DJ Envy—I'm Here To Tell It All

Summary

Episode Summary: DJ Envy—I'm Here To Tell It All

Podcast Information:

• Title: Toure Show
• Host/Author: DCP Entertainment
• Episode: DJ Envy—I'm Here To Tell It All
• Release Date: April 30, 2025
• Description: In this episode, host Toure sits down with radio and TV personality DJ Envy to explore his journey to success, his approach to family and parenting, the challenges he has faced, including infidelity and business setbacks, and the lessons he has learned along the way.

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1. Introduction to DJ Envy and His Personal Life

The episode begins with DJ Envy introducing his recent ventures, including his books "Real Life, Real Family" and "Real Life, Real Love," co-authored with his wife Gia. These books delve into his experiences raising six children and maintaining a lasting marriage over two and a half decades.

Notable Quote:

DJ Envy (05:02): "I try to do individual time with each child."

2. Parenting and Family Dynamics

DJ Envy shares his philosophy on parenting, emphasizing the importance of spending individual time with each of his six children, whose ages range from three to twenty-three. He discusses the challenges of juggling a busy professional life with family responsibilities and the strategies he employs to ensure each child feels valued and understood.

Highlights:

• Balancing Acts: DJ Envy travels frequently with his daughters for dance competitions, highlighting his commitment to their interests.
• Trust and Communication: He contrasts his father's strict, non-explanatory approach with his wife's patient and communicative style, fostering a trustworthy environment for his children.

Notable Quote:

DJ Envy (08:03): "And the kids understand it and it develops a trust that I really didn't get at first."

3. Long-Term Marriage and Overcoming Infidelity

A significant portion of the conversation centers on DJ Envy's marriage to Gia. They discuss the longevity of their relationship, the challenges they've faced, including infidelity, and the mechanisms they've put in place to maintain a strong partnership.

Highlights:

• Conflict Resolution: DJ Envy explains that they never go to bed without resolving conflicts, often discussing issues late into the night to ensure mutual understanding.
• Faith and Honesty: Emphasizing honesty and faith, DJ Envy recounts how Gia's spiritual support was pivotal in overcoming their marital struggles.

Notable Quotes:

DJ Envy (18:54): "The most important thing was honesty."

DJ Envy (26:30): "I had to learn my wife's body. I had to learn what sensuality is and sexuality."

4. Business Ventures and Legal Challenges with Cesar

DJ Envy addresses rumors and allegations concerning his business partnership with Cesar, who is currently facing legal sentencing. He clarifies that while they collaborated on real estate seminars, he was unaware of Cesar's fraudulent activities and had no financial ties beyond those seminars.

Highlights:

• Victim of Fraud: DJ Envy explains that he invested $500,000 in a real estate project spearheaded by Cesar but never received any returns, highlighting his lack of involvement in Cesar’s illicit activities.
• Reputation Impact: He expresses frustration over the damage to his reputation, despite his efforts to distance himself from Cesar’s actions.

Notable Quotes:

DJ Envy (42:42): "How could he con you? I had no clue."

DJ Envy (48:31): "People do things for their own selfish need."

5. Role Dynamics on The Breakfast Club

The discussion shifts to DJ Envy's role on The Breakfast Club, emphasizing the collaborative environment with co-hosts like Charlamagne Tha God and Angela Yee. He likens their team dynamics to a basketball lineup, where each member has distinct responsibilities without stepping on each other's toes.

Highlights:

• Team Synergy: DJ Envy describes himself as the "point guard" of the team, steering conversations and maintaining harmony.
• Respect and Role Clarity: Highlighting the absence of jealousy, he notes that each host respects the other's role, contributing to the show's enduring success.

Notable Quote:

DJ Envy (32:13): "I always say, like, if you think about, like, of a basketball team, I'm gonna be the point guard."

6. Personal Growth and Self-Reflection

Throughout the episode, DJ Envy reflects on his personal growth, addressing past insecurities and the steps he has taken to overcome them. He discusses the importance of vulnerability and honest self-assessment in fostering strong relationships and personal well-being.

Highlights:

• Overcoming Insecurities: DJ Envy attributes much of his personal challenges to early insecurities related to his appearance and social status.
• Learning and Adaptation: He credits his wife Gia for teaching him to understand and adapt to each child's unique personality and needs.

Notable Quote:

DJ Envy (24:35): "Behind my success was insecurity and ego."

