Latest / Coconut Justice / CJP #83: Teel One

Transcript

CJP #83: Teel One · Coconut Justice

• Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, what's good? Teal 1 is a graph writer, muralist, toy designer, and remixer, as well as a world traveler. Recently, he became an award-winning filmmaker with his documentary It Was Written, a documentary about Chicago graffiti culture. This is my conversation with Teal One. Before we get into it, remember to go to CoconutJustice.com to get you some clothes that I think would look good on you. Let's go. The multi talented He's a graph writer, toy collector, toy remixer. He's been in a film. He's been featured in a film. You guys tier one. What's up, brother? TEEL: Bra Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yes, sir. One of Shaitown's TEEL: How you doing, brother? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): finest. I'm good, man. I'm good, man. Yeah. TEEL: Yeah. Yeah, you know what, one day I I gotta come back to this this recording podcast video thing or whatever you wanna call it, and interview you because people need to know what you've been on, bro. Yeah. Gotta do that. Flip the script. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm down. I'm down. I'll probably be the easiest, TEEL: So yeah man, what what's the deal? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'll probably be the easiest interview you've ever done. Just say, hey, how you doing? and I'll I'll talk for like six hours. TEEL: Nah, I'm sure bro, there's so many good stories. Yeah, right. Yeah, well I'm good, brother. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How you been, man? How's how's Chicago? TEEL: Good. Chicago's good, bruh. She it's a little dark out, you know, the sun comes in and out. You know how Chicago is. It's just it's a little gloomy, I guess. Right, right, right. You have to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. If you hate the weather, wait fifteen minutes. TEEL: have you gotta have a jacket and a windbreaker on the knee so you can layer up, you know, layer down and shit. Okay, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Except in the summertime, like back home, it it'll be like ninety five in the daytime and then at night it'll be like ninety two. Like TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you get no breaks. Yeah. TEEL: Yeah, yeah. Well that's because of the asphalt, bro. Like we you know, they the asphalt absorbs like I don't know if you've seen those satellite pictures of how they pic take shots of Chicago and the streets Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Uh-huh. TEEL: are fucking glowing red. the the the asphalt absorbs the the heat and it just keeps it, you know? but yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. You know, and and after like I was living home and then my dad l was living in Miami, so I wanted to go live in Miami for a hot second. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I went to Florida International University and I took dirt and rock class. I can't remember right now, but and I asked a guy like, Hey, why do you think Chicago's so windy? And he said, it's because of all the concrete and asphalt. I was like, get out of here with that booze. But no, it's TEEL: No. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): true. Like we create this vortex of heat TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and all of that heat raises up hella quick and then the cold air from the lake and stuff comes rushing in. TEEL: Yeah, well the the well you know that the the that that's a myth of of us being windy. we're not really called the windy city because of that. I'm not sure if you yeah, it's it's it's yeah. But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, it's the politics. It just so happens that every once in a while there's a gust of wind that'll blow you across the street. For real? TEEL: Yeah. We just had two tornadoes the other day. It was crazy, bro. Yeah, they were like bunkered down in the house and and I was sitting there watching TV. I was like, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. Like I'm not gonna die, you know what I mean? But yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Dad, that's crazy. TEEL: the sirens were going off and shit and people were freaking out and it was it was nuts, bro. Yeah, the there the weather has been really weird lately, bro. Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: my my father had this this theory And I'm gonna throw it out there in the world. maybe somebody can do some sort of you know, in s investigation. Cause I know nobody's really Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: looked into it. But and and I and now I believe it now that I'm older, 'cause you dad was telling me that shit when I was a kid, I was like, whatever, man. You know? But now that I'm older, I'm like, wait, that shit makes more sense. Like, the more bombs we drop on the planet, it seems like the fucking temperature gets crazy, bro. Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: I think someone should go into the weather program or whatever the hell it is and look at the data of when the wars were going on, that we were dropping bombs on like Iraq and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: and all those things, Vietnam, all that bullshit, and see how the weather changed in the world. And I bet you money that someone's gonna be like, shit, there's a correlation between that. Like, maybe we should stop blowing shit up, you know? Like I don't know, bro. It's just i I I feel like Yeah, we're we're we're doing bad shit to the planet by driving cars with gasoline and all the shit that we're doing. But I think that I mean, maybe watch the weather when they drop the atomic bomb on on Japan, you know what I mean, and see how they're changed, you know, and like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. See how it ticks up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: I think that that's there's something to that, you know what I mean? I my dad might have just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: like off, you know, like on some like zoning shit and he was just like, Hey, this is you know, but I really think now that there should be like now with the scientific especially with AI, right? Maybe we can tell Chat G B T like check, you know, I I don't know. But whatever. That's just not funny. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, no, I d that's why that's why nobody wants to they say nobody wants to drop a nuke is because a nuke will will ruin the atmosphere. And similarly, I used to work as the assistant manager at Payless down at Forest Park Mall. And I was waiting for the bus one night after work, TEEL: Thank you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and it was just me and this homeless dude. And this homeless dude looked at me dead in my face. And this is like, you know, it it God, the universe, whoever. You TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): know what I mean? They they if you shut up, they they leave you these little hints and these little things, TEEL: yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): right? These little things to think about. This homeless TEEL: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): dude said, You know why the you know why the why the atmosphere is falling as part is because they punctured a hole in it when they went to the moon. TEEL: That makes sense. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And I was like, Well damn, I'm sure that there's a lot more science behind it. TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But when you think about us just keep sending things out into space, like you, TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you know, just look at how like when you fly through a cloud or something, it always poof, you know, there's always that little that limb of cloud or whatever. I wonder TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): if there is really something to that. But at TEEL: Yeah, it's possible, bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the same time it, you know, it closes back up. But like how man how many things are we going to be shooting off into space? TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. No, yeah, that's why they was they say we live in a dome, right? Like a lot of people believe, and and I believe it as well because space is filled with radiation and all this crazy stuff and we don't feel it and there's gotta be some sort of filter system that we have going on, you know what I mean, that we don't understand. Not yet. but yeah, that's a whole nother like we can go on and I can talk about that for days, bro, like you know. Yeah, I love that stuff. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That stuff is fun. I was talking to I was talking to someone over the weekend about like this dude is a straight up not a flat earther, but he's on his way. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And for me, I I th I find that fun. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I find that fun just to see I and I try not to do it in a way where like I'm making fun of you. I'm trying to TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): figure out your the your thought pattern. TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and again it's one of those things where like there was a homeless dude that was telling me about puncturing holes in the TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): in the atmosphere. So like what information what information are you gathering TEEL: Yeah yeah no it it yeah it makes sense. It makes sense. I mean I I I don't disprove people's theories until I'm able to gather my own information, right? Like I I tend Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: to like just absorb it like you do, you know, I just kinda like get it information and then kind of just sit on it and see what comes from like the flatter thing I wasn't a big fan of that since the it first came back out, like whatever basketball player that guy was that that did it, that started the whole Yeah, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Kyrie Irving? Yeah. TEEL: It was just like it was a right around COVID and you know, the first term of the guy or whatever this guy's name is. you know, it was it was a weird time. It was a really weird time. the QAnon people were running around with their aluminum hats on and it was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And this is what's crazy, bro. Like all those knuckleheads were talking about some pizza place where they're eating kids. Fast for TEEL: Yeah. That guy shot it up, remember? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): fast forward to fast forward to those supposedly a whole bunch of perverts sitting around eating kids. That's why I TEEL: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, yeah, there was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): don't that's why I refuse to close the door on anything. Because TEEL: Right. Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): like right when you're like, this is exactly what it is, nature's like, is it though? TEEL: Yeah, and no, and you know, one of the things that I've always brought up to some of these guys, to the QAnon people, is I always tell them like, Yo, what happened to you guys? Because I remember back in the nineties hanging out with conspiracy guys in Riverside and and Berwin, you know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: they were they were all anti UN and FEMA, you know, and it was like FEMA's gonna put all these camps and they're gonna kill us and you know, and they were like showing pictures of the coffins, you know, and all this stuff. And then all of a sudden now, you know, this guy comes around and like puts all the conspiracy theorists in one bubble. And then Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: now what happened to the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then leverages it. TEEL: Yeah, it was weird. And then they all became racist and it wasn't like that before it w it just it's just weird, like the things that happened. I was just like, Where are my FEMA guys? Like, you know, you guys are like gung go to save the country, you know? Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: Yeah, I don't know, yeah, I don't I don't understand what happened, but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. What side of Chicago do you live on? TEEL: right now I live on the south. I'm out in the burps. Yeah, I moved out to the burbs for my kids. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Southside. Okay. Yeah. TEEL: I was paying way too much money in Catholic school and they weren't learning anything. They were dumb as rocks. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Which is weird. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Which is weird. Like if they're giving up on private schools, like what is going TEEL: yeah. Yeah, well well Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): on? TEEL: well that that's when I grew up I I went to a Catholic school, you know, I'm not saying that I'm the brightest bulb in the box, but you know, I'm I I I was a little ahead of a lot of people around me. so I you know, naturally sent my kids there and when I learned I I saw them not and and especially because I I I got a little bit more into the school, like I be I w went on the board. you know, and the f I was part of the financial board and I was part of the parent board and all that and I was seeing the inner workings of what was going on and teachers were getting hired that I don't think that should have been and you know all that stuff. You know, I was seeing stuff that I shouldn't have. And I started Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: paying attention to w what my kids were learning and I was just like, you know what? It's it's a balance, right? It's all about numbers and you know, the numbers never lie. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I I said I'm gonna pay more property tax, which is about what I'm paying for Catholic school. I might as well just buy a an okay house out of the burbs and educate Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: them for free, but a higher level of of learning. So the schools that I'm around, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sure. TEEL: they're ranked ten, like level ten in the state. so which is really high. And, you know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: in grade school they had tablets before, you know, public schools started doing that in Chicago Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: and like Catholic schools and all that. So Very advanced school, all the after school programs you can think of, they had when they went into high school, they still had a mechanic shop, a body shop, they had the cooking classes, all the woodworking, the printing presses, the school the the school's just badass. Yeah, and I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Damn deck. TEEL: I walked into that school and I was just like, I wanna go back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I don't want to go to school here. TEEL: they had an eighty thousand dollar C and C machine, bro, you know what I mean? Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Damn TEEL: Yeah, bro, it was and they had one of those massive printers that that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: vinyl and banners and shit and they teach the kids how to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: stuff like that. They teach Photoshop. They leave school with the Photoshop certificate with the illustration for t s certificate. You know, the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: what stuff. So I was just like, damn, this is dope, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): See, and that's the thing that drives me crazy is I went to Roosevelt. And Roosevelt, we didn't have none of that stuff. Well, granted, it was the 80s, so we, you know, we didn't even have internet back then. But but I went to Roosevelt and then you know, along the lines, I worked up in Stevenson High School up in Libertyville, and they had all that stuff. I was going to college to learn Illustrator, Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, editing and all that stuff. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And at the high school, I was helping those kids with their homework because they were doing the same shit I was. TEEL: Yeah, yeah. Yep. And that makes you feel a little behind because the newer generation Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: gets taught the stuff that you never got. Which is good, right? That at least there there was there's somebody that's coming out a little advanced and that's we need that, right? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, but it let's make it fair. Let's do that shit in Roosevelt too. Let's get Roosevelt some computers. Let's get Roosevelt some Photoshop. You know what I mean? Like how are you TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. You're right. The problem is that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): how are you how are you gonna treat and I un I understand the dynamics behind it, but like you go to the rich kids school, they have everything that they need, and then you go to Roosevelt and there's videos on YouTube where the kids at Roosevelt were saying, We can't even afford a library and so they close the library. TEEL: Yep. yes, I agree with you one thousand percent. that is something that as a community leader, I guess, I want to say Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: that we need to start taking things into our own hands. people need to start like for example, because I was on the finance board of that Catholic school, I I we were doing a lot of fundraising, right? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: And I was thinking to myself, why don't they do this in the pub? Well, the the reason why the public schools don't do it is one, because the city don't let them. because if you've raised money for Roosevelt High School or for Amundsen or Sullivan or Sen, you know, all those schools, like I I hung out a lot at Lane and you know, all these schools. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: And we you know, the the reason why you if you raise money for that school, because of the politics, the money doesn't go straight to the school. It has to be has to go to the city and then the city needs to give it back. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And then everyone has their hands out. TEEL: And if you give it to the school, they might not spend it in the places. So there's there's a there there needs to be things put in place to make that happen. But I I truly believe that and I know there's this is a lot of political crap and and and it's really weird how it it's being done. But there's there's been a movement in Chicago where in Illinois actually that they've been trying to do it's a coupon system. and the coupon system, if you you w what the way it works is like let's say each kid receives twelve thousand dollars per year. the parents are allowed to then take that coupon and take it to the school of their of the that that they go to with their Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah yeah yeah. TEEL: choice as well. You know what I mean? And the Catholic schools have been trying to do that because then they can recruit more people to go into their schools and then can get the coupons. But the public schools Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: also should be thinking about doing that because you can then recruit kids from other neighborhoods that you might not normally get because a and that's a you know, we we can go into this whole other rant about the region thing, right? Like, you y you go you're in little village so you gotta go to that school. You know what I mean? And I think that a lot of kids, the right kids, are being lost to the system because the school in their neighborhoods, you know, aren't yeah. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Or trash. Mm-hmm. TEEL: we you we just Well that's part of the system too, right? They they want us to not leave our neighborhood. Like they Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: they they want you stuck. So that's a whole nother conversation that I can go into. Like but yeah, this they it's it's all it's all Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They wanna make sure that you sta they wanna make sure that you that you understand that you're a machine part. You know what I mean? TEEL: Right. Right. No, not only that, but i it's it's also about an invisible jail wall that they build for us, right? I meet a lot of Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yep. TEEL: kids that have never left the hood and I'm like, What do you mean, bro? The train's right there. Just jump on that motherfucker and get lost, you know. You'll be good, bro. You know, but they they're Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): just go. Yeah. TEEL: just so stuck in their head that someone's gonna get them. they don't know what's gonna happen to the you know, w what happens if I get lost. I'm like, bro, you you got Google Maps, like get back on the train and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What? TEEL: you know what I'm saying? Like they just it it's it's just a Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, 'cause back when back when we were kids we d like again, TEEL: yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): this was back when we had paper maps and stuff, but we didn't ever care. We jump on a train and take off. TEEL: Yeah. No, no, no. I I remember I was just talking to a friend about this the other day. I was in third, fourth grade when my dad had a restaurant in Pilson and we lived in Edgewater. I grew up in Edgewater. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. That's where I was born. TEEL: okay, cool. So you know, we're from the same neighborhood and and my my dad would tell me first he showed me, right? He showed me how to get on the train and all that. But he would tell me after school you get on the train. Get your little brother. You know, so if I'm in fourth grade, my brother's like four years younger than me. So, you know, he's a little kid. And we're Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: jumping on the train and we're going all the way to Pilson from Edgewater. So you're you're talking about getting on the Howard, getting off on Washington Station, going in the tunnel, switching to the Douglas, making sure you get on the B train because the A train would take you to the suburbs, right? So we Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: He taught me how to look at the lights on the top of the train to make sure that it was the right train because the B line Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: would use one light and then the A line would use a different light. So I would look at the train and then see the light, jump on that train, then get off on eighteenth street. Then on eighteenth street, walk all the way to Ashland and that's where the restaurant was. So like now thinking about as a parent, like yo, that's fucked up. Like that's you know what I'm saying? But like I was in fourth grade, bro, like my you know, I don't even know if my kids in Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, dude. TEEL: Fourth grade they knew how to walk home, bro, you know what I'm saying? Like like going across the s the the whole city, like that's nuts, bro. You know? But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So Pops had a restaurant in Pilson. What kind of restaurant was it? TEEL: It was a it was a Mexican restaurant. my dad was a professor at San Agustín College. he he was a jack of all trades, you know, he taught cooking classes. Some famous chefs came out of Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That a boy. TEEL: his class. He also did the immigration thing, he taught English Spanish classes. he was he came to Chicago when he was like eleven or twelve. So he was he was here for a while. US citizen, you he made himself a US citizen. He married my mom. But they had a a cu a Mexican restaurant. It was called Pancho Villa. Which is funny because I don't know if you know Zaya, she's a tattoo artist. She's a graffiti artist as well. She she opened her tattoo shop in my the building where my dad had his restaurant. So it was kinda like a flashback to me. Like I went in there the other day, I was like, Wow, dude, you don't know how much shit we s we did in here. Like this is crazy. Yeah, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's so cool. TEEL: Yeah, that Pilson was dope back then, bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Still well, it's a little dangerous these days, but TEEL: No, no, it's actually back then it was more dangerous. Now it's like my brother calls them, dog walkers. There's dog walkers everywhere. Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha ha ha ha. TEEL: they're yeah, yeah. Not yet, not yet. We don't have a Starbucks yet, but we will soon, you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): He got a couple of Starbucks and that's it. No turning around. TEEL: know. And they have one in Little Village, how about that? Right next to the ark. Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah? How yeah. TEEL: they opened up a a badass chase bank, like a brand new, like futuristic one, and then they have a Starbucks next to it. So little village is Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Nice. TEEL: Done. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. pfff it was a few years ago now, but one of the times I went home, I went to Wrigleyville. And it it's changed, bro. Like TEEL: yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): it used to be it used to be like very had a lot of character, blah blah blah TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): blah blah, a lot of age to it, la la la. And now it's it's like It's a mix between the old neighborhood and and Times Square. TEEL: Yeah. But it's it's it's it's getting worse again. It's going backward. a lot of those corporate bars and buildings, was watching some I forget what it was. It was either TikTok or Instagram. and there was this dude showing all the spaces that, you know, these corporate bars and places opened up and they're just they're shows Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: now because they thought that they were gonna be able to like take over and and it didn't it didn't work out for them. So a lot of those places are closed. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Nobody wants to pay forty five dollars for old style. TEEL: Hell nah. I'll I'll sit in my car and get drunk and then go inside and watch the game, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's just it's just crazy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know what I'm saying? It's way too easy to get to Wrigley. From the train, you know how many bars are between Wrigley and the TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): train? TEEL: yeah. Tons of So yeah, yeah. It's it's I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And they also and they all serve middle of light and old style and TEEL: Yeah I used to I used to get into so much trouble in that area, bro. Like coming back from school. Cause we I went to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Me too. Yeah. TEEL: the first high school that I got kicked out of was Gordon. Yeah. And then Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Gordon Tech. Gordon Tech hey, and so for people that don't know, Gordon Tech is where you go when you have potential. TEEL: Yes. Well, yeah, yeah. I I went there. I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Or good parents. TEEL: I tested in and I had to do summer school 'cause it was it was one of those things like, okay, you you're you're almost there. You just need to pass this class to get to the next. So I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: went to summer school there and I met a lot of people there, bro. It was just That was like my o eye opening to the world. Like it was there was the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. What was it that got you what was it that got you into graffiti? TEEL: so my mom died when I was in seventh or eighth grade. right around that time. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ooh, I'm sorry. TEEL: No, it's cool man. It's it's it's been a while, right? no she was Cuban. She's Cuban. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Is your mom Mexican too? Cuban? there it is. TEEL: we got the we got the I I call I tell everybody that we're we're a hundred percent Caribbean because my my dad is from Veracruz. And a mouse from Cuba and f in Veracruz from the port you could see Cuba. So it's like that that far and Veracruz has tons of of Cubans. I actually Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And to this day, Cuban Cuba and Mexico have a really good relationship. Yeah. America's on some bullshit. TEEL: yeah. yeah. I I think I think my my grandmother on my dad's side, she looked like Celia Cruz. So either she was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let's go. TEEL: yeah, she either she was African African Mexican, Afro American Mexicana or she was Cuban. But she wouldn't talk about her past. It she would like clam up. It was real weird. So we don't know, but I took my DNA and it it says that most of my DNA comes from Mexico and Cuba. And then some of it from Spain, you know, like everybody else. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: anyways, yeah, w what was it saying? Joe Gordon and then yeah, it would take the month. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, you got kicked out of we were talking about how you got into a graffiti. TEEL: the graffiti, right, my bad. so Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): good. TEEL: yeah, we you know, we don't have therapy, bro. We're Gen X, right? So dad would just be like, Deal with it, you know? Right, right, right. What the hell's therap therapy was for for rich Yeah, therapy was for rich god kids, you know what I mean? Like we didn't have that shit, you know what I'm saying? Right, right, like get out Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): no therapy carry your ass in the room and shut the fuck up with feelings TEEL: of here. Hey, go listen to your fucking new wave music and shut up, you know? So I had to I had to deal with it, you know. So Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Every time I see you fully like TEEL: So I we were, you know, I was I was pissed at the world, you know. I I I always had it in this b and I still think about it where I think more could have been done to save my mom. it was, you know, it was the eighties, bro. So like it was just but it it is what it is. I I had a bad experience with with with the ambulance driver, the EMT or whatever. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: I still don't like them motherfuckers. Like if there's anybody out there that's an EMT, I'm sorry I you know, if I we're get we get along, but I just have issues with those people. they just it was just a horrible experience. anyways, I was pissed at the world and fucking I just it w it a lot of my my uncles were gambangers and Both sides, on the Mexican and Cuban side. So if I gambanged, I probably would end up getting my ass whooped by my uncles. So I had no choice. And I was already breakdancing, like when I was a kid, a shorty, you know, I was already kind of in the hip hop world. We didn't really Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: call it hip hop. It was just kind of like, you're a break dancer. We know Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: the DJs. And I saw the graffiti, but it wasn't something that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 'Cause this is like when the movement was first starting, starting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: Yeah, yeah. In eighty two, you know, I was already breaking eighty three, you know, all that at a time, you know, so the graffiti was around, but it wasn't like something that caught my attention. It was kind of like, well, I'm a breakdancer, that's what I do. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: But, you know, I was angry. So I picked up a marker and I just started tagging up the local park, you know, and do some garbage cans and little garages here and there. And it felt good because the people that I was w around didn't know that it was me. You know what I mean? It it almost felt like a double identity, you know, a secret identity. And the more they saw it, the more I wanted to do it. So it became an addiction almost, you know. So I was like, All right, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. TEEL: cool, cool, cool. And I kept doing it. And then the summer of graduation became back then, my Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What was your tag what was your tag name? TEEL: first tag of all time, which was funny, it was it was a toy tag. I was a kid, it was Ace. That was my first name. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: And I would ride it in the snow with my feet really big in the park, you know, and so it was just like it was a super toy, bro. And then the the summer of eighth grade graduation is when I went in hard because I was going to Gordon. And there were so there was so much good graph on the train lines, bro. Like on the rooftops you see DTEs and and and all these wet crew and all these people that were like getting up, you know. poor crew, you know, all these dudes that were just out there. and I was just like, yo man, I I need to I need to start getting better and start doing crazier shit. So I met people in in the summer school like Emo and and just all these you know, then we had like all the house crews, you know, it was like Adidas Boys, Adidas Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: Force and Nike Boys and which later on became fucking ruthless and you know, blah blah blah. And I got along with a lot of those guys, you know. And I would go to the house parties as well and and we would try to break dance in the house party, but you know, they wouldn't let you 'cause, you know, it was like, what the fuck? You're fucking up with me. Yeah. You know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I don't know, are you gonna knock your mom's lamp down? TEEL: No, but Gordon used to do some fucking cake ass parties, bro, like banging parties. It would take you half an hour to get in type of line. Like that was it was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Damn. TEEL: it would get packed in there. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: it was there were good parties like Gregory's had parties and Saint Patrick's, they w I forget what Lane had a couple that I know of. It w it was just it was it was a dope era, you know, to come up in. then we had Faches Nightclub. I don't know if you remember Faches. it was like an all age club Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No. TEEL: on Lincoln in Lincolnwood, up north where the Lincolnwood Mall was. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: Yeah, it was like a f it was called Faches and then they had Medusa and then we had Alcatraz, you know, so Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Okay. Medusa. TEEL: we were able to do things as kids, which was dope. You know, we can get down on that road. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Do you remember a place called McGreevy's? No? I think they were out in the suburbs, I think. TEEL: No, I don't remember that. No. Okay. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I don't exactly remember. I know that they weren't on the north side, but I went there with some of my the high school friends. We went TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): out there and and that's where we would go start shit. We always TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): did we always did that because we didn't know we didn't ever want to start shit where we were living. You know, like we're not trying to piss you off over where I you know exactly where I live. TEEL: Yeah. Right, right, right, right. You get caught up in shit. Like, you're by yourself, come here, motherfucker, you know? But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, that's happened. TEEL: Yeah, we the the so I started doing I changed my name to Byte B I T E. Well first first it was Devastate, which was super long and another whack ass name, but it was I was a kid, you know, I was what was fucking twelve, you know what I mean? Like twelve, thirteen. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: So it was D E V A S T and then two the two dots and then the eight. So it was Devastate. It was just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): yeah. TEEL: and then that was too long and I got popped with that name. So they had me on the file. And still to this day they have me under the file as Devastate. as a minor, so they couldn't do shit. and I changed my name to Bite. And there was this cat that I met in Gordon and he used to write Guilt and we started up a crew called W V, which was Wicked Vandals. and that that crew kinda got big, like because of s high school we were beating all these like other cats that weren't fitting into any other like circles and we just kept like recruiting and we just it grew from there. So yeah, that's we got Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How big how big did your team get? How big did TEEL: we got pretty big bro it was like thirty plus heads And you that was kind of deep back then. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: And then I went to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 'Cause that's like that's like when you talk to folks about like Shy Rock Nation and stuff like that, you just think it's gonna be a handful of people and they're like, No, we have hundreds TEEL: no. Yeah, that was that was Shyrock was that I I haven't even talked about Shyrock too much in other podcasts or whatever, but like I could go down that rabbit hole, but like that was a whole nother experience, bro. Like that was life changing for me. But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: yeah, so we dispat after I got kicked out of Gordon, I ended up going to another school called Greg's, which was where all the bad kids went to. You got kicked out of Catholic school, you ended up at Greg's, you know? Which is on Brynmar and Ashland. And got kicked out of there and then ended up going to CEN. And that's was SEN back then for the north side that was it was called Graffiti High. And everybody and their mama was in there, bro. It was like Teasel and It it was just it was just crazy, bro. I was meeting fucking like, you know, the the legends of our neighborhood or whatever of the area. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: And then I would go to I would ditch Sen and go hang out at Lane and there was a whole spew of writers there as well. I mean, there were writers everywhere back then, bro. We had graffiti Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: writers. It was like you would spit on the floor and you hit a graffiti writer. Let's say everybody wrote graffiti back then, you know? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: yeah, it just it just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And this is back this is still back in the eighties and stuff, yeah? When did you gradu? TEEL: No, no, that was already close. It was in the nineties. It was like ninety, ninety-one, ninety-two. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): When did you go to high school? TEEL: what high school didn't I go to? So graduate? Ninety three. Ninety three. Yeah. Yeah. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No, what what year did you what year did you graduate? Yeah. Ninety three. Okay. Okay. TEEL: yeah, I was I was I was bouncing around for a while. dad dad felt that he needed to get us out of the city. my dad was like I am, he's very intuitive. He he saw things and s and I see things that normal people don't catch. he's he saw me going down a route I guess that was gonna end up bad. So he moved us to the suburbs and moved us to Berwin. A a couple blocks away from the yeah, yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I lived in Berwin for a hot second. TEEL: yeah, from the Surmac Plaza. You know, where the cars are stacked up. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah yeah yeah. TEEL: we would literally walk across the street from our building. was a block away and we would be in the Surmac Plaza, you know, and there was a McDonald's there Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: and, you know. We did our thing or whatever. Just north side kids. you took fish from a pond and then you threw us into a another now we're the big fish in in a bigger pond, you know, and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: the knowledge that we held from the north side just had us on another Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: level to the people and the kids that we were around. So we went to Morton West, got kicked out of there. Well, I left that school, but technically I got kicked out, but my record says that I left. dad pulled some strings on another one. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): in a four year in a four year high school career, how many high schools did you go to? TEEL: So I went to Gordon Greg's Seine West and then I graduated from Morton East. So yeah. Five schools. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So that's not bad. TEEL: Yeah, it's not bad. But Morn Morton East was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: the best high school that I had ever gone to, period. Like hands down. I learned so much from that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And that's the one out in the suburbs. TEEL: Yeah, that's in Cicero. on Austin in Cermac. Yeah, I went there, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: met my my my teacher, Mr. Clark. He's the one who pushed me to start recording and and documenting things. he taught me how to edit from deck to deck. So we would have the PCR types, you know, and he would like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): hell yeah, dude. Yeah. TEEL: we would deck to deck. So I had to have a master, you know, I so record here, here, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: and then get to the master, then have the master, then you can make all your duplicates from the master. I was really good at that. I caught on super quick. and then the computers came. And we were the first high school, I think in probably most of Illinois that had editing computers. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): yeah. TEEL: he brought in and he told me, he's like, Hey Hiram, you're gonna have to fucking install all these you know, computers and set up and I was just like, Fuck yeah 'cause at that time I was already working at Service Merchandise. I don't know if you remember that store, but I was I was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: in the you know, in the electronics part. So he knew And he was just like, You're gonna set these up. I'm like, Cool, let's do it. So then he gave me all access. It was like, you set the computers up, you're in charge. I also would do the channel one TV show that would come on during the breaks. You when you're in homeroom, you get to see the kids, and I was one of the guys. So he was exposing me, yeah, to a lot of things, bro. And I didn't Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. That's sick, dude. TEEL: see what he was doing. Like he was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: putting me into a, you know, a situation like he was like, You're gonna do you know, things with this. So the first editing program that I ever worked with was called Cineworks. I don't even know if it still exists, but that program was like way ahead of its time, bro. think about like Premiere or any music program and all that, you know, it gave you the line, your editing, gave you the you're able to separate Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Your timeline. TEEL: the the soundtrack, you know, and then, you know, manipulate it at music. It was just fucking mind blowing for me. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: yeah, so I became the head of A V with him. You know, he I was like his assistant. and then I had an art teacher there, his name was Mr. Salerno. I talk about this guy all the time. But both of these guys, Mr. Clark and Mr. Salerno. Salerno would teach me how to make frames, you know, like for the canvases and how to stretch my own canvas Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: and then gesso it with the raw canvas. I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): hell yeah. TEEL: know how to do all that with the angles and then staple, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: all that crap, you know. he was also the one that pushed me to start doing my first canvases. same thing. He was telling me that, yeah, the graffiti thing is dope, but you can't sell a piece of that wall, right? You do that wall. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. TEEL: So he was kind of pushing me into that, you know, and and I've mentioned this in other shows as well where he would like question me, like, 'cause you know, if you look at my art now, it's I do a lot of stuff. It's called happy food or sell out. And the sellout Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: stuff is be I'm making fun of myself because my generation we grew up, you know, like, you can't sell out, you gotta keep it real, you know, and all this other bullshit. And those teachers would push me and say, Well, what is selling out? Like, you can't make money on your art. And then I would be like, Yeah, yeah, you know, we can't do that. And then he Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: would say, All right, that's cool. I I have I understand that, you know, you gotta keep it real, you know, but what is all the time? Right, right. Well, his whole thing Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. It's hard to pay for groceries when you on high fives. Like TEEL: What made what what fucked my head up, you again I'm a teenager was when he would say, What is your favorite band or music? What do you listen to? And I'll be like, my favorite band of all time is Trap Cal Quest de La Sol, you know, I would name a lot of the native tongues, and then he would say, Okay, cool. Do they get paid? And I'd be like, Yeah. And he was like, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah they do. TEEL: Why then is it okay for them to get paid for their art and not you? And then it would like, you know, because that's my belief, right? So I would like cringe up and get mad, but then I'd be home, you know, drink a little bit and it was smoking and shit, whatever the hell I was doing. And I would like mellow out and start thinking and I was like, Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: he's right. So that's what got me down my whole like career thing where I was like making art and doing the all the other stuff that I you know, that I s that I've been actually doing now, is still doing it, you know, which is which is crazy. Well, you know. Again, like I said, East Morton East was the best high school that I've I've been to. And it w it actually reminds me of the school that my kids go to because it was it was education level was a ha a lot higher. You know, it was a Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And TEEL: No, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and and and just having all the equipment to expose the kids to their potential. You know? Like how do you know TEEL: Yes. Yep. Yep. And that's the thing that he scored. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): how do you know that you how would a teacher know that you were good at editing or anything or even painting unless you had the resources to get in there and edit a little bit and paint TEEL: Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): a little bit? TEEL: Exactly. Yep. But I always tell this to everyone. It doesn't matter who I talk to, and I know this is like everybody rolls their eyes when I say this, it's like none of us are born with talent. I don't give a shit who you are. You could sit Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: the we could argue all day about this. But we could take a child that has no potential, has no education, and train that child to become a master at that whatever we teach Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: You know what I mean? Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: Like, what's that famous musician that everybody talks about that he was a a prodigy and all this other shit when he was a kid? he did a lot of the old music Bach. Is it Bach or one of those guys? I forget. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'cause there is Bach has has a kid. He he sang in s I think his name is Sebastian Bach and he played in some of these heavy metal bands. TEEL: Yeah, yeah, no, I'm talking about like back in the like fifteen hundreds, like before all this shit. Like the guy who who made all the composers, you know what mean? One of those guys, they say Beethoven, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 'Cause there yeah, there's like Beethoven, there's like TEEL: I think it's Beethoven. So I think Beethoven's the one that they talk about him being a child prodigy. which is bullshit. that's that's all if you dig deep into his history, I if it is him that we're talking about, whoever it is that I'm talking about, I'll I'll look it up. But his his dad was a famous music teacher. And he wrote tons of books about how to make a child prodigy and all and that's why the the the this guy came out like that. You know, it was something that and I've been learning that a lot like a l with all these people that are he's a genius. He's a study who he is and see who his parents are and see what was given to this child to get him to where going back to what we talked about earlier. You can't make geniuses if you don't give them the things that they need. You know what I mean? So so much so that we got rid of all the programs that we need to get people to society where we need them to be, right? Like if you you're if you're a strong believer that school is just to make w a workforce, then why are you not creating the programs that you need for these workforces? You know, it's just weird how things are happening, but yeah, I I'm a true believer of that. Like it doesn't as long as you give the people the tools, they will create and make something with that, you know? So yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I go down these tangents, bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): No, but it's true. It's it's true. And and if you want the this has been my argument for these lazy people that have been in charge and they just look at the inner city and they just why don't they just pull themselves up by the bootstraps and all that shit? Your TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): kids don't have to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. Isn't it crazy how when when when they look at our community They say, no, you guys have to do it. You guys have to we don't if we give it to you, you guys are gonna be lazy. But yet like when it comes to your kids TEEL: they're lazy. It Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know what I'm saying? TEEL: when when you have when you have the resources to create the knowledge that's needed, then things will will rise to the top, you know what I mean? And just just financial Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And the people w TEEL: like these kids are born literally, they're taught from birth financial literacy. Like I know kids Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: still to this day that I've I've spoken to and you know, I mentor a lot of kids that'd do graffiti and I you know, I'm I'm you know, whatever. And right away the first thing that I ask them is like, Do you even know how to write a a check? Do you know w do you have a bank account? What what what do you use your bank account for? You know, are what are you trying to make money off of your murals? Are you r how are you running your taxes with that? You know, are are you r are you expensing the shit you're right, you know, you're buying like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: A lot of that information isn't given to people, you know, and and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hey, here this is a big one. If you have money in the bank. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You don't have to wait to tell to have someone TEEL: please. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): tell you what the hell to do with your own art. TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You're not gonna be as thirsty. You're not gonna be as hungry. TEEL: Yep. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know what I mean? So you can focus on your own stuff and you don't have to wait for someone to tell you what to do. But you have to have that money in the bank. You gotta have that fuck you money. TEEL: Exactly. Yeah, that's Yeah. Yeah, but you know that that all that all that works at a at to to levels as well. Like there's you know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: your ideas change over the years. You know, I I've I've grown, you know, with with age, I guess wisdom you you learn it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: You know, over the years I've learned that instead of chasing paper to be financial. free but so I can make my art, I'm I'm learning that to be a full time artist, you don't always have to just make money on your art. Like you have you can use your job to continue creating. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: one will balance out the other. And then if one day your art picks up, then you can, you know, live that life that you have in your mind that you could always be a full time artist. But we can't being a full time artist without making money is basically you're gonna be suffering because You're gonna be living on people's couches, you're gonna be, you know, living in your car, you know, 'cause that's a full time artist, right? And you know, when our parents growing up as a Latino, our parents Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. Yep. Paints ain't free. TEEL: Yeah. My parents would always tell me, you're gonna be starving and muerto de hambre, you're be living under a bridge you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: know, all this other shit. And it's like, yeah, it it makes sense what they were saying, you know what I mean? But they they we don't have that like I have a lot of rich Anglo friends, you know what I mean? And their parents Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: would teach them that you can be an artist and still get paid. And they would like I have a really good friend of mine. he's a he's a graphic designer. and he designs book bags for one of these companies and and coolers and all this stuff, right? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: And I remember going to his house, he would live he lived in Indianapolis, so I would we would drive down from you, we were in high school, I would drive down Indianapolis. couple hours with the boys and then we would go hang out over there and then you know, beautiful house. His father's a designer as well. mom, I forget what I think she was also an artist. But they knew how to teach them what it was to get a career in that. You know what I mean? And as a Latino family, we end up telling our kids, being an artist is you have to paint the canvases and murals and that's how we make our money. And that's not what an artist does only, you know, like I tell that to my kids, like like my youngest is gonna go to school for art and I tell them, Pick a path and let's push into that path. And you know, l I I have a lot of connections in different worlds that we can make you, you know, get ahead in your career faster Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: than someone that's starting out from the bottom that doesn't have those connections. You know what mean? And there's nothing Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: wrong with that because that's that's what those that other side does. You know what I mean? They They call up the friend and be like, Hey George, hey, what's up? Hey, what you know, they used to be roommates in college and now George is running the Yeah, exactly. Hey, my kid Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. You got a spot for my kid? Mm-hmm. TEEL: needs to intern. don't worry about it. Send them through. You know, and the kid's hanging out in the coffee room all day. Interning, you know what I mean? And then he gets the job, you know. So I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: don't see anything wrong with that. And we need to learn that as a people. And and and what I mean Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I agree. TEEL: is as a people, as urban people, that they they have that those those inner connections. they've already been taught that for generations on how to accumulate wealth, you know what I mean? And we don't have those exactly. You know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. How to work and not do it for free. Cause that's a that's the big one for artists is you have a lot of these business owners that'll dangle that carrot in front of you and TEEL: Yep. Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): say, Hey, look, if you do the just do this one job for me. And then the next one, yeah. Then TEEL: Yeah. You know the exposure you're gonna get. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the next one we're both really gonna get paid. And TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): that next one never quite really TEEL: Never. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): gets there. TEEL: Never. You know how many jobs I've done for these big corporations that I get what I ask for. But they Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: always say that there's gonna be more and then there's never more. Which is Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: fine because that's how it is in the advertising world, in the mural world, or whatever. You know what I it's that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: gig is probably the last one. Like I'm not holding my breath. If I get more work, cool. I've gotten work from from from corporations, you know, over the years, like repeated, but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: it's just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And they're asking you to do graphic design or are they actually a asking you to come and do a wall in their okay. TEEL: I they ask me to do a wall. I I come in with a mural list. Yeah, as a graffiti artist, they know me and they they just like this guy works fast, clean, he has a good team and we do stu like one of my favorite jobs is is when I work for Three Floyds. Like they hire us to do this wall on the north side Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: and we just they they've hired us like it's been like three times now. and we just go in there, we knock it out and they know that our work, you know? And we do it on Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: video, they help us promote They promote and everybody's happy, you know, and and the money's good, you know, it's decent. you know, I'm not paying my mortgage off, you know, like I'm not gonna walk away with debt free, but it it they pay it's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: decent money, you know, it's a it's a corporation. You just gotta know how to deal with them, you know. they Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: they want their things done a certain way. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: we could do that, which is cool. Yeah, man, I mean it's it the financial freedom thing is is very tricky. Because it's it's a very hard environment to work making canvases. You know what I mean? Like you can't just like put it in the gallery and then ask for fifteen grand because it's it's it's like you said earlier about the the glass ceiling, like you have to break through that before you can start charging fifteen grand, you know? there's a lot of work between Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. And you're chipping away at it. Cause like TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): it i one of the things that one of the things that I've come to grips with as when when you look into reality is you can be like crazy talented, but if you don't have that story that follows you along, TEEL: Yep, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you know what I mean? TEEL: yep, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): boy, that cut off his ear. He was just sprinkling paint and all that stuff. All of a sudden, ooh, the way he's crazy. He cut off his ear. Now all of a sudden everybody's like, we gotta go get the dude that cut off his ear. You know what I TEEL: Right, you're right. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): mean? respect to Andy Warhol and stuff like that, but my man just took like Xerox copies and pasted them and colored them a little bit. But because he had a cool story. TEEL: Yep. Yep. It's not only that, brother, he had connections. The the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: the the number one thing in this art world is the connections. Like it's I don't care who you are, what you are, like it's all about the connections. Like a lot of these people, you see their art and it's just like you're like, Man, that's that looks like a little child through it, you know, and it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: but they're being connected to the right people that that want that kind of art. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: Their career then gets stepped up. We talk about, you know, like I said, about the connections that these other people have. It's the same thing. You go into a gallery and, you know, you just start meeting people. You know, it's all about networking. And it's really hard to get, you know, the right the right connection. there's there's tons and tons of racism in art as well. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: and and I I mean I I could do probably three podcasts just out on that alone. You know what I mean? Like it's it's tough, bro. It's really tough. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm gonna write this down. Get Teal back for at least three more episodes. We have to vent about being artists. TEEL: Hey, let's do it, you know? Let's do it. I'm down, you know. It it's just I I think that there's a there's a there's a lot that needs to be unpackaged when it comes to like the levels of of racism that is in the art world. A lot of it is is again, it has to do with connections. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: a lot of people that are at the top that are not talented and shouldn't be there, but they're there because Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: they know someone or they knew someone. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: And and I'll challenge anybody over it. You know what I mean? Like I'm graffiti artist, bro. I'm ready to battle anytime, you know what I'm saying? Like So Yeah. All the time. You know? Yeah. All that we were born for this shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): From Chicago no less. Like, come on, son. We're ready for we're ready to scrap no matter what. but one of the cool things that I I'm starting to see, and I I know I'm biased because I have all eyes on Chicago. But like you have like the Inglewood art collective and there's another few like Rob, I can't think of his last name right now, but he's got an art collective and There's a bunch of folks, creative folks that are banding together to to to make a difference in a positive way. 'Cause d for me I find it somewhat disrespectful when people say, you're an artist? How's that going? How are you making a living as an artist? I'm like Well Yeah. But like TEEL: Yeah, I get that all the time. I get that all the time. It it doesn't bother. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): if we did it if we did everything your way, like if we did everything the corporate way, everything is gonna look the same. TEEL: Yes. And it does if you actually think about that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's like that's like music these days. Like everybody sounds the same. Back when we were growing up, if you sounded like someone else, if your flow sounded like anyone else, they'd be TEEL: Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you're a fucking TEEL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it originality is not part of the the environment anymore. You know, being o you know, I mean just look at drive down the highway. Next time you drive down the highway and you're going through these little towns or whatever, like, you know, on the highway, you see it. All the buildings are tan, all the buildings are brown, you know, there's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: no more color. Like in the eighties, remember everything was all fucking pink and blue and it was all fucking pipe, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: And then they wanted you to attract attention, you know, even even now when you're living Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: down the city, bro, then this is something you probably haven't even paid attention to. It it affects me personally because I I I'm I deal with a lot of these people and I hear the stories, but you don't see the signs that they're used to, the neon signs sticking out the buildings and it's like flashing, you know. You had the little guy with the finger, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, that's right. TEEL: Yeah, they took them all down, bro. And the city's reason was because it was a hazard Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Like the the TEEL: to the people walking, like, come on, bro. We've had that shit Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: for over a hundred years. Now it's a hazard? Like what the fuck? You know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But then they take all that stuff down and then they put up those billboards that are that are like moving, you know what I mean? Like the TEEL: Yes, the L E B ones, yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But li that shit is bright. That shit is TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): bright. And you you mean to tell me that that that is worse or that that's better than all TEEL: Yeah. Well Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): these little signs that were popping up? TEEL: That's also another argument. Why don't we have art on our highways and the Six Pres and they used to tell us, it's because it it distracts the the drivers and it could cause an accident. Well what about these fucking couples? It's like a fucking TV. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): The drivers, yeah. But yet the the billboards are fucking moving, son. TEEL: Yeah, it's a TV they're watching. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know? And then we're not allowed to use our cell phones for the same reason, right? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: they they it's it's all it's all bullshit. now they have a new law that just came out. the city of Chicago that you can't have you have to have less than seventy five percent of window signage because the cops need to be able to look into your window. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Jesus TEEL: So now all the signs, remember how it used to be the carniceto signs, like ninety nine sets of palma? Done. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: Done. Like you can't have that. You can't have your windows wrapped anymore to bring attention to your store. Done. You can't have the sign Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So TEEL: sticking out of your wallet. Done. So it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Because they want cops to be able to look in your window. TEEL: Yeah, yeah. So the all that stuff is Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What if you got a what if you got a weird cop? TEEL: they just you know, I don't know. You know? What if he what if he's short? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, no, but these are for the businesses. No, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): There's a cop that's a peeping tom, like, Hey, what the fuck are you doing looking through my bathroom window? TEEL: no, but it's it's for a business, it's not for regular homes. Like you your home, you're still able to put the curtains up and you know the wheels. For the businesses Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, but still, stay on my business. TEEL: Yeah, but how is a business gonna survive in the city when they can't advertise? You know what I'm saying? Like and that's the thing, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. TEEL: like Those things are being deleted. And you know, then we can go into how that splurged over into our into our regular society. Like, for example, look at all the the clothes now, right? Back in the day, again, we used to wear the IUU and it was all colorful and you know what I'm saying? Like you were your Jabots and they were fucking Yeah, yeah, you know, and and we had the cross colors with all the different colors on and all Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Our jeans were painted on yeah. Cross color sun. TEEL: that shit. And now you see look at Kanye's line. It's all tan. You know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: It's all problems, right? It's it's all like you're in a prison. Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Earth tones. Yeah. Have you noticed I don't know if it's like it if if if it's like this back home, but like here more and more cards are just white. TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. It's all grey, black and white are the most popular colors. You see a red once in Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: a while, a blue, but most of them are gray, black and white. And that's that's again the the stripping away of our of of of I think for me it's the stimulus of the brain because it's like we need color to keep, you know, the brain and the imagination running. You know, it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: to be ex you know, like that We've been complaining about this for years. If they were to let murals be painted on the entire wall on all the walls of the high schools, there would be more creativity because you walk into a high school and you're and and it's the truth one hundred percent, I don't care a shit. Who talks to me about it? I'll I'll I'll fight to the to death on this. Yeah, right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): We graffiti here. We battle. We ready to battle. TEEL: high schools, all high all schools, most ninety percent of public schools in the city in the urban schools are made to transport you from school to jail. And that's the reason why they look the way they look. They're very bland, they're there's no Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: color, you know, you're just kinda like stay in line and walk. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Go to the good go to the good schools and look at how it looks like a campus and it's beautiful and they have space. TEEL: yeah. yeah. Yep. Yep. Lane Tech is a perfect example. I used to love that they'd be able to go out and hang out at during lunch, you know? It and Yeah, yeah. People used to go down to the river. Yeah, it was bro, bro. Lane was dope. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And aren't they right up against the river right there? Beautiful sight. It's a beautiful sight. TEEL: You know, you'd see all the kids having picnics on the front lawn. It was it's a very Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: like free, like open that's why a lot of the people that came from Lane are very creative, you know, they're very open minded, very liberal, you know, because the school's very hippie. I guess that's the only Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: way for me to say it. But yeah, man, schools are I truly believe that schools need to put in more color, more education and the arts, so that we could start having more and more productive people in society. And I think that they they're dumbing us all down with all the colour. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): fucking government needs more color. TEEL: Yeah, yeah. The color thing is I think that that's what's killing our our our environment, you know, that that's why Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: I was also talking to Someone about this. everything that we do now, and I tell this to my kids all the time what you do now is what affects you in twenty years. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): This is. TEEL: if you look now and then twenty years ago, what they took away from us is what these kids are dealing with now. And that's why Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: you have all the takeovers and all the shit that's going Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: on. It's not because they're wild and they're savages and all it no. It it they got nothing to do. Like they can't even go to the beach without you guys calling the cops and they're doing a takeover. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. TEEL: They're having a fucking party, bro. R let be. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. And just take a look at take a look at how they treat our our communities just on the regular. TEEL: Yeah. Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Our kids are asking, listen to what Teal just got done saying. Our kids are asking for canvases and paint and editing TEEL: No. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): software and and resources to do things. But instead you're giving us more police, you're TEEL: Yeah. Well Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): giving us tanks. And you're giving us cameras and TEEL: Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you're telling us not to put decorations on our fucking windows so the cops can look in. TEEL: Yep. And here's here's the here's the f the other funny thing about it all. If you look at the the last date of what Medusa's and Alcatraz closed and you probably fast forward it, we're right around that 20 year or probably a little more of that time. They don't have anywhere to party, bro. Like where where do these kids go? Like they can't even we couldn't even throw house parties because we get raided. Can you imagine if they with all the technology? The cops can see that there's too many phones in one area and they're like, whoop, and they go right in. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. TEEL: So If they don't have a place Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. TEEL: to fucking dance and blow off steam, where the fuck are these Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Where are they gonna go? TEEL: Yeah? They just raided the beach the other day on the south side because the kids threw a fucking party and they're like, it's a takeover. It wasn't a fucking takeover. They were having a party. Yeah, bro, like how many Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It was they're just chillin'. TEEL: times didn't we go to North Ave Beach and fucking take it over when you know everybody we would go like yo and then we you would see like a hundred crews out there and we were fucking Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: you couldn't even see the beach because there was so many of us out there. And it was like we were all drinking and having fun. Nobody bothered us because they let us be. But when they stopped us from being, and then we all turned twenty one. So we started going to the clubs and we were like, Well, whatever. Medusa's closed down for the third time. Yeah, you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Excala Excalibur it is. TEEL: know what I'm saying? We were all up in the clubs, like and we we already kind of were partying all those years and we just transitioned to the next nightclub and we were just like, Buck it, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: We went to the seven twenty and vinyl and all these nightclubs Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah. TEEL: and we were having fun. But we never thought about the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Seven twenty was a shit, son. TEEL: younger kids, you know. They don't have anywhere to go. There's not even high school parties no more, bro. Think about that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: You know? So you want a generation of energy to hold back the energy because you're trying to dumb down society, but You you can't do that to a species that is w we're a chaotic species, bro. Humans are not to be bottled up. Like we don't do that. Like we don't bottle up good. You know what I mean? Like we don't like to be bottled up or or thrown Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. It turns into yeah, you bottle up your feelings, it turns into cancer. It it turns into high blood pressure. TEEL: Yeah. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, but it also turns into cancer of society as well. You know what I mean? If you want to go down that route because it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: what happens to these kids when you dump them down so long and then you know, then w we can go down a whole nother route, rabbit hole that as well, because then we start talking about how a lot of them have been put on medicines to calm them. Everybody's got ADHD, right? Like it's just fucking you know, so yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and instead, the there's a lot there's has a lot to there's a lot to be said about just going TEEL: Mm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): outside and like you said, going and and releasing this energy with your friends and TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and and and for those folks that are like, the but the kids are gonna do this and that's because you have set a culture of bullshit. If our culture was built on building each other up and showing each other like teamwork and a team environment and you know you like to paint, I like to paint, and then you build each other up that way. Instead of this pull yourself up by the bootstraps and mind, mine, mine kind of mentality, you know what I'm saying? Our our TEEL: Yeah. With that with what you just said, think about what you just said, how powerful that is, bro, because that's what scared the fucking boomers about hip hop. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: We brought we Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the blacks and the Latinos are getting together. We gotta TEEL: Yes. Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): give sexy red. TEEL: Yep. Yeah, that but that's that's what exactly scared them about us because we were we were working together as a society as kids. Think about it, bro. I was twelve, thirteen years old. You know what I'm saying? I was I was going all across the city by myself, meeting up other kids. We had crews Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: already by that age. Think about it. How powerful that is, bro. Right? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): There you go. That right there. You guys are coming together. Yeah. TEEL: And it's like we got to the point where we were so big, like the hip hop crowds, like for example, if I ever had beef, like with a gambanger, right? And like I had Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: beef in my neighborhood. No, here, let me give you a perfect example. we we talked about Shyrock kinda tight a little bit. So my dad was always really down with the shit that we were doing and all this other stuff. You know, yeah, he talked shit a lot, you know, it was my dad, but he he still like looked out. So, I you know, I was kind of bummed out because the Shy Rock meetings had to stop. It was winter. I go to my dad, I said, Hey, you know, I don't know what the fuck to do. You know, he's just use it. We had a building. He's a just use the basement. It was a massive building. And we're like, okay, cool. It was a a regular size building, but for you know, for us back then it was a lot. It would fit a couple hundred in the basement. So we took all the Shy Rock members to Pilson, you know, to Surmac and California. Now, if you know Sam Shermac, California, it's down the street from the Cook County. When you get off on California, like there's four gangs literally on every corner. Like it was it was one gang here, one gang here, one gang on the other side. So But we were so fucking deep that the gangsters didn't even fuck with us. You know what I'm saying? That's what scared Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: the city, bro. The unit. You know that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: that's what pushed them to do the things that they did because they saw that we were organizing. Like And when you watch my movie, you'll see that there's a part in there that they talk about the all city writers meeting, the first one. That scared the shit out of them, bro. Because motherfuckers were in Cabrini Green and met up and there was hundreds of writers together. That scared the city. Think about it. You had the blacks, the Latinos, the whites. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): On yeah. And the fact that you get you the fact that you guys are meeting in Cabrini Green too, son, like that TEEL: Think about it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): like cops just don't roll up in Cabrini Green. TEEL: No, no, hell done. And and and and when Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ha ha. TEEL: they rolled up, they blocked all of Cabrini Greenoff to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: the point that it scared the neighborhood because they were like, yo, they did all that for these kids. Like, what the fuck's going on? You know what I'm saying? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: if you think about it now as an adult, you think about the organizational skills that it took to make that happen. And then all the stuff Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: that the same thing with Shirock, you know, I bro, I was hanging out with people like Upski. You know, it was like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: You know, that's fucking I mean Upsky, I don't give a fuck what anybody says about Upsky. Upsky's a fucking genius, bro. Like the kid is the guy, right? You know, 'cause we're not kids anymore. He's super smart, bro. I hung out with Raven. You know, like Raven's fucking you know Bro, I these people are are teaching at the university level now, you know what I'm saying? And it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: we were all just hanging out and you know, and and we all look at each other not like, you know, you know how university Teachers are just like fucking up in each other's like you know, like, nah, bro, these Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: these we sit down at the table, we're all Yeah, we're all friends, you know? We're busting each other's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They're tapped in. Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: boss, talking shit, we're having fun, you know, like regular because for us we're hip hop. And that's what it is. And that's what scares these older people, bro. They don't want that. They didn't want that. You know, and even Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: in in my movie it's they talk about it's like, what's this black kid doing with this white kid? Why is this white kid in our neighborhood? 'cause we're hip hop. You know, it's it's that's kind of a recurring thing that comes up in in the movie is like people are We're we're the power of what the that we created, the power that was able to to move on from that. Yeah, and and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. That unity. Yeah. TEEL: it that's what scared them. You know what I mean? They you know the same thing with Fachas and and Medusa's and Alcatraz and all these all-age nightclubs that we had. it was it it scared them. That's why they shut it down because it was like you had these groups. I mean, if you ever been to Medusa's you would see like it was three or four floors and there were hundreds of kids everywhere from all over the city. You don't want that shit. You know, because Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: it scares them. You know, they're they're just like, no, we we can't have that. You know, the the city's segregated for a reason, bro. It's not because the Latinos were st thrown into one area and the the blacks were thrown into another. It was that was designed like that. You know what I mean? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And it and it and it also helps like if you what what folks don't understand, let's start there. What folks don't understand is like Chicago is a true melting pot. TEEL: Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): New York is too, New York is too. But New York like it's easy for New York 'cause that's where everyone connects, TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): right? But after you leave New York, like there's no boundaries. Like people live in Chicago because they choose to live in Chicago. So you go there and then, you know, if you're Ukrainian, there's a little village over here for you. So and and it feels somewhat like home. And we have a little Italy and we have the, you know, the north side and we have the south side and the west side. All those things. So if you're coming from somewhere else, there's a landing pad for you. Now it depends on what that part of the community, if they decide to tell you don't hang out here, don't hang out there, that's that's on you. But what what you guys were doing and this goes from like I've talked to Doug Infinite, I've talked to TEEL: Fuck. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): fucking even even I I've talked to Devsky and I've talked to you know, anyone anyone from like different parts of hip hop, they all said the same thing. If you were part of hip hop, you can basically go into any neighborhood you wanted. Cause people knew that you weren't about the other business. TEEL: Right. Even if they knew they didn't care because they were like, that's so and so's boy and they didn't want to start shit with someone in that neighborhood because again, like you said earlier, you know, you you don't want to have beef with someone in your hood because you gotta deal with that person all the time. So they let that slide, you know what I'm saying? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: And yeah, it's it it's a beautiful thing, bro. It's a beautiful thing. I I think that the the beautiful the other beautiful thing about being part of Shy Rock is that we were able to debate. You know, a lot of us debated amongst each other and we all had different points of views, bro. And we didn't hate each other, we still don't. You know, I mean, yeah, there's a little peace Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: here and there, you know what I mean? But that's just, you know, we're we're all friends. Yeah, it's family or whatever, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's everywhere. That's everywhere. And that once once folks understand that we all use the same words, TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): but all those words have different meanings, you know? Once TEEL: Yep. Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): we understand that and you come to every conversation with that understanding, you know, like I could say TEEL: Yep. It's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the words I could say the word spoon, and I'm thinking of a spoon. Guaranteed you're thinking of a different one. TEEL: yeah, absolutely. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So then why the he fuck why the fuck are we gonna fight? All TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): right, cool. So you picked a different spoon, my bad. TEEL: You know what the most beautiful word for that, what you just said, is perspective. Yeah. The Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): perspective. Mm-hmm. TEEL: more the the everyone has their own perspective. You know what I mean? We all Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: have different points of view. We see everything in a different view. That's why when the cops interview people for a crime that happened, they get fifteen different stories. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: everybody was in the same fucking room, but you just saw it in a different perspective. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And everyone Yeah. TEEL: You know what I mean? And my eye might be a little more trained because I was in the hood and I've seen bullets flying, versus the the the girl that's never seen someone get shot. You know what I mean? So she sees different things than I do, like, all I saw was the brown shoes because I threw myself on the floor, you know? And I'm like, Yo, dude had a nine millimeter, it was chrome, he had some engraving on the side, you're wrapped in plastic tape. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It was barefoot. TEEL: You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So it it's just Everybody has different perspectives, bro. And it also has to do with the level of intelligence that we each have. You know what mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: not saying that you're smarter than I am or I'm smarter than you. It's just that we all have different levels of intelligence. It's that so you might have I mean, shit, you might know how to change brakes and I don't, right? that's that makes you a little smarter than I am, but it just makes you know how to do that. You know what I mean? I could do taxes on paid. You know what I mean? Like you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): that. Yeah. On the Yeah. TEEL: don't know how to probably do taxes, like It it just depends Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell no. TEEL: on everybody, you know, how how what the things that the perspective and and the knowledge that each one of us hold, you know what I mean? So Yeah, there's there's I think that we need to start opening up these these lines of communication better for so all of us can start talking more because I I I have friends that are fucking I have family members that are Trumpers, bro. You know what I mean? And it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yes, same. Same. TEEL: you that's cool, bro. You know, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna hate you. You're not my favorite person in the world because of that, because you see the things that they're doing to our people, but that's your perspective. You know what I mean? And sooner Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: or later you'll see what I'm seeing, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: And if you don't, then that's cool too. You know, I'm not gonna do I have to be around you all the time? No. You know? I'll see you at the funeral. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Like I tell like I tell my like I tell my family members that that believe in that bullshit. I'm gonna love you more. I'm gonna love you through all of this. Because me sitting here shaking my fists at you, calling you all kinds of names and shit is just gonna make Thanksgiving that much more awkward. TEEL: Right, right, right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And I'm not trying to live like that. TEEL: Yeah, no for sure. I mean, you know, sometimes it's fun, you know, to pick at You know. It's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): one hundred percent. Like to me to me, politics is just like talking sports now. Yeah. TEEL: yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I don't want to hear anybody say anything about how LeBrant LeBron is as dope as Jordan 'cause I just get into this fucking fury of like craziness. Yeah. Right? Like I I I just can't LeBron's the goat. Like goat of what Yeah, no, I don't want to hear that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You better tell them. You better tell them. Set them fucking straight. Yeah. LeBron is dope. LeBron is dope, but I would pick on my team, I would pick at least three, maybe four people before I pick LeBron. Sorry. Mike would TEEL: yeah, for sure, bro. For sure. I mean I think Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): be one. Hands down, Mike would be one. TEEL: I'm gonna piss off a lot of people. You can use this as a snippet in the in the thing. I think Pippin is better than LeBron. How 'bout that? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Fuck yeah. Hey, you know what I said the other day? I said at their peak, I picked Sean Kemp over LeBron. Sean Kemp was a killer. TEEL: bro. Just Spud hey. Spud Web is better than the bro Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You might be you may be trying to pick fights now, but like TEEL: yeah, yeah, yeah. I I do that shit all the time, bro. You know, I just like poking poking the bear. You know, it's just you know, sometimes that's what you gotta do is you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah yeah yeah. No Sean Kemp was a killer. TEEL: gotta break the ice, make people mad, and then just like kind of you know, I I don't know. It's yeah, yeah, right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then you must and then you crack up. 'Cause that's what the that's what that's one of the things. The one of the common things from Chicago, it seems like we don't take shit seriously. Everything is a joke, everything is a punchline. TEEL: Yeah. It is. It is. All day, bro. All day. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): But but that's that's to make the seriousness palatable. You know? 'Cause like there's a lot TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): of silly shit that's been happening. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What you gonna be mad? Nah nah nah. We crack jokes. TEEL: Yeah. Yeah, I think that that's that's their that's their their they they the the organized chaos that they're doing is that's what they want. They want people to stay mad. You know that energy that energy Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: f you know, they want the universe to not that they don't want them on the on the frequency where they could be receiving good things. They want them mad, you know? So yeah, that's just whatever. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): you were talking about a film. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Tell me about this film. TEEL: So we we've been working on this film. It was written for the last seven years professionally. And I mean I've been filming for over twenty years, right? But the the what we came out with the other day was it was written part one. It was the the foundation is it's the the first part is called. And we showed it at the Midwest Film Festival. And We got an 11 a.m. slot. And I right away was like, fuck. You know, cause it's like, man, I can't even get hip hop heads to answer me at 11 a.m. You know what I'm saying? Like, so I was just like, fuck, what are we gonna do? You know, and I got 400 tickets to sell, bro. So I became a bro, you remember, you remember Amway? Okay, I I became like the Amway guy, you know what I mean? I was calling up friends, a family, you know what I mean? Like motherfuckers stopped answering their phone. Like, bro, I was like the Avon lady, bro, you know, it's like I just kept like I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You look like you need a ticket. TEEL: yeah, yeah, I was texting people, bro. It was it was it was it was rough, you know. But then I we put up the the first posting and ten minutes in we sold over a hundred tickets Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let's go. TEEL: and we sold out because that was the the allotted space that we were given. And then I called up the film festival and I was like, yo, we still got seats, right? And they were like, we gotta check. And I was like, okay. So then they released Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's great. TEEL: they released the second wave. They sold out over two hundred tickets. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let's go. TEEL: we I was on a high horse, you know. I was like, Yeah, let's get this. So I was like, How many tickets do we got left? Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah. Way to show up, Chicago. Hell yeah. TEEL: They were like, we got a few left. I'm like, Can you release them, please? I want to try to get rid of like I don't want nobody's like I want this standing room only shit, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. No open seats, hell yeah. TEEL: And they were like, Okay. So they released the the third one. And I guess we had pushed too hard already and it was kind of like slowly selling, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: And I was like, fuck, I was getting nervous, you know? And then a couple day like maybe four days before the showing, it just fucking sold out again. The third time. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): yeah. TEEL: And I was just like, Yeah, you know, I was living on fucking Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah. TEEL: I was on my high horse, bro, you know. Nobody could tell me shit. I was driving down, I'm letting motherfuckers cut me off in the road, you know, like that's how happy I was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks, bro, you know Right, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Smiley, you're waving at him. I hope you have a wonderful day. Thanks for cutting me off. TEEL: right. So they were You know, the film festival was ecstatic with us where they were happy. then the day of the showing, bro. It was amazing, dude. Like I'm still like processing it because I'm the type of dude w I do a lot of events and stuff like that and I don't I don't pay attention to what's actually going on, you know? And but now thinking back at it and watching the videos and looking the photos and stuff, it's like it was a fucking beautiful time, bro. It was People were reacting to the film, you know, they were booing when the cops came out and woo, you know, and there were writers would come on, like, this is Upsky, and everybody's Yeah, Upski, you and he flew in from I out in the on the East Coast where he lives for that film, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah. TEEL: which was fucking amazing. And Devski came in from LA. Like it was a big fucking deal, bro. We had over four hundred people in the theater. And we were ecstatic, bro. I mean, we I'm still kind of on cloud nine, you know, but I don't like to settle for things, you know. I'm I'm I get happy for when I when I get stuff like that, but I feel that if I sit in the moment too long, I settle and then I'm just like not productive anymore. You know what I mean? So I kinda just take the win Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: oath. Like I don't a lot of people are just like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like when you drop a record, you know, like a like they're they they're they're all high on their record, you're like, you know, I love it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. And then they put their feet up. That's the thing. TEEL: Yeah. And then they just three years later they drop another album and it's like, Bro, you should be dropping one every year. Like what the fuck are you doing? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: So I I don't like you'll see me work on a mural or a painting and then I'm just constantly working on something else, like and then I'll look back and be like, Shit, I did fucking fifty things in one year, like that's awesome, you know, but that's just how I work. You know, a lot of people are telling me that I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: need to sit in the moment and and enjoy it and it's like I can't, you know? but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. I give myself I give myself an afternoon, maybe. You know? But I'm like you. I stay busy. TEEL: Yeah, right. And and the big thing for the the the thing that actually got me super excited is when we won the the Audience Choice Award at the event. we went to the Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. How is that? TEEL: Bro, it was fucking crazy, bro. I went to the after party and the the who's who was there from the film festival and all these other directors were there and all this other stuff and like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How cool is that? TEEL: bro, it was fucking nuts, bro. I didn't you know Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You finish it you finish watching a movie and you look and the actors are right there? Isn't that cool? TEEL: Yeah, yeah. No, but but this was the after party, the next day at the night. It was like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): okay. TEEL: a VIP like sitting where all the directors were and the actors movies Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: and I'm there with my wife and we're all just, you know, we're sitting at these tables and whatever, drinking and and you see all the the directors winning all these awards and you every it's an award fest, you know, and and it was it was a nice event and It felt good because, you know, I'm a street rat, this graffiti writer, you know what I mean? Like I run tunnels and I paint trains and okay, grimy. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: and I'm you know, all these people it y it's funny 'cause I have a quick story. when you meet them, the first thing that they get all, you know, like up in the shit, like, what school did you go to? And you know, I like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: I love pissing them off when it's like they go to for this. You know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You're like Sen TEEL: Yeah, yeah. It's cool. You know, the the thing that I love pissing them off is when they say when I tell them, I'm self-taught, their face and body just like melts. They're just like you know, like, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: that's good. Like, yeah, not your your body's not saying that good, bro. You know what I'm saying? So I'm in this room of all these s taught, school taught people, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: directors and cinematographers and boom mic guys and all this other shit. And I'm just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: just to me, I'm still in my head, I'm this little graffiti tagger, you I'm in sitting on the table Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: and I'm not nervous because I'm you know, I've been in public eye for a long time, but when they called my name and I here's w here's the part that I fucking love more than anything. Like I can sit there on stage and hold my nuts, bro. Like fuck y'all, you know, it's like I sold more tickets than all you motherfuckers put together. You know what I'm saying? Like I had my crowd Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah. Hell yeah. TEEL: My crowd, I filled the the whole theater, bro. You know what I mean? Like none of you motherfuckers even filled half the theater, you know. So they could sit there Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah. TEEL: and won all those awards all they want, but like I pulled in the crowd. You know what I mean? I had the People's Choice Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: Award, and to me that's more than anything because it's like the director's award is given by a panel that they had in the film festival. I was chosen by the people. And to be that means more than anything, bro, because it was like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm hmm. Mm hmm. By the people. Yep. One hundred percent. TEEL: It was like I I felt I I wanted to go on stage and be like, you know what I mean? Like, you know. but you know, it felt good, bro. It was it was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hood rats TEEL: you know. I could've I could have been like a child and be like, ha ha, you guys didn't get this, you know, but it it it was just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: it was it was it was a humbling moment. It was I I I I felt I felt seen. You know, I felt heard. like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: the work that we did for a long time, was was accepted. my my two directors which one was my brother and the other one is Josh. They they did an awesome job. my sound guy that created the music, Mac Blackout, he's another muralist. he did a amazing job too. Is it you I can't take the credit for it. We 'cause it's a team, but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: It just felt amazing as as who I am and the things that I've done to be accepted. You know, it was like, I don't know if you know that Nas gave my crew a shout out in his writer's song. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): shit. TEEL: yeah, and that was like that brought me to tears because it was like after all the shit that I've gone through, all the wars I've been in, all the things that I've done, to feel to get this rapper that I've looked to that that I'm a fan to. to give me props Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: like that, you know, to give my crew props, was amazing. You know what I mean? And and Chicago. Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And and a little deeper than that is someone from New York, someone from New York giving someone from Chicago love like that. TEEL: Yes, yes. You know. I mean we've we've Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's big. TEEL: made we've made a lot of history, my crew and I. we've well and and I love my crew. big family, you know what I mean? But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: it's just like we don't we don't settle. That's that probably comes from me or or maybe I got it from just being around each other, but we just don't settle. Like we keep breaking records, we keep pushing, we wanna be, you know Made you look is like The it's in the name, right? We we're here to make people look. So it's it's just something like w I I I wanna keep pushing the envelope, just like the the battle that I do for Battle for the City. I I'm I'm doing it to better better the the the the art form. You know what I mean? I'm I'm making people Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: tell each other to get better, you know, not bringing people from places. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And like and like white folks say, demystifying, right? To TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): show you to show you that this hip hop movement is not about violence and selling drugs and dumb shit. It's about coming together and building each other up and TEEL: No. Right. Yep. Yep. And that's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): leveraging each other's gifts, whether it be TEEL: Yeah. And the it it Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the gift of gab or the gift of painting or the gift of editing, the gift of breakdancing. TEEL: Yep. Dancing. Yeah. The the the thing that bothers a lot of these people, and I think w it and I've learned this being in the political world because I've I've kind of moved in that circle and I'm moving in and out Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: because of the where I am. It's the language that we use, right? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: Our verbiage is not accepted. The word battling cringes people, you know, the wars, like they don't get it. Bombing, you know, those types of words they Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like in his song, he said he was gonna cut his head off. No, but that's just a simile. That's just you know, that's TEEL: Yeah, it scares people. Right. Exactly. Exactly. But they they take it too much to heart. That's why people like took off, because we got him. We understood him. You know what I mean? He's from the Midwest. We understood what he was saying. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm, mm hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: But they it scares people. And you know, the the sarcasm, the dark humor, all that stuff, like we get that. You know what I mean? Why Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: for me MM is one of my top, you know? Because I as Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: soon as he came out, I got I actually met him before he came out, but that's that's a whole nother story. But yeah, we've been blessed to be in the in the circles that we've been in. we talked about this earlier. the universe puts you in places. You have to accept it. it can be a bad thing, but it's never a bad thing. Like even when even when you think it's bad, you should still say thank you and take it. Take your lumps and learn from what happened to you. And because that That lump that you got, that's you know, whatever happened to you, that bad moment, like, you know, I was just talking to a coworker the other day, she was, you know, complaining or whatever, and I like, This is a good thing. They're they're not bringing you back because the universe wants you to do something else. And she literally texts me back and tells me, Hey, I just landed a a five thousand dollar contract with a client and he paid me all in cash and I was like, See? And you were stressing over money, you know what I mean? So it's just like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: The universe does those things that they free you from one situation and puts you in another because it's trying to teach you what your next step is. But if you're not Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: if you're only worrying about money and worrying about things, you're not w looking at the lessons you're learning, you're never going to move forward. You know what I mean? And that's why we get stuck in the ghetto. You know what mean? We generational wealth is generational ghetto as well, because y we get stuck, you know, in that. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's that mentality and that loop. TEEL: Yep. And that that's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: what we need to learn is to like listen. You know what I mean? Like it's right there in front of you, bro. You know what I mean? Like that door just closed. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. TEEL: You got evicted? It's for the best. That burn that building burned down last week. Did you know that? You know that type of shit? You know what I mean? Yeah, so Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. Right. And that's just it. Like you gotta you gotta let your mind be bored. TEEL: Mm-hmm. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Stop scrolling all the time. Just like tape a take a step away from all that stuff because TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the universe is trying to tell you where you're supposed to be, where you're supposed TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): to go. TEEL: Even even through the scrolling, I find if you're in the right frequency, it gives you the right Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: scrolls. You know what I mean? Like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: did you ever notice that you're like thinking about something? You didn't even say it. Because you know if you say your phone hurt it and then it tells you. But if you're thinking something and you're like in a shitty Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sure. Yeah. TEEL: mode, and all of a sudden if you noti this happens to me a lot, bro. I'll be in a shit mode. Like you know, I get depressed too, right? So I'm sitting there on the couch fucking moping, and then I start scrolling and I'll just get nothing but comedy shit. And it I'm laughing and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: laughing and I get in a good mood, right? It's like I don't even see the political shit. It doesn't even come out of my feet. It's just all funny shit. And it's almost Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: as if something is telling me to get out of that mode so that I could start to create. Then once I'm in a better mode that I start to paint again, and then everything kind of just flows out. So technology's funny. Like you ever this is something that I I I talk to my DJ friends all about. Like all the time. You ever notice that when you're in a shitty mood, you turn on your your shuffle on your iTunes and you just get the fucking bangers. It just gets you in that mood and you're like, yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: you know what I mean? And they're like, you're right, bro. You know what I mean? That's the universe telling you like, hey, fucking slap out of it. You know, wake out of it. Shake the shit. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Shake that sh shake that off. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: So I don't I love technology. You know, a lot of people are like, yeah, I'm not saying that you hate it because we're on technology not right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: I'm just saying that I I think that we need to learn to take our lessons as they're given. Sometimes they're given to us by our phone. you know, you'll you'll you'll I literally pitch jobs almost every day. And and and and I pitch ten of a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but I'm constantly like sending out shit and I'm trying to get gigs just for murals and art and shit, you know, just to try to keep busy. And I get denials all the time, bro. Every day. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. TEEL: There's nothing wrong with that. Because you're trying to figure out Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It's part of it. TEEL: yeah, you're trying to figure out the Rubik's Cube, the Matrix, you know, you're just trying Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: to like get the combination. Once you hit that combo, it just and you start getting, you know, more work. So people see the the bad things as a as as a bad thing. And and it should be a learning lesson. You know what I mean? Everything is a learning lesson, bro. The older I get I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Exactly. TEEL: sound off fucking philosophical and hippie and shit, but like I'm learning, you know what I mean, that right, right. The older I get Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's what wisdom sounds like though. You know what I mean? TEEL: you know, i all the time something bad'll happen, I'm just like, hey, whatever. I'll just figure it out. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): What can I yeah, and that's where I take a time out and I'm like, what can I learn from that? And a lot of times, and TEEL: Exactly. And that's what we all need to think about. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): a lot of times is don't don't do the work until someone puts money on the table. You know, TEEL: Right. Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): something a lot of times it's just as simple as that. But TEEL: Yeah, yeah. And and and me and my brother have this philosophy and we do it every year. when w when things haven't been moving, we kinda do a job for almost free or sometimes free, just to get Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: the the clog. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's just like boom Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): The momentum. Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: and then it's like, okay, now we we let 'cause sometimes it's that's all you need, is just to let the creativity flow. You know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: So I mean I I do a lot of designing, like I I've designed the mascot for the for the Midwest Film Festival. I designed the the mascot Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ohio. TEEL: for for the homegirl the Brownwell projects, which is her name is Glo. I've designed f designs for other festivals, for the battle for the city. You know what I mean? Like I'm I'm constantly designing stuff for these to these these organizations, these people. It's just like sometimes it's just to have your stuff out there is what brings your energy. You know what I mean? It it helps Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: you. So, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Let's talk about battle for the city. Is that the same thing as battle for the eagle? TEEL: no, so ironically or funny or whatever it is, I was trying to come up with a name for my battle and I came up with Battle for the City. I was like, yo, that shit's dope. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's pretty dope. TEEL: I thank you. And I didn't realize till a few years later that I was like, shit, Battle for the Eagle. What the fuck? my god. And I actually went to them and I was like, yo, I didn't do that to fucking you know, steal your name or anything like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Bite off you, yeah. TEEL: And they were like, no, no, we thought it was kinda like an homage and I was like, Okay, cool, I'm glad, you know, you didn't take it like that 'cause I it wasn't even it I wasn't even thinking about it. It's just like when you when you set a date to go to the movies and you didn't realize you had a dentist appointment, you know what I mean? Like that type of shit. It wasn't like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Right. Right. TEEL: But Battle for the City is in my event, I've been doing it for over seven years now. we've been putting up like ten grand for the winner cash. The reason why I do that is because I believe in in competition. and my city I love my city to death. W and I also hate it as much as I love it. the level of arrogance that a lot of us have, we think that we're as good as everybody else in the world. I travel a lot, bro. Like I'm all over the world, right? And like we have a lot of talent here, but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I always look at life like a little volume, right? And it's like you gotta kinda turn the volume up like those clicks to get it to the level that we can compete globally. Like as graffiti writers, we could fucking smash anybody. Like I I could sit there all day like Pokemon cards and throw pictures at you being Show me what you got. I got bam, bam, bam. You know what I mean? Like we got people like with Right. Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Here's a shoddo. Here's a B boy B. TEEL: yeah, you know, but as as much as like as far as like competing on the on the mural graffiti level, I think we could do better. So my idea when I started it with my partner, that is isn't with me anymore 'cause he went to go do other things, was to better Chicago. And the only way to better Chicago is to bring talent that's gonna push them to be better. Because we already know as a city what we have. You know what I mean? Like I already know what that other crew can do because we've been studying each other for years. So if I ever battled them I know I know how to take them out type of shit. You know what I'm saying? But like when Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I bring a motherfucker from Gala and you only see their stuff online but you've never actually seen the stuff that they do because you only see a few pictures It blindsides you. And then not only on top of that, but when me and my brother came up with the rules, because my brother's now my full partner, we only wanted it to be a one-day event. So imagine you're painting 50 feet high to 35 or 40 feet wide in eight hours. Like that's some fucking crazy grilling shit, bro. Like you're talking about like the marathon of all marathons like that's and then on top of that I'll give you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How many writers on each team? TEEL: unlimited. You can have as many as you want. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): snap. TEEL: Yeah. So each crew can give well originally we started it with single battles. But then when we did the crew battles, it was like you want to have 20 people, that's on you. See as as as graffiti writers, hip-hop kids, we we work well together, but there's only a certain amount of people that actually work. That's it that's inhuman too. If you go out to the construction there's always those two fat guys sitting there talking to each other, the foremans, and everybody else is working, you know. i it's just the way it is. So they could have thirty people. I know that thirty people are not gonna be paid, you know what I'm saying? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. TEEL: they bring their crew, usually about ten, twelve people, and it's it's fucking hard, bro. Like I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: I I feel bad for them. I I laugh too, 'cause I'm walking by And I see the shit that they go through with each other, like arguing, come on, fucking Armia, bro, you're fucking high. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: What the fuck? You know, it's just when you do a drinking, the sun's out, you're gonna fucking dehydrate, you know? And they're just like, you know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: it's just funny shit, you know, and it's like it's amazing, bro, because you see the team I I've seen teams fall apart because of the battle. Like there's some crews Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: that are not crews anymore because of that, you know, they just Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Damn. TEEL: they saw that they were not compatible in Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: that type of environment. They were like, Yeah, we can't we this doesn't we just can't be a crew anymore because if we can't handle that, how the fuck are we gonna handle something else, you know? So they broke up or whatever, but yeah, I'm not gonna mention names. But there's they come from all over I I you know, we we bring people in from Cincinnati, from Indiana, from fucking LA, from, you know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: we had a crew coming from Texas and they could have I'm not Texas, from Canada and they wouldn't let over the border so they couldn't battle. But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Damn. TEEL: yeah. Last year Yeah. Last year I I almost cried because the crew that won was from Mexico and they drove up from there, bro. And it was like It was fucking amazing, bro. They they there was four of them. Their little Subaru was filled up to the top with paint and roller paint and you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hell yeah, dude. TEEL: The paisas took it bro. I loved it, bro. It was just so fucking amazing, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: bro. I teared up when I gave the money. and and yeah, it was it was dope, bro. I I'm very proud of them. And yeah, that's the type of stuff that I like to see 'cause, you know, then at the internet everybody starts talking shit. It did it's like, whatever you know, I don't want to hear your shit. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: Yeah, so you know, that that was one of the things that that that that's the actual thing that we like to do with the battle. It's like we want to step up our city. battle Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: the main battle for the city, we're always going to do it in Chicago. but I want like last year we were contacted by a crew in Poland that wants to come. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: this year we're just gonna do a mural festival because we weren't able to raise the money in time to give the prize out. But next for sure we're gonna have enough money and tons of stuff to give away. but yeah, that's that's what battle for the city is. it's it's not battle for Chicago. that's one thing that I get constantly talk shit about. People are like, why is it why isn't any it's supposed to be only about Chicago and I never said it was. Like you know what I mean? Like it's battle for the city. And then I never said what city. You know what I mean? It's it's just about a bunch of urban kids that are battling to It's a battle, you know, and it's called battle for the city 'cause that's what it is. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's and that's part of the out that's part of the outreach, right? Is TEEL: Right. Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): like it's cool. Like, and I and I guess that's that's the benefit of having battle for the ego, battle for the and for the folks that don't understand what we're talking about. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Battle for the city is a graffiti battle that these two cities and it's very similar to on this channel. I have I have a video that I did. B Boy B put one of these on. he called it Midway to LA, where ten graffiti writers from Chicago went down to LA and I ran down there with all my film equipment, filmed it and stuff. TEEL: Ha ha Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): It was so dope. And you have the two teams and instead of playing basketball or baseball or whatever, you're doing graffiti and so you get license for this one big ass wall and you split it and you design it and you go after it and TEEL: Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then bat and and you're saying that battle for the city is two cities going at each other. Battle for the eagle is like a a hip-hop showcase. They do graffiti showcase, they do DJing, they have rappers, they have dancers, they have all the things. So it's kind of like a it's kind of like introductory class to hip hop. TEEL: Yeah. and and bat just just just kinda fix a little bit what you said. It we don't have two crews, we have ten. So it's ten ten crews battling each other on one wall. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Ten crews. shit, okay. damn, okay. TEEL: So that that's yeah. So when we you imagine you have ten top notch painters and they're they're trying to get I always tell everybody, Come get my money, you know, like ten take the ten thousand from me. It's it's a big deal and and there's no other battle in the world that does that. Not yet. We're we're we're Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: the first and probably, you know, I don't see anybody doing it anytime soon and we're gonna be upping the money next year. We're hoping that we get a bigger sponsor to give us more money, but I want this to be the battle of the battle. Like this is you kick the Olympics, the Red Bull, fucking breakdancing, like all of that shit. Like this is gonna be the one. Like if you win a battle for the city trophy that you you are one of the best in the world because There are no events like this. Everybody's doing little two hundred dollars here, little five hundred bucks there, but like we're putting putting our mouth where our money, our money where our mouth is. Like we want you to come show up and show out. Like we this is what we want. Like you be the best of the best. Like and we're working on other projects around that, huh? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. When is that happening? When is that happening? TEEL: August twenty first and twenty second. Th this year is just gonna be a a mural festival. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: Yeah, it's just an event where everybody's gonna hang out and have fun. We're we're just we're probably gonna we're working on showing the film again in another theater, so people can come on and see it, that didn't get to see it before because it was it was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Is it is it out for for us to see anywhere or does it have to be no? Okay. TEEL: Not yet, no. It has to be on in the theater. and because we're doing the film circuit, film festival circuit, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: and they have very strict rules in the film festivals that if you put it on anything digital, that's it. You're done. Like you can't show any film festival. Which is to be stupid, but it's the rules, right? So I can't Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): If you wanna if you wanna play in that park, you have to follow those rules. TEEL: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So we don't want to ruin it by putting it on YouTube or on Netflix or Yeah. And if Netflix Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, no we can wait. We can wait. You get TEEL: they give us enough money, bro, I mean, you know, I'm I'm ready to sell out, you know what I'm saying? Netflix, holla. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): You know what I'm saying? Hey TEEL: Yeah, yeah, you know, we're ready. So yeah, man, it's it's it's been a beautiful journey, bro. I I yeah, it it's been fun, bro. It's been a lot. And and there's we got so much more to go. I'm working on part two already with we'll my brother and Josh are working on part two. I'm just there kinda just like throwing my two cents in once in a while. But yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How big is your team? TEEL: there's only four of us. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): God dog me. TEEL: Yeah, bro. Four of us. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): How good does it feel to have that thing done and you're submitting it to film festivals and stuff? I mean, TEEL: Amazing, well. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): the fact that you won is amazing. But how good is that feeling? Look at that. We got an award-winning filmmaker, y'all. TEEL: Yes, it is. I I have the trophy right here. Look. Yeah Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm an award winning filmmaker, bro. That's crazy, bro. You know? I've I've done so much in my life, but that I never thought I would have that title. It's pretty dope. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. You hang out with Aztec Dinero at all? Yeah. You see he's got his film out too. TEEL: I do. I I I I I don't Yes. Yes. We're we we've been talking back and forth about showing our films together one day. I don't hang with him as much as we used to 'cause he used to live Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: down the street from me in Cicero and I used to sit on his stoop and hang out with him and we would talk shit, you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: know, and and he was also Shy Rock, so we were always like every Sunday together and all that shit. So I've known him for years. Like he's a great guy. I like Aztec's my homie. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. I'm just so proud to see folks that grew up like me out here winning film awards and you know, like think about it. Think about we're doing things that we're not supposed to be doing. TEEL: Absolutely. And that's why when I remember I told you I how I felt when I got on the stage? It was like I didn't feel Yeah, yeah, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. You know, Yeah, my balls TEEL: I didn't I didn't feel like I should have been there. You know what I mean? It was weird. It felt weird because it Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: was like I self taught myself everything. Like I don't even like the the paintings that I do and all that, like I learned how to do that all on my own. Like I don't I'd never had any school like I have friends that have like I told you that friend that art Designer. I have other friends too that are were professional painters and they went to school like Pratt in New York and they you know they had to pay like over a hundred grand and they're probably still in school debt, you know, student and I would just ask shit, you know, hey bro, how do you do this? And they would teach me, you know. I was Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: like, free education. You know, I didn't think that it I needed to go to school for that, you know, and and I didn't. So I don't think that my career would be any different if I went to school for it. You know what I mean? Just because of Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: because of the things that I was doing, you know, but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 'Cause you you're one of those guys that just gets in and gets it done. You have TEEL: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. One hundred percent. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): to have a certain amount of when I was talking to Janelle, she's part of the Inglewood Arts Collective, I was talking to her and explaining to her that you have to be dumb enough to succeed. TEEL: Yeah. It's true. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right? Cause if you 'cause if you like let's say let's say Teal wanted to go and he's talking to a bunch of these directors and stuff and say, Hey, I'm gonna make a hood film about graffiti. And they'll be like, what's the storyline? Like, what's your motivation? And and it's not that they're trying to talk you out of anything. It's just like they were taught different. Again, that perspective. TEEL: Exactly. Exactly. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Meanwhile we're gritty kids from the streets. We like, nah, son god TEEL: Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. No and and you know, our vision is different than theirs. Like having conversations now with other directors that I've met and we're hanging out now and all that stuff. This is how they talk. So yo, I got this I I tell them this. I got this dope ass idea for a script. I'm writing it right now, bro. Like I think you guys would love it. when I'm done I'm gonna show it to you. Yeah, yeah, whatever you want. Tell me what is it like? Mean what is it? Yeah, yeah. Like I'm Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: working on a film. It's like Back to the Future meets Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: Shark Week or whatever, you know, they'll they'll like put you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: so then they make you think of what it is that they're doing, and then they put that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: in your head, you know, like the direction that they're going in. And I'm like, yeah, mine doesn't have anything to compare to, like this is something new, you know what I mean? Like, and they're like Know you're gonna be able to pitch that, bro. And I'm like, once you see my script, I think you I don't not gonna need this pitch it. Like it's it's kind of like like there's a lot of drama, and you know, there's a lot of fucking adventure, you know. I'm fucking doing this and I'm doing that in the film, and and they're just like like they can't, because that's how they were taught. I'm more of a visual and verbal, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Red. Red. TEEL: like I'll tell you, like, yo, you know, because you've been there, like think about you're at Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: a train station. I'm l you're on Washington or a LaSalle station, bro, and that you got that piss spell in the air, and the light is flickering, and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: you know, all the the walls are white, but they're really gray because of all the dirt. And you start visualizing because you were there. You know what I mean? A rat running a piece of pizza across the tracks, and you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah. TEEL: know what I mean? There's a homeless guy in the corner singing fucking blues, using a shoestring for the guitar, you know, and it's like and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: then right away and then the escalator's making this weird squeaking noise, you know, and and now you're like, damn bro, that's just gonna be dope. You know Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. I'm in there. Yeah, I'm in there. TEEL: you know, and and it it's something that you need so visually a lot of these guys can't get it. And here's where something I'm gonna piss off a lot of people with. that's the reason why I like AI because I'll I'll be able to pitch that visual showing them. Like because they they can't they can't see it. So when you go to the AI and you give it that script and it gives you that visual five minutes trip t to pitch the idea, to show them so then you can really make the film. I like that. Because it's very hard to show someone a script and then them see what you see without them being there. Because you saw what I saw. You smelled what I smelled, you heard what I heard, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: but them fools didn't. So When I go into Claude or whatever the fuck AI is that they they have now and I tell it, okay, I need this and I give the details, you know, everything and then Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: it spits out a perfect trailer, a pitch trailer for me to show them, you know, then I'll be able to get Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. I've been TEEL: the money. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I've been having that discussion with some of my friends down in LA. Because now well, everyone and their mama got an AI studio now. You're right. Snoop TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Dogg's got one. Netflix has one. A twenty four. I'm a big fan of A twenty four. They have a AI dissection now and all this stuff, right? Everybody and their mama got it. The only people that are struggling with it. are the creative folks that are going to be losing their jobs. TEEL: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right? I done lost my job so I don't even give a shit anymore. I'm independent. I'm independent, so it doesn't TEEL: Yeah. That sucks bro. I don't want I don't want to laugh at your at your at your your loss or whatever, but yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Am I paying? TEEL: you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, but no, but and and for me, like I have this award winning script and I've tried to hire artists to do concept art and all this stuff because I haven't had a full time job in eight years. I it I don't have it like that. So now again, going back to the conversation that I was having with my connections down there. So then fuck me, 'cause I can't put I don't have money to give you guys to help me bring this thing to life. TEEL: Yeah, that's that's how it is. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And then I talk to people like Rookie from Chicago. He's a rapper, he's a filmmaker, he's all he's stupid talented too. And he's like, he tells me, why is it that every time it comes to us making our stuff, now everybody wants to catch feelings? But when you have plenty of money, you have plenty of technology to tell your stories, everything is good. But now that we get our shot, now everybody wants to. put up boundaries and and restrictions. TEEL: One hundred percent, bro. as an artist. I again I'm I'm in the same fucking boat as you bro. I as much as people think that I'm fucking rolling in money, you know what I mean? I'm not. And when I go to a fellow artist and I'm like, yo, I don't have time to do this design right now, bro. I need you to fucking and this motherfucker's charging me a thousand Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: dollars for that shit. Like and it's not even for me, but I have to pay them so that I can give it to this client or whatever it is, right? I'm just trying to hire out people, trying to create like a money thing. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: I get it, bro. You're trying to get paid. Like it's it's all good. Like I'm not trying to get mad. But like at the same time, it's like it's only a fucking pitch that I need this for, bro. So like it I don't need I can't pay you a thousand. bro, I'm disappointed in you. You know, they they start with the whole fucking bullshit. Okay, I'll go back. I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. Mm. TEEL: I opened up my fucking app. I give it all the shit that it needs and it spits out a fucking proposal design, show it to the client. The client's like, Yes. And then I go back into my iPad, it's Photoshop Illustrator, and I recreate what it is that I already designed because the AI did it for me. And Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: I create it and I get paid. Motherfucker Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: could have got paid too if he wanted to be on the team. But I understand he's got bills to pay as well. So it's one of those situations like we don't have the team. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: To create these these environments and the things that we need to continue the money. So I get it. It's a lot of people get offended over that. But don't come on my fucking Instagram talking shit because I'm running around busy as fuck trying to do stuff. And then I had to create Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Doing all this shit by myself. TEEL: a flyer on fucking Instagram. Who gives a fuck about a flyer? And you get mad over me fucking designing it on fucking AI. Bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: I would have made it for you. You never offered. I'm not gonna bother you. You know what I'm saying? Plus I'm on the fucking phone Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Right. TEEL: with a thousand people, bro. I'm in the middle of a fucking filming of the film fest. I don't have time to fucking call up Blasi Blah to have him design something for me so he can charge me a thousand dollars. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I'm in the car and I talk to my I hit the talk thing, and me and my best friend are going back and forth, and he fucking made a flyer for me, bro. Like, don't get Don't get pitsy over that and that's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: another thing that that bothers me about social media. It's like back in the day, bro, if you said something to someone, you said it in their face, or you called them at the crib and talked shit, and then they'd see you face to face, right? These people say shit on the internet, there's no repercussions for that. So they feel like they can say whatever they want. And it's like, yo, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. TEEL: first of all, if you don't like what I'm doing, don't come on my Instagram and talk shit. You know what I mean? Like you could Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. If you know me, hit me up. TEEL: Yeah, just be like, yo Tealda, I think that was fucking whack that you did that that shit with the AI. Okay, and like it's my Instagram. You know what I'm saying? Like I'm Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: not asking you, like I might not even like half the shit that they do. Like he whatever whoever it was that talking shit, he might not even have the skills to be fucking talking to me like that. You know what I'm saying? But it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right, right. TEEL: they get upset and they feel a certain s kind of way. It it's their opinion. Don't bring Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: your opinion into my things. Like if you want to rant and rave, then get on your shit and say, I don't like this flyer that so-and-so made, but do it on your shit. I don't want to even you're just doing it for attention on my shit. You know what I'm saying? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. TEEL: that that whole internet thing that has given the the voice to the people, a lot of these people in real life wouldn't have had the fucking balls or the audacity to even say that to us in our face because they would get popped. You know, it was like, you know, it's like keep quiet, you know what I'm saying? Because that's what we would do back in the day. You know what I'm saying? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And those are those are And Placata is is a proper sound effect. That's how that's how Latino families hit. TEEL: Yeah, bro, you know instead of you know how Yeah, yeah. Batman and Robin be like pow bam, you know, and the Latino be like placada Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): We got placard. TEEL: You know? So I don't know bro. It I think that a lot of people are getting too much into their feelings with the with the whole AI thing. it's it's happening, if we like it or not, you're gonna lose your ass if you don't get on it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: I I tell everyone all the know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And listen, and listen, if you're if you're going back to you running business and and trying to do trying to run a creative business in a timely fashion, there are business owners out here with a bunch of money. They want you to use the shit because they want the shit yesterday. TEEL: Yeah. Exactly. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They don't want to wait. And they know for a fact that if they have a child, they would rather give that money to that child. TEEL: One hundred percent. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They'll get they'll get their kid a membership to whatever AI thing and they'll have their kid do it. And then you'll be outside with your hands in your pockets. TEEL: Yeah, yeah. One hundred percent bro. I mean I'm taking AI classes all the time, bro. You know, the the program, the prompts, like you have to you have to be on this shit, bro. It's like Bob Marley was he he sung some line in his thing is like you're not gonna change the time. Like it's about he was talking about Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: nuclear energy. You know, it Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: it it's happening, bro. Like if you if you study All the technology and I I love doing this shit like where I'm always like we'll check out what history did. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: Look at all the technology when the radio came out, right? And all the protests against that and when when the TV came out, there was tons of protests about that. It was like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: you know, and still to this day people call it the boob tube. You know, it was like it's gonna make people stupid, it's gonna TV's still here, son. Like don't fucking you can't hate on TV. You know what I mean? But shit, T V was my babysitter when I was a kid. It like mom was cooking, she popped me in front of the TV. It was like, that's what it was, bro. All those cartoons we used to watch. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): When I came home from s when I came home from school, mom wasn't home yet. TEEL: Right. You know what I mean? And and I stayed up till late at night fucking there was TV shows that I watched that kids my age weren't watching, you know, like heart to heart. That shit came out like one in the morning, bro. You know what I'm saying? And I was like watching it, you know, but so it was like and then the internet when that came out. I was I'm old enough to remember the fucking backlash on the internet, you know what I mean? And then you were around for this one. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Or ATM machines. You remember when ATM and Bank of America would charge you to use the ATM. So then why am I not gonna go to the human then? TEEL: Yeah, yeah. No, here's one that y that's gonna date us as old people. Do you remember when your parents told you not to stand in front of the microwave because that shit was bad for you? You know Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: what I'm saying? Like that was bullshit, you know, but those that's what I'm saying, like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That was back in the time that was back in the day when you can drink water out of the hose and not get poison. Now look at good old days. TEEL: Yeah, bro, you know, yeah. And you know, and there were the the the crazy guys talking about how the water was bad for us because they putting chlorine in it and now it's fat, right? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Now look at TEEL: during COVID, what was killing us? 5G. We were gonna die. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: Still here. So Everyone wants to argue and fight about AI, but the industry has gone that way. And if you want to survive, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: you need to learn how to use it. Period. I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. Yep. TEEL: I'm an accountant. That's my my Bruce Wayne job, my day job, you know. And I work for a massive corporation. you know, for for for for tax season on on some, you know, getting money on the side type shit. because I have my own b accounting office, my my own practice. And they are they already created AI for the for the texting, bro. So in the future Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: and I use and I use chat GBT when I do bookkeeping, you know, because am I gonna hire some someone to be my bookkeeper that I have to pay them three hundred dollars an hour because that's what bookkeepers make, or do I chat GBT that motherfucker and scan all the documents and tell him or her whatever voice you're using? I need you to put this all in a spreadsheet for me and then give me the totals of everything. And they it does it in fucking five minutes for you versus two weeks that this person's gonna have to go through all the books. See what I'm saying? So and this Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: massive corporation is already teaching me that they already have this technology in here that you scan in with your phone, your W-2 goes up with your expenses, and the AI sorts it all up. And the reason why I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: know that's true is 'cause I'm on the team that's been testing it. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: when the W took goes in, all I have to do is make sure that the numbers are right because I'm just the human with the eyes to make sure that the computer Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: didn't fuck up and if I check mark it and it was good, now the AI knows that it's doing a good job. See what I'm saying? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: you gotta bro, I'm gonna be probably be out of a job. I know that. The accounting thing, I'm done. Like w i it there, yeah, there's gonna be some Older businesses and people that don't want to deal with it, but the the sooner Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: it it's just like the credit cards. And the and I'm comparing it to that because not everybody took credit cards and and debit cards in the 80s, 90s. If if a business doesn't have it now, motherfuckers don't even eat or buy there. Because every we all use credit cards and debit cards, right? So it's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Is it? TEEL: the same thing that's gonna happen to the accounting business. the AIs Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: are gonna take over. The business is gonna be run 100%. There's only gonna be two or three of us around to make sure that the information is captured. And that's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Make sure that the computers are on. TEEL: it, bro. You know what I'm saying? And I know for a fact Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: that I'm not gonna be one of them motherfuckers because I'm too I ask too many questions for them. You know what I mean? And I know that ruffles their feathers, you know. It's like, what do you mean you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: want me to wear a pink polo? Like, fuck that, I'm not wearing a pink polo, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: So when I get our camera I throw it on and when I get I change my shirt, like I that's the type of you know how I am, but they don't like that. You know what I mean? So that's why they're implementing AI. And you know, and the robots Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I mean shit, bro. I was looking at a fucking robot lawnmower the other day. You know what Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: I mean? Like a motherfucker's gonna be outside, cuts by lawn, you Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): They got TEEL: know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): they got little they got this little they got this little robot now with wheels and it jumps and they have a camera in it and they're saying, This is your new camera guy and it does flips and jumps and goes at like twenty five miles an hour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: Yeah. The camera. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. It goes upstairs. Yeah. I was looking at that shit the other day. It's like a thousand some dollars. Yeah, it's a it's a fucking amazing. You know? Absolutely, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. It would be it would be a game changer for us. TEEL: bro. Absolutely. The only thing that the reason why I hadn't that I didn't buy that damn robot yet is because I wanna test its gimbal to see how steady it is. You know what I'm saying? but that's just me being a nerd, you know? But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: Yeah, bro, they they the the cameras on wheels have existed for years. You know, they I don't know if you remember that they had the little robot on the on the little race car, you know, and it would like follow you around. You know, somebody had to be on the control, but it was able to follow you around, you know. So then Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: they have the drones, you know, and all that shit. We've used it all, you know. But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. Yep. TEEL: there's there's a lot of situations that we need as humans to say, Yes, we're not going to be able to do this. Right? This this job is it happens to us all, bro. You know what mean? Like the technology takes over. I mean, look at look at the auto industry. You know, look at how that has been working out for every like you can protest all you want, but you're working next to a a robot arm that puts most of the car together for you. The welders, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yep. TEEL: how many welders weren't lost? From these mechanical arms and stuff that were built. You know what I'm saying? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: So we have to learn how to adapt and learn what we're gonna do with ourselves when that happens. Because there's yes, there's always gonna be people that want handmade arch. Yes. But Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: the other day I was looking at a a new gallery that opened up that was that had monitors throughout the entire thing with nothing on them. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm. TEEL: Walk up to it and you tell the AI what you want to see and it creates the art and puts it on the monitor. So you're creating your own gallery now. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): That's crazy. That's crazy. TEEL: It's happening already. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. It's I mean it's a cool it's a cool use. Yeah, that would be that'd be wild to experience. You go up to every monitor, you're like, TEEL: It's Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): All right, for this one I need a flower, it's gonna be in lava, and then but then That's pretty crazy. That's crazy. TEEL: Yeah. Yep. Yeah, yep. And it does it for you, bro. Yeah. I've it's already it's already happening, bro. You know, that that's what I'm trying to tell people is like we could sit here all day. Yes, humanity can't be duplicated. Yes, you know, whatever. I mean I have a theory about us being androids, but that's a whole nother life sh but Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Episode four. TEEL: Yeah, I mean that that's a good That theory there'll fuck your mind up, bro. Like you'll be sitting there like, damn, what the fuck is this guy spoken? But like, yeah, I have another I have a whole theory about that. But it's yeah, man, it yeah, I I I I truly believe that that AI i there's not there's nothing that we could do about it. It's here. Yes, can can there be an EMP and then we'll be back to square one into the dark ages? Yes, that can happen. And yes, half of us won't know what the fuck to do with ourselves. there will be some of us that will and society will start over again and then we'll back in the same fucking boat again because we're gonna need a computer sooner or later and someone's gonna build one and we're gonna be blah, blah, blah, blah. Back into this, you it's like a judicious circle. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Mm-hmm. TEEL: But right now at this point that we're at right now, like everybody's arguing about how the cars are self driving. they're gonna be able to control where we can go. We they already do that, bro. You know what I'm saying? Like it's it's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: I mean, you can't go into fucking like we I was joking around with you yesterday on on on the DMs. you can't go into certain parts of Riverside, bro. Like if I you know, I I know you know this. When you go into like near Lalos, if you get into Riverside, you make a ride on Harlem and you get into the Riverside areas, it's a fucking maze there, bro. And and that's built there for a reason like that. And and the cops, they pull you over when you're in there all the time. You know, and it's like Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Yeah. TEEL: They don't want you in there. Stay the f I already know that. Like I don't go into that part of Riverside for that reason. So it's like we're Yeah. Go to one of these golf course Yeah, go to one of the golf Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. One hundred percent. Go to Arlington Heights. Go to Arlington Heights where wearing wearing some of your hood gear and see Yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: course home areas. They they won't let you in 'cause it's gated. You know? So it's like everybody's like, freedom, freedom, freedom. Yeah, man, you gave that up years ago, bro. Like one Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: of the biggest shifts in fucking losing your your rights was nine eleven. You know, we gave away our security rights, you know? Yeah, bro. That that shit shit on us. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. That that Patriot Act was a motherfucker. And now we got it because of that, now we got ICE out here fucking everybody TEEL: Right. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): up. TEEL: Exactly, bro. And and that's what I'm saying. Like, people warned us about that at that time and we didn't care. We didn't listen. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: You know? So it's like, hey man, this has already happened, bro. We already have all these data centers everywhere. They're ruining the water. They're ruining the air quality, et cetera, et cetera. But they're there. You know what I mean? And and you're gonna Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. Right. TEEL: you're gonna be rebellious by not using AI. That's cool. Don't do it. I'm not forcing you to. But when They keep my jolly ass at the job because I know how to fuck around with AI and could you know, I'd be able to work with it and and interact well with it, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: you're gonna be left behind and they're not gonna hire you because you don't know too it's like when Windows came out. You don't know how to fucking use it. You know, and and the ones that learned how to use it are still here. You know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: And and that's that's the end of it, bro. That's that's period. But I gotta I gotta say about that. Like AI is a great tool, bro. It's a great tool. I love it. It helps in so many things. you just need to know how to use it and w the way the manipulate it so that it does things for Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: you. You know what I mean? It doesn't control you, bro. If you don't open the app it's not gonna know what to fucking do. Like you have to tell it. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah, I I don't think that creative people with stories like you will have much to fear because we're the storytellers. People come to us to to tell the stories and you know, like everyone's getting bored with Hollywood stuff. That's why it's like Marvel eighty seven or Kung Fu Panda 89, you know, like there's so many redoos and then and then they go back and they they redo Starskin Hutch and they redo all these the the Brady bunch and all this stuff. Because they don't the people that are in charge of the storytelling over there haven't dipped into the stories that we have to tell. Right? TEEL: Right. Okay. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): So this is our come up. This is where we TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): can take advantage. TEEL: Yep, one hundred percent problem. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): we don't have we don't have money for these big ass teams. Well, fuck them. They don't either. They continue TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): to go and they continue to go to Indonesia and stuff like that to find animation studios out there to do all the TEEL: Yep. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): work. TEEL: Yep. And that's what's happening, bro. The old guard is being cleaned out. Being washed out. You know, all these Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. TEEL: assholes that that kept the jobs from us are losing them. Now they don't Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Is it? TEEL: know what the fuck to do with themselves. And you know Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: what? I'm not mad or I don't hate or whatever, but it's like you kept my people from being in that industry. You know, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: you made us erase our background so that you could put us on T V and and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. You needed TEEL: Movie. You made us Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): us to you needed us to be the thugs and the drug dealers to tell your stories. TEEL: Exactly. No, not only that, but they they had to change their names so that people didn't know they were Latino or they were, you know, a certain group, you know, and it was like that Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. TEEL: they did they had to do that to survive and and I can't I'm not mad at them for doing that, but not not the act I'm not mad at the actors. I'm mad at the industry, you know what I mean? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Sure. Yeah. TEEL: So now that they're there there's a shift, we need to take advantage of that. You know what I mean? We need to be we need the people like You know, like at the film festival, I met this director, his name is Eric Juarez. He he he won one two or three awards there for a film that he did about it's called Cake. Beautiful film, bro. And it was it Latino, you know, it w a great Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Hmm. TEEL: guy, you know, and I see more and more of that happening, you know, that we're not scared to tell our stories anymore, and and they're being looked at and explored and and listened to and seen. and that Yeah, Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And technology is affordable now. TEEL: yeah, exactly. You know, and I Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Like when when back when I was getting into 3D, i i to to get wavefront or anything TEEL: But yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): like that, you needed to have its own its own computer. And that was like ten, fifteen thousand dollars. TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. Remember Maya three D or whatever? Yeah, that it was expensive. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah, yeah, yeah. I my come up yeah. My come up was in three D Studio Max. That was a I couldn't afford a computer, let alone the software. I finally got a computer. Now I need the software. Now, damn, that's you know, a thousand dollars. So everything TEEL: We had to bootleg Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): was very unapproachable. TEEL: we had to bootleg our Photoshops from Napster because we couldn't afford it. You know? It was it was too expensive, bro. Like where I would have a I I had a friend that worked at Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yes, sir. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying TEEL: not worked, he went to the art institute and they gave them copies. So we had to bootleg his copy. You know what I'm saying? Like that was the only Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. TEEL: way that we learned how to use that stuff is like we had to learn Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Right. TEEL: how to get around it. So With that being said, again, now we have like the cameras are cheaper. You know, you could do four eight K Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: now and with a with a two, three thousand dollar camera. It used to be you'd have to buy a red for fucking fifteen, twenty thousand dollars, right? And now it's like you don't need a red, you know, they all you gotta do is is buy a better tank. Yeah, you know? Yeah. Your phone, you switch it to the four K and you're good, you know. Yeah, bro. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Just check out your phone. Phones are no joke these days. TEEL: And and and and Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: technology keeps getting better and better and they keep stacking the memory chips on top of each other. Back in the day we had to use, you know, so now they're stacking them and the LEDs are being stacked, which is fucking woo, you know. So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: you just gotta stay on your shit, bro. You know, just stay on your shit Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. TEEL: and don't don't give up, you know. Every day, like we talked about earlier, every day is a learning experience, you know. You just gotta keep and AI is just another tool that you gotta learn, bro. I mean, Photoshop's already got AI built into it, bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Uh-huh. TEEL: You know, you go into Photoshop and you fucking hit the the the the right keys and you say remove background, it takes the background off. Remove person on left, woot it takes them off completely like it didn't even exist, you know. Now add a a candidate. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. Hey, I'm gonna go TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I'm gonna go crazy and say I started learning Photoshop at Triton. And this is TEEL: shit. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): before and this is before you could click a button to make a goddamn drop shadow. You had to create your own drop shadows. And now the shit just click, click, click. TEEL: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Now you got a drop shadow. It's a little thing at the bottom of the menu. Like what? TEEL: Yep, yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. I remember using the magnetic tool to to trace around something to get rid of the background. So that you would cut that out and then get rid of the background and pop it back in and then have to make shit, I forgot to make a layer. God damn it, you know? Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. No, and even then, w labeling layers, do you know how many times I'd go into opening up a Photoshop file as layer seven hundred and forty nine? Like what? And TEEL: Yeah, yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): now you just do a couple couple clicks and it'll rename your layers? Shut up. TEEL: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And then you can color color coat them down too. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Huh? TEEL: You could color coat your layers. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, it's super dope, bro. Yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. Yeah. That's sick. Yeah, man. Back when we started, we were banging rocks together. TEEL: Cut scissors out, you know? See, I remember I remember going to print shops with posters of of shit, you know, like w when I would do a paper. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. TEEL: And it was like you had to like glue it all on there and shit. It was fucking Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yep. Yep. TEEL: bro. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Those big ass portfolios we had to go to like different interviews and stuff. Remember the shit was called Windy City. Like your sh your shit was like hoo hoo woo woo TEEL: the big black ones? Yeah yeah. Yeah, I remember those bro and the zipper was broken because they were cheap. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the zipper was always broken because those portfolios are cheap as shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): 'Cause and we always overstuffed them. TEEL: It's funny, bro. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. They don't know the struggle. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Kids these days. They don't know struggle. TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I understand you have to go you have to get going soon. TEEL: Yeah. Yes, sir. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Yeah. All right. let folks know where they can find you, where they can find more about Battle for the City, where they can find out about it was written, where they can find out about all this wonderful shit that you have going on. TEEL: Thank you. my Instagram is at Teal Paints. that's Teal with with two E's. It's T-E-E-L Paints. on Facebook you can find me as under Telia Caesar. or Telia Caesar is serious. Sorry. but yeah Teal Paints is on Instagram, is the best place to find me. on TikTok as well. The it was written, we have the it was written Instagram. and TikTok, the battle for the city, the same thing. It's battle and then the number for the city on Instagram and TikTok. we have the the website, you know, they was written the the the movie dot com or the documentary. I forget the name of the of the the but it you can find it all on Instagram. It's all there, the links. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Mm-hmm. TEEL: You yeah that's basically it bro. Like I I'm not fa hard to find. You know what I'm saying? So Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And I'll go ahead and put all the links to everything in the description of this video so you guys can find them. because you're doing a lot of really dope shit, man. Like when TEEL: Thank you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I I consider myself a disciple not a gangster disciple, but I could I'm a disciple of of Chicago TEEL: Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): and and I love showing people all the dope shit that my people are doing and all the dope shit that that we continue to create. and you're just one of those folks that are just doing incredible shit. And the TEEL: Thank you, brother. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): follow through, the follow through is important. The follow through TEEL: Yes. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): to finishing that film and then being up on stage is a cherry on the on the Sunday, son, 'cause TEEL: Yeah. Yeah. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): that's big time. TEEL: It was dope. It was really dope. I appreciate it. Thank you for the kind words, bro. It means a lot. yeah, man, thank you for having me on your show, bro. I appreciate it. yeah, all your episodes are dope and and you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna help you promote this episode and all the other ones you've done as well. I just wanna make sure that you you get your your flowers as well because you're this what you're doing, a lot of people need to know, you know. And if you need to Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): I appreciate that. TEEL: don't ever feel like you're stuck just doing Chicago, you know, sp expand and do do whatever you feel is in your heart, bro. You know, it's Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): yeah, no, we got Dead Man Rashaw. We got we got folks out there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like my heart belongs to Chicago, but yeah, yeah, yeah. TEEL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's it's right, right. Yeah, it's it's an educational environment that you're building. It's almost like a documentary type of situation you got going on here. So just keep it going, bro, and and don't feel like you're wasting your time. you're you know, you you when you hit those those big numbers like a hundred, two hundred episodes, you know, you'll you'll you'll look back and you'll see, you know, you'll start feeling that you've you've accomplished something, don't Don't feel don't get in your feelings, you know. And if you ever do, you know, just call me up and I'll wakatari, you know. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): Give me a good fuck out there. TEEL: So yeah. Thank you for having me, I appreciate Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): All right. Thank you so much, man. TEEL: it. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): everybody, T O one, the man. TEEL: Thank you. Carlos Gomez (Coconut Justice): And with that, everybody, we out. TEEL: Take it easy.