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Devale Ellis: From NFL Dreams to Hollywood Star | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Oct 17, 2024
From NFL dreams to Hollywood stardom, Devale Ellis's journey is a riveting tale of transformation and triumph. In this exclusive interview on Sway In The Morning, Devale opens up about his evolution from a former NFL player to a celebrated actor, sharing intimate stories from his Brooklyn roots and the pivotal moments that shaped his career. Discover how representation and a chance meeting with his wife, Kadeem, fueled his ambition to leave a lasting legacy. Tune in as Devale discusses his transition from sports to acting, the impact of mentors like Tyler Perry, and the power of storytelling in reshaping narratives. With candid insights and heartfelt anecdotes, this interview is a testament to following one's true passions despite societal pressures. Subscribe for more exclusive content from Sway’s Universe and stay connected on our social channels for the latest in hip-hop, entertainment, and social change. Don't miss this inspiring conversation—watch now! #nfl #hollywoodbrown #celebritynews #camnewton #devaleellis Subscribe Here! http://bit.ly/SubscribeSU Watch the Best of Sway In The Morning! http://bit.ly/BestOfSITM Check out More From Sway’s Universe http://swaysuniverse.com http://twitter.com/swaysuniverse http://instagram.com/swaysuniverse http://facebook.com/swaysuniverse #SwaysUniverse #SwayInTheMorning #SiriusXM #Shade45 About SWAY’s UNIVERSE
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Applause] this young man right here have I love it when I meet him before I know who they are facts there's something amazing
0:07
about Discovery when you discover people just in an organic way by chance and
0:13
then you get a chance to follow them in their trajectory in their careers and go wow that impulse I had about this person
0:20
must have been accurate and I remember and I recall seeing this man with his family on social media and just doing
0:26
some funny ass [ __ ] right and it was like I can tell this dude ain't a
0:32
comedian necessarily I I I I I don't know if that's specifically what he does
0:37
it seemed like he's just naturally funny and the way he he and his wife kind of feed off of each other and they bring
0:44
the kids they must have a really healthy home environment we working on it
0:51
okay well that's what it came off like to me you know you being the father you being the male figure and the way you
0:57
interacted with your kids and then I got to see you on TV I got to see you on series I got to see you on sisters and
1:05
then you became a best-selling Arthur get this man a round of applause New York Times he's a he's a he's an
1:12
official thespian give that man a round of applause thank you okay he's a singer as well get that man a round of
1:21
applause and he's a MC get that man and he's a former NFL player get
1:27
that man a round of applause tell them who we got in the building we got the one the only Deval Ellis hanging out
1:34
with us C I'm let's go up I got to take yall
1:39
everywhere yo that was fly that was dope man that was dope n that was real bro we
1:45
happy to see you n thank you man thank you I I appreciate you guys first of all your flowers you guys are y are the
1:52
culture wow like I remember 15 years ago watching interviews and everybody was just like yo you got to get on sway my
1:59
people have been me for a long time you got to get on sway when you've made it on sway then you've made it and my boy
2:04
um DJ executive yeah with you yeah he's been telling me for years like yo you
2:10
got to get on the show wow so thank y'all for having me come on man welcome to the show man let me give it you a c s
2:17
in the morning man word you a Kad man man Kade man um you from Brooklyn yes
2:24
sir born and raised yo the year you were born in the 80s right 84 so you came up
2:30
M like in the 90s really that's your decade and I think Brooklyn in the 90s I
2:35
think Lil Kim I think Foxy Brown I think JayZ I think biggie who walked through
2:42
your neighborhood as a kid oh my well I I grew up in flat Bush I GRE up Flatbush and I used to go down to the junction
2:48
all the time and I used to go down to Al Square Mall Al Square Mall and you know who used to be in ALB Square Mall biggie
2:54
big but I was too young to know who biggie was at the time but then you get older and you like yo the young fat kid
3:01
that used to be rapping on the corner became Biggy Smalls wow and then you hear you know oh Jay-Z was from this
3:07
block and that block and it's like dang I grew up in these same neighborhoods with these people not knowing that they were going to be Legends and then I just
3:13
started saying to myself well they came from where I came from so why can't I be a legend and then I started focusing on
3:19
building my own legacy that way speak to that though because that representation
3:24
had you not seen them could have had a different effect on you right bro representation matters um the first
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movie I ever seen in my life was uh boys in the hood yeah 1989 my father had the
3:35
bootleg just talking he was talking about the other day Ken more movie theater and I was five and I remember
3:41
you know you want your father's attention all the time but my father was a mentor I used to Mentor a young kid so I go in the room and there's 20 young
3:48
black men between the ages of 9 to 17 they all watching boys in the hood and my dad is like you want to watch it and