7. Public Perception and Social Media Impact

DJ Envy addresses the role of social media in shaping public perception, particularly how misinformation can overshadow truth and damage reputations. He shares his frustrations with how lies and sensationalism can quickly spread, often faster and more widely than factual information.

Highlights:

• Misinformation Challenges: He speaks about the difficulty in controlling narratives once false information starts circulating.
• Economic Incentives: DJ Envy points out the financial motivations behind spreading sensational stories, highlighting the problematic nature of social media economics.

Notable Quote:

DJ Envy (47:18): "People do things for their own selfish need."

8. Insights and Lessons Learned

The episode concludes with DJ Envy summarizing the lessons he's learned from his experiences in both his personal and professional life. He emphasizes the importance of honesty, communication, and maintaining integrity, regardless of the challenges faced.

Highlights:

• Integrity in Business: DJ Envy underscores the necessity of choosing trustworthy partners and being transparent in business dealings.
• Strengthening Relationships: He advocates for open conversations and vulnerability as foundations for strong family and marital relationships.

Notable Quote:

DJ Envy (55:03): "We make our own choices, right? And if somebody made a choice to work with him and I didn't even know, I had no clue, why am I blamed for it?"

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Key Takeaways:

• Individual Attention in Parenting: Balancing time and attention among multiple children is crucial for fostering trust and understanding.
• Honesty and Communication in Marriage: Open dialogue and addressing issues head-on prevent resentment and strengthen marital bonds.
• Due Diligence in Business Partnerships: Vetting business partners thoroughly and maintaining transparency can protect one's reputation and financial interests.
• Navigating Public Perception: Being proactive in managing one's narrative and addressing misinformation is essential in the age of social media.
• Personal Growth Through Vulnerability: Embracing vulnerability and self-reflection leads to stronger personal and professional relationships.

Conclusion

In this compelling episode of the Toure Show, DJ Envy offers a candid look into his life, revealing the complexities of balancing family, marriage, and business while navigating public scrutiny. His honesty and reflective insights provide valuable lessons for listeners aiming to achieve personal and professional success while maintaining integrity and strong relationships.

Transcript

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[DJ Envy]

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[Torre]

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[DJ Envy]

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[Torre]

Yeah. Are you saying your wife taught you how to be a good father?

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely. Absolutely. My dad is ex military, retired police officer, nypd. So he was more his way or the highway. He didn't get an explanation.

[Torre]

Tough guy.

[DJ Envy]

Tough, tough, tough. But you know, it was from the time when it was the crack era, he had to be tough. He wanted me to be tough. He didn't explain why I had to be in the house at 9:00. He didn't explain why I couldn't go to that party. He didn't explain those things. When I got older, I understood he was, you know, protecting you. Protecting me from the streets. My wife was a little different. She explains everything. She has patience. So if my daughter comes and says, hey, Dad, I want to go to the mall and we don't think it's a good idea, I'm like, no. Why? Because I said so. My wife is more like, no. Why? Well, let me explain to you. At the mall, usually on Friday nights you get a lot of teens and sometimes it can be a lot of fights and violence and I just don't want to put you into that because you might not know what's going on and you know, things could happen. So let's not go to the mall on a Friday. Let's go Saturday morning where it'll be a lot safer.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And the kids understand it and it develops a trust that I really didn't get at First. But they trust Mommy. They sit down and talk to Mommy because Mommy doesn't look as a. No. And I'm not going to explain why. Mommy's going to explain. And kids want the attention.

[Torre]

And you've learned to do that from her. Yeah, yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Yes. The tour ratio okay, though? The tour ratio okay, though?

[Torre]

That might be the best question I've ever been asked.

[DJ Envy]

You's a phenomenal person. I mean, you legendary. I am a fan of you.

[Torre]

My brother, DJ Envy from the Breakfast Club is here to talk about his new book, Real Life, Real Family, which he wrote with his wife Gia, where they talk about raising six kids, having a marriage that is still fruitful for them. Two and a half decades into it. We talk about infidelity, we talk about raising kids. He goes deep into the real estate situation. We all heard about that crazy thing. He's super honest and open about what really happened there and what he feels about the situation. Amazing conversation with DJ Envy. Let's get into it. It's DJ Envy from the Breakfast Club, our very special guest in the building on tour. A show. You know how we gotta start? We got a special guest in the building. That is how you always start. I always look for that. When I was on you was like, we got a special guest. You don't always say it's a special guest.

[DJ Envy]

Not all the time, but most of the time.

[Torre]

Most of the time, but sometimes I've listened. He didn't say special guests.

[DJ Envy]

Where are we going now?

