Died 5 Times During 33 Day Coma

0:00Hey, it's Kelly Rowland. You may not know this, but I have Exema. So I get how it can steal your time. But why let Exema take over when you can talk to your doctor about Epglyce? Epglyce, lubricism ab LBKZ, a 250-mg per 2-mg leador injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older, who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe Exema. Also called a topic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin, or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. Epglyce can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to Epglyce. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have newer, worsening eye problems, you should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Epglyce. Before starting Epglyce, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Paid partnership with Lili Respect your time. Ask your doctor about Epglyce and visit Epglyce.com or call 1-800-LiliRx or 1-800-545-5979. This podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

1:02My name is Veronica. We started our fundraiser for Mariah. She was a close friend in my heart, but she was also family. She was my sister-in-law. She unfortunately passed from a car accident, so it wasn't something that we were prepared for. Shortly after we got the news, I was put in charge of helping with the funeral arrangements and everything, and just looking at the overall cost, it didn't feel right for me to ask the family that's grieving for money. That's what made me go to GoFundMe, and it just became a network of people that were willing to come together to help. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform trusted by over 200 million people. You really do miss out on the opportunity to help people if you don't ask. When you actually put your heart, your soul into it, and you're like, this is the reason I'm doing it, it helps a lot. Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com. That's GoFundMe.com.

2:04From the time that they pronounced me that was a good 45 minutes. They cut my clothes and then they paddled my hawks, my heart stopped, and I could see people screaming and crying, but I didn't read as that was actually my physical body because I was somewhere else. The only thing that I could feel if you could imagine absolute love and peace, there wasn't anything else to be felt. I was greeted by people I had known in the past. I'm back home again. Incredibly safe and felt at high. Welcome, welcome to Roundtrip Death, everybody. We have such a great guest today. You know what, before I introduce you, Ricky, let's just do some name dropping. Okay. Okay. How am I? And the focus of our podcast is everybody knows is not about music and music production, but that's what you do. So I'm just going to drop some names. Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez,

3:04Ariana Grande, Kanye West. What do all these people have in common? Well, we've all been in the studio together. We've all worked together to produce some music for those people, those incredible individuals, man. So very thankful for that. So Ricky, slick music offered, hey, welcome to the show. It's great to have you today. Thank you for having me, man. And if we have a few minutes at the end, we're going to talk music, and I'll see if I can come up with some strange questions that you've never heard before about that kind of stuff. But we're going to jump into your near death experience first. Yeah. You know, who knew someone famous in the music industry would have an experience like we talk about every single day on this show. But before we jump in, would you take just one minute or two minutes and just give a little background on who you are. So people realize, hey, Ricky's a real guy, where do you come from? Yeah, man. So let's a little bit about myself. I'm from Dallas, Texas,

4:05Warner and Rage, I moved out to California, Los Angeles, California back in 2013 to pursue my music career full-time. Just called Turkey, man, stepped out on Fave, and went out there in my 20s and locked in with Ari on the ground there at the beginning stages of her career before she took off. And man, just fortunate that I was able to catch that that win right there. And we just kind of went forward and things landed the way, you know, in our favor. So from there, that's what kind of cattle pulled to my music, my music production career. And I'm a song music producer for Tom Grammy Award winner, multi-platin on billion streams, all kind of good stuff, man, worked with, as you said, some people you named off and quite a bit more. So we still go on, man, the, the question is still at hand. And I'm just thankful to do what I love. And here I'm a day 41 year old man, you know, healthy, vibrant, still going, still working strong, and just blessed

5:05to be here, man. You left out two things. 12 number one records. And you're going to be father soon, congrats on both of those things. Thank you, man. I appreciate you, yes, sir. Oh, and happy birthday. Didn't you just have a birthday? I did. Thank you, man. Yes, that's over the second. Yeah, that's over the second of the day after my book release. Yes, sir. And we'll talk a little bit about your memoirs a little bit later too. By the way, it's called 33 days between heaven and hell. And I've got a copy and can't wait to finish reading it. But let's go back about 10 years. What's going on with you health wise that led up to this time where you were really, really, really sick in the hospital. It actually came from, you know, just the music business of, well, not the music business itself, but me, of course, just allowing it to over-consonally just aggrime, and, you know, the hustle and bustle and every day late night, early morning studio

6:08sessions, just chasing that success, chasing that next hit, chasing that next big thing, and trying to, you know, stay on top of things because they always say you're only as relevant as your last hit record in the music business as a music producer. So I was a young man, like I said, in my 20s, and just eager and anxious to, I got a little taste of success, and I wanted more. So between that and the lifestyle, you know, not resting, not just, I started neglecting my health, even as a young man. And that's something I also advocate for now. You have to take care of yourself no matter how young you are, just to have to take care of your health, you know, your health is definitely your wealth. So for me, in the nutshell, man, I ended up, my body started to, it started basically to shut down. I was suffering from severe dehydration. I developed gallstones. I was suffering from high blood pressure, cholesterol, just all kind of stuff out of whack, man. Just, you know, my diet was poor, lack of sleep. I would stay up multiple nights at a time, you know, not getting enough

