Keep it Positive, Sweetie - Flip Ya Life with Shabazz the OG

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

This week we have my friend and entrepreneur Shabazz the OG on the couch. We go waaaay back, when I was pursuing my music career. He's been a great friend and a supporter of mine since day one. He's lived many lives and he wrote a book Flip Ya Life, sharing his life and many lessons that he learned along the way. Shabazz is a great example of "never judge a book by it's cover".

Hello and welcome to this episode of Keep It Positive, sweetie. I'm Krista Renee Hazlett. And today I have with me someone that you guys are, I'm sure, really familiar with, but did not know that is my big brother, Shabazz the OG. You dead. You know what I'm saying? You understand me. You understand me You know what I'm saying? You understand me. You understand me.

What's up BD? Nothing much, how you doing? Chillin'. Happy to be here. We got you all the way from Miami to rainy Atlanta. Man, I woulda came from Greece to get here for you. It don't, Miami wasn't about nothing.

Aw, thank you. You know what I'm saying? That's practically walking distance for you. Aw, thank you. I appreciate it. I'm so That's practically walking distance for you. Aw, thank you. I appreciate it. I'm so happy to have you here. Yeah, I'm glad to be here. Yeah, we always start the show with a song or a quote,

but we actually just said it. One of our favorite sayings is, you understand me. You understand me. And it's all one word. All one word. You understand me. You understand me.

You understand me. You understand me. You understand me. Oh my gosh. I love me. You understand me. You understand me. Oh my gosh. I love you, man, for real. I love you too. I'm proud of you. We have been through lots.

Like beyond, like proud is an understatement. Proud is cliche. Like, man, you talk about this all the time. Like you said, a lot of people, most people, unless they're really close and tight with us, don't understand my and your relationship. They do not. and tight with us don't understand my and your relationship. And from 2007 to now, like I'm happy, but I'm not surprised.

Cause I always, you know, this is, I'm not one of those people who say, yes, you always knew she could do it. We really talked about this 17 years ago. We just didn't know which level you were gonna reach I always knew she could do it. We really talked about this 17 years ago. We did, yeah, we did. We just didn't know which level you were gonna reach, whether it was gonna be fashion, whether it was gonna be music,

but we just knew that at that time, Chase was a star. I was telling DeNora about my first music name was Chase, and you still call me Face. I still call it Chase. Chase Face. Chase Face. Put the face on the back of Chase and but now it's just Face.

This is my face. And people be looking at me like when I do come around, who's Face? Right. Yeah. Thank you so much. You have been there from the beginning. 2007 we met.

I was still living in Washington DC. You were managing Q Parker from 112 at the time, like doing road management. Traveling with him. And I remember us just hitting it off. You just always had this like super dope spirit about you and just super 100, like straight shooter, no sugar coat, all funny.

Like people don't understand you are funny. Somebody told me yesterday I should do stand up. No, I'm serious. Because some of the stuff that comes out of your mouth, I'm like. I just be being myself. Yeah, I know. I probably freeze up in front of an audience trying to crack jokes because it's not like I'm not trying to be funny.

That's what it is. I don't be trying to be funny. I just come out funny sometimes. But we met and I was in a transitional phase in my life where I was leaving Capitol Hill, trying to decide what I wanted to do. And I remember when I decided to move to Atlanta, you all rallied behind me and were like,

Chris, whatever you wanna do, we got you. Yeah, for sure. I'm talking about when I say that, when I tell you guys about the hard time that I had when I moved to Atlanta, this man was one of the people that had my back when I say that when I tell you guys about the hard time that I had when I moved to Atlanta This man was one of the people that had my back when I moved here No question, and I thank you for that. I remember I was pursuing music We went down to Tennessee to do something for homecoming. Yeah, and you all came down you've been to my hometown

To her mama house my daddy out. Yeah, you've been there They love family loves you. But it's important to remember the people that were there when it was just a dream and just a vision, you know, and you were one of those people that was definitely there and have been by my side ever since. Most people know you as Shabazz the OG. You are the author of Flip Your Life.

You are a speaker. You are the money team motivator and entrepreneur. And you started your career early in the music business as a rapper and radio station intern in high school. And from there, you propelled into promotions, artist booking, road management, and ultimately project manager and consultant, which you've been a consultant in my whole life

since I've known you. I'm everybody's consultant. I need a firm at this point. You do, oh my gosh. I think I need to start a firm. Yeah, put everybody on retainers. That's my role. Yeah, you lead too.

The problem is, I can't, the retainer part is where it get tricky because everybody I consult with, I love. They're my family. You're like, I'll give you that for free, right? Yeah, you know, I, you know, but that's who I am. That's what I do. So I know we met in our,

our connection came through music initially. What was it in the beginning that brought you to music? Cause I know you've been in the industry for a minute. Like it goes all the way back to that internship you spoke about, cause that was 18. No, actually, well the internship came at 17 cause my mom kicked me out the house at 18. You know, I wasn't, no, actually, well, the internship came at 17 because my mom kicked me out the house at 18. That's how you...

I'll get to that. But I'm just trying to, you know how certain things make you remember certain things? So the internship came before I was 18 because 18 is when she said, we need you to leave. So 17 is when the internship started, but in high school, probably 15, 16,

is when I started rapping. Like I was really good at rapping. Like I was, that's, you know, it's funny how life works because where I am now, I found my purpose. I believe this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, the things that I'm doing now. But at that time, back then, I really, really, really aspired to be a rapper. In those days, an MC. And I was really good.

And what happened is we had a talent show at my high school, William Penn High. Me, my group, my DJ, my man Eric Day, DJ Prep, and my man John Hamilton, John Doe. We had a group called The Devastating Three. I was a rapper. And Lady B, who was a very big radio personality at Power 99 FM in Philly at the time,

she was one of the judges at the talent show. And afterwards, you know, I was just so smitten with her because she was fine, I'm talking about, whoo, I'm telling you, she had a meat drag on the floor. Super slim, pretty. She had on obsession perfume. You know, back then obsession for women was that thing. You know remember she had on obsession perfume. Back then, obsession for women was that thing. She had that obsession on.