[Torre]

But no doubt you got a book with your wife.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Torre]

What's the name of the book?

[DJ Envy]

Real Life, Real Family.

[Torre]

And you're talking about being a parent and being a husband and dealing with six kids from 23 to three.

[DJ Envy]

23 to three, yes.

[Torre]

They all live in the house.

[DJ Envy]

All live in the house now?

[Torre]

Yeah. Well, they kicked the 23 year old out.

[DJ Envy]

Except one. One is in.

[Torre]

The 23 year old moved on.

[DJ Envy]

No, the 21 year old goes to University of Miami, so he's in college. But besides that, they're all in the house.

[Torre]

Don't you want to kick him out? Aren't you sick of him?

[Metro Advertiser]

Kidding.

[DJ Envy]

I really enjoy it. My 23 year old has her own place and has never lived there. One day she stays at my house with her boyfriend. They've been together about two years and they live in the house.

[Torre]

Don't you want peace?

[DJ Envy]

No, I don't want the peace. No. I actually enjoy it. You know, maybe it's for me, me having every kid at the house and knowing where they are. I love it. I enjoy it. Yeah, I do.

[Torre]

What's the hardest part of parenting for you?

[DJ Envy]

Time.

[Torre]

Finding time for them.

[DJ Envy]

Finding individual time.

[Torre]

Yes. I have two children and I would imagine having six kids, it would be very hard to have the time. I know what's going on with you and your academics, your sports, your social and you. And I mean, you have to keep up with seven people and be deep in the lives. That's a lot.

[DJ Envy]

It is. But you know, I try to find that individual time. So my daughters, they dance, right? My 11 year old and 8 year old compete. Like, compete, compete, Travel.

[Torre]

What kind of, what kind of?

[DJ Envy]

A little bit of everything. Jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, they do everything. So I travel a lot with them.

[Torre]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

So I'm always on the road. So that's why when I'm home and I'm not DJing and I'm not doing the Breakfast Club, I'm not doing interviews, I try to take individual time for each kid. So like today my son is outside after here, we're gonna go to the car show, then I'm gonna, you know, do some lunch with him to try to give him that individual time where he could talk to me about sports, he could talk to me about what's going on in school, what he's seen online or whatever. So I try to do individual time with each child.

[Torre]

I asked you about your rules for parenting and I appreciated that you said each kid is different.

[DJ Envy]

Yes.

[Torre]

And some parents, but some non parents are like, this is my rule for parenting. But each kid is gonna respond differently at different times, different moments. You have to kind of improvise a little bit. I mean, you have principles, but you kind of gotta figure out where are we going with each person.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, I mean, I tell everybody, you know, we have six kids, the oldest is 23, and they all have different personalities. No kid is the same.

[Torre]

It's crazy, right? And you don't really shape it. You be like, I don't know how you got to be. I'm happy. But I don't know.

[DJ Envy]

You don't know. And like I tell everybody, when your child is born, you don't get an instruction manual.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

You just have to figure it out. Like my 8 year old, she's probably one of the best. When I say dancers, I always, and I hate when people say it, she's kind of like the Allen Iverson of dancers. Right? Meaning Allen Iverson didn't practice, but was just that good.

[Torre]

Okay, okay.

[DJ Envy]

She practices, but she's just that good. But she moves to the beat of her own drum.

[Torre]

Okay?

[DJ Envy]

If you say, come on, let's go, she's gonna take her time. And that's just who she is. She does that in school. And you just have to learn she's not being disrespectful. That's just the way Brooklyn is. And that's it.

[Torre]

That shit drives me nuts.

[DJ Envy]

But you can get mad at it.

[Torre]

Come on, let's go. We gotta hurry up. Oh, now I'm moving slower.

[DJ Envy]

Yes, you could say it's a fire in the house and we have to go, we're about to be late.

[Torre]

I mean, it's just who she is.

[DJ Envy]

That's her personality. That's it. You know, my other son, Jackson, you know when he learns, he likes to stand up and learn. Okay, he's fidgety, but that doesn't mean that he's not as bright as any other kids. That's just the way he's wired. And every kid is different at first. I'm an only child, so I'm used to everybody having to be the same. But you realize that it's not like that at all. And I learned that from my wife.

[Torre]

Yeah. Are you saying your wife taught you how to be a good father?

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely. Absolutely. My dad is ex military, retired police officer, nypd. So he was more his way or the highway. He didn't get an explanation.

[Torre]

Tough guy.

