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For Good
From Rapstyle Mondays to Run’s House: JoJo & Zach Reunite
01:16:29
What happens when your childhood best friend also becomes your partner in music, TV, and life? For JoJo Simmons and his day one, Zach, the answer is a journey that spans from first grade classrooms to middle school rap battles, to forming Team...
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- [00:00]
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- [00:29]
JoJo Simmons
We've been friends since first grade. The yin to my, as we would say, the guy that was calm, but I was loud, but it worked. You appeared on Runs House with me a lot.
- [00:37]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Obviously, I felt like I was living two different lives. I wouldn't tell people at school that I'm going to record, you know, for a reality show. I'm getting picked up today. Slide off to the side. MTV black luxury vehicle, come pick me up. You could really see the parallels of Run DMC's story and team Blackout story. Like you said, just the way that we came. Not the same success.
- [01:01]
JoJo Simmons
Everyone don't go. We didn't have. We get it. Not running. We're not running, but just the way.
- [01:07]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
That we came together. And just obviously that's your dad. So, you know, you, you share certain personality traits, I assume, of your father. In a way. I, I was a lot like DMC from what I hear about dmc.
- [01:20]
JoJo Simmons
Reggie's Toyota, the blue Toyota camera he used to have was a little, you know, a little broken down, a little older. That was the Team Black Opal deal. I remember you guys telling me a story that you guys were trying to, like, go out to a club because you guys were so hot at the time. It was Runs House times. It was kind of peak level Runs House that you guys want parked, like up the street and around the corner to make sure that people didn't see you guys getting out or getting into this car. I'm sure, like, it was funny at the time, like laughing, but like, I'm sure that was challenging that you even had to think like that mentally to be like, oh, I gotta protect the brand. What's up, everybody? It's your guy, JoJo Simmons. And welcome to the For Good podcast where we focus on the good, never the bad. And we're measured by what we do and not what we have. Today I'm sitting down with my best friend since first Grade Zach from formal rap group Team Blackout in middle school and appearing alongside me on reality tv, building a career as a music educator and becoming a godfather to my daughter Mia. Zach has been by my side through every chapter. He's not just a friend, he's family. And his story is an important part of mine. So let's get into it, guys. My brother Zach, thank you for being here, man. I can't wait to get into these questions with you.
- [02:37]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Of course, bro. Appreciate you having me, man. I'm excited. I'm excited.
- [02:41]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah, this is an exciting one, you know, I mean, I know a lot of people, some people will probably remember Team Blackout whether it was good or bad or for whatever. And a lot of people probably remember your role in my life on, on Run's house. And I'm pretty sure they remember you as the light skinned guy from the group, you know, I mean, so very excited to do this conversation. When I, when I was able to contact you, say, hey, you want to come on the podcast? And you said, yeah, it was, it was, it was a, it was a good feeling because I was like, oh, this is gonna be a, it's gonna be a good one. So let's get into it. I got a few questions for you, my brother. My first question to you is for those who don't know you, like, how I know you. How do you introduce yourself to people? And how would you introduce yourself today to my, you know, to my listeners?
- [03:28]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Well, you know, I tell them my name's Zach from Queens, New York. Former rapper, entertainer, turned educator. That's basically what I've been up to these days. For the past 11 years now. I've been teaching music. I've been music teacher in the elementary school for this amount of time. And, you know, life is. Life is great. And have a lot of life experience just based off of the years from Run's house and childhood and all the way up to now. You know, I feel like I've developed a lot as a man and, you know, just elevated in different ways.
- [04:08]
JoJo Simmons
Dope. Yeah, I already know. Like, yeah, you know, I love how you kind of culminated everything that you've been up to, like, in a quick overview, because, like, that's what this interview is going to be about. I'm going to be asking you a bunch of questions about growing up, your life, your love for music, things that you do now, things you've done in the past with me. So, like, love how you kind of answered that. So you and I have been friends, you know, you know, the Question says best friends. But we weren't best friends since first grade. But we've been friends since first grade. I'd probably say the best friend thing probably started maybe fifth, sixth grade. So we've been. We've been friends since first grade. Now, this is. It's a funny question, you know, It's a funny question because, you know, I always. You know, I always have the story about, like, how I became friends with you or how I even became acquainted with who Zach was. The whole funny story of, like, everybody wants to sit next to Zach in first grade. And I thought you were like, what is so special about this dude? Right. And I went and sat down next to you. I remember. You know, I planned it out in my head. I was gonna be the first one to sit down with Zach in his music class. And I sat down with you in my first thought. I was like, what's so special about this dude? Like, why was anybody going so crazy over Zach? But we were friends ever since that story, right?
- [05:12]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right.
- [05:12]
JoJo Simmons
So from your perspective, what made you want to be friends with me back then? Like, especially how different we are. You know, in context, I'll say I'm a little. I'm wilder, you're more conservative. It's always been like that. From your perspective, how did we become friends and best friends and what made you, you know, want to be friends with somebody like me?
- [05:33]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, I think it's accurate, what you were saying. Like, you know, we've known each other since first grade. We've been to school all those years. Like, it was definitely around fifth grade. I feel like that was around the time when we were able to actually hang out, you know, outside of school, but. And I think, you know, just us being different personalities and you know how they say, you know, sometimes you balance each other out, you know, opposites, attraction, you know, So I think that's just, like, a natural part of just our friendship, of how it just started. I think we just kind of balanced each other really, really well. And, you know, when you're a kid, you know, you just having fun with your friends and, you know, you know, like to play and playing sports together. And, you know, we connected through sports and music and all that. So there's a lot that we had in common as friends, I would say, that brought us together.
- [06:24]
JoJo Simmons
You know, as I think about it, I would also say that, like, I remember, you know, I think your parents played a huge role in it as well, because I remember there were times where, you know, my parents couldn't bring me to a birthday party, and your parents would always be like, all right, yeah, don't worry about it. We'll pick up Jojo. And I remember being young in the car with you in the back and getting to know you more through those rides to those birthday parties, just because your parents kind of told my mom, like, hey, you know, my mom probably was working. You know what I mean? She always was when I was growing up. And your mother and father was like, yeah, you know, we'll pick up Jojo, and, you know, we'll bring him home. And you guys did that. You know, your parents did that a lot for me growing up. You know what I mean? So I think that also helped our personal connection and our best friendship because, you know, we got to get to know each other through that way. Like you said, we got to hang out outside, but also got to, like, kind of feel like part of your family at a very young age. Speaking about family and your parents, you know, you know, doing a lot for me and meaning a lot to me. You're my. My daughter Mia's godfather, and to me, I feel like you take that role very seriously. What did it mean to you on a personal level when I asked you.
- [07:27]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
To be her godfather? Oh, man, it meant everything, man. You know, like you said, I don't take that title lightly. And just thinking back to all the years that we've known each other and been friends, you know, and, you know, leading up to this point, you know, now you. You know, you grown man, and, you know, you're a father, you're a husband, and, you know, you. You enter that chapter in your life of, you know, having your first child, and, you know, I'm just. I was just very excited to have that honor, you know, and just think of the culmination of all these years leading up to now, you know, it just meant a lot.
- [08:01]
JoJo Simmons
So, you know, I remember the day I told you in my mother's house, in my room, you know, like, you know, you know, having a baby, whatever, I want you to be godfather. But, like, what was the. What was the feeling? Like, dang, my guy. From. From. From adolescent is becoming into fatherhood, right?
- [08:16]
Dan Harris
He's.
- [08:16]
JoJo Simmons
He's. He's growing, and he has to now provide and protect others. Like, what was that feeling for you? Like, damn, my boy Joe. Like, what? You're obviously an exciting feeling, but, like, did you feel like things were changing? Did you feel like I was. I was. I was maybe stepping into a different chapter into my life that would change me?
- [08:35]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I think fatherhood changed you a lot and being a husband as well, just like the growth, man. Like, you know, I've known you since we was little, man, so I'm very proud. I'm very proud of, you know, how, you know, what you become as a man and all the things that you're doing in life. So I think it just makes it extra special when it's somebody that, you know, you have that much history with and, you know, since he was kids.
- [09:03]
JoJo Simmons
Like, you know how wild I was.
- [09:06]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right, right, right, right.
- [09:09]
JoJo Simmons
How many girlfriends I tried to have at a very young age, you know, like, you know, as a kid, you know, you know, adolescence time, you know. So I want to talk about Runs House a little bit and your guest appearances on there for a bit, because I know you were there from season one with me. You appeared on Runs House with me a lot. Obviously. I want to ask you this question because, you know, I never get to ask you this. How did being on reality TV impact you personally, both on, you know, the challenging sides and the positive sides to it? Because I know there was a lot of positive sides, but we never spoke about, were there any challenging sides of you being on reality TV with me and what were the positive sides?