The fact that you remember the scent. Listen, I remember, listen, it's nostalgic. I can smell it right now. I remember that day like it was yesterday. Lady B came and then shut the stage down. And I will never forget, I ran up to her afterwards and we had on the airbrushed sweatshirts. And she signed my, she autographed my shirt

and I took it right downtown to the gallery to the guy who airbrushed our shirts because I had on an airbrushed shirt. I took it right back, his name was Jay, took it right back to Jay, said, yo, I need you to airbrush this autograph because I don't need this to come off. Oh. And I wish I still had that shirt, but that was the beginning of me getting into the

realms of entertainment because she brought me on as our intern at the radio station. So she had a show called Street Beat. And Street Beat aired every Sunday from 12 to 4. Okay. So every day, every Sunday from 12 to 4. So every Sunday around 3.55, the last five minutes she would throw on instrumentals and let her Street Beat MCs rap.

And I was one of them, Disco C, Prince Little E, another guy Flash D, but Flash was in jail at the time, so he wasn't there when I was there. But those were the street beat em' C's. And I used to rap on the radio every Sunday towards the end of her show, and that's how I got started. Wow, that's, listen, I feel like,

even from me outta college, I got started as an intern. I feel like that's always like the gateway to doing what you really wanna do. Right, that practice. Yes, that practice. Somebody giving you an opportunity to, you know, to segue. Exactly, that's so good. And then from there, like, tell me about all the other people that you worked with, because I know you've...

So, so the whole process was internship with her. And this is when I started to meet people. Okay. I started to meet people. And then back then, like, I was really meeting. This is when I started networking. Okay. This is when I learned how meet people. I started to meet people. Back then, I was really meeting. This is when I started networking. This is when I learned how to network. I learned how to network from being around

so many celebrities at a young age. I was really around when LL used to get out the limo with the radio on his shoulder. Really? Yes, he would come to the radio station, Power 99, LL would get out when he was really walking around with his radio, cause that was his thing. Wow.

You know, can't live without my radio. Run DMC, I met back then, MC Light, I met back then. Like I met a lot of people, Jahlil from Houdini was one of the, was the first celebrity phone number I ever got. What? Like Jahlil from Houdini, you know what I mean? That was the first celebrity phone number I ever got. Like, Jalilva Houdini. You know what I mean? That was the first celebrity phone number I ever got.

And they just took a liking to me because the person I am now is the guy that I was back then. So I never, you know, was never to wear out my welcome type. Was never too hype. Like, you know, people for my benefit gravitated towards me. So after the internship with D, I did try to pursue the music career. You know, I did rap for a while with my partner, his name was Pro, and we was working with another Philly legend, Schooley D. So we would do shows with Schooley, open up for him at

times, but at the same time I was in the street. Gotcha. So being in the street kind of disrupted the path. You know, that's what I'll say on the surface. Ultimately and overall, it just wasn't in the cards for me. But if we stay on the surface, the streets kind of disrupted it because Pro ended up going to prison and then it just kind of f it because Pro ended up going to prison and then it just

kind of fizzled out for me. But then someone who I met during my internship, because now we're going to go from 17 to about 22, someone who I met during my tenure as an intern, his name is Troy Shelton. Troy took me under his wing, became my mentor, and introduced me to radio promotions. So I was, you know, every Tuesday, everybody in the music industry know Tuesdays is radio day. That's when radio promoters go to the stations and try to get their records added and played.

First project I worked was Floor Tree. Oh, wow. And Ron Isley's Body Kiss album when he first. Actually, this was around a time when the Johnson sisters, Kim and Candy, his his wife, Ron Isley's wife, they had a song out as well at the time called Ice Cream. So the Floor Tree, the Sisters, and the Isleys is the first projects that I worked under my mentor Troy. And from there came radio promotions. Then my first party promotions came in 2003

out in Milwaukee when we did the Rock the Mic after party. I did it with Freeway, Fab, The Young Guns, Emilio Spark, that was the first big event that I did. I was running around with one of my guys at the time and he had put me in position to make that happen and that was my first real party promotion stint. And then from there, those relationships just built.

Like that's when I met Fad, 2003. That's when I met Bleak. And now these guys, fast forward, this is family. So a lot of my music relationships started from booking them. Like my relationship with Trey came from booking him first. So then, once you start moving around a lot, and again, when you know how to move

and you know how to move in and out of rooms and you conduct yourself the right way, people receive you. The more people I met, the bigger the network grew and here we are. Here we are. You know, with a clean face. Right, right. Clean face and a strong name.

See, and that's important. That's the key. It is the key. That's the real key. Yeah. To move through this business with a good name, a clean face. Yeah.

You know, everything else can come and go, but once your name is destroyed and your face is dirty, it's done. It's done. That's so good. Growing up in Philadelphia, I know I'm friends with Meek Mill and I've heard the stories of what it's like. And I remember you calling it Real-A-Delphia. Now it's Kill-A-Delphia.

Right. And growing up, you talked about getting into the streets, getting in trouble, getting kicked out. What was it like during that time growing up and what were some of your challenges as a young black man trying to grow up in that environment? So I was born in Cordale, Georgia, about an hour and 45 minutes from here. So my mom went to Philly when I was 14 months. She went back to Georgia, we went back to Cordell when I was in third grade.

Then we went back to Philly when I was in seventh grade. So seventh grade is really where I, you know, got implemented and stamped in Philly. And initially it was very challenging. You know, I'm country boy, you know, country boy, you know, manners, nice guy, you know, friendly, country accent, you know, southerner. You know, they used to call me Virginia

because I think a lot of guys, that's the further south they knew about. So they used to call me Virginia because I think a lot of guys, that's the furthest south they knew about. So they used to call me Virginia at my middle school, Tilden Middle School in the Southwest Philly. And it was a little rough in the beginning, you know? I've been jumped, I've been teased, I was beat up, you know, because, you know, I wasn't no fighter. Like, I didn't know nothing about,

and Philly was gang infested at that time. And 80, 81, like 80, 81, right when Ronald Reagan got shot. That's when we moved to Philly. Either right, I think a couple of days later, he had got shot. So like around the time Reagan got shot, it was a big mob war in Philly and gangs were really prevalent.

