Dominican comedian Gadiel Del Orbe is back with co-hosts Norberto Briceño and Black Rose for an unfiltered NYC episode packed with comedy, culture, and chaos. From Zoran Mamdani’s free bus plan to Comedy in Harlem’s Hispanic Heritage Festival, the crew shares stories about performing for different boroughs, wild audiences, and how politics meets comedy in real life. Expect authentic Latino energy, NYC flavor, and tons of laughs.
Hosts: Gadiel Del Orbe, Norberto Briceño, Black Rose
Topics Covered:
Zoran Mamdani and the future of NYC buses
Working-class transportation and equity
Comedy in Harlem & Hispanic Heritage Month
How comedians adjust their sets by borough
Influencer politics & social media propaganda
Fights, respect, and street stories from NYC
Comedy vs Culture: Why authenticity matters
Pull Quotes:
“Comedy in the Bronx is different from Harlem — you gotta earn it.”
“Free buses aren’t crazy — they’re equity.”
“Don’t follow leaders blindly. Question everyone.”
CTA:
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Share your favorite moment in the comments — you might get a shout-out next episode 🔥
Socials:
YouTube: The Gadiel Del Orbe Show
IG / TikTok @GadielDelOrbe
Guest handles @BlackRose @NorbertoBriceno
Gear: Sony A7S III / FX30 • Shure MV7 • Zoom H6n • Amaran 150c • OBS Multi-RTMP
0:00 So, what's up? What's up? You know, we back. Uh, welcome back to the episode. We got our two favorites here. We got 0:06 our main man over here, Norberto, killing the game. This motherfucker, he 0:12 had a great weekend hanging out with Zoron Mandan. We're going to talk about that in a little bit. We got one of your 0:18 favorites cuz y I've been reading the comments. Uh, Black Rose is here. Comedianto 0:26 is comedy Cardi B. That's 0:31 Yeah. Yeah. And we had a great weekend. We had a show. We actually did a show at Hispanic Heritage Month at Comedy in 0:38 Harlem. Yes. For the Wea Comedy Festival, second annual. Yeah. I was actually surprised to see 0:43 her. We had Gina B. Gina Bon kill me. Yeah. Matter of fact, I got to bring her over. Damn, I should ask. 0:48 We got to ask um Gina to come. Don't worry, I'm going to be with her 0:54 this Friday. So, I'll ask her. Where? At no social. We're performing. I'mma DM her. Yeah, 0:59 I'm have her come over. Oh yeah. So yo, also talk to me about this weekend, brother. Like what 1:04 happened with Zorami? How did that happen? How'd it go? So I mean it was 1:20 um No, I mean it it was it was kind of cool. So on Monday, um he uh his account 1:26 followed me on Instagram and then um within the next two days they were like, "Hey, like Zoron's going to be taking a 1:33 the slowest bus ride in New York City, which is go the M57 going across town on the on on 57th Street." 1:40 Yeah. U and they were like, "Do you want to do you want to join him?" And I was like, "Yeah, let's do it." And so essentially 1:46 I got to do a little little video with them and I got to do an interview with them talking about the bus and and 1:52 specifically highlighting the purpose of buses in New York City and how they serve workingclass communities. 1:57 Um and I think there was a quote in there that I thought really stuck with me which is if you want to do something 2:03 about equity we got to talk more about buses because why is that? Because it's working-class families that 2:08 are the ones that are taking the buses and they're riding on the slowest buses in the United States. A bus in New York 2:14 City travels at 8 miles per hour. So 2:19 But that's the thing about it. You have to you have to invest into making buses go faster. And there's several and 2:25 there's a lot of ways you can do that, right? Doing dedicated bus lines and also doing uh all door boarding which I 2:31 heard is a thing. So instead of people having to just enter the bus from just the front side, you will enter from all 2:37 the doors. So it's like little things like that, but it also requires investment. And what he wants to do, 2:42 what I really liked about him is like he wants to make buses fast, but also he wants to make them free. 2:47 Free. I was waiting for you to say that. Yeah. So, it's one of those things. It's like it's free bus. Do you think that people care about 2:54 buses in New York City right now? That's the thing about it. People need it for work. People need it for school. 2:59 Like, they need to get to work. They need to They need it for their lives. It's essential. They don't have some in 3:04 a lot of these communities don't have subway as an option. They have to take the bus. So if you're taking if you're 3:11 spending all your time in the bus, where's the where's the chance for opportunity? Where's the chance for growth? If you're spending all your time 3:17 stuck in traffic in the bus. So you have to provide infrastructure and that helps out working-class communities 3:23 because it takes like an hour sometimes for these people to get to work over an hour at times and think about going back 3:28 home. So they're spending two to three hours a day just in travel. Yeah. me. I think I I don't experience 3:35 much of bus stuff because I'm like in Manhattan, but like if you think about it, probably Queens, people in the Bronx, they got to rely more on bus 3:42 services. So, bus has to be very important. I mean, even I I have the experience here in Manhattan, right? One time I was 3:49 taking the bus, I believe it was on 10th Avenue or 11th Avenue, I forget where, but I was going from so from a simple 3:55 it's a simple bus ride from Chelsea up to Hell's Kitchen. That's it. And I got on the bus because I thought 4:02 it'd just be quicker to take the bus. I get on the bus and it's slow. 4:07 It is so slow that I'm like, you know what? I'm getting off on the next stop. I get off on the next stop and I walk to 4:15 Hell's Kitchen. By the time I walked there, I beat out the two buses that 4:20 were in front of the bus that I was in. Wow. Hey, you should have just ran over there. I walked over there. I didn't even have 4:25 to run. You didn't even have to run. I walked. He burned some calories in the process. I did some I did a workout. That was my 4:32 workout. Do you think that he has a chance of winning? Of course. Of 100%. Absolutely. Yeah. Like you think he's going to I think Andrew 4:37 Cuomo's still in the race. Yeah. But nobody likes him. But Manni's is way ahead of him. You think so? Way 4:42 ahead. I think he does a great job in like in promoting and marketing and stuff like that on social media. I think 4:48 I do think that he has the the audience, right? He's got hype. That's the thing about 4:53 it. And I think what I really appreciate about him is that not only does he have hype, but he has ideas. And again, I 5:00 think I'm I'm a big believer in questioning all leaders. All leaders, regardless of party, should be questioned no matter what. 5:06 And this isn't a fanaticism. This is you know what, we're going to give you an opportunity to show us what you can do. 5:12 But I think at the same time, he is providing reasonable options for people. Gotcha. And again, like for example, 5:18 this bus thing, like nobody has ever like gone given me a comprehensive 5:24 reason of how we're going to solve um in inequality here in the city, 5:31 but he's given you concrete ideas of how to do that. And again, his focus on trying to make 5:38 buses faster and and and and free for people, I think that's an incredible idea. What are other things that he's 5:44 offering that you're like, "Oh man, this is re revolutionary." And what was your biggest takeaway with Mandami? 