Kazeem Famuyide Is Just Getting Started! | KFS SPOTLIGHT | Presented by Tyto Flight ​

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1:00everyday life. They look like regular glasses, but they're part of a more thoughtful approach to managing myopia. If you're a parent and you've been meaning to book an eye exam, this is your sign. Visit estella.com to learn more about Stellist Lenses and to find an Estella expert eye care professional near you. This episode is brought to you by SOFI, the Everything app for smarter money. Your money should work as hard as you do, but most of us leave it sitting and checking, doing nothing. SOFI checking and savings changes that. Competitive APY, no account fees, and a direct deposit bonus. Terms apply. Make your money move at SOFI.com slash smart money. SOFI. Get your money right. SOFI checking and savings is offered through SOFI bank in a member FDIC. Every house has a beginning. Our starts with a rebellion. This is not just fashion. This is freedom worn out loud. A place where individuality isn't a look. It's a law. Perfect is boring. The algorithm doesn't know you. You do. A look is never just a look. It's a declaration.

2:07It's time to step out and into somewhere new. Step into the house and burl and find a burling to near you. This is Angus Maximus. This partner has one part of a pound of hot. Suzy cooked two-on-a-lar Angus speed. It's more expensive than a quarter pounder. The battle is closed. And for only $5.99 even regular Jews can afford it. Like that guy. Give me that big old burger. Yeah! He holds Angus Maximus for the $5.99 the cold senior. A bill for a limited time and participating restaurants. Tax not included. Not valid for use within a combo or in combination with any other offer or discount. Hey next fans. Hope you're doing well. My name is Jeremy Cohen and welcome to another episode of KFS Spotlight presented by Titleplate. They're a great episode today. We've got Kazim Fomoyide. You may know Kaz from all sorts of things like 7pm and Brooklyn.

3:08Got MSG that he's worked on before. He's been a bleacher report. Hot 97. All sorts of great stuff. He's kind of to join us today. Really excited for him to talk a little bit more about his career, his love of the nicks and all sorts of really fun things. It's a great episode. So without further ado, here's Kaz. Joining us now on the KFS Spotlight podcast with KFS. May know him from several different things. He's one in Emmy. He's a host. He's here to join us right now today. Really excited for Kazim Fomoyide. Kaz, how you doing, man? I am fantastic, man. How's everything in the US, bro? Things are good. I don't know about you. I'm really excited for the next season to kick off, but I still can't let go of what's happened. It's this sort of thing where I say let go is if it's a bad, it's not. They're just random times during my day where things might not be the happiest. And I just remember next one of titles and everything suddenly is better.

4:08It is the absolute most weirdest feeling I've ever had as a sports fan. I don't know what it's like. Like I've never thought about this part of the process. I've never thought about like, okay, like I understand like the seriousness of like next season and everything like that. But like this little process between like when do we like stop celebrating and start being like, okay, like back to back to work, you know, I think maybe it'll hit ring night. Maybe, well, it's still, it still doesn't feel real. The New York makes our our reigning world champions what it chance to possibly do it again. It's a weird, weird feeling for sure. Yeah, even when there's like the slightest bit of adversity, I do wonder how much it's going to be like, you know what? It's still one, they still one last year. No, it's it's social media. It's like I can literally be having the worst day and I'll open my phone. And it's like the comeback from game four just starts playing right at the moment. I'm like, oh man, this felt the feel this again. This still still feels good.

5:11It still feels good. And it's like, muffle. And it's like one thing that it did that didn't like hit me until recently was like, that's the last game in the garden too, you know what I mean? Like, so it wasn't just like the greatest fourth quarter anything in the history of ever. But like, that's the last time we were all in like the mecca. So like, it's part of like man missing being there as well. And like the insanity of that last game being able to reveal, well, keep reliving that. So, ah, ah, still feels good. Well, I want to hear all about you, especially with how you became a nix fan in the first place. What was it that brought you into the nix fandom? My mom of all people, my mom was a huge basketball fan growing up. And the one thing that we usually bonded over as far as like, you know, stuff that we watched together as a family, which was, you know, not a ton of things. It was always sports, usually basketball, and always the nix.

6:17Like, sprinkle some Michael Jordan in there, but it was always the nix. When I like my earliest like sports memories, I like my, my, my, I don't know. It's kind of a sick feeling. But the first time I saw like how much sports meant to people was watching my mom react to Reggie Miller's eight point and 30 seconds or whatever come back. That was the first time as like a child. I'm not even what like, maybe seven. It was 94. 95. I was 95. Yeah, I was seven years old. And, uh, my god, it was the first time I've ever seen my mom be so angry. She did like, if you've ever seen, stop the yard when, with the end, when like, he does like this move where he slides on his head and his feet are all the way up in the air. Like, my mom was so mad. Like, she punched the air that, like, she like landed on like the top of her head and like, slid backwards. That is day. I,

7:19I, I, that's still the only time I've ever seen that. I've never saw my mom react to anything like that. And I was super young. So, long behold, like, I love playing basketball, growing up and obviously, like the nicks were not just like my team, because I was more of like a basketball fan at that point. Like, if I had to pick a team to root for, it'd be the nicks. But I was more of like, a young sort of like fan of like Jordan and Penny and Grant Hill and like, Iverson and like, those type of dudes. I could really say like my true Nick fandom really kicked in. Maybe like in the middle of high school to enter in college. Like, it was when like, they were horrible. And like, they were just like, just the absolute laughing stock of, of, of, you know, the NBA. It was shortly before the mellow era and the stat of my era where, you know, I'm want to say it was like, it was terrible. But it was like the Jamal Crawford David lead teams