So when we got to Philly, like it was rough for me because it was a different type of transition. Unfortunately, those same streets that were mean to me became appealing to me, you know? And it turned me into something that I wasn't, but that I had to learn how to be because I was out there. Right. You know, to the point where I've, you know,

I had a friend of mine, he's deceased now, back in probably 90, probably 90, probably 91, cause he got killed in 92. He said to my mom, like he was from Brooklyn, and he told my mother, he was like, I don't know why he's out here with us, because he's not like us. You know what I'm saying?

He's not, and I wasn't, like, I was so different, like, I'm about to say something crazy. I was so different, that a lot of guys didn't trust me. They're like, is this the police or something? Because I wasn't disloyal, you know what I mean? I wasn't shady. I was accommodating.

I was honest. Like, he was a little too nice. Like, what's up with him? Who, if you leave it with me, ain't nothing gonna be missing. All the money, all the work, all the bullets, everything gonna be the way you left it. That's just what it was. Like-

The work, everything gonna be just how you left it. You're not gonna be missing a crumb. Yeah. You understand me? So that was different. Like people weren't used to that. They weren't used to that type of loyalty. Because you know, the rules of the street,

don't trust nobody, you can't turn your back on it. But I wasn't that kind of person by no stretch of the imagination. So his name was G. G told my mom, G was like, I don't know why he out here with us. You know, because he's not like us. And I wasn't. Like this guy, he was a different type of individual. You know what I mean? And what I learned later, what I learned in life is people who can't be trusted, can't trust. Come on now. So it was foreign to see somebody like that.

You understand what I'm saying? So a lot of guys, they just couldn't understand it. But again, the same streets that were mean to me became appealing to me, which led to me, eventually my mother asking me to leave her house at 18 because I just got to a point where I just was gonna do what I wanted to do. And it was primarily, again, when we get older,

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Why you did certain things. My mother to this day, she still is. She's been a Jehovah's Witness since I was five years old. So who I was as an individual, right? Because we tend to think, oh, you're a child, change styles place, or you're a child, you ain't got no feelings, or you're a child, you ain't got no say so. But the thing about kids, they're just smaller sizes of adults. They don't have the same experience, but they're people. They're people with personalities. They're people with feelings.

They're people with ideas. They're people with ambitions. Like these things rest inside of children. And who I was at my core didn't correlate with the Jehovah's Witness religion. I don't like girls since I was five. You understand me? Like I was attracted to my, literally attracted to one of my mother's girlfriends when I was five, six years old.

I was attracted to my first grade teacher, Ms. Matt, with the blonde highlights. You know? You know what I mean? These are things I remember. You know, but in the Jehovah's Witness religion, you can't have boyfriends and girlfriends. I didn't know that. Yeah, they don't do, same thing in Islam. You don't, it's either husband and wife.

Wow. No boyfriends and girlfriends. Well, I did not know that. Yeah, they don't do that. So like, so I couldn't, what's the word I wanna use? I couldn't fulfill my desires. But I wanted to, I couldn't do it, So let me get out of this Jehovah's place. Yeah, so I wanted to play sports. Like, I come from my father's side of the family, athletes.

Jehovah's Witnesses can't play sports either? Because you know, the, you know, probably now the religion is a little bit more lenient. But back then it was like anything that was outside the scope of the congregation or the affiliation of the religion was deemed bad association. So anything that wasn't necessary to do, you weren't really allowed to do. I had to go to school,

but I didn't have to be on the basketball team. I had to go to school, but I didn't have to be on the football team. So my mother didn't allow me to do those things. And my father, he used to be upset because I was a natural athlete. My father used to be so angry because he saw it. He was an athlete.

My uncle David was an athlete. My brother Scott, athlete. I come from a family of athletes on my father's side and he saw it and he wanted that for his son so bad, but my mom wasn't having it. So at 17, you know, the closer, the older I got, just the more rebellious I came, because I could no longer contain who I was

as an individual. Like, you're really hindering me. Like, I'm a very likable guy, you know, I wanna dress nice, these girls, these, these, these, these women's like me and I like these women's. I like these women's and you standing in my way now. You know, you got a serious roadblock up here, mom. And, you know, I had that internship with Lady B

and I used to be at the radio station with her and events. And I was just enjoying that. And my mom told me, she said, listen, my 18th birthday was approaching. And she said, if you come in this house one more time, after 12 o'clock at night, you're getting out. Now mind you, Joe Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays, none of that kind of stuff.

Well, not only did I come in the house after midnight, on my 18th birthday, I came in with a birthday cake. I had a birthday cake, sat on the top of the refrigerator. Oh, no. Went upstairs and went to bed. My mom woke me up. She said, you thought I was playing. Whoever just brought you home. Call them and tell them to come back and get you.

Wow. She put me out. Mm hmm. Yeah. 18 years old, sir. Had you graduated from college, from high school then? I finished, that was my 18th birthday, April 19th, 1986. I still had two more months of high school. I finished those last two months

at the house where I was staying at. Down in North Philly, at my man house with him and his dad and his uncle and his grandmother, sleeping on the couch. But actually, this is a couch. I love you. You're like, this is a couch. This is a couch.

This wasn't, I might've enjoyed this. They might not have been able to get rid of me. But, you know, sleeping 10 months with your knees up like this was uncomfortable. So yeah, I was out the house for 10 months before your knees up like this was uncomfortable. Yeah, I was I was out the house for 10 months before my mom let me come back. So at what point you were raised Jehovah's were you raised Jehovah's Witness? Till I was 17. Okay and then when did you convert to Muslim? I became I took my Shahada when I was 22, 22, 23. Can I know Philadelphia is a big Muslim community?