5:50 I think first off, one of the things is that I got to give him credit because he is somebody that can break things down 5:56 really well. Um, and again, we're talking about it's a simple thing is riding the the the 6:02 slowest bus in New York City, right? But it's the fact that he's able to communicate his ideas really well and 6:08 also understands that he's not just somebody who's going to go into becoming a mayor and wave a magic wand and make 6:15 things happen. He broke down also uh in the video that that we did, he broke down the partnerships and the the 6:21 collaborations he has to do once he's in the mayor's office, right? The fact that he has to work with uh Albany, the fact 6:28 that he has to work with the governors. What are you doing? What are you slapping? Well, not Mo. This is a big ass fucking 6:33 mocha. Look, look at this little You know what they say about big mocha? That that means money. Mom Donnie is bringing us money. 6:39 Is that Is that what that is? That's what they say. That's what they say. Big mochas mean money. 6:45 You got fruit laying around. I don't even know. No, that's not a fruit fly. That's just a a fly. 6:51 That's a fly that came from LAN. Um but speaking about what you were saying, um what else is he trying to 6:58 offer? He wants to give New Yorkers affordable groceries. So they want to do 7:05 that. They they're they're suggesting um is it government ran groceries? Is am I saying 7:11 that correctly? Yeah, it's it's government ran groceries. Yeah, it's like pilot programs. And the thing is like his 7:17 ideas are based off of things that have already happened like other states that have implemented similar programs, other 7:23 countries that have implemented similar programs. And I think that's where I'm like, okay, there's proof there. There's 7:28 there's proof out there that it works. Yeah. Yeah. For example, Aldoor uh I'll give you the example that he gave me, which 7:34 is Aldoor boarding, right? It's the fact that it's been tested out in Boston. In Boston, they tried this out and it 7:41 actually reduced weight times by 25%. Almost 25%. Right. But it's the fact that it works somewhere else. If it 7:48 works somewhere else, why can't it work in New York? It would definitely work in New York City. Exactly. And in New York, people don't really like I see in New York, 7:54 people don't pay pay for the bus either way. Like most of the time, every time I'm at the bus stop and I see people people are always going in from the back 8:01 of the bus. Well, that's the thing about it. It's like and the thing is like the city's not making s like tons of money from 8:08 from bus fairs, but it's the fact that you're still like why can't we make buses free in in this 8:14 city? We can do it. I think I think what I think what held mand was that video that went viral when 8:21 they were like asking about Israel. Will you go to Israel? Where you go to Israel? and he was the one, I'm going to stay with the Jewish community here in 8:26 New York City. Mhm. And then Cuomo, I saw like a picture of that Cuomo meeting up with Netanyahu. 8:34 Well, yeah, that's a whole another subject. It's like like this man is tonedeaf. Um, but it it was even before I think 8:41 all of this started exploding. Um, you know, Quomo had signed up to be part of 8:48 Yahoo's legal team and well, you know, that's the the big 8:54 issue with the United States being so involved with Israel, you know, they they are so involved. All 9:00 the money the money is going to Israel, our taxes is going to Israel. Uh, now Israel's controlling our social 9:08 media. Mr. BB Netany and Yahoo already admitted that we need to use new 9:13 tactics. Well, in terms of we, he's talking about them, new tactics to uh 9:19 fight back, right? So, they're recruiting Christian influencers. So, now they want 9:26 influencers because they see the power of an influencer. Wow. 9:32 So, of course, they want to hit Yeah. He said that clearly like in order for us to fight what's happening, we need new 9:39 tactics of war and that means we need to hire Christian. Uh 9:45 why is that? Like why took a photo? They took a photo, too. Why it has to be specifically Christian 9:50 influencers? Well, look at uh Mr. the the young man that that passed away that got shot. 9:55 What's his name again? I'm so sorry. Charlie Kirk. I think I think it's he was an influencer. I think it's because do you 10:01 feel like maybe they feel like Christians are more prone to being manipulated or brainwashed on social 10:07 media? They just they they need the audience is what what it is ultimately it's about audiences, right? And I think it's about 10:12 how to best spread your propaganda and that's ultimately what it's about. Um because like again and this isn't 10:19 just Netanyahu, right? Like this is the influencer market that we're living in that influencers sometimes have more 10:26 sway than actual journalists. Yeah. And I think that's the thing that they want. They want to be able to infiltrate uh audiences 10:34 more than just, you know, different communities. Yeah. Because if you think about it, like the top influencers have influencers have more influence than 10:40 politicians themselves, right? If he's I think that Trump won the presidency is because he went to all 10:45 these podcasts. He went through Blake Grant, Theo Von, like you know, uh who 10:51 else was it? Like there was a uh the Nelk Boys. He went to all these top podcasters. They all in Joe Rogan. They 10:58 all back them up and and you see what I'm saying? Yeah. Well, that's the thing about it, right? Like if uh if it worked if it 11:04 worked for Trump, why wouldn't it work for somebody like Netanyah? You know what I noticed too? I don't know if you guys noticed, like you ever been on 11:09 YouTube and you get like this Israel propaganda like Paid by Israel? Like 11:15 this was you. Have you gotten that? I have. Even just watching um like uh 11:22 some of the shows on Netflix like it it's it's I don't know if if I'm bugging 11:27 but even Love Island they kept saying uh they kept saying the word Jew. 11:34 Yeah. In it like and I'm like am I hearing this correctly? Is the media is 11:40 controlled by them? But no, I want to I want to I like we also have to be 11:46 careful because you know a lot of times there is a lot of anti-semitism, right? 