Episode 043: NO JUMPER - Adam22 & Hip Hop Culture
3 Feb 2018 · 44 min
A 2018 Rise of the Young podcast interview with Adam22 (Alan22) about his journey from a BMX-obsessed youth in Nashua, New Hampshire to founding the No Jumper media brand in Los Angeles. He describes starting online BMX coverage and a Melrose, LA BMX store, pivoting into YouTube vlogs and podcasts, and then focusing on hip-hop interviews. He recounts breaking early interviews with emerging artists (e.g., XXXTentacion, Lil Yachty, Lil Pump), explains how he discovers underground talent (store community, social platforms, fans), and discusses No Jumper’s evolution into a hip-hop media company, merchandising and monetization challenges, audience interaction, and advice for young creators.
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This is the Rise of the Young podcast, bringing you insights from the most innovative entrepreneurs and influencers of this era. Hosted by 17 year old entrepreneur, author.
Public speaker and branding expert, Casey Adams.
Now let's get right into the show.
Yo, what up everyone. Casey Adams here. Welcome to the Rise of the Young podcast. Today we got Adam Grandmason here with us today. Pleasure have pleasure having you on, man.
Hey, appreciate it, man. Happy to be here. For the record, we're going by Alan22, my government name, many years ago, but it's, you know, I still respect it, but I like to go by the number.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I was about to say. So everyone listening. Adam, he runs the podcast no Jumper. I'm sure a lot of you listening know what it is you've tuned in goes by Adam22. Let's get into that. But yeah, man, pretty much how I want to start this off, man, for the people that don't know who you are, kind of where you're from and how you've got into this whole hip hop culture. What you have now with no jumper. So kind of just like the brief intro story before we really jump into it.
Yeah, so I'm a pretty regular ass kid from New Hampshire. I was, you know, it's about. I grew up about 30 minutes outside of Boston and my whole life I just had this completely obsessive personality where whatever I was into, I was just 100% into it. Like whether it was professional wrestling or comic books or video games or whatever the fuck it was. And you know, at a certain point I fell in love with BMX bikes. And then that became my life for like maybe 10 years. I started when I was about 12 or 13 and then that was my life until I was about 22. And when I was 22. I was. You know, I've always been a big rap fan, too. And I was paying attention to what was going on in the hip hop blog space. And I started to see that there were all these rap blogs popping up, like now, right? And two Dope boys, stuff like that. And they had a pretty basic formula, you know, that is recognizable to anybody today of like, basically what a blog is, where, you know, they would just cover, you know, new magazine covers, new songs, new music videos, just all that stuff in the hip hop space. And I was looking at that stuff every day. And, you know, I noticed, like a profound change in my behavior because, you know, I had been a person where since the age of maybe like 11 or 12, I was buying hip hop magazines every month, like the Source and XXL and Murder Dog. And I just noticed that my behavior stopped. Like, I spotted that in myself, that I changed up my behavior and stopped looking at magazines and started just checking blogs. And so then I noticed that in bmx, that magazines were huge, but there weren't really any significant websites. So I figured that I wanted to start a website that could document what was going on in BMX culture, basically take the stuff that was going on in the message boards, like, you know, YouTube videos, MySpace videos, you know, photos that people were taking, that kind of stuff. And I wanted to be able to sort of COVID that online. So I started doing that, aggregating content. And then that sort of led me in the direction of, you know, and that changed my life because before that, you know, I was selling drugs, doing credit card scams. And, you know, after that, I kind of. I found my way into online poker. But then online poker led me into the. The BMX website thing. So I was doing that for a while. Kind of started to get bored with just, you know, running a regular blog. So we started to get real heavy into the YouTube side of things. And I started to do vlogs, and I started to do podcasts. And, you know, pretty quickly with the podcast thing, I found myself wanting to do podcasts. I went outside of BMX as I started gaining confidence with doing BMX podcasts. And that led me in the direction of doing rap podcasts, because that's just something I've always been into. And then all of a sudden, it became the case pretty quickly that the rap podcasts were a lot more popular than the BMX podcasts. And I sort of had to adapt and change up my content. And it's just been a roller coaster for the past few years, for sure.
So when did you actually start your podcast? Was it how many years ago?
You know, I was messing with it for a while. If you were to search TCU TV on YouTube, you'd find all kinds of weird stuff. Or especially if you search Interbike, because we were in Vegas, we like rented out a suite and we tried to do podcasts with all kinds of different BMX companies that advertise with us. Like that's what we were trying to do for a while. And over time I sort of found my style, which I guess is more, you know, just doing like in depth interviews, like hardcore conversations, because I feel like I kind of exist in a weird space where I can relate to an 18 year old rapper kid because I never really stopped living that life completely. But then I can also relate to, you know, a 40 year old businessman because I have experience in terms of building companies and all that kind of stuff too. So.
So when you say you started like the BMX podcast, was that like. Cause you, you have a store, like a physical store and where is it? In Melrose, right?
