The White Russell Simmons? Steve Lobel on Life Lessons, Loss & Hip-Hop

Summary

Episode Summary: "The White Russell Simmons? Steve Lobel on Life Lessons, Loss & Hip-Hop"

Introduction

In this heartfelt episode of For Good, host Joseph "JoJo" Simmons sits down with hip-hop legend Steve Lobel, affectionately dubbed "the White Russell Simmons." Released on June 17, 2025, this episode delves deep into Steve's illustrious journey in the music industry, his personal battles with loss, his ventures into the cannabis business, and his unwavering commitment to mental health advocacy. Through candid conversations and poignant storytelling, Steve shares invaluable insights that resonate with artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone striving to live with intention and purpose.

Steve Lobel: The White Russell Simmons

Steve Lobel, often referred to as "the White Russell Simmons," brings a wealth of experience from his decades-long involvement in hip-hop. His close ties with iconic figures like Rev Run of Run DMC and Jam Master Jay have positioned him as a respected mentor and influencer within the community.

Journey Through Hip-Hop and Mentorship

Steve's entry into the music scene was significantly influenced by Jam Master Jay. Reflecting on their bond, Steve shares:

"Jay was the first one I met that I would go to his condo in the city. We just built a great relationship, organically." ([05:41])

This mentorship not only shaped his career but also instilled in him the importance of guiding the next generation. He emphasizes the critical role mentors play:

"Without a mentor, you could get lost. I mentee a lot of people, and a lot of people don't even know." ([08:25])

Personal Losses and Coping Mechanisms

Steve opens up about profound personal losses, including the untimely deaths of friends and family members like Mustafa, his brother, and the legendary Nipsey Hussle. These experiences have deeply affected him, leading to moments of intense grief and introspection.

"I hate death, but I know we're here once, and that's why we gotta make the best of it." ([07:46])

He discusses his coping strategies, which include finding solace in personal space and the importance of emotional resilience:

"I close the door when no one's around and I cry. I cry every day." ([20:08])

Building a Genuine Fan Base

When asked about growing an audience, Steve underscores the significance of authenticity and data-driven strategies. He distinguishes between genuine fans and casual followers by focusing on engagement metrics rather than mere follower counts.

"Data is everything. Without understanding it, you can't build a sustainable fan base." ([14:39])

He advises aspiring artists to remain consistent and uphold their integrity to foster lasting connections with their audience.

Venturing into the Cannabis Business

Diversifying his portfolio, Steve shares his journey into the cannabis industry. Initially skeptical, his perspective shifted as he recognized the plant's potential benefits and its role in addiction treatment.

"Cannabis is a healthy drug, right? And soon it'll be federal legal, and the numbers will show." ([49:00])

Steve highlights the importance of being vertically integrated in the cannabis business, ensuring control over distribution, cultivation, and retail.

"We own everything vertically. Thank God to my partner Frank, we're opening stores across multiple states." ([46:23])

Mental Health Advocacy in the Music Industry

A significant portion of the conversation centers on mental health challenges faced by artists and those in the music industry. Steve passionately advocates for accessible mental health resources and destigmatizing therapy.

"Mental health is a big thing. Artists are losing their lives because there's no support." ([50:08])

He applauds organizations like Backline, which provide therapists for everyone in the music ecosystem, emphasizing the urgent need for such support systems.

Heavenly Center: A Beacon of Hope

Steve discusses the establishment of the Heavenly Center, an addiction treatment facility co-founded with hit producer Scott Storch. Utilizing cannabis as part of the treatment, the center offered innovative solutions to addiction, significantly reducing relapse rates.

"We saved a lot of lives with the help of God, man. Addiction is real." ([64:04])

The center's success underscored the transformative power of combining traditional treatment methods with alternative therapies like cannabis.

Advice for Aspiring Artists and Entrepreneurs

Steve imparts crucial advice for those looking to make their mark:

1. Learn and Educate: Understand the intricacies of your industry, from royalties to publishing in music, and from QuickBooks to exit strategies in entrepreneurship.

   "Learn all about that. Common sense is not common." ([69:43])

2. Build a Strong Team: Surround yourself with knowledgeable individuals—lawyers, managers, and other professionals who can guide your journey.

   "A lot of people don't even know what a team means. Team means together." ([13:49])

3. Maintain Integrity: Uphold your morals and values, ensuring that success does not come at the expense of your principles.

4. Embrace Balance: Prioritize personal relationships and mental well-being to prevent burnout and regret.

   "I spend a lot of time with my father now and the people that I love because I don't want to live with regrets no more." ([68:25])

Reflections on Social Media's Future

Discussing the evolving landscape of social media, Steve expresses skepticism about platforms focusing solely on virality and superficial engagement. He stresses the importance of genuine connections over fleeting moments of clout.

"Social media is a gift and a curse. Use all these platforms in a positive way." ([74:53])

Steve advocates for organic relationship-building, emphasizing that true influence comes from meaningful interactions rather than algorithm-driven popularity.

Final Takeaways

Steve Lobel's conversation with JoJo Simmons encapsulates a life dedicated to music, mentorship, and meaningful advocacy. His experiences underscore the importance of resilience, authenticity, and continuous learning. Aspiring artists and entrepreneurs can draw inspiration from his commitment to building lasting legacies rooted in love, integrity, and purposeful action.

As JoJo aptly summarizes:

"Your story is one of perseverance, sacrifice, and transformation." ([66:56])

Through Steve's narratives, listeners are reminded to cherish every moment, support one another, and strive to make a positive impact both personally and within their communities.

Notable Quotes:

• "Without a mentor, you could get lost." – Steve Lobel ([08:25])
• "Data is everything. Without understanding it, you can't build a sustainable fan base." – Steve Lobel ([14:39])
• "Mental health is a big thing. Artists are losing their lives because there's no support." – Steve Lobel ([50:08])
• "Learn all about that. Common sense is not common." – Steve Lobel ([69:43])
• "Social media is a gift and a curse. Use all these platforms in a positive way." – Steve Lobel ([74:53])

Conclusion

This episode of For Good offers a profound exploration of Steve Lobel's multifaceted life. From navigating the highs and lows of the music industry to championing mental health and pioneering in the cannabis sector, Steve embodies the essence of healing oneself to effect global change. His stories serve as a beacon of hope and guidance for those seeking to live intentionally and make a meaningful difference in the world.

Transcript

[Steve Lobel]

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[Steve Lobel]

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[Steve Lobel]

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[JoJo Simmons]

[e-mail] Terms don't you call yourself the White Russell Simmons?

[Steve Lobel]

They call me the White Russell Simmons. I never label myself none. People say, yo, you're the white Russell Simmons. Run DMC and Jam Master J, we just built a great relationship. Every tour bus I got on with Bone Thugs and Harmony, every time I was on private planes with Sean Kingston, Every time I jumped in vans with Fat Joe, driving around this country because he wouldn't fly. So I sacrificed my life every day I leave my house to build my relationships. Nipsey Hussle was the smartest artist I've worked with. So, you know, it was a sad situation. And Nip, you know, it's sad because he's bigger dead than alive. And now they're keeping his legacy alive to do other things right? But why, when he was alive, you didn't show him the love? I hate death, but I know we're here once, and that's why we gotta make the best of it. And you gotta love your loved ones and love the people who really love you and have balance, because I never had balance, but I can't cope with it. But I close the door when no one's around and I cry. And they were like, yo, we wanna open a store. I wanna call cookies. And Burner was like, I'm not interested.

[JoJo Simmons]

When you meet these monumental superstars or when you get these good sit. Why do you think you're always in the right place at the right time? What's good, everybody? It's your guy, JoJo Simmons. And welcome to the Four Good Podcasts, where we focus on the good, never the bad, where we're measured on what we do and not what we have. Today I'm honored to have hip hop legend Steve Lobel, a longtime friend of the Simmons family. And, you know, you actually got your start working in music, basically with my pops, right? Rev Runner, Run dmz.

[Steve Lobel]

First of all, thanks for having me.

[JoJo Simmons]

Of course, thank you for having me.

[Steve Lobel]

I don't like to sit down, do interviews. In the last couple years, I can't say no to you, you know, and once I get my word, I'm stuck to it. But, yes, your dad, first of all, your uncle is my idol and my mentor, Uncle Russ. And your dad put me in the game. Shout out my man, Rev, Run, Joe, Joey, so on and so forth.

[JoJo Simmons]

Don't you call yourself the White Russell Simmons?

[Steve Lobel]

They call me the White Russell Simmons. I never label myself none. People Say, yo, you're the white Russell Simmons.

[JoJo Simmons]

Hey. So first of all, I wanna remind everybody. And I know. Cause, you know, when I asked Steve to sit down with me, you made me promise you, no bullshit questions.

[Steve Lobel]

Nah.

[JoJo Simmons]

And I wanna remind everybody, this is a positive podcast. I wanna celebrate you and the people who are really for good in this community. Inspire people. You know, I think every time I see you sit down with other people when you rarely do podcasts, but you do do them. Occasionally you drop gems. And that's kinda what I wanted from you. Like I am, you know, I call you sometimes personally and ask you questions for years. Even about when I got into music management. I asked you about that, and you gave me some really good advice that we could discuss later that actually I've implemented in how I move in music. And just, you know, even times where I used to just come out here to shoot the show and you'd say, yo, my studio's your studio. Whatever you want. So, like, just want people to know. Like when Steve says he's a family of the Simmons and he's close to us, he's real. When he says that he does know all of us, he does show us so much love and always, constantly like showing up as an uncle to me. So I want to commend you for that and appreciate you for. For showing up. Thank you so much in that space for me.

[Steve Lobel]

I know all the houses you grew up in. I watched you grow up, and I love it.

[JoJo Simmons]

Appreciate that. Let's talk. So, Steve, your journey through hip hop is legendary, obviously. For those who don't know, can you share how Jam Master J got you in the game?

[Steve Lobel]

I mean, I would say Run DMC and Jam Master Jay. You know, at the end of the day, you know, rest in peace to my man Mustafa. Rest in peace to my man Ronnie Ray. Rest in peace to my man Marvin, Jay's brother. You know, just being around Those guys, man, the 80s.