11:51 And anti-semitism in a sense that the oh the Jews do this, the Jews rule the world, the Jews control everything. And 11:58 there was a part of anti-semitism that that that's hurtful to the community. And I think people need to learn how to 12:04 separate Judaism and Jewish folks to Israel because Israel is a country. 12:10 No. No. Yeah. Yeah. And Zionism is completely different. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? 12:16 I agree with that and I know that. Yeah. People could be Jewish and it's okay to be Jewish, right? 12:21 You know, but I think people are so quick to just uh uh 12:27 compartmentalize. Yeah. Compartmentalize and entangle Jewish folks to Zionism. And not every 12:33 person is a Zionist. You know, I have some great Jewish friends that uh don't agree with what's happening 12:40 with the wars right now. So, 100%. What do you guys think about the ceasefire? Ceasefire. Do you think Trump 12:46 I feel like Trump was like, "Yo, I want that Nobel P peace price 12:52 ceasefire one way or the other." Do you guys know how it came about? Anyways, 12:58 I think for me like it's one of those things. It's just like could it be a good thing? Yes. 13:03 Yeah. But we got to wait and see. You know, again, I don't like the like you don't just wave a magic wand and 13:09 make things happen. Yeah. Right. Which is what they're trying to sell it as. Like finally peace in the Middle East. 13:14 But it's like you know what happened. What were the speculations? That's one thing I you know I didn't get to read on 13:22 it like what was the agreement reached? I think one thing about Yes. And they I'm glad they released the hostages 13:29 which I was surprised. I thought the hostages were gone, bro. But I think there's a part of the ceasefire that's a 13:35 little concerning and and and it's benefiting more Israel than Palestinians 13:40 and it's like that Israel is able to occupy 15% of Palestine still, right? So that's 13:47 part of the deal. So it's like yes, we have a ceasefire, whatever this piece, 13:53 but like that's also something that could bite in the ass. That's that's why we're saying like let's wait and see. Let's wait and see 14:00 because again like we can comment all we want on it but at the end of the day like we don't know 100% until we see it. 14:05 We don't know. That's true. It's beautiful and still sad at the same time just to see the 14:12 Palestinian people being able to go back and, you know, some of them are 14:19 finally seeing if their home is still intact, you know, and seeing them 14:25 just kissing the ground because their house is still up, but yet you could see the rubble all around them, you know, 14:31 like thinking about all those other people that are going to go back home and they're going back to nothing. Seeing 14:38 the kids going back and and playing with bones is so sad. It's like it breaks my 14:44 heart. And part of me, like even today looking at it, I'm like, "Okay, now that this is 14:49 over, I I feel like I want to go help." Mhm. Like that is something that I would 14:56 want. Like how can we help them rebuild? Cuz are they going to give them money to rebuild? are, you know, 15:03 I own it. The fact that Trump wants to own some of this land is it's just so Yeah, 15:08 that's that's the thing about it, too. It's like again, it's one of those things of like let's wait and see. You know, we all saw that what Trump posted 15:14 the AI video of like his statue in Gaza, right? And it's just like and him 15:20 building wanting to build uh you know, hotels and resorts. And it's just like 15:26 there's a lot not to trust and not to take everything at face value at face value yet. And I think like you 15:31 know what like let's wait and see what happens but for the time being it's just like this this could provide some good 15:37 news to people but again question your leaders always question always question yeah I think I think 15:43 that's what we always got to hold these leaders accountable like yeah you doesn't matter where you sit at in the 15:49 aisle at least always be like what are you doing what are you doing always question everything I think un like blind of uh 15:58 I think blindly following Following a leader and never questioning them is extremely dangerous. 16:05 Mhm. Extremely dangerous. Absolutely. Yeah. Right. I do want to like change course 16:11 like you know uh this weekend a matter of fact this weekend we had a show 16:16 for Hispanic Heritage Month and we had Gina Ro Gina DK Rodriguez. 16:21 Gina Rodriguez. Gina Bonina. Gina Bon aka Gino. 16:26 Gina Bon. She did her thing and and the funny thing is it was like a nothing but 16:31 Puerto Ricans Dominicans. It was a great show. It was a great show. And uh I was like we have 16:38 a Puerto Rican friend that she was supposed to perform that day and she did not show up. I was like Gina, you got to 16:43 watch Sofh, right? Like Sof So, you know, she's been doing Sophie. Sof is a is is a comic that's been doing it for 16:50 like less than two years or whatnot. And she's doing well. Very well. Funny. And I was like, Gina, you need to watch Sof. 16:56 We got to sit down. We're like, and Gina comes like, you got to see this girl. And we go down the stairs. They're like, 17:02 she sat down to watch Sof perform. And we're like, all right, the next comedian coming to the stage, Black Rose. 17:13 And Black Rose have these like leather pants going Eddie Murphy. The Dominican Eddie 17:19 Murphy. Wow. I will take that. I will take that compliment. 17:24 She went on stage, bro. She did her thing. You know, she's talking about sex up there and and and some ghosts that 17:30 she had sex with. You know, it's my ghost boo. It's a real story. 17:35 Um, listen guys, uh, I I was part of two of the shows for the Wea Comedy Show. 17:41 Shout out to Pole Productions and Comedy in Harlem. And so that was Friday. I did two shows. It was a bit of a light 17:48 crowd. And then Friday I had a show across the street at this place called 17:55 um Hamilton Underground full of snow bunnies. I was making all the snow snow bunnies laugh 18:01 and listen it it was packed packed of snow bunnies from from Harlem 18:06 and even one of the the the white girls that was on stage was like, "Yo, I left came back and you guys really 18:12 infiltrated, huh?" It was so funny. So then when it finished, I'm like, "Well, I need to use the restroom. I'm right 18:19 I'm right by across the street from Comedy in Harlem." And I'm like, "Oh, wait." And the WEA final show is today. 18:25 Mhm. And I'm like, "Whoa, even better. Oh my god, it started 40 minutes ago. Let me go see what I catch." As soon as I'm 18:31 ready to go in, Ed um is like, "Oh my god, you know, this individual hasn't 18:37 shown up. Um Rose, like the we need somebody to get on stage. Do you mind?" 18:42 I never mind. I am always ready. Stay ready. So you don't got to get ready. You want to go on stage. It's like 18:48 somebody said you you want to have sex. We're not going to say no. Well, no. Am I saying no depend 18:54 depending on who's asking me if if they want to have sex, but I'll take the stage. 