Yeah, it's in Los Angeles, on Melrose. It's about like a half a mile from the Supreme Store. So it's, you know, a pretty hip area. And, and we're happy to be out here and sort of be able to spread like BMX culture to, you know, all the streetwear kids and stuff like that. Because a lot of these people, BMX is not like a huge part of modern pop culture like it was in the 90s or whatever. So it's cool for us to be able to sort of be the cultural point for people who are into that stuff and to have no jumper be part of it. Because a lot of, a lot of my fans wouldn't really know anything about BMX if it wasn't from for no jumper. So it's cool.
That's dope. Actually I was, I used to do like bmx. I was in a bunch of different competitions and shit for like two, three years. That's, that's dope. So when it comes to like the podcast with like going from BMX to rap. I know I've checked out a lot of your stuff regarding like you had Xavier Wolf on, you had a few of these guys. Was that something where like you've already had these mutual relationships or how did like that entire rap scene, podcasting, interviewing come about?
Well, if you look at how I got into rap podcasting, really, it's like you only need one connection if you're good or if you if you're, you know, doing the right things. Like, for me, Xavier Wolf was my only connection to hip hop. He's the only person I knew in the rap scene. The only reason I knew him was because he was into bmx and he was always, like, coming through our shop and stuff. And I just randomly reached out to him on Twitter because I was a fan of what him and Bones and Chris Travis and them were doing. So, you know, I. I reached out to him, we started kicking it a little bit. He's the only rapper kid that I knew at the time. And so I did an interview with him that went well, and then Puya hit me up. Puya was like, yo, I fucking love that interview that you did with Xavier. He's like, I want you to be my first interview. So this, to me at that time is like, you know, now I know all these super famous rappers and stuff, so it doesn't. I'm able to see more realistically that, like, they weren't really like that big of rappers at that time. But I mean, these are guys who at that time could sell out, you know, a thousand tickets at a show. Now they could probably do 2,000 tickets at a show. So I was geeking because I love rap music my whole life, but I never really had, like, a way that I was participating in the culture besides just listening to it and maybe like, posting some songs on Twitter or something. So, you know, really think about that. I only knew one guy, but that one guy was enough for me to sort of wedge my foot in the door and really, like, get. Get my way into that space. Which is. It's kind of important for, like, a young entrepreneur to hear that, I think, because, you know, you could go be an assistant or you could go, you know, be an intern at some company and just meet, like, the one right person that could completely take your career in a different direction.
For sure. For sure. That's dope. That's badass. So was it like when you. When you, like, had those couple interviews, what is it? Was it more of like a word of mouth effect where you're just like, you got him on, you got Puya, you got Fat Nick on, and then they just started bringing in more people or you were just reaching out or like, how did you, like, I saw you were like the first interview for Lil Yachty, right? Like, was that like his first kind of conversation when he was coming up?
You know, it was really just like, I. I got the first interviews for a lot of artists who went on to be really big. And that was just genuine because like When I interviewed XXXTentacion, he only had like, like 12,000 or 15,000 followers on SoundCloud or whatever. And now he's got like 3 million, I think. And so like that one, that was my biggest interview I ever did. And that. And that was like, when you think about it, that was just the fact that that was such a big thing for me and that that propelled my career in the right direction was just because of the fact that I like took a chance on a kid who wasn't proven yet at that time. And like, same thing with Lil Pump. Like all those videos I did with him, they got like 6 or 7 million views. I mean, he wasn't really that big. When I met him, he had like 5,000 followers. When I met him, he was brand new. But I just like, you know, and that right there, I think is important for, for a young entrepreneur to see too is like, you know, if you take chances on building relationships with lots of different people, it doesn't matter if maybe they're not the biggest at that time or the best or the most useful to you. It's like over time, all those relationships can kind of come together to help you get where you want to go.
For sure. That's badass. So with you like kind of taking a step back because you said you grew up in New Hampshire, right? So like, when did you move to la? And like, what was the reasoning was, did you have a plan or how'd that all go?
Well, yeah, I lived in New Hampshire, Nashville, New Hampshire, half hour outside of Boston. That's why I always say, because when people hear New Hampshire, they think like that I lived on a ski resort or something. You know, I basically lived in like a pretty regular ass, little small New England City, like 80,000 people or whatever. But from, from a super young age, riding BMX and everything, I just knew that I wasn't meant to be there because we used to go to go to Boston every weekend or we, we'd be like getting one of our friends to drive us to Lowell or Manchester, New Hampshire or something like that just to ride bmx. And I just like pretty quickly got accustomed to that feeling of like, oh, I don't want to be on my block, I don't want to be in my neighborhood. I want to be getting out there and seeing the fucking world. And that's like the main really, when I think about bmx, that's the biggest thing that it gave me aside from maybe just like the Knowledge that I got from running BMX website is just that. That passion and that dedication again, myself out there. So at a really young age, we're going to Boston and stuff all the time. All of a sudden I'm like, 17. I'm in New York City for the first time. And I was always in love with hip hop too. So just being able to be out in the Bronx, in Queens, riding BMX bikes and hearing, like, cars blasting, like, G Unit and Dipset, like in the very early days of those artists coming out and stuff, it was just like an unreal thing for me to experience that at a young age. And I got to thank BMX for that because that's what got me out of my shell and made me sort of want to take on challenges and get out there and see the world. So, yeah, I moved to. To Astoria, Queens when I was like, right, right. Right before my 21st birthday. I was out there for seven years. I also lived in Bushwick, which at the time was not the fun, gentrified, cool version of Bushwick that it is now, but. And then I left out of there in 2010 and lived in Long beach for a while, and then I've been in LA ever since.