Yes, extremely big Muslim community. Okay, wow. So what made you, I mean, was that the reason why you were interested in converted to Muslim? Not even. I had a girlfriend at the time and I was getting money with her brothers and I was getting money with her cousins and they were Muslim.

So they introduced me to Islam. They introduced me to Islam and just over the course of time the more mature I got the more I resonated with Islam. My life it was just granted Islam is a very disciplined religion just like being a Jehovah's Witness. However I believe Islam just came into my life at the right time. Because the things that you shouldn't do

as a Jehovah's Witness, you shouldn't do as a Muslim either. You understand me? But I think, me and my mother had these conversations, later in life, that she wish she would have did a few things differently. But I told her, look, you don't owe no explanations,

no excuses, no apologies, because you gave us the best that you had, which, and what you knew how to do, what you had. But that being said, I think it's important, even when you're teaching your children religion and have them in religion, I think it's still important to still identify with your child as an individual and

don't make it so much about the religion, the religion, and religion. You can't do this, you can't, because what will happen is that's where the rebellion comes in. Because again, in terms of religion and practices and conduct and codes of behavior, Jehovah's Witnesses and Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims are similar. Like Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate any holidays. Muslims don't celebrate any holidays. Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in smoking. Muslims don't.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in drinking a little alcohol though. Muslims don't. But in terms of just resonating, Islam started to, I started to resonate with Islam. But in terms of just resonating, I started to resonate with Islam. Islam is what gave me a conscience. Wow, oh yeah, I can see that. That's what happened, to sum it all up.

Islam is what gave me a conscience. Islam established my conscious awareness of how you treat people, what you should do, what you shouldn't do, although you're not perfect, strive for perfection, be accountable for your actions, know when you've done right, know when you've done wrong, and always carry pure intentions.

Even though that's who I profess to be as an individual, Islam amplified that for me. Got you, okay, that's what's up. At what point in this journey in the streets and doing what you're doing, did you end up getting locked up? Cause at one point you got jammed up a bit. Quite a few bits.

Not a bit, a few bits. That started at 12. What? Oh my gosh. That started at 12. What? My mother told me, and we'll get to that in that book, when I was seven, that you're gonna learn everything the hard way, because you don't listen.

So I was hard headed growing up. And I was 12 on my way from the dentist. And my mother used to always tell me about throwing rocks and playing with fire. So those, I don't know what my infatuation with rocks and fire was, but I was coming from the dentist when then I was just, I was by myself walking down on Woollen Avenue

and I was throwing the rock in the air, walk throwing up, catching it, innocent. So I thought, but the higher I threw it and caughtretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch.

I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit of a wretch. I was a little bit of a wretch, I was a little bit they locked me up. So was paddy wagon a Philly word? Yes. Okay, because that's what me get said in Jersey Nightmares.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, the paddy wagon. So the paddy wagon, for those that don't know, is the van. I was gonna wait until I forget it. Yeah, the paddy wagon. Yeah, the paddy wagon. The paddy wagon is the police, the actual van that they put you in the back of.

Okay. So we call that the paddy wagon. Wow. And so they put me in the paddy wagon is the police, the actual van that they put you in the back of. So we call that the paddy wagon. And so they put me in the paddy wagon and took me to the precinct. And I'll never forget, my mother was getting ready to go to one of her meetings. For Joe's Wings meeting. Yeah, she was on her way to get there. When they called her- You know you came between the meetings now.

You know you in trouble. Listen, she didn't come. There is no coming in between of the meetings. She told him, I'll, she told him I have something to do. I'll be there afterwards. Look after him. She left me there until she went to the kingdom. Twelve years old. Yeah, she left me there until after her meeting.

And when she came, she didn't let him open the door, she didn't let him open the gate to me. I was in the cell. And she did't let them open the door. She didn't let them open the gate. I was in the cell. And she did not let them open the cell immediately. She stood on the other side of the cell. And she said, You'll know real when you get it. It'll say eBay authenticity guarantee.

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Like she didn't care that I was locked up. She didn't like my mother. Are you okay? And that's why I'm the way I am to this day. People don't really understand the meaning of standing on business. Like that's just a cool new word for a lot of people. I stand on the business that I stand on

because that's how my mother was. If my mother said don't leave this house and you go outside and you get hit by a car and get your leg broke by a drunk driver. She's gonna be mad at the drunk driver later. Yeah. Don't even worry about him. What'd he get from being drunk?

Oh, okay, well y'all handle that. Yeah. You, what did I tell you before I left this house? Don't leave this house. If you didn't go outside, your leg wouldn't be broke. I don't care about that man being drunk. Yeah. I care about you not doing what I told you to do.

Every action has a reaction when you don't listen. And I learned that the hard way. And that was the beginning of me going to prison. Because I had enough, so I switched infatuations. I went from rocks and fire to guns. Oh, wow. And I just, I had a thing for guns. Well, I take that back because before rocks and fire,

guns was my first love. But at five, when my mother became a Jehovah's Witness, I used to have this gun set. I had the pants, the chaps that go over your pants, had some green ones. I had a vest, a hat, and two six shooters. That was my everyday outfit after I came home from kindergarten.

Wow, aw. So I come home one day, ready to suit up. My materials is nowhere to be found. My materials. Five years be found. My materials. Five years old, where is mine? Yeah, I'm... Maybe it's... So my mother, so I inquired about my items.