7:10rest, of course. And this was all for the sake of the grind and for the sake of my career, you know, just trying to chase that success, man. So that's what pretty much kind of put things into perspective. Okay, this is what happens. So from that point on, I had to go and have a god bladder surgery. I had to get my god bladder removed, and which something should be very simple, very routine that happens every single day actually turned out to be the biggest nightmare of my life. So, and you don't need to go into details about your personal health. So after the surgery, there must have been complications. You went into a coma, just, just whatever you're comfortable with sharing on that part of it. Yeah, you're a man, a complications due to the surgery. What's crazy is I was actually healthy. I had never been in a hospital before. I played, I've always been an athlete. I played some football in my grad days. College, you know, I played college football as well. I took a Z&M, played a little semi-prose. So I've been always kind of an active guy,

8:15I work out often, but it just was that the time frame of 2013 leading up to 2016 when I moved to Los Angeles, you know, I was so focused on success career, you know, being successful in that I just completely overlooked all the things that I would usually do taking care of myself every day. So it wasn't that I had any like long-term illnesses or any kind of conditions that were the main root cause, but it was definitely complications due to that God better procedure that allowed me to land into this coma. And I was induced into the coma. And then, you know, obviously immediately I'm facing death, just like the snap of a finger. How many days in the coma? I was in the coma for 33 days. That's a long time. And I haven't my notes, you flatlined a few times too. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I flatlined a couple times, man. Medically on record, I believe it's five times. My mom and my sister thought it was three at first, but once we got medical records back,

9:18it was a total of five. So I absolutely remember from my point of view, my perspective, what I went through, I remember like it was yesterday. Now, you had some interesting experiences. And I'm going to let you tell those obviously in your own words, but experiences with heaven, with hell, where do you want to jump in? What is the first thing that you remember that was not normal? I mean, most people remembered nothing from a coma, but just give us a taste here, give us started. Man, for me, for my experience, it was pretty pretty much right away once they induced me. It was to the point that, man, I was in such bad shape, leading up into the, you know, being induced into the coma that I was looking forward to going into a coma, because I couldn't breathe. My lungs had been injured and it was a whole lot of stuff going on. I'm on breathing machine. So I'm, you know, I'm trying to, I'm gasping for air,

10:22subsufficating slowly, dying slowly. So being induced into the coma for me was relief, you know, in that moment. And I just remember as I got induced, when some induce now, there's no sense of time anymore for me. It's just events and things that happen. So I can't tell you how long, but I know after a while being induced, when I was induced at first, you know, like sleep, man, like you just sleep your eyes closed, just start, nothing, just peace, you know, rest of sleep. And the next thing I remember was, I, man, I appeared in this, and it almost like a cabin. It was a house for them. It's like a cabin. It was a fireplace going, keep in mind at the time of the incident that has happened. This is in May, 2016. This is in Texas, by the way, in Dallas, Texas. It's high. So, you know, I'm definitely not understanding what's going on with the setting of me being in this cabin, home environment, you know, where there's a fireplace going as cozy, you know, in a media leader, I was,

11:26I was introduced by or welcomed by a handful of individuals. I say maybe four or five people. And they, I mean, it was, I think it was like two, two ladies and three guys, Black, white, Hispanic, and different nationality races, man. And it was like they knew me. I mean, it was like we knew each other. I had never met these people a day in my life, but then it was almost, almost like we were family immediately, as I was greeted by them. And they said, hey, Ricky, how you doing? And very hospitable, man, and be sit down at this table and the kitchen area, and the dining area. And so we'll just have a seat. We're going to bring bread. We're going to eat, and then I were preparing the meal for me. So we're eating, laughing, talking, having a conversation. It felt so normal. It felt so so natural, man. After we've finished, I remember they said, okay, we want to take you to the living room so we can show you something. And I said, okay, I feel so comfortable with them that I wasn't. I wasn't like, oh, no, I don't, you know, it was very,

12:27I felt very welcomed. So we went to the to the living room area and we held hands like in the circle, you know, at that point, they said, are you ready to go? Are you ready to go with us? I said, yes. And when they said that, man, we shot up. I sent it through the ceiling, but this is the thing. When I, when I send it through the ceiling and this cabin home, it's like my, my spirit and my body came out of my, came out of my body in the hospital, in the actual hospital. And it went through the hospital, selling out into the sky out of space. But this is at the speed of like a bullet or a speed of light, you know, it's like light, your speed is not slow and it's like a beam of light. That's how fast I was going. And I just shot up and I sent it through the skies and then through the solar system in our universe, you know, this kept going, kept going up. And I move it so fast that all these, these lights and stars and planets, it's like, it looks

13:32fluorescent because I'm moving at such a fast pace. It's so fast, it's so rapid that it's happening that everything was so like bright and fluorescent lights passing me by. Next thing, I know, I don't know what happened to them, the individuals back at the cabin. I don't know, they were no longer with me. It was just me and I was so high above our universes, we know that I was out of, I was out of that beyond it to the point where it got, it got really bright, you know, that bright light. They always talk about seeing at the end of the tunnel. I started seeing that bright light and I'm going, I'm going at a full speed, man. And then next thing, you know, like that, I appeared in a line, like this single-file line, I look down into the horizon, I mean, the line is so long, I mean millions of people, millions of people, man. As a matter of fact, there was two lines, I was in, it was two single-file lines, both simultaneously moving forward into the horizon.