That's dope. That's dope. So when it comes to, like, your transition of, like, BMX to the hip hop game, was this something like, you had to like? Cause you still have, like, the BMX story. Are you still invested and involved in the BMX scene at all? Or how does that look?
Yeah, you know, like, we still have the BMX store. I still have the BMX website, Thecomeup.com and I'm gonna be totally honest, the BMX scene is not really as strong as it was at a certain point in the sense that there's just not as much going on in terms of the website and everything. There's just not as many videos coming out and everything. But we still have bloggers who make stuff. We still have videos that come on our YouTube chann. For me personally, you know, it's kind of like, it's the kind of thing where I want bmx. I want to find more BMS kids who really care about making BMX content, sort of empower them, but it's been kind of a struggle to find people who want to do that stuff. So, I mean, on a personal level, I'm really focused on building no jumper. But the BMX connection that I feel we still have is mainly through the store because, you know, we have kids coming through constantly we're selling bikes to kids, helping them fix their bikes, selling parts, giving them a place to hang out. We got like a grind ledge in front and stuff. So I mean that's, that's definitely really valuable to me. Even though I don't have much of a role with the website anymore, just the fact that we still have the shop and I'm able to have like a one on one relationship with so many BMX kids all the time is really awesome just to be able to see them. And I know that like, even though I don't do BMX content anymore, that they seem like they respect and appreciate the stuff that I'm doing.
Like, you're holding it together out there.
You know, I'm putting on for their shit. Different level in a different context, I think.
So that's badass is badass. So when it comes to, when it comes to just. I know that when it comes to like interaction on Instagram, social media, no Jumper in general, because I know that you have merch with no Jumper. But like from your point of view where no Jumper is now, like what's like your, like where you want to take it as like a visionary standpoint, is it like a record label? Is it just you want to be the spotlight for hip hop like you currently are? Like what's kind of like your vibe with everything you got going on from like a long, like just kind of like a thought process, looking forward.
Well, to be honest, like, I really felt like at a certain point I could. I decided that no Jumper just became something that I didn't plan for it to be in the sense that it just became known as this hub for all of the cool new young viral rap shit. And that's not necessarily what I planned for it to be, but that's what it turned into because that was just the kind of stuff that I knew about. So for a while I was sort of resisting that and being like, nah, I don't want to go fully hip hop because you know, that comes with all sorts of like responsibilities and everything. But you know, at a certain point I just realized, you know, that's what people want from me with the no Jumper thing. So I'm just going to give it to them. I'm just gonna, you know, actually make, you know, the best possible hip hop media company that I can. I'm really focused on doing that for the next, you know, however many years of my life is I just want to really build the best hip hop media company I can. And you know, I still, you Know, I like doing things on my own and stuff. Like I'm starting my own podcast, just called out in 22 show and that's just gonna be kind of more of like a host chat type thing for people who might be interested in that and. Yeah, but I don't know, I mean that's, that's my main goal. Like, I do want to develop stuff for tv, but I want to develop a media company. And that's what I'm really like completely focused on at this point in terms of doing merch and stuff. You know, that's a good way to keep the lights on. You don't make that much on YouTube these days if you do the kind of content that we do with guns and weed like that.
So monetize it or something like that.
Oh yeah, yeah, we big, big demonetization gang for sure.
Damn, that's ugg. So when it comes to. I was reading some of your comments on Instagram and stuff, people are always like, just when it comes to like your character, like connecting with fans, whether it be taking pictures and stuff. So what's like your mindset with like you have obviously as like an Adam22 personal brand, like 600,000 followers and you have the no jumper brand, but when it comes to like your interaction with your audience, I've seen a lot of people say that, like they just totally vibe with you. So what's like your kind of mindset about the personal brand that you've created, the way that you go about it, like, do you have certain limits that you do? Or what's like your whole thought process interacting with fans and people that support you?