3:54
I'm like yeah so he sits me right next to him in between them and says don't say nothing cuz my mother was in the other room so of course he covered my
4:01
eyes during the sex scene stuff like that but I watched how captivated those young people were by the screen and then
4:07
I was like yo so I didn't at the time I didn't know what a director was but my dad was like all the actors were black
4:13
then I find out John Singleton is black and I was like I want to do that I want to Captivate audiences the way I saw on
4:20
boys in the hood so representation definitely matters it was that movie that made me want to act y y your memory
4:25
by the way how you temp poing these um moments these Milestone moments in your career it's pretty in your life rather
4:33
it's pretty damn awesome but you didn't go to acting at first you you went the way of sports right yes okay and
4:39
purposely purposely tell me about that why well you said I grew up in 90s in Brooklyn how many artists you knew right
4:47
the biggest thing is in you know you got to be afraid to be cancelled but in these days I'm I'm just be honest like I
4:53
couldn't tell people I wanted to act and sing and dance in the 90s in Brooklyn you get jumped people call you soft you
4:59
know what I'm saying call you a fairy so I was like what can I do my father my grandfather on my mother's side he
5:05
qualified to go to the Olympics Joseph Bryant he was super fast what did he run uh he ran he ran the 60 he ran a 100 I
5:10
don't know the times but he was super he was a Brooklyn uh Brooklyn state champion 1964 I believe damn okay but um he was
5:18
fast so I always had athletic ability so I was like yo I can play sports if I play sports I can go to college for free
5:24
if I go to college for free I can get my degree I can go in finance get a brownstone in Brooklyn live in the
5:30
basement R out the upstairs two floors I got to be a starving artist right so and I was 16 talking about doing that and
5:37
then um met my wife kadine in college told her that story and she said well
5:42
how we going to do that did that she immediately said that immediately that's that's why I ended up marrying
5:49
her on God what like in the beginning of the relationship she said that or our
5:54
first date the first date first first date we're at HRA I'm a freshman she's a
6:00
sophomore she's going to Brooklyn College and I I pick her up I'm not gonna lie all I was thinking about
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smashing beautiful woman slim got a pop booty long hair I'm 18 I take her to the
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calf all my boys is just like you know giving me the look like yeah that's the one right so we go to the calf I said
6:18
get whatever you want baby I got my meal card I'm a D1 athlete I'm I'm flossing on it you know what I'm saying she walks
6:24
in there she said I'll take honey turkey lettuce tomatoes onions pimples garlic I'm like dang you you going get all at
6:29
him like I thought she was going to get a salad like she was a beauty queen you know what you know so she ordered all of
6:35
that got herself a Sprite sat down on my bed and we was talking and the whole time I'm like soon as she get done with
6:41
this sandwich I'm about to you know you know what I'm saying about to have you know so she get done with the
6:48
sandwich she got lettuce and mayonnaise on her mouth so I'm laughing cuz I'm like she really don't care how she looks
6:53
right now but that turned me on that she was comfortable so she was like yo so what you want to do with your life
7:00
so Martin was on TV right and I was like that she was like that I was like
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yeah I want to have my own TV show I want to act and she literally said to me first date sitting on the bed well how
7:13
we going to do that and then I told her the whole thing about getting a brownstone living in the basement and
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she was like okay cool and I was like what you want to do with your life she's like I want to be in entertainment news I'm going to school for broadcast journalism I was valid dictorian and she
7:25
started telling me all her stuff and I was like yo she's super competitive she want to pageant she knows how to see
7:31
things through completion I was like let's see if this works and 22 years later we got four kids we built an
7:37
Empire but that's how it started beautiful [ __ ] an amazing story my
7:42
baby manit Dam give me some tissue man to school Sway and find somebody get bu
7:49
for me hether you out here doing wrong said how we do this buy a sandwich ever
7:54
ask me how we going to do that taking all these chicks to these high in restaurants buy that chicken sandwich
7:59
find out where her heart at damn okay sorry I I
8:04
[ __ ] right there no coming for you okay we work together this is 30
8:10
years of family friendship you know I turn into system mode real quick understandable
8:16
understand I get it um and to be honest man when people ask me for advice I don't even know what to say because
8:21
that's such an anomaly like that was God like I can't say him and say I got the answers and I knew what to look for and
8:27
I didn't know I to be I was trying smash yeah that's it you just on your straight Neanderthal 18 years old division one
8:34
athlete I'm playing as a freshman at HRA we nationally ranked I am not thinking
8:39
about marriage no I'm trying to count them out how many can I get you know what say that's what they tell you