14:36Hey, it's Kelly Rowland, you may not know this, but I have Exema, so I get how it can steal your time. But why let Exema take over when you can talk to your doctor about Epglyce? Epglyce, lubricism ab LBKZ, a 250-mg per 2-ml leader injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older, who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe Exema. Also called a topic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies, Epglyce can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to Epglyce, allergic reactions can occur that can be severe, eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have newer, worsening eye problems, you should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Epglyce. Before starting Epglyce, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, paid partnership with Lili. Respect your time, ask your doctor about Epglyce and visit Epglyce.com or call 1-800-LiliRX or 1-800-545-5979. This podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

15:37My name is Veronica. We started our fundraiser for Mariah. She was a close friend in my heart, but she was also family. She was my sister-in-law. She unfortunately passed from a car accident, so it wasn't something that we were prepared for. Shortly after we got the news, I was put in charge of helping with the funeral arrangements and everything and just looking at the overall cost, it didn't feel right for me to ask the family that's grieving for money. That's what made me go to GoFundMe and it just became a network of people that were willing to come together to help. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform trusted by over 200 million people. You really do miss out on the opportunity to help people if you don't ask. When you actually put your heart, your soul into it and you're like, this is the reason I'm doing it, it helps a lot. Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com. That's GoFundMe.com. GoFundMe.com.

16:59You know, you go to the airport, they have these conveyors where you can step on them and it's like a conveyor belt, but instead of walking, it'll go for you. Tell me like an escalator, but it's flat. Yeah, absolutely. In your moving the whole time, it may look like you're in a line, but you're moving the whole time. I'm glad to hear that because to me standing in a line behind a million people is kind of like hell. At this point, and I'm going to interrupt you from time to time, at this point, can you remember what you're thinking or feeling like? Are you wondering, what's going on? What are my waiting in line for? What's going through your brain? Absolutely. I mean, to my brain, my mind is still intact. I'm still Ricky. Well, immediately, the first thing that grabbed me was the atmosphere. It was all white, like pure white, man. Wide open, like just wide open a bit where it is, like no grass or nothing, like green grass, but whatever,

18:01if it was grass, it was white. Everything was solid white, everything. The peace and the tranquility and the serene of the feeling of comfort, and I was whole again. I was healthy, you know, love, and just all the emotions of happiness. And I felt I did this. I went, and I was like, oh, I can breathe because keep in mind the reason why I'm even in the calm is because I couldn't, my lungs had, you know, collapsed. I couldn't breathe due to the complications to their surgery. So can breathe again? My senses are heightened. Like my vision is more cleared in 2020. My sense of touch is more is almost enhanced. My smell, my everything. It was just more enhanced. My mind was still sharp. Like I said, and I'm like, man, I was just fighting for my life. You know, this is what I'm telling myself. I'm just playing back to me in a way. I was

19:02fighting for my life. And then I even had moments of like childhood that whole thing where your life flashed before your eyes, like it was one of those things. So I got just having so, so fast, you know, it's like it went all the way back from when I was a baby, I'm tired, and all the way through up until that point where I'm in the hospital. And I'm like, how did I, where am I at? Like no way. Am I dead? You know, I'm like, am I am I dead? Because I am doing like this because it feels like this. It felt like, you know, sitting here talking to you, like I was, I was a weak like I've had, I've had dreams and I've had visions and hallucinations or whatever you want to call it. This wasn't that man. This was actually going on. I was just trying to come to or trying to understand where I met and then when they're filing just a dime on him. Like, yo, I'm dead. I'm not alone. Like I'm alive, but I'm not. Did that make you afraid? Or was it kind of a

20:04peaceful thing? It was very peaceful where I was at because where I was at was in, well, by what scholars told me that I was in the line of judgment in the heavens and the heavenly realm. That's where I was told. So in this realm where I was at, it was nothing but peace. It was amazing. It was nothing but love and peace and joy and happiness. Like I said, that's all I could feel and that and I was healed. There was no sickness. There was no pain, no hurt, no suffering. I'm in this realm where I'm totally healed, feeling vibrant, feeling healthy, feeling, youthful, feeling all these things, but I wasn't ready to go. Like I wasn't ready to go man. I mean, if I went, it would have been amazing, but I was not ready. At the time I was 30 years old, I was 30 at the time going on 31. So I'm young. I'm a young guy, you know, I grew up in the church. Okay, my faith is Christian. That's where I, that's what I believe. That's where I'm in my heart. That's where I grew up. That's my faith. So all I could do at that point