I mean, I love my fans and I try to take as many photos as I can and everything. I definitely. Sometimes at a certain point you realize that you just got to be a dick. When you're like running through a show trying to get to the backstage area and there's like a million people screaming that they want a photo. You got to just be like, nah, you got to just put your head down and keep heading there because you can't do it. But you know, for the most part, I try to hang out my store as much as possible and just like meet people. And you know, I love it. I get to take, take pictures with like 8 year old girls and then like all of a sudden their 40 year old dad is like, yo, can I get a photo too? And that's like just realize like, oh man, there's like whole families that are vibing with me. Even though my content is completely not family friendly. I don't know. But for me, like, in terms of how I see myself fitting into that whole, the whole YouTube world stuff, I try to just be the realest vlogger. Like, I try to be the realest podcaster. I try to be honest about everything. Like, I try to be honest about drugs and sex and how I feel and what I'm doing. Business wise. I try to lay as much stuff out on the table as possible in terms of what I'm doing with my business because I feel like people relate to that. And like, like I just put out a vlog today and there's a moment where my fucking. I pull up my pant leg so I can show my friend my, my tattoo of a Pokemon on my leg and when I'm pulling because he had the same Pokemon tattooed on his throat. But anyway, I pulled up my pant leg to show him and my pant leg got stuck on top of my calf and I had to pull it down. It took me like 10 minutes of pulling my calf, pulling my jeans down, and I left it in. I could have left it out. I could have took it out. It's pretty embarrassing because I want to be the realest YouTuber, whatever the fuck you want to call me. I'm just trying to be the realest. So that's my personal ethos.
That's dope. That's dope. So when it comes to just like the hip hop culture in general with like the different people that you've interviewed, you, like, you said that you've interviewed like from people that just gotten started and then like the big superstars in a sense. So when it comes to, I was looking through some of your comments and it's like XXL freshman predictions, like, who do you think's hot right now? That like, little pump went from like, when you interview them to mainstream in a sense. And I'm sure you have a different outlook and taste about like, who's currently making moves, but like, what's like, from your insights about like, someone who's up and coming that you think people should know about or they will within the next six months or something.
I mean, you know, it's crazy because people ask me that a lot. And the weird thing about answering it is that there's very many, like, different levels to the underground. Like, for instance, I don't know how deep you are in the underground. I could say Little Skies is like the next big star underground. But I mean, the thing is Little Skies just hit a million followers On Instagram, Little Skies has multiple songs with like 40 million plays. So in terms of how deep I am into the underground, me saying that Little Skies is next up seems kind of obvious. So it's really all about who you're talking about. You know, I could say the same thing about ybny. I mean, he just hit a million followers. To a lot of people who are like rap fans, they might still not know who I mean, Amir is, even though he's got a song like Rubbing off the Paint that's got, you know, whatever, 50 million plays or some shit like that. So I don't know, it's tough to say. And I could really dig deep. I could go all the way deep underground and name off somebody. Like, oh, 10 cell phones, man. We were jamming up to 10 cell phones last night on the live stream, and he got some hits. I mean, he got hits, but I'm talking about he got like 2500 plays or actually, I really want to show love to Pimp Pimp Pete, because he got a song called P Talk. And you know, that's. That's my friend Dusto Dub's little brother. And he. He's just like a ridiculous LA character who says it's regular about 800 times per song. So I mean, it's all about what different level you want to look at in the underground. But I got all the levels covered because I'm paying attention to everything. So that's dope. There's a lot of good stuff coming out. Hip hop ain't even close to over.
Okay, that's dope. That's dope. So when it comes to like, I see that you go with you like deep dive and, you know the underground, like, deep, deep. So when it comes to like, you kind of figuring out or finding the people, is that just from like looking through social media and analyzing or like what's like kind of your thought process, like whether that be discovering someone or just like really figuring out who's next up or you're listening to people. Is there like certain strategies you use or just like just being on content, stand on watch and just like really making it happen?
I mean, I imagine that if I was not such an authentic participant in the culture that it would be kind of a challenge to stay on top of like, everything that's coming out. And I'm not saying that I'm on top of everything because a lot of times I'll find out about some rapper for the first time, and he already got a million followers and he already Got songs with millions of plays and like that, you know, I'm just paying attention. Like a lot of times stuff might get by me a little bit, but you know, I pay attention, you know, like I, I have a lot of friends, a lot of them are younger. For young kids, like when you like, you know, just because I have a store is that I got a lot of friends who are like, you know, 18, 19, 20 year old dudes and like they know because they're just in the streets. So like if there's some hot sonic, got 50,000 plays and it's just popping off in LA, I mean, they're going to tell me about it because they're eager to tell me about that shit because they know that I'm going to help that dude get more attention if the shit is good or whatever. So for me at this point it's super easy because I just, you know, not only do I spend so much time on Twitter, not only do I spend so much time on YouTube, not only do I talk to so many, like people are actually like participants in the music industry in the sense of like A and R's, label dudes, stuff like that. But then the fans, like, I mean, I can't get away from it. Like if there's a rapper popping up who got 100,000 followers, there's no chance that I'm going to miss his name being said over and over in my comments. So it's just, it's easy, it's regular for me at this point. But I mean it helps that I actually just like this shit. Like I've always been that person. Like, yeah, my assistant or whatever you want to call him Chris. He was just talking about that the other day to a reporter or whatever. He's like, man, it's weird to see Adam getting this recognition now because he was just like, you know, Adam was always that dude. He was always waking up in the morning and freaking out about some 18 year old rapper and being like, yo, you got to hear this song. Which, you know, somebody like Chris is kind of more a regular guy. It's like that was weird, but not weird. But you know, it's different for me is that's how I always know.
