From $36 Outfit to Empire: An Immigrant's Success Blueprint | Michael Blackson DSH #1000

Summary

From $36 Outfit to Empire: An Immigrant's Success Blueprint | Michael Blackson DSH #1000

Digital Social Hour, hosted by Sean Kelly, celebrates its milestone 1000th episode with a special guest appearance by comedian and entrepreneur Michael Blackson. In a candid and inspiring conversation, Michael delves into his journey from humble beginnings to building a successful entertainment empire. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussion, highlighting key topics, personal anecdotes, and invaluable insights shared by Michael.

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Early Life and Immigration Challenges

Michael Blackson opens up about his formative years, providing listeners with a glimpse into his upbringing across West Africa. He shares, "I spent about three years in Nigeria as well as a kid, you know, pretty much West Africa. And then I came to the States in my teens" (06:00). This transition was not without its challenges, as adapting to a new culture and environment posed significant hurdles for the young Michael.

Facing Bullying and Building Confidence Through Style

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on the bullying Michael endured after immigrating to the United States. At 07:00, he recounts harsh remarks from peers:

"They said, 'damn, you black as hell, yo.' I said, 'of course we are black.'"

These experiences, though painful, became catalysts for Michael to embrace his identity and express himself through fashion. He emphasizes the transformative power of personal style, stating:

"Whenever I'm able to make some money, I'm gonna wear the best clothes." (04:19)

Michael's commitment to fashion is evident when he declares:

"I am number one outfit. That's all that matters, man. I'm the best dresser." (02:45)

Humbling Beginnings and the Road to Comedy

Michael shares stories from his early days in North Jersey and Philadelphia, where he worked at Domino's Pizza delivering pizzas on a bike at 16 (05:31). These humble beginnings taught him the value of hard work and perseverance. Saving up his earnings, he invested in his wardrobe, which boosted his confidence and social standing among peers.

At 06:00, Michael transitions into his foray into comedy:

"I started doing comedy... about five years later, 21 years old, I started doing stand-up."

This move marked the beginning of his journey into the entertainment industry, driven by a desire to turn personal struggles into material that resonates with audiences.

Mentorship and Inspirations

Eddie Murphy emerges as a pivotal figure in Michael's comedic development. He reflects:

"Eddie Murphy was my... one of my favorites when I first started." (06:19)

Watching classics like Raw and Delirious inspired Michael's comedic style and ambition. This admiration culminated in a full-circle moment when, 28 years later, Michael collaborates with Murphy on a movie, symbolizing the fruition of his early inspirations.

Reflections on Success and Overcoming Adversity

Michael candidly discusses the challenges he faced while navigating the entertainment industry. He narrates an episode where he was outmatched financially in a poker game:

"I had about 187 [dollars]. I never had a good hand. I tried a couple of times... If I would have took a risk, I would have probably been still playing right now." (02:05)

This story underscores the importance of taking risks and believing in oneself, even when the odds are stacked against you. Michael's resilience and ability to learn from setbacks have been crucial to his success.

Political Views and the American Dream

The conversation shifts to Michael's political views, particularly his support for Donald Trump as an embodiment of the American Dream. He remarks:

"That's what make this country so great. You come from nothing or have no idea on something and then you could be the whole leader of the free, free world." (09:06)

Michael appreciates Trump's unconventional rise to power, viewing it as a testament to the possibilities within the United States. He highlights the unpredictability and potential for success inherent in the American political landscape.

Current Projects and Philanthropic Endeavors

Michael outlines his ongoing projects and commitment to giving back to his community. He mentions:

• Television: "I have a TV show... it's called the Michael Blackson Show." (11:52)
• Touring: Continuing his stand-up performances nationwide.
• Philanthropy: Building the Michael Blackson Academy, a free school in his village, demonstrating his dedication to education and community upliftment.

He encourages listeners to support his foundation:

"Everybody want to donate a dollar and help, you know, put a kid in school." (11:52)

Notable Quotes

• On Taking Risks:

  "Facts, you know, you gotta take a risk. If I would have took a risk, I would have probably been still playing right now." (02:05)

• On Personal Style:

  "I am number one outfit. That's all that matters, man. I'm the best dresser." (02:45)

• On Overcoming Bullying:

  "Whenever I'm able to make some money, I'm gonna wear the best clothes." (04:19)

• On Mentorship:

  "Eddie Murphy was my... one of my favorites when I first started." (06:19)

Conclusion

Michael Blackson's conversation on Digital Social Hour is a testament to his journey from adversity to acclaim. His story highlights the power of resilience, the importance of embracing one's identity, and the impact of giving back to the community. Sean Kelly facilitates a discussion that not only entertains but also provides valuable lessons on achieving success against the odds. Michael's blueprint serves as an inspiration for immigrants and aspiring entrepreneurs aiming to build their own empires from the ground up.