8:23that really made me feel like, I knew these guys because now I was getting to the age where like, the guys that were making it to the NBA were dudes that like, I heard of in high school or heard of in college and stuff like that. So like, it was like a weird time for me. But it just enhanced my nicks fandom. And, you know, it's a, it's a lifelong thing. I've never really rooted for any other team. I'm one of those people that like, you root for your hometown squad. Like, unless you have some real connection to another team, I kind of look at you funny. If you're from the York and you don't root for the Nick. So after a while, it kind of became like a character assessment for me to people where it's like, oh, okay. Like, I know the type of person who are because you're not just a sports fan, you're a nicks fan. And you know, I think we all sort of speak that same language. 100% and I mean, the fact that it was the worst possible time. Yeah. Be, ah, they're levels to these a quick one of at least the worst possible times where you're like,

9:24now I'm leaning even further into this. Like, I've seen them go to the NBA finals, but this is the time when it is so bad to be able to like, just find the beauty in that and stick with it even longer. Right. Because like I said, like the first time I saw my mom react to anything was like, kind of like height nicks to me at that point. Like they're in the finals, conference finals, like they're on NBC all the time. Like it was, it was them and the Yankees to me. Just was just anything I knew about like sports was the nicks and the Yankees. And so I knew that like, it's supposed to be better than this. Like, it's not supposed to be like this trash for this long. So it made me just lean further into like, man, I hope it's just one of those, what I would give for it to be like what it was like when I watched it with my mom as a kid. You know what I mean? It became a lot of that. Like what I would give for it to be like a time where, you know, the most important thing in the world was like, are the nicks going to win this game? You know what I mean? So I just lean further and further into it. And yeah, I guess that's where like,

10:27the actual sickness of like, Nick's fandom like to go for me. I'll say, I was a casual before the I think sickness might honestly be the right word. We somehow found a cure for right now. Yeah, I think it's a temporary cure maybe. But yeah, it's so as that's all going on as you're following more of the nicks and when you're into college, I mean, you measured in journalism. Yes. When did you figure out that's the path you wanted to go on and was it anything specific in the journalism field? And niche wise that you were like, I need to do this. This is my passion. So I've always just, again, it goes back to my mom. Like I would, my mom would go shopping like at shop right. I would always sit in the magazine section and I just would have that, that would be the most lit time to me is like sitting in a new stand and reading magazines like The Sorcerer, Double XL or SLAM or, you know, a vibe or like all of those things. So I always sort of knew I

11:28wanted to be in journalism. I knew I was like pretty good with words and knew how to communicate pretty well. But on top of that, I just always knew if I couldn't do the thing I loved, I loved talking about it. I'd love being able to talk to people about it or, you know, tell the stories of the people that like, you know, create some of this incredible art or, you know, dominate these incredible feats of athleticism that we all sort of like love. So my love for journalism came from like hip-hop journalism basically, like hip-hop journalism and sports journalism. So and then I would like sort of get to know, not get to know, but like file the careers of like a scoop Jackson or Elliott Wilson or DeTwan Thomas or, you know, a lot of these guys who I was seeing have careers, you know, writing about like cool stuff and not just like, you know, hard news and, you know, end up going to SUNY Purchase when I was in I was transferring from wow. Let me back that whole

12:32story up. I initially attended Dominican College as a division two up in Westchester and at that point, I still had crazy hoop dreams. So my journal my major was business management. I wanted to be a sports agent. I figured like, hey, if I can't make it to the league, I'll know how to at least, you know, be around the sport and make money off of it and, you know, create and that sort of realm. But I just found out like I just didn't really have the stomach for being a sports agent. Like it's a very cut throw, you know, nasty business and I understand a lot of their usefulness, especially the good ones, but like it just wasn't for me. So as I transferred from Dominican to Purchase, that's where, you know, I met some incredible professors who were like, you know, Pulitzer Prize winners and, you know, what Mary Ellis Williams was like the first anchor in CNN history, you know what I mean? And like she had just, you know, started doing classes there.

13:35And, you know, I was like, man, I'd love to sort of like change my major to something where I could get closer to this other dream I have of, you know, writing and being a journalist and all that type of stuff. So I looked up to guys that did all of that like sway who could kind of also do it, you know, front facing, but at the same time, you know, I wanted to be able to, you know, prove my literacy and you know, do things that really contributed, you know, with some real meaning, you know what I mean? So that's sort of how I, I don't want to say I fell into it, but like I've always just loved being able to document culture. And I had a skill for it, but I knew I didn't want to just talk about politics or, you know, hard news, you feel me? But obviously, it's what's drove a lot of my career in the past what 20-something years now, Jesus.

14:36Almost 20 years at this point. That's awesome. I'm glad that was the right learning spot. And especially, I don't know if this played a factor at all, but with the history of the next having spent a lot of their time up and personally, did that have any impact? I had no idea, well, I transferred there. I had zero clue. That's where they used to practice. But so when the culture over there was recruited me because I was playing basketball over there, that's what he showed me. Like, so when I went on my recruiting visit, I see they still had a lot of the old you know, Nick stuff over there. And they weren't a good team by any means. Like, it was a art school, you know, like it was a school that people went to to dance or act or rights or like that sort of stuff. And they were really popular there, but sports was not that big. But they had this like sort of like unique history, like this unique Nick's history, like on campus. So I think that also made it weird. But like, there was never a reason why I transferred there. Like, I was, I was probably going regardless. It was sort of like a bonus, you know, I didn't find that out