Okay, so kind of moving on to another one. Like when it comes to. Because I really, with the Gary Vee interview and that was something where I saw on you before and then I saw the Gary Vee interview. So. Because it's like you're, you're doing all these rappers and Gary Vee is kind of like the entrepreneur figure. And I know like you said it from the beginning, like you have different people, but how did that kind of come about? Because it's like two very different genres. Even though Gary Vee is like in the culture in a sense. But like how did that kind of whole story evolve and that whole just Gary Vee sort of collab happened? Anything?
I mean, I got hooked up with that interview through this dude Rama that I know who runs like a weed branding agency. And he's kind of friends with Gary. So he basically just mentioned it to Gary. Gary like recognized that he'd seen my name and his comments and stuff like that. Like, Gary to his credit is like in a weird way he's like obsessed with social media and you know, keeping abreast of what's going on in the culture and shit. Like he like how I was just saying that, you know, I'll have some 19 year old kid from Watts who, you know, just hangs out around the store and he'll be like telling me about new rappers that I got to look at. And that's not necessarily like an intentional thing on my part. That's just kind of how it's the situation I found myself in. But with somebody like Gary, he got a guy on his team that he refers to as like his music consultant or some shit like that. So they had just gone to a agenda together which is this big like fashion trade show in Long beach and Vegas and stuff. And they had just been at that and Gary was saying like, you know, he's like, you know, I like, I like Trippie Redd, I like Boo Johnson, who's a professional skateboarder, he's just like, you know, because he's just, he knows Gary even being a fucking old ass crusty man like he is, he knows that he's got to stay abreast of what's going on in the culture. Like, and that, that him knowing about something like Trippie Redd is only gonna help him in his career. And you know, I like, I like that about Gary, that he's these keys gone out of his way to sort of end up in a situation that helps him be more culturally affluent, which is. I like that about him, that he knows that. That's important for sure.
That's dope. So when it comes to, from your insights of like one of your kind of not biggest interviews, but one, one of your favorite interviews, one of the favorite people that you connected with through the no Jumper podcast, do you have like a top three or not even Just to put someone over someone, but, like, a good conversation that you've had from, like, a story they've told or anything like that, man.
I mean, there's so many, like, historic moments that occurred on the podcast from, you know, rappers showing up, trying to fight other rappers in the middle of interviews, which is, like, something that we didn't actually put in the video, but it's, you know, it's folklore. Like, people know about it a little bit to, you know. One of my favorite things that I was able to be a part of was that I was doing the Suicide Boys interview, and Puya showed up in the middle of the interview, along with Fat Nick, I believe. And they had never met before, which is, you know, they had done mixtapes before or done a mixtape before, a bunch of songs together. And Puia showed up in the middle of the interview, but all the communication they had had was, like, over the computer or whatever. And they met in the middle of the interview, which to me was just like, that's crazy. Like, that. That captured, like, a big, big moment in both of their careers because Puyo was, like, instrumental in the Suicide Boys career. And I don't know. That was. That was crazy. And then, like, another one that comes to mind is, like, I did the first Yachty interview, and when I did that interview, he was like this super, like. I don't want to say insecure, but he was super new to being famous, doing something like an interview, and he was just so green, so brand new to this whole thing. And then we did an interview about, like, a year and nine months afterwards, I believe maybe a year and a half, and we redid another interview, and it was just amazing just seeing him basically been around the world, got rich, grew the fuck up, fucked a million girls. Like, it was just amazing to, like, see it come full circle because he had gone from, like, a boy to a man in a year and a half. And, I mean, again, that's just. That's just organic shit. Because I had been in the studio with Lil Pump, like, two nights before, and I seen Yachty there, and Yachty was like, yo, you want to do another interview? I was like, let's do it. I didn't think he was gonna actually hit me up and then just hit me up, like, a couple days later, boom, we did it. And, I mean, that's. That, again, that's just like, the kind of stuff that comes from actually being out here. Like, I knew about Lil Yachty when he had 10,000 followers, because I actually.
Give a shit okay, so it's just like you're just deep into it enough to like know about the people before the mainstream in a sense. And I totally get that. For sure.
Yeah, I mean like, you got it, whatever you're doing. All I'm saying is you got to just be so passionate about whatever you're doing that you got to just eat it, live it, sleep it, read it. And if you don't have that, like, if somebody is looking at what I got right now, they're like, oh, he's a 34 year old white guy and he runs a hip hop media company. That's cool. You run the popular hip hop podcast. Somebody wants that. It's like, alright, well the number one thing you got to do is you got to pay attention to this fucking culture and be an active participant in it for, you know, probably at least 10 years. And then maybe you'll have like an opinion that people are interested in hearing when it comes to this rap shit. Because it's not, it's not a forgiving culture. The fact that I've even been able to exist as a fucking white boy is a challenge in and of itself. So I mean, you know, you gotta, you gotta really mean it because people are very eager to call out a fake.
Okay, for sure, for sure. Let's go. No, that's some real shit. I feel you. So when it comes to Jess, your involvement of like, what were you at last year you'd say when it comes to subscribers on YouTube, what's been like the growth process over the last year? Two years.