- [09:49]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
That's a great question. I feel like, you know, it was definitely a different thing for me being on TV and being on reality television at that time. We were in high school, so, you know, in high school, you know, you're still learning yourself. You're still finding yourself and, you know, your friend group and just who you fit in with. And there's a lot going on with you in high school, so to have that extra layer of you in high school, but you also on TV now, too, and, like, you making pretty consistent appearances on the show and, like, people knowing who you are and seeing you out and about, so it kind of added a whole different layer. Like, for me, I felt like I was living two different, different lives, you know?
- [10:32]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah. Tell us the experience. I remember you telling me about after school. Like, tell us the experience of shooting runs. Because, remember, you were going, you know, originally I was in St. Mary's in Manhasset, long island, with you. I ended up moving to Jersey. So you were still in High School. St. Mary's Manhattan, Long Island. Shout out to St. Mary's we all went. You were there. But we were shooting Runs House in Saddle River, New Jersey. So explain. Explain to people how that process was and how, like you said, you were living two different worlds in a sense.
- [11:01]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah. Cause, like, I'LL go to school, you know, do my regular school thing. And then, you know, I used to take the bus home from school. But then there'd be certain times when, like, you know, the mtv, you know, the production, you know, set, they would come and pick me up, you know, some kind of, you know, black luxury vehicle come pick me up. And, you know, at the time, I wouldn't tell people at school that I'm going to record, you know, for a reality show. So, you know, people waiting for me to go on the bus and, zach, where you going? I'd be like, you know, I'm, you know, I'm getting picked up today, you know, and, you know, and I kind of slide off to the side and, you know, there'll be a car picking me up and, you know, just taking me. Taking me out to Saddle river and, you know, going to record and then come back. Take me home and then just come back and do it all over again. It definitely felt like living double lives.
- [11:54]
JoJo Simmons
And that. That, to me is also the humbling side of you that you always have been is like, of course Zach wouldn't tell everybody he's going to go shoot a reality tv. I was the louder guy. Like, I'm going to shoot a show, right? I mean, I wasn't as loud, but, like, you. That was. That was your personality and still is. Like, you know, I don't want to put that in front of. I'm gonna just go do what I gotta do. You know what I mean? So. So it's cool to know that, like, you know, you didn't even tell anybody. You kind of just got done what you needed done and you was rocking with it? You know, I never asked you this question, too. Like, what was that. What was that feeling when I asked you to be on the show? What was that feeling when I said, like, yo, come be on TV with me and let's, you know, go fulfill those. Those visions and dreams that we had since, you know, middle school.
- [12:34]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right. I mean, I wasn't expecting it, to be honest. Like, I remember, you know, you preparing to film the show and the show was happening, but it really didn't cross my mind that that was something that I was going to be a part of. I thought it was going to be just strictly, you know, a family thing, and that was it. And, you know, I was ready to support you as a friend just from. From the sideline and just. And watch. But when you invited me, I was like, oh, snap. Like, all right, like, this. This is happening. Okay, so you Know, it was a great experience. And just thinking about our group, you know, we've been recording music since we was little, like, way before Ren's house filming. So to me, it's kind of like a full circle moment. Like, oh, snap. Like, this is. This is the time now. Like, you know, we taking it to national television now.
- [13:22]
JoJo Simmons
I love that. I love that. And, you know, I remember what made it so cool and comfortable for me was when, like, the producers came to me, and they're like, okay, like, who are your friends and who can bring on the show and what do you have going on in life? And I just remember, like, cool. I could be comfortable because I could have Zach on there. Like, that's my best friend. That's my guy. We can go in there and goof around. We can go in there and make music. We can go in there and kind of do whatever we want. But I can go. I can bring in my circle of, you know, my guy, you know, so it was a cool. It was. As much as it was probably exciting for you, it was exciting for me to bring on my guy to be like, all right, cool. And I didn't expect you to be, you know, as reoccurrent as you were, but I remember the first episode you did. They were like, yeah, we love Zach. Like, he's cool, he's calm, like, you know, light skin, so obviously turned into a little of a heartthrob, you know, that's like a guest appearance. You know what I mean? So, I mean, and people would think I'm joking, but seriously, like, these are the times we used to get, like, letters and stuff like that, and people would definitely write about Zach. So I do want to talk about one thing, though, you know, because I know that you said that, you know, you talked about a lot of the positive sides, and I didn't really hear much of the challenging sides. But I do remember this one story you and Reggie told me, and it always struck me, and I've always, like, was like, damn. Like, I didn't know, like, they were protecting the brand that much. So I remember one day you told me, you know, Reggie's Toyota, the blue Toyota camera he used to have was a little, you know, a little broken down, a little older it was. But we rode in that thing that was the team black everything, right? And I remember you guys telling me a story that you guys were trying to, like, go out to a club or something. And because you guys were so hot at the time, it was runs House times. It was kind of peak level runs house. And people always would notice you guys, even without me with you, that you guys want you parked, like, up the street and around the corner to make sure that people didn't see you guys getting out or getting into this car. I'm sure, like, it was funny at the time, but, like, laughing. But, like, I'm sure that was challenging that you even had to think like that mentally to be like, oh, I gotta protect the brand, or I gotta protect this image of people thinking, okay, just because we in a group with Jojo, we're supposed to be rich, right? Or we're supposed to have the newest, nicest cars. Like, what was that feeling for you on that day? Like, I mean, I know like I said, it just felt like nothing. But if you really broke it down and think about it, like, it's kind of crazy, right, that you guys had to do that because you would think that people would be like, well, what is Team Blackout doing in that, you know, that old Toyota, Right? How was that feeling for you?
- [15:45]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, you know, like, I mean, it became something that we got used to. But it's definitely, you know, a certain perception of being on tv and people feel like they know you because they see you often on the screen. But, you know, we live a whole different lifestyle, and they might not know, like, the things going on in our personal lives. And, you know, just thinking back to even those times, you know, social media wasn't a thing then. So, like, we were still worried about that kind of stuff even without social media being around.
- [16:14]
JoJo Simmons
Because, like, imagine at the time and tmz, right? Those were the guys we was, you know, worried about. Like, if they snap a picture of us, you know, then they gonna, you know.
- [16:24]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right.
- [16:25]
JoJo Simmons
Those times were very different than these times, you know.
- [16:27]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right. We didn't want people to, you know, look down on us, you know, think less of us any kind of way. You know, we were still very young and, you know, we're trying to navigate it all. So we just felt like in those times it was just best for us to, you know, when it came to stuff like that, like seeing us pull up in Reggie's Toyota, you know, just be low about it and, you know, we park far away and stay out of sight when it comes to that. And, you know, it's kind of tough, you know, trying to try to meet a, you know, idea of what people may view you as and perception.
- [17:02]
JoJo Simmons
Right. Especially because, you know, a few years before runs house, you didn't have to do that. You could have probably just Parked the Toyota in front of the spot and just got out. Right. And nobody would even care, you know, just would have been regular kids in a car at 16, 17. Because even that, in a sense, was cool. You guys had transportation, you know what I mean? So very, very. You know, I always wanted to ask that question. So it's just a very interesting take that you had. Speaking about. Oh, I'm listening.
- [17:28]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, yeah. And just thinking about it, too. Like, back in those times, I realized that things was getting really lit for us when we would get noticed and recognized when we weren't with you. Like, in the beginning, it would be when we was hanging out with you and we would get stopped and people go crazy and stuff like that.
- [17:46]
JoJo Simmons
Well, that's JoJo with the group, right? Yeah.
- [17:48]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
But then it got to a point where it was like, I'm by myself and. And people stopped me on the street and coming up to me and wanting to talk to me, take pictures with me. So it just changed, like, the whole dynamic for me every time I stepped outside.
- [18:00]
JoJo Simmons
You the guy from the J5 video? It was after J5 dropped when things got. Things got dope, you know, DJ Web Store, shout out to Web showed us a whole lot of love and getting on, you know, getting on that record with his people and really helping that kind of move a little bit for us. Although it didn't blow up or anything. But I think that was the pivotal moment for us when we were, you know, signing a deal on TV and kind of dropping records, and then we had the album run. So, like, yeah, man, I think that's when it really got crazy, you know, like, real crazy. So speaking of Team Blackout and, you know, you noticing when you were kind of realizing when it got real for us, I want to take it back to the beginning when Team Blackout kind of got formed. I want to talk about Rap Style Mondays. If you remember what Rap Style Mondays are, I'll break it down real quick and I'll let you speak on Rap Style Mondays. But Rap Style Mondays was kind of our own rendition rendition of Freestyle Fridays that 106 and park used to go in middle school in old Highland Elementary Middle School every Monday, Zach and I used to run a freestyle battle every recess, if my memory serves me correct. And it got so big that every class started doing it from the upper class, because we were doing it in seventh grade, I believe. And I remember the eighth graders were doing it, and the sixth graders started doing it, and the fifth graders started doing it to the point where it got banned. This Is how big Rap Style Mondays got. They stopped doing it on Mondays. They were doing it on random days. It was getting crazy.
