Yannis Pappas Hour - South Bronx to TikTok with Devon Rodriguez

Episode Date: November 25, 2021

The extremely talented Devon Rodriguez has amassed over 25 million (and counting) followers drawing portraits of strangers on the NYC subway. His videos have gone viral on TiKTok & Instagram and propelled him into stardom. Prior to going viral, he had features on his work in The New Yorker, The Smithsonian and The New York Times. He tells his story from growing up under the harshest circumstances to manifesting his dream. He’s an inspiration and he’s just getting started.Follow Devon: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPd2mQhgA/https://instagram.com/devonrodriguezart?utm_medium=copy_linkYanni tour dates & tickets: https://www.yannispappascomedy.comJoin for weekly Bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/yannilongdaysLongDays is now officially going twice a week. Every Saturday & Thursday night. One weekly solo pod & a chat pod on Thursdays. Enjoy you hyenas! The show goes out every Saturday night & Thursdays to youtube and podcast audio platforms but while it's being recorded the show goes LIVE on Yannis' Instagram on Wednesdays. Come join in on the LONG DAY & Follow Yannis PappasInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/yannispappas/Twitter - https://twitter.com/yannispappas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up everybody? Screwed in, got a lot to say. Ah, shit. It's about to be a long day. It's a long day. It's a long day. What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Long Days. We have another guest. Now that we're going twice a week, I am very excited about this guest. He makes the BX. South Bronx.

South Bronx. Very proud. New York's own. Probably the biggest artist on the internet. Yo, my artist. Yo, my artist. You remember that era where everyone was like, yo, I got, everyone wanted to be a manager. Then they'd be like, yo, I got three artists.

This is my artist. This is my artist. But he's actually a real artist. He's a real artist. You know him from TikTok. You know him from Instagram. I'm going to pronounce it a few different ways because depending on where you're from, you might pronounce it differently.

Devon. Yo, Devon. it differently. Devon. Yo, Devon. Devin. Devon. Devon. Depending on where you are you get it different, right? Yeah, that's so funny.

How do you like it to go? Just Devon. Devon. Devon. Yo, you heard? That's Devon for the block. Do good. So when you go back to the Bronx

say, yo, Devon, do my portraits, son. When you gonna get me up on your talk yo I got an album coming out when you gonna promote my shit on your talk son I'll be following you my man done good that's funny do you get that a lot you predicted my whole life right there

you get it right with the names the promotions you got it all look I'm your mom's age I've been around this world a little bit I got wisdom I know how people are once you blow up people always always supported you as an artist I always knew you had that talent of art So you're probably getting tons of pussy now. What's that like? You doing real good man your art is very very good

you're doing real good man your art is very very good Jesse Jesse Scaturo behind me he's the artist he draws he did you know

you don't know Mr. Panos but he sculpted that he's my other character besides Marisa who probably your mom go crazy if you found out you were sitting with Marisa

she'd be like did you get a t-shirt for me you were sitting down with Marisa that's it I bet you I want to go to Westchester with her. But I had this other great guy,

Mr. Banos, and Jesse sculpts, and he paints, and he does all that. We can pull up his shit and everything so you can see it. And then I want to hear what you guys think of each other's art.

Do you get together with artists? Is there like an artist community? What does the artist community feel about you now that you've blown the fuck up on tiktok devon um i hope they like me um i hope they uh catch up to what i'm doing now because um i feel like a lot of artists are stuck in like the gallery space tradition thing and um social media is just way better for me than doing that route well it's perfect for your generation. You grew up with the internet. So you saw this opportunity.

You said, hey, here's the internet. This is a way for people to see my art. And you went for it. And you came up where you started drawing people in the subway, these beautiful portraits. You're almost like the humans of New York for art. Do you know Humans of New York, that account? Yeah, of course. Where he would take a picture of somebody

and then interview them. You're kind of like, you can see the person and there's all these different types of people and it's beautifully, beautifully drawn. I have a friend, Tyler Fisher, who's a comedian who did the funniest thing where he pretended to be the guy

whose account was Humans humans in new york so he would run he ran around and he dressed real funny and he had like shoes with no socks on and he had like a real hipster outfit he brought to people and go oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god you're perfect you're perfect he was like he was like do you know my account humans in new york and they would always at first they would go like no no leave me alone and then they go have you heard of the account and he had this funny voice he'd be like have you heard of the account

Humans of New York and they'd be like oh my god that's you and then they would just let him and then he would take all these photos he'd take photos of their dick of their face

he'd get close and they would just let him do it so do you have people like how in demand are you right now for people on the subway when you see people

on the subway and they recognize you they start doing this do they start posing for you hoping that you might like because i know you wearing a mask because we're doing covid but you know people can recognize your eyes you got nice eyes yeah no all the time if they see me outside they're like oh can you whip out the sketchbook right now and draw me i'm like i don't have it on me i'm just hanging out right now like i don't but yeah it's a lot Did you go to art school? Yeah, I went to high school of art and design.

Ah, you know that? Jesse, art school of design? Yeah, I've heard of it. Yeah, you went to, with finger painting school, you guys are finger painters. You went to a finger painting school. Yeah, for college, I went to school of visual arts. SVA. Yeah.

Yeah. I didn't make it that far. You didn't even, well, you don't have to at this point. I got a GED and went to art school yeah Jesse went to humanities and back when we grew up he decided to stop

going to humanities because it was just too dangerous yeah he would go to he would be get off the train he would be like

you know what I just can't go to school anymore we grew up in like the 80s and early 90s in New York that was like it was just everywhere was bad

everywhere was like tough. You grew up in the South Bronx? Yeah. So that stayed tough. Gentrification didn't come up there, right? Not yet. Not yet, right? I mean, it's creeping in now,

but I wouldn't, it's still, yeah, not too many white people over there. Yeah. So when did you, like, that type of talent you're born with, right?

Because I've tried to do art. Jesse always would be humble and go, because he paints amazing and he does all that. And I would, he would always be humble and say like, oh, it's just easy to learn. You just got to learn it. And then I would, I can't even draw a Smurf with like a formula on how to draw a Smurf. Do you know what the Smurfs are? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your cartoon?

You got to check with a 25-year-old. You're like, you remember the Smurfs? He's like, I don't know. I know Frozen, and that's all I know. I know Frozen. I know the genders of Katy Perry, and that's all I know. And I can't draw. So it's like a natural talent.

Was your dad an artist? Yeah, yeah, my dad was a tattoo artist. And then- That's where it comes from. I went to the high school of art and design, but I didn't get accepted the first year because you had to give a portfolio, then mine was it sucked it's around here if um if you scroll i saw your first i saw your first one your first one looks like what mine would be after 40 years of practice your first your first drawing right it was a self-portrait yeah van gogh style yeah

exactly i had a whole portfolio like that and then then I didn't get accepted. And then I got accepted my second year. And my dad was a tattoo artist, but he wasn't there. I didn't meet him until I was like 18 years old. You didn't meet your pops? Yeah, no. I bet he's around now a lot, right? He's like, yo, Devon, what's up? No, well, he actually passed.

Oh, sorry. No, no, it's all right. He passed right after I met him, maybe like two months after I, sorry. No, no, it's all right. He passed like... Me too. Right after I met him. Like maybe like two months after I met him. How'd he pass? Just like cirrhosis of the liver, just being an alcoholic.

He liked his booze. I got a friend, Dan Soder, same way. Shout out Dan Soder. His pop's cirrhosis of the liver. Alcohol takes you down. My pops just passed too. But he was a tattoo artist so you grew up with that talent so how early did you start drawing um since i was like three years old i was always

drawing something and then i would hear like on the block in the bronx like yo your dad did this on me he did this i mean they'll show me these tattoos and then my mom would show me like tattoo magazines and i was like damn my dad is famous like you know in the bronx if you're in one magazine we think you're famous so i was like holy shit like where's my dad at like so i asked everybody that knew him like yo you know where my dad is at where's my dad and everyone's like i don't know he left to miami or he left to california and nobody really knew so um my mom will be like yo shut up stop asking about your dad he's a debbie he left you like he's not gonna save your ass and i'm like i'm like damn but i'm tired of living in like the bronx like he's in magazines he must be doing something

right um so i kept searching for him and searching for him i found him on um myspace when i was like um 11 and then that's hilarious getting a friend request from your son on myspace yo what's up dad yeah no it was i couldn't even write to him because, so I found him when I was 12 and I was like, look, his name is Carlos Rodriguez. So, you know, there's like a million of them. So. Yeah, I mean, that's, that's like the Giannis Pap. My name is John.

So the Greek name is Giannis Papas is like the most common Greek name. So it's only like exotic here. Oh, really? But like, it just means John. But yeah, that's like Carlos Rodriguez is, Giannis Papappas in Greek is what Carlos Rodriguez is to Puerto Rican. Yeah, so imagine if your son was looking for you. Actually, he'll find you because. A lot of Carlos Rodriguez's came up.