21:07as I began to freak out and to get scared as things are starting to come to, I just start praying. Like I know nothing else to do, but pray. And as I'm getting closer, so this line is steady in these lines, these two lines were steady moving forward. And as I look behind me, like people are panning by the seconds. New people are panning by the seconds, but how do I just get longer by the seconds? And we're still moving forward. I just start praying, man. I'm like, really start talking to God. God, please, I don't, I don't want to die. I don't want to die. You know, I'm freaking out. I'm scared. You know, I don't know what else to do. I can't turn to my mom. I can't turn to my dad. It's all on me. It's between me and God at this point, because I'm getting closer to the horizons or like within the horizon, I see gate, like big gates in the horizons. I can see him and I'm like, oh, man, it was beautiful. But I'm like, if I get some gates, it's a ramp. Like, it's, it's over. I'm not coming back. I'm not coming back to earth. Then I just started feeling

22:10a strong overwhelm in presence of God, man. Like overly, overly, overly strongly presence of God. I didn't see God. I didn't see Jesus face. I didn't see like God. I didn't physically see them, but I felt the power and the presence of God as I'm getting closer to the gates. I want to interject a question right at this point. You said you didn't see God, but you felt him. What did it feel like? It felt like an overwhelmingness presence of man. First of all, I can't explain it in human terms, but the best way I can explain it is it just felt like an overwhelmingness of all my all mighty powerful like man is just beyond human comprehension, but it was felt love and peace and like I said, happiness and all these things

23:10in one. And then it was just such a, it was just such like a powerful presence, like just a sense of man. I mean, it was like I said, if I went at that time, if I just went, I would have been good. I would have been good. It was very welcoming. He was welcoming. He was so powerful, man, and so much love and peace, but I just, I was just so determined. I was just like that one kid in the classroom that just all hit a, you know, stubborn. And I was like, start talking to God literally, because I just, it's like, and it's like I just knew it was God. It wasn't like, oh, what is this presence? What is this almighty feeling? No, I knew it was God. And I just started talking to them like I'm talking to you. And I'm like, God, please don't let me, don't let me die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. And nothing happens, right? Nothing happens. Everything is still carrying on. And then I said, again, I say, please, I don't want to die. And this time I'm, I say,

24:10I'm desperate, right? I'm desperate at this point. And I just say, God, if you let me live, I promise, I make a promise. I said, I'll make a promise to you. I promise I'll live my life for you. I'll share my story with the world. I'll do whatever. Please just give me a second chance. And when I said that I vanished from that line at the snap of a finger, I vanished disappeared. I left that line, I went back into my, well, now I know I went at the time I didn't understand just from just from point of view, it went back black total silence piece. And that's when I realized later on, okay, I died. And then I came back from heaven, from the heavens and that in that realm. And they got me back, got a pulse back. And I came back into my body, but I'm still in the coma. So that's why I was just nothing but peace, black, like I'm sleep, you know, and that was my first experience. I can't wait to hear about the rest. I wanted to interject a couple of things that I find really

25:13interesting. Everybody's experience is different. It has an NDE. This line, this big line is kind of an unusual thing that I find fascinating. The gate is not unusual. And it's interesting to me that without being told, most people feel like if they go beyond that gate, or some people see like a mountain or a hill, and they just know if I go beyond that, that's wonderful. But I've also made the decision to stay here versus, oh, if I want to go back to my body, I've got, I've got to limit. I can't go beyond that point. That's interesting how that just intuitively comes to you without anybody telling you and that you can feel God. No one has to introduce you. Hey, Ricky, this is God. God, Ricky, you know, it doesn't need to work like that. You just feel it and know it. And I think that's awesome. It was a matter of fact. It was just like, immediately, you know,

26:17that's my creator. That's where I come from. It's like, the children and other parents. It was just an instinct. It's right away. Yeah. Okay. Do you remember experiences from some of the other times that you flatlined also? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. That the next one, I went to heaven another time too, but this time I went, I'll keep it in order of how it happened. After I made that promise, I went back into my body and like I said, I don't know how long. Obviously, I'm in a coma for a 33 days. So there's days could have went by whatever, but the next thing I remembered was appearing in this every time I went into one of these rounds, like I just appeared there. Well, I'll take that back. It wasn't a parents, but I do remember like when I went to the other realm of the hill, it was like I went down. When I went to heaven, it was always like an ascend, but when it was like going to the other realm, it was, I would be pulled down. And I

27:21remember going down and then appearing in the back of this, like like an uber black, like, you know, a Tahoe or SUV suburban, some type of SUV like that. And there was a driver. There was a driver out of the driver and he's driving me. I'm in the backseat and immediately I already knew just from the energy that it was evil, that it was immediately, it was bad man. It was eerie. I was scared immediately, the feeling, the environment, the atmosphere. And I look around and then look like it looked like New York City. I'm not saying this New York actually, right? But it looked like something like a New York, you know, Manhattan and all the big bridges and the skyscrapers and stuff, but it was so, it was very ran down, smoke, fire. There's riding going on everywhere. People all out in the, I mean, man, there was so many people out in the streets. Just, it was like the