- [19:30]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I'll never begin trouble.
- [19:33]
JoJo Simmons
It was wild. So I want to speak about Rap Style Mondays. This is before 14 blackouts started. What was the experience like, and how did it involve the. How did. How did it evolve, the creation of Team Blackout, the group?
- [19:45]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, I think that was the time when you first learned that I could rap. You know, we used to play together, have fun and all that being school. But I was still very quiet about that part of me, too, that I was writing rhymes on the low. And so when we started doing our Freestyle Mondays and getting into our rap battles and stuff, that's when you notice, like, oh, snap. Like. Like, Zach is nice. My best friend Rob. Like, I didn't know you did that. Like, that was the moment. Like, it brought us together musically. Like, you know, and, you know, we were just always excited, and that just show you just the passion that we had for the. The music back then, you know, always watching 106 and park and stuff like that, and Freestyle Fridays, and we wanted to do it in our own school and got everybody involved. And I remember we would be writing rhymes. We used to write the rhymes down. It wasn't off the top, but we.
- [20:37]
JoJo Simmons
Memorized them, though, the good one. The people that cared for stage presence, I would say, memorized their rhymes. Like myself and you and a few others. I would say a few others. But we had the white boys freestyling against each other, too. Everybody. Girls started freestyling. I'm lying, Zach. Everyone got involved. Yeah, Girls versus boys. It didn't matter. It was like, whoever wanted to battle, you had to battle. And then we had judges, like, it was like, the best rappers that was, like, undefeated were the judges. Right? And a few others. Right. But yeah, man, I just get excited. So I'm sorry. Finish your statement.
- [21:10]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Nah, nah. And, like, I would be, like, writing my. My battle rhyme, like, during class sometimes I'll be in social studies class, and I, you know, I'm not looking at the board. I'm writing my rhymes and stuff. I'm trying, like, oh, I can't wait for Reset. I'm gonna get him on it, you know? So I remember, like, Ms. Cheridoff, you know, throwback, Ms. Chair, man, like, catching me, like, taking my. My paper and looking at it, and I got all this stuff written down, all these rhymes. And, you know, we used to write disrespectful things to each other.
- [21:43]
JoJo Simmons
Heavily influenced by the hip hop Community, you know, and, and. And. And. And I. You know, I think the dopest part about Raps Down Mondays was not only that we were able to do something fun and be impacted by something, but with the leadership that it showed who we were, the impactfulness that we brought to the school that they banned it. To this day, people were mad that it got banned that day. I was happy. I was happy it got banned. Not because they were. Not because they couldn't do it anymore. I was mad about that, but I was like, oh, this got in my head as a kid. I knew this. I was like, we got this big. And I remember Mrs. What was our health teacher at the time, Mrs. Williams. I remember she sat there and said, whoever's been involved in these freestyle battles, please stand up. And some people didn't. And I stood up proudly, and I owned it. I was like, I started it and I don't care. And they stopped it, but it just showed me, like, oh, we are impactful. We can lead people off of music, right? So, like, that was a cool experience. Rap Style Monday and how. And I could tell a story. You probably don't want to tell a story how the group started, because it's a story I should probably tell, right? So how the group started out of Rap Style Monday. This is how Team Blackout first started without Reggie, because we met Reggie later in life, but it was just originally Zach and myself. So Rap Style Mondays was every Monday. Zach and myself were. It came down to the point where Zach and myself were probably the only undefeated rappers. We were probably the only ones that didn't have a loss under our belt. And, you know, everybody wanted me to battle Zach. They were like, the two undefeated should go against each other. And I will not lie to you guys. I was afraid to battle Zach. Like he said when he rapped. I didn't know he was that good. I didn't know he was secretly, like, cooking up, like, in his house. Everywhere I'm hearing him rap, and at the time, I'm like, damn, one of my favorite rappers right now. I'm like, this dude is good for our age. Remind you, mind you, we are in seventh grade, guys. And Zach had wordplay, he had flow.
- [23:42]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
He.
- [23:42]
JoJo Simmons
It made sense. Everything. He would diss you and it would make sense, and it just all made sense. And so I was so. So my only, you know, solution to that was like, okay, cool. I can battle this guy and maybe win. But I was like, I'm probably gonna lose because I knew you had the. I also knew you had the crowd. People liked you as a person. And that also mattered a lot, too, in life. It matters, but it lad it mattered in rap Style Monday. If they liked you as a person and you was a good rapper, you was most likely gonna win.
- [24:08]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
They liked you, too.
- [24:09]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah, they liked me, but they ain't like me as much as you. You were nicer. You shared your Gumby snacks ever since.
- [24:15]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
You were great.
- [24:16]
JoJo Simmons
You know what I mean? But that's neither here or there. I knew you were the better rapper at the time, so I came up with a solution and said, no. The two undefeated guys aren't battling each other. We're actually now doing two on twos. And Zach is my rap partner. And anybody I want to go against, me and Zach come, and a few guys stepped up, and we demolished everybody that came in our way. And that's when we realized. I realized for sure, we're a rap group. You know, we have to do this together. Don't go against each other. Let's do this together, right? So that's when Team Blackout formed, and we didn't have the name yet, but that's when we realized we wanted to be a group. We wanted to rap together. And we hit the basement, my mom's basement, with the karaoke machine and the mic. We used to record over cassette tapes with instrumentals. And, you know, we used to get the instrumentals and record over them and. Oh, man, how many. How many records you think we did in that basement, man?
- [25:11]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Oh, my God, we gotta have.
- [25:13]
JoJo Simmons
This is. Before Zach. We used to just freestyle over G unit beats and this and that.
- [25:18]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I remember we had a. We had a whole CD of instrumentals. It was a lot of the G unit, like, Beg for Mercy album instrumentals. I remember that we had, like, mad joints on there.
- [25:27]
JoJo Simmons
We did everything. We did my beat beats. We did every beat we could get our hand on. Because I remember at the time, you or I would get our hands on some instrumentals. I knew how to record us off the karaoke. Back in the day, it was kind of easy. You just record over the beat with the tape. You record it. And then I got into the laptop when I got old and GarageBand came into play, and I started learning pro tools, and I really got into the audio engineering, I think, to say that, too. My love for music growing up, that put me into the audio engineering aspect. I think of it because I wanted to learn how to record us, right? And I've been record. I've been the guy recording us since seventh grade, right? Like you know, you used to come over and it was no longer we're going outside to play basketball. It was. My mom knew we were going in that basement to go record music, right? We just loved recording music.
- [26:12]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
We spent all day there. All day.
- [26:15]
JoJo Simmons
We spent, we spent all day there. So as I said though, with Rap Style Monday, I thought you were the better artist, a better rapper than myself at those times. How did you see yourself as an artist at that time?
- [26:31]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Back then when we were doing the.
- [26:33]
JoJo Simmons
Raps Mondays and Blackout Times, you know, how did you envision yourself as a rapper? You know, you know, like what, what, how did, what were you looking like? What did, what did, what did you think about yourself as a rapper?
- [26:47]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I felt, I felt very confident in my ability for sure. I feel like writing rhymes, that was like my superpower. Like, that was a chance for me to like be the superhero version of myself, you know. So, you know, it's still me, it's still my feelings and my thoughts, but able to express it in a powerful way and maybe in a way that I might not normally express it just on a day to day basis. So I always just, I had a lot of confidence in my ability to run and to write. And I felt very, just confident going into any session every time we recorded. And that was times when I felt myself, you know, I really feeling myself, you know, in a positive way, you know, not really cocky or anything, but just internal confidence because, you know, it helps to find something that you know, that you're good at. You know, when you're younger, you know, like you try different things. You know, you might not always be good at certain things, but at least you try. But like when you find like something that you know that you're good at and you feel really confident about it, it just is something different. And that's usually is something that you should continue to pursue and, you know, deepen that level of skill, you know, especially if it's something that you know that you're good at, you know, make it work for you. So I always view myself very highly as a rapper. I felt like, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [28:13]
JoJo Simmons
No, I know you did. I could tell the confidence was there. The way you used to flow, you do the flow, the fast flow, the slow float, the hooks, you could do it all. Two part question. First one I want to ask about is you saying something important. You said you felt like your hero version. Why do you feel like you needed that version of yourself? Because you said that that just wasn't who you were on the Regular basis. But rap helped you become that. Why did you need that person? Was it for your mental health? Was it, like, let me know, like, what in your mind, like, why did you need that alter ego, that rap sense, Zach, ultimate ego?