18:59 Yeah. I'll take the stage anytime. And I was already coming from a high from the other show cuz I had just closed the 19:06 other show. And I was just feeling good because, you know, sometimes people think or they tell us, you know, you 19:12 might have to change your set around to to attract the white audience for them to get it. And I didn't have to do that. 19:18 So I already I was already feeling good. I was just like, "Oh, I just did my thing." So I literally get in there four minutes 19:25 later, I'm I got to get on stage. I I didn't even have time to prep what I was going to talk about. 19:30 Yeah. Yeah. But I I was like, I'm just going to have fun. I literally said that I'm just going to have fun. Mhm. 19:37 That is the best set that I've done in my whole career. Yeah. And those unexpected. 19:42 The energy was great. Matt Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. Matt Puerto Ricans, Dominicans. I'm Colombians. Uh I got claps. Uh uh the 19:51 laughs were great. I I just came out of there floating. I came from there floating. Yeah. Then the next day, I went up 19:57 there. I did my thing, bro. Like you did. I think people were surprised to see me. They're like, "Oh, I ain't know this motherfucker had jokes." 20:03 Yeah. My sister came out of nowhere. Like she came from DC. She went straight to the show. Bro, that show was phenomenal. 20:11 Amazing. Amazing, bro. Everybody killed It was nice seeing Gina. Gina did her thing. 20:17 Yeah. She rocked that shit. I I have a question. So, when as comics 20:22 Uhhuh. You were talking a little bit about audiences. Mhm. Do you have different 20:28 uh different bits for different audiences? Like let's say you go into a house that's full of uh an audience that's 20:34 that's primarily black or an audience that's primarily white. Yeah. Um like do you have to shift around your 20:41 your your relationship? I feel like I changed the wording around a little bit. Like for example I mentioned I was like you know 20:49 it's hard being Dominican. I I I I didn't grow up feeling Dominican enough. 20:54 I was stuck between eating mango. They don't know what that is really. 21:00 Yeah. Between, you know, I was either gonna go or I would say before in other places 21:05 chopped cheese and the black community would get that, but the white community is looking at me 21:10 like, what is she talking about? So, I was like, wait, let me say a sandwich. They understand. I was stuck between 21:16 eating langu and some bacon and cheese. They laugh, you know, like, 21:22 yeah, I I switch it up. Little little things. There's certain jokes like like in the Bronx I got to 21:27 dumb it down like dumb it down like 100%. Like like I can't talk like like 21:33 in Harlem I could talk about I could do smart jokes. Yeah. I could talk about the Jones Act. I talk about You see what I'm saying? Or I talk 21:40 about stats. I could do that in Harlem. I could do that in in Broadway. I could do that in Manhattan. In the Bronx, 21:46 you can't do that. And you got to talk about like fucking 21:52 fucking dick. You just got to dumb it down. You can't like smart comedy is not 21:59 for the Bronx. Yeah. And this is because you've you've had an experience already doing this. Yeah. I just I just did the Bronx and I 22:05 just I switch like I have a a joke about what happened in Hurricane Maria or 22:10 whatever in Harlem in Broadway. I'm going to say I have a part of the joke that talks about the Jones Act and then 22:16 teaches people like what's the Jones Act and how it affects the economy in Puerto Rico. I'm not going to do that in the Bronx 22:21 because they're not going to understand that. Yeah. Right. But in Brooklyn, I have gay jokes 22:27 that would not they people in Broadway and people in the Bronx will never understand. Or somewhere I go in front 22:33 of a Dominican round, they're not going to understand my gay jokes. But if I go to Brooklyn where there's a lot of gay folks, 22:39 they're going to understand it. I find that this is so fascinating. The fact that it change the audience changes 22:46 from burrow to burrow. From bur to bur. It's so is it like this is a like well New York is a melting pot. 22:53 Yeah. You think about it is you think about like I talk about oh like uh being a like you know there's jokes about 22:59 bottom bottoming out or what's a bottom what's a top. You think people in the Bronx going to 23:05 know that? No. They're not going to know what a bomb is. You see what I'm saying? 23:11 You know that's all they know. Yeah. But if I say that in Brooklyn they're going to understand that. 23:17 You see what I'm saying? Yeah, that's how I see it. So, or in LA, if I go to LA, if I talk 23:22 about like those terminologies, they're going to understand that there, but they're not going to understand that. 23:27 Yeah. You see what I'm saying? And so, what happens when you go outside of New York City to like how do you how 23:33 do you refine your bits to cater to the audiences that are outside of the city? 23:39 It depends, bro. Because I feel like I do a lot of political jokes. Yeah. And I notice 23:45 there's a lot of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans that come out of sea. So, so those political jokes they it doesn't 23:52 process too well with them or like I had to eliminate them. So, I had to go more into like 23:59 relationships and all that extra stuff. So yeah, when I performed at Broadway Comedy Club 24:05 at the showcase, those five minutes, um, I was pleasantly surprised that 24:11 after I got off the stage, the, you know, the the white crowd, which was a bit more mature of a crowd, they were 24:19 coming up to me and they were like, "Oh, the Dominican, you know, you're a funny girl. You're a funny Dominican girl, you 24:25 know, like keep going." I was like, they got my jokes. They understood. Yeah. you know, my jokes have to kind of 24:31 do with my real life of taking care of my mom. So maybe, you know, that that was still something they were able to relate to, but they they got it. So that 24:39 surprised me. You know, maybe sometimes we might be overthinking this, you know, 24:45 just deliver the jokes. When I got the feedback from Richard, you know, he said, he was like, "You didn't explain 24:50 why you didn't feel Dominican enough." And I said, "Well, I did say something about not wearing the socks, but he 24:56 didn't get that." You know what I mean? like he didn't get what I meant by we don't wear socks, 25:02 but I did say it. I'm like, "All right, but I learned." I'm like, "All right, so if he didn't get it, what can I say 25:08 there that will get them to understand maybe that this is just a Dominican thing or Caribbean thing where our 25:14 people don't be wearing socks." You know what's also crazy? Uh, black foes are love talk about race. They'll 25:20 laugh at race jokes, right? But white folks more uncomfortable with race jokes. 