[DJ Envy]

Tough, tough, tough. But, you know, it was from the time when it was the crack era. He had to be tough. He wanted me to be tough. He didn't explain why I had to be in the house at 9:00. He didn't explain why I couldn't go to that party. He didn't explain those things. When I got older, I understood he.

[Torre]

Was, you know, protecting you.

[DJ Envy]

Protecting me from the streets. My wife was a little different. She explains everything. She has patience. So if my daughter comes and says, hey, Dad, I wanna go to the mall, and we don't think it's a good idea, I'm like, no. Why? Cause I said so. My wife is more like, no. Why? Well, let me explain to you. At the mall, usually on Friday nights you get a lot of teens and sometimes it could be a lot of fights and violence. And I just don't wanna put you into that because you might not know what's going on and, you know, things could happen. So let's not go to the mall on a Friday. Let's go Saturday morning where it'll be a lot safer.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And the kids understand it and it develops a trust that I really didn't get at first. But they trust Mommy. They sit down and talk to Mommy because Mommy doesn't look as a. No. And I'm not going to explain why Mommy's going to explain. And kids want the attention.

[Torre]

And you've learned from her. Yeah, yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Yes.

[Torre]

It makes a big difference. I think we definitely got a lot coming. We were about the same age. We got a lot of like, you know, this is what I said. And now I think a lot of parents of our generation are like, how can we talk to the kids?

[DJ Envy]

Correct.

[Torre]

I think that some black parents think we should be tough because the world is tough.

[DJ Envy]

Correct.

[Torre]

But some people feel like no home should be soft because the world is tough. Right, Right. And you, I think you think the home should be soft.

[DJ Envy]

The home definitely should be soft. We have a mission statement that's on the back of the book and one of the. The statement says, your home is a soft place to land. Your family is a soft place to land. Meaning if there's anything going on, this is a no judgment zone. We can talk and have those discussions. We're going to tell you about the world. Like today, I was just walking with my son down the street where I parked, and he got to see people that were strung out on drugs. He got to see people that were homeless. He got to see all of that. But he got it in a way that he can actually see and say, oh, well, this is what it looks like in New York City. This is what crime is. He's seen people selling bags and stuff outside. He's seen tourists. But the reason I wanted to bring with me besides we're going is I wanted to see how the world is. It's difficult sometimes. When I'm from Queens, I moved to Jersey. They live a different lifestyle and they don't actually get to see that.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

So I want him to see that so he knows what he's going up against.

[Torre]

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[Torre]

Um, you said you hit them a little bit, Pop. There's no difference.

[DJ Envy]

There is. There is a difference.

[Torre]

Corporal punishment.

[DJ Envy]

There is a difference.

[Torre]

You struck them with the intention of causing pain, scaring, scary, so that they would be hurt, so they would learn.

[DJ Envy]

Cause a lot of times it's not the pain, it's the sound, right? So like if I go, it sounds harder than it is. It didn't hurt me. It didn't leave a red mark. But that sound, you're a grown man. Same thing with the kids though.

[Torre]

But they're not grown men, they're little kids.

[DJ Envy]

Every child except my last three has been popped one time. Only once. And it's always been in public.

[Torre]

You said you only hit the oldest three one time and you haven't hit the youngest three at all.

[DJ Envy]

Didn't have to.

[Torre]

I can't believe your wife doesn't have a rule about like, we don't hit the kids.

[DJ Envy]

No, it's always happened in public where a kid has done something in public, a tantrum or tried to show off in front of their kids. And it was one of those things. It had to be corrected right then and there and we've never had an issue again. And like I told you, our younger kids learn from the oldest. So if the older kids are doing the things that they're supposed to be doing, doing their homework, doing their chores, doing the things that they're supposed to do, the younger kids follow. So once you course correct the older kids, you never have an issue ever again.

[Torre]

I want you to listen to the episode that we did with Stacy Patton. I want you to have Stacy Patton on your show. This sister is brilliant. She's a professor and she talks about corporal punishment and why it is wrong and how it is against what we did in Africa and how children don't learn from us being implied from, from corporal punishment. They freeze and they were afraid rather than learning or you talk about talking to them. I don't know. It's a huge thing among us and I think we got hit. Did you get hit?

[DJ Envy]

No.

[Torre]

You didn't get hit?

[DJ Envy]

I never got hit.

[Torre]

I got hit a lot as a kid.

[DJ Envy]

I never got popped in my life. I got yoked Up.

[Torre]

What does that mean?