8:45
that's what they and they tell you that's going to make you feel complete as a man how many you get and then you meet the one that completely changes
8:52
your perspective on what you thinking and then you find yourself saying I think I might do this relationship thing
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wow man man I love this story Devol man give this man a round of applause n thank you thank you
9:04
um football yes it was a division one athlete yes what happened well like I
9:11
said I never really wanted to play sports I always wanted to do TV okay so my plan in college was yo if I make a
9:18
practice squad I get $100,000 in four months I can use that $100,000 as a down payment on The Brownstone but then I end
9:25
up becoming an All-American I was MVP on my team twice uh play with Marcus [ __ ]
9:30
Willie cologne no no seriously they made me who I am because
9:37
their standard of Excellence Marcus was so good that a sophomore in college he already got the NFL shield tattooed on
9:44
his arm because he knew he was going so when you're around all of these guys who have that type of mentality you have to
9:50
raise your level of play and I was able to and I was able to succeed and then Marcus got drafted Willie got drafted I
9:57
was a free agent try out um after my rookie year making the team you know I played with Calvin Johnson uh Roy
10:04
Williams Mike Williams Charles Rogers got rest the dead but I made the team and I ended up making a quarter million
10:10
dollars my rookie year and to be honest quite Frank like I wasn't there for the love of the sport yeah so after making
10:16
the money and then investing in some things and some projects it was like okay what's next so then I got cut and I
10:22
was like time to move on you got yourself cut it to to be honest I did
10:27
you got yourself cut right like to be honest my I had a poor attitude yeah because I didn't really want to do it
10:32
when it's not your love it's hard for you to go in there and buy in to everything you know also the NFL is not
10:38
a place where you go and have a lot of fun yeah if you know you mean by that it's well it's called not for long for a
10:43
reason you got to be a system guy which means you have to buy into what the NFL is selling you know and think about what
10:50
we've been through as a people over the past five years with the NFL you can't kneel you can't talk about social
10:55
justice issues I'm a talker I say how I feel MH so being in the NFL I wouldn't
11:00
have been able to be the best version of myself because I can't be myself I'm in the NFL yeah so after being there for two years and you know having to say
11:07
things a certain way and can't do this and can't do that I was like nah that wasn't for you this ain't for me were you nervous though you know were you
11:14
already stable enough where you figured well I ain't going to have Financial woles but you're switching you know
11:20
you're switching careers you don't have that that that constant check to be honest I I feel like I live in abundance
11:27
because God provides for me because he knows I'm provide for other people if you follow my journey man I've always
11:32
had a mentorship program cuz I watched my father like I'm not I'm not an anomaly I am just my dad but picked up
11:39
the cell phone and showed people so because I've always taken care of so many other people God finds a way to
11:44
provide so I don't get nervous or stressed it's just like whatever Vision he's telling me let me go a th% into
11:50
that cuz he going to find a way to provide and it's always been that way devis man I knew I knew I felt something
11:57
Heather and Heather told me um when y'all was acting she had to carry you in a few scenes but oh my gosh bro you was
12:05
telling me that I with a op D every every scene you did who you do it with Heather's a thesp there was a couple
12:11
times I didn't know my lines and I looked over and Heather was Ming the lines to me in the middle of the scene I didn't know if you cuz they cut it they
12:17
didn't show that part hea help with you see this what I wanted to do man since
12:22
you here I thought maybe y'all can improv a scene real quick with Heather and just just kind of
12:30
ahead you start it off she'll feed off you so we going what am I what am I doing who am I right now so so here as a
12:36
thespian you should pick it up you ready tapped in Heather I got to tell you
12:41
something man what do you want to tell me I know I know you're pregnant but I
12:47
don't think the baby's yours why do you think that because you pregnant but you're not
12:55
showing and you about 15 months pregnant like Ken is on the show so
13:02
what is it your baby Heather of course it's my baby you asking me really is it
13:08
your baby no I know it's my baby but you've been pregnant for 15 months and you not
13:14
showing how do we know it's your baby you really want to do this right
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now all right man get out okay I na that
13:30
right now let me say this and I said this when Crystal and your your Co your friends and family cuz they're not just
13:36
friends they are family there and um you all treated me so nice you all treated
13:42
me so nice I know and I know you probably like well that's what we supposed to do we've been in this business for a long time we know how
13:49
things could be right we know it wasn't like that there they welcome me in they
13:55
supported each other yeah they hugged on each other they loved on each other and
14:00