15:40until later. I found out from my college that the Celtics used to practice there. And I found it out afterwards. I'm glad because I found out beforehand. I've not, I'm not, it's enough that I have to be in the Boston area. I do not know. But yeah, I would I'd move anywhere in the country besides being their Boston fans. I think Boston fans are, I used to date a girl in Boston. I used to see, you know, what Bostonians do when they really care about their Red Sox and their Celtics. So yeah, I don't recommend the Red Sox. The Patriots being down 28 to 3 and you're watching at college and everyone's sad and you're happy about it because you're a Giants fan. And then all of a sudden, everyone's happy. You're like, well, all right, that's just the way it goes when you come back in. So, but definitely glad it's more than next focus here with purchasing that that's awesome. So you. I want to share something that really caught my attention as a parent. I've learned that myopia near-sightedness is becoming much more

16:45common in kids. And it's not something you want to ignore. If it goes unchecked, it can have an impact that goes way beyond schoolwork. What really matters is starting with an eye exam. An eye doctor can tell you what's going on with your child's vision and walk you through options that are designed specifically for kids like Esselaer Stelest lenses. I like that Stelest lenses are made for children and fit right into everyday life. They look like regular glasses, but they're part of a more thoughtful approach to managing myopia. If you're a parent and you've been meaning to book an eye exam, this is your sign. Visit Esselaer.com to learn more about Stelest lenses and to find an Esselaer expert eye care professional near you.

17:48Mark the most. Only $599 that holds to you. Available for a limited time in participating restaurants. Tax on included. Not valid for use within a combo or in combination with any other offer or discount. Profoot Ball is back. And so are the predictions. Trade yours on Kowshi. America's number one prediction market platform. Indie takes on Kansas City with Indie currently trading at 28% to win. A $100 trade pays out $336 if they win. Download Kowshi. Use code Hoops to get $25 when you trade $25. KALSHI. Kowshi. Trade what's next? 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kowshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information see kowshi.com slash regulatory. If your business runs on five different apps, 12 browser tabs, and one spreadsheet that everyone's afraid to touch, it's probably time for Odo. Odo is an all-in-one business management software that connects every part of your business into one powerful, easy-to-use platform.

18:53So instead of wasting time switching between disconnected systems, your entire business works together in real time. Your team moves faster. Your data stays accurate and you can actually focus on growing your business. Let one unified system run your entire business. From the first opportunity to the final payment, everything works together in one place, whether you're a small business or managing a large operation. Odo gives you the flexible platform built to grow with you. Try it today for free at odoo.com. That's odoo.com. You leave purchase. You do exactly the path. What's the first step that you take? Oh man. Funny enough, I got it internship at the Source Magazine while I was still in college. I was playing ball. I still had a semester to finish, but I had this internship at the source.

19:54I was going back and forth after games, after practice. I'd have to take the Metro North all the way downtown to Wall Street to just sit in on editorial meetings and learn about magazine production. The summer before that, all I did was take every single piece of source media and have to transcribe it by hand into their hard drive because they were rebuilding their website. It was all the stuff that I thought I knew about hip-hop. I still got a crash course in it by doing grunt intern work while going to school. From there, it was crazy, man. Obviously, I didn't know the future of what print journalism was going to be now. You got to think back then, Brown's Sugar was out. Vibe was still huge. Working out of magazine was to me, it was working at Google or at that point to me, the way my brain worked, I always thought

20:57having to buy line in the magazine was it. That's what made you really dope. I knew that was my path, but at the same time, I knew digital was a lane that I knew I could own because I was young. A lot of the dudes there were incumbent. I was the youngest guy there. None of them really wanted to mess with the web anyway. I didn't really want to do anything with the website or social media or any of that stuff. They had a blind spot to not just technology, but the artists that were popping out of there as well. On one side, it would be a lot of focus on artists that would sell covers, like a ludicrous or a TI or M&M or those guys that sold out. Me, I was finding these dudes who had popping my space pages and had social media buttons. I got the first interviews with Drake and Big Sean and Wale and

22:00Wiz Khalifa and all these guys as they're bubbling. A lot of their first print looks, which at the time was the biggest look you can get, being on the cover of a source or a double exel, something like that. I had to go and fight those fights for them. That was put me in a position of like, I'm writing at this dope magazine. It's not what it was at the time, but I have this end with this whole new generation of artists that are about to take over my scene. Being in that makes for a number of years just spun me off to so many different career paths since then. You got to have to know how to do a little bit of everything. You couldn't just know how at least me anyway, how to make the magazine, but you had to know what made it money. You had to know how ads were sold. You had to know who was sellable to a cover. We couldn't just run the risk and put

23:02I'm just making up a name. You can't just put like, Asher Roth on the cover because Asher Roth hasn't sold any albums yet. But yeah, Asher Roth has the most popular song on the internet. Like, everybody I know knows I love college. And then I'm just making an example. He never got a source cover. But those are the fights I would have to like fight for like those class artists. So the first one that I think really set us off was we did this man of the air and rookie of the air cover. And the man of the air was Rick Ross and the rookie of the air was Wiz Khalifa. And it kind of like forced the magazine's hand at the time that they needed to decide if they were going to stick to the old methods or start rolling with these new guys. Because we put that cover out and Rick Ross is a proven artist. Everybody knows he is at the time. But Wiz Khalifa was the hottest dude to anybody who had the internet. And then we put that cover out and everybody's like, how are you going to split the cover with the Rick Ross? Like even though it's dope,