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Timestamps Reference:

• 02:05
• 02:45
• 04:19
• 05:31
• 06:00
• 06:19
• 07:00
• 09:06
• 11:52

Note: Timestamps correspond to the moments in the transcript where the quoted statements were made.

Transcript

[Announcer]

Hey, music fans, there are some great concerts headed this way. Don't miss out on all the shows in your favorite venues, like Deftones at Madison Square Garden, Eagles at the Sphere, and Foster, the people at the Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are going fast, so don't wait. Head to livenation.com to get your tickets. Now, that's livenation.com.

[Michael Blackson]

And they just looked at me. They said, damn, you black. I said, of course we are black. They said, no, you black as hell, yo. One other kid told me I look like I have no bright ideas. He said, the difference between me and midnight is 11:59.

[Co-host]

Oh, my God.

[Michael Blackson]

He said, when God said, let there be light, I was out of town.

[Co-host]

All right, guys. Michael Black, son here today. What happened to you, man?

[Michael Blackson]

Man, you know what? Man, you know, first, I'm on a nice, easy table with a bunch of amateurs. They had no damn clue what they were doing. I was doing very well. I was rich. Had about 200,000, a little over 200,000, and decided to put me on a big table with Adrian Peterson and a bunch of other guys. And then. And it's just. That's when things went downhill from there, man. When I got. Adrian Peterson had like half a million, maybe more. Maybe. Maybe a million dollars. I'm not sure what the mother. Whatever. He had a lot more than me, so he had room to play around.

[Co-host]

He started bullying.

[Michael Blackson]

He started bullying, man, you know, and then I came up there with about 187, to be exact then. 187? Yeah, I had about 187. And it just. I never had a good hand. I never had a good hand. And I tried a couple of times. One time I folded with a 7 6. And I could have. You know, and that's why usually I play almost every hand. And when I was coming, my good friend like Mike don't play. Only play the good hands. The good hands don't always win. Facts, you know, you gotta take a risk. If I would have took a risk, I would have probably been still playing right now.

[Co-host]

Yeah, you gotta play aggressive sometimes.

[Michael Blackson]

Gotta play aggressive with nothing. And, you know, and then also, I mean, I went all in with a ace and a queen of spade at the beginning of the. You know, Adrian Peterson, he had a five, and two fives came out.

[Co-host]

Oh, trip fives. That's nasty.

[Michael Blackson]

When I. And I started off with the A's and queens.

[Co-host]

Damn, you're right, though. You gotta take risks. That goes for life, too.

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotta take a risk.

[Co-host]

You're not where you're at without taking some big risks.

[Michael Blackson]

Hell no, man, it's all good. You know, at the end of the day, I had a good time, I had fun. I mean I wore. Look at this jacket, man. You know, I think I end up like, you know, like 30 something out of 80 something. I don't know, whatever it was.

[Co-host]

But you're number one in outfit, so.

[Michael Blackson]

I am number one outfit. That's all that matters, man. I'm the best dresser. Everybody here look, I mean everybody like they half homeless. I mean, I'm not sure where these guys shop in what hamper they shop at, but they have no style. I mean no sense of style. They just always a horrible dressing one always win the money. But you know, it's all good. I, I came here and this, this is actually still alive.

[Co-host]

Is that real fur?

[Michael Blackson]

This jacket is still alive.

[Co-host]

Wow.

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah, yeah, it's cheaper when you buy them alive in my village.

[Co-host]

Yeah, yeah, you got that from a village.

[Michael Blackson]

It's still alive, man. This jacket will bite the of you right here.

[Co-host]

Let's go. You gotta walk New York Fashion Week this next year.

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah, I would love to, man. You know, I'm definitely gonna try the Milan one in, in June. I'm definitely go to Italy and going to Milan Fashion Week. I'm looking forward to that. I'm into clothing, man. You know, when I was a kid, when I came to America as a teenager, didn't know how to dress. Kids clown me every day, man. You know, I had like America, you know, very materialistic here. And you know, as a kid coming from Africa, we just cared about our outfit being new. We didn't care whether it was Nike or Adidas Pullman. We just cared it was new. When I was a kid and you know, I remember my first day of school, my mother bought me some sneakers. The sneakers was called In Action, right? It was like $10. She bought it like in a, in a grocery store and was, it was in Jersey. It's called Path Mark. I never heard of Path Mark. That's way before your time.