She told me it's in the trash. What you mean, it's in the trash, mama? Right. What do you mean, You're in the trash mama. Right. What do you mean in the trash? Yeah. Why? She says Jehovah don't like guns. First of all, who is Jehovah? That's the first thing. Second thing. What does he have against my guns and my outfit? Right. What do you mean is in the trash? So I go and get it out

the trash. She puts it back in the trash and this is my introduction. That's probably why I didn't like being a Jehovah's Witness because it didn't start right. We got off to a bad start. Took my guns away. Took my guns, I'm talking about the whole nine. Put the whole situation in the trash. Because she done went off and started studying the Bible

with, I'll never forget, Sister Jordan. As y'all can see, I got a very good memory about my past. You do. Sister Jordan then roped my mom into this new belief. It's affecting me tremendously. Yeah, I like it. Wasn't feeling it.

Yeah, so, you know, that's, we got off to a bad start. And so fast forward, you know, when I was probably, this is probably 91, 91 is when I, when we convened with the guns, but they was real ones this time. And I was getting caught and it was the craziest thing cause I was unlucky with them, you know, but I just kept carrying them. So I got locked up with a gun, going to court. While I'm out on bail, going to court for that gun, I get locked up with another one.

So now I'm going to court for two guns. Then I get locked up with a third one. Now I'm going to court for three guns at one time, three open gun cases. I had a really good lawyer though, Gerald Stein. Gerald Stein and Fred Perry. They, you know, was able to get the gun charges all consolidated to one charge and I got probation. Cool, got probation.

That was in 91, 92, right? Fast forward to 96. I get locked up again with another gun, but this time I'm in Jersey. Now I had done the Philly probation and all of that, but I got locked up in Jersey, in Camden. And when they saw my jacket from Pennsylvania, they ain't play with me. They gave me three years off the rip. They was like, you're not even ready to come over. Philadelphia gave you probation and you had three guns

and now we not even ready to start playing with you. So they gave me, Jersey gave me three years and I went to prison. Wow. What was that like? Awful. Oh my gosh. Cause we see it on TV, but we don't know what it's like to really be in there.

Nah, it's, you know what it is, and what I learned, I learned quickly that it's not necessarily the amount of time that you do, it's the conditions that you have to succumb to and be faced with and deal with. So, you know, they gave me three years, but I did 14 months in, 16 months on intense supervised parole and finished it all. But the conditions, like being in, 14 months being in six different facilities. You know, just from this place to that place.

And then falling under a federal investigation, then being, you can't be in, I was in a minimum security camp. You can't be in a minimum security facility if you have an open investigation. So they have to take you out of there and take me to the main prison. The main prison,

which was East Jersey State Prison System at Broadway, was the control center for all the smaller camps and other jails in the surrounding area. But because I wasn't sentenced to that jail, they didn't have nowhere to house me, so they had to put me in the hole. I'm in the hole for two months. I'm in the hole for two months while the feds do this investigation.

months. I mean, the whole for two months while the feds do this investigation. You know, so it's like, it's just the conditions, you know, what I had to endure in those 14 months was enough. It was enough to make me know like, this just ain't it, not for me. You know, and again, you know, it's hard to break old habits. So when I did come home from prison, um, eventually at some point in time, you know, jump back outside again, um, right after, but right when you met me is really when I came off the tail end, because it just, you know what I mean, 07. So January 06, January 06 I got locked up. I got locked up.

I got caught in the middle of a, we was under surveillance, didn't know, I got caught in the middle of a transaction. And what wound up happening is the cops never came to court. They took money from me. They took money, but they stole some. They didn't put all the money on the property receipt. So the money that they stole,

they didn't record it on the property. And then they never came to court. So I ended up beating that case. And that was 2006, that was my last time in handcuffs. Wow, and you have not looked back since? No, no, no, no, no. Cause I would have really been disappointed in myself had I went to prison for that

because I would have did a significant amount of time, one, two would have been like, damn, like you know you don't like jail. Yeah, right, why do you keep doing this? Like you know you don't like this. Yeah. You know you don't like jail. So like, why is you playing?

Yeah. So, you know, I just decided that I was just going, you know, do what it took, but do other things that it took. Like I just wasn't gonna keep playing with these people, man. They will give you a thousand years. Yeah, no, it would not blink an eye. Yeah, they will.

I was talking to Wallo the other day, man, Wallo was talking and you know, he was talking about the youngin' and it's like, like I told Low, like we gotta remind him that Wallo didn't do the last 20 years. They still got another 20 tucked away for you if you need 20, they got 20 for you. He didn't do, Wallo didn't do the last 20 years

in prison system. They got 20 for you, they got 20 for you. You need 20, they got 20 for you. Yeah, they got them 20s to go around. You know what I mean? And they don't mind giving them to you with a ribbon on it. Right, yeah. Being know what I mean? And they don't mind giving them to you with a ribbon on it. Right, yeah.

Being that you've been incarcerated, do you do anything with people that like youth that are locked up or? Yeah, mm-hmm. The most recent was, was it August? My last prison, no, actually no, my most recent was in Quincy, Florida, right outside of Tallahassee.

I went to the county jail there was in Quincy, Florida, right outside of Tallahassee. I went to the county jail there where a lot of guys, some guys are doing county time, but a lot of guys have violent crimes and they were waiting to be sentenced to be sent upstate. And that was an extremely, extremely good visit in the sense of I was able to resonate with the guys, despite their circumstances,

and the administration really liked the visit. Because I just have a way with interaction, and I have a way with words, and I have a way with communicating with people to make everybody feel like they matter despite the circumstances. And one of the women who were there, and when she spoke to me afterwards, she said,

a lot of people have come through these doors, but I've never seen anybody hold their attention like that. And I was told that back in 2017 when I went to a new facility in St. Louis, it was like, yo, you really are good at this. Like you really know how to keep their attention and talk because it's, and it's because I'm not, I'm not stuffy, I'm not preachy.

I might go in there and dress just like this, with shoes untied, because I just wanna be relatable, but effective. And I'm talking to and not at. So when I go to these, even when I was in Quincy, they had me do a community event after I left the prison. And one of the most illest things that ever happened since I've been speaking is a nine-year-old girl

came up to me after we was finished and she cried. And my aunt, Nan, and said, "'Everything you said to me, "'everything you said today changed my whole life.'" I'm like, Nan, you don't even have a whole life yet. You got a nine-year-old life. Imagine what she's been through.