[JoJo Simmons]

Who'd you have the relationship first? Was it Jay out of the whole group?

[Steve Lobel]

Well, you know, look.

[JoJo Simmons]

Cause I did some research. We did some research. It looks like you were probably closer or knew Jay before you knew Running D, would you say?

[Steve Lobel]

Well, you know, your dad, he wasn't really outside like that.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right?

[Steve Lobel]

You know what I'm saying? He wasn't hanging out like that. He's the king. But he wasn't outside like that. Even though he'd frequent some of my bars and my clubs. DMC was outside. But, you know, me and Jay just clicked. And, man, we worked on so Many things together again. He's been throughout a lot of things. Part of my life, you know, man, like, honestly, I can get really deep. Cause it's. You like, you know, it was one day I had. I was with a girl I was engaged to, and she's a supermodel. She was in Australia. And, you know, she was gonna have my baby. And I didn't call her for, like, three days. And she got an abortion. I never really spoke about this.

[JoJo Simmons]

Wow.

[Steve Lobel]

And I probably would have a son or a daughter. Probably like 18 years old now. And she told me, like, you didn't call me for days. And she had got an abortion. And I was like that, man. You know, being in this music industry, you get just caught up and there's no balance. And you just focus on all types of things. And you're like, I'll call right back. But then you're caught up and you can't talk. Cause you're on stage, the music's loud. It's just. It's a weird business. And when you're up, they're asleep, so on and so forth. And I was really depressed and down I was with Jay. We at the Mondrian Hotel on Sunset. And I don't even drink. I took a whole bottle. And he was like, yo, bro, this is not your blah, blah, blah. This is not your blah, blah, blah. This is your love. You're supposed to communicate, bro.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right?

[Steve Lobel]

And it's your fault, you know? And I was down on myself for that. You know, Jay loved the Knicks, loved the Giants. We'd go to games a lot. Jay would always come to my bar and eat. I had a bar and restaurant, Union Turnpike. Even your dad performed there with dmc And Jay. We just built a great relationship, man. Like I said, organically, you know, Jay was the first one I met that I would go to his condo in the city. And he had carpet on his. On his walls. He had green carpet on his walls. Like, people have wallpaper and paint. He had carpet, you know, And. But again, like, you know, me and Jay just did different things. We were really cool. So, you know, we discovered. He wanted me to discover a white rapper for an exercise song that Sticky Fingers wrote. And Jay was gonna produce. And they used my bar to cast the white rapper. And then we took it to Sony Relativity, which led me getting a job at Sony, where I met the Fat Joes and the Mops and the Beatnuts, and the list goes on. So, again, like, Alderman family man. But I think more relationship was with Jay because He was outside and so on and so forth.

[JoJo Simmons]

So speaking about Jay and him giving you that good advice, how important was it for you to have the right people and, like, mentors around you at that time or even as you came up in the music world?

[Steve Lobel]

You know, I always tell people, like, without a mentor, you could get lost. And I mentee a lot of people, and a lot of people don't even know, say, yo, you were my mentor. I watched you, I mimicked you, you know, and that's good. And you're my mentor. And then I've helped so many people as a mentor. But me coming up, man, it was trials and tribulations and learn as you go. When you fall and you trip. You know, my dad, you know, he just turned 91. Everybody knows my dad loves my dad, OG Ted. He wasn't around a lot. I was a mama's boy. I was close to my mom, and my dad wasn't really there to mentor me. All he taught me, though, was loyalty and integrity, principles, morals and respect, the queen's way. And I lived like that. But he always said, if you want that BMX bike, go get a job. So I started busting tables, waiting tables, delivering newspapers, shoveling snow, raking leaves. He said, you want that YZ125, go get a job. You wanted that first 77 Cutler supreme with the T tops, Go get a job. Pops never gave me nothing. He taught me to go work for it, you know. So I looked at him fast forward decades later, he was a mentor. But me getting in the music industry and wanted to be in the music industry. I idolized your Uncle Russell. And I was like, I just want to be like him. And he was a mentor from far because, you know, I'd be around, but I wouldn't be around. I felt like I would learn from afar. So that's how I really did. I'm a high school dropout, I'm a college dropout. I'm self made, I'm self taught. I couldn't sit in school because I was drinking orange sodas and Snicker bars in the morning. And that sugar knock you off the wall. Don't give your kids soda or sugar, man. Just water. Seriously, it had me bouncing off the wall. So I couldn't really sit in school. And even to get bat mitzvahed, you know, in a Jewish religion, when you become a man, when you're 13, I was bar mitzvahed and I had to get a tutor. Yeah, you know, I just couldn't sit. Sit I was drinking soda too much and eating sugar. So, mom, I love you, but shouldn't have gave me that. So again, you know, self made and self taught and just learned. And you learn from experience. Yep, that's the only way. And you know, from knowledge. So I learn every day. I'm still learning. I just turned 59, I'll be 60 this year. I'm still learning from different things. You gotta throw it out there and see what's gonna come back. So, you know, I was mentored, but I was mentored the way I want to be mentored from afar. No one would say, do it this way, do it that way. I had to learn about a lot of things on my own.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah. So do you have any memorable stories from being on the road with my pops in the early days or run DMC as a whole, as a group? What's a good memorable story you can tell me that you haven't told me?

[Steve Lobel]

I mean, there's a crazy story, man, rest in peace to my man Mustafa, man. Sad that I have to say rest in peace on a lot of people because, you know, people my age are passing away from different reasons. Right. And I just experienced a real health issue and I almost passed away. And I'm alive to talk about it, but, you know, you know, it's what we eat and we have to exercise and so many people are passing away. But my man Mustafa, rest in peace, man. Straight from Queens, man. You know, been on Rikers island, been up north, big ass hands. Your dad will tell you about that. And we, we drove to North Carolina in a van. We used to get vans from Massapeco, Long Island, a place called Vantastic. People from the 80s and 90s would know that place. And we went on the road and went to North Carolina and we had to park the van in their parking spot, locked up. And Smith would set up this backdrop like an old English thing. And you do Polaroid pictures in front of it. You know, the Polaroid pictures, and they would charge for the picture and you take a picture in front of oldie. I forgot my other man's name from Hollis that was doing it too. But Smith, I remember that. So we were all out there and next thing you know, a little fight broke out because guys from there. And I always tell people, like any city, you go, there's street dudes, there's gangsters everywhere. Yeah, there's guys that might be not as tough as you, but they tough and they got that city unlocked. And they just felt like, man, we ain't paying for that. But from where from? We're like, okay, but you gotta pay. So a little conversation started happening, got escalated, and we got closed in this club, and we got closed in to get the van out. And my man Mustafa was not security, but he could be security. And he was ready to fight everybody. And I stood on top of the table and I thought it was a Karate Kid. So I'm standing there making a karate pose. I'm screaming, yelling like I'm a karate martial arts expert. I'm ready to knock you all out. And by the grace of God, we got out of there. We got the kids.

[JoJo Simmons]

Because you was the Karate Kid. You put the leg up.

[Steve Lobel]

Yeah, they knew martial arts.

[JoJo Simmons]

White boy not playing.

[Steve Lobel]

And, you know, we. We got the keys finally, and we got out of here. There was a story to laugh.

[JoJo Simmons]

Daniel LaRusso over here. That's funny. That was a crazy story. That was probably like, would my pops remember that?

[Steve Lobel]

He should. Maybe. He was in the dressing room.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

He wasn't front line, though. You know Pops.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

I mean, he had a lot to lose, man. He wasn't front. And he shouldn't be frontline. Right?

[JoJo Simmons]

Ever.

[Steve Lobel]

That's the money.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

That's the artist. That's the boss, Right? They should not be frontline. I think Jay might have been frontline. Cause Jay was that type of dude.

[JoJo Simmons]

All right, so as my team and I build a community of change makers with, you know, for good, what advice can you give me on growing an audience? And how do you differentiate between a real fan base that truly resonates with your mission or just casual followers?

[Steve Lobel]

Well, first of all, you mentioned team. Right. A lot of people don't even know what a team means. Team means together. Everyone achieves more.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right?

[Steve Lobel]

There's no I in team. There's no. Even though I said I earlier for certain things, but, you know, LeBron, Jay Z, no one. No one does it by themselves. You know, you have to have people smarter than you around you. You have to have, depending on what business you're in, a lawyer. You know, we're not lawyers. We don't sign contracts or paperwork that we don't know about. That's the lawyer's job. And the lawyer works for us. So we tell the lawyer what to do. Let's say music. You could have 6 million followers on Instagram and you drop a record and you sell 2%. A lot of people follow people because of the way they look, the stuff they show. Guys are following females because the way they look.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right.

[Steve Lobel]

Vice versa. So you really can't know until you really do the due diligence on data, right? Because they say women lie, but numbers don't lie, right? So I always base it on like, okay, you got all these followers, but you drop a record and you don't stream, something's off here. And again, organically building a fan base or any ego system that you're in, to me is great. Like, I'd rather be on cruise control with my life and my career than have a high and then a low and never be high again, right? But if you could stay consistent and relevant, which is the hardest thing, without selling your soul, without selling your integrity, without selling, and your morals, which is very hard to stay relevant. But again, like, you just throw out things and the data don't lie. Like in certain businesses I'm in, you can't pull it over. So I'm in the cannabis business. I don't look at how many people came a day, how many new customers. We came a day, how many new patients came a day. And then how did they come?

[JoJo Simmons]

How do you keep them?

[Steve Lobel]

How did they come? Had to hear about us. What's going to make them come back? How are we going to keep them coming back instead of going to multiple other dispensaries? You get it? So the agenda isn't what's in the data, right? The data is key to everything. Because you have P Ls, you could exit a business. But if you're in a business, you don't keep P and LS and you don't pay your taxes and you don't show things of how it is and your cost and your profit and loss. How are you going to do it? So the data is everything. But again, music. Let's just say music. We're doing a podcast right now. It's views and then with the views then will come sponsorships and they run it in between different average parts of the podcast, so, so on and so forth. But I'm organic. I don't like to talk to people. And they say, well, I got, I'm an influencer and I got 20 million followers. And like, what's your resume? What's your stripes? What have you really done? I'm not with the viral, the clout, the moment. I'm for the legacy, the future, the outcome, the gain, the knowledge, the experience, what we taught someone and what came back.