24:06like, Wishing he got his own cover, Wishing he had been this, Wishing he had been that. So like, those moments like that with like several different artists that sort of like kept me in this bubble of journalists but also like working with the magazine, working with like the media and all that type of stuff. So it's fun to be off in so many different ways just because of the state of journalism and just being able to be honest about having to pay bills and knowing when when is a good time to be in the media space and when is a good time to do something that's going to pay bills but is also in that world. So I've gotten a unique opportunity to do the way to like so many different career hats just because of like my curiosity through journalism. So that's the best way I could really explain it. That was perfect. I mean, just the crash course in terms of how you're able to get all of these areas to influence your writing and abilities and the business management side that was when you're in school, like that must have played a role as well for

25:11everything. So nothing like learning on the job and doing a million different things. Yeah. I mean, you mess up a lot and like you get fired from a lot of places for trying methods that probably are you know, a little, I don't know, different or whatever. But in all those, you get so much experience and like it really is a blessing. Like at that time, like you know, getting fired sucks or being told like, hey, we're moving in a different direction sucks and I'm sure anybody listening to this can relate to like being like go somewhere. But I promise you, man, like all that stuff really is experienced being built up for like the dope shit that's coming. You know what I mean? You just kind of like not let any of that stuff sway you. You got to just sort of like roll with all the punches because it's like what choice do you have anyway? Like he's gonna like just let it like ruin you and like the feature. Now you just sort of take everything and start. When you get over the scary part of it, it's a little freeing because now you can do whatever it is.

26:14Like yes, you have to worry about money and other things, but you can change directions and follow whatever you want. Which is too scared to do sometimes because you're tethered to what you've got. So yeah, yeah. Great that you at least when something didn't work, you learned from it and it just led to a better decision later on. So we're that's perfect. And in 100% of those situations, anybody who's ever like fired me from a job has always turned around and be like holy shit, like you're killing it. We didn't know what we had in you. Like I'm beyond that question. I've got that thing of a zillion times. It's like I don't know, man, I'm like a mosaic. Like I don't look like much from far away, but once you get close, you're just like, oh, like, oh, there's a lot of sugar. Wow. Happens a lot. They're lost. You're getting as you're moving through. And I hope I'm not skipping anything because you've actually got to bleach your report. Is there anything before then that you want to talk about? I mean, gosh, before bleach report, I was doing a lot of like agency work. So like, I was working

27:16at translation at the time with Steve Stout and I helped launch stash, which was like our short live sort of like media company within the agency where like, you know, I did some after source, I did like a stint of hip hop, wired, where it was like a lot, still a lot of journalism writing and you know, interviewing and all that type of stuff. But like stash was an opportunity to be like, you know, one by the name of Lisa Musich calls me and she's like, um, yo, love what you do on this website. Would you want to come and build something like that for us? And I'm like, what does that mean? So basically at that time, I think the closest example I can make of it was like cornerstone had like fader or like fader had cornerstone where it's like some publications were so pop and they had to spin off and make their own agency. Whereas, you know, sometimes, you know, the publication is so pop in like the agency is just within it. And this was like this and this sort of predated a lot of that stuff. So like being there,

28:16they were doing like Jay Z commercials and like Budweiser and Made in America and McDonald's and like all these like big flashy brand like cultural collaborations, right? And then what did somebody come in and sort of like make a, you know, this is a time where blogs were hot. So like if you didn't have like a now writer or a rap radar or a world star hip hop or all the sort of deady complex, like any sort of like destination to like have something be off there, you know, you were kind of behind. So we wanted to build like our own sort of version of that. And we got some like dope resources to do it. And you know, shout out to Steve Stout who was like an absolute legend. And you know, a dude who, you know, gave me a lot of trust to sort of like help build something really new and like, you know, I learned a lot from him just like and the people that worked at translation and being in being like the lone sort of like media slash journalist guy in this like agency world

29:21where like I'm learning the business of what to compete against when you work at like these other big media companies like MTV or complex and stuff like that. So it was a lot of learning and it was like a really unique position. We ended up putting out this really dope hardcover print magazine that people still come up to me with with Whisk-Aleaf on the cover that still come up to me and I like, yo, I bought that hardcover book. It's still sitting on my coffee table like to this day. And like if you look in the book, it has like people who came to like define like the next like 10 years. It was like Whisk, Pete Davidson, Carrie Champion, Chris Hemsworth, like all these like, just people just became like mega stars afterwards. But it was just a very New York East, East, you know, coast type of story we were telling, you know, with that hardcover book. And then, you know, it spun off to a podcast network and website. It was, it was, it was, it was doing too much to me. It was probably a little bit ahead of its time, but like that's the credit to style. Like

30:26he just did it because he thought it was cool. Like it wasn't, he wasn't really necessarily concerned with it becoming like a complex competitor. He just wanted to do some cool cultural shit. And I'll always respect and commend him for that. You know, so I went from there to Bleacher Report, which was another incredible experience. You know what I mean? Like I got in there as a working on their Snapchat team. You know what I'm saying? So like at this time, like Snapchat was like just launched discover and they wanted to, you know, their idea at that time was to create like really dope editorial content, you know, within the app. So they would have specific, specific companies, which would have like dedicated pages. So I ran the Bleacher Report one, right? So a lot of it was just sort of like, you know, creating a lot of the content that either lived outside of the Bleacher Report network or like stuff like we created in house. That led to, you know, me meeting with like a lot of the people that were starting there, you know,