25:26 You see what I'm saying? Yeah, that's another thing I've noticed. I'm like, okay, the end is so those are things I'm like, 25:32 okay, I got to see what the audience, okay, can I say this? No, I can't. Can I say that? Yeah. You see what I'm saying? 25:37 No, that makes sense. Which is crazy. I bring out my white friend card, you know, my best friend is white. She is 25:43 German. I'll be like, "Yo, my best friend white. She German. She thick." You know, like she make me some goulash. 25:50 And they be laughing. I'll be like, "Oh, all right. My best friend got me a vibrator." Of course, it was the white girl that got me the vibrator when I 25:56 turned 40. Oh, yeah. It's true. She got you a vibrator. When I turned 40, she sure did. She got 26:02 me two of them. One the a little stick and then one's like a little suction because she knew I'd be suffering 26:07 because I don't be getting any, you know, play in my house cuz I take care of my mom. Nobody wants to be getting 26:12 crushed in your room while your mom's in the other room. No, she praying, you know, in the other 26:18 room. Yeah. But I got my mom's gonna wake up 26:24 right now. Sh. All right. So, yo, I do uh yo, this this 26:30 past week with the whole Joe Button thing. When when did the Joe Button thing happen? I don't know. I saw it on TikTok. So, 26:36 it's one of those things I was just like, let's talk about it cuz Noto was like, I want to talk about this and he had an 26:41 interesting question. I mean, it's not that I want to talk about that specific thing that that that that clip led to me 26:49 asking questions because it was interesting. Uh, it was Joe Bun podcast and then there was an argument that came 26:55 came about. what they were arguing about I couldn't really quite grasp but I thought it was interesting and somebody 27:00 like Mark Lamont Hill who's very you know well read wellstied you know does polit like he's in the political 27:07 commentary arena um you know can still get you can still get a rise out of him 27:12 right they pressed his button so flip flipped him flip flipped to press yeah to press on him so much 27:19 for him and be like yo let's fight and that's the thing about it and and I think like look we're both older. I 27:26 mean, everyone everyone in this room is older. We're we're very much looking at the 40s much closer now. And it's one of 27:32 those things that's like, you know, first off, have you ever been in a fight? Yeah, of course. 27:37 And second of all, would you still consider fighting if you had to these days? 27:46 I I avoid it as much as possible. I don't remember the last time I Oh, you know, I almost got in a fight. Not so 27:52 matter like a couple of months ago. 27:57 I'm not about that fight. You know what? Actually, why? So, what happened? What happened? I I try to avoid fighting as much as 28:06 possible. I want to walk away, but every fiber in my body is telling 28:12 me, "No, we need to do this." It's like, it's like every fiber of my body goes like 28:18 goes like, "We need to do it. Let's do it. We have to." You feeling it. You feel it. You want to, you know, you want 28:24 to and damn, I don't know if you want to fight or have sex right now. I need, you know, it's a smart thing to 28:30 do. Walk away. I need to walk away. But it depends on the anger. Yeah. But sometimes I'm like, "Oh, I'm tired. 28:36 I don't want to fight nobody." Like, no. This like I I see as working out. Like, you want to fight right now? Like my 28:42 knees hurt, you know? You know, like looking at the the clip that we saw, Flip was talking 28:48 about like, you know, Yeah. you say all of this in person, but behind the scenes, right? But behind the scenes, and I've been 28:54 through situations like that where people call you out like that will try to do or say things behind the scenes 29:00 and then in front of others they want to like you know those people that throw a rock and then hide the hand and you're 29:06 like y'all wait. So flip must have been like I can't wait to have this motherfucker. Yeah. You want to act like you so holy and so 29:12 good and so put together and you so for the people but really what you doing behind the scenes. 29:19 Um, but would I want to fight somebody? Not at not at my age. I' I've never been 29:25 a fighter, but I I do got golden gloves. These hands can fight. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 29:30 I've been jumped when I was younger. Can I ask when was the last time you got into a fight? Like into a physical fight. 29:37 Yeah. When I boxed. Literally a real fight. Like, you know, 29:42 Friday night fights. Like I've never been a fighter, but I just I can't defend myself. Have I had 29:49 people try to test me? Yeah. Like imagine somebody coming up to you um cuz they feeling some type of way about some 29:56 bullshit and they're like, "Yo, you good? You good?" Those are fighting 30:01 words. And I'm like, "Oh, you so cute. Stop it. Stop it." 30:06 That the last time I almost got into a fight and it was just like I just knew like I walked away. 30:13 And it this one dude lost his package, right? And what do you mean lost his package? 30:19 Like he's like, "Oh, like people be losing their package or whatever." Okay. And he was blaming one of my mom's 30:26 friends. So he kept pushing my mom to be like, "Go talk to your friend." And my mom's 30:33 friend has been my mom's friend for over 30 years. She didn't take the package, but you 30:38 know, she was being accused of being taking the package. And I was telling this man, "Don't get my mom involved." 30:44 And he was still like, "What's wrong with getting your mom involved?" Typical like Dominican cat from like 30:52 if somebody and I see my mom getting uncomfortable. I said, "I don't want my mom involved. 