[JoJo Simmons]

Not just that viral moment, but how long can you stick around? Can you continue to do it? And are you just chasing a moment or are you chasing a Whole kind of situation for yourself.

[Steve Lobel]

I'm living for moments, but I'm not living for clout. I'm not living for viral. Because I don't think there's no future in that. I think that you could see someone win a Grammy at the moment. Cause they got a big record, but are they around 10 years, 20 years? Are they really building their legacy? But they're probably not, because no one's teaching them that. So with me, if I'm saying music, I'm gonna lead up to that big record, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna work away and build bricks. A lot of people want it overnight. And success don't happen overnight. You gotta build it. If you really got the talent, you really think there's a future in it, you're gonna build it from the scratch up.

[JoJo Simmons]

All right, now, you've seen the best of times, and you've also faced some hard losses. From Easy E to Jam Master J and Nipsey Hussle, Right? How do you cope when tragedy strikes? Like, how do you cope with that? What practices or routines do you rely on to keep a resilient mindset after losing people so close to you? Like I said, Eazy, E, Jam Master.

[Steve Lobel]

J, Nipsey Hussle, man, there's a time to live and there's a time to die. I don't want to die, but unfortunately, we're gonna die. With all due respect to those guys. I lost my brother at 33 years old. I lost my mother. I had the biggest regrets of my life because my mom would always call me to come home for everything. But being in the music industry, there's no balance. And I was traveling, I was working. I just couldn't make it home. When she passed, I realized, like, wow, I wish I could rewind and have my mom back. You know, the crazy thing is, you know, I lost a dog that saved my life. My mother died. I wanted to commit suicide. So I lost death in a lot of things. And when my brother died, the worst thing is to watch your parents bury a child. Supposed to be the other way around. And when we buried my brother, it was the first time I'd been to a cemetery. My dad bought a lot of cemetery plots. So we went to bury my brother, and I saw a tombstone, and it said, baby Lobel. I was like, what's this? So weeks after my brother passed, I would ask my mom and dad, like, what's going on here? And they said, well, we never told you, but my mom had a miscarriage. And the Baby died in the toilet. My dad had to take it out of the toilet. They never got to name it. And they buried it at the cemetery. And I started realizing, like, my brother used to always suffocate me, handcuff me, lock me in a room, beat me up. I have this scar on my nail and my thing. He did that to me. And he was doing all that because. Not that he hated me, he just thought that I was the mistake. Why that baby died because that baby would have been born and I don't think I would be here. So I think he took out all his frustrations on me. But I found this out later in life. My brother died and I was mentally fucked up, telling my parents, like, wow, why'd you hold us in? So I hate death. I just recently lost my dad's brother, my uncle. Right before New Year's. I lost my aunt, who she considered me as our son. And then we could talk about ez, we could talk about Jam Master J's, we could talk about the Nipsey Hussles.

[JoJo Simmons]

How do you. Have you coped with it?

[Steve Lobel]

Or you feel like people that were close to me, you know, do you feel like, how do I cope with it?

[JoJo Simmons]

You feel like you kind of just keep moving in the morning life?

[Steve Lobel]

Nah. You know, I've never seen my dad cry. And I've been around my dad many a deaths, and he just holds it in and he closes the door when no one's around and he'll cry. Just built different, you know. And I think I'm built like that and steep.

[JoJo Simmons]

It's what, you know, it's what you saw and it's what you. You were raised on. That's how you cope with it, is you, you. You kind of. You're not gonna let everybody see it, but in your own time and space is when you kind of deal with it and think about all those things, you know?

[Steve Lobel]

You know, crying is good.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

I think the most strongest people cry. I just don't like letting people see me cry. But I cry every day. And I should be crying cause of joy and what I have and what I've been through. But sometimes I cry because I miss people and I'm like, damn, where are they at? Because I spend so much time in the music industry that I didn't get to spend time with those loved ones and the family that I wish I had them now while I could do the freedom and do the things I want to do with them. And that's why I spent a lot of time with my father. The first time I seen my dad cry was at Yankee Stadium last year when they honored him as a veteran. And he cried and said, I can go to my grave now. And it was so emotional for me. I started crying with him. But I hate death. But I know we're here once, and that's why we got to make the best of it. And you got to love your loved ones and love the people who really love you and have balance, because I never had balance. But I can't cope with it. But I close the door when no one's around and I cry and I cry buckets of tears. I just feel like I can't do it a lot in front of people because is my show sign a weakness?

[JoJo Simmons]

It's a vulnerable state for men, even.

[Steve Lobel]

Though I'm not weak.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right.

[Steve Lobel]

But, you know, I think I've broken down a few pictures and in front of a few people on some deep conversations.

[JoJo Simmons]

That's deep, man. You know, and that's the way you cope with it is kind of what you said.

[Steve Lobel]

I know you're mentioning people who passed away that I worked with or became.

[JoJo Simmons]

My friends, but you're talking about personal. Personal relations, family.

[Steve Lobel]

Yeah. Like, it's hard, man. Death is so everybody out there, man. It's a time to live. It's a time to die. There's a time to laugh and there's a time to cry. Love is pain. Pain is love.

[JoJo Simmons]

Speaking of people you work with, I wanted to talk Nipsey Hussle real quick. I love to hear the story of how you met him at the liquor store. Why do you think you always end up in the right place at the right time? Steve, when you meet these monumental superstars or when you get these good situations, why do you think you're always in the right place at the right time?

[Steve Lobel]

It's God. Everything happens for a reason. God put you in these places, places and positions for the reasons he thinks of. Right? Everything is written. Everything is meant to be. It was God. I didn't meet Nip at the liquor store. We went to a liquor store to peel out a DVD on a hanger to go watch the dvd. And then we watched the DVD at one of the homies houses. I'm like, who's that? They said Nipsey Hussle. I'm like, wow, I love that name. And he looked like Snoop. I'm like, I got to meet the guy.

[JoJo Simmons]

So you saw his.

[Steve Lobel]

You saw dvd. You know how it really, really is. And I've told a story And I try to, you know, get to it, you know. Big U came up from the penitentiary. I didn't know who he was. I've been in LA since 93. I came with EZ. My man Mustafa was with me. Rest in peace. Again, my man Mustafa. We were at the powerhouse with Power 106. We were on the wall. The wall was on the back of us backstage. This big guy was coming towards us and said, yo, move. We on point. We stay on point. We move militant. And they came over and he started talking to me. And he Sundays, I'm from such and such. I'm like, okay, great. But I don't know what that means. I'm from New York. Started talking, and I was engaged to his wife's cousin's niece. The same young lady who would have my baby. Wow, that's how quick. And that's fast forward. Wow, that's way fast forward. Cause she never mentioned.

[JoJo Simmons]

What a connection.

[Steve Lobel]

She never mentioned none of that lifestyle. I don't even think she even knew him. But her dad was from Denver Lane. He was locked up for 22 years. Her mom passed away when she was a kid. She. Her grandmother raised her, but she never talked like that. And I'd be in Englewood every day at her grandma's house. I didn't even know I was in the hood. And I didn't even know I was in the gang culture. So, anyway, long story short, he's like, yo, take my number. And we would go every day down to his community and we would get CDs and listen to them. And my guy, Mexican Sean, that, you know, I had gone to a meeting, and he was listening to all these CDs. And on the CD it says Slauson Boys. And he was like, yo, you gotta check this out. It was a song called I Don't Give a F. And on that cd, just the Magic Marcus Lawson Boys. And it was Hoodsta Rob on there. Khabi Supreme, Cudzzi Capone and Nipsey. So we went back, told him this. He's like, hold on. Blah, blah, blah. And then Kev Mack, who's Cowboy? He came. He's like, we gotta go to liquor store. We got the DVD with a hanger. They were selling DVDs back then. Shout out Nipsey's brother, Black Sam. You know, he was big selling those DVDs back in the days. Rest in peace, Fats. And man, he had him pull up and he pulled up. And Nip knew who I was because he studied the music industry. But he Was big locally in his neighborhood. And that's when I met, you know, everybody around him and his family. And from there, you know, he went to every label. They all said he looks like Snoop. The music's whack. A lot of these A and R's that, you know, still around. And we'd laugh about it, but there's nothing to laugh about because, you know, when you believe in something, you it with your gut. And that's their opinion. You know, they didn't see it. I saw something just like, if I see in this person, I believe in it. So. But we all have opinions. Opinions like assholes. We all got them, right? And I just kept pushing the line and went to all the labels. And there's a verse in Keys to My City that Nip wrote. Because we went to Dre, we went to Capitol, we went to Def Jam, went to all of them. He says it. I'm not saying it. He says Def Jam passed Capital two. No, Dre passed Capital, Def Jam two. My brother Sam had some time to do. Yeah, Steve's cool, big user, animal. But we still did what we had to do because no one believed, you know, except people around him. So, you know, it was a sad situation. I always say this, like, we need to give people their flowers when they're alive, not when they pass. And we're all guilty to it. Someone passes, want to run to the gram and post a picture. And to me, you know, that's terrible. So I tell people when they're alive, I love you, I appreciate you. I try to post, respect them. And Nip, you know, it's sad because he's bigger dead than alive. And now they're keeping his legacy alive to do other things. Right? But why, when he was alive, you didn't show him the love? And we do that with a lot of people, not me, but the world, the industry and stuff. But Nip was the smartest artist I've worked with. And he called me Maniac Lobel. And we had a different relationship. A lot of people have different relationships with Nip. You know, I was watching an interview the other day with Johnny Shipes and Slow Bucks, and they were like, yo, Steve. I walked into Hollisberger off spot. You know, Marvel's a gentleman now. And Shreve bought Helton 50 and he used to work for Adidas and. And I brought Nip to Hollisberger two third and Hollis, right on Jay's mom's block. And we were shooting a video there, and I had Nip in Queens and shout out Bo Skaggs, Jay's nephew, he was there. I mean, Dirty was there, and we were shooting a video, and then Slow Bucks walked in. I introduced them and they became tight, you know. So I had Nip in the hood in Queens, you know, legendary Hollis Queens, where a lot of rappers come out of, you know, just like he had me in his hood when we started working with each other. So different individual man. Rest in peace, Nip.