31:30original content team. They had already did cool stuff like a game of zones and you know, these other, you know, really dope animated stuff, but they were launched this, they assigned us to do a Facebook to do Facebook watch and they were launched in this reality show and March on Lich. And they were like, yo, we see you do other stuff outside of like working here at Bleacher Report, but like we think you could come on and help write on this reality show that we're doing, March on. And at that time, I was also like, you know, really big into, I was doing some writing here and there for like MTV and like some other, you know, like, you know, pieces of content for them and for TV and work with like Charlemagne and doing uncommon sense with like Kid Mero and D's this and Andrew Schultz and Zuri Hall and all these like really dope media personalities now. And then, yeah, so they were like, come do this show. So I've go to live in the Bay Area with them

32:33for like a summer to shoot this reality show and March on Lich. It was called No Script and it was basically, you know, you could probably watch an HBO Max now if you could describe it. It was it was like Robin Bigg but with like March on in his friends and like Marcus Peters, you know, I mean, and like, and but it was the Ella's experience and then like he was just getting ready to come back into the NFL. So he was trained into, you know, residing with the Raiders and stuff. So there were moments that like, you know, we had to work around his workout schedule and there was a couple of times where there was one time in particular where he made us all do his like summer workout with him, you know, I mean, on the beach in, you know, Oakland and you know, I went super viral, you know what I mean? And you know, that was an incredible experience. But that was, that was, you know, working at Bleacher Report, especially at that time. Like, I look back at it now and I just see like the immense group of people who have like sort of like

33:34spun out of there and done incredible stuff there. Like Taylor Ricks was over there at the time. Omar, who was ESPN and Sports Center's Instagram, but he's like a mega star himself. Was there also Adam Luffgo who, you know, was basically like, awesome dude. He's going to be like the Ernie Johnson successor, you know what I mean? Like, inside the NBA and all that type of stuff. And who else? I mean, gosh, like that's why I first met Shanei Gummike, like, Shanei would come through and like, you know, start to really get into her media bag. Like she had just finished like her WMA career or was like sort of start to, you know, come there on the off seasons, throwing her WMA career. I just met so many dope people at that time. And Steven Nelson was like the voice of the Dodgers. You know, like, you know, it's just, it's just, it was an incredible like short time of my career. But like, I was so blessed to be there when I was, because, you know, every time I run into somebody who's like works at, you know, some other incredible company doing incredible work in the sports media world or something like that. We're all like,

34:35you know, could believe you all like, it was all working like one time and like, see you now. That's all split it off. But, um, yeah, man, it was, it was, it was definitely a, a pivotal time. And like, I love, I love the folks there. I learned a lot. That's amazing, especially the fact that you did all this work, freelance or whatever it would be in the fact that they recognized what you've done elsewhere and how you could bring that into their show. I love that. And, and create about the workout with Marsha. I mean, did that, how tired we were after that? I was, I was like, I wasn't, you know, I'm not, no, I'm not a slouch, you know, I'm saying, like, there was some people over there who haven't, you could tell haven't done much running or any sort of working out in quite some time. And, uh, that was funny the last, but, you know, that was the majority of my experience over at BR, man, but it was a great time to be there. Yeah. So after that, tell me about what you're up to and what you're doing.

35:39Man, so that's when I really wanted to start being much more of a front facing talent. So I had two options, right? Like, so right after that, I was going to do a show. No, actually, forget that. I think after that was WWE. So after that, I applied for like a digital content job at WWE. And at that time, I guess, you know, my social media still had like a really large wrestling following and like a lot of people, a lot of wrestlers sort of followed me, a lot of stuff. So the HR lady calls me up, you know, they do, they do diligence after you applied. I'm super excited. I'm thinking like I got the job or at least kind of coming interview for the job, right? It'd be like a website gig, right? So she's talking to me. She's like, you know, like a lot of, you know, I said your name here. And like a lot of people were like, oh, man, I love this stuff. And it was like, you know, like pop when I said your name. So like after they talked to me about

36:41the digital content job, they're like, yeah, like that's that's great. But they're like, yo, if you worked here, like, what would you want to do? And I was like, what do you mean what would I want to do? She's like, if you if you could work at WWE, like what would the job be? I was like one or two things. I'd love to be like a backstage interviewer or I'd love to help write the show. And they were like, great. You have a meeting here in Stanford later this week. You're going to meet road dog Jesse James is going to interview you. And you know, we'll see what happens. So I go and road dog interviews me and we have a great conversation. And I get hired to be a writer for world wrestling. You know, being like the parallel story between like my next basketball fandom is my like insane wrestling fandom. And so like it was such a who's like how bleach report was a whirlwind. And in between that, I'm trying to be a front facing talent. So like I had just signed on to do a show with Spotify and uninterrupted when they first started launching their video podcast. And you know,

37:43so I was doing that flying to Burbank and back to New York once a week doing that show. And I just got hired to be a writer at WWE. And I'm on the road team, right? So the road team is the team who travels with the wrestlers. There's a home team of writers. There's a road team of writers. The home team stays home, works out of the office in Stanford. And you know, whenever they're on the road, they have like, you know, video calls to sort of like do meetings with everybody. The road team, you're basically like a writer slash producer. Like you're helping to write the show, but you're also like with the wrestlers like pretty much coaching them how to, you know, get whatever you want out of their, you know, character or whatever or how you want it or how how Vince McMahon wanted it portrayed, like dependent on who was you were working with. So being able to like now tap into like, oh, they see, oh, you wrote for March on Lens Blisch report? Like, oh, wow, that's cool. Like, oh, you've, you're a big wrestling fan and like 90 of our wrestlers already follow you

38:47and like, think your Twitter hilarious. Like, oh, okay. He's like, oh, you're like really good friends with like the new day and like people that are like main eventers for us. Like, sure. So it's a job that like if you watch the show on Unreal Netflix, they give you like a sort of glimpse into what it's like to be a writer in the WWE and it was like one of those really big hush-hush things for a long time about like never sort of like revealing what happens about creating in this quote unquote, uh, scripted sport world, you know what I'm saying? But it was the most insane year of my life because you're basically a traveling circus, right? Like you're, you're utilizing, I'm now utilizing not just like my skills to write, but like my imagination, creativity, my fandom of this stuff, my knowledge of sport, my ability to sort of like connect stuff from pop culture and use it on the show. Like all these sort of like things and you're traveling everywhere every week. Like it's a nonstop every week here in another town, another city, another country.