That's what resonated with me so much. Imagine what this girl has gone through to be nine years old and cry and tell me that what I said changed her life. So those are the things that's important to me. So yes, I do go to these facilities from youth to adults, from elementary school to universities. I was spoken at to second graders and I was spoken at Kennesaw State.

Yeah. Morehouse twice, you know, that's my range. Yeah, that's amazing. I love that. So the world knows you as Shabazz the OG. Right. You have taken your social media platform to spread positivity.

You talk about current events and give your opinion on them. What brought that about? And at what moment did you realize, hey, I've got a following, I have a voice as well? Oh, back to our good friend Meek Mill. Shout out, Robert. You know what I'm saying?

Mr. Williams. Yeah, Meek was the first person to repost one of my videos. Meek is my first repost. He um... Hey kids family, it's time to celebrate Black History Month at the Walmart Black and Unlimited Clock. One at Flatiron Plaza in New York City, one at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with giveaways dropping every hour on the hour. It's the perfect time to try, like, and share black-lead products. It's free! That's right. And it's for everyone. And it's your chance to see how you can level up your daily routine with black-lead products that are creating a new world of choices at Walmart.

Trust me, you don't want to miss it. It was May, I'll never forget, it was May 2016. And the video was about male groupies. And you know, when we started to witness this new phenomenon of the guys wanting to be in the pictures in the VIP section more than the girls. Pushing them off the couch, move. But that's what the video was. The video was about y'all are coming in the VIP section,

pushing the girls out the way so y'all can sneak selfies and stand next to rappers and ballplayers. And I said, I remember it was like the cha-cha, we need y'all to move to the left, slide to the right. Let these girls get in here in this VIP section, man. Get out the way. So at that time, what I was doing in the way I was doing it was different and refreshing.

Cause it was like, it was coming from a street dude and it was being delivered exactly the way it was happening. Yes. So Meek was the first person to repost. Um, and he reposted a few more times. And then my man Mike Gardner, I think he reached out the baller alert. Shout out to my homie Robin. And he had I think he reached out the ball alert for them to repost something that he resonated with and it just kept catching.

It did. It just kept catching. But what happened is in terms of the place of responsibility and progressiveness, I started to realize that it was a place of advice and to be responsible. In the beginning, it was like I was standing on the corner of 52nd and Parkside.

That's how my mouth was. But then I started getting women in my DM asking advice, men about their relationships. And I remember a 17 year old kid from Illinois reached out to me in my DM and said that he didn't have a big brother, he didn't have a dad, but he watches my Instagram every day. And all the advice that he can get, he gets it from me.

And that's when it started to change. And then one day, I called Q. I called Q and I was like, yo, I think I found my purpose. He said, what you mean? I said, dog, this Instagram thing, I say this, I say it's feeling different. I said, too many people reaching out to me,

telling me what I'm doing, means something to them. I said, this ain't no game, I'm on to something. And he was like, Baz, he said, do you understand how powerful what you just said is? And you know me, no, I don't know. What's the power in that? I'm just telling you what I'm noticing. And he me, no, I don't know. I'm just telling you what I'm noticing. And he said, no, I'm biased.

People go their whole life and don't discover their purpose and why they're here. Like a lot of people don't know what they're here for. And I'm like, okay. It didn't sink in then, but as time went on and the more people who reached out, the more people who asked for advice, the more people who saw me in the street,

saw me in the airport, can I take a, I'm like, wait a minute now, what's going on around here with this Instagram? With this Instagram. I'm getting treated like a rapper outside. You know, but it just goes to show the power of technology. Absolutely. Cause these people, as far as Nigeria, England,

there's people everywhere that follow my page and they DM me and see the thing about it is I DM everybody back. Oh, that's good, you talk to everybody. Everybody, like they know I respond to everything. That's my job. That's what's up, right. I'm a DM responder.

I'm here for the people, right? Yeah, what do you do for, I respond to DMs. You know, I respond to DMs. And so it just, it continued. And the more it went that way, the more I realized I could still be me. I could still be raw. I could still be uncut,

but I don't have to be abrasive. I don't have to be vulgar. I don't have to use profanity in the sense of just vulgar and vile words. I had to learn that part, but I'm glad I learned it myself. No one ever had to say to me, hey, you know, you don't,

but why don't you tone it down a little? I discovered that on my own. I trained myself to say, nah, stop using that word so much. Definitely kind of abandoned the B word. Like that's really not good. That's really not a good one. Kind of just, yeah.

Let that one to the side. You know, so it's a bit, yeah, to the right. You know what I mean? And so, and then Instagram Live. I went live every single day at eight o'clock. I remember that, yeah. For about three years. Every night.

Yeah. It was like a TV show. Yeah, it was. You know what I mean? So, you know, these are the things that, you know, that brought us to where we are now. I mean, now I'm shadowbanned because I talk too real. You're like, all right now, you live too much. Hey, ho, ho, now he's leading the people a little too much now.

Right, yeah. He's a little too influential. Right. You know, and unfortunately, that's where we are now. Like, the more positive you are, the kind of less you're being seen, depending on what your algorithm is looking like. It's the algorithm.

You say, ooh, the algorithm. The algorithm, no rhythm. They're giving you no rhythm. No rhythm at all. They don't want you to have no rhythm now. But I'm past, I'm beyond how many followers, I'm beyond, you know, a blue check because it's too late. The people know now.

The people know, you know, I'm outside, you know, I'm on platforms, I'm on couches, I'm being guests, you know, making guest appearances and put, so the word is out, you know, they're a day late and a dollar short. You know, I've been at 208,000 followers for eight months. Oh, wow. You are lying. That's serious. That's the algorithm. I've been at no lie. I've been at 208,000 followers since August. So what's August from August to now? How many months? Yeah, my followers have not moved. Oh yeah. You know,

buddy again, I'm here now. I'm here with this, right? You know, I mean, we'll get some, we'll get a few off of this. Sure. Yes. You will. Cause my people, they definitely support. So I want to talk about something a little personal, how we have you help me through my journey because everybody. Drum roll please get to the real thing now. Speed dial. Speed dial. Listen, you say so many people DM you for advice and relationship advice. Yes.