[JoJo Simmons]

I think all artists need to take a gem from what you just said in the beginning, that Nipsey did his research on the music game and knew who you were when he ran into you. And I think a lot of artists, they kind of. They always want to be around another rapper. I think they're gonna. But they need to be doing their research on the people that actually make the moves, pull the strings, and are in these offices. Cause when you're in a situation, when run into a Steve Lobel, you got to be ready. And Nipsey sounded like he was ready. He was prepared, and he was ready to. To kind of show you what he had.

[Steve Lobel]

He's a student. Yeah, he's a student of the game. And he knew because remember, back then, there's no social media. So I. I just said it in an interview and they just posted it the other day. I said, stop chasing rappers in a club. They're there for different reasons. They're not going to put you on. They didn't get who's who in the business, but back then, you know, people would stand out. Relativity Records, where I worked, and they would hope to see someone, but they didn't know what they looked like. There was no Google. All you bought is a cd and it said A and R'd by Steve Lobel or AR'd by Blase Blase blase blase. And they'd be like standing outside the record with a boombox, hoping to see the A and R. So there was ways to study and do different things, but I was trippin. And he knew me. But he studied the game from whatever knowledge he was able to get back then. And you should learn and educate you on who people are, but unfortunately, this generation don't do that. And I'm gonna tell you something that happened yesterday. I was at the Grammys and I saw Babyface, and that's an icon, that's a legend. And I love the song that he just put out with Fat Joe. He featured on Fat Joe's record and shout out my brother Fat Joe and whole terrorist squad. Rest in peace, Pun. I used to drive around the country in a van with them from Vantastic. And I introduced Joe to his wife, if you didn't know that. Joe's wife is from Queens. She's from Queens.

[JoJo Simmons]

And Joe with Fat Joe a few.

[Steve Lobel]

Weeks ago, his family man. I love Joe. And everybody thinks he exaggerates his stories. He doesn't. I was there for a lot of times.

[JoJo Simmons]

Everything's real. Everything's real. Everything is not to say that I was there and I was there.

[Steve Lobel]

I know Joseph's 93. I was there when he had nothing, you know, and rest in peace to his brother. I just went to the funeral. But you know Babyface, I saw him at the Grammys and I want to salute him. You know what I'm saying? If I see people that haven't seen or I nearly never met, I want to salute. So I want to salute him. And we took a pic. You know, everybody's like, Steve got the best throwbacks and picks and stuff like that, but that's just from always having a camera. But when I leave the Grammys, I see that these girls were interviewing him and they saw someone who they thought was bigger or more relevant at the time and they dropped everything and disrespect him. That to me is total disrespect. I'm gonna post a picture with Babyface and I'm gonna write a caption like. Because I have a thing called hip hop don't know you. If you don't know who people are. If you're a white rapper and you know third bass is, or the Beastie Boys or Eminem is hip hop don't know you. So you're interviewing Babyface, you probably don't know one song from him. You just interviewing him. You drop everything to go interview and he just ones you and says, you know what?

[JoJo Simmons]

Go get that, Go do that. You know what I'm saying?

[Steve Lobel]

And at the end of the day, like, it's disrespectful. And this is what I mean. The new generation, a lot of these media based people, a lot of these labels, they letting these young people in.

[JoJo Simmons]

They'Re becoming too out of touch and out of place.

[Steve Lobel]

And they're coming in with a little phone, they want to interview people and they really don't know really who they're interviewing, or they don't know who the person is or how legend they are, iconic they are. And they're looking for the moment, what's relevant at the time. And I hate that. I think anybody who's going to pick up a Camera and interview. People should know who people are. And if you do catch someone on a red carpet and you might not know, well, then pass on it instead of looking like an idiot. I sat down with someone years ago and interviewing me, I'm like, yo, you're interviewing me. You don't even know who I am. You know, you're asking me the stupidest questions, like, in all due respect, yo, Google, learn, and I'll come back. We could catch up. I'm not gonna play myself, right. I'm not looking for no clout. So that's what really hurts me, that we're living in a world. And I love social media. I come from non social media. I come from beepers, rolls of quarters and payphones.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

You know what I'm saying? I come from a map, an atlas. When we go around on the road, these kids now, they could do gps, text, and they feel they're entitled. Social media is a gift and a curse. All I'm saying is if you're going to pick up a mic or a camera or you're going to sit down because everybody's got a podcast now. But I want to interview people. This is different because of who you are and the questions you ask. Learn, educate, and don't be embarrassed to really educate yourself on who that person is, because we're all somebody. I hate when people say, and they tell their kids in the household, oh, he's a celebrity. We're all celebrities. If you're going to dictate and tell your children to only treat them right because they're celebrities, you raising your kids wrong. Because you know what? We all celebrities. And I tell her all day long, like, you want to talk. You're a celebrity, young fella, young lady, you're a celebrity. Because guess what? We all die one day. Yeah, we're not on this earth forever, right? You cut us, we're all bleeding red. We might not be buried all the same because it's different religions, but we're all the same. We all go to the bathroom, we all eat. Hopefully everybody takes a shower every day. Brush their teeth if you're blessed. Because you know what we take sometimes? Toilet paper for granted. A toothbrush. Granted. We take a meal for granted. There's so many people out here, homeless people starving. When I got sick and I had my prostate issue, I took a lot of things for granted, including urinating. You know what I'm saying? So never take nothing for granted.

[JoJo Simmons]

That's good. So as we kind of close out on nip, I just Wanted to know, what gems did you pick up from your time with Nipsey? And are there any pieces of wisdom that still guide you today of anything that you've learned from Nip?

[Steve Lobel]

Man, they keeping that marathon going. He instills so much on everybody around his team that wow. Every time I see something like, wow. Salute.

[JoJo Simmons]

Salute.

[Steve Lobel]

Salute. Right again, man. You know, what I picked up from him is, man, I learned a lot from him. You know, we would argue. I'm like, nip, we gotta make a radio record. He's like, man, let radio chase us. We're not chasing radio. Most people chase radio. Most people try to make a radio record. And unfortunately, just so you know, these days, no one even knows what a record is because we could love something and the world didn't love it. They rather love some stuff that we don't love, which is garbage. But these days, no one knows what a hit record is. But you would always say, man, we're not chasing nothing, right? We're not chasing nothing. We're going to build this and build this and build this. And, you know, he had a great guy that I introduced him to named Big Bob. Guy's a marketing genius. At the end of the day, like, again, I'll say it over and over. Smartest arts I ever met. I learned a lot from him, and I'm sure he learned a lot from me. He was just different, man. Like, I'll tell you another story, man. We were going to go do the Def Jam game. It was a video game, Shout Out. Sophie, man, Sophie, man, she sent me some pictures recently of me with my BlackBerry taking a picture of him doing the video game footage in Brooklyn. But I only fly Delta. And he's like, man, we flying Virgin, bro. I only fly Virgin Airlines. And he's like, you gotta, gotta rock. And we had us in the middle seat. And I hate the middle seat. I'm like, nah, we gotta go do this Def Jam game. And I remember we shared a room in Chinatown, bro. Nip would always have a nice. He always wanted a hot tea or a Red Bull, man. Just, you know, again, man, there's so many great memories. I have so much, so many pictures of Nip. So much footage. There's a lot of footage online of me, him and Khaled. We the best studios, me and Nip at Hollis, Queens. I took Nip to the Fantasy Factory where he skateboarded because we were working with Rob Dyrdek, causing drama. Not DJ Drama from Atlanta, drama.

[JoJo Simmons]

I remember Drama from the show.

[Steve Lobel]

So we used to Go to his fantasy factory, was skating. So when he passed, there was a lot of footage online that I filmed on a flip camera, let my nephew just put it on YouTube and everybody was sawing Nip skate. They're like, damn, he skateboards and stuff. But only thing, man, that changed about Nip. Size of his clothes, man. So when I first met him, he had on Adidas campus or Chuck's high, white socks, blue dicky shorts, long white tee, a Yankee hat. And you know, as he grew, he just started more fashionable, tighter stuff. That was the only thing that changed about him. But the best man rest in peace, Nick.

[JoJo Simmons]

Ah, man, I really did love Nip from afar. And I was blessed through you to meet him a few times. And I was kind of telling, you know, one of my team, you know, earlier, that I really wished that I was gonna have that moment to actually sit down and really soak more game up from him. Because every time you introduce him to me, it was a high and bye. But he always showed me love, he always showed me respect. He always made me feel welcomed, as if, like I could be around him and just chill, right? So I always thought I was gonna have another moment with Nip. I always thought, oh, I'll be back in LA in a few months and I'll run to Nip and I'll tell him how much I really do love him. And I'll tell him how much I really wanna soaked some game up from him. And he passed away. So it was a little, you know, it was sad for me. And I was telling her, you know, I was only like 6 when Tupac and Biggie died, but I felt it when Nipsey died. You know, it is because it was somebody I knew. It was somebody I saw. It was somebody that I really loved his music from day one.

[Steve Lobel]

You know, tomorrow's not promised, so opportunity don't knock all the time. If you have the opportunity to sit down with somebody, you gotta grab it. Cause tomorrow's not promise. And a lot of people wait and they miss that situation, like, damn, I shoulda, coulda, woulda. But he was given a lot of game. Yeah, and he was getting a lot of game from reading a lot of books too. You know, people always say, I'm a Nip fan. I'm like, really? When did you become a Nip fan? But if you don't know that Nip got a song with Drake, you really ain't a Nip fan or a Drake fan.

[JoJo Simmons]

Come on, I know that one.

[Steve Lobel]

You know, and a lot of People don't know that. You know, Got a song called Killer.

[JoJo Simmons]

That's my song.

[Steve Lobel]

So it was way before, like J. Cole, you know, Drake. Yeah, that was single. There was footage of me at the video shoot. Yeah, there's footage of on the middle.

[JoJo Simmons]

That's what I'm saying. I've been a Nip fan from that time.