Yeah, yeah. And when you were in the Bronx and you were like, Carlos Rodriguez, where are you? Everyone turned around. Yeah, exactly. So I'm like searching through all the pages and couldn't find him. And then I asked my mom like does he have like a nickname and she was like yeah they used to call him silo and like the tattoo

world so i looked up silo and i'm looking through all the pages and like on the 14th page i saw this this one like hannya mass tattoo and i know he used to tattoo japanese stuff so i was like oh this is him so i clicked on it and then it said that his last login was three years prior to that day so i was like fuck he's not gonna respond to my message so i went on his top 20 friends and i copied and pasted this long message like hey i'm devon's son i've been looking for him all my life like every year i was looking for him like it's crazy a lot of people might have just thought it was a nigerian print scam yo hey i'm his son contact this number i have a bank account for you right yeah most people ignored me there was one lady that was like um she said something like um something flying panther and sd something like

that so i googled it and it was like flying panther tattoo shop in san diego and i was like oh shit i gotta call this so i called him and i was like hey can i speak to carlos and then he was like let me put him on and And he's like, hello. I'm like, yo, it's your son, Devon. Do you remember me? And he's like, of course I remember you. You're my son. And I'm thinking, I mean, obviously you don't remember me.

Where were you? Anyway, so, oh, yeah, this one, Flying Panther. In your pop's defense, that's exactly how I would have played it, too. Yeah. So he's like, my dad has like 18 kids. What? Damn. And he has like a lot of. show your pop's name not gangas khan or or larry johnson the basketball player uh no he's got 18 kids yeah damn so he had like a bunch of like baby mamas in the bronx and miami and all over the place so all the hot spots yeah all the cool spots so he's like he's like yo how the fuck did you um

first thing he said was how the fuck did you find me like you must have done some detective work because all my baby mama's been looking for me and they could never and i'm like you know i was like i was like desperate like because i thought like he would help me get out of the situation i was at in the bronx but that wasn't the case but he was he was just like nice to hear from you and that was that no we spoke and and uh he was like like, nice to hear from you, and that was it? No, we spoke, and he was like, don't tell your fucking mom that we talk on the phone. Like, that bitch did this, this, and that to me. Don't tell that bitch.

She's going to be hating. And I was like, all right, no, I won't tell her. Like, don't worry. So we would just speak on the phone like every day behind my mom's back. And then like two months into talking on the phone, he's like, yo, come out to to san diego like come live out here and i was like i'm in a school here in the bronx like i can't just leave and he's like no i'll put you in school here so i was like oh shit i was

willing to drop all my friends i was like all right he's like you have to tell your mom and i was like okay cool so i'm like mom i gotta talk to you i've been talking to my dad um i'm gonna drop out of school and move to San Diego. And she's like, are you fucking crazy? You don't run yourself. You think you're grown, motherfucker? Like, you not leaving nowhere? And fuck your dad.

He's a deadbeat. He abandoned you. Now he wants to come out of nowhere. And then, so I started crying. I called him. I'm like, Mom's a bitch. I told you she was a bitch. So anyway, so she didn't let me go. so I started crying. I called him. I'm like, mom's a bitch. I told you she was a bitch. Like she's,

so anyway, so she didn't let me go. So, um, I didn't get to go until like years later, but we'll just keep on, keep contact on the phone. Did you meet him ever in person? Yeah.

So then, um, I think I was in like sixth or fifth grade during that time. So I was just in school. We'll talk every now and then. And then finally after like, um, like after freshman year of college, I went to college for one year and then I ended up dropping out.

Where at? FIT. There you go. Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. Yeah. Yeah. So then I was there and then we'll talk on the phone all the time. And he'll be like, yo, come to Miami.

He was living in Miami. And I was like, I can't. I'm in school right now. And then one day I dropped out of school and I was like, I guess I could finally visit him. So I go to visit him and he was a little insane. He was different from what I expected. Yeah. How old were you at that time? 18 or 19.

Wow. But you did get to meet him. Yeah. So I go to Miami. I meet him. And he has, like like these tattoos on his face and tattoos all over his neck and stuff

and we'll walk around together and he'll tell people like what the fuck you looking at? And he was like super thugged out and I was like damn maybe I'm glad

I wasn't raised by him. He's like maybe my mom was right. Always listen to your mom guys. No but my mom was a thug too. She was a little thugged out too? Very, very. She has multiple felonies but but anyway it's what it is that's what it is that's sometimes how it is i mean you know great art isn't born out of you know beverly hills that's not how it works you even go back all the way i mean van gogh you know his brother who's your favorite artist

who do you love? He's one of them Van Gogh Are you gonna go to that exhibit? That immersive exhibit? Yeah Well I haven't It's funny

I've seen so many ads for it But I haven't been to it yet Yeah You wanna go together? Yeah Let's go Let's go That must have been tough

For you growing up in the Bronx When guys were like Yo what's up We're going You know We're going to see this concert Or whatever And you were like

Guys I gotta stay home And work on this portrait Or did you Were your friends willing To go to the Metropolitan Museum with you? Well, I was doing graffiti for most of my childhood until middle school. And then when I got to middle school, they gave me this high school directory book to find a school. And then I saw this school, Art and Design. It was in Midtown. It was on 57th and Lexington or 3rd Avenue or something like that.

And then I was like, oh, shit, Art and Design? You have to apply with a portfolio? And then so I applied. But all I was doing was graffiti at the time. And all my friends loved it. Like all day at lunch, like in middle school, like, oh, draw my name. Draw me and my boyfriend's name. I'll give you.

I'll be like, all right, give me like two chicken fingers and I got you. And then I'll just draw their names like it was all day like all day I'm drawing names and then so wait wait you shouldn't say

chicken fingers I saw your last Instagram post you should call say chicken nuggets oh yeah chicken nuggets yeah I mean so you just

yeah I saw you just on your gram how many followers you got now on the gram I mean on the TikTok 20.9 million raceway park I saw you just on your gram. How many followers you got now on the gram? I mean, on the TikTok. 20.9 million.

Raceway Park. 20.9 million. And how many on the gram? 2.7 million. Not that I keep count all day, every day and watch my numbers. No. Once you hit the milli, you just let it move. You let it move on their own.

You know what I mean? You're in the millis. So, yeah. I mean, you're up in the millis now, and you just did a sponsored post. People got to understand that, like, you know, content creators, you know, the internet is now sort of like the mainstream of how things get out there. You know, we all got bills to pay. You got to, you know, people love your art. You do one McDonald's thing. So you caught some heat

For that McDonald's thing Some people Yeah yeah people on Instagram Were like oh you're a sellout You know But I kinda expect it It's like It's such a like cliche idea

Yeah Like you do You're an artist You do a sponsored post Yeah you're like sorry You know I You know they offered me this I should've said no

To please you I should've said You know what I'm gonna say no and i'm gonna go i'm gonna go do portraits in 42nd street you know we all gotta make that money so get that fucking money look at this so these it's unbelievable what he does man he uh these strangers he just and it how long did it take you to get that good from that first uh because you show that picture of that self-portrait you did of yourself years ago.

How much practice does it take to get this good? You know, you kind of like Chuck Close. You know Chuck Close? Yeah, yeah. Like how realistic it looks? Like it's very realistic. You have a photographic memory kind of, right? How does that work as an artist?

I like just pronouncing it artist. Making it real. This show is fucking New york right now we're in brooklyn we got my boy from the bbx my fucking producer right there he's an artist he's from brooklyn uh i guess it took me like i would say like five years to uh make it like realistic how much practice like how many how yeah i was maybe like three hours a day five. And you have to have a real steady hand and patience, right? Yeah, lots of patience. And you have to like love it a lot. And when you started drawing, was it just a talent you knew you had right away?

You could tell like you were into it? I'm so curious to know like how an artist, what do you see? Like how are you able to look at me? Like if I was sitting here right now, you could draw me like a photo and make it look kind of like a photo. So what the fuck? Is that like a fucking magic power? That's like some fucking alien shit. I mean, Jesse does the same thing.

How do you see the world that you could just take it from your mind and put it on a piece of paper? Yeah, well, it wasn't always like that. When I was doing graffiti, I did not know how to draw any portraits. And when i had to apply for art and design they were like we need a portrait still life this that and i was like what the fuck is that they're like we need a variety of media i was like all i know is spray paint deco markers and black books like i do not know how to do that but i tried and then i got denied and i was so surprised because like i said like in middle school all day it's like yo this is the most talented kid ever. And I'm like, how did I get denied when I'm the most talented kid ever?