- [28:44]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
That's a great question. Yeah. Like, that was my therapy. That was the way that I expressed myself. You know, just being a quiet person, probably overthinking a lot of things. Even back then, at an early age, just being in my head a lot of the time, just thinking that was my way to just get it all out. And I needed that outlet. You know, everyone has it and they find that outlet in different ways. But that was definitely my form of expression. And for me to just be myself and show a different side of myself. And I even, like. I think back to even, like, dmc, you know, DMC has a similar story about that.
- [29:20]
JoJo Simmons
Very similar story to dmc. I would call you my DMC for sure. That's why I think we're such a unique group because. And friends, because it's almost like the relationship was formed, like the way my father and DMC started off. A sports school, whatever, and then like, oh, you can rap. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, I'm gonna come get you when it's time to be a group. And it felt like the same story because it's like, oh, you could rap well, and I have an opportunity. I'm gonna come back and get you. And that was the right. It was like, oh, and I'm on TV now. Come on, Zach, let's go on TV and let's do it right.
- [29:52]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah. Like, the more I watch Run DMC documentaries and learn more about the history of the group, over the years, I've watched so many different things. You could really see the parallels of Run DMC's story and team Blackout story. Like you said, just the way that we came. Not the same success.
- [30:10]
JoJo Simmons
Everyone don't go. We didn't have. We get it. We're not running. We're not running. We get. But the story of how we were formed, right? Very much, yeah.
- [30:19]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
By no means of comparing us to Run dmc, anything like that.
- [30:23]
JoJo Simmons
Definitely not. Absolutely not.
- [30:25]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
You know, iconic legends, you know, pioneers in hip hop, but just the way that we came together. And just obviously that's your dad. So, you know, you. You share certain personality traits, I assume, of your father, you know, back then and still now. And, you know, and in a way, I was a lot like DMC from what I hear about dmc. So it's just Very interesting to see the parallels of how we came together. Very similar to Running D. Yeah.
- [30:56]
JoJo Simmons
And, you know, same as you. As I watch more Run DMC documentaries, and I'm like, wow. Like, it shows me more and more that I am just like my father with the way that I moved, my morals, the type of people I tried to put myself around, the people I tried to put on around me, like, the leadership, the making sure everybody else is good, the fairness, you know, all of the things that my father did, you know, with setting the foundation and just wanting to. Wanting, you know, from childhood, wanting to be this big rapper and just, you know, forming this fire, you know, group is like. It just. It just like, just shows me a lot of my. My similarities.
- [31:29]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
And can I say, also, like, just off topic, like, I feel like when it comes to you and just for anyone that doesn't know, is that you have a lot of passion and love for the music. You know, we would get criticized a lot of the time, and people ask, like, why y' all want to rap? Like, what makes you want to rap? It's like they don't understand this. Just how much, like, we both love the art form, love the music. And, you know, just speaking for you, you. You obviously, you love it, and it was a passion of yours, has been a passion of yours. And, you know, you have a great ear for music, and, you know, it's a part of who you are. It's embedded in your DNA. So anybody that's ever questioned that, you know, they obviously, they don't know you because that's just who you are, you know, And I know that from knowing you for so many years and growing up together. But the passion and the fire is strong. It's still there.
- [32:22]
JoJo Simmons
I'm not gonna lie. I needed to hear that. I'm, you know, a little tearing up because people don't know, you know, a lot of people, like you said, you. I think you just explained it in the perfect way. A lot of people say, why, why. Why did you want to do music? Why do you want to rap? You're not that good. You're not. You're not ready. And it was the passion. It wasn't because I wanted to be a follower.
- [32:43]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right?
- [32:43]
JoJo Simmons
It wasn't. Yeah, obviously I wanted to be like my father. We, you know, thank God I had a father in my life that I could look up to, want to be like.
- [32:49]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right?
- [32:49]
JoJo Simmons
And you explained it perfectly for me. It's like my passion for music will never stop, you know, and if you look at the History and my trajectory of the way that I made music from the beginning to whatever. My most recent projects, where they got so much better because I studied the art of rap, you know, and I studied the game and I studied the ones before me because I truly wanted to be good at the art of art. I knew I wasn't ready, but I wanted to be good, you know what I mean? So, like, I wash my hands with it now because I know, like, now I can get in the booth and I could walk. Like, if you hear, you know, any of the older records, like the most recent records, I can rap now. And I'm proud of myself now. But, you know, it's just kind of what it is. And speaking of the art of rap, I want to talk about. I think that's one of the reasons why you were so good, because you studied the art of rap in the history of rap from day one, which is also a similarity of dmc. You were one of those kids that when we were going to the mall together, I'd go to Foot Locker, you were going to FYE to go get a new album. You taught me who Big L was. Like, I didn't know Big O. Remember when you showed me you were getting Big L's album? I was like, we were so young. I was like, what is. Who's this dude? That's Big Al. Like, you crazy. CD booklet of albums on albums, on albums. And you would read the front to back, the CD kit, you would read the credits, and you were, you know, and that's why I think you were so good. And that's why I realized that you were so confident. Because a confident person is a prepared person. And you were prepared because you studied different flows, you studied different rappers. You loved rap from a child, from a baby, you know, you loved it. And I think that's what made you so good because you listen to it all day and every day. You were like a math, a rapmatician, I would call you. Like, you were a rap ologist. If anything, like, you know, till this day, you love hip hop and you. And you know the history of it. And you, you know when it was born and you know, you know where it came from, you know where it's going, you know, you know where it's at. Now, I always say you would be a good hip hop blogger other than a great rapper. But, like, because you, you know, speaking about my passion, your love for rap is unmatched with a lot of people, you know what I mean? Like, and a lot of people don't know that about you. Is like, man, you are a studier of the game. You know what I mean? You can be such a study of the game and end up next to Reverend Run's son. His best friend in the group is like, it could only be God, right? It can only be the universe telling Zach that, like, this is what you were supposed to be doing. Whether it was supposed. Whether this was what you're supposed to be doing. Now, that doesn't matter. But in that moment, this is where you're supposed to be. Because I'm giving this to you, my son. I know you have Jewish and Jewish, so. But I'm just speaking, you know, we all praise somebody. What I'm saying is the universe was saying, I'm giving this to you, my son, because you love rap so much. So I'm gonna put you next to the most iconic rapper in the world, which was Reverend Right.
- [35:39]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I. I think about that. I was thinking about that the other day, actually. Just like, it could only be, like you said, God, destiny. You know, it was just whatever anybody.
- [35:48]
JoJo Simmons
Wants to call it, you know. You know, we all believe in something.
- [35:51]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
It was meant to happen because, you know, we. We met each other so young. There's no telling that that was going to be a thing that we were going to meet and connect. You know, we're just, you know, our families wanted to give us the best they could and put us in a good school, and they found, you know, a good private school in Queens, a small school that was very nurturing.
- [36:13]
JoJo Simmons
Elementary. Shout it out the island, man.
- [36:18]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
And, you know, our parents just wanted us to have a good life, and we just ended up, you know, our paths ended up crossing, and it just went from there. So it's just all destiny. It's meant to be.
- [36:30]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah. I remember you used to walk to school from, you know, getting the bus. Walk to school. And my dad. Me and my dad used to see you sometimes walking to the school because you're one of those, you know, New York people. Don't know New York kids is real. Like, Zach was on a public school bus in middle school. Like, you know what I mean? And we used to sleep sometimes, and my pops would pick you up, and we'd be in the Bentley, and we'd pick you up and we ride you to school. And that's another to me, just like your parents picking me up for birthday parties. That was like. I used to see you be like, dad, that's my best. That's my friend. That's my friend. He Used to stop and pick you up. He wouldn't do that for anybody. So I think that also, like, really made us, like, really close, too.
- [37:04]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah. Yeah. I remember those times. Those were very cool moments. And. And there would be times, actually, I remember with your dad, he might have been driving to school to drop something off for you. You were already at school, and I was taking the bus, and I remember he seen me, and he would pick me up, you know, just me and him, and drive me around the corner to the school.
- [37:26]
JoJo Simmons
So I never knew this, dad. Why, Daddy? I knew this. I never happened like this.
- [37:31]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Once or twice, you know, it happened. But I remember that because, you know, probably from the first few times when you were with him in the car and you see me, then he's probably looking for me, or at least looking out and seeing the environment, the surroundings. And he might have seen me just walking down the street, going to school, and I remember him pulling up in a Rolls. Roy saw me, and being like, zach.