28:22apocalypse. We're going over this bridge that look like, you know, the Manhattan bridge or something like that. And I'm like, excuse me, sir, where, excuse me, where are we? Where are we? Where are we? You know, I'm trying to talk to my driver. He never turned around. He just kept going. I'm like, man, I got a quorum. I had, you know, because I came to again, I'm coming to again, my mind is still sharp. I'm still who I am. And in my mind and my mental capacity and I'm just like, okay, where's where am I? And I don't want to be here. And I just remember that he pulled up to a into the city where it's so much chaos going on. And I'm seeing these people as people. I'm seeing them still as humans. Of course, I know they're not actually really human beings, but that's how I see them. You know, I see a drug deal over here trying to kill another drug. Hey, it's Kelly Rowland. You may not know this, but I have Exema. So I get how it can still your time. But why let Exema take over when you can talk to your doctor about Epglyss?

29:22Epglyss, lubricism app, LBKZ. A 250 milligram per 2 milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older, who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe Exema. Also called a topic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin, or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. Epglyss can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to Epglyss. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. I problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have newer, worsening eye problems, you should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Epglyss. Before starting Epglyss, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Pay partnership with Lily. Respect your time. Ask your doctor about Epglyss and visit Epglyss.com or call 1-800-LilyRx or 1-800-545-5979. This podcast is supported by GoFundMe. My name is Veronica. We started our fundraiser for Mariah. She was a close friend in my heart, but she was also family. She was my sister-in-law. She unfortunately passed from a car accident,

30:24so it wasn't something that we were prepared for. Shortly after we got the news, I was put in charge of helping with the funeral arrangements and everything, and just looking at the overall cost, it didn't feel right for me to ask the family that's grieving for money. That's what made me go to GoFundMe, and it just became a network of people that were willing to come together to help. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 200 million people. You really do miss out on the opportunity to help people if you don't ask. When you actually put your heart, your soul into it, and you're like, this is the reason I'm doing it, it helps a lot. Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com. That's GoFundMe.com. GoFundMe.com. Lily, we're here. The stripper over here. Prost two over here. People go on to the club, over here. People doing drugs. There's whatever they do, whatever. You know, people are doing different things. Everybody was extremely angry. Everybody was really, really mad.

31:24And I mean, just savages, man, no remorse. And it was crazy. So I remember the car pulls over in front of a bandage. We're like an old hotel or something. In the city, in like this city, pulls over. The door just opens on a map, force opens a door, and then another force pushes me out of the car. And then the door closes, and the car drives off. I'm like, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, no, I'm freaking out. Because there's a lot of carrying on. A lot of things going on. And I'm just trying to get out the way. I'm trying to dodge and get out. Because that's how bad it was. So I run into this abandoned hotel looking to build that to get out of the way. When I go in there, it's dark in there, the lights are not all. And I'm like, hello, anybody here? Anybody in here? Nobody says anything. Man, I'm in a lobby right there, right? The lobby area. And the walks in is like, he had to be

32:27like 10 feet tall, man. All black, like black trench coat, black like for door hat, black glasses, shades, and he had a helper with him. But he was like, not he was a demon. He was a demon. He looked like, I guess the closest thing I could kind of put in that can make sense, kind of like the Jeepers creepers character from the movie Jeepers creepers monster or whatever you want to call it. But much bigger, much taller and much more even more demonic looking. And he came right, like he was headed right at me. He's not walking. He's kind of like gliding, not like stepping with feet, but like it was supernatural, dude. It was completely from out of this world. I see him and it's scared to mess out of me because I've never been my life experienced anything like that before in my life. And again, this is really going to say no nightmare. This is really happening. So did you feel completely stuck there? Yes, I did. I felt stuck. Yes, I'm glad you said that because it's a matter

33:32of fact, as he got closer to me, it was like his aura was so powerful. Like he was so powerful. And in this, in this realm of his, as he got closer to me, I just was like so feeble and weak and stuck. And it was literally like stuck like paralyzed. And then he said, he points at me and he said, I got to have him. He's one, he's chosen. He's special. I got to have him. And I'm like, you can't have me, you know, and I'm like, I belong to God. He can't. Of course, that's all I can, that's all I know. Because I'm terrified, man. I don't know what else to do. I can't call on Mama, can't call on a daddy. Nobody else. So I just said, I just start like praying and he's laughing. He's mocking me and laughing at me as I'm trying to pray. He's getting closer to me as he gets closer. I dropped to my knees because I have no strength. I'm frozen or like paralyzed. Like I say, you can't move stuck. And then he points at my arm, my left arm. And it picks up like just automatically without me even trying his power, his energy sticks my arm out.