30:58 Stop it." He should have just stopped. Anybody else would drop it like, "Yo, you know what? If you don't feel 31:03 comfortable, that's what I was expecting. If you don't feel comfortable, that's fine." And he was still like, "I don't 31:09 understand what's the problem with her asking her about the package." like I'm going to call that I'm going to call the 31:16 police and I said I told you and that when I that's when I snapped 31:22 cuz I've already told this nigga three four times leave the fucking he had three days talking about a fucking 31:27 package from Amazon which was a bullshit air purifier but I found out afterwards 31:34 air purifier and I ain't going to lie I slammed the table I slammed that table like boom I was like I told you I don't 31:42 want my mother involved Mhm. You got me tired. Yeah. Three fucking days talking about this fucking 31:48 package. And I got so black, bro. I got to his face. Like him and I were faced like that. And he's like, "I never He's 31:54 like, "I never said anything bad to you. You starting this like I I never No, no, you just don't listen. You don't 32:00 listen, sir." And I was like, and I was so I I wanted to punch him in his jaw so fucking bad, 32:07 bro. It was this. And my mom's like, "Yeah." And then he stood up. And on top 32:13 of that, just leaving it alone, he stood up. He was like, and I was like, "Yo, this little nigga, 32:21 cuz he's he's I'm a little dude, but he's smaller than me." And I was like, "Yo, I 32:27 told him straight up like, I will fuck you up, bro." I was like, "You know, I will fuck you up." He's like, "Yo, no 32:33 more." I like And I was like, "You know what? I let it go. I didn't hit him. And that's one place I 32:41 don't regret I don't regret going that low. Yeah. In in defense of somebody that you love. 32:46 Yeah. Yeah. When you're defending your your mom, me defending my kid or my grandchild, I'm going to go off. 32:52 At least have that respect, bro. If you see somebody's getting uncomfortable, don't egg on the the situation. And 32:59 there's a lot of men that do that to women. We just like men just pressure women. And I think I'm more triggered 33:06 that you doing that tell my mom I tell you to drop it, you continue, bro. 33:11 Yeah. And you're telling me I don't understand. Like it's a form of manipulation. I don't understand why. And I was after that shit, I don't talk 33:18 to the nigga. Like I want to like I don't say shit to the nigga. Like for me, this nigga don't exist till this 33:23 day. That's how prideful I am. There's no I ain't I never squash the shit. Yeah, 33:28 nigga. I take that shit to my grave, bro. When I I'm like that. Like when somebody disrespects, 33:35 fuck that nigga till I die. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's dead to you at this point. Fuck 33:40 him. It It's hard for me. I get mad all over again when I see him. I want to talk to people that did some disrespectful stuff. 33:45 Yeah. like like you know even in this industry we we you know we we have a lot 33:50 of acquaintances and stuff and we're co-workers but there's some people that once they like do something that I know 33:58 is disloyal wrong and you're trying to play victim on top of that instead of just apologizing 34:04 oh so you're going to play victimh you never speaking to me again I'm never speaking to you again 34:10 ever you will be in the same room and it's like you're not there to me period What about you? When was the last 34:16 time you got in a fight? I mean, I've never been in a fight. The thing is, like I'm a big tall dude, 34:22 so nobody fucked me. I'm 6 feet and I I I do the mean face. I'm like, what are you going to do? 34:27 Uhhuh. Come come at me, bro. But the thing is like on the outside, on the outside, I'm 34:33 tough. I'm like Bruce Lee. I'm like And the inside though, the inside no, 34:41 please don't swing. Please don't swing. Yeah. 34:46 Like I'm I'm like, you know, I all the way. 34:51 Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, but but that's the thing about it. I've used my exterior as like 34:56 your your gear, your armor. Yeah. Yeah. I remember we I almost got in a fight in San Diego. 35:03 What? Yeah. Explain what happened. So, you were there? Oh, yeah. 35:09 So, so I was we were at a club. I was in VIP. There was this girl that was with us and and there was a dude that liked 35:15 that they they were talking at that time or whatnot. So, but she was with she was with me at the VIP with my boys. It was 35:23 me and my boys, whatever. And then the dude is standing just staring at the VIP mad. He was fucking 35:30 He was mad. He was mad. And then shorty's with us after we're done after the club. She's 35:37 leaving with us. We're going to the car and I'm there with my boys. was like, "Wait, I'm like four or five dudes deep, 35:42 you know?" And I gave that motherfucker props cuz he stood up like he was not no bitch. Mhm. He was not no pussy, 35:48 right? So he came over and he was like, "Yo, what's up?" I don't know what he said. He's like, "You going with them?" 35:55 And the girl was like, "Leave me alone." And she got I'm like, "Get in the car." She got in the car with us, 36:00 bro. So I'm like, "Bro," I'm like, "We trying to leave." I'm like, "Yo, what's up? We're 36:06 gonna Are we gonna pop off?" And all my boys looked at me. They were like, "By the end, just say the word cuz I'm 36:11 ready." And everybody's ready. We We ready. We ready. And I'm like, and I tied my 36:16 boots, too. I was like, "Yo, I'm ready." So he say he got suited up. Everybody waiting for me to be like, 36:22 "Dollar." And Norto was like, "No, please wait up. 36:27 Wait a second." And he Norto was the only one that ran to the guy. He was like, "Hi, how you doing? My name is 36:32 Norberto. What is your name?" Aipas. 36:38 Yeah. And guess what? Guess what? Here's the thing. Here's the thing. If I 36:44 was scrawnier, if I was shorter, I don't think that would have worked. That's true. But I'm a big dude, 36:50 you know? I I hunched, but then I like I perk up and I'm like, "Hey, how you doing? My name is Noto." 36:56 And Noto. And guess what? Nobody got punched. Nobody. Nobody got punched. Nobody fell. Nobody. Yeah. Nobody got 37:02 punched. You were like the secret weapon. Nobody got punched. and he and he left with the little girl. Okay. At the end of the night, did you 37:08 get to That's okay. You know that that's that that was the 37:15 purpose. Nobody got hurt. I And in in my mind, I'm like I hope he doesn't have like a 37:20 shank or something like cuz then you know we done. Especially like it was like five of us versus one dude. 37:26 Yeah. Pistol or something like that. And none of like I'm the shortest one. I'm the only I'm the little one out of. 37:32 No, but you stand tall, bro. All my friends are tall as shit. They're all like, "Yeah, he's short, but he stands tall." 37:38 Oh, you got presents. You got presents. Presents are six feet. Yeah. Yeah. No, you do. For real. Every 37:44 time I see him walking, I could tell it's him. I don't even got to see his face. Like, he could be walking from 37:49 afar, walking away. I mean, like, yeah. 37:57 And everybody is ready. Everybody's ready. Like, yo, just say the word. And I had every fiber. And I was like, I know. I also didn't want to ruin the 38:03 night cuz we had such a great night. Such a phenomenal night and and if we 38:09 would have fought that dude, it would have ruined the night. It's just, you know, you fight and then who wins? Nobody. No. Then you got you 38:16 got the cops after you. Then again, it's like five against one. Like 38:21 what are we going to do? Beat this dude to death? No, not Poco. Like it just made no sense. That's why I was like, you know what? Let me go shake this 38:27 man's hand and tell him to