in the

(01:02:57):
car going kill the people who kept it. Mm hmm.
Get out the car.

Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
And she came and got me.

Speaker 5 (01:03:06):
That's friendship, that's family. That's a connection. You better believe
life a lot that'sh is deep.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
When you when you see the script, you're like when
you read my book, you're like, damn man, it's so moving.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Yeah, And that's I can feel that ship now, Bro,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:03:27):
It's just bro, I'm at a funeral with him. He's
in my car. I let him drive my car. But
his brother or us in the car with me, run
the one I talked on the phone. That's that's his brother.
He gets shot. In the head at the funeral. At
the cousin funeral. They first cousin funeral crazy and he

(01:03:50):
gets shot in the head. Bro like like, man, I
can't believe it. And so Penny, Penny knew mm hmmm,
and she's like, part, get out that car, get out
their cart. You can't, you can't, you can't wait, you
can't do this. Tho.

Speaker 4 (01:04:05):
She got me out the car, she got car, and
she got you focused and you stay focused.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
Yeah, and that's super inspiring. You know what I'm saying
for those young brothers out there and all that that's
watching this. You know what I mean, Like, you know
it ain't easy, but we could get it. You could
get it done.

Speaker 5 (01:04:25):
You never know where you get your support for him.
Shout out to Penny, Marshall and.

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
Marshall and the buildings. You already know comp thing in
the building. Man, Penny, I'm gonna tell you something that
was a blessing. Man until you get the fuck out
the car, you already know that's that.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
Was just it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:41):
And the good ship is that you.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
Trusted enough to listen.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. You ain't you ain't
go with you. It was like you know, what I mean,
and and and that right there got you here.

Speaker 3 (01:04:53):
The day.

Speaker 5 (01:04:54):
The movie is the Last Game, Bro, the Last Game.
Watched the last game with her before she died Tico Brown.

Speaker 3 (01:05:00):
Lakers with the West Laker game at her house. But
she on the bed and died the next day.

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
Oh wow, that four years, damn man. But she was
good to you, man, She was a blessed to you.
She was everything. Man, you know what I'm saying. So
sorry for your loss on.

Speaker 4 (01:05:20):
That definitely you know what I mean, and all the
other losses.

Speaker 2 (01:05:23):
And I could tell that was I mean, she saved
your brother. She loved you, man, she wanted the best
for you. And good thing is that she was. Whatever
it is, she's gone, but you was able to represent
it and make her happy because you did.

Speaker 3 (01:05:36):
You did what you did the movie, That's what I'm saying.
You did.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
Then we got to see it, bro, before it came Yeah,
before it came out. And what what else you work?
What else you got going on? What else you got
going on?

Speaker 3 (01:05:48):
That movie? That movie I probably started feeling in the summer.
I got another movie that I'm working with, massive people.
Tiffany had like acced be here. She said, there's a
lot of work with master P too, Like he like
one hundred percent on every event that I do in
Compton Wise, not just give me money. He shows up

(01:06:11):
with me. Bro, he's been doing this for We've been
doing this for twenty four years.

Speaker 4 (01:06:16):
Wow, Master Bexson, shout out Master Pete.

Speaker 2 (01:06:19):
Yeah, you know we love that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:21):
Master P is one hundred percent cheek. Let's do this,
Let's do that. Let's like on an everyday basis. It's
the same way like I went to every every last
one of his son games son play for the University
of Houston. Man, but in high school, I went to
every Me and P really tight man. We you know,
we don't just talk talk about the ship. We really

(01:06:42):
do it. If it's in Louisiana, if it's whatever, get
it done, facts, don't even talk about it.

Speaker 5 (01:06:49):
That's community, that's camaraderie, that's support, fast, trust, all of
those valuable principles that keep a community type in peace.