they made me feel safe and that's not everywhere you know that and I know that
14:06
I do I'm glad you felt that way and I felt it immediately I was rattled I was nervous I got there thinking you were
14:13
absolutely we couldn't tell I couldn't tell it all well here's what happened and I don't know if you know this when I
14:18
got there just to to shoot the episodes the seven episodes for the season for sisters for sisters when I landed Elon
14:26
sway's friend Elon Johnson came to me said yeah of course Mr Perry would like you to host the 100th episode I said
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what are you talking about oh so you had no clue no [Laughter]
14:39
clue no clue okay you know what that means yeah I get it so I I was like I
14:44
don't have any clothes I got on sweats a hoodie they G to find something that's exactly she's like do you know where you
14:50
are welcome to Tyler Perry Studios welcome to Tyler Perry St people really don't give Tyler enough credit for what
14:57
what I say s come on D I'm I'm this is a safe space yeah right Tyler is so much
15:03
more than just a director producer I've sat down with Tyler and he's giving me
15:08
game on how to all these things that you said you know he's New York Times bestselling all the Tyler has walked me
15:14
through how to do that he's never asked me for a dime and the only thing he's said to me is you have to promise me
15:19
that you'll pay it forward which was crazy to me because that's what I tell the kids I Mentor wow and people they
15:25
don't tell those stories about Tyler you know the internet is so Sal
15:36
if oh well he's supposed to you're not supposed to do anything that man is a billionaire do you know where the first
15:42
production to go back after uh quarantine and the reason why we went back is not because Tyler wanted to make
15:48
money but he knew that over 300 staff members on that campus needed to make money he knew that the actors needed to
15:55
make money so he left his home in wyomi got a big ass house in wyomi came back wrote all these projects in 2020 so that
16:02
we all can go back to work when the strike ended zimo was the first production to go back because Tyler
16:07
wrote it quick so everybody can get a paycheck before the holidays like these are things people don't ever talk about
16:13
he does not have to do and the crazy thing is some of the people that he's helping pay the same people that talk
16:19
about him yeah you know what I'm saying and you know what he do he let it roll off his back and sometimes I be like yo
16:25
T man like how do you do that you don't get tired of nword that's me I'm like you he's just like nah I have a
16:31
responsibility and my responsibility has nothing to do with the people who don't accept it it has to do with up uplifting
16:37
my people and I'm like Tyler you like you talk like somebody who who lived a
16:44
different type of life he said I have lived a different type of life people don't know what I've been through and then when his his documentary came out
16:50
did y'all watch my absolutely absolutely I understood at that point I said wow
16:56
this man has been through a ton of trauma m and he's just telling his story the best way he knows how while
17:02
uplifting his people and giving people opportunities like I'm able to produce and executive produce different things
17:08
only because Tyler's told me what to do those different things are uh AR fellow
17:13
Broadways AR fell star and Denzel Washington and Jake gyllen Hall yes yes I'm I'm actually co-producing with with
17:21
Brian Morin he's the head producer but um that's incredible bro yes oh thank you I I appreciate that but that was
17:27
also Tyler saying that you have to own something you have to get in different parts of art see people think Tyler
17:34
don't care about art which is not true he just knows how to get in places where he can make the art be elevated and I'm
17:41
and I remember like well he produced precious which one an Oscar so I'm like he does care about art but he's also a
17:47
businessman so he's teaching me how to do both so shout out to Tyler man there you go man I love that man that's why it
17:52
was important for me to say that to you because when I came back here to work I said to everybody here my co-workers I
17:59
and I said it on air the way they are and how they treated me is indicative of
18:05
Tyler Perry absolutely because that's the the the tone he set you know it
18:11
comes from the top leadership comes from the top and y'all embrace me because he embraced y'all and you go it goes on and
18:18
on and on like that it was one of the most incredible times I've ever had in my life and I always speak on that and
18:24
so I'm glad you had that experience I'm so glad you had that experience I can't wait for M man [ __ ] you trying to get on
18:30
the show let me see if I can get you on team man I'm just saying I got you I I got you brother what you going to play
18:36
you mean what I'mma play Heather whatever Tyler writes so he can he could play my big brother sway help me out I
18:42
got you let me speak what's your name gonna be sway whatever D wants my name to be can it be see no cuz if I'm Zack
18:48
you can be um Jack whack or Jack I'm Jack whack Zack and Jack Z and Jack in the
18:56
morning be that cool give that be not too you know y'all
19:01
y'all have a lot of dialogue tell Ty my a little I don't know how they yo did I
19:07
don't know how you guys do it it's wild a it's wild 22 Episodes in 10 days so
19:13
that's about 125 Pages a day you got to remember damn yeah that's that's part of