[DJ Envy]

He grabbed your neck? No, not my dad. My dad never touched me. My mother would grab me by the collar and yoke me up like this, but my dad never touched me. But I was more fearful of my dad than anybody in this world. To this day, my dad is 70, 81 years old, and I'm still fearful of that man. He's never popped me. He just always had that look. We've never had conversations about him hitting me or him doing physical. Nothing like that. But I've always were fearful. Now, when each child got popped, we had a conversation of why they were popped and the reason. We just didn't pop them and say, go sit in the corner. We explained everything, and to every kid, they understood. But my dad never popped me. Not one time. My mother never popped me at all.

[Torre]

But I think it's counterproductive to be afraid of our parents.

[DJ Envy]

I was afraid, yeah.

[Torre]

And you're still afraid.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, of course.

[Torre]

But that's not the optimal relationship.

[DJ Envy]

No, of course. I mean, I'm not afraid, but I don't think my dad's gonna come to the house at 83 years old and poop my ass.

[Torre]

Of course.

[DJ Envy]

But, you know, I was afraid as a child, but I also feel like. And I know this is. People will be like, oh, no. It's different times. What we had to grow up with in the 80s and 90s and 2000s, it's a lot different. You know, I stepped out the house and it was crack vials. My first. My zone school was the first school in America to have metal detectors.

[Torre]

What area? In Queens?

[DJ Envy]

Queens Village. So, you know, Van Buren was my high school, where LL Cool J took the picture in front of his car on there. But that was the worst school where my parents had to worked two jobs to make sure that I was able to go to Catholic school so I wouldn't have to go to that school. You know, my wife, we talk about it in our first book. Got slashed 36 times on her face at age 15, waiting for the bus on Jamaica Avenue, 32 on her leg. So, you know, my wife almost got kidnapped where they grabbed her and tried to throw in the van. So this is what we grew up with in Queens. So my dad being strict and stern was a protection, a way of protecting me.

[Torre]

Y'all go and y'all. You and G go back to Queens.

[DJ Envy]

Queens.

[Torre]

How long y'all been together?

[DJ Envy]

We've been together 31 years, married 24.

[Torre]

That's incredible. That's incredible. Wow. Shout out to that if we had a button, we'd applause for that. 24 years married, that's incredible. 24 years, how you keep it going?

[DJ Envy]

I would say what everybody says, conversation, but not the conversation. Typical conversation. Me and my wife have a different type of relationship.

[Torre]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

And when I say different, we are up under each other a lot more than most people are.

[Torre]

You're together more?

[DJ Envy]

Yes, we speak all the time. When I go to work in the morning, nine times out of ten I'm speaking to her on the way to work.

[Torre]

When we leave you going in at five, five in the morning and you're.

[DJ Envy]

Talking to her, I'm talking to her on the way. You know, when I come home, I'm talking to her like we are always like, we do things separately but we do things a lot. Like when I go to dj, a lot of times she's with me. You know when we go out with couples or it's no girls night out, we all go out together. Like she is really my best friend and she, her friends know that if you tell her something, she's going to tell me.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

And my friends know if they tell me something, I'm going to tell her. Like we have a real close relationship, a real close bond.

[Torre]

24 years married, you got to be able to deal with conflict resolution. And a lot of these women don't like saying I'm sorry.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Torre]

At all. BBC talks of girls be like, I would rather die than say sorry to my man.

[DJ Envy]

It happens a lot.

[Torre]

How is that? How is like, what do you guys do to resolve when one of you is upset with the other? Especially when you. Cause it's easy when she's upset, we can listen and say I'm sorry.

[DJ Envy]

Right?

[Torre]

Right. When you're upset, she may like, well that's fine that you feel. So how do you deal with that?

[DJ Envy]

Well, the first thing is we never go to bed sleep beefing, arguing, never. So I mean there's times where we have to talk it out till three in the morning and I gotta be on air at 6 or 5:30. And we're speaking, we're talking. The main thing was breaking down our relationship and to see why. And I think the first reason was I used to right fight meaning right fight. Right fight.

[Torre]

What does that mean?

[DJ Envy]

Right fight meaning you're just trying to win an argument instead of fighting.

[Torre]

Oh, it was our right. Yes, yes, yes.

[DJ Envy]

That was my biggest problem.

[Torre]

I want to be right. Yes.

[DJ Envy]

Cause my wife is, I always call her an attorney. Right. She's not an attorney, but when she Argues. She has her facts. It's almost like she has these arguments in the stash and just pulls them out. You know, A lot