[Co-host]

Jersey.

[Michael Blackson]

Pathmore is a grocery store. So she bought my sneakers in a grocery store, like right next to chicken. Like I have chicken flavor sneakers I had to wear to school. So I go to school, but I didn't care because it was brand new. You know, I go to school, I'm like, I got brand new sneakers. My sneakers in action, I had like a button up shirt, cost of like 5.99. Some church pants that was like 9.99. My whole outfit was about the same price as the drink I just had, like $36.

[Co-host]

Damn.

[Michael Blackson]

But I didn't care. It was brand new. My first day of school in America, I said, okay, I'm about to go to school. I'm about to all my haters. Cause I got on brand new clothes. I get there, the kids like, what the hell are you wearing? I said, what you mean? I say, they say, it's not Nike. It's not Adidas, not Puma. I said, it's brand new. Nobody's ever worn this. They lit my ass up. So I said to myself, whenever I'm able to make some money, I'm gonna wear the best clothes.

[Co-host]

Let's go. Look at what you're wearing now.

[Michael Blackson]

I'm clothes that nobody. I've. Nobody in here has. Better have this on. If I catch anybody with a jacket on, I'm gonna throw this away. Okay.

[Co-host]

And so those. Those were the kids in Philly?

[Michael Blackson]

No, that was North Jersey.

[Co-host]

Oh, North Jersey.

[Michael Blackson]

By the time I got to Philly, I already spent my three years in Jersey. By the time I got to Philly, I already knew what it took to fit in. I knew already. So when I got to Philly, I got a job at Domino's Pizza. I was delivering pieces on a bike at like 16 years old. Making a little $30 here every day during the summertime. And then saved up all my money, September. Went shop for some nice, decent clothes. And then I went to school, and it started looking good.

[Co-host]

Damn. Humble beginnings, man.

[Michael Blackson]

Came a long way, man. Wow.

[Co-host]

I didn't know you. You grew up in Jersey, though.

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah, yeah. My first three years was in Newark, New Jersey. Then I moved to Philly. Philly's where I was raised. The rest of the time, okay. I got to Philly, like, 15 and a half years old. 16 years old, and I pretty much grew up there, started run the stuff, and I started doing comedy. About five years later, 21 years old, I started doing stand up.

[Co-host]

Yeah, let's go. Who are your mentors early on?

[Michael Blackson]

Who's my guy? Eddie. I mean, Eddie Murphy was my. You know, he was one of my favorites when I first started. You know, I missed. I kind of almost missed the Richard Pryor era when I came to America. But Eddie was a man. I mean, I watched, like, Raw, Delirious, and then, you know, and it won't fast forward to, like, 28 years later, I'm doing a movie with this guy.

[Co-host]

Wow.

[Michael Blackson]

You know what I mean?

[Co-host]

Full circle.

[Michael Blackson]

Full circle, man. Amazing. So, yeah, man.

[Co-host]

You ever look back like, damn.

[Michael Blackson]

Like I look back all the time, man. Like I came from. From what I came from to where I am right now. It's, you know, it's amazing, man.

[Co-host]

Yeah. Cuz you grew up in Ghana, right?

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, Liberia. Liberia is where Ghana was birthed. Liberia was where I was raised. And then I came. Spent actually spent about three years in Nigeria as well as a kid, you know, pretty much West Africa. And then I came to the States in my teens and then. And stand up was. I guess that's what. Because I was a shy kid. I was very shy as a kid, man. I didn't.

[Co-host]

Why were you shy?

[Michael Blackson]

I don't know. Because the kid, you know, I was in a very different place. You know, American kids would be very mean. Very mean, very mean. You know, a lot of things I didn't know about myself that I got to America, you know, like, you know, let's. Like, let's say Africa, for instance. You know, Africa, we have all different complexion of black people. You have darker black, you have brown, you have light, you have everything. In Africa, we never saw colors.

[Co-host]

No white people.

[Michael Blackson]

Well, I mean, there's some white. We knew the white people were white, I mean, but the blacks, we just never saw different colors in the black. When I came to America is when I found out that I'm dark skinned. I had no idea I was dark skinned till I got here.

[Co-host]

That's crazy.

[Michael Blackson]

I'm playing with the kids, you know, And American kids in the hood could be real mean. I'm playing with the kids and they just looked at me. They said, damn, you black. I said, of course we are black. They said, no, you black as hell, yo. I said, what you mean? One kid told me I look like I was baptized on a skillet. Damn, that's like a frying pan. It is. One other kid told me I look like I have no bright ideas. He said, the difference between me and midnight is 11:59.