And then that humbled me. And then I had to go to the Sam Ugonfer's high school, my zone school, which was horrible. Ended up getting shut down like two years after. But that was like I've seen like a lot of crazy shit in that school. Like to get in, you have to go through the metal detectors and be late to class 30 minutes and none of the teachers cared and people were like there's cameras everywhere so in order to fight people will go to the locker rooms and slam each other on their necks and there's blood everywhere i'm like yo i gotta get out of here so i had this art class there with this teacher named jeremy harper and i'm like i'm like and he had the best

class and i'm like and he really cared about the students and i'm like yo i love this class um i wanted to i wanted to go to art and design but i didn't get accepted like and he had the best class, and I'm like, and he really cared about the students. And I'm like, yo, I love this class. I wanted to go to art and design, but I didn't get accepted. And he's like, well, let me see your portfolio. And then he went to SVA, too, actually. And he's like, well, this shit sucks. He's like, of course you didn't get in. He was honest with you.

Yeah, and nobody ever told me that. And I was like, damn, I mean, I guess you're right. And then he's like, yeah, let me show you my portfolio. This is what I got accepted into SVA with. Like, um, I could take you under my wing for six months and then we'll be build your portfolio again and then get you accepted. But you got a six month window. You can only get accepted as a freshman or a sophomore. If you don't get accepted this time, you're stuck in Gompers. And I was like, fuck. And then he showed me his sketchbooks and he actually had all these subway sketches. that's where i got the inspiration from and that was 2011 so um so we worked on my portfolio for six months uh like lesson one was like still lives lesson two was

like drawing portraits and so i was like under his wing i would come after class i would come during lunch and um we did And we did my portfolio. And then me and my boy, Yaniel, he loved to draw, too. Hold on. What's that name? Yaniel. Yaniel. That's a nice name.

Yaniel Gutierrez. Yaniel. That's a good name. That's in New York. That's a Puerto Rican New York name. Yaniel Gutierrez. I think he was Dominican. Dominican.

Okay. Dominican. Yeah. So me and him, we were working on portfolios together, and we were pushing each other and stuff. He lived somewhere more uptown in the Bronx, and I actually feel bad because we were supposed to go to the auditions together after we worked on these portfolios for six months.

And then the morning of, he's like, you know what, bro, I'm looking at the map. It's kind of far. It's like on 56th and 2nd. I don't think I could go like it's gonna take me an hour and a half and i'm like yeah but bro this school's gonna be life-changing and he's like nah it's kind of far and i was like damn i'm like come on we should and he didn't want to go so i was like all right i'm go i'm gonna go by myself so i went by myself and um

yeah and then i did the turned in my portfolio i the test. They make you like draw somebody on the spot. A few months later, the guidance counselor called me in and she was like, oh, I have a letter for you from that school. So I grabbed it and I walk away. She's like, wait, I want to see the letter with you. And I was like, all right. So I opened it and it was like, congratulations, you got accepted into art and design. Like you don't have to do anything else except for show up in september and this is around like march and uh so i went to my art teacher i was like yo i got accepted into art design but don't tell anybody it wasn't even a thing i planned i just it was just instincts like don't tell anybody because i know like people are gonna like hate on me like oh you're leaving the school like oh you're leaving the hood you're gonna go to the hang out with the white boys like i already knew so i was, don't tell anybody.

I'm going to stay friends with my friends for now. But once I go to the new school, it's over for them. But, because I just wanted, I knew I had to. I knew how to cut all of that off. And then also at the same time, I was going through like this ACS case with my mom.

Like, my mom was like very abusive. So we got taken away. And I got placed with my grandma like my mom was like very abusive so we got taken away and i got placed to my grandma so i'm getting i'm going to a new school and a new home at the same year so i was like all right i'm starting off with a clean slate so then i i start in september in art and design i go to midtown and i remember i would see kids um with like purple hair green hair and i I was mind blown. If you have purple hair in the Bronx, you're getting fucking punched, bullied, and spit on. And then I saw this girl sitting in front of the school reading a book, eating an apple.

And I would never forget that memory. I couldn't believe it. I was like, if you went to Gompers and you sat on the floor, let alone eat an apple, they'll fucking smash the apple and be like, why the fuck are you sitting on the sidewalk so i was like i was like yo this is crazy and then then i went to one of my first classes was math class and i was sitting next to this white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes and i'll never forget i thought like yo i feel like i'm on disney channel because in the bronx like i never had a classmate that was white, ever. Like, in my fucking life. You've never been called Devin before.

Never. Never. Devin, I love your art, Devin. Actually, I think I had a lot of Devin. People call me Devin a lot, like teachers and stuff. But the only white people that I met was teachers or cops. If you saw a white person, they'd be like, yo so i was like oh shit like damn like and then um whatever so i didn't have friends for like a whole year just because um people first i had this star tattoo

that i here that i had since i was like 13 or 14 so people were like and then people would ask me where i'm from and they're like oh oh shit, he's from the Bronx. And then I was also like really shy, so I would just stay quiet. Yeah, you're introverted. I could tell you're introverted. You're an artist. You're an artist.

Yeah, so people would just assume like, oh shit, he's quiet. Like he has a tattoo, he's from the Bronx. Like stay away, he's scary. Right. So I didn't have friends for a whole year. And then I'm thinking like these kids are weird. They're eating apples, reading books.

Like so. They got purple hair. Yeah, so I didn't have friends for like a whole year. But then year two, I adjusted. And I also went in with like this chip on my shoulder. Like, I didn't get accepted. All right, I'm going to show you kids. Like, I'm going to be better than all you guys.

Well, you know, that's what it takes. That's what it takes. That's an inspirational story. Especially, I love that part where you said where you got humbled. Where, like, you know, you didn't get it in that humbled you you took that as inspiration you saw that as you didn't go like fuck that and then like you know you were like all right let me get better and let me prove them wrong by getting better a lot of people most people i say most people they get that first rejection you know their ego doesn't they don't allow it to

sort of fracture their ego and sometimes you need your ego to be fractured like um it's like i played basketball in high school and whatever no big deal then you go to a college level i tried to walk on a division one team and it was like the level just changes when you go up it's like the level and either you go like you you throw your middle fingers up because you want to remain the man in the smaller world you're from, or you go like, okay, now I want to get motivated and be on their level. I want to, like, and that takes humility. And without humility, you can't really grow as an artist. So you just kept going and getting better and saw those things as challenges as opposed to, you know, rejections. Yeah, I kind of knew from the first audition.

We were like in this waiting area by the staircase before we walked in for the auditions. And everybody's like, oh, let me see your portfolio. Let me see yours. And the first one I opened, it was this girl. Like she had all these figure drawings. And I was like, holy shit, these kids are fucking different. Like I was like, damn. And then I saw this other girl's portfolio and I was like I might not get in like these kids are insane like how the fuck and it was the first time you were exposed to other people

like you exactly who could do what you did whereas when you where you came from you were the guy who could do what you do that's like same thing with comedy it's like when I was coming up I was always the funniest kid by a lot in my friend was coming up, I was always the funniest kid by a lot. In my friend group, in school, everywhere. I was always the funniest. Class clown, always. And then you become a comedian. You're like, everybody is funny. All these people are funny.

A lot of them are funnier than me. And so it's a humbling experience. And that's when you realize you've got to either work or you're going to allow your ego to get in the way and go like fuck these people i'm good you know get that attitude of like fuck them and everyone's you know oppressing me and you know they they didn't let me in because of this that the other thing those are the two roads you can go you went on the right road you went on you went on the road

that led to 20.9 million followers so congrats that's incredible man that's a really great story yeah and a lot of the kids would tell me, oh yeah, my middle school teacher trained me. And I was like, damn, my first high school teacher trained me because in middle school, that class was like, we had an art class, but it was like free time because I think her name was Miss Hall. She was so afraid of the kids.

Nobody cared about art, so they would walk into the classroom and sit down and tell her, she was very soft and be like, guys, please listen to me. And they were like, suck my dick, bitch, and throw a textbook. So then every day was just free time. We'd walk in and she's like, okay, do as you please, and there was no art. And I was like, fuck. And I can't tell the other kids because they're going to jump me or something.

So you really had to learn how to navigate. You really had to learn so what was it about you you you just wanted to get out of the bronx is that what it was like you were just motivated to get out of the bronx like you didn't want to be around that yeah like i so like that meant more to you than fitting in with with with those people yeah with those kids i i knew like very early on that like fitting in and doing what they did it was like a slow death like no matter what i don't know how i had this understanding but my house like so i grew up in this house where it was like five of us in one bedroom and then um in one little ass room and then the next room was like a whole other family and then the basement was a

whole other family and then um a bunch of craziness going on and then like the bathroom was like a shared bathroom where you see like heroin needles and craziness and and i and my mom was like abusive and calling us all kinds of names punching us and fucking showing up to the house she was like a bartender so she'll show up like very drunk at like three in the morning and beat the fuck out of us and like have like the lights on like and we only have one room like i'm like come on can you please turn off the light i have to wake up at seven for for school she'd be like shut the fuck up before i fuck you up and then smoke weed and like my and then how many how many brothers and sisters in there with you i had um my brother and my sister. Yeah. Yeah. And then, then like smoke cigarettes and all that.