34:38And then he goes into his jacket to pull out like some kind of handcuffs or shackle, cuff to try to snap it around my wrist, left wrist. For some reason, they wouldn't get within latch. He wouldn't clamp down. And he was so angry, using profanity, man. He was livid because he wanted. I guess it was an indication of him having taken my soul, but it would not clamp that shackle wouldn't clamp. And he couldn't have it. So he stands back and he said, I have to show you something. Pulls out this long list sheet drops to the ground. Millions of names. First name, last name, date of birth, date of death and a profile, like a picture of them. They say, you see these people? I'm a soul collector. He said he comes to collect souls once you die. Then he said that he had already had a lot of them. And then he was waiting on others to still to just pass away. And then he was going to come get them. They belonged to him. And I told him

35:40I said, I don't belong to you up along to God. And he said, are we going to see about that? And he kind of laughed. You know, like everything was like a mockery. He didn't take nothing serious. I was saying, when I said, I belong to God, and it's all like a same man that just, it was so scary to me because I'm like, I'm not a scary ton of God. I'm more of like the macho guy, you know, wrong about, you know, not I love scary movies. All this kind of that's that's usually the type of guy I was. But when I faced this, this, this, this demon man ain't not do it. And you never seen anything like that. I'm a lot scared me so bad. He went ahead. He, he, he fleeting him in his hope. But God up out of there immediately after. And I just stayed there and I cried, man, I wept. And I said, God, please, give me out of here. I don't want to be here. And it was so much like supernatural stuff going on so much demonic and evil going on in that, in that round. I couldn't stay in that, and that abandoned building. I had to get about it because it was like

36:44somebody was, somebody, I didn't want to take a chance at him coming back or some another one coming because there's demons walking around, you know, there's all kind of people fighting and killing each other. And then like I said, it looked like the apocalypse or something. And then I go, I, I try to go take cover elsewhere. I run out of them abandoned building and I go behind like alleyway. And there was some dumpsters and other stuff over there. And I kind of just like hid and stayed there. And because I was there for a minute. For a while, I remember looking out into the horizon as I'm hiding in this other alleyway, I look out into the horizon or out back toward the other way of alley to where I could see out. Because I'm just trying to observe where am I. A just just triple house by like prostitute chick, stripper chick was by. She's like trying to give me the sleep mother and I was crazy. I'm like, I'm not cool. Like what? So it's showing me that like, okay, I'm assuming how every these people were or in their heart. I'm assuming how they died.

37:45That's what, that's like they was carrying out. However they were, whatever they truly were worshiped, I guess. Because it's like I seen them in their personalities, millions of people. Like I said, I'm a bit of a little down to the the back way of the horizon behind the alley. When you look when you're in like New York or Delay or Miami or somewhere or beaches that were in oceans that you see a body of water right? See the ocean. When I look out there, I saw a lake of fire lava. Like not a lake, but like an ocean, but it was fire lava. You know what I mean? It wasn't water. The whole fire and brimstone thing is real then. Oh, absolutely. This is terrifying. I'm hoping we're getting to the end of this portion. Because I want to find out how you get out of there. Well, that's the thing, man. I stayed put in that alleyway. I found a little area and I just hid and I stayed and I prayed. Like I literally couldn't do anything else. I wasn't coming up out of there

38:49other than praying my way out there. Like I pray I said I started crying. Like I said, I was weeping and I was like, God, please give me out there. Give me out there. Please. And as I'm praying, nothing's happening at first. I can't feel the presence of God here. You know, I don't feel anything. But all I know is prayer. What are you doing? You're between, you know, when you're in a situation like that, there's nobody else you can turn to. Nothing else you can turn to. And that's all I knew was to pray. And then after a while, I finally disappeared. I vanished from that that room. And it went back again to just peer black. And then at this point, I'm like, oh, okay. I'm fighting for my life here. That's when they like done, don't need like that. I'm on and like, okay, I'm literally fighting between I'm having like spiritual warfare. I'm fighting for my life back and forth. I can see why you would have an experience in heaven. Why do you think you also

39:49had an experience in hell? I truly believe that because I I wondered that too at first, I made my peace with God. You know, I repent. I did all the things went through the sentence prayer, all the things that my faith teaches us to do. But like at the last last few moments before I couldn't talk anymore, I made sure my heart was right. And made sure I made my peace with God before I got too too far ago on, you know, too sick before they put me under. So I was right. So if I passed away, I thought that I would have just welcomed me with open arms in heaven. And he wanted to show me, he wanted to use me as an example, man. I truly believe that. And that actually kind of segues into my next encounter because the next time I did go to heaven again, and this time I was actually in heaven inside of heaven because I met what I appeared in a beautiful match, a beautiful two story, beautiful home, man, a fully furnished. I'm sitting on the couch

40:54in a living room, TVs on, I never forget it. Pitches on the wall, everything, kitchens over here, the stairs, what is it like the staircase with that, that curves around like that up. Yeah, the grand staircases. Grand staircase, all the beautiful home, man, I'm like, man, where am I at? Marble floors. I'm like, where am I? Because immediately the environment was the atmosphere was so again, it was that peace that, you know, serene like that whole amazing, I was, it felt, I felt happiness, I felt joy, I felt all the things was like night and day from from hell, man, and, and I'm there and then lo and behold, walks out a young man, a young man, about, to tell you about my, maybe in his 20 years, he's a little right there with me, and I knew him. It was my pastor from the church I grew up in. My mom had me my sister, took my, and me and my sister, two that grew up in, where I also was the drummer of the church there,