19:19
this the the gift is just is this just one take and that's it that's the rumor typically yeah um I mean you've been
19:26
there uh the thing is if you need another take you can ask for one but if time doesn't permit you're not going to get another take and the truth is you
19:32
have to be prepared Tyler runs it just like he runs a play you don't get a chance to go out there and do live plays
19:38
and say wait stop I need to do that again yeah that's true so you can't come into TV at TPS and think you're going to
19:43
have that opportunity other places maybe but not TPS that that whole messaging is
19:48
transferable to any you know that's a metaphor for life is it absolutely right absolutely you got to come prepared no
19:54
matter what the situation is be ready uh Dev do you know Mike musees this guy is amazing right here look heess this is
20:01
Mike jump in this man he just came from Good Morning America gma3 okay Mike okay
20:07
Mike he's silly it's good to meet you sir pleas I've enjoyed your journey and watching
20:13
directory I'm curious about though you've been leaning a lot into art right that's b c Constitution but how did you
20:19
make that pivot to say once you left football I want to go back to doing exactly what I've always wanted to do
20:25
which was Art what was that moment when you said enough of playing metaphorically playing let me get into
20:31
what I meant to be doing so there were so many messages in my life even about playing football not having a voice
20:38
right or not being able to say exactly how I feel and being reprimanded for saying how I felt even while playing
20:43
football let me realize that I I can't do this for the rest of my life so actually I didn't go right into TV film
20:49
I actually went into broadcasting you know I was a broadcast journalism major when I was at hostr so I worked at MSG
20:54
and MSG Varsity as a color commentator and a in studio analyst but even then there were things I wanted to say and
21:01
they like you can't say that and I'm like yo like I can't even give my opinion on the game didn't want to do
21:07
that no more so I said this is the value of art right there's a saying that says until the lion learns to write the
21:14
hunter will always be the hero and think about that for us as black people right
21:20
we have literally been hunted as cattle since our Inception on in this land in
21:25
1619 and all the stories we hear are never told from our perspective so how can we can how can we change the minds
21:32
of the Future Leaders if they're only hearing other people's perspective of who we are right I did a bunch of
21:38
co-star work right Blacklist Blue Bloods Mysteries of Laura I always had on I was
21:44
always in in a lineup I was an Exon a drug dealer I booked power first time on
21:49
Prime Time television my two-year-old son is sitting there no four this was Jackson four-year-old son comes on TV
21:56
I'm hype right I scream at Tommy it's my first speaking roll on power Jackson
22:01
goes damn daddy you always got on that orange jumpsuit [ __ ] broke my heart bro because
22:09
here I am mentoring hundreds of young black men in the community right I've been to the prisons I've had to bail
22:14
young kids out I've had to go speak at precincts for kids on their behalf but now my son is watching me perpetuate the
22:20
same stereotype that I'm constantly fighting every day in Brooklyn so I was like I'm not doing this no more like I I
22:27
have to focus on the art aspect even when it came to Zack you know I took the role of Zack and Tyler said where do you
22:32
want Zack to go I said Zack is dealing with recidivism but he has to have a Comming of age story where he can come
22:37
out of that situation he can't just beat a dirt bag boyfriend all the time and Tyler literally says say less and then
22:45
he wrote the story of him eting the stock tipping and him getting with Fatima and them as a couple learning how
22:50
to grow with each other so to me the art is the most important part because now children can watch a different version
22:56
ofs everything doesn't have to to be from someone else's eyes of what black people look like so that's why artist is
23:02
so important to me man ERS this guy right here man you right up here cry over man
23:09
you know oh it's like what he said man when you anywhere you look and
23:15
Everywhere You Look it's this salacious low vibration conversations that we're having this disinformation that's
23:23
flowing we're focused on the wrong [ __ ] absolutely 99% of the time and there's
23:29
not many people out there like you you're not speaking against that you just speaking your truth and it's just
23:35
great to hear it I feel good it's confirmation Heather be right that's who you know he's my hero now man I
23:42
got my her man you just still bucking for the part to be the brother got the you already got you already Jack man you
23:49
already Jack all right cool all right well let's go to the phone lines then I a got keep kissing ass over here bucket
23:54
oh God who we got on line one here bro wow well say the name you can say it Chris
24:00
from Florida Chris from Florida go ahead Chris what up man hey what's going on what's going on first of all I love
24:06
y'all show um baby been watching for a long time man a long time I appreciate
24:12
y'all um um I had a question for devel man first of all brother congratulations
24:17
man fing your dream and having a plan and putting together appreciate you uh I I actually had um kind of a inspiration
24:25