go, you know, have a good night. Yeah. Because what what are you going to do? And after and I could, here's the thing, I could 38:33 do it because I know that like this dude's shorter. This dude was shorter than me. And at the same time, you know 38:39 what? Just be big. Just just, you know, do the peacock thing. Like, yeah. Hey, I'm giving you a chance. I'm giving 38:45 you an hour. And we were lovo. Like, you ever see the wolves? The pack of wolves were like 38:51 like this. And we had the this and then Norto ran over there. He runs, let me 38:57 calm this. And we're like, we're like wolves wait ready. And everybody's looking at waiting for me. And the when 39:02 you got close, that's when we got close. Not like the scene from the Twilight with the with the wolves and the 39:08 vampire. That's exactly what it was. That's exactly what it was. Exactly what it felt like. 39:14 Yeah. And then we and the the the sad part about it in those situation, one thing I 39:19 was noticing I cuz I'm I'm in a situation like that. I'm present with how I feel. 39:24 Yeah. And I felt like I wanted it so bad. 39:30 I every and then and I knew that they felt everybody felt the same thing and 39:35 they were looking at me daddy just say the word energy but it's not right. I feel what 39:42 y'all feel but this is not right guys but what 39:50 the fuck is he doing? What's Norto doing? He's like hi how you doing? My name is Norto. Nice to meet you. 39:58 You make me sound British for some reason. What? I just want Can we recreate this on a sketch, please? Cuz this is hilarious. 40:05 No, I do appreciate that. I appreciate it. I was like, cuz if we would have got in a fight, the the feeling afterwards 40:11 and that night would have been thinking about that what happened. Like you after you get in a fight, you're thinking 40:16 about it. You're angry for like three, four days. That rage stays with you for some time. Yeah. No, no, no, 40:22 no. And none of it is worth it at the end of the day, right? And then here's the thing. In my head, I was also thinking about the times I've heard 40:28 people get into fights, right? You punch a guy one time, the guy falls, hits. 40:33 Yeah. It goes further further than what you thought, right? Now, now you you got 40:40 you all regret it. And we were like I'm we were in the height of everything, bro. Like we were like, you know, all 40:46 social media, we killing it. Whatever. That would look bad. Oh, Gier and Norberto got went to the 40:52 club and got into a fight. But there was there was there was also one fight that I got into over here in 40:58 McDonald's. 145th McDonald's. 145th McDonald's. The infamous 14th McDonald's. 41:05 This is how come this is how come I knew that I was going to get into entertainment because uh some guy was 41:11 some kid was picking on my sister at that time and I like I'm like yo don't 41:19 so whatever. We took the train. We took the train all the way over here. And I I was like, "Yo, don't don't fuck with my 41:24 sister. This better be the Don't This better be the last time you 41:30 ever mess around and do anything or say anything to my sister." And I slapped him, right? And when I went upstairs, 41:38 his cousin was waiting for me right there in 145th. And his cousin, his friends was already waiting for him, 41:44 waiting for me. Yeah. And they took off his book bag. He's like, he took off his book back. Papa 41:52 like, "All right, let's go. You ready? Put your hands on my cousin. We going down." And we start fighting. We 41:57 fighting. Boom. Boom. Boom. This dude falls back. It's not like I knocked him back. Like this nigga fell back like 42:03 this. And I jumped up in the air and I stomped on him. And I started stomping 42:09 on him, right? And then two dudes from inside McDonald's saw the whole commotion and they ran out and they 42:15 separated. No. No. Yeah. I shouldn't fight you. And I after they separated the fight, I had a thing that after a fight, I always 42:22 said, "Thank you everybody." And bow, 42:27 thank you. I don't know why. You're far too kind. You're far. You guys are too kind. You guys have 42:32 been lovely. What? I love you. It's like you you finished your set, right? 42:38 Thank you everybody. Thanks for coming. And all the black girls was like, "Oh my god, Poppy. Oh my god, Poppy. Yo, cuz 42:47 they called him papa. Now I'm Poppy. And then the dude that You stole his name, bro. 42:54 Yo, and and and the funny thing is I'm cross I'm crossing the street. The dudes that separated us was like, yo, this 43:00 little kid is crazy. He crazy. I'm like, I love y'all. He was like four feet shorter than dude. 43:06 But I'm I always been like I always been like that. Like I got into a fight, I could win or I could lose. I would 43:13 always go like, "Thank you." And I Little and mighty. Little and mighty, y'all. 43:18 That's why I knew I had to get into entertainment. And 43:25 and then the next day I went to school and this kid started telling everybody cuz he fucked me up. That he beat my 43:32 ass. He beat my ass. He was telling everybody and people came and said, "Yo, I heard papa fucked you up. Is that true?" I was like, "What? That he fucked 43:38 me up?" Okay. And I looked for papa the other day. Yo, papa. He's like, "What? I heard 43:45 that you fucked me up. He was like, "You fucked me up yesterday." 43:50 I I don't know why. The fuck? I don't know why. 43:55 I don't know. That was creepy. You fucked me up yesterday. He was like He was like this. 44:02 Oh, now you could fuck me up again today. [Laughter] 44:09 Let's go and fight right by McDonald's again after school. And he was like, "What?" I was like, "Yeah, today we're 44:15 going to fight again in McDonald so you could fuck me up like you fucked me up yesterday." Yo, 44:21 bro. And I was waiting for him. He came out and then the Latin there was two Latin kings I didn't know from a hole in 44:26 the wall. I don't know Latin and I was like and I'm I'm way on them and papa's with a crew of cats. It was 44:32 only me. I was there with my sister and one of my cousins. Yeah. And I and I was walking with them and I and I for one of 44:38 my boys, you know, was there also Adro, right? Mhm. And uh 44:44 yeah, I'll tell you that about that later. But um which this kid is famous now. 44:50 Yeah, this kid is famous, which I want I should bring him in. So we went we're walking whatever. And then this kid, the 44:56 Latin Kings, they were like, "Whoa, yo, what's going on?" I was like, "Yo, I'm about to go fight." They're like, "What? You going to go fight?" I was like, 45:01 "Yeah, I'm gonna go fight with who?" I'm like, "With them, with that guy right there, Papa." And then he was like, 45:07 "What?" And then the king, the Latin kings were like, "Yo, yo, if you're gonna fuck with him, you're gonna fuck 45:13 with us. Latin kings." And all their faces turn white. 