And I'm like, damn, like we're in the same room and whatever. So it was just like the everyday music blasting chaos. And so I used to watch Disney channel and I used to see things like Hannah Montana, Corey in the house, Zach and Cody. And I,

and I saw how the moms and dads interacted with their kids. And I was like you see this is normal look how nice they are like this like the shit going on in my house like this is not what's supposed to happen so I'm like it's just a matter of time until I'm old enough to like control the situation right now I can't so I just have to like finance my way little by little. Wow that's amazing that you came to those realizations on your own at such a young age that's crazy since like since like seven it's actually funny like i remember like being like seven or eight years old telling my mom like mom can you put me in acting classes and she's like oh why the fuck you want to be in acting class i'm like oh because there's this kid

cory like from that's so raven he like 10, and he's famous as hell. Why not me? I didn't even want to be an actor. I just wanted to be famous or have something to get out of here. And she was like, no, we can't afford that shit. Fuck that. And I was like, all right, I guess I'll be an artist one day because that was my true passion,

which I'm glad I followed that. So not only did you have the talent for it that you realized at a young age, and obviously you inherited it from your pops, but you had passion for it. You did enjoy it. Yeah, yeah. You do enjoy yeah like you do enjoy it yeah can you do that without enjoying it or is it just like you have to enjoy it to have that much patience to sit there and yeah i think you have to enjoy it not to not to quit and to keep it going because

was that your place of solace was that like your place where when you were drawing like all those problems you were able to kind of get away from everything yeah for sure even back then even before i knew i was before i knew i was bad from my teacher telling me um even when i was 10 years old i'm like this is gonna save me like i'm gonna be a famous artist i was delusional at the time because i you were dreaming though yeah yeah and you had the talent but when you're actually drawing can you think of anything else or are you completely focused on the painting does your mind clear when you're drawing drawing, can you think of anything else or are you completely focused on the painting? Does your mind clear when you're drawing? Like, is it like therapeutic in that way?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, it was the only thing that I knew how to do. And yeah, it's the only thing like I do it. You know, even if I wasn't going viral, I was I mean, I was I was actually drawing people on the subway for the last 10 years. And it wasn't until TikTok that everybody knew about it. But this is like a common, I'm sure you had teachers at SVA that did it. I don't know if you ever had

like Steven Nassau. I was like 20 years ago too. Oh, okay. A long time ago. No, yeah, but still, like, so my teacher told me that he learned from SVA from his professors

that drew on the subway so this is like a common artist practice and I just... In New York, yeah. Go on the subway, draw people and stuff. Did anyone ever go, yo, you ever try to draw someone ever try to draw someone yo man what the fuck you looking at why you drawing me you ever get that yeah so when my teacher first showed me i was like

i was like those are people on the subway and then he's like yeah you know it's good to practice a variety of different people in new yorkers and i was like that's so weird and he's like no you should try it so i was trying it and people would like do that like look at me orers and I was like that's so weird and he's like no you should try it so I was trying it and people would like do that like look at me or like and I was like where did you draw these people because in the Bronx you know you can't really get away you can't you can't look at somebody for too long yeah exactly so um so I kind of so I stopped and then when I went to high school of art and design I had this teacher that was painting people he would take photographs of people and then paint them in his studio so i was painting people on the subway for the last 10 years and but i would take a photo of

them so then i could just right would you sneak the photo it was kind of a sneak photo act like i'm texting and just sneak the phone grab them um when if you were like let's say you were doing i'm just curious if you were to like draw me would you be able to look at me And then I could leave And you could draw Or do you have to keep glancing Up and down Up and down I have to like keep glancing

You have to keep glancing Yeah That's how it works Jesse You have to keep glancing Absolutely Yeah So it's not like a photographic memory Where you take a picture

And like it's in the mind But you can see What is How can you recreate my face How does that work Just like You don't even know right it's like an alien talent

shapes and values and shades that's what it is he knows so you see symmetry in people's faces and you guys look at people and like you just see people you just see like the spacing of

and what makes you want to be like I want to draw that I don't know it's just like I want to make art what the fuck is that it's the same thing With like singing It almost makes me believe

In a god or something Because it's like What is artistic expression? Like what When people sing What is that? Like why Why does it make me

Why do I get goosebumps When Adele hits those high notes? You know? Like what is that? Where does it come from? Why? And then you look at a painting And you're

It moves you You get like an emotional Reaction to it. What is that? Yeah, like you don't even know what it is. I have no idea. I know I would like stare at people on the train or even looking at you now,

I'll think like, oh, if I drew that, like I'll draw like this wrinkle. No offense. No, no, I get it. No, I get it. I mean, look, I'm falling apart. I get it.

I'll draw this hair. I'll draw his eyes right in the middle of his nose. I mean, my eyes are close together. you give me a monocle right here i'm so fascinated at like what you guys see but that's what your mind is always working like that because i'm always thinking in jokes i'm always thinking like i hear you say something i'm like boom hit a joke here funny here funny here funny you're thinking it like how i would draw you see shapes or how it makes the color like how I would draw. You see shapes. Or how I would mix the color or like how the lighting like changes the skin tone

and how I would mix that. And, you know, closer to the light, you got more light on your forehead so you put more white in that. Or like maybe like close to your cheeks, there's more red so you throw in some more red. I'm just thinking of like how you would mix certain things. Yeah.

And as far as the vibe of a person, how do you portray that in a painting like what is they like what is that because like you look at a van gogh you look at i'm just off the top of your head you know chuck close etc just the two i'm thinking of right now it's like there's a vibe there that they have you can you can tell it it's them who made the painting but then also they capture something in the person like does that emote like do you get that too like you get my vibe so you would try to get my vibe in there yeah like or the way you perceive my vibe would it be like a manic crazy unstable person where

my eyes would be like i'd come out like like very animated am i animated or like is there a difference in vibe when you when you draw people um i just try to like draw it as accurate as i can and then hopefully a vibe comes through that's what you do so you go accurately because that's jesse taught me about that like there's movements in art like the movement went from like the classical era where they were trying to be very accurate and then form started breaking down right and they started doing like, then there was the expressionist, the impressionist, and then it got all the way down

to like the Pollock era where they were just throwing paint at a canvas, which looks very nice above a couch. You know what I mean? But I look at, sometimes I go to the modern, sometimes I go to the MoMA. I'll be honest with you,

I'm more of a Met guy. I'm more of a form guy. I like to see, you know, I go to the MoMA sometimes and I'm like, yo, this is fucking art. I could do that.

Like, I could fucking do that And my dad was a painter My dad was an artist Hold up let me see Let me make you judge it Hold up one second He's gonna just be in his head Cause he's shy

I'm scared Cause he's shy That's hilarious I forgot to tell you my pops is an artist 10 out of 10 Is he good? Is he famous? No I'm kidding

No you're not famous He's awesome But he was He did that Was this on the subway? No That's my uncle My uncle

Show it to this guy Oh yeah right here That's my dad did that So that was my uncle And Donny's PPS How many views did he get? He got zero views. This is the...

Here we go. One, two, and there you go. He'll get thousands now. Yo, I'm making my dad... This is the most my dad... People have seen my dad's art. Check that out. Now it's going to go up in value.

Yeah, it'll go up in value. My dad did that. Oh, yeah. It's nice, though. Yeah, my dad had some talent, right? Ten out of ten. Ten out of ten, yeah. Yeah, but I didn't...

I wasn't born with it. He could i didn't i wasn't born with it he could do it i wasn't born with it so you start drawing you get better you get better tiktok comes along you started on tiktok right your first one was on tiktok what was the first one to smash what was your maurice one oh so my it's like the subway thing so first i did um so if you scroll all the way down um they they all have a lot of views now because all the new millions of followers go down to like watch all my stuff. So all those views at the bottom aren't like real views, if you know what I mean. Yeah, because they came back and watched them. Yeah, they came back, exactly.

So if you look at the one in the middle, can you watch them here? The one in the middle, Jesse. On the first row? Yeah, the first row. Next to the lady who's moving. I love how you know exactly what I was talking about. The middle one. The middle one, right?