41:58grown up. It was him. It was him. Now, he passed away in 1999. I was 14, 14, 15 years old, somewhere around there. He was a diabetic when he passed away, he was ill. He was amputeed as well. He was in a wheelchair. Older, you know, older gentleman, older than the gentleman who sick, and I never forget that he always was saying. He was a, he was a, he was a really good man, very stand-up man, you know, amazing guy, and he really loved God for real, and he was a great example to me, and he, you know, he would pray over me and always like, pouring to me in my life, and be like a male mentor to me, when he passed away, he was the older guy. When I seen this, this young man in heaven, in his home, he, like I said, he looked like he was, he had to be between 25, 30 years old, but I knew it was him, and he walked out of his room, walked out full body,

42:59because he was in a, well, both of his legs were amputeated back before he passed away, because he was a diabetic, but when I seen him, like, you know, vibrant, young, healthy, strong, happy, and I was like, oh my God, I passed a business, and I was, find his vans in, you know, called him pastor vans in, so I kept that respect, because I know this is, even though we look the same, he's, I know this man is my elder, you know, and I actually know him, and I knew him, and are on earth. So he's like, hey, Ricky, how you doing, man? I said, man, I'm good, I wasn't scared, I wasn't terrified, or I'm, you know, like ghost, nothing up, it wasn't that, he didn't have like wings, like an angel, or nothing, he was like human form. He had on like subcacchi pants and a plaid shirt, and, and a can go hat, and he just walked up, we embraced each other, we hugged each other, he told me to have a seat, you know, sit back down, and he said that God sent me to him, for him to encourage me. He said that he knew what was going on with my situation. He knew that I was fighting for my life, and that God sent me to him in heaven, for him to

44:06encourage me to continue to fight, because he said that God felt like I could handle what I was going through. He felt like that he wanted to use me as an example to come back and to share, and to tell the story to other people that he does exist, that he is real. And man, that was so encouraging, then I just felt like, like, oh am I, like, why me, you know, like, I'm not anybody special like that. To me, you know, that's, to me, I feel like that's a tremendous honor for me to be an example. I made it out to go through something to that magnitude, but that's full of my pastor told me man, and while I was in his mansion in heaven, at his house in heaven, he sit there and we talk, and he encouraged me to tell me, he just keep fighting, don't give up. He said that I was going to make it through. It didn't feel like I was going to make it through, but he said, man, you're stronger than you know, he said, whatever you do, do not give up, just keep going. And he said, I will come out. And here I am, man.

45:10So cool. So it's like your pastor's mission kept going on after, after his life here on earth, didn't it? Oh, yes, that's nerd. All right. Is there anything else that you left out? I went back to Hill one more time, man. Yeah, it was terrible. It was like a back and fork thing. You know, it'd be like angels and heaven and then Hill and demons. And you know, and the last time I went there, it was pure torment, man. People were like chasing me trying to kill me. You know, you have demons and man, there was even a bench up there, like a vent trilliquist thing, because I can say that vent trilliquist doll. Yeah, those are those can be scary, like, checky dolls and stuff. Yeah, like it was, I have no idea why that it was almost just like that realm was complete torment. And I would be dropped off there or just appear there. And

46:10the whole time I'm running for my life, you know, trying to take cover and always trying to hide and try to maneuver and not be seen, because it was just such a nothing but chaos and evil. And it didn't even make sense. It was, but I didn't remember recalling one guy saying, we going to hell anyway, man, we man's well to the party. He like they knew, they knew. So I mean, it was, and when I talked to Bible scholars and different ones that study these things, they would say that I was in, I would call it like purgatory and like the in between it, because even one of the other times there was even a time where I had, I was in hell per se, but I was just in a space of like the unknown. I wasn't in heaven or I was just like stuck, trying to find my way back to my body. Yeah, what some people call void, just kind of there where there's sort of nothing, everything, but nothing. I'm a big believer that these near death experiences

47:15are not given to us for entertainment purposes. Absolutely. Your's Ricky was given to you for lessons to learn. Both the heavenly and the halus experiences were for you to learn from, not not to be punished or anything like that, but to learn from. I think as you spend more time, and even though this has been 10 years, you're going to be processing this for the rest of your life. I think you're going to learn more like, okay, here's something I learned from that part of the experience. And here's something I learned from this part of the experience. And it wasn't pleasant being there, but I learned this lesson from it. And then from the wonderful places and visiting with your pastor and stuff, which is awesome. And with God, what have I learned from that? And how do I take all these things into my life now for the rest of the time that I'm going to be here on this planet to become a better person and do more good things out there in the world?