from God and that's that's kind of where I wanted to go with uh with my career as far as I'm getting into film and getting
24:31
into um acting but not really acting more writing um and I kind of did the
24:37
same thing you did I kind of went more of um I went to college I went to University of Florida but I I started to
24:42
try to get influen like I I felt like people would listen to the story that God gave me if I was cooler you know if
24:49
I was influential so I started I started throwing events um I did I do this well
24:55
I used to do this big fth event called blue and white weekend gamesville Florida um um through my fraternity five
25:02
Beta Sigma um and then started just elevating from there thinking that you know if I go to New York go to New
25:07
Jersey and just become this big socialite when I do write my story which is
25:13
basically um which is basically a fictional a fictional story about historic things that our people have
25:19
went through um and I I wanted to actually be the cool person that that
25:24
that influences us like okay if he's saying it then we got to listen to it if he's talking if he's talking about Kush
25:30
if he's talking about um the different tribes of Kim and things of that nature then that's something that we need to be
25:36
listening to like yeah we let's go watch his story it got to the point where I got kind of um I got kind of lost in
25:43
trying to be the cool guy Chris Chris Chris when you say you got kind of lost
25:48
man you couldn't have nailed it better for us all right but what's your question okay my fault I'm telling yall
25:53
my whole story yeah it's the balls interview man
25:59
you see your brother you see you see ja I'm protecting I'm protecting here man
26:05
ja let Zack Seine what's your question yeah my back yeah come on Jack um so the question is how does someone who
26:11
actually um went a different route to get influenced and things of that nature because I know you went Sports route
26:16
like uh what was the transition how did you transition from just doing sports into like let me go fulltime into what I
26:23
want what I really want to do because that's where I'm at right now like I'm I'm kind of well known in the entertainment
26:29
promoter but now now that I'm cool like now how how do I transition that how do I use that I don't have con like how do
26:35
I well this is the biggest thing you got to understand is and and it's unfair to you but this is how the world works right how people get introduced to you
26:42
is often times where they want to keep you so if you're known as the promoter the cool guy they're going to put you in
26:47
that promoter cool guy box right think about Kanye right he was the producer then he wanted to rap and it was like Kanye You Can't Rap you're just a
26:53
producer and then he started rapping and said oh maybe you can then he wanted to do fashion and then he was like oh you can't do fashion you have to not listen
27:00
to when people tell you that you can't do something and focus on how you're going to do it and change that narrative
27:05
the biggest thing is though you got to understand the business you can't just write a story and think people are going to follow your story because you're
27:11
popular right your your story has to be good for business and that's the biggest thing people don't understand there's
27:17
there's certain ways you have to pitch you have to create a pitch deck you have to do things with a certain standard so
27:22
people know that you're serious so if you're really serious about being a writer now that you have some influences on money go back to school and take some
27:28
classes learn how to present it properly to the right people this way all of your words aren't lost on the wrong audience
27:35
hey Chris man that's some great advice you're a citizen Chris thank you brother okay so he was saying he
27:42
appreciated so that's your brother that's your brother Jack I apprciate I got you man you only got so much time
27:49
left I got to protect my brother right here Chris would have had us till tomorrow two two things I want to do I
27:55
want to talk about the Netflix film meet me next Christmas that starting is coming out November the
28:00
6 and I have special guest listeners Greg and his lovely wife here say Kenya
28:07
Daniel Daniel get on the mic y'all y'all know you listen to this what we do they just called us last week and said we're
28:13
coming to New York I I frivolously frivolously said just come by the show
28:18
so they are dope about the show though like it is a live like variety show just
28:24
put up let's talk I like that that's when you listen to it you never know who going to stop by that's the best part
28:29
well I thought I'd give them an opportunity to ask you about the new movie the new film meet me next
28:35
Christmas hey I was going to ask a general acting question should it be okay go ahead Tye that in I wanted to
28:42
ask um what separates you from other actors okay or what separ what do you
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feel like personally that separates you from other actors well the biggest thing is is understanding that this instrument
28:52
is only created by God there can only be one devour so I can't try to be Denzel or or will or Lawrence Fishburn or
29:01
Wesley I have to be the best version of Deval so all I have to continuously do is work on being the best version of me
29:06
and I will separate myself that way the minute I try to create my career through someone else's tailor made idea then I
29:12