Since I have known you and we've grown close. You are the one that I call. To this day. About anything. And you always pick. Anything. Anything. It's two people, you and Lonnie.

Yeah, yes. You and Lonnie, I have to remind y'all, I am me. I'm brother. I don't wanna know everything. Stop talking to me like I'm a I'm brother. I don't want to know everything. Stop talking to me like I'm one of the girls like, goodness gracious. Spare me something. I get it all like, yeah, carry on. Carry on. Okay, so there has been times where I have been like angry and I can call you and you'll either talk me off a ledge

or be like, what I need to do? Like, you're like- Only two solutions in that. Yeah. What do I need to do? Or how can I reroute your emotions right now? Exactly, and I love you for that. So lastly, I wanna talk about your book,

Flip Your Life. Yeah, had to do that. Had to do that, tell me about it. The book and the flip. Had to do the book and the flip. I'm so happy you did the flip for real and then did the book, thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, if I didn't flip the book couldn't have came. Yeah, exactly. What prompted you to say, hey, I need to write a book? Believe it or not, the book idea started when I was locked up. So the book idea started when I was locked up. So the book idea started in 1998. In jail, bored, prison actually. In prison, bored.

I took the yellow notepad, started writing. That got old quick. Didn't complete it. Moved on to something else. Didn't complete it. Moved on to something else. Fast forward to 2017, 18, the idea revisited me because I felt like now is time. I got a lot under my belt now.

I've done a lot, seen a lot, been through a lot. And now there's a story to tell. If I would have did it in 98, it would have been a bunch of glorified street shit. And I didn't want that, which is what I did not do. So what I did, the foundation of the book is based on what my mother said about being hard headed.

You're gonna learn everything the hard way because you don't listen. So the book is compiled of situations and the outcomes of me not listening. From her to me not listening to my friends that told me stop carrying those guns. The book, the book came at a time where I felt like I had enough experience. And the social media was really bubbling

and starting to really bubble. But I realized that a lot of people didn't know where I came from. They were like, who is this guy? And he just fell out the sky with all this game. He talking, right? But who is he? And why do all these celebrities know him?

He's not a rapper. He's not a singer. We don't know him, but we don't know him, but it seems like everybody else know him. What are we missing? Right, exactly. So what I did with the book, the book again

is a compilation of my experiences from not listening to some of the things that I talk about on social media, how to interact with the police, the importance of duality with co-parenting and being respectful even when the relationship is over and accepting that your child's father or your child's mother has someone new in their life that's going to be around your child and how you should conduct yourself. Like all of that's in the book. So it gave people a bird's eye view of, okay, this is who he is. This is where he comes from. And this is why what he says resonates so much because it's really authentic Right. He didn't Google this stuff. He'd be telling us. He really lived this. I love that. I love that. Make sure you guys get the book. Please

Please get the book. Please. Because y'all know I'll go back in the streets. Right. No I won't. We don't want that. No, I won't. But I do want y'all to get that bookuck though. Yes, get the muck. Y'all pay these bills. I know that's right. Brother, I appreciate you. No, for sure. I mean, this was, this was, this was, this was, I'm happy about this. Me too. Just not just me being here. I'm just happy about this. Aw, thank you. This. This is so cool, man.

Yes, I appreciate it. Yeah, this is super cool. Thank you. cool man. Yes, I appreciate it. Yeah, this is super cool. Thank you. Right now we're going to do my favorite part of the show is called positive outcomes where the listeners write in and we give them advice. So I'm going to read a letter from one of our listeners and I'm going to let you give advice. Oh wow. I like that. It says, Hi Crystal, I wasn't raised in the church the same way I hear others speak about their experiences.

Even still, I always knew God and most of my life, I've only had God to depend on. In my younger years, God was all I needed. But as I grow older, I feel like my faith is decreasing in ways that I've never struggled before. I'm 25 years old and I've been on my own since the age of 17. God continues to sustain me and provide for me but I'm lacking some key pieces, loving parents, a community, a college education, financial literacy, etc. Last year I was blessed with most of my prayers being answered while losing everything

I already had. Starting over was a very humbling experience. I expected 25 to be a great year, if not my best year, and I often wonder if it was something I did that caused this on me. I love God with all my heart and it breaks my heart that I feel this way. However, I know God has me because only he can sustain a person that lacks all these things and considering my upbringing, I'm doing well for myself. How do you find the hustle within your pain? What does the balance between knowing you're blessed but also suffering look like? I look at you and I'm inspired because I know it's not easy. I need to get back on my feet and I truly believe that I need to work harder and release myself from the victim mindset.

But I just don't know how or where to start. Please help. Okay. Let's see. Let's see. You know what I noticed when a lot of people ask for advice and this young lady included. A lot of people don't realize they answer their own question. That's crazy. Tyler said the same thing when he was like Rita Beck and he was like she answered her own question in the question. Oh wow. No, that it back. And he was like, she answered her own question in the question. Oh, wow.

No, that's, yeah. See, TP, so what that means is, you know, man, you need to get together, have an executive sit down, because that means we think alike, which means I should be on that type of paper wave that you want. You know, my money, my money running low, so. You know what I mean?

We'll talk soon, TP. You guys do. But, but no, she answered her own question because she has the faith. She has the faith. She understands who's in control. She understands. She has that understanding. What she has to do is stay acclimated to the patience and the belief, the belief of what she knows to be true. Right? Meaning she believes in God.