39:50And you know, you're with those guys like more than your own family for an entire year, you know what I'm saying? And it was the most like I always tell people, it was like boot camp for me, like whatever I didn't learn, not going to some big fancy, like IV league, big 10, big none, you know university that like just like, tx, pxxx people from, you know, in Taha-liwood or in too media or whatever it is, every single year. I learned that year just being on the road with these guys, you know what and then I'm saying like it was just an insane environment and any way you can imagine it. You know, like insane in a sense that like, I'm working with people I was literally just watching on TV and in some cases people like, I grew up watching, like you know, like triple H is my boss now, like Undertaker's just like, random league hanging out backstage and like, you know, just the most insane, like the most surreal experiences

40:53of my entire life and I've told this story many times, but like the most insane experiences could only be typified by my second pay-per-view was Hulk Hogan's return to WWE, right? This is after the lawsuit, this is after, you know what I mean? Like, you know, like he had set all this racist stuff whenever so like, I'll never forget it. Like he comes, comes back, gives this speech to the locker room. It's a weird speech, you know? And it's my first time seeing the Hulk Hogan in real life and I'm a lifelong wrestling fan. I'm just like, this is the currently, what life is this? It's insane. I'm like one of four black guys that works here already. This is the first time I'm seeing Hulk Hogan of my life and I just started working here. I'm like, oh my God, what the hell? It also, that after BR, WWE, like,

41:54these, to me, now looking back at it, these are just sort of like, infinity stones I'm grabbing up his experience of just being able to be like, okay, now I've done this, now I've done that, now it's, you know, it's all sort of like coming together and to focus now. So it's kind of like that year made me realize exactly what I want to do with my career. Cause I knew I wasn't gonna be a lifeer there. Like I knew people that were there for like 20 years. And two weeks in the work in there, I was like, I'm not gonna work here for the rest of my life. I just need to enjoy this as long as possible. And mind you, they ran through writers like that. Like people would, people would be on there and be fired like three weeks later on month later, two months later, you know what I mean? If you made it a year, it's a fucking miracle at that time. You know what I mean? It's a little bit more steady now, but they ran through people. So I knew I wasn't long for it. So I just wanted to experience as much as I could through all that stuff. So after WWE, I sort of like really tell myself,

42:56like I want to make it as my own. I don't want to just like work at the cool place. I want to do the cool thing. You know what I mean? Like I want to be the host. I want to, you know, get into that. So, you know, as I'm doing that, as I'm like wrapping up my WWE run, that's when I first started getting like, because to come do SNY and like come and do like, you know, the show called The Thread. Well, before it was The Thread, I would just come do little bits on sports night, just come in and like talk about the next for like, you know, 30 seconds or like a minute or something like that. But it was something and it was like, you know, it was consistent, you know? It wasn't like no big money, but it was like I was getting paid to come and like talk sports on TV and I was like, oh my God, this is it. So I did that for a while, that while I'm still, you know, doing other jobs and stuff like that. I'm the parent on The Thread with again, another incredible group of like super talented folks, Rob Perez, you know what I mean?

43:58Gowley, Julie Store Banks, you know what I mean? Just incredible, incredibly talented people on that show. And then after that, I had a friend of mine that worked for LaBrons company. And they're like, yo, we are, we know you have a, and also I completely skipped my, the Flagrant podcast part of my career with like Andrew Schultz and those guys. But like that's another thing that's going on, like while I'm at WWE, like while I'm doing all these other jobs and stuff like that. So I get the call from LaBrons company and they're like, yo. Got came very highly recommended, been following your career for a long time. We're sort of like relaunching our like audio department we want you to come help lead it. So I get a job right as the pandemic starts. Right? Like so I'm getting all these gigs, I'm getting all these like front facing stuff, I'm doing stuff at all star.

44:59I'm like I got like low motion with my own podcasts, all these other things that happen and work in police shuts down. Then you know, but I start working, you know, for Spring Hill LaBrons company, running their audio department. My first project, I'm working with DJ Khaled and I'm executive producing the DJ Khaled's podcast on Amazon and that's another podcast where it's like, he's interviewing another icon every single week. So again, I'm producing like Justin Bieber, Dady, Mary J. Blige, T.I. Lohan Wayne, like just anybody you could think of. And that's another sort of like music thing, but also like I can do the sports thing because it's the bronze company and like I could touch with like five star basketball and do that audio podcast and the shop and that podcast and touching all those other things. So while I'm doing that, MSG finally calls. MSG is like yo, we want to start this show, this morning show on a network called MSGAM.