failed so I don't even focus on trying to I just focus on me awesome Greg you got one for him man yeah I was just
29:19
going to say what skills like that don't directly have to do with acting have you like had to work on that like actually
29:24
helps you like when you are acting voice addiction and movement
29:30
understanding where you are on camera understanding lighting right like the first thing I do when I get on set is I
29:35
touch everything that's in the room and the reason why I do that is because if I was supposed to be in this room before I
29:41
have to know where everything is right there's small things right I've never been in this chair if you watch me on TV
29:47
and I have to look back for the chair before I sit down but this is supposed to be the chair I sit in every single day it doesn't come off genuine right so
29:54
it's certain things you learn about with movement that helps you as an actor right your voice your inflection making
30:00
sure that you speak deeply when you want something you know what I'm saying there's so many different techniques breathing like I even learned that with
30:06
with rapping man I I sat there with J I wrote this whole thing I listened to the beat I did it J kiss and J kiss after
30:14
like the first time I went through I and then he was just like oh Dam Y'all
30:20
Gonna Get me on this uh let me see if I can hear something for y'all real quick
30:30
okay uh hey hey hey hey yo check it hey
30:38
ho it's Brooklyn in the building put your hands up like who if you a king put your hands up like me if you say so cuz
30:44
that's me and I'm d e v a l e I'm in the
30:50
place with my boy sway I'm doing this every single day and you can tell that
30:55
I'm from the ATS because I was born 1983 no four the next day but not before
31:03
see it one [Music]
31:11
more y I can't believe y'all did that to me absolutely did that to me I wasn't
31:17
going to deny it cuz I knew y'all was going to try to get me one time you in there man you was ready
31:23
people need to know how hard rapping is though like we talk about like rapping as if anybody can get up and just rap
31:29
shout out to all the MC go so when you when you see now when you see a uh somebody who's as dynamic as a Kendrick
31:36
or or Eminem or a jcole or bro a drake you know all of these guys right I'll
31:43
tell you another thing too you know how they get on people about oh he had a Ghost Rider let somebody ghost ride your
31:48
stuff and you still try to get on the beat and Ride the Beat like that's not easy it's not easy people need to and
31:53
and here's the thing I want to play L CJ in his biop pick that's that's my does know no I don't think he knows he knows
32:00
now you know he's Rock The Bells is a channel here at SiriusXM oh yeah I do know I'm the biggest LL coj fan not more
32:07
than your brother here not are you serious bro come on I was there dog I can't hear
32:12
youa I'm not even I'm not even going to do that come on man I'm not but I tell you a funny story okay my pops when was
32:19
got to a fight with alj damn my father was a bouncer he was a bouncer in the 80s and the '90s and that's how he
32:25
helped our parents make extra money right so he was bouncing in Club I think it might have been a tunnel at the time he was working behind the bar and L was
32:32
just coming up and he had reached behind the bar to get a pen he was talking to a young lady and my pops was like yo don't
32:38
reach behind the bar and El was just like yo you know who I am yo and my pops being who he is like I don't care who
32:44
you are you can't reach behind the bar and Ellen ain't no punk no you know what I'm saying he's not he from Queens you
32:49
know what I'm saying my Pops from Brooklyn he ain't no punk neither and then my pops said they came like yo that's L like he's the biggest rapper
32:55
and something like said my father was like I get it but I have a job to do so I was just like so they end up you know getting each other's face a little bit
33:01
but went that far it didn't go that far but it was just like yo he not going to back down my pops and then my pops come
33:07
home and tell my moms right and then no bull no bull I'm listening to freaking
33:14
roundway girl and I'm round away girl and then it comes on New York Undercover
33:19
yep remember in the course Michael Delo you what I'm saying comes on and then L comes on um Knock You Out video my
33:26
father goes that's the I was arguing with in the club and I'm like Daddy that's L coj bro he like who L I'm like
33:35
this L Co J bro and then and ever since then my father became like the biggest fan like
33:42
we listen listen to everything and my father was a ladies man too he's chil te so he was like I like his SW his stag SW
33:48
I was like I like I like this guy l so I honestly feel like I can win an osca playing L L I can see that man we I'm
33:55
going to send him a message bro absolutely I promise I will I'm going DM him and tell him bro I believe you I
34:01
believe you he's Bing anyway so and his his story is SOC like we talk about one
34:07
of the greatest influences of Hip Hop ever ever first on so many levels bro
34:13
and just put out an album that went number one on the Chart top charting album and I don't know how old it 55 56
34:20
years of age and he's putting out top charting music bro first pop star to come out of hip-hop but do you know why
34:27
why is that because L understands the business and he understands people mhm I've met l l a couple of times and both
34:33
times I didn't want to run up on him be like I want to do this so I just you know introduced myself nicest person bro