[Steve Lobel]

We were in the hood shooting and it was like, yo, Maniac. You get on the camera and they turn the camera on me on the flip cam. But again, like. Yeah, but you know, again, that's not knowing who someone is. You're jumping on a hype after he passed away. Or you jumped on it because you heard about mixtape or so on and so forth. Again, you know, don't jump on the hype. We leaders. We're not followers. Most people are followers, not leaders. They jump on a bandwagon after you get it. I was around Justin Bieber when no one wanted to sign him. Matter of fact, me and Nip sitting in Sony. Justin Bieber was playing his guitar. He's lefty. And me and Nip were there. Cause Nip was signed to Epic. A lot of people don't even know that. Charlie Walk signed Nip to Epic Records. It wasn't even a rap label. And Justin couldn't even get a deal nowhere. You know what I'm saying? And then I wound up going on tour with Justin for a year. So Scooter believed in him. When you believe in something, that's all that matters. You're gonna get nine people to say, I don't believe in it. Cool. I believe in it. No problem. You're gonna get nine nos to one. Yes. No problem. You're gonna catch more Ls than wins. No problem.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right.

[Steve Lobel]

So you understand what I'm saying?

[JoJo Simmons]

You're still getting the yes. And you're still getting the win.

[Steve Lobel]

Yeah. Just be prepared that everything ain't gonna win.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right.

[Steve Lobel]

But when you strike, he's gonna strike big.

[JoJo Simmons]

No, that's for sure. That's for sure. Yeah, man. That's only one thing I regretted, was not being able to fully tell Nip that. But you know, rest in peace to Nipsey.

[Steve Lobel]

And the lesson here is that if you see an opportunity and you see that person, you gotta take. Cause you might not see them tomorrow.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

You know, we're at the Grammys yesterday and there was this Dutch artist with us. Cause I have a publishing company, my guy, Thomas ctm. And she's never in the Grammys.

[JoJo Simmons]

Shout out to Thomas. I know Thomas.

[Steve Lobel]

Never been to the United States, Never been to la, none of that. And she hit the floor running. She ran up on Billie Eilish. She ran up on everybody, man. She didn't give a damn. I'm like, yo, you're an animal. You're a beast. Because you know what? Cold mouth don't get fed, right?

[JoJo Simmons]

And it reminds me of something. I was at an event the other day, and it wasn't a celebrity, it was a friend that I've known for a really long time.

[Steve Lobel]

And.

[JoJo Simmons]

And I ran into him, I haven't seen him in years. And I hugged him with two arms. And I was like, don't think I'm weird, I said, but I want to start giving love to people I truly love when I see them. Because I don't know when I'm going to see you again. I don't know when I'm going to see you again.

[Steve Lobel]

You know, I don't shake hands. I hug people, right? Because I don't know when I'm going to see them again. And I'm going to tell you something, man, that I really never dropped. But the sacrifices I made to have the relationships I had, people couldn't handle. Now, when I say this, every day we leave our house, we're risking our life, okay? And I've been outside since the 70s, okay? I was arrested when I was 13 years old. I was in Spofford. But what I'm saying by that is every tour bus I got on with Bone Thugs and Harmony, people don't realize this. When you're working, the tour bus driver's sleeping. When you're sleeping, the bus driver's up. God forbid we sleeping and we sound asleep in those bunks and the tour bus driver falls asleep and the bus crashes and we could die. Every time I was on private planes with Sean Kingston when he was at the top of his game, that plane could have crashed. Every time I jumped in vans with Fat Joe driving around this country because he wouldn't fly, that van could have crashed every time I was in the hoods or the strip clubs or those small clubs with artists trying to catch a bag and building to get the DJ to play the records. Could have been a shootout or something. So I sacrificed my life. Every day I leave my house to build my relationships. That's why I don't give my relationships to anybody. And that's why tomorrow's not promised. When you see people you love, I don't shake hands. We hug.

[JoJo Simmons]

It's deep. All right, let's jump into cannabis.

[Steve Lobel]

No Problem.

[JoJo Simmons]

What got you into the cannabis business as you diversified your portfolio? Because I know you don't smoke. I know this for sure. I knew you for. I smoked. You know, it's been. Came out. But Unk don't smoke. But you've been successful in cannabis. What made you want to diversify into that?

[Steve Lobel]

Well, I just started taking edibles, man. I sleep great, okay? But I'll be honest with you, man. I thought the music industry was bad. Cannabis is bad. 99.9. Bad, bad people. So I learned a lot. I don't smoke, and I wouldn't know the difference. I can't even smell the difference. Right. I got into it on a humble. A gentleman reached out to me and said, we got this vertical license in Maywood, California, and we're looking for a brand. He got my number from a lawyer in the music business and brought up Cypress Hill, brought up Snoop Dogg, brought up Wiz Khalifa, Bone Thugs and Harmony, and he said, they weren't big enough. In hindsight, I will give the gentleman he was right. Because just because you smoke weed and you rap about weed, and back then you don't have your own brand, you're not a brand in weed, so you can't open a store. Wiz had a deal over in Canada. That's what stopped this deal. But to make a long story short, fast forward to a girl named Melissa Cooper who worked for a company called Ish Entertainment. They do a lot of docs, reality shows, scripted shows with Michael Hershenbaum, used to work at VH1. I said to the. To the older gentleman, why don't we do a documentary on this place? Gonna be the first vertical place. And Vertical is distribution, manufacturing, cultivation, retail and delivery. And we were sitting on these milk crates, and she was there, and we're gonna figure out how we could do a documentary. And burner FaceTimed me, and I helped Burna with a lot of his features. Like, Burner has some great features. Yes. Rod waves, the DMX's, rest in peace, the T Grizzlies, and the list goes on. I've helped Burn with a lot of his features, and he FaceTimed me. And there was a gentleman painting. And when I left, that gentleman originally called me, said, hey, man, you know that guy, whoever was on the FaceTime with you? I don't even think he knew the guy's name. He said, that's what we want. And I was like, really?

[JoJo Simmons]

Wow.

[Steve Lobel]

So I called Burner. He said, I'm not interested. I'm like, all right, cool. And I was holding the story, man, to do on the first smoke of the day, man. And he said, I'm not interested. And these guys, this guy would not stop calling. So one day Byrne was like, all right, Steve, all right. Tell him to come up to the bay and we'll meet. And this is way before this Cookies Enterprises and all that stuff. There might have been. Him and Ja had this strain called Girl Scout Cookies, and they might have a Cookies T shirt. There was no dispensaries. I think they went through a company called Connected with their stuff. But again, I flew up the day before they came. Well, the guy was supposed to come by himself. And we go to lunch with him and he comes with two other guys. And Burn was like, yo, Steve. I told him to come by himself. Well, you told him to come by himself. And we had this meeting and they were like, yo, we need to. We want to open the store. I want to call Cookies. And Burn was like, I'm not interested. So weeks went by and they kept calling, and I was like, the gentleman kept calling him. Byrne was like, R.C. was taking me. So he came down with J.A. and we went into this place which is now called Cookies Maywood. This was, man, years and years ago, seven, eight years ago. And they gave me a chain with a diamond cookies piece. They gave him a Rolex. They had like 50 pounds of weed. And Burner said, I'm not interested. And he kept hopping on, hopping on. Eventually it happened and Cookies Maywood open, and then it exploded and I'll leave it.

[JoJo Simmons]

At that time, Burner was not interested.

[Steve Lobel]

No. He looked at what it did for everything. No, he was not interested.

[JoJo Simmons]

That Maywood store was. And it's still crazy.

[Steve Lobel]

No. That launched a lot of other cookie stores and now his empire. But again, back then, he didn't want to do it.

[JoJo Simmons]

He didn't see it.

[Steve Lobel]

Well, he was telling me reasons which I understood why he didn't want to do it.

[JoJo Simmons]

I get it.

[Steve Lobel]

And I helped him guide through it. And I don't know. It's a gift and a curse. Maybe we shouldn't have did it. Maybe we shouldn't have did it. Now that I look at hindsight to see, like, all the stuff that came out of it, but, you know, it led to a lot of things. So it led to the Hip hop museum, recording studio, dispensary cultivation we have, which is iconic, which everybody's been to. It opened doors to have cookies globally. But I learned a lot. What I learned was you got to be vertical in this game. And A lot of people are not vertical. They don't own the real estate or they don't own the license, or they don't own the IP or they don't have cultivation to feed the retail, or they don't have distribution or they don't manufacture. So with Rolling J's, my whole new endeavor that I've been doing for the last two years, and we're opening a bunch of stores, we own everything vertically. Thank God to my partner Frank, who's financially there and knows business on a high level and is a realtor, real estate entrepreneur. We could do all that because we want to exit one day. A lot of people can't exit in the cannabis business or any business because they don't keep P and LS and they don't own all that stuff vertically. So we're going to build it up. We're opening a store in Lower east side Nick Cash Deli. We're opening in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. We got two in Massachusetts, Greenfield and Holyoke. We got Lancaster, California. Everything's vertical. And we're gonna just keep going and going and then we'll exit one day.

[JoJo Simmons]

That's dope. That's dope. That you were able to come into a business that, once again, you didn't fully understand, but you knew how to do business, and that kind of helped you kind of navigate through everything.

[Steve Lobel]

I knew how to do business. I'm glad you brought that up, because you could be a rapper but not know the business.

[JoJo Simmons]

Exactly.

[Steve Lobel]

And you could be a businessman and not be a rapper. See, everybody thinks that just because someone's a rapper, they're a businessman. And they're not. They're not. That's why you surround yourself with people smarter than you. And you get a manager, a road manager, a tour manager, an agent, a lawyer, a business manager, so on and. And so forth. So I know business.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

So I had a guy burn and be like, yo, this is how we're going to do it. And at the end of the day, they try to give me a bag. I'm not a bad guy. I'm an equity guy.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

But I'm taking the bag and the equity. Yeah, take both, you know, and that's what a lot of people don't understand. They just. Everybody. I don't talk back talk. Everybody want to talk back talk. Everybody get it back. If you're a real hustler, you're a real businessman, you're a real worker, you're a real entrepreneur. You're always going to get money and I'm going to tell you this. Money comes and goes, but history stays. As long as you keep making money. No. Money comes and goes, but history stays. As long as you keep making history, you're gonna make money. And money don't make real people, man. A Rolex don't make me. A car don't make me. And money definitely don't make me. I go out to all types of affairs, black tie affairs, in a sweatsuit with shelters on. That's come from your uncle. So at the end of the day, it's what's inside you, in your mind and your heart and your soul. All the other stuff is materialistic stuff. We don't make a real person.