[Co-host]

Oh my God.

[Michael Blackson]

He said, when God said let there be light, I was out of town. They told me every time I wear a wife beater, I look like a skunk.

[Co-host]

Jeez.

[Michael Blackson]

One kid told me Stevie Wonder sees me every day. That's dark as hell, man. Bruh, Stevie Wonder don't see. I'm telling you right now, blind.

[Co-host]

This kid Ruthless, man.

[Michael Blackson]

It was me. So I took everything them kids said about me and I took it to the stage now. And I'm rich. Thank you, mother.

[Co-host]

You ever hit them up when you became successful?

[Michael Blackson]

They probably are in jail or somewhere smoking who knows where they are?

[Co-host]

That's the best way to win though. Prove them with success, you know.

[Michael Blackson]

Yes. You know what I was. Oh yeah, Trump. I was rooting for the guy, his few reasons why I was rooting for Trump. I like to see somebody like this. I mean, that just shows you the American dream, how you could be. I mean, most of the politicians are all. They all came from like always senators and governor and this and that. Trump was a businessman that had no idea about presidency and then he won 2016, became president. The guy that with no experience. And the funny thing about Trump is, you know, when he went in office 2016, he had no idea that he was supposed to like hire like 4,000 people. He had no clue.

[Co-host]

Crazy.

[Michael Blackson]

You know what I mean? That's just crazy. That's a great. That's what make this country so great. You come from nothing or have no idea on something and then you could be the whole leader of the free, free world. Yeah, of course the economy was bad. It comes been very bad. That's why we needed a change, you know. And I mean it was just great to see they are living on his past. He did this, he did grab this, he grabbed. That was 30 years ago, you know, now, you know, the day he went in office, I mean, day he won. What happened? Stocks went up, Everything.

[Co-host]

Crypto went up.

[Michael Blackson]

Everything went up. You know, I wish I would have put some money on freaking Tesla the night before. I would have been rich right now.

[Co-host]

Oh.

[Michael Blackson]

You know, but yeah, yeah, yeah. I like to see the underdogs win. You know, I'm also very religious, you know, and we just. I just want America to be normal again.

[Co-host]

Yeah. You know, speaking of religion, there's a. There's a bet on polymarket. What will Trump say during his inauguration speech? And one of them is God.

[Michael Blackson]

Is that was that is on a poly.

[Co-host]

Polymarga. Yeah. So do you think he'll say God during his inauguration speech when he say God?

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah, I think he would.

[Co-host]

56% chance that he would say God. That's the betting market right now.

[Michael Blackson]

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure make America great again is probably 100.

[Co-host]

Yeah, McDonald's is on here. Crypto, Dogecoin, Kamala Rig illegal immigrants is at 52%. Border five plus times is out 35%. We'll see what he says.

[Michael Blackson]

Man, I'm gonna try to make it to the inauguration, man.

[Co-host]

It's gonna be a big event. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michael Blackson]

I'm excited. I'm just excited about. You know, sometimes when things are not great. You need a change. Yeah, that's with any country that's anywhere, you know. And he was an underdog to me. Meaning like, you know, he came from where he came from. I like to see underdogs. Absolutely.

[Co-host]

Shout out to Trump. Yeah, dude, what's next for you and where can people keep up with you?

[Michael Blackson]

What's next? I currently have a TV show. It's a pilot, four episode pilot on bet. Plus it's called the Michael Blackson Show. I'm on tour as well. I recently went and built a free school in my village. I went back and gave back.

[Co-host]

Nice.

[Michael Blackson]

Yes. The school is called Michael Blackson Academy. So everybody want to donate a dollar and help, you know, put a kid in school. My foundation, michaelblacksonfoundation.org you can follow me on Instagram. My Instagram, my IG is @michael Blackson. For those who went to a public school, it's M I C H A E L B L A C K S O N. That's my Instagram, Facebook, my Twitter, Christian Mingle. Where black people meet, where white people meet, where you meet, my. Just hit me any one of those.

[Co-host]

Let's go. Boom. Thanks for coming on, man.

[Michael Blackson]

Anytime, man.

[Announcer]

Hey, music fans, there are some great concerts headed this way. Don't miss out on all the shows in your favorite venues like Deftones at Madison Square Garden, Eagles at the Sphere, and Foster the people at the Ryman Auditorium. Tickets are going fast, so don't wait. Head to livenation.com to get your tickets. Now that's livenation.com.