48:20That's what it's all for in my opinion. I agree. I agree. And I made a promise to God when I was in that lot of judgment, man, that day in heaven. And I promise to share this testimony and share this story, to share my experience, no matter what, unapologetically. A lot of people try to challenge me or question me of certain things. If it really happened, I have all the proof videos, documented photos, like medical records, this stuff really have, I mean, now obviously, you know, the outer body part, I don't have that, but it happened, man. You're in a judgment-free zone right here. So you can feel safe talking about all of this. And if there's anything else you want to discuss about it, I want to hear it. I also want to hear about what you learned from prayer. You had mentioned your mother earlier, were there people there praying for you to get well? And what did you learn about from that? Man, that part right there is a

49:21whole other piece, man. And in the book, it talks about it as well. So my mom and my sister, man, my family, my dad, my Montel Jordan, a good friend of mine, slash mentor, Rodney Darkchild Jerkins, big-time producers, also mentor of mine. All these people were praying for me, came together, my mom, man. She's the MVP, man. I thank God for my mom. She never gave up, man. They wanted to pull the plug every week. She said every weekend, seemed like they were ready to pull the plug, you know? And if it wasn't for her, I absolutely, what? You know, God using her, I wouldn't be here because she had to fight with them to keep me going. It's just one of them things, man, where she, a praying mother and the family and the love of her mother's prayer and just the strength and the love of your family is so powerful, man. I could literally feel the prayers, you know, from my mom. I literally could feel that while I'm in this coma. Like,

50:23every time there were days, my mom would be praying or just talking to me. She would just talk to me some days like how we're talking. I'm in a full-blown coma, but I can hear her talking to me and it was soothing and it was comforting to me and it made me know that she's still there. Because we did make one promise before I went out the rest of my promise, we won't ever leave my side. Promise me you won't ever leave my side or give up on me as we go through this. Because I knew we were, we knew we were about to go through something traumatic with this incident. And my mom, she, she never, she kept the promise. She never gave up. And for that, man, I'm forever grateful for my mom. There's nothing I can do to repair it back now. That's awesome. All right, before we wrap up, for those that have been waiting to hear a story about music stuff, and those are in my opinion, not as important as what we've already heard. I don't know, you have any fun stories about being in the studio with Ariana Grande or anything that you want to share? Man, actually, yeah, man. So what are you, honey? I think one of the coolest

51:25things about her working with her, that's what changed my entire, that changed my life, man, you know, for the better and allowing me to come off my job permanently. I was working as a bank, teller, a bank of America. And I just left, man, put my two-week in and move the LA cold turkey, taking the chance, shout out the baby face to Kenny Babyface Edmund, man, for giving me an opportunity, because that's how I met Ariana, as well as Leon Thomas, as well as how I met Ariana Grande. But he allowed me to come into the studio, gave me the opportunity to work. I was a bit homeless for a little bit, man. I was sleeping in my car and sleeping in the studio, and then I would go to the gym where I would work out to shower and do all the other things, brush my teeth, all those things. But it wasn't until, because a lot of people, they think when it comes to music, that it's an instant gratification or instant success. Like, what Ariana, we did those songs, we worked on that project, maybe almost six months to a year before I saw a check. But working with her, she was,

52:30she was such a light, right away, she knows what she was. I learned a lot from her. She can run an entire studio session, session herself, like very intelligent, very brilliant young lady, even kind of straight out of it. There was a Nickelodeon and Broadway and all those things. She knew exactly what she wanted, man. And she was a great person. So I really want to thank her for giving me an opportunity, because that's what gave me the wills under my career to get things going. All right. Last thing, last question for you. Somebody listening today is having a rough day. Maybe they've lost a loved one. Maybe life is just extra tough for some reason. And it's not always easy to have faith that there's going to be something better after this life. Leave us with a message of hope. Okay. So what I would say is someone dealing with, you know, struggles of faith, I was no different. I was no different. You looking at someone that

53:31struggled with his faith, leading up until, you know, 2016 going through all those adversities and trials that I went through. What I would say is, man, you just have to do everything you can to remember to keep the main thing, the main thing. Just allow yourself to always move with love and allow yourself to keep family around. You keep those around you that love you. And it's so important because if it wasn't for my loved ones and those around me and just love period, I absolutely wouldn't be here today. And I felt the love, you know, I could feel the love and my darkest hours and my darkest times. When it's easy, it's easy for me if I wanted to just give up and die, right? If I wanted to die, could it just gain well? But if it was, it was the power of love and the power of prayer. And that's why I allow my faith to enhance and to get strong and allow me to pull through and persevere. So I just say, man, no matter what, just hold your head

54:32up. No, no matter what the circumstances are. Hey, look at me. I went all the way there and came back. And now I lost it all. And now I've been blessed to have more than I've ever had. I'm healthier than I've ever been. I have no complications. I have zero issues. And there's nothing wrong with me. But I'm very thankful to God and I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for the love that the people share around me. So just always remember that and keep that the center of the focus. Thank you for being a light. Thanks for being with me. That's Ricky Select Music offered. The book, I can't wait to finish it up 30 days between heaven and hell. It just barely came out, I believe. Yeah, you're September 1st. It drops September 1st. So, hey, good luck in everything and keep in touch, Ricky. Thanks again for listening and sharing this podcast. Don't forget to hit the follow or subscribe button and sign up for our newsletter at roundtripdesk.com. If you want to share your near-death

55:36experience or if you have questions or comments about the show, send an email to Eric at roundtripdesk.com. Until then, I wish you everything that you're looking for in this life and the next.