[JoJo Simmons]

So I'm curious to know, what did you think when you started to see me, the son of the reverend, stepping into cannabis advocacy?

[Steve Lobel]

I want to know if your dad said it's okay. Cause with all due respect, your dad smoked weed in the past, a lot of it.

[JoJo Simmons]

He had a collapsed lung from it. I know the stories.

[Steve Lobel]

And you know what? Crazy Bone had a collapsed lung, too. I was in a coma for nine days. So God bless Crazy Bone that he's still going. You know, I worked with those guys 30 years, you know, looking at you as you know where you come from again. Look, nothing's wrong with cannabis. You know why I say that? No one's died of overdose from cannabis. We opened a treatment center called the Heavenly center, and we were using cannabis to help people. So no one's died how? Alcohol and cigarettes are legal. And on every commercial, on every billboard is ridiculous to me because so many people have died from alcohol and cigarettes and tobacco. Let's keep it real. So cannabis, no one's died or overdose. So only God could judge. I couldn't judge you. And it wasn't like you were drinking, you know, a bottle of alcohol every day. I'd be like, yo, come on. You know, destroy your liver. Don't do that. And it wasn't like you were on cocaine or heroin or crack or stuff like that. So cannabis, it's a healthy drug, right? And soon it'll be federal legal, and the numbers will show.

[JoJo Simmons]

I remember.

[Steve Lobel]

I didn't judge you.

[JoJo Simmons]

I remember coming to your studio and you seeing me smoking, like, every now and then. You used to just be staring at me like, yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

Cause it was awkward, man.

[JoJo Simmons]

This guy's smoking weed. My nephew.

[Steve Lobel]

I'm like, I wonder if his dad.

[JoJo Simmons]

It's funny.

[Steve Lobel]

But you know what? You know, your dad knows by now.

[JoJo Simmons]

Oh, he definitely knows. And.

[Steve Lobel]

But again, it's not illegal how I feel.

[JoJo Simmons]

Him and I spoke about my advocacy and he respects the way I'm doing it. It's not like I'm out here like, smoke weed. I'm educating, I'm advocating. I'm, you know, trying to tell people that the right things about weed. I'm trying to educate on what it does affect. I'm trying to educate on what it does benefit you. How can you benefit off cannabis? Not only equity side, but like for your mental health and for your. And for everything really. So, like, I think me stepping into the cannabis advoc has been better than me just saying, hey, I smoke a bunch of weed. Everybody knows, okay, you smoke weed, cool. But with your platform, what can, you know, what can I give to the cannabis community? Cuz, like, you know, I'm doing a documentary on a guy named Corvain Cooper who was serving a life sentence for 40 tons. He got, you know, pardoned by Trump. But those are the type of stories I'm telling are people that are put away for this plant that you just said, it's not a bad plant. It helps a lot of people.

[Steve Lobel]

You were doing cannabis something positive. Like two years ago, you had a bunch of people around you remember we were talking about a lot of that stuff. And hopefully we'll have this cannabis TV show we're working on. But I'm gonna tell you something that, you know, there was a young lady, I performed at the Grammys yesterday, and then she took an award and she talked about these music labels like mental health issues and health insurance. Like, I've been fighting that. Maybe I don't got the big enough voice, but, you know, mental health and health issues in the entertainment community, with all due respect to music cares, it's like, why don't artists have health insurance, but the executive has health insurance. We're losing so many younger artists right now for mental health, and we're losing so many people that are ex veterans. I mean, ex, you know, military people for mental health and the homeless. You know, you drive up and down different parts of different communities. People are dealing with mental health. So mental health is a big thing. And I'm glad you brought that up. And we need to, you know, push that even more. But you doing positive things in cannabis. But again, where I come from and your dad comes from, people go get 20 years for an ounce of weed. Now you're walking up and down the street smoking weed.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah, for sure.

[Steve Lobel]

So, you know, things change, times changes, so on and so forth. Again, to me, it's not federally legal, but no one died of overdose over cannabis.

[JoJo Simmons]

Speaking of mental health in the hip hop and music game, I do want to shout out a certain organization that I've worked with called Backline. They provide therapists for everybody in the music industry, from artists to roadies to music managers to road managers to all those people. So shout out to backline. I've worked with you guys. I saw he brought that up. And I didn't want to not tell my viewers that there is a organization out there that.

[Steve Lobel]

And I want to touch on this, and that's a great organization. I'm gonna do some research on it.

[JoJo Simmons]

But yeah, I can hook you up with them. They're great people. Like, if you want to do anything, please do.

[Steve Lobel]

I'm all about educating and giving back, man. To people going through different things. Right. Because everybody is not.

[JoJo Simmons]

I tried to get on the phone with Kevin Lyles. You know, we spoke when he was still over at 300. You know, I tried to get him on the phone. Cause he said he was advocating for mental health for artists. And I wanted to get him on.

[Steve Lobel]

My tunnel for it to fight the labels to get health insurance. But unfortunately, in a lot of communities, people are scared to go to therapists. Yeah, they think that it's not cool to go to a therapist. If I could rewind, I wish I went to a therapist. And it's not too late for me. But people don't think it's cool to go to a therapist. Just like I learned this owning a treatment center. Afro Americans and Latinos didn't want to come to the treatment centers. It was mostly 9 out of 10 Caucasian that would come to treatment because they felt like if they went to treatment, they weren't cool and they wouldn't be accepted to me, which was crazy. Anybody needs help out there, anybody battling addiction, go get treatment. But again, there's a lot of people who want treatment. I mean, who want to say they want treatment but don't really want it. You have to want it, otherwise it's not going to work.

[JoJo Simmons]

Speaking of that, I want to talk about the heavenly center. You launched an addiction treatment center called the heavenly center with Scott Storch, hit producer. Can you share with me what inspired you to start the Heavenly Center? And a little bit about the people you help?

[Steve Lobel]

That's a whole nother story, man, which I don't think I really told. But, you know, talking to Scott real quick, you know, I never knew Scott. Of course I knew who Scott was, but I never worked with him. Okay. And then Scott fell off for 10 years and went on the ground. He lost $100 million, cocaine addiction, all that stuff. I wound up working with him. And the last 10 years brought him back to life and had him working with all the young hot artists in the early stages, even though he wanted to work with the legends that he already worked with. And cannabis really saved him and helped him. Frank Sid, who's big in treatment, who I grew up with, who's my partner in the cannabis stuff I'm doing right now, Roland J's, he had treatment centers around the country. And I was invited to a Christmas party. And I have my own label called Lobel Music Group now. But I never had my own label and I was always worried about everybody else but me. I was always taking artists to labels when I should have started my own label a long time ago. And he called me, he's like, yo, man, I want to come to la. His name is Greg, and he's like, yo, we're going to manage this guy named Sue Surf. I want to sleep on your couch for a week, free sous surf. One of the best battle rappers ever, Free surf. And he's like, I want to learn how to be a manager. And he was in the music business, but he never managed. And he was in the fashion world. I said, come on out. And he, I invite, I told him, yo, meet me at this Christmas party, right? And it was at a house. And I went in the house, I'm getting the food, I'm sitting down, I'm ready to eat. And he comes with two guys. And I said, bro, I tell you, come by yourself. I'm not even capable to invite you. But I told you to come. I could pull it off. But you come with two guys and you know, look, yes, I'm white, yes, I'm from New York. But people when I came to Cali was like, yo, where earth you from? What planet you from? Like, never seen a white guy like you, you know what I'm saying? Most white guys are geek. Go to New York, the Five Boroughs. White boys bust their gun, they pull out the ketchup. They've been to the island, they tatted up, they work out. Some call them guidos, blah, blah, blah. So he had, you know, two other white boys with him from Massachusetts and get in the party. I'm eating, I said, yo, Greg, go in there and just float around, bro. Anybody say something to say you with Steve. So I'm sitting there eating, and one of the guys comes over and hands me his Phone. But I don't even know these guys. And I'm looking like I'm trying to eat my food, and I'm trying to mingle, politic, network. He's like, someone's talked to you. I'm. Look at this guy. I don't even know you. He hands me the phone, and it says, Dr. Something, see, on the phone. And the guy's like, can we curse?

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

He's like, yo, motherfucker, fuck you. Look at this guy giving me the phone. Like, I'm deal with you after. But like, who the fuck is this? He didn't stop. He didn't stop and stop. And after a while, I said, yo, who the fuck are you? Who is this? He goes, steve, it's Frank. Sid. Now, I ain't speak to Frank for a few years because I got caught up in the music industry. I'm traveling the world, and I can't speak. And you just catch people different times. And I just had to really break this down to my sister. I have an older sister. Like, when she would call, I'd be around the music, talk about everything's loud. I'm like. And now when I got sick, we built. And I told her, I said, bonnie, it's smoke and mirrors. And I had no balance. And I couldn't do the things I want to do. It ain't like you call someone, you have a normal conversation. I got 20 guys behind me screaming, young. And she understood that. So when Frank hung up, he's like, I'll call you. I'll call you in a few days, and we'll catch up. So I look at this dude, and I'm like, yo, like, I wanted to fuck you up, but, yo, I love you, bro. You put me talking.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

So I never really asked him how he knew Frank. So time went by. We built a relationship. He wanted to rap. Like, everybody wants to rap. And we built a relationship. And he's like, yo, man, I got this idea. I want to pitch to you and Frank. And I spoke to Frank, and Frank's gonna stop from China. Because Frank would go to China, buy a lot of things. He's got his own jet. He's gonna stop. He's gonna come see you. And I felt like you guys haven't seen each other in so long. We'll meet, and you'll see each other, and I'll give you this. The proposal. So I'm like, all right, cool. So I get to see Frank. I haven't seen him in years. And he comes and he's Wearing this Adidas suit. I've never seen Frank in a sweatsuit, sneakers, shorts in his life. And we grew up since we're 15, and I'm like, damn, I never seen that type Adidas suit. He's like, yeah, I knew it. I got it in China. Like, wow. So we sat down and the guy pitches some idea and it was like a podcast thing in Atlanta. We're gonna open up this whole big conglomerate and stuff like that. I'm like, atlanta? We don't even live in Atlanta. So me and Frank got the caught up. I was like, frank, I'll drop you at the airport. I think I'm going to lax. I'm going to Millionaire in Burbank. Frank's got his own jet. I'm like, wow, he's doing great for himself. He's like, yo, I own treatment centers, blah, blah, blah. So I told the guy, Jamie, I said, we need to figure something out, bro. Maybe we should get into the treatment business with Frank, but do something different. Maybe use cannabis and maybe do a dmx. But DMX was a liability at the time and we wound up helping dmx. Towards the end, Frank and him got really close. Frank was flying him on his jet to all the places down to help him. And then I started working with Scott. I was like, you know what we should do with Scott? And I pitched it to Scott. I introduced him to Frank. He's like, let's do it.