34:39
yeah and then when I ask him a question he don't ever just brush me off he'll give me some insight 50 Cent the same
34:45
way too 50 Cent the same way got a lot lot of wisdom and they hand it out to you 100% they don't hold it the power
34:52
the the power I ran up on 50 now I did run up on 50 I told this story before I ran up on 50 the elevator I was just a I
34:58
was Omari Harwick stunt double and I took that job just so I can learn how the the business was going wait hold up
35:05
y'all did y'all hear this yeah he was ghost stunt double for three years after I did that rle in 2016 they brought me
35:12
back um I lifted W to put on some weight cuz Omari was big I was Slimmer at that time so I was his stunt double I learned
35:18
a lot from Omari another guy who gave me a whole beautiful spirit that's my brother yeah Omari show shout out oh big
35:24
bro uh 100% but 50 was coming down the hallway he had a p with him M and he had
35:29
recognized me cuz I did his video a funeral video I played Remo M and he was like yo you look familiar so I go to get
35:34
on the elevator and the PA puts his hand in my chest and I was like nah that's not happening I walked right on the elevator with 50 bro yeah so he started
35:42
laughing and I was like yo fit man I [ __ ] with you man cuz you a bully like me he was like word I was like I'm from
35:48
Brooklyn I get whatever I want that man said yo come with me upstairs went to his dressing room sat down for an hour
35:54
and a half looked through my Instagram I had 3,000 followers at the time time but he said yo these videos is funny my G
35:59
you got to keep posting them and I was like what you mean he said look you have a catalog of funny videos once one of
36:05
these pop people will go back and your catalog will blow up he said the problem with people even with music one hit wers
36:12
have one song and no catalog so you have a song that goes crazy people go look to see what else you've done and you have
36:18
nothing he said all of this work that you've done for these years when you have something that pops now they come
36:24
back like clockwork bro in September remember my wife had my second son CYO I
36:29
did a video in the hospital and it popped all them videos that was getting 250 150 views I went back 30,000 40,000
36:37
I'm watching my Instagram grow grow grow my Facebook grow and I all I could think about was damn 50 was right he said that
36:44
right 50 was right so he he's another brother man like just and not for nothing them queens dudes man they share
36:49
yeah they share information cuz LL was cool with sharing information so was 50 so I can't sit up here and act like I
36:55
figured it out myself I was just smart enough to sit in the and listen when they spoke and kind enough and humble
37:00
enough to give them their flowers as well which a testament to who you are your your character is beautiful and to
37:06
receive with the information that they gave you a lot of times people ask you for advice or Direction you tell them
37:11
and they don't want to hear yeah yeah brush you off cuz I wasn't even asking for advice I told him I wanted to be on
37:17
BMF I I went in to elevator I said I know yall got that project coming out BMF I want to get on it he did the 503
37:24
he said yeah we going to work together never seen 50 after that but that's not the point he gave me the recipe to build
37:30
my social media to get to a place where now I can stand on my own so I don't have to ask people for rols anymore you
37:36
know the rols are coming in people are offering me things I'm sitting in a spot now where I can also executive produce
37:42
and I can bring my own Capital to projects which people don't understand when you come to projects with capital
37:48
now you got the big dog saying okay Dev what do you want to do rather than saying take this role you know but and I
37:53
learned that from 50 so he did me way more by teaching me game than giving me a rooll so Deval this is an absolute
38:00
pleasure to have you here today brother yeah man man man thank youate you
38:06
brother I was right about you man app what you said he's going to be a star thanks man out thanks Jack I
38:13
appreciate you jack man we start we go to film on Monday oh [ __ ] okay I ain't
38:18
coming to work then if he out I would be a hater well I'm going to need somebody to carry my wardrobe and stuff come on
38:24
you got I know you got me he got me [ __ ] up tell brother sister
38:31
yo man Dev before we go meet me next Christmas I love Christmas movies is
38:37
this one of those it's hilarious oh beautiful it's a romantic comedy it's also got the pentatonic so the music is
38:43
going to be great great um it also got for the ladies who love the chocolate Brothers man my man Kofi CBO Kofi that's
38:49
ouro he's really good thepan brother too like he's on his way too the rocket ship is here for him so happy to work
38:56
alongside him beautiful uh sisters uh season 8 premiere tonight yes ma'am Sister season 8 man who killed Gary
39:03
that's what everybody want to know everybody killed Gary that's my guess he had like eight people kill him at one
39:08
time that wouldn't surprise me to be honest kind of like Caesar right ain't that out Caesar who went juliia Caesar
39:13
went out like that right did they jump Caesar I don't know was it Caesar anybody I got to go back and read
39:19
okay I went deep sometimes I hey gav Ellis get us man a round of applause man
39:25
love you brother keep talking we need your voice keep talking man AB
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