- [37:54]
JoJo Simmons
It wasn't a rose. It was the Bentley had done. But he always liked. You know. You know, he always liked when he had a good sense of character, because you were probably. You are. And probably were at the time, you know, the probably the best influence for me, as crazy as I am, you know, you didn't walk the crazier, edgier lifestyle that I did. So, speaking still about Team Blackout, I want to talk about when we started getting attention. Did you feel more excitement or pressure from the spotlight, or do you feel. Did you feel. Both.
- [38:23]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Felt. I felt some pressure looking back on it, but it was exciting overall, and it just felt like a dream's really coming true. I think it was just, like, a surreal experience. Couldn't believe it was actually really happening. Like, these are things that we dreamed about as kids. And starting in your mom's basement on a karaoke machine, creating and writing songs together. Now it's like. Like we actually. We getting on. Like we on tv. Like, we about to sign a record deal. Like, we recording.
- [38:51]
JoJo Simmons
We're doing shows, Girls are screaming. We're shutting things down.
- [38:55]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Crazy. Like, we. We had some really dope moments as Team Blackout, you know? Yeah. So I think it was just a surreal experience for me. I couldn't believe it. And I was. I was just like, you know, if this is what it is, this is what I'm doing, what I'm meant to be doing. I'm going all the way with it.
- [39:13]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah. A lot of people don't know, as much as I know, that the group got A lot of slack. But those. That moment we did have.
- [39:19]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah.
- [39:20]
JoJo Simmons
You would have thought we was one of the biggest groups in the world, you know, it was a lot of love, for sure.
- [39:27]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
For sure. A lot of people used to pull up on me, man. It'll be crazy. It'll be crazy sometimes.
- [39:33]
JoJo Simmons
So I want to talk about how you've always actually been into music besides, like, the rap stuff, from being a drummer in a jazz band to rapping and now being a music teacher, which is. Which is like, wow, your whole life's been evolved around music. Where did that love for music actually come from? Like, you know, before me, before. Like, where did this love for just music come from?
- [39:52]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I think my parents have a lot to do with that, too. My parents both musically inclined. My mom has a very nice singing voice, and my dad also sings very well and plays a little.
- [40:02]
JoJo Simmons
I didn't know Jeff sings well. I'm gonna ask me. I know. Emily, I knew your mother could sing, right? I didn't know your father could sing. I'm gonna ask him.
- [40:09]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, yeah. He would. From time to time, he would be in the room and he would be playing the guitar, singing Beatles songs and stuff. And my mom always. Yeah, yeah. Like, my mom always enjoyed when he did that because she would always say, when he does that, it means that he's in a good mood, that he's feeling happy, he's good. Like, I think that was just his way of expressing himself, too, so. But I think I got that love for music from them. You know, them playing all types of music in the house. Michael Jackson, that was like the first artists that I ever loved before finding hip hop, you know, Michael Jackson was everything. And just hearing all kinds of Motown and rock. Like, I said, the Beatles or my parents, both of them big Beatles fans. So I got a taste of a lot of different genres of music. Hanson. Yeah, man. Yeah. I remember you found the Hanson CD in my crib. That was funny.
- [41:05]
JoJo Simmons
But I was looking through his albums and, you know, a bunch of hip hop albums. Hip hop albums. Fire. And I'm like, handsome. What's this here in your pocket, right? What's this? What's this over? Not to lie, though. I like the. We didn't like. Like, Hanson was a hit, but, like, it was so rare and random amongst all these, like, hip hop great albums that, you know, you have Biggie in there and Pac and all this stuff and enhance it, right?
- [41:31]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Like.
- [41:31]
JoJo Simmons
Like, the single, too, wasn't even an album. It was just a single game, right?
- [41:36]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
What I liked about them. I liked that they were kids and they were playing instruments. You know, to me, that was inspiring. And I remember the drummer, I was playing drums and the drummer's name was Zach. So I remember that being like, oh.
- [41:48]
JoJo Simmons
I remember you always telling me that. Yeah. So this is a. This is a cool question because I've always kind of thought about this question for you, speaking about how confident you were as a rapper and how good I knew you were. And I think a lot of people knew you were good as a rapper. And comparing that to the slack and flack that. Comparing that to the. To the bad reviews that Team Blackout got most of the times and maybe due to me not fully being ready, who knows, right? That probably is it. I was the spotlighted guy and I probably fully wasn't ready. Right. Do you ever feel like Team Blackout was a blessing or a limitation to your rap career?
- [42:26]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Career?
- [42:27]
JoJo Simmons
You feel like, hey, if I wouldn't have been in this group, I probably could have just gun hoed it by myself and really went crazy.
- [42:33]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Nah, it was a total blessing. Total blessing. I wouldn't think anything else of was a blessing to be in the group with you and to have the opportunity to even show and display my abilities like the way that we did on tv, you know, it was an overall blessing. I couldn't be more thankful for the experience and being on the show for all those seasons. You know, it wasn't like just a one time thing or anything like being on there. Pretty consistent throughout. I'm grateful to be a part of that and especially that show too, because, you know, there's so many shows and so much negativity and drama based content that's out. But Runs House is, you know, one of those positive family hip hop shows and it was very necessary for the culture to see. And I'm just glad I was a part of something positive like that. And being a part of was the whole thing of being a part of Runs House family.
- [43:32]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah, we were rapping together. I mean, like before Runs House, we were rapping together. We enjoyed rapping together. Not sure like what you thought of me as a rapper at the time, but it felt like you genuinely thought like, yo, this dude is a good rap partner to have, right? So like, I never felt like, yo, you were just in this group because, oh, this was run son and I can get an opportunity. We never knew what. We just liked rapping together in the basement doing whatever, you know what I mean? Getting Reggie and making a rap for me on the phone, like I was some Type of like mobile CEO at 14, you know what I mean?
- [44:02]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I was just happy to have a rap partner, you know, like, you know, you hear all these stories, you know, like you said, I studied the game. I was absorbing so much about hip hop and learning about all these famous groups. Of course, Run dmc, Wu Tang, nwa, Mobb Deep. Like, there's all these iconic groups. And, you know, all these guys had a partner that they met early on. And, you know, to me, I was just proud to have you as my rap partner, you know, to share that with and, you know, record together. So it was just a special thing for me. And then bringing Reggie into the fold, it just made even more special because we were close in high school, and I was happy to bring him on board and introduce him to you and just make that whole connection. A lot of funny moments. A lot of really great special times.
- [44:53]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah. We're going to get into Reggie in a few questions because can't forget about the third member of the group. Obviously, he means a lot to the group. He wouldn't be Team Blackout. It would just be Blackout without Reggie. Which is a fun story about how the group name came was in the year of 2003, the blackout of New York. That was the year that Reggie was added to the group. And we decided on the name Team Blackout. But Zach and I thought of the name Blackout way a little bit before we met Reggie. And it was. I wanted it to be my rap name. I want it to be black. I remember we were coming up with new rap names because your first rap name was Sex Z.
- [45:29]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I was like.
- [45:31]
JoJo Simmons
It was make it happen or something. No, Run Son. Not even make it happen. My rap name was Run Son. Real bold, right? Just real. Just out in your face, Run Son. Right? Like that. But I was so happy to be his son. I was in fifth grade, sixth grade. So I remember we were coming up with new names, and you had came up with Conscious, you know, And I was like, yeah, Conscious. I remember your name was Conscious because you were a very conscious rapper at the time. And I came up. I was like, I think I'm gonna be Blackout. And I was like, matter of fact, that sounds like a better group name. And we never really stuck with it until we added Reggie and was like, okay. And it made sense because 2003, and it was like, that makes sense. We're going to be Team Blackout. Don't know why we added Team Everybody. Always ask me, we're not the Power Rangers. I just. I don't just sound like maybe we should have just been Blackout. But it sounded cool at the time. No, Team Blackout sounded. Now looking back, I'm like, I probably would have took off the team.
- [46:24]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I feel like we was ahead of our time with the team because, you know, I think it became a thing like team this team that, you know, they. It's a part of like social media. People say team, whatever, but, you know, we was Team Blackout before any of that.
- [46:37]
JoJo Simmons
We were recruiting fans like, just like that. Like you part of the team Blackout. I want to talk about this funny story of us growing up. And I remember me telling you this. We were sitting in an Applebee's one time. I know you remember this story. And I told you, hone into being a half black, half Jewish rapper. I said, hey, let them know you are Jewish. Wear the iced out, David Starr. Let's go all the way. You could still be a fly ass rapper. You said it will never work. Who was the only hot Jewish rapper at the time?
- [47:09]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Oh. Oh, man. How you say his name? I don't want to say his name wrong, but I know who you're talking about.
- [47:17]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah, but he wasn't like a serious rapper. He wasn't knowing.
- [47:22]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Not something like that. I don't want to say the name wrong.