Well, I know that like a year ago I had 50,000 on Instagram and now I got like almost 600,000. So I was thinking about that the other day. That's pretty crazy. And yeah, I don't know, I think I had like maybe like 300,000 subscribers like a year ago. So yeah, like 1.1 million now. That's pretty exciting. But you know, it's just that constant grind is putting in work and just doing online and like it's crazy because I, I could not find the energy to put in that work if I didn't absolutely love what I was doing. Because I'm just a person that's directed by my mood, directed by my energy, whatever the I feel like doing, you know.
Sir, for so, so when it comes to like it says you dropped out of college, right? Like was that ever a path for you at all? Or like yesterday you went to a community college and then dropped out. Like what was that pre, moving to la? Sort of bmx Adam. Before that, like, did you ever plan on kind of not even starting a media company, but like just being an entrepreneur, creating your own shit or what was like your mindset like before this all started?
My mindset when I was 19 or whatever and I dropped out of college was basically that at the time I was doing credit card fraud, I was selling drugs and I just was like, man, fuck this shit, I hate college. I want to drop the fuck out and, you know, just make money and be able to do whatever I want. Be able to travel, travel around, ride my bike, do whatever. So that's why I dropped out of school and moved to New York. Totally stupid decision, really. Like, you know, kids, you don't want to be living a life of crime. Shit is bad news. But I don't know, for some reason that seemed like a good idea to me at the time. And I did it and I managed to make it work out. But you know, for the kids out there, I would probably recommend a more, a little bit less of a risky strategy in terms of how to go about making it. But you know, that's where I was at that point. I didn't give a fuck about college. I never wanted to be there. I only went to college because my parents told me that I basically had two options. I could go to college and I could and I could not like that I wouldn't have to pay rent, I could stay at home and not have to pay rent or that I could get a full time job and pay them rent. Was like, man about it too. Is that like my parents, they're really serious with education. Shit, I didn't care at all personally, but they. My mom was a librarian for the state of Massachusetts, so she was able to like get me, get me in there for free, basically. So I was able to go to college for free. So I didn't. Even though I didn't care about it at all, it gave me an opportunity to at least figure out what I was missing out on. And it didn't like cost my parents much.
That's dope. That's dope. So with that, because I, because I'm 17 right now, bro, I graduate high school, like June or some shit. I plan on moving out to la. And I feel like because for me, like the kind of atmosphere I'm in with, like, I have a lot of these young kind of entrepreneurs that are following me. Like what would be like a tip to them that they not necessarily want to go the conventional route and like they want to create Shit. But some of them don't have just, I wouldn't say the job, they don't have the results, you'd say. So what would you say from like someone that's created something from idea that like you want to give to someone that's, whether that be my age or 20 year old that just are wanting to do something, but they're just not there yet?
I mean, from the perspective of, like, who I've seen kind of make it make their way into my good graces and like, in terms of my organization. And I imagine that this is probably pretty similar to what you could do if you wanted to work for anyone. But like, all right, there's. There's a kid named Philosophy who does editing for me. Edits a lot of the exposed interviews that have all the crazy animations in the background. So, like, that. I also get help from my friend Charlie, but Philosophy does a lot of it. And the way I started working with him was just because he took an interview that I did and chopped it up and put some sound effects and weird, like, animations and stuff like that. So he was just a real fan who was watching all my stuff and actually had enough of a sense of humor to make a video out of one of my interviews that went viral like on Instagram and got like a million views. And. And on top of that, this is what's crazy is because it was of Rico Reckless, who's like one of my favorite people. Hilarious fucking dude, Great rapper, great hip hop personality, great American, really. And he chopped this up of Rico and Rico downloaded it and put it on his Instagram. And fucking Chance the rapper, of all people, commented on it with a bunch of crying, laughing faces, which to me was just like, whoa, talk about making it obvious to me that he would be a useful part of no. Jumper made a video that was so fucking funny that Chance the Rapper felt the need to die laughing to it. So, like, that says a lot right there. And so I ended up hiring him and does like tons of work for me. And I'm trying to get him to move out to LA and stuff. And like, that's just an example of how you can make it. Another example is this kid Dylan is this fucking white kid with long blonde hair who he just sort of like applied to be an internal. We had him in. He takes photos, he can do Photoshop, he's around, he rolls blunts, and it just, you know, he fit in good. You know, it was obvious that he was a fan of, you know, you know, me to A certain extent, as well as like the rappers and everything. But, you know, he was cool and he wasn't annoying. He found his way, like to make himself useful, but he was always offering to do different stuff for free. Oh, you need me to drop this product to this warehouse or you need me to do this, blah, blah, blah. So now we pay him because he like made himself so useful that we just needed him around. So to kids out there, that's what I would recommend. Like, if you really, like want to do something, do a really, really good job of it on your own. Like if you wanted to be the next personality on no jumper, if you wanted to make a name for yourself as being on camera personality, I would recommend you start a fucking YouTube channel, Instagram and a Twitter and just make videos, talking about stuff and try to get my attention and, you know, try to get people who work for me's attention and just try to make a splash. And if you can, if you could do good stuff. It's so easy these days to prove yourself. Like if you want to be a writer, just, you know, got to start a blog and start a Twitter and start writing and just start to make a name for yourself. And if a lot of people work and toil away for years and years and they feel like, oh, like people are out here going viral because they're doing fuck shit and everything like that, but that's part of it. Like you got to figure out how to market your shit on your own. And it's strange to say, but you got to figure out how to make shit go viral on your own. Like that's a big part of the skill that it takes to work for a media company these days. So, you know, if you really got it in you, if you, if you really like understand the Internet, I wouldn't be worried about you. Like you can make it in this life if you, if you just really understand the platform that you're dealing with.