[JoJo Simmons]

He was a no brainer.

[Steve Lobel]

And we opened the Heavenly center. And Frank came up with the name the Heavenly center. Thc. And we had sober studios in there and we had all types of different treatment things there. And every Thursday we had Cali Clean where people would come and speak to our guests and we had outsiders come. It was like an AA meeting and it was very successful. Our relapse rate was very low. We used cannabis, we changed people's lives again. We were ahead of our time. I've been on reality TV podcasts ahead of my time. And Frank had to sell it with his roll up when he exited all his treatment centers. But to tell you to end the story is me and the guy, Jamie started getting close because he was living out here in Orange county. And I was like, bro, can I ask you a question? Like, but you know what? Hold on. I didn't ask him. Wait, so I don't want to put this rapper's name out. You know him really well, Queens legend. I don't want to put his name out. He called me and said, yo, my group mate and my Cousin, he needs some serious help. Had no one's health insurance. So I said, yo, the Heavenly center is not open yet. We were building it, but we were posting a lot. So people knew I was gonna open a treatment center. So I called the guy, Jamie, and I said, yo, Jamie, I need a scholarship. People don't understand this. In treatment centers, especially when Frank did it, they would give scholarships to people didn't have the funds, health insurance, or the funds. Because it cost a lot of money to go to treatment. You know, it does. And Frank would go around to different states and meet people if they were homeless. Like, you really need treatment, I'll put you scholarship. And that was a blessing.

[JoJo Simmons]

Wow.

[Steve Lobel]

And he made this thing for a. A guest that passed away called Elliot. Bag. And in the bag, toothbrush, deodorant, towel, blanket. And he would give it out to the homeless people. So I called the guy, Jamie, and I said, yo, Jamie, could you help me with this guy? And he was a fan of this guy. He's like, yeah. So I connected them, and that gentleman happened to go to Florida to go get help. And his mother lived in Florida, so he was able to stay with his mother and Jamie scholarship for like 50,000. I wish I could say his name, but I can't. I'll tell you off the record, we don't need to. And Jamie helped him. One day, I get a call. Jamie was going. He's like, yo, I'm gonna go down to Florida and see. See my kids, and I'm gonna go visit such and such. I'm like, oh, dope. No. He gets there, checks in the hotel, about to go meet him, he has a heart attack and dies. Jamie was young, in his 30s, he's a little overweight, and he died, had a heart attack. So I called that guy, the artist. I said, yo, remember such and such? He's like, yeah. I said, he just passed away. You need to go to the funeral. He said, I don't go funerals. I'm like, where you going now? I said, this guy saved your life, bro. And he went and he got to meet his kids and his mom, and they were like, oh, my God, he's such a fan of yours. Da, da, da. And it was emotional, right? So then after a couple months, I'm with Frank one day. And I said, frank, I asked you a question. Like, how did you know the guy Jamie was gonna see me and you? And when I gave him the phone, didn't say, frank, Sid. Let me tell you what happened. He goes, he called me And I always stayed in touch with him. I said, well, how'd you know him? He goes, I saved his life. I put him in my treatment center.

[JoJo Simmons]

He saved somebody else's life.

[Steve Lobel]

Frank saves a lot of people's lives. He said, he was in my treatment center, and now he got a job in California in Orange County. But I helped him out a lot, and he stayed cool with me. Frank's a cool guy. And he was, like, all excited. Frank said, why you all excited? He said, I'm with my buddy Greg, and I'm going to meet this guy named Steve. He's gonna be at this party. He's in the music industry. And Frank goes, cool. What's the last name? He goes, steve Lobel. Frank goes, get the fuck out of here. I grew up with Steve. I haven't spoke to him in years. It goes back to not having balance. I didn't go to Frank's wedding. I missed tons of weddings, tons of bar mitzvahs, tons of Thanksgivings, tons of birthdays, tons of everything. Everybody got mad at me. So Frank got upset that I didn't go to his wedding. It hurt him, and I understood that. And I had to tell him when we reconciled, like, yo, bro. In the music industry, man, I had to be everywhere. And Travis, it's not what everybody thinks, man. Anybody in the music. And he's out balance. He's like. He said, I'm going to see Steve Loyol. He's all excited. He goes, this is what you're gonna do. You're gonna go on your phone, you're gonna change the name. And when you see Steve, you hand him the phone. I'm like, wow, wow. And Frank's smart guy. I'm like, wow. So he tells me he met him, saved his life, told him to change the number. And I was like, frank, do you know he's with Greg Keller? He's like. He always mentioned this guy Greg, but never said his last name because Greg grew up with Frank. So this guy Jamie was always saying one names, but never said the names. And I was like, wow, this is crazy. That's crazy. And that's. And then I came up with the Heavenly Center. He came up with the name. We opened Heavenly Center.

[JoJo Simmons]

It's all God.

[Steve Lobel]

I mean, it's all God rest in peace to Jamie, right? But at the end of the day, like, he was never mentioned in last names because Frank would have said, oh, well, I know what.

[JoJo Simmons]

So now that the Heavenly center is no longer running, as you just said, is there any ways that it helped you having that at that time. Is there anything personally that just being around that and being a part of that, did it help you in any way? Personally?

[Steve Lobel]

Hell yeah. It showed me that there's so many people out here with addiction to all types of drugs and alcohol and. Wow. And I'm addicted to sugar, which is a bigger addiction than heroin. It's hard to get off sugar. And I got gout, and that's what got me off sugar, because I was a sugar addict. And I don't even have that much sugar no more because that leads to diabetes and all types of things. It taught me so much that I spent a lot of my time there. And I'm not a therapist. I wasn't working there. I'm an owner. But when we did the Cali clean meetings on Thursdays, I would bring a lot of people from the entertainment business and they would come and speak and I would hear their stories and they would really open up. And behind the scenes, these guys were going to meetings and they weren't talking about it. So you see different sides of different people. And I've had everybody come speak about their addiction and how it ruins families and it ruins people's lives. And, man, so many people from the music industry is reaching out to us to help them. And, you know, you can't as a hip bow law, you can't tell and you can't talk about who you're helping. And there were so many people that we helped, and I'll let them tell it, some of them went online and talked about was just giving back, man. It was giving back and seeing a whole different side of things, that I was never in that business and seeing addiction on a different level, man. And when, you know, our guys would graduate, they would run up the stairs and they would put the handprints on the wall and it would just show their growth, you know. And ABC News, tmz, they all ran stories on it because they just thought it was remarkable. And we saved a lot of lives with the help of God, man. But addiction is real. Anybody out there with addiction, you gotta have and want help. And we need people out here with health insurance so they can go to treatment centers unless they're gonna scholarship them. So, yeah, I learned a lot from that. And it was a humb. And I just spoke to Frank the other day about this. Like, we need to open another one for sure. Not in la.

[JoJo Simmons]

I went there.

[Steve Lobel]

Not in Cali.

[JoJo Simmons]

I remember coming to tour it in the past.

[Steve Lobel]

Yeah, you did come. Not in Cali yeah, it was really great.

[JoJo Simmons]

And, you know, I thought that it was something that was really, you know, special for people. So it was.

[Steve Lobel]

Yeah, we do. I do different things, man. When everybody's going left, I go right. Everybody going right, I go left. I. I do things that I think out the box and do don't think the norm. Everybody wants to come to me with these ideas. I already did that. What do you mean you already did that? Yeah, I did live with Steve LaBelle. I already. I don't want to. I don't want to do podcasts. I did it. I was ahead of my time. I've been on reality show, Missy Elliott, Road to Stardom, Millionaire, matchmaker. I've been on so many different. Manager, celebrity. I'm always ahead of my time, ahead of the cannabis, you know, going legal, opening up vertically in different places. So. And in the treatment center. It was never done before using cannabis. And now everybody's trying to do it. So, you know, I'd say your story.

[JoJo Simmons]

Is one of perseverance, sacrifice, and transformation. And I heard you spoke speak about this a few times, of saying, and you've missed birthdays, you've missed bar mitzvahs, you've missed weddings. You missed a lot. So do you have any regrets about the personal sacrifices you've made and how did you keep yourself happy and invest in yourself on a daily basis?

[Steve Lobel]

I live with regret every day. I regret I'm not married. I regret having no kids. I regret not as many people I worked with because some get amnesia and disloyal. But with me, in that case, it was 99.9 that they kept it funky with me and real. I just happened to run into one situation recently in my whole career. People got amnesia and stuff, but I'm like, no problem, ungrateful, you know, I live with regrets every day, man. Shouldn't live with them, man. No, but I'm being honest with you.

[JoJo Simmons]

Live with the fact that they can't be changed.

[Steve Lobel]

I'm being honest with you. If I live as. I live with that as a lesson to be learned. I missed everything. You look, one thing about your family, you guys stay with the family functions. I wasn't around for family functions because I was managing artists and it's a thankless job. And I'm traveling the world. I'm here, I'm there, I'm in studios. Blase, blase. So now I try not to regret nothing because life is short, but it is what it is. But I've definitely regretted some things and live with Regret. But you have to learn from that and move forward and stay positive.

[JoJo Simmons]

Use your regret as much as.

[Steve Lobel]

That's why I spend a lot of time with my father now and the people that I love. Because I don't want to live with regrets no more.