- [47:25]
JoJo Simmons
It was like a joke. He was like a jokey Jewish rapper. And Zach didn't want to believe me. He said, that'll never work. People will never respect it. And now we have Drake. I told you you could have been Drake before Drake. How does that feel now that I always kind of rub that in your face and be like, yo, you could have been Drake. Not to say that you would have turned into Drake, but I told you the narrative could have worked of a biracial rapper that is also Jewish. And look, he's the biggest rapper in the world. How does that feel to you that. That I kind of said that to you in our teenage years?
- [47:59]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
First side note, that the rapper's name, Modest Yahoo, I just looked it up.
- [48:03]
JoJo Simmons
I hope. I said, what is his name? That was his name. That was the. The only famous Jewish rapper at the time. And he was more like a joke, but like back into the question. How does it make you feel that I told you that? You know, now you see Drake has taken your spot. He stole your flow ball for ball.
- [48:29]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I mean, seeing Drake blow up and becoming who he is, you know, for me, that was definitely someone that I felt like I connected with as an artist before Drake the closest. I feel like I had to like, feeling a connection with an artist Would probably be Kanye, because prior to Kanye, it was, you know, a lot of Jay Z, Nas, Ja Rule. Like, there's all these street artists, but, you know, I couldn't necessarily relate to their street life, but I was entertained by the stories and just. I felt a certain emotion just listening to them. But when it came to Drake, that was like a identical, almost person. Like, this is someone that's just like me. He's black and Jewish. Like, has a very similar background. Of course, like, his story, and his background is a little bit different than mine, but just having the black Jewish connection, the biracial connection, whatever you want to call it, it was nice to see it. You know, the idea of representation, like, representation is everything in the classroom, just in sports, everywhere, in music. Seeing somebody and be successful and somebody that's connected and someone that reminds you of yourself, that representation, like, goes a long way in inspiring others. And so just when I see Drake, I feel inspired and I feel just proud. Like, you know, that's a biracial, black, Jewish rapper that made it, and the odds were against him. You know, nobody expected him to be where he's at. Coming from Degrassi, being from Canada, being biracial, they had a lot of things against him. But he was a true artist, and he's obviously one of the greatest of all time at this point. But I'm just. I'm happy for Drake. And like you said, you.
- [50:22]
JoJo Simmons
You.
- [50:22]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
You had a vision. You definitely saw that first. Maybe that was just a part of me being a little bit cautious, a little bit unsure.
- [50:31]
JoJo Simmons
Nobody to relate that. Tier 2, you know? Exactly.
- [50:33]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Exactly.
- [50:35]
JoJo Simmons
Now it's all good. You know, I like to joke around in them. Yeah, obviously, I think Drake is a super dope artist and happy that there was somebody able to represent out here for somebody like you to connect to and really feel like that's a relatable rapper that shows you that it's, you know, you could do this. You know what I mean? So shout out to Drake, man. Drake. Drake is obviously one of the greatest all time. And it's safe to say that Zach's probably not a fan of they not like us, but not too much.
- [51:02]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Not too much, man.
- [51:04]
JoJo Simmons
So you brought up Reggie earlier, and I wanted to. I wanted to. I wanted to speak about this. Obviously, it's important. He's the third member in the group. He's no longer in contact with either of us. Would you like to describe our dynamic back then and before we lost communication? How do you feel about the distance now? So it's a three part question. Can you talk about Reggie and our dynamic back then? And we'll talk about, you know, a little bit more of, you know, what we feel is going on.
- [51:35]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Back then. Our dynamic was amazing. We was brothers, we was family. A lot of funny moments that we shared. Just a lot of special times. Especially like we talk about just that car, the Toyota, the hoopty, whatever you.
- [51:51]
JoJo Simmons
Want to call it, how to drive in that car.
- [51:53]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
But I'll tell that story like he, he was, he was the first person that drove. He was the first one that, you know, had a whip. And we would just ride out together. I feel like we went on journeys as a group together and just travel in different places. Just in New York, we were only 15. Young, yeah, being teenagers and just going out and having fun, going to parties. We used to go to the teen club back when we was younger. We used to like really be be lit in the teen club when we was in high school. Just, you know, Reggie's always going to be a brother to me, regardless of the communication now. But back then we were super tight. We were super close. I remember we would do things like, remember we, we would go to the city and we had a plan. Yeah, we, we, we had a plan to go and, and go in the Def Jam office and give them a demo. You know, this is stuff we were doing independently on our own, you know, mind you.
- [52:52]
JoJo Simmons
So I want you to stop that. Yeah, Def Jam, my uncle was obviously the biggest. He created Def Jam you're talking about. JoJo Simmons used to go outside of Def Jam with his two rap group members and sit out there and envision wanting to sign to this type of label and wanting to be there and trying to get in on my own and get a demo to whoever was the president or anybody. I remember going to the front desk and they turned me down. Jojo Simmons. This is after my uncle sold it. But like, remember we went to the desk and Reggie was like, I hate that security guard. He ain't gonna let us in. We used to rap outside of there. We used to sit there. We used to just envision what life would be if we signed to a major label. And that goes back to the passion that we had of wanting to do it on our own and right and just wanting to just like, yo, I'm just gonna do this right. So I love that story because the three of us would really sometimes get on a train if we weren't getting dropped off to the city was most of the time we would hop on the Train the three of us and go to Def Jam and sit out there for two hours, you know, and then just go back home and just talk and have meetings and be like, yo, we gonna do this. We're gonna become a group. This is before we were on tv. This is before Run's house, before we started. We just. Man, those are good times.
- [54:02]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Those are the times that people don't know about because, you know, they see Runs House and they think, oh, like, we just appeared on the show. We just woke up one day and wanted to be rappers. Like, it didn't go like that. We've been doing this for a long time, even prior to Runs House. And we were doing things like that independently and trying to make things happen on our.
- [54:19]
JoJo Simmons
On our own.
- [54:20]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
We was going to the studio. We was paying for our own studio time and at Miller's, you know, and.
- [54:25]
JoJo Simmons
Recording Dunkirk in the hood in Queens.
- [54:28]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, exactly. And. And like you said, we meet up, we take these trips to Manhattan on the train together and go in the Def Jam office on our own, like, nobody else helping. We try to see if we could talk to somebody. I remember one time we even had like, my mom called the Def Jam office because she had a very professional sounding voice.
- [54:48]
JoJo Simmons
Acting.
- [54:48]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, it act like our assistant and like, talk to the people at the office and tell them that we coming. And you know, we tried all kinds of tactics. Tactics to. To get on before Runs House was even a thing. And that's just a part story.
- [55:02]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah. Yeah, man. Reggie. Reggie, my guy. Back in the day, me and Reggie were. Were on and off hot and cold. We. You know how that was. Like, yeah, I'd kick Reggie up the group every other month because we used to just argue about dumb stuff. You're out the group, right? Like, but Reggie was my. Yeah, Reggie taught me how to drive. Literally at 15, you know, before I ever drove a car, Reggie was like, yo, drive. Drive the Toyota. We was in Roosevelt Field Mall. And he was like, yo, we in a parking lot. Just go up and down the parking lot and do that. And Reggie taught me how to. Not to say that. He taught me, yo, put your hand right here. But he was like, yo, get in the car and get comfortable here. Drive, bro. Like, I don't know if his parents knew that, but like, 15, he was. Drive, bro. Like, and that was the first car that I actually ever drove was that blue Toyota camera. Shout out to Reggie on that one. Now I want to talk about. Now that we kind of lost communication with Reggie. Although there's been Little inklings of him dropping in and us talking to him. How do you feel about the distance now?
- [55:57]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I mean, it hurts, you know, I consider him a brother still. Like I said, we were all very close, and we went through something very unique together. Not everyone gets to experience the things that we experienced being on TV and doing.
- [56:13]
JoJo Simmons
We made money, closed deals, we went on shows.
- [56:17]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
It was on a professional level. It wasn't like, no amateur stuff. It was on a professional level, the things that we were doing. And not a lot of people could say that they had that experience in high school, you know, in. In your early years. So I always cherish those moments. And he's a part of that history. And, you know, he's always going to be a brother to me, regardless of how he's feeling, you know, whether he's angry or not angry or however he feels about the situation or what's going on here. Like, I'm always going to consider him a brother. And, you know, we spent too much time together not to. We've been too close for me not to think of him in that way.