Speaker 3 (01:06:57):
From New Orleans. I'm not trying to bust no, but
it's a lot of dudes from content who could have
been you know what I'm saying. But he reached out
like cheeking, man, I got you, Like we've been friends forever.
In fact, you know, people don't even know how type
that type.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
You you taped with the right people, you know, you
know how this goes. It's about relationships, you know what
I'm saying. So sometimes it's just based on that. It's
a relationship. You build relationship and all that. And we
we we at the end of the day just because
we went to jail when he sells drugs and we shy,
And it doesn't make you a bad person, you know
what I'm saying, Like, it doesn't make you you spike

(01:07:37):
of him doing all that. He had a youth. He
he wasn't selfish off top even even on even doing
whatever he's doing, He's still.

Speaker 5 (01:07:47):
Want to help the brothers, want to take care of
the community, taking away his family.

Speaker 3 (01:07:50):
It's already, it was already in his heart, you know
what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (01:07:52):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (01:07:53):
So and you know, another person like I gotta give
a prayers it's to Tiffany Had It. I'm not about
Tiffy Had before she was Tiffany. Tiffany Had has worked
with me after you at my youth center, at the
youth center, before I open my own youth center.

Speaker 5 (01:08:06):
When I first came home I worked at a center
call a place called home. Shout out to Tiffany. Had
Tiffany worked there with me. I watched Tiffany from aid
all the way. We we we talk all the time.
We do a lot of stuff together. She came to
Louisiana with me a few times just to do a
show with whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:08:26):
Every time she doing something and whatever, she she invited
me everything. Every time I ever activity doing anything. She
never tell me she liked my little sister. And she continued,
she continued, she goes you need something like she She's
always there to help. It's coming to me whatever it is.
Never told me about it. I tell people that all

(01:08:46):
the time. When I called Tiffany and I if I
actually do this, she gonna do it. She never said
not to me about nothing. It's just you know, that's
the blessing from you know me.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
Just absolute stuff and thing else you want to for
the young brothers out there and the sisters that's watching us,
anything you want to you know, you want to say
say to them and any words of inspiration.

Speaker 3 (01:09:11):
Yeah. One of the like for me, like the joy
that I get is like not telling nobody what to do,
just showing my information and feed them the information the
information I give y'all, you giving it someone else so
they can't become a better person and help other people,
Like like the work that we're doing in the.

Speaker 4 (01:09:31):
Prison, definitely, you know that's like.

Speaker 3 (01:09:35):
Like you said, we ain't get paid for this. This
is some ship we want to do. Man, it's a
need for what we do.

Speaker 2 (01:09:40):
That's right, That's right.

Speaker 3 (01:09:42):
People don't know how it's like when them lights cut
off from the prison, how it really is.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
Hey, you was, you was stuck yourself. You you said,
damn these the conditions up here. You know, you from Compton.
You was. We went to Grehavn, and you like, what
is this man? It's just looking it's fucking third world
country prison.

Speaker 3 (01:10:04):
That's exactly what I said. I was like, Man, I
ain't used to this. Man. I know, I'm a fed dude,
did fed time, But I went in this prison in
New York.

Speaker 2 (01:10:13):
Never.

Speaker 3 (01:10:14):
Man, I talked to dudes in prison from California all
the time, and I look in they sell the sales
I looked to at this prison I went to, I
ain't seen that, man, only in third world countries. That's
what I said. I said, y'all need to at least
cut the grass.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
Do something like New York State Prison for your brothers
out there, sisters and all that want to go to
jail without thinking of.

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
All, just know, it's a whole different world.

Speaker 2 (01:10:37):
It's a different world.

Speaker 3 (01:10:40):
I'm talking about facts. I'm talking about coming from cown
to getting shot at every day to me going in there.
I'm telling you I'd rather do that than to go
to that prison and do that time that they do
it here in New York. Right now, I'm telling the truth. Man.
The condition is not what y'all think.

Speaker 5 (01:10:58):
They said when you want to understand it of a
nation going side of the prisons, and I'll tell you
a whole lot about that nation.

Speaker 4 (01:11:05):
And you did that. You did that this week. I
did it with your response, was.

Speaker 3 (01:11:10):
We in trouble? If that's the condition about nations were
in trouble?

Speaker 4 (01:11:15):
Was like what the fuck?

Speaker 3 (01:11:17):
You know? What you know?

Speaker 2 (01:11:18):
Because you know in the fast ship clean.