[JoJo Simmons]

I love it. Final reflections My brother, my uncle. Let's leave our listeners with some powerful takeaways. What's one mindset shift you believe every aspiring artist or entrepreneur should embrace to navigate on their journey?

[Steve Lobel]

Learn. Learn what you're trying to do. And when I say that is you might be an entrepreneur or an artist. I don't mean just learn how to rap or learn how to make money. Learn of all the back business that goes in with all these things. You just can't be a rapper and not understand how it works. From royalties to ancillary to publishing to splits. You can't be an entrepreneur not knowing about QuickBooks and P&LS and exit strategies. People don't take the time to learn that. You get it. So learn all about that. You know, you have to have common sense, which is not common. We don't take no for an answer where we come from. And that will help you as an artist or an entrepreneur. Having a team that we talked about having. Structure.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah, structure is important.

[Steve Lobel]

Balance. You gotta be able to communicate. I overly communicate. Gotta be organized. People don't look at you like you're not even organized. Like, what's going on here? You understand? Keep your word. If you can't do something, just say you can't do it and just say, I'm sorry. You know what I'm saying? A lot of people just like, they fumble that and they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But they really can't do that. And it backfires in the long run. Just be yourself at all times. I know I. And I feel comfortable who I am. It's who God made me.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

That's why I never got tattoos, never got an earring. My mother said, don't get a tattoo. Don't be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Don't get an earring. They're for girls. No disrespect.

[JoJo Simmons]

My dad used to tell me the same. I never got earrings. Because that's what he grew up on. I remember I asked for him once and he was like, those are for girls. And that was the last time I ever asked him.

[Steve Lobel]

That's where we come from. And you know, I'm me, who I am. I'm Adidas, I'm me. I have to be who I am. Like, you know, I went to the grandma's of World Soup, but I had to wear Adidas. I had to wear a V neck. I have to be comfortable in my skin to be me, you know, to sitting at the table. I gotta be me. I can't be someone else. So the biggest thing, the biggest gem is learn, educate. You know what I'm saying? And learn from people who've been through the experiences and their trials and tribulations and the knowledge that they gained from these things. A lot of people in the music bins looked up to Nip. He educated himself. He read books, he asked questions. A lot of people scared to ask questions. Like, I'm not gonna ask that question. I'm too good for that. No, no, no. Closed mouth don't get fed. Closed mouth, don't get fed. So, again, all that stuff, entrepreneurs, anything, any business you're trying to get into, because now, because of social media and the Internet, there's tons and tons of people trying to do the same thing you're doing. What's gonna make you step out the box will be different. Be yourself, be innovative, be creative, and go with your gut and believe in God.

[JoJo Simmons]

Amen. So, last question here. I know you coined yourself, and you are ahead of your time with a lot of things that you've done and a lot of things you do. So with talks of banning TikTok, where do you see social media going in the future? And how do you think people can build a genuine connection with people with new social media sites? If TikTok TAC does truly get banned, I'm not cocky.

[Steve Lobel]

I'm confident that as a man who I am, and I've always been ahead of my time, it's documented. You just figure it out and look and see. You know, I think Trump's gonna save it and he's gonna be the hero. So now everybody's gonna ride with Trump, but he saved it for us, especially the people who don't even know who Trump is, or their mother and father didn't like Trump. He saved it. He saved it. That's a business play.

[JoJo Simmons]

Yeah.

[Steve Lobel]

He's gonna have one of his billionaire buddies buy it to save the day. I'm not on TikTok personally, but when I did start a TikTok, I was putting educational stuff up there. You know what I'm saying? I wasn't dancing and I wasn't doing that. And again, I grew up with no social media. I love social media. I love Instagram. Yeah, I'm on Facebook, but I was to Catch up to people I grew up with. Yeah, I was on Twitter because Nip was like, yo, Twitter's a big thing. And Nick Nip communicate a lot on Twitter. And now it's X again. I love Instagram and I set up to go to my Facebook that people I grew up with sees what I'm doing. Cause everybody I grew up with, most of them was like, he ain't gonna be shit. He's in the rap business and so on and so forth.

[JoJo Simmons]

Rap was a fad for a long time, right?

[Steve Lobel]

And look, it's 52 years old now, 51 years old.

[JoJo Simmons]

So where do you see the future of social media going? Do you think that it's gonna continue to be a tool for people to build genuine connections? Or you think there's gonna be another platform that comes and takes over or, or how do you see it?

[Steve Lobel]

If I could see the future, I wouldn't be here. I'd be a multi trillionaire on an island, chilling, drinking a virgin pina colada. But you know me with relationships. I don't use social media, build relationships. I do it organically because you can't trust people in these messages or DMs and stuff. And it's crazy. The worst thing I hate is, and I don't really like the word hate when you meet people, like, I'm a big TikToker, I'm a YouTuber, I'm an influencer. And I'm like, what's your resume? What's your stripes? Just because you're doing, making money, but you don't really know the back history of back what we talked about learning about who's who and even only fans. Like that's the whole different level. Like girls are just making so much money showing. It's like, where's the integrity? Where are the parents at? You got kids having kids and they're letting them do whatever they want to do.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right?

[Steve Lobel]

You know what I'm saying? So again, like there's people making money off TikTok. There's people becoming known. I don't want to say famous, known, off that. Teach his own man, right? Teach his own. Some of mine, I like his music, but they might like that person. So you can go listen to a different playlist on Spotify or whatever you listen to. So it's opinions man. So I can't really speak on the future of any of these social media things. I just hope that, you know, we use all these type of platforms in a positive way and whatever it's going to be is going to be.

[JoJo Simmons]

I think it's safe to say that, you know, like before in the past and like in the future, no matter where social media goes or the digital sites go, you gotta continue to build a genuine connection with your people every way possible you can. Whether it's through social media, whether it's in person, whether it's through networking, whether it's showing up through other people, word of mouth, you gotta continue to show up.

[Steve Lobel]

I will say this. What happens if social media gets banned, right? I mean, TikTok, if they stop TikTok, let's keep it real. There's going to be a lot of people looking for jobs and it's bad enough to even get a job now. There's going to be a lot of people that might commit suicide. There's going to a lot of people who are going to have mental health, there's going to be a lot of people who need therapy and there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be like, their businesses suffer, this suffers, that suffers. Right? So again, I didn't think nothing was wrong with it. I just think that from the culture I come from, I rather build things organically than things that go viral, especially in the music business. You get an artist signed just off of TikTok and they built no really career or grind. And it was just because of that and those numbers that are controlled by algorithms. I can't even pronounce that word right.

[JoJo Simmons]

Algorithms.

[Steve Lobel]

So again, again, it's just an opinion, man. Like just be yourself. I like the phrase of work hard, hard work pays off, man. All the other stuff, trying to cheat the game or moving quicker and quicker. I don't know.

[JoJo Simmons]

I love it. Listen, viewers, I hope if you're an artist or an entrepreneur that you've been taking notes, paying attention. Steve does not do many interviews. I was able to get my uncle to sit down with me just because he's my uncle, like I said. And, you know, I hope you guys were taking notes. You know, I appreciate you for coming out, coming to sit with me, really getting deep with certain things that I've never heard you speak about and I'm sure you've never spoken about. I feel like we had a really great conversation. I've learned a lot more about you just in this little bit of moment. So I really do appreciate you. I thank you for everything that you've given to the hip hop community and everything that you continue to do for people in not only the hip hop community, but the mental health space and the addiction space. You know, people like, you need to get your flowers because you're an OG in the game. And a lot of people know your name but don't know your game. And I think now they know your game.

[Steve Lobel]

I appreciate that. And again, like, to everybody who sees this and say, well, he turned me down. I don't like to do interviews.

[JoJo Simmons]

That's my uncle, y' all. And don't worry about him turning you down. I was on his ass all week. I said, unc, I'm your. Remember? I said, I'm your nephew.

[Steve Lobel]

He put me under pressure. I can't say no to him. His dad put me in a game. And at the end of the day, like, I will sit down eventually. But again, I'm not looking for clout. I'm not looking to go viral. I'm not looking to be cool. I'm cool. You know what I mean? So I don't need to do these type of things to. To do that and to get my name out there. Like, whoever follows my Instagram and it's. We working. They follow me for a reason. If they send me messages for a reason, it ain't like, you know, other reasons and stuff. So everything with me is organic. And if it's meant to be, it's gonna be meant to be, man. So, you know, again, stay tuned. God is the greatest. And hopefully things will transpire and we'll just continue growing into things that we love to do. You know, I'm trying to be a waterboy right now for an NFL team because I love football and people like, yo, you're crazy. I'm like, no, I want to learn every aspect. You know, it's like, why should I become assistant coach or this right away?

[JoJo Simmons]

Because you're big in another world.

[Steve Lobel]

You need to be able to learn anything you're trying to get. We talked about this. Like, what do you. What's the advice? You gotta learn. People don't understand that. So again and again, he brought up the Run DMCs and the Jam Master Js. So, you know, he brought it up. He brought the Nipseys. He brought up everything. I don't like to talk about a lot of those type of things. Cause. Because it's the past, but it's important.

[JoJo Simmons]

To you about it.

[Steve Lobel]

I know, but it gets emotional to me.

[JoJo Simmons]

You were there, and people think these stories are so inspiring and real because we weren't there. A lot of people weren't there.

[Steve Lobel]

But it gets emotional.

[JoJo Simmons]

And, you know, when I speak to you about my dad, I learned I get closer to him through conversations with other people. So with a conversation with you and you're telling me something about Run DMC or my dad was this or that, I'm learning more about him. Cause he doesn't open up much either, you know. And when I'm able to speak to his old friends or his friends that ran around with him when he was.

[Steve Lobel]

Run and he's still. And the friends that are still alive.

[JoJo Simmons]

Right, exactly. It's always interesting for me to have these conversations because I learn more and more about him and I learn more and more that I'm a lot like him, you know. So I think, like, sitting down with you was very important for me because of the history and because you watched me grow up. You've seen me become who I am today. And you know, the family always got love for you. Dwight Russell Simmons, my uncle Steve LaBelle. I appreciate all the viewers for tuning in to to this episode of the For Good podcast where we focus on the good, never the bad. And we're measured on what we do and not what we have. We'll see you guys next time. Peace. We working.

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