- [56:57]
JoJo Simmons
I'm happy you did that, because this is why I wanted that question. I wanted to call out, I know he's gonna watch this episode. He may or may not, but I'm sure he will. He knows we. He knows who we, you know, And I just want him to know, like, bro, we love you. You know, Like, I know you and I, Reggie, have had some times, right? We've had some. Some discrepancies. And the last discrepancy we had shook the whole group as friends, right? Not even the rap group. We were done rapping together, but we were all friends. And I feel like you're holding that against Zach, whatever me and you went through. And I think you shouldn't hold it against him, even if you hold it against me. I did reach out to Reggie, you know, recently, a couple, maybe last year. I went to his house. He wasn't there. His parents were there. They told him he showed up to my artist show. I did see him. We. It felt like an embracing of love. I asked him, hey, I was running around because I was producing the show and hosting it as well. And I said, hey, let's talk after the show. And he was gone the next day. I text him. My text went green. So, you know, that was my last encounter with Reggie. I know that we had a really bad encounter before that when things got really heated between the both of us, but I just want him to know that I forgive him and I hope he forgives me because I. You know, growing up, I got my life. I got a whole different perspective on life now. And life is too short to be beefing with people you've made special moments with. So, like, just want that to be a call out that, like, yo, bro, like, you're the third member of a group that may not have did big things, but we did big things in our mind. One of the biggest moments for me was when we closed the K1X deal and we broke down a nice little check. And Christmas time, y' all in there going to Tiffany, getting your girl and your mom Tiffany, and. And y', all, we 16, 17, and we got little bags on us. You know, I'm going. We going. I'm going into Louie and copping Louie. And, you know, because Team Blackout was making some decent money. And that was the coolest thing to me was. Wasn't just making you guys famous, it was letting you guys see, like, this is possible. You guys can make money at a young age off this. And we were. And even the publishing checks, they still roll in sometimes, right? We've seen decent building checks off of Team blackout. We've seen 2000s, right? Like, feel like I say that to say that it was a great moment in time for me, obviously way past it, but just wanted Reggie to know that, like, you our guy, bro. I remember when you first got in the group and, you know, I knew Reggie in high school, but I didn't know him right when I tried out for the basketball team. He claims the story is. And I'd love to get him on his podcast if he ever is interested. But he claims, you know, the basketball team. And then, like, he came up to me and said, yo, you made the team. And I was like. I said something slick like, yeah, yeah, whatever, or something. And I don't. I don't remember that. But remember the day you told me, yo, I know this third guy that I've been getting cool with. He can rap. He's a really good rapper. And I was. I don't know who I thought I was. I thought I was big CEO. And I was like, you ain't put him on the phone. Make him rap for me. And, yeah, I got on the phone with him, and he was in the mall, and he just started rapping mad 16s. And I was like, oh, this dude is nice. I'm like, yo, Zach, I remember hanging on the phone, like, he signed. Like, who am I signing with? What Paperwork, bro? A lot of people don't know Reggie Loved being a solo artist. I'll speak for him. And when I finally decided right before, after the season one of Runs House and I was starting to see me and you and Reggie were getting closer and closer as a group. We started going to the studio more because originally it was Team Blackout featuring Reggie. Reggie would just kind of rap with us, but he wasn't officially part of the group. I don't know if you remember that. And I remember us being blue Toyota, the three of us in like Wiz, I think. And we were driving, Reggie was driving. And I was like, yo, Reg, you want to be part of Blackout? Like, I think we should make it. I was like, my dad had a three man group. It only sounds right to have a three man group. I think you're perfect. He was like, oh, that's official. But like, can I still be a solo artist? Remember how mad I got?
- [60:42]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah.
- [60:44]
JoJo Simmons
Like, what do you mean? Together we gotta be in unison. And he didn't. He wanted to be in the group, but he still wanted to keep his independence. And eventually he was like, you know what, the group, I'm all in on the group. And we signed the label. Did we sign with, you know, Latchkey Koch? We signed the K1X deal. We started working with Rockwall and Chris and Tee. And things started moving fast for us. Right? And that's how Reggie got in the group was he came last. But he was there for a while and he was the one that put us on the Miller that we used to record on Dunkirk. And that's when we really got closer. When we started recording in Queens together and it was over. We became. We became Team Blackout, full fledged. He came and recorded with us in the basement a few times. And Reggie was looking at us like, nah, bro. I got a professional studio. We got. I got a real studio we can also do and record. Because he would show us his solo music and where you record this at, he'd be like, yo, right there. Like $25 an hour. And we'd all get $25 and do three hours. Remember, anybody would get 25. Yeah, I get my 25. You would get to 25, he would get his 25. We do three hours and knock out five songs if we could.
- [61:48]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right, right.
- [61:48]
JoJo Simmons
Because we would write them before we get in there. You know, we were smart about our hours.
- [61:52]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right?
- [61:53]
JoJo Simmons
Wow, those are. I'm listening.
- [61:54]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
No, in a way, also just how you described that. He was kind of like. Reggie was like our jam master Jay at the time, not being the dj, but just being the third member that came later on in the group and introducing new things to us to. To better us. Just the way that they say. JMJ came and he brought the style and the fashion to run DMC and changed up the look.
- [62:16]
JoJo Simmons
You know, he didn't bring the style in fashion, but.
- [62:19]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right, right.
- [62:20]
JoJo Simmons
He brought a lot of help when it came to quality of the music, you know, and he brought a lot of help when he came to the direction of. But I definitely style the fashion. You know what I mean? Oh, no, no.
- [62:31]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
You had the fashion locked down. But just him being that. That third member and. Yeah, and just adding.
- [62:39]
JoJo Simmons
And he was helpful. We needed him. He added a great new energy, and he added the mysterious energy. I always thought, like, he was the third member. Like, who is he? Like, where is he from? Shout out to Long island, too, because I want to talk about this. I thought it was very important for me to also add a guy from Long Island. I felt like Long island never really got a lot of shine. And I was like, oh, cool. This guy's from Hempstead. We're from Queens. That's Bridge. I don't know if you ever knew that. I thought like that, but I was like, dude's from Long Island. This is dope. We got a Long island dude in our group. Right? And from Hempstead. And Hempstead's very official, by the way. Like, it's not like people think Long island is like, oh, no. But Hempstead is super duper official right next to Queens. You know, I thought it was cool to have a Long island kind of, you know, represented in the group. So that was also a cool thing.
- [63:23]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Absolutely.
- [63:24]
JoJo Simmons
Going out of the group and talking about, like, your career and, you know, your new career, your growth. You're now a music teacher with multiple degrees. How did you decide to pivot from wanting to be an artist to pursuing music through education? What made you say, yo? You know, I remember we were in college together, but what made you pick that to be like, I'm going to be a music teacher.
- [63:44]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Well, I gotta give a shout out to a woman that you know by the name of Robin Corn. She was our principal in elementary school. Like we mentioned Highland elementary, where we met. Highland ended up being the place that I would first begin teaching at. So I came back and became a teacher there. And it was the same school that we met.
- [64:06]
JoJo Simmons
So, yeah, bring that back. At the same school we met, you became a teacher. You started your teaching career.
- [64:12]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Right. So full circle moment. Come back to Highland. She's the one that reached out to me to ask me to come and teach music at the school. You know, at the time, you know, I was about to graduate from college undergrad, and I didn't really know what direction I wanted to go in at the time. I was still young, just trying to figure it out. Of course, you know, I always loved music. I was always involved in music in different ways. Rapping or playing instruments, being in jazz bands, like you said. And she. She always remembered that about me just being a. A music guy. So she had reached out to me, kind of put the bug in my ear, like, why don't you come over to Highland and be the music teacher when. When Mr. Berman retires, you could come and fill in his spot. So I was kind of just brought in, and that was. That was how my music career, my music teaching career took off. I was brought to Highland, and, you know, the rest is history. I found myself really liking the experience of working with the kids and being able to teach music and teach them how to play instruments. It was very, very dope for me to go and be a music teacher there. Then I went off and went further with my teaching and my education as well. Got my two masters, my first master's in childhood education and special education, and my second master's that I just recently earned is in school leadership. So, you know, I'm taking my education career, you know, to the next step, and, you know, the future is bright and just looking to see what's up next for me.
- [65:51]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah, I was going to ask you what's next for you personally and professionally, but it seems like you kind of knocked that down. You got a few more degrees coming, it seemed like, and you're, you know, you're going to keep growing in the education space. What was that moment like for you of realizing, okay, I'm no longer a rapper, but I'm gonna take this teaching thing serious, and this is gonna be my career. Was it like a moment where you're like, yo, like, all right, it's over. It's time to wrap this up and maybe stop. Put down the pen. And I don't know if you still work on rhymes, but, like, put down the pen and focus on life? What was that moment for you? Was it. Was it, like, groundbreaking? What was that for you?