46:01I want to pair you with this girl Monica McKinnut. She does this stuff over time. She's all fantastic. Got Adiata. So while I'm doing the job with Spring Hill and all that stuff, we started doing MSGAM from home. They pretty much broadcasted from our crib. And that was directly from SNY to me being in the mix and the network and all that type of stuff. So we, me and Monica, every morning and every night, we do MSGAM and MSGPM. And like primarily during the pandemic, like we would be like a lot of the voices for you know those next games. You know what I mean? So it's like after it was either first thing in the morning and then they figured it would be better to come on like as a post game sort of show or a post post game sort of show where it's like, yeah, we're going to talk about the game and interview players, but like you know, we're going to interview like rappers and like athletes are going to come on like the guys that are just like in the garden are going to come kick at what it's as well. So like we did a lot of that remotely for a long time.

47:03And then when we finally got back into the building and finally got back until like you know, MSG, I always knew I wanted to do this stuff, but like that's when I was like, this is, this is the road. And like I love this feeling. You know what I mean? I'm like it was, now it's like my next heart is being fulfilled like immensely like times 20. It was, there was nothing better. Nothing better, man. And loved doing the show with MSG. I knew like Monica was, I was like the phrase that people always like gave out about Monica was like, we're all going to be working for Monica with it. Like everybody knew she was like, no fucking, she's the shit. Like just not just the coolest person, but like just immensely immensely talented. And being able to share the screen with her, like during the times where like Nick's fans, especially just needed people and needed something, man.

48:04Like that was just, that's some of the most incredible times of my life. And always going to have more than just being a Nick's fan. It's the Nick's fan dumb and the family of fans that like really makes me like, yeah, like this is a lifelong thing here. It's never going to go away. And all of that. And I mean, to the point of the Infinity Gauntlet, you're right, like the entertainment factor, the wrestling, the Nick's just like everything. But it also feels like, you know, working for Monica, of course, but you've got the brightest touch too. I mean, it seems like you happen to be like the right place at the right time. It's like a good version of like any entertainment world of like how is force gump there when that happens? Like how feels like you when it comes to all of this and how you're able to push people forward that way. So that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my career. I appreciate that. Of course. So, you know, I know. I want to share something that really caught my attention

49:06as a parent. I've learned that myopia near-sightedness is becoming much more common in kids. And it's not something you want to ignore. If it goes unchecked, it can have an impact that goes way beyond schoolwork. What really matters is starting with an eye exam. An eye doctor can tell you what's going on with your child's vision and walk you through options that are designed specifically for kids like Esselaer Stelest Lenses. I like that Stelest Lenses are made for children and fit right into everyday life. They look like regular glasses, but they're part of a more thoughtful approach to managing myopia. If you're a parent and you've been meaning to book an eye exam, this is your sign. Visit Esselaer.com to learn more about Stelest Lenses and to find an Esselaer expert eye care professional near you. Yes, it's Angus Maximus. This partner has one pound of hot, juicy, cooked to water, Angus speed. It's more fish than a quarter pounder. The battle is closed. And for only $5.99,

50:07even regular juice can afford it. Like that guy. Give me that big ol' burger. Yeah! He holds Angus Maximus, only $5.99 is cold senior. A bill for a limited time of participating restaurants, tax on included, not valid for use within a combo or in combination with any other offer or discount. Yeah, we're getting close on time, of course, but I want to hear a little bit more about 7 p.m. and Brooklyn. Because you know, I would take it, you'd met Melo, you'd known Melo before then. So where are you when you find out that's the direction that you're going and what's your reaction to it? Man, so like I said, this earlier, I've had some incredible gigs. I've lost some incredible gigs to organize things have moved on, things dissolve. It's you know what the business is like. Things change swiftly. And a lot of times you take it personally. This is why I stopped taking a lot of that stuff personally. After, you know, M.H.G.P.M. was, you know, revamped or put on pause for a long time, whatever.

51:07You know, the folks out wave had hit me and was like, yo, podcast P was doing well. So I was like, I was like, I'm going to do a East Coast version of that, basically. And you know, Carmelo was the guy. And initially, there was a number of people that they had in mind for an initial co-host and eventually, no, so initially, it was going to be, it was a lot of people in the running. But obviously it ends up being like, I got a marrow, you know what I mean? He's basically as close as family to me at this point, you know what I mean? Like he's a dude that's just from my MTV days. And again, Infinity Gauntlets, like we were in writer's rooms together during MTV two days during, you know, uncommon sense with Charlomaine. And you know, the first blog post that popped him off was amplified by God rest his soul, Combat Jack, who was my editor when I was at the source. You know what I mean? So it's like we just had all these tie-ins together.

52:09And he does the show for a while. But you know, once they did it, it was like, it was always with a plan to evolve at that first. So while I was disappointed that I didn't get it, he was like, yo, stick around because like we want to, you know, grow this family of hosts or whatever. So I got called in one day to come on and be a guest. It was like, yo, the Olympics just happened. Melo's quart side basically like coaching team. He would say through the gold medal. We need somebody to come in and just like, we were still early in the series. So outside of the first episode, a lot of the episodes were like very guest based. But we basically just wanted to have a combo with Melo about that experience. They wanted me to come in and just be another mic. I was like, great. And we did that. I think the timing of it was awesome. He was so open about the experience. It was such like a second screen experience, that game, career hits like crazy three, that that Avengers assemble just moment and the Melo on the sideline just like, like, you know,

53:11the, the, the, the, the OG Avenger of team America back there. Like it was just an ill conversation to have. So I have before that, you know, Melo and I have crossed past many different times just as far as like, you know, media stuff. But after we did that podcast, we sat and kicked it at that spot for like, eight hours, you know, and just like, we just talked about life. Like we just talked about, like we just clicked immediately. Like we just became, we, it was, it wasn't like, I don't know if he was like getting to know me or whatever. But like we just kicked it. And anything I ever wanted to know about him, we talked about, he wanted a lot, he wanted a lot, know a lot about me. We just talked about what was, you know, our separate upbringings and all that type of stuff. It was just one of the dopest conversations I've ever had. And then it just sort of like just snowballs, like another guest appearance and another one. And then eventually it was just like, we can't have episodes of that cast.