I saw your, the interview with Supreme Patty. They were talking all about that shit about like he was doing like the simple shit. And then he started going wild because he saw like the boot game that went viral as shit. So when it comes to like catching, not even catching trends, but just like interacting with what, what's actually happened is that's just something like you'd recommend to people. Just like figuring out what works and just doing that shit full force.
Yeah. I mean, just paying attention to what's going on in the Internet, paying attention to what works and I mean, there's a realization At a certain point that's like, maybe, you know, we don't know what Supreme Patty is going to do with his life. Is Supreme Patty going to be a senator? Is Supreme Patty going to be, you know, a congressman? I don't know, maybe he could do whatever he wants with his life. All I know is that he got 2.7 million Instagram followers off of squeezing limes into his eyes and, you know, taking bong hits of pubes or whatever the fuck he's doing. And I respect that because it's like, I don't know necessarily what the greater message is of what Supreme Fatty is going to do with his career going forward, but making all these ridiculous videos at the very least has gotten him somewhere. And I mean, I would just say like, you know, I take my buddy Roy Purdy. Roy is a hilarious dude. He's one of the coolest dudes I met in a long time. He's like 19 and he made up. He got like almost 2 million Instagram followers from making videos of him dancing.
Yeah.
That'S the coolest shit ever, you know, Cuz it's like he honestly, like, he's doing merch now, he's making music now. Super talented. He made a name for himself from doing these stupid ass dances. And he might be the next Michael J. Fox because he, you know, did some dances and got a name for himself. And then who knows, he could be an actor from there. He could be a celebrity, whatever. I just was talking to him like, what are you doing today? He's like, oh, I'm off. He's with some video game company doing a brand deal. I'm like, you know, he's probably making like a very significant amount of money from doing that as well as gonna go have this cool experience. A video game company. That's the kind of thing that people out there would kill to be able to do. Look at Roy, man. He made a name for himself up doing stupid ass dances. You could do it too.
Yeah, that's badass as fuck. So last question. I got like two more things. So when it comes to like, because I always talk about like people like, for example, like, I got drama on the podcast from like a dm. Same thing with you. I sent you a dm. So when it comes to like communication with social media, like, I always like preach to everyone that's messaging me is like, I just like communication with Instagram, whatever it may be just like to build relationships, but like when it comes to you, like reading messages or even like being on this Podcast, like, what's your mentality? Like, what did that be to. Just, like, you got back to me. We made this happen, like, to get. Not even back to your fans, but just, like, to take time out of your day. Do you consider, like. Because Drama, when I was talking to him, he was like, it's kind of just the thing to do now, rather than, like, a smaller interview on a publication. So what's, like, your mindset towards, like, interviews, but just with people like me that has a podcast that's, like, building their stuff up but someone's established, like, you, like, what's kind of your mentality with all that?
I mean, like, I like. If you think. I think it's very important to work your way up the ladder, because I wouldn't have responded to you if you were like, yo, I'm starting a podcast. I want you to be my first guest. I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't even bother to respond. But, like, I saw the fact that you didn't have drama and you had a few other pretty significant guests on and stuff. I'm cool with drama. I was like, all right, cool. I'll do this podcast because I like to be able to do interviews with people who are just kind of starting out or newer to it and stuff. You know, I like that, but, you know, I. Obviously, I don't respond to, like, 99%, but, yeah, and I think it's really important. It's like, if you're just starting out, if you're somebody out there that's, like, looking at your podcast and is wondering how they can get an interview with me. Well, number one is, like, you probably shouldn't shoot for somebody at my level. I'm not saying I did anything too crazy or that I'm some giant fucking celebrity, but, you know, getting somebody at my level might be a little bit difficult. Like, I didn't start. I just did a fucking. I just had J. Cole on my blog. I just did the same week, and Lil Zane and all these guys who are pretty well known. Like, I do that kind of stuff all the time, to be honest. But, you know, I didn't start out doing that. I started out with, like, a lot of, like, really underground rappers. And I think that's a big part of showing that you're serious is, like, if you're gonna start something, maybe just go hard in the direction of doing people who are, like, killing it on a smaller, local level. Like, if you. If I lived in fucking Nebraska right now, and I really want to start A podcast. I would be trying to. At first, at least I'd be trying to be the illest Nebraska podcast ever. Because, number one, you're gonna get your skills up, you're gonna get good while you're doing, and, like, then also you're gonna be able to. You could be beloved in a certain area. Like, you could have the coolest podcast in a certain area, and it would be really easy to figure out what kind of media outlets you need to go reach out to, or what radio shows you could maybe go beyond and stuff. If you're working in, like, a really smaller area or, you know, not physically smaller, but with less, like, active participants in the culture and everything. If you're in a small area, you don't have to move to LA and try to make it. You could, like, do a really good job documenting your local scene and then maybe blossom out from there. That's like the biggest recommendation. Recommendation I would give for people is like, you know, just go hard doing stuff for people that you believe in on a smaller, underground level, because that's what works for me.