- [66:23]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
There was a time when I was still working on my stuff. We all were working on solo music. You, me, Reggie, we were all doing our solo thing at that time. So my plan was I was gonna go in, I was gonna be a music Teacher by day, and then at night, I was gonna go record and continue my solo path in music. But, you know, the teaching just kind of got a hold of me and it just. I ended up just going with that full force and just following the education path. And it was just a gradual process. It just eventually happened like that. I found myself just putting more energy into teaching and giving back to the kids in that kind of way. And I felt teaching really gave me a great sense of purpose. Not that hip hop didn't, but it was just something different for me at the time. I was still figuring out where I was going to go in life. So it gave me a sense of responsibility. Like becoming an educator really changes you as a person. It makes you more responsible because it's not just about you. Now. You're working, especially me in elementary school. You're working with little kids, you're working with the youth, the future of the world. So, you know, I took that responsibility, responsibility very, very highly. And, you know, that's just the path I ended up going in.
- [67:42]
JoJo Simmons
Yeah, I think it's perfect path for you. Very mild mannered and patient. You've always been that way with a good spirit and a good heart. So I think that you're in the perfect lane for yourself when it comes to teaching. I think you're the perfect person for the job, especially being the music, you know, the music maniac you are. And knowing all arts of music from hip hop to jazz to it all. I think, you know, there's nobody better to teaching the kids our, you know, our future. You know, what music's all about, not only where it's going, where it's at.
- [68:12]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
But where it came from.
- [68:13]
JoJo Simmons
And I think you're the perfect guy for that. I do love the story you told me that some of the kids parents recognized Team Blackout. Zach, in the school you currently work in. You want to talk about that?
- [68:24]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah. Yeah, that definitely happens from time to time still, which is dope. You know, be like, first day of school. I think last year was the first day of school. And I'm outside greeting families, you know, welcoming the kids to the building. And I remember one of the people, one of the ops members of my school came up to me, operations team, and there was like a parent asking about you. They said, like, because I don't know if all my co workers are aware of my music history when it comes to Team Blackout and runs out, you know, some of them do know, but I'm not sure, like, how many really are aware of it. Like they might know that I have some kind of history in music, but they don't know per se, like what, what exactly it is. So I think it might have caught some of them off guard. Like, like, Zach, like you was on tv, like, are you famous? Like, like, what's, what's going on? Like, so what are you doing here?
- [69:14]
JoJo Simmons
Right? They always hit you with that.
- [69:16]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Because I've always been very low key and I've kind of kept it pretty, pretty low when it comes to just my team blackout stuff at work. You know, when I'm at work, I'm, I'm Mr. Ellis Chevitz. You know, I'm Zach to my co workers. You know, I'm here to do my job. I'm here try to be as professional as I can and, you know, develop my relationships and networking and all that. But, you know, I've kind of kept my music career, you know, discreet at work.
- [69:48]
JoJo Simmons
So, you know, as we wrapping up, got two other questions I wanted to ask you. Obviously here at the For Good podcast, we're big on mental health. I don't know if you're big on your mental health, but we'd love to know what have you done for your mental health lately for anybody listening that may want to use the same regimen or, you know, routine.
- [70:05]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Well, I've definitely done therapy in the past, just mental health wise. Not that like I'm going through really, really severe things personally, but just using it as a tool to just help me just think out my thoughts and decision making and just life decisions and stuff. Like, I found therapy in the past to be very helpful for me. I haven't gone in in a while, but I definitely would recommend it to anybody just from a mental health standpoint, just finding somebody to talk to, not relying on ChatGPT, although AI AI is a powerful thing and could be very useful, a useful tool in a lot of different things. But when it comes to the mental health side, of course you could get little tidbits of information from ChatGPT to help you with that, but I would recommend going and finding a professional therapist, actual person and just talking and bouncing thoughts and ideas back and forth. I felt I always found that to be a helpful thing for me. And just on a day to day basis when it comes to my mental health, you know, I try to do things like when I wake up in the morning, try not to look at my phone or look at social media right away. Give myself a good 30 minutes or so to just get settled into the morning, you know, take a Shower, get my mind right, you know, get, get ready for work. And then, you know, once I head out for work, then I'll open up the phone and start going through my social media and just looking at things. But, you know, just taking the time to give myself a few minutes at least, you know, half an hour or so in the beginning of the day for myself. You know, I've tried meditation in different aspects of something. I want to do more of meditation. So there's a lot of different ways you could go with it, but those are the things I find that have been most helpful for me.
- [72:02]
JoJo Simmons
I love that.
- [72:03]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
That's good.
- [72:03]
JoJo Simmons
I mean, I hope the listeners were listening. Those are, those are valid, valid, valid points. So as we, as we wrap this up, I want to know if there are any books or music that you've been inspired by lately that the people may want to know about. Movie. Anything you've been inspired by? It could be anything you've been inspired by, man.
- [72:22]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
I mean, I do enjoy reading. I also have been just watching a lot of content. I enjoy watching a lot of different content, whether it be entrepreneurial stuff or, you know, self help stuff, anything on YouTube. There's so many different gurus and people on YouTube that got useful information. So I just try to take a little bit from everybody, you know. And currently I'm actually reading a book. This is not really a mental health thing, but just reading a book about the story of Hurricane Carter, the boxer. They made a movie about him, Denzel played him back in the day called Hurricane, you know, and just talking about his life story, the book that he wrote when he was in prison and he was wrongfully accused of a murder, you know, that he didn't commit. So I'm in the beginning stages of reading that book and it's something that I've always wanted to learn more about. I remember seeing a movie when I was a kid and always wanted to get my hands on this book. But back then I feel like it was harder to find find. But now I was able to get it Amazon, and that's what I'm currently reading at the moment.
- [73:36]
JoJo Simmons
But I want to be ready to read it.
- [73:40]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Telling his life story, just seeing what he was going through in prison at that time is. It's a very, very reflective narrative. Man.
- [73:53]
JoJo Simmons
That's amazing. I appreciate that. Usually when I ask that question, people don't. Some people give good answers. But that was a great answer. You really gave what you were reading and what it was about to really give context to People that may want to read it. I'm definitely going to go try to pick that book up now. Appreciate that, Zach. As we wrap up this episode, I appreciate my boy, my brother, my guy. Since first grade, we've seen it all together. I think we've only had one argument ever in life. We. We won't talk about those moments, but, like, man, I appreciate you coming on this podcast. This is one of my favorite episodes. I say that about a lot of people, but truly today I felt at home. We went past an hour just because, like, the memories, the, you know, us going down memory lane. You made me tear up a little bit, you know, just feeling the love through the screen. You're really my brother. I love you. You're the brother that I didn't have before Diggy and Rusty came into my life. That's why I think you were a very important person in my life. And your parents taking me in every weekend and letting me sleep over every weekend and waking up to corn muffins and bagels, you know, your pops giving all of that played a very pivotal part in my life, my childhood, of just not having much boys in the house. Growing up, I grew up with all sisters, so to be able to go to somebody else's house and have that boy, that brotherhood, that friendship, that felt like I had somebody that I could relate to, in a sense, I could talk to the yin to my yang, as we would say. The guy that was calm, but I was loud. But it worked just because, like, it was the true brotherhood and genuine love for music and each other and just there would be times where we didn't have nothing to do together and we just chill, you know? So, like, you know, don't. I want you to know. And I give everybody their flowers that, like, you're my guy. You're my brother. You've been through it all. You was in my wedding. You, you, you know, you godfather. You know, Mia, you're one of the godfathers of Joey as he has a godfather village, as we know. So, like, you've always shown up at every. Every turn. So appreciate you. I love you, my brother. I appreciate you coming on the 4 Good podcast. You could peace out the people as we Peace out. But, yeah, everybody, this was another great episode of the 4 Good podcast where we focus on the good and never the bad. And we're measured by what we do, not what we have. We're signing out. Till next time. It's your guy, Jojo, my brother. Team Blackout Zach. Yeah. Peace, peace.
- [76:18]
Zach Ellis Chevitz
Deeper than rap I tell you it's all worth it? We've gone farther and we way smarter? And it's an honor I'm your kid's godfather? You use the V to drive me smoothers? And nally doing music with my brother.
- [76:31]
JoJo Simmons
Beside me like a family reunion? Still keeping moving? We've been on the grind? What y' all doing? Still level it up? I ain't doing too much? I use the hate for motivation? We could never get it feel like a family reunion still keep moving We've been on the grind what y', all, what y' all doing? Still leveling up? I ain't doing too much I used to hate for motivation? We could never get enough.
- [76:57]
Dan Harris
Hey, this is Dan Harris, host of the 10% Happier podcast. I'm here to tell you about a new series we're running this September on 10 happier. The goal is to help you do your life better. The series is called Reset. It's all about hitting the reset button in many of the most crucial areas of your life. Each week we'll tackle a topic like how to reset your nervous system, how to reset your relationships, how to reset your career. We're going to bring on top notch scientists and world class meditation teachers to give you deep insights and actionable advice. It's all delivered with our trademark blend of skepticism, humor, credibility and practicality. 10% have here is self help for smart people. Come join the party.