45:21 They were scared. They were like, "Oh shit." Like, "Latin kings, you fuck with him, you fuck with us." And I was like, 45:28 "Shit." I was like, "Yeah, I'm not even part of the L." But I also 45:33 felt like I didn't I don't need I don't need that right now cuz I kind of want to fight him, right? 45:38 Thank you. Thank you. But no, thank you. But it felt good. It felt good because I felt protected. Yeah. 45:43 You know, under the Lion King that I was not part of no Lion Kings, right? But I felt like they protected me at that. You were your own king. 45:49 My own people. They don't know me from a hole in the wall to do some shit like that. I was like, man, I should join or something, right? 45:57 And this is And this is how you go down the wrong route at times, kids. I know. I know. We went when we got to 46:04 McDonald's. We got to McDonald's. I'm like, "We I'm ready to go. I'm ready to do it." 46:09 And Papa did not want to fight. And I was like, "Yo, that's it. I'm ready." I took off my book bag. I was 46:15 like, "Yo, let's go. We're going to fight right now. Let's go. Let's do this." He's like, "Nah, no, no." And I was like, "Why? Why do you want to 46:20 fight?" He's like, "Cuz you're going to call your cousin. That's why I don't want to fight." And I was like, "Yo, I promise. I 46:26 promise you no matter what, no matter what, I will never talk tell my cousin. I'm not going to 46:33 He's part of the podcast. is co-hosting. Yo, I was I was begging him. I was 46:39 begging him and I was like, "Yo, I swear to God, I won't tell him anything." He's like, "You're going to tell your cousin 46:44 and he's going to come and beat me up." I was ask him, "I don't want to fight with you." I was like, "I swear to you. I will never tell him." I was like, "I 46:51 tell I promise everybody here. I will not tell my cousin. I'm never I'm not going to tell nobody. Nobody's going to 46:57 find out. Nobody's going to fight. We could fight. If we fight right now, nobody's gonna 47:03 know he want to fight me after that shit. Fibbing in school talking about he bit 47:10 you up the first time. Should have just I even begged him. I was like, "Please, please let me punch you." 47:16 I swear. I promise you. I promise I won't tell my cousin. I won't tell. I had to play it off. That was actually my 47:21 cousin. Are they friends now? Who were they were they friends? Cuz you begging him. Please. Please. Come on, 47:28 man. I You're I even told his friends like, "I won't. I promise." I'm like, "I promise. I cross my heart, hope to die, 47:35 stick a needle in my eye." So, you wanted that satisfaction. You 47:41 wanted the satisfaction of kicking someone's ass. But at that time, you also got to think about I'm 47:46 How old were you when this happened? I was I was in middle school. I was like school. Yeah. It was just You also got to think 47:53 about middle school. You go through all this trauma, all this thing like, you know what I'm saying? Like it it was 47:59 when I leave yo all the shit that you went through. You got to think about when I was in middle school. That was the time that the bloods used to slice people's faces. 48:04 Yeah. They used to ask people used to walk around with razors in their mouth and you be like, "Yo, what time it is?" And 48:10 they you look down for your time and they'll slice your face. They give you a buck 50. And that was part of the blood 48:16 initiation. It was normal for people walk around with razor blades in their mouth. 48:22 We had a lot of gangs back then. We had uh DP DDP Latin Kings 48:28 Dominicans don't play nonas. Yeah. And then the Bloods and some Crips, very 48:35 little Crip like we didn't really see Crips. So that's more like There was one time that the DP went into 48:41 the train station and they just started chopping people up in in in the train. 48:47 Yeah. Una loca. Una loca. It was just like like it was a crazy fucking time. So it was it was out 48:54 of survival kind of that you had to have that, you know. I don't know what it was to be honest with you, but I think my father always 49:01 the thing is that when I was a kid, my father would always tell me, "If you're afraid of anybody, I'm going to whoop your ass." 49:07 So he was like, "If I ever hear that you're being bullied, I'm going to whoop your ass and I'm going to throw you in 49:12 the closet, bro." So I grew up with that mentality that, oh, he was going to beat him up and make him 49:18 gay. Yeah. Yo. His 49:26 [Laughter] 49:32 dad did. His dad did. His dad said, "I'mma beat you up and 49:38 throw you in the closet. You going to make me 49:44 the I don't know. I think I think I think 49:50 that was drilled so much into me that and I I as a kid I bet it was drilled. 49:59 I'm so sorry. I love you. Stop it. 50:04 Maybe that's why I was just like, you know, hiding my own homosexuality. [Laughter] 50:11 Yeah, that's it. Somebody's gonna take that clip. The Lord becomes gay. I don't give a 50:18 fuck. You know what? I never like I never been homophobic. I never been. And it was because of my dad, right? My dad always 50:25 tell me like when you're a man, you're not afraid of your sexuality. You know, when you're a man and you're comfortable 50:30 with your sexuality that you are a straight man, you will never feel uncomfortable, you 50:36 know, with somebody being gay or trans or nothing. Yeah. And I grew up with my dad always like flirting with gay dudes. 50:42 Like my dad, it's so funny because that's just like a Dominican dad thing. my brother. Yeah. Or just a lot of guys. It's not even a 50:49 Dominican. It's just a lot of guys. Uh I see them jokingly joke around gayish, 50:55 you know, like they but it's like a bromance, but they're not gay. But my dad, 51:05 I remember my mom would be like [Laughter] 51:22 I'm I'm going to need a water break real quick right now for fing sake. Yo, you know what? Uh, I appreciate you 51:29 guys coming through. This has been such a fun fucking podcast. I love you guys. This is so fun. I 51:34 appreciate Thank you guys for coming back. And I think that's I think that's why I want to continue bringing you guys back because yo, you guys bring the energy, 51:40 the song, and the intelligence. And that's what we need in this world. Look at us. Beauty and brains. 51:46 Oh shit. Don't get too gassed. Beauty and brains. Messy metal. 51:52 Yo, if you guys what you guys like about this conversation, write in the comments. I read the comments. I want to 51:57 give a special shout out to Passion cuz she's always watching. She's always comment. Thank you. Hey, gracias. 52:03 So everybody that support us, thank you. You know, if you're listening to us on audio, give us a five star. Give us a 52:10 review. Tell us what you like. Message me. I would like to hear and see what is it that you like about it and what you 52:15 would like, you know, topics like I want to hear everything. So talk to me. I'm very interactive. And thanks for being 52:21 here from the very beginning.