That's dope. That's badass. So, yes, the last thing before we wrap this up. So when it comes to just like, number one, I know you have, like, your YouTube, your Instagram, you're really engaging on there. What's like, the best way people to follow you? And like, also with the podcast, when it comes to. Because I just kind of got started my podcast a couple months ago when it comes to like, the whole Voice situation, because, like, I just read Gary Vee's new book. He's talking all about, like, Amazon Alexa, and this kind of is like a personal question to you. Are you doing anything, like, the extra stuff, like the Amazon Alexa stuff, the Alexa briefings, like, the new upcoming trends with Voice, or like, what's your thoughts about that? And that's just coming from like, dude.
What the hell are you talking about? I don't know anything about all that shit.
Oh, never mind. Yes.
What is that? What's that all about?
So, yes, I mean, because I got Gary's new book, whatever, crushing it. His last chapter is just like, voice first. And he's just like, just going the hell on, like, this is my favorite chapter. It's about podcasting. It's about Amazon, Alexa voice and like, you know those Alexa shits, right? You can, like, ask him questions and stuff.
No, you don't.
Amazon Alexa. You don't know about them?
No.
Well, dude, those shits are crazy. So it's like Amazon has like the little Alexa, you can be like, hey Alexa, what's the weather? Hey Alexa, play the Gary Vee audio experience. Hey Alexa, play the no Jumper podcast. And it's just like a voice, just platform. But it's like you put it in your room, you put it in your bathroom or whatever it may be. But like these, these flash briefing shits, it's just like they're one minute things. If you say like, yo, Alexa, what's my briefings? And like if you would come on like the no Jumper briefing, it would be like you would talk about we interviewed, blah, blah, blah, blah this week. Make sure you go check it out on the YouTube channel. So it's like briefings about like what's happening in your outer world, like the YouTube channel, the Instagrams or whatever. But it's just like a way to keep people on task. Like if they're asking these voice kind of questions on like a fast paced basis.
Damn Interesting. I never heard of that. It sounds kind of out there to me too. I don't know. I got Siri on my phone. I used it about two times ever in my whole life. I don't know, maybe I'm getting old. I. I was kind of late to Snapchat too, to be totally honest.
Okay, dope. I just wonder if you were doing that because I know I literally just read this book and like you're fresh in the podcast, but I guess it's not that much kind of mainstream yet. Dude. But. But yeah, man, I definitely appreciate you coming on, man. One more last thing before we wrap it up. When it comes to just last kind of, I would say tip for the people listening, but just like, I know we already covered a few things, but just like not even starting a podcast or starting a social media, but just like one thing that you've kind of considered from your personality traits that have just like allowed you to stay passionate about something or actually build shit. What's like that one last piece of thing that you'd want like younger kids to know or something like that?
I mean, it's really all about just if you're the real deal or not. Like, you know, for me, I was always, I was, I succeeded at the things that I was so genuinely interested in that I couldn't help myself but spend all my time doing those things, you know, in the sense that like I was so obsessed with BMX that I fucked up everything else in my life because I wanted to ride dmx, you know, like I fucked up college, I fucked up relationships. With girls, because I loved BMX that much, and then I ended up making it in bmx. And then, you know, when I think about rap and stuff, it's like, you know, I fucked up the BMX thing because I love doing rap stuff so much that I just had to. I had to chase those dreams, you know? And that's like. That's what it is. It's like if you're. If you're the real deal, then you got a shot. If you're. If you're just trying to fake it, if you're just saying, you know, if you want to make it, you know, hey, you could go make it in the pharmaceutical industry without giving a fuck about, you know, prescription drugs.
Yeah.
If you're a savvy businessman or you find your. Your calling in that. But if you want to be involved in the arts, it's. It's very hard to fake. So it's all about, like, you know, learning and just being into shit and just fucking chasing down wormholes. It's like, for me, it's all about, like, even right now, if I'm not. If I wasn't doing this, if I wasn't in the studio working right now, I would be at my house reading a book about something I'm interested in or listening to a podcast I'm interested in. Who knows? Some podcasts I listen to. My. Lead me down some wormhole because there's some interview that changes my life. Who knows? That's. I mean, that's just what it's all about.
Real shit. Well, dope, bro. So for everyone listening, if you follow Adam, make sure you tell him that you came for the podcast. But for everyone, that's not all of his descriptions, the links to his YouTube channel, his Instagram, all that sort of stuff will be down in the description. Make sure you go check that out. But for that being said, I hope everyone had a good day. Keep killing it. Peace.
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