She knows that God is in control. So she has to be patient. But what I like to tell people, be patient, but be patient in motion. Don't be patient and stagnant. Don't be patient and still. Be patient, but still have movement because what she's going through is, in my opinion,

she's not looking inside herself and being okay with what her success may be. I tell people, don't reject your reality chasing what may be someone else's fantasy. A lot of people look at other people's lives and they minimize their own. She said, she named a couple of different spots in there where she's blessed.

Yeah. Every answer prayer. So sometimes, and this is very important for people to understand, Fais. Sometimes our success is we are able to pay the bills. We did wake up today. We're not running from bill collectors. We are in good health. Our family structure is okay.

Now I understand there were spots where she wished she had a better relationship. Loving parents. Loving parents. In a community. But she has to understand those are people. Come on now. Parents are people. Parents are people. And sometimes, blood makes you related.

Loyalty makes you family. And unfortunately, sometimes people have these issues with their parents, with their siblings, and I would never tell anybody to sever ties with Kith and Kin. However, I will say that when people, whether you are family members or not, when they make your life difficult, you have a right to not intertwine yourself and negativity.

So whatever you have to do to preserve yourself, especially when it comes to parents, respectfully, you still have a duty to be respectful, even if you have the worst parents in the world, and if you have to respect them by staying away from them, do that. But what I believe this young lady should do is identify all her pluses. Let's put our minuses to the side.

Look at all your pluses, Let's put our minuses to the side. Look at all your pluses, compare them to your minuses. I guarantee you, the minuses will be something that somebody else has that she thinks she should have. Always, nine times out of 10 it is. Nine times out of 10, the minus is, I don't have this over there and I think I should. Right. 10, the minus is I don't have this over there and I think I should. Meanwhile, I could find

a multitude of people, you can take her life exactly as it is right now and they'll think they're living like the prisoners of the whales. No, it's so crazy because a lot, like you can, my mom used to always tell me, it's somebody out there that is doing much, you think you're having a bad day, honey. Somebody wishes. Let me say this, and I'm gonna sit up a little bit. Because this is very important.

It's like what you just said. There's somebody else that's going through much more. But here's what a lot of people will do, Faze. Shabazz, that's easy for you. You live in Miami in a penthouse, and you drive this, and you, Crystal, that's easy for you to say. You did this, and you got that, and you on TV.

This is what people forget. They forget what they don't know. They don't know Shabazz lived in a crack house for 10 months. They don't know Shabazz lived in a crack house for 10 months. They don't know Shabazz lived in another crack house after that and used to wake up smacking roaches off his face.

They don't know what you went through for order for this to become your blessing. You understand me? So when, so people will think it's easy for us to be encouraging. It's easy for us to say we got faith. No, we are encouraging and we have faith because our lives are testaments

of what being faithful brings. Cause I know mine is. That's why I stick with what I do. This is why I stick to speaking engagements. This is why I stick to speaking engagements. This is why I stick to motivation because that's my job. I don't know where the money coming from sometime, y'all. I don't have a salary.

You understand me? I don't have a salary. I don't know if I'm gonna make 100,000 this year or if I'm gonna make 50. But what I do know is as long, or what I believe, what I do believe is that as long as I do what I'm doing, I'll continue to receive what I've been receiving. So I stayed of course.

This young lady, she has to figure out again, going back to purpose. Are you operating within your purpose? So take your pluses, sweetheart, and put your pluses on the table. Set your minuses aside. Because if you concentrate on what you're good at and what you're blessed at,

that'll get so much attention that what you don't have won't even matter because you'll be fulfilled over here. Yeah, that's real. I love that. She's looking for fulfillment. She is. But she should concentrate on what's going right. Yeah. Because the things that's going wrong are maybe not

necessarily wrong. It may not be meant. Oh, that was the word. I like that. It might not be meant. That's good. Thank you. I don't have none to add to that. That was good. You passed the best one at one time. I passed the best. All right, we're going to do what I'm going through and what I'm growing through. Okay. And right now in life, I am... There's so much going on. I have a lot on my plate right now. So juggling things, managing my anxiety. I was talking to the Nora today about being in, she's in the season of surrender

and I need to surrender some things myself and completely let it go and pray on some things. But right now I am trying to manage everything and manage this anxiety because it wasn't until last year that I realized that I even had anxiety. But just keeping that under control and understanding that I have everything I need, I like nothing and just letting God take it

because a lot of times we put more on ourselves than we have to and I'm very guilty of that. Yes. What about you? Shockingly, the same thing. Really? I just never had an attack, but I worry. I be anxious because sometimes you just don't know.

You're unsure. All right, last thing we're gonna do, keep it blank, sweetie. And for this episode, I'm going to say keep it a hundred, sweetie. Keep it 100. Keep it accountable, sweetie. Come on now. Yeah. Keep it accountable.

I love it. Everybody, my big brother, Shabazz. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me, Faye. Thank you. This was a jewel. Yes. And a gem, and a box of jewelry. I love it.

I love this. Thanks for having me. Absolutely, thank you. And thank you guys for tuning in. If you want to write into our Positive Outcome Listener Letter, write in to keepitpositsweetie at gmail.com and that's Sweetie with an I-E.

You can follow me on all platforms at love, Chris or Renee and that's L-U-V, Chris or Renee. Shabazz, tell the people where they can find you. Ooh, almost said something I ain't got no business saying. Don't do that. You can find me at Shabazz the OG, S-H-A-B-A-Z-Z-T-H-E-O-G on Instagram. I'm not real on a lot of other social platforms.

However, I do have a podcast named after the book Flip Your Life. And you can subscribe to that at TMTdigitalnetwork.com. I love it. All right, make sure you guys tap in with him. In the meantime, in between time, you know what to do. Keep it positive, sweetie. Love y'all. Music

One in eight, that's how many people have worked at McDonald's, and where some have continued their career. Where graduates of McDonald's Career Online High School Program are now role models leading the next generation. Where aunties, uncles, cousins, and communities learn skills they can use in every aspect of life. Hi, welcome to McDonald's. One in eight have worked at McDonald's,

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