No, down. That one. That's the first one. Well, I guess the subway one below that. Oh, no, the first one, yeah. And then, so that one, I don't remember how many views they got it did pretty well but um i remember painting the commission and um and i only had like 500 views at the time which one is that the the middle one yeah yeah so i only had like 500 views and i was

like wait that's a painting yeah that looks like a. Yeah, there's me varnishing it. So this is what I was doing for a living. I was doing portrait commission after portrait commission just over and over. And so this is one of the portrait commissions I was doing. And I would also do subway paintings,

but with the painting that you do that you're passionate about, you don't know if somebody's going to buy it or not. But if somebody commissions you, they got to give you 50% up front, then give you the rest when you're done. So it or not but if somebody commissions you you know they got to give you 50% upfront then give you the rest when you're done so it's a automatic money and and were you doing that independently or through someone just just um just wait just Instagram DMS or if I had an article come out about me they'll email me and I'll just

so what were the article articles coming out about you then if nobody so for here I had an hour I was I joined this competition for the smithsonian um the smithsonian museum and i was a finalist there just based on my my art and i was i was still living in the bronx i was like 19 years old and then so these people contacted me and then um they wanted to pay me for a commission and they were so nice to me they flew me out uh and then um and they they paid me a lot of money to paint this and and so i was like all right let me um while i was working on this people were blowing up on tick tock and i was like let me film myself so i filmed it i got like 500 views and i was like

uh is that the six train one which one's the first one the sixth train um i think i deleted a lot of them right i think it's not even here right there was one of me painting that one and i only got 500 views and then i tried all of these different experiments and i wouldn't get that many views and i was like okay maybe i have to do celebrities because nobody knows these people so i did one of kanye i don't know if i deleted it or or not oh you didn't weren't there and then i did one of XXXTentacion, and then that didn't even get that many views, and I was like, damn, this isn't it. So I was just thinking of ideas,

and I was like, you know what? I should take it back to the basics and draw people on the subway. So scroll up a little bit. So the first subway one... Yeah, more. Right there, right there. The first is the guy with the red shirt so it got 4.9 million

and this is my first time getting a million and i was like i was like oh shit this this is it i was like if i do this again tomorrow and if it um gets millions then this is gonna be my thing so then the next one did um let me see uh 17 million so i was like right, I got in the bag. This is going to be, if it worked twice, it's going to keep working. It's like, this is like my thing. So, first one brought me in

like 100,000 followers and then the second one brought me like 200,000 followers. So I was already like 300,000 two videos in, two Subway videos in. So I was like,

all right, if it works as like an algorithm, like they say it does and it works mathematically, it's just they say it does and it works mathematically it's just like rinse and repeat and it just you keep adding to the pile so i was like in a year from now you know i could be at 10 or 20 million so this was like a year and a year and three months ago yeah i remember i saw one of these early ones yeah these are like so then for these i didn't

get any reactions because um i used to make a living through selling my art. So I would sell all of these drawings on Instagram. And then the comment section, like if you click on it, can you see comments on this? No. I guess you got to log in, but it doesn't matter. So every single comment was like, oh, get the reaction, get the reaction. So I was like, I wasn't doing it at first because I'm like, I have to sell my drawings and make a living. So I can't just give away my art for free right right but i wasn't because what

you're referring to is in the videos as people know you hand the piece of art to the yeah to the person afterwards yeah getting there yeah yeah so i'm like that's funny at that point you were going no no no no i'm going to sell that yeah i'm like i have to sell this like i can't give away my art like i'm living in the bronx like i'm trying to get out i'm trying to become an artist i'm i'm not like a a content creator i'm an artist that just so happened to make it as a content creator by i was doing your con by doing your art yeah exactly so so then once i started i was like all right they kept harassing me so much like i would get comments that would get 200 000 likes saying get the reaction get get the reaction. Like every single comment, I was like,

people must really want to see this. So I did a reaction video and it went mega viral and then I had news reporters come to my house and my grandma's like, what's going on? So one of the first ones

was the Kenny Clarkson show. Did they not understand it because you weren't in a tattoo magazine? That's the only way they understand it. They're like, wait, what do you mean? You're not in a magazine so i don't i can't understand this so my grandma's like um so the first i was like grandma you gotta be quiet i gotta do the zoom

interview with kelly clarkson and she's like why what do you how like i was like what did that feel like so this is the first time you're getting this attention. Like, were you nervous about talking to Kelly Clarkson? I did get a few, like, articles before TikTok. Like, I got New York Times and New Yorker magazine and a few others just based on art. That's huge. Yeah. That's huge. And also Smithsonian. That's huge.

Yeah. So even before TikTok, people were noticing the talent. Yeah, yeah. Because the New Yorker, that's as big as it gets. Yeah. Smithsonian, that's as big as. Because the New Yorker, that's as big as it gets. Yeah. Smithsonian, that's as big as it gets. New York Magazine, that's as big as it gets. Yeah, New York Times.

So, New York Times, that's as big as it gets. So you were, people were noticing your, where did those articles come from? From your Instagram portraits, so. Yeah, just from Instagram or like, yeah, just Instagram or like being in the Smithsonian competition and making it into the finals. So the Smithsonian competition was huge for you. Yeah, yeah Instagram or like being in the Smithsonian competition and making it. So the Smithsonian competition was huge for you. Yeah. Yeah.

Because then because I think I was 18 or 19. And, you know, I told an officer in the Bronx and they just. They liked the story. Yeah. And then I just. So I was getting that kind of attention, but not so like back to back to back. It was just like maybe once every three or four months I'll get a new article. And and and it was going good.

So once this started happening. At that point were you thinking about I'm going to do a, what do they call those? Exhibits. Were you thinking I was going to do an exhibit, trying to find galleries? Were you looking more the traditional route? Were you thinking more traditionally at that point? Like gallery or were you still focused on the net? Because I love the way you started focusing on the net as a way to get your art out even before this on the gram so so i want so i was i was too focused on like getting a commission

done and then getting the money and then getting commission getting the money because i didn't want to have a job i was like i don't want a normal job so you were just thinking about that yeah and then in the rest of the time you were thinking about the internet yeah and then i was like all these paintings i'm doing like i'm gonna keep posting them and posting them but then this tiktok thing is the thing that started just going like crazy to the public you had the critics already yeah it's amazing that's amazing i didn't know that about uh you know like people don't know new york you're featured in the new york you're featured in new york times you feature in new york magazine i mean that i mean i mean it's just a matter of time that you're gonna something is gonna work but I love how you

didn't wait for that you kind of just you took it into your own hands and kept creating and use the internet to figure out a way to get it out to more people yeah because if you go to galleries um if you go to galleries in New York or even anywhere like you won't really see realistic portraits there like because it's not like what's hot right now in a contemporary gallery so i didn't feel like what's hot in contemporary galleries right now just like abstract or like just conceptual art and just things that are like way out of the box so i'm just like i'm just like a kid from the bronx i like drawing people i like painting people so i'm like i don't fit in that thing so also like i didn't feel like you know when i go to galleries like at the time i didn't feel like i understood well i just felt

dumb like you know like so i just never even tried to get into a gallery i was just like i'm just gonna stay on instagram and get the next i was living like dm by dm like if no if nobody emailed me to hire me for a portrait then I'm not gonna make my next money but I was living with my grandma so um I'm like it's fine it's not like I'm paying so many bills you know so right right so I didn't even think like was your grandma supportive of your art yeah yeah she was yeah she was she must be so proud of you right now yeah yeah she is she's so hyped um it's funny because this mcdonald's ad is actually about me and my grandma and how we saw um eat mcdonald's and stuff but

but anyway so um that's dope so yeah so i'm excited that i was oh yeah that's you and your grandma yeah yeah is that how she looks yeah yeah that's so dope yeah thank you um but yeah i'm excited that i was um accepted like in new york times and spinsonian based on my art like outside of being viral and the viral thing just exponentially like made it like next level right but yeah i was i was making a living as an artist just without content at all now most of my living comes from like um as an artist just without content at all now most of my living comes from like um brand deals and stuff right right brand deals for like you're you're like a tiktok create you're like a content creator on tiktok and yeah it's kind of crazy so things blew up and then what happens next you start getting contact does tiktok reach out um yeah so uh like one month in i was already at

two million followers 30 days in i'm like shit, this is going fast as hell. And then during Hispanic Heritage Month, they did this Latinx thing, and they wanted me to be one of the Latinx trailblazers. And so they reached out to me, and they interviewed me. So then they started working with me. I got a manager there named Kristen. Shout out to Kristen. She's like one of the best managers there and then um at tick tock yeah yeah and then um yeah then they started working with me giving me opportunities giving me brand deals and when i first

when i got my first brand deal i was i didn't have any like representation of like managers or anything like that so i would just accept like the first rate. And then three deals in, I learned not to do that. And then I had people negotiate for me. You have a lawyer now? You have your own lawyer? Well, the agency has an in-house lawyer. It's like TikTok. TikTok looks at you as their talent.

Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. And I didn't even know how much. I was just making art. Maybe three months into TikTok, i would get a brand deal and i didn't even know you could make drawing into commercials and i guess if you get views you could do whatever you could do whatever yeah i mean like i don't know if anyone knew it because is there anyone else doing that or yeah so you kind of are the first one i've never seen a mcdonald's commercial uh

with this type of content where an artist has drawn something but yeah i guess they just sort of take the content you make and yeah they're going like this is going to get this many eyeballs and so turn it into a branded content yeah that's what i said earlier that i hope they catch up because i i would i do have a lot of like artists haters in my comments like oh you're a seller all this is just to go viral. This is for clout. But I always tell people, if you scroll down on my Instagram all the way to the bottom, I have Subway sketches from 2014, 2013.

And TikTok didn't, I didn't start TikTok until 2020. So obviously I love it for what it is way before going viral. And I always tell people, listen listen this is a new way of like make like nobody like you said nobody else is making content and making brand deals with art like you know we don't have to be a starving artist anymore like do the it's hard to get into galleries it's hard to sell your art so you know hopefully they learn i'm trying to teach them they hate me but i'm trying to it's actually it's ridiculous do you hate lebron james then you hate michael jordan you hate kobe bryan Then you hate Michael Jordan. You hate Kobe Bryant.

I mean, they've all done McDonald's. I mean, Michael Jordan used to do, and Michael Jordan's even worse because you know he's not eating McDonald's at all. He's got a personal fucking nutritionist, and then you got LeBron drinking Sprite. He's not allowed to drink Sprite. He spends a million dollars on his body,

so it's like, you know, this is America. It's like we're advertisers run everything you make money by uh doing commercials directors do commercials all your favorite directors actors do commercials so i mean that anyone would give you any hate a grassroots artist who made it himself by building his own following i mean that's just ridiculous but you know people are going to say what they're going to say on following i mean that's just ridiculous but you know people are going to say what they're going to say on the net that that's what's crazy about the net is it's not a real place and that's what i love dave chappelle said that that's the one thing i love

in his last special where he says uh that one line where he goes like this is how he said something something on twitter but he goes i don't care because twitter's not a real place the truth is this is not a real place like you're this is not a real place what The truth is, this is not a real place. Like, you're, this is not a real place. What you do is a real thing that you're showing on a place that's not real. It's a virtual world where people can see your stuff

and then come, eventually one day you're gonna have exhibits, you're gonna have, you're gonna be in galleries and people are gonna come see you, they're gonna come shake your hand, girls are gonna be dropping

their panties. And, so it's like, that hate is unwarranted. That obviously unwarranted but that comes with it man that just comes with success because i tell you what if mcdonald's had approached you like on the second video when you had 500 everyone would be like yo that's dope you gotta make it you know it's just they're gonna hate you for anything like that's just a new thing and obviously you're gonna adapt to that well because if you could adapt to being in a house with these heroin needles in the bathroom,

you're going to be fine when somebody says you're a sellout. I know. It's crazy. You should just message them back and be like, yo, bro, this is the least I'll ever. This is the least adversity I'll ever face in my entire life. I know. Because I've already walked through Dante's circles of hell, my friend. Yeah.

Sometimes I think that I'm like, because people ask me like, yo, these comments don't affect you. I'm like, I really don't care. and if anything i i need because they give me more engagement like when a brand yeah brands want to see like how many comments you got how many they don't click through the haters they like see that oh wow he got a thousand comments like he keeps these people engaged or like or the algorithm sees you got all these comments like people must they they're debating back and forth this must be interesting let's push it even more you know they don't care about uh they don't care about the content of the engagement it's just a it's just an algorithm i mean you know keeping people on the

app yeah it's part of what's ripping our country apart but if you're doing if you're doing paintings it's good but it is kind of what's ripping our country because they don't care like people are just arguing like i'll fucking kill kill you, you liberal bastard. And then other people are going, you conservative nut. And the algorithm's going like this. The whole time the algorithm's going, yes, keep going. More engagement because it's a robot. It doesn't know.

My brother says, he's like, at least what you're doing is art. It's not like you're like, you know, it's people fighting over art. People are fighting over art. So it's no big deal. Yeah, it's nothing political here. Yeah, your world has changed. Your world has changed i've seen i've been you know i follow you obviously we've been texting you know we're a couple new york kids you know i mean south bronc remember the wop do you remember the south it was like it was like this it was like a south bronc south south bronc south that's bdp before you die do you know who do you know

boogie down productions no it's crazy right it's crazy Do you know Boogie Down Productions No It's crazy right It's crazy when you talk to a kid And they don't know KRS-One I know KRS-One Yeah it's Boogie Down Productions Oh that's what it is Okay

Yeah I love that song Nine Millimeter Yeah Yeah That was back in the day Where there was beef Between the boroughs That was like

Before the internet When things were so small Me and Jesse were talking about We grew up It was like neighborhood To neighborhood And then in hip hop There was beef Between the boroughs Like KR like before the internet when things were so small me and jesse were talking about we grew up it was like neighborhood to neighborhood and then in hip-hop there was beef between the boroughs like KRS-One's boogie down album was all about like the hip-hop started in in in the bronx and like yo fuck queen's bridge remember brooklyn keeps on making it bronx keeps on no bronx keeps on making it brooklyn keeps on taking it manhattan keeps on making it Brooklyn keeps on taking it Manhattan keeps on something and Queens

keeps on faking it it was like back then they hated Queens it was like can we all we can't even get along as New Yorkers humans love to fight it's just in them it's gonna happen anyway so life has changed now uh I see you you flying out to LA you're people know who you are what's that like what's that feel like to go from i mean you're basically a rags to riches story yeah it's crazy because i don't know how you know you know i don't know if you like believe in i don't even know if i believe in like manifesting and stuff like that but it's so crazy because i would tell people and i would believe it and i would tell my family and i'm not trying to like be egotistical or cocky but i would tell my family like oh you know i'm gonna be famous one day like you know i'm gonna like get all this

attention and my art is gonna be all over the world and and uh i mean they will laugh or like maybe they believe that i don't even know but i even have snapchats on snapchat you you get memories of um of like three years ago and and um and i'll just say i'll just like say things like oh guys you know i'm gonna be like huge one day and my friends will be like yo you're ridiculous with your jokes and i'm like i'm kind of not joking so anyway my point is that i always believed it in like this delusional willpower yeah i'm like one day so like now when i go to like galas and they fly me out and all this like it's like i kind of i don't want to sound ungrateful but i kind of like expected it so you believed in it so hard yeah like yeah and in the

bronx i never met like any famous people but like when they invite me to the galas and i'm sitting next that's where like jeff bezos was like 20 feet away from me with uh leo dicaprio and all these like some of the biggest celebrities were there and just like, wow. He could have been looking at you too and you wouldn't know it. Yeah, yeah. Because one of his eyes, he's got a lazy eye,

so one of them's always... Oh, I'm not going to comment. You don't have to comment. I'll do that. You let me get in trouble. You just sit there being an artist. I want him to buy my paintings one day. He will one day.

He will one day. Jeff Bezos, please. Yeah. Bezos, don't judge Jeff. He's not going to watch this. Don't worry about it. That's incredible. I think it was sort of

how married you were to the dream. Like from an outside perspective, it seems like how married you were to the dream and how real it was in your head before it happened was also what kind of kept you motivated

on the path to the dream and helped you tune out all the distractions it happened was also what kind of kept you motivated on the path to the dream and and and helped you tune out all the the distractions and possible roadblocks that a lot of other people face that's why it's so important if you have a dream to just to be married to it you know because it motivates you and you have a goal when you have a goal you know most people feel lost because they don't know what their goal is you had a goal You had a goal for yourself And it was real And then of course You had the God given talent

So that combination works Could I show you something On Instagram I want to It better be good Yeah I hope it's good Yeah You tell me

Wait Yeah Are you going to waste time Doing this Yeah it better be good Let's go down a little bit Let's take a peek Wait wait

That's a fact Actually go down A little bit more He sounds like a wait wait that's a friend uh actually go down a little bit more he sounds like a girl instructing someone on how to give head go down a little bit more not too fast go down go down that's right you're hitting it right there there you go poppy a little bit more a little bit more a little bit more a little bit more ah just right a little bit ah just right there's a self portrait right there right

wait no keep going I love how you made yourself all smiley it's this note that I oh damn where the fuck

right there right there which one that one middle yeah so I blew up on TikTok in 2020 i wrote this note 2015 i wrote the day up there december 30 2018 so i used to write shit like this like in my book and and i and i tell people i'm like yo is i used to write shit i used to make snapchats and they're like

yeah you say that now i'm like i have dates i have fucking anyway so on the left i wrote success is all i want all i think about i will be successful and then i wrote i wanted i wanted to be great since a kid i swear i always wanted it i knew i was special i used to do this whatever this 2015 i wrote this you know like yeah it's crazy yeah that was my block where i grew up willis 141st street willis at 141 and then I blocked out some words. I think I was talking shit about somebody. Like, this person said that I'm not going to be shit. You're going to see him.