54:14You know, so, um, it's just, it's the, I'm blessed to do a lot of incredible things in my career. But like, I'm so grateful for 7 p.m. and Brooklyn and then like, you don't understand that is like, if I like, I legitimately, I won't point in my life was like, man, like, I don't think the thing that's out there for me exists. Like it has to just sort of like, I don't know, like, but it's, it's gonna find me somewhere. You know what I mean? Like I'm a Pisces and I think I really believe in my intuition. I always feel like if I don't feel it right in here, it's not gonna be for me. So I think a lot of those stops were like, God sort of like place me in a position to where it's time to be that person in that seat. You're qualified for it, you know what I mean? So like, and I just have so much fun doing the show, man. Like it's just the best compliment I could ever get to anybody or from anybody about the show is that like, I feel like I'm in the room with you guys.

55:15You know, like, if you ever come to the hook already, it's just a dope place to be, you know what I mean? Like it's not just a set like real legitimately hanging out like in there, like as a clubhouse. And it's like every week, it's a special new guest who comes to hang out with us. You know what I'm saying? Like so it's like, even before the cameras turn on, I'm just looking forward to like, man, Kevin Hart's gonna come through. And he come that through with a freaking tequila bottle the size of like a WNBA player. And then like, you know, method man's gonna come through. We're all gonna get high with method man. And he's gonna, it's like, you know, and then we're on the pulse of it too. You know, it's not just like we're just getting all these cool famous people to come hang on the podcast and interview him. Like it's turned into the place that people want to come to when they want to get their story off. You know, like there are people who don't really podcast or wouldn't want to do the type of podcasting that's out there that is super popular, but they feel so comfortable with us. They feel like when they come in here, it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be informative. Like they know I'm not gonna let them slide.

56:23They know, you know, Melo's not gonna let them slide. They know they can give it back to Melo just as bad as, you know, I might give it to somebody else. You know what I'm saying? Like, and he's open and he talks about it. And then, you know, and then the community, like the people in the Instagram comments and YouTube, it's like, it's just such a fun show. And I couldn't be more blessed to be doing it at a time like this when the next world champions and like it's a dude who got traded to my favorite team on my birthday. I don't know what more like, like I don't know what more ordained that has to be, you know what I'm saying? And on top of that, just an incredible human being, just a rap, that all thing up, like just incredible as a human being for what he does, not just in the community, then what I see, but just like the type of dude he is, like there's a reason why he has such a amongst our ends, you know, I mean, like a month's like the real ones. Yeah, like that's why he has the reputation he has because Melo's mellow at the end of the day. So it's such a blessing to be able to do that show and then, you know, spin it off to be able to host a morning show on hot 97 like it's just I couldn't be more honored and privileged to, you know, have a microphone that matters in the time where people, you know, want to hear from real voices, you know, so it is, I'm incredibly blessed and I never take any of that for granted.

57:47And man, it's a long winding career and I truly believe I'm just getting started, like I truly believe I'm just starting to understand this and really getting my stride and really knowing like how to sort of like truly become what I thought I always could be in this, in this sort of industry. And also not 40 yet, I always told myself I don't figure it out by the time I'm 40 I gotta do something else in my life, but I'm just going to be 40 next next year and I really do feel like now is where it's going to get a little bit more. It's going to get even more interesting however interesting the first 40 was the next they're going to be a hundred times that I can feel it in my bones. It's amazing. I mean, all just the whole path that like how you keep coming full circle in various different ways like it's where you were writing with Merrill before and now yeah, it's working together at 97 and everything with Melo, like you're saying the coincidence of my first MTV moments was the first time being on any sort of TV was on MTV and MTV 2 and it was with Merrill and the podcast is with Merrill and more than showed with it's, you know, it's a wonderful feeling and I'm really blessed.

59:03That's amazing. Well, cast thank you so much for taking the time to spend here. It's really awesome that you could join us and tell us a little bit more is anything you want to plug that's the volume of the opportunity. Man, I'll be at the battle of Jalof tomorrow head coach of team Nigeria. It's going to be a great time in Brooklyn while I was performing OGN and OB came last year and hugged Larry. So I think that was a good omen for the rest of the season. But it's one of the most events in New York every year come check that out tomorrow in Brooklyn and you know, just keep watching 7 p.m. in Brooklyn. Keep watching hot 97 more is at Merrill every Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. or you're hot 97 every day. That's my word. Thank you so much. Oh, Rainier Wesslin. That's man show. Please yeah, wrestling too. I told wrestling over there as well. All right. Well, thank you. Thanks so much to Kaz for joining us and for you all for joining us as well for another episode of KFS spotlight presented by title flight.

1:00:07You want to follow us for more content. Follow us here at Nick's film school title flight as well. Feel free to give us a five star review if you're comfortable doing that. Till next time. Thanks, Nick's fans. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's why drivers have enjoyed progressives name your price tool for years now with the name your price tool. You tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your option. Visit progressive dot com find a rate that works for you with the name your price tool. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. Hey, what's up guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay, I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube premium. It's got tons of awesome features like offline downloads so I can download my favorite videos before I try to do it. I'm going to travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get out free, I get back room play and there's like a ton more in there. You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium.

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