Speaker 3 (01:11:21):
Clean, like you're like, you know, like not for nothing,
like you know, and it's to be in New York.
We're talking about New York, big city, big city of dream,
big city, you thinking big city and dream if you
walk inside of this prison I was in in New York.
I'm talking about the conditions like like you in the
Ethiopia or some ship facts. I ain't never seen nothing

(01:11:45):
like that. You know, I don't want to talk about
New York President because I'm from Cali. I tell you
the real, the real.

Speaker 2 (01:11:53):
This is real ship right here, this platform, everything is real.

Speaker 4 (01:11:57):
It is what it is. Dogs in the yard.

Speaker 5 (01:12:00):
We was in the yard, checking the condition of the people,
checking the condition of the prisons. And the reality is
that we need prison reform, restorative justices necessary. We need
funding for restorative justice. We need public advocates for individuals
in those circumstances. We need advocates for individuals who wrongly
for convicted. We need advocates for individuals who have held

(01:12:23):
themselves accountable and served their sentences or that they can
get out and participate in society. Fact distorative justices necessary.
I know I seen in firsthand what them prisons look like.
Chico seeing it firsthand, what them prisons look like. He
seeing at firsthand what them prisons look like. And we
hear advocating for those individuals behind the wall, dogs in
the yard.

Speaker 2 (01:12:43):
And with that being said, one.

Speaker 3 (01:12:45):
Thing, I gotta say, the money that they spent on it.
Just one of them moms that they just used. They
could have used that money to restore a bunch of
the prisons. Just put the money off of one of them.
We can restore the Prinson Report. That's one of the
money that it costs, just one of the bums. That's right.

Speaker 2 (01:13:08):
Talk that talk, that's real.

Speaker 3 (01:13:10):
Ship.

Speaker 2 (01:13:10):
That's something for you to really think of, think of.

Speaker 3 (01:13:12):
You know what I'm saying, wild are people is and
I don't even want to say.

Speaker 2 (01:13:18):
I don't even know what they call that prison site. Yeah,
it's just a horrible site, that's all. And the sad
one til sadone. Man, that's really sad because I because
I I go, I you know, we walked those and
you know, we walked them together, and I was like,
I ain't been in prison ship two thousand on the two,

(01:13:39):
so I'm like going back and I'm like, ship. Fuck,
I don't know how the fucker I did this? As
Muggy is how the walls is sweating, the floors slippery, damn, Yeah,
sh it is.

Speaker 3 (01:13:54):
I ain't gonna talk about the roaches on the wall, man,
I know it roaches and ship, but that's it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:59):
Listen, man, that thing is man, one day at a time. Man,
we you know, we're gonna try to do our best
to try to you know what I mean, help these
brothers and know all that and bring a change, because
that's what it's about, you know what I'm saying. And
with that, man, you know, Chico Brown, I want to thank.

Speaker 3 (01:14:12):
You, thank you, thanks for having me. Man. I got
some new patlots in New York far.

Speaker 2 (01:14:18):
We gonna go down Town Square take some pictures. You know.
I got my other brothers here from all over and
we're gonna have some fun tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:14:24):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:14:24):
And with that movie, man, appreciate having you Tone, yo.
But you know how we do BX and the borough.

Speaker 3 (01:14:28):
I got my brother for life, yo know.

Speaker 2 (01:14:32):
Let me know how you feel about my brother Tom
on the podcast. You know, hit me up, let me know.

Speaker 4 (01:14:38):
And uh.

Speaker 2 (01:14:38):
And with that being said, it's your boy, Pistol Pete
Dog in the yard.

Speaker 5 (01:14:45):
Welcome back, your boy b X, Tone Dog in the yard.
You wanna take Chico Brown for coming through giving us
the real starting youth centers, got the movie thing going on.
Representing the West Coast Compton, California. Again, welcome back, appreciate
you Chico Brown coming through representing for the people, all
the people. Look out for Chico Brown movies on different platforms. Listen,

(01:15:09):
it's a real one. Came through VX tone, Dog in
the yard, have a good night.

Speaker 6 (01:15:19):
Thank God, be alive and shout shot alive and shout
shot the gosh. We the guy