Boy, you got to throw some beef in there. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's amazing. I believe in that. I don't believe anyone can just do it, though. You have to have talent in that field. And you can't just say, you can't say it, you gotta live it like you did.

Not only did you say it to yourself, you lived it, you went and you submitted your work and then you got better and you, I mean, you could tell from looking at that first portrait to like what you do know how much work went into that. That's the stuff nobody sees. Those are the countless thousands of hours of you sketch after sketch after sketch how many drawings you think you've done total if you had to not you know approximately not exactly but like approximately how many drawings you think you've done and you're only 25 years old i have no idea thousands it's thousands right yeah thousands and

thousands of drawings do you draw every drawings. Do you draw every day? You think you draw every day? Well, whenever I have, I think I still draw every day, but sometimes I can't because I'll have interviews and phone calls and meetings. But other than that? Yeah. Yeah. Even when I'll be on the phone and I'm sketching,

it's not even for a video. It's just for fun. But, yeah. How was that interview with Kelly Clarkson? Did it go good? That's probably the first time her show had a inner like was interviewed like like the studio was in the bronx she was talking to somebody in the bronx yeah it was actually very awkward because yeah it was in

the bronx and um so my room was a mess right and i didn't clean it on time so um the interview was like in 30 minutes so i was like all right i'm gonna make one corner very nice so i'm like cleaning up this corner and then i put the laptop there and i was like i 30 minutes. So I was like, all right, I'm going to make one corner very nice. So I'm cleaning up this corner. And then I put the laptop there. And I was like, I made sure on photo booth that it was nice behind me. So behind the camera is a whole mess. You cleaned up all the heroin needles. Well, this is my grandma's. They were just below the frame.

No, this is my grandma's house. I got a tape on my grandma and the difference between my mom and my grandma's house. Starts with no heroin needles yeah like it was she had bibles in the house but okay i get it so um so um so i checked on photo booth if my background was clean and it looked clean and then when i got on the call with her it was zoom and the zoom thing was way wider and i had this mirror on the corner and i see the mirror and so kelly's like hey devon and i see the fucking mirror and i just shut down i was like holy fuck i hope nobody see because if they see the mirror

they're gonna see all the piles of clothes stacked up i was like holy shit so i couldn't focus she's like so how's everything going you're doing these subway sketches and i was just like uh all you can think about was the clothes yeah yeah subway sketches and uh and i'm like i'm like trying to look and i could it's too small to see if you could see the clothes and i'm like it was just so awkward so i edited it and put it on my youtube but it just it didn't come out that great but um your grandma didn't walk in the frame either walk in the frame like trying to bring Kelly Clarkson some food? No, I was like, well, I please. You trying to explain to her Zoom because she's old school?

Maybe we can pull it up. She's like, I'm going to do an interview. She's like, okay, I'm going to cook. You're like, Grandma, you don't got to cook. She's not coming over the house. We're doing it through the computer. Exactly. I think if you click on playlist, and then this should be interviews.

And then on the right, scroll down. Who's that? Or if you just type in my name and Kelly Clarkson. Yeah, that's the best way to do it. So while he's looking for that, let me ask you, where do you see it going from here?

What do you want to do with this now? So going viral over and over, it feeds everything. It brings in brand deals. It brings in interviews. It brings in even a bunch of galleries now want to work with me. But I'm going to work with my agency gallery, which is UTA. They have a gallery space out in Beverly Hills. And so I'm going to, my next thing is... So I've never been outside the country.

So I want to go to the subways in Paris and London and take photographs of all different types of people and make a whole gallery show of like 10 paintings. Actually, let me show you my OU paintings that I was doing before. Well, let's watch this first. Okay, okay. Let's just see a little bit of it. Hold on, let me get my glasses.

Don't worry. I don't even know where they are talk to Jesse okay what's up Jesse what's up how long ago was this I think like a year ago yeah a little bit over a year ago

this shit really happened fast for you huh yeah so fast oh and this this thing I edited it heavily. So I cut out a lot of awkward parts. So you're seeing the good version. But you'll still see how weird I am here. But...

Oops, I got one right there. Yeah, there's very awkward moments that I clipped out, so... out so she's Greek by the way so nice let's see how she pronounces it. He creates these beautifully detailed sketches of New York subway passengers. So while he's been doing sketches like this for years, his latest works really capture a time in history. The way our lives have all been altered in the midst of the pandemic. We have the artist on the line right now. What's up, Devin?

Devin! On your arms. That's nice. I love your tattoos. So, Devin, how has your art changed? Is that the mirror? Yeah, I see the clothes! Yeah, no. I'm shopping, drawing people on the subway. that the mirror yeah i see the clothes yeah no

no you can't see the clothes actually the clothes on the floor wait so is that that's the mirror though right yeah that's the mirror but you could you could only see like my closet and the hats on the wall but you can't see like the real mess yeah like it but i couldn't you didn't know if you could or not yeah on my screen i'm like i can't tell if you can or not that garbage can blocks a lot like it actually looks like a yeah it looks like a typical artist kind of room you know with the art on the in the background you staged it pretty good but in your mind you're worried here when you're talking to her yeah look at look at the audience oh yeah, yeah. It's more virtual.

What's been the best reaction? Well, 95% of my subjects have no idea that I even drew them. But every now and then, I'll give somebody a drawing, and they're so excited. That's amazing. I mean, they must freak out. That's amazing, Devin. I love what you do. I love even the art I'm seeing behind you in your room right now. Bitch can sing, though.

You're very, very talented, man. Thank you so much for sharing. She got a voice for real. I'm going to make sure you like your post in your room right there. Bitch can sing though. You're very, very talented man. Thank you so much for sharing. She got a voice for real. I'm going to get you to like your post right now, right? Yay. Thank you so much.

Very cool. So, but nobody knows it. That's the thing. It's like sometimes I'll have a bad set and I'll get off the stage and like the crowd

will come and be like great show and I'll know that I wasn't on or like, you know, I missed some things but they don't know.

They don't know. So, nobody knew. Nobody knew. So, but they don't know. They don't know. So nobody knew. Nobody knew. So that's funny to know. That's great to hear what was going on on the inside. And that was your first

big interview right there, Kelly Clarkson? Yeah. I've had like some like Fox 5 interviews and stuff but. Yeah, but this was like

the first one with a star. Oh yeah, let me show you my paintings before TikTok. Yeah, I want to see that. Scroll down.

Go to... So, if you could go to devonrodriguezart.com. Oh, you want to see it? Yeah, and then... Do you get recognized in the street now? Yeah, maybe like once a day or twice a day. It feels wild, right? Yeah, it's crazy.

All right, so these are all your paintings that take me like... You know, depends like the one in the middle with the it's like chuck close right jess like those are paintings yeah that's kind of like what chuck close does right yeah like so that one took me like months like maybe like a month and a half and so i'll take a picture of people dude it looks like a fucking photo it's wild yeah that's how accurate it is um so and then i'll take it home and i'll do the whole painting. So these paintings, I would just paint them, sell them, paint them and sell them. But I haven't done one since going viral because I've just been like addicted to making content, making brand deals. But like now I'm going to go back to making my art and then I'm going to have a whole show of

just, these are all sold. So I don't, I can't. I know you should get to put them on display and do an exhibit. Yo dawg, can me and Jesse come to the don't, I can't. I know, you should put them on display and do an exhibit. Yeah, I have to make, yo, dog, can me and Jesse come to the exhibit? Yeah,

of course, of course. I mean, what's up, dog? Of course, of course, it's gonna be in a year from now,

hopefully. Yeah, I'm just saying, don't forget, don't forget, you know what I mean? I'm not gonna forget. Don't forget the block,

son. Don't forget the block. I'm not. Y'all hurt? He looks like an intellectual Angelo, right? Yeah, he does look like Angelo,

my buddy Angelo Lozada from the Bronx. Angelo, so Angelo is my good friend from the Bronx. He's a comedic legend. He passed away two years ago. Angelo Lozada. He started a sketch group at the New York Rican Cafe. His sketch group was called... Oh, the sketch group.

The comedy, yeah. And that's Angelo right there. One of my closest friends and dearest friends. We lost him two years ago. Very funny. He would do all the Mauricio shows with me. It was me and him on stage all the time. And he was sort of like the straight man to her when we would do it live.

And that, yeah, go back to that painting. It looks exactly, look at that. Holy shit. It looks like Angelo, dog. Angelo, I hope you're watching from heaven man Bronx is on Angelo Lozada We lost the legend He's from the Bronx

He's from the Bronx yeah We used to You know he was my road dog We traveled together Me him and Jesse And Sergio Chico And we would go on the road And do shows

Like I remember when My character I had two characters that went viral Maurice and Mr. Panos. And it was weird. It's a weird thing because you're in the grind, in the grind, in the grind. Nobody knows who you are.

And then I remember me and Jesse, the first time I got recognized. Because Maurice is different because you can't really tell I'm her. I knew you and Maurice. I didn't know you guys were the same person. You can't tell I'm her because the vibe and who. It's just people can't see it'm her Cause I just The vibe and who It just people People can't see it You know

I remember one time Getting recognized One of my favorite ones Was recognized As Mauricio No no no Yeah for someone who knew Mauricio was

I mean the thuggiest dude You can imagine in your life And he was grilling me I was eating outdoors At like a restaurant In Brooklyn He was grilling me He had teardrop tattoos

Right and I was He was grilling me I was like oh fuck You know I'm like Who's this dude like what happened did like you know did I bang one of his two sisters in high school what's going on in my body am I about to get rushed what's up he was just looking at me he goes yo right what right when the waitress came over to he goes yo he goes ass and the waitress must have been like waitress probably think oh this must have been some guy he in jail he thinking oh this must have been some guy he fucked in jail

he must have thought I was just some guy I was some twinkle guy fuck could go yo ass pussy and I was like yeah Maurice he was like

yo you a wild boy that shit is not funny son and it was but the first time we got recognized we were going to look

for a theater space to do the show and this girl remember she was like worked there or something she worked at where was it New York Institute of Tech

their theater we were gonna do a comedy show and we were gonna rent that theater and then somebody mentioned it was Marisa and she screeched

at the top of her lungs like it was like she had met like Madonna or J-Lo or some shit and it's crazy because the internet it's like a small

group of people who knows you at like you know we're not Matt Damien I mean you're getting a Matt Damien but back then I was I don't think so you know but you know you're getting high but it's like you get up you get that first like oh shit somebody's looking at you like you're a celebrity and shit you're like oh my god and uh it was a weird weird thing that happened overnight with Maurice and Panos and Greek people would come up to me and go like are you Mr. God. And it was a weird, weird thing that happened overnight with Maurice and Panos and Greek people would come up to me and go like, are you Mr. Panos? And it was just like, and then you go on another block and nobody knows who you are.

You know, it's not like Matt Damon, J-Lo. Those people are famous. Instagram fame. I actually prefer internet fame because you could still be a little, you could still be like a little anonymous. You know, it must be, imagine how hard it must be to be like brad pitt and not be able to leave your i mean the kid cannot do anything ever do you want to get that big yeah i'm like uh he's like

yo he's like he's like just call me devin from now on i'm gonna going to change my name to Devin Rod. Yeah, I'm not Devon anymore. No, I'm kidding. I'm just kidding. No, you know what's funny? Hi, Devin. I'm a big fan. Kylie Clarkson here.

People call me Devin all the time and I never correct them because it's kind of like both now. You know, I'm so used to it. I get Giannis, Giannis, it's the same. Yeah, it's like whatever. But I don't know

if I want to be that famous. Plus, you don't meet a lot of people who have ever been around Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans are in a few places trust me I know because I've performed in all those places

Orlando you got Orlando Springfield, Massachusetts Boston Chicago New York Miami and the Bronx

well New York yeah and that's and that's really that's where Puerto Ricans are the strongest Puerto Ricans is like a big part.

And that's why when I created the character of Maurice, it's like, you know, I dated so many Puerto Rican girls. It's just such a part of New York. Puerto Ricans are like, that's like the spice on top that makes New York, New York. Because every place has Italian, Irish, Jewish, black. But like New York is that Puerto Rican, that extra little spice. When I fly home off the road And I see that

First woman with You know the Puerto Rican flag tattooed Like on her fingers and shit I'm like yeah I'm home baby Puerto Rico That's so funny

Yeah That's so funny Because my dad was actually Um Wepa And you know the Greeks have Oopa Very similar

Two cultures that have like You know how wepa Yeah And there's no You can't really There's no definition for it it just means I'm excited and Greeks go

Opa it's the same thing there's no definition it's just something they say when they dance or they're excited it's crazy I noticed that

about the two cultures you have the flags oh dude Greeks flags you go to a Greek there's a flag above the toilet I've been by

some Greeks house where they paint the flag on the garage door the garage by some Greek's house where they paint the flag on the garage door the garage door is the Greek flag yo two peoples who don't

who love their flag nobody loves their flag more than Puerto Ricans yeah my father did like these nails like exactly that oh yeah I know what I'm talking about

yeah and like he had it in the car too yeah I saw a girl once who had a Puerto Rican flag fucking fake contacts in so and yo Greeks and Puerto Ricans love their flag Greeks love their flag Greek Independence Day Parade I saw a girl once Had a Puerto Rican flag Fucking fake contacts in So And yo

Greeks and Puerto Ricans Love their flag Greeks love their flag Greek Independence Day parade Flags everywhere I have a I have a news interview video Where I wore a Puerto Rican shirt

Cause I knew my Puerto Ricans Hell yeah Represent Has J-Lo reached out? No Not yet I don't think she knows me Jesse do you remember when J-Lo

But what the ABC7 There was a J-Lo was dating Marc Anthony. They wanted to meet me because they were huge Maurica fans, and I overslept. They were doing some morning show. They were doing that morning...

I think they might have been doing Good Morning America, and their production manager called me. He was like, okay, come down. I'll bring you in. You'll be able to meet them in the dressing room. They're huge fans. And I overslept. So what can you do that

sucks you can reschedule uh yeah no you can't really reschedule with jlo hey jlo i missed it say again see the representation on the shirt yeah puerto rico um did your grandma cook Puerto Rican food? What did she cook? Oh, so my grandma's Honduran and then my dad. Well, my mom is Honduran. My dad's Puerto Rican. Right.

My grandma's Honduran, so she's my mom's mom. What I was going to say about the... So my mom, this is hilarious. My mom, the bathrooms always had stripper magazines. I guess she was, I think she was subscribed to a stripper magazine or like she always worked at strip clubs. Your mom? Yeah. Okay, because for a second I was like, that's not your grandma.

No, not my grandma. She's subscribed to the Bible. Yeah, yeah. So my mom would have these stripper magazines in the bathroom and me and my brother would read them. Jerk off to them. I get it. I was just reading them. But anyway, it was like interviews. Like, like oh how'd you get into stripping and they'll

and then they had all these pictures with the stars and the boobs and the vagina and all this craziness but um anyway and then my grandma's house had like she has like mother theresa stuff in the bathroom to read so that was like the difference of our house and then my mom's house like had all these drugs and heroin needles almost heaven and hell kind of a little bit literally it was heaven and hell it was crazy well i never thought of that but um so yeah so whenever there was a heroin needle in my in my bathroom we had to take a shower with um slippers on because she's like oh you're gonna get fungus like the whole building shares this bathroom and then um she's like and then there would be condoms or heroin needles and we're like mom there's no condoms.

She'll come take it or like a heroin needle. And yeah, it was crazy. That's a different bathroom experience. Yeah. Going to your grandma's. If I'm in the Bronx and I got to take a shit, take me to your grandma's, please. Yeah. I got you.

I got you. Yo, Devin, Devon, however you want to pronounce it. I'm going to go Devon. Yo, Devon. Devon However you want to pronounce it I'm gonna go Devon Yo Devon Devon Rodriguez You guys know him from TikTok Instagram Go follow him If you don't know

Now you know Out of the Bronx Bronx There's so much talent Comes out of the Bronx man J-Lo From the block Now Devon Rodriguez

How about Big Pun? How about Fat Joe? How about fucking KRS-One? The list goes on. So another talented person from the Bronx is putting his stamp on the world. I can't wait to see what you do, man. I'm such a big fan. I'm hoping we can get a company.

You know what I mean? Like, what's up? I got some room, man. I'm such a big fan. You know, I'm hoping, you know, we can get a, you know what I mean? Like, what's up? I want a commercial. I mean, I got some room in my, I'm just saying, I got a new house and I got some fucking wall space, dog. I mean, do I got to pay for it? I mean, how can I get a little something on the wall? Maybe I should draw you as. Can you draw me?

Should I do you as you or Mauricio? You could do, but how about you do me as, me and Mauricio, like talking to each other or making out. That would be hilarious. Anyway, we'll talk, man. This was a pleasure. Thank you for coming down, man. Thank you so much. Yeah, brother.

That's called dap. In New York City, that's called dap. That's how you do it. In the Bronx, you go like this. Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no. Hold on. You hold it right there.

Wait, no. Wait. This way. You hold it and then snap it. Yeah. Que pasa, mi gente. Take care, everybody. See you next time.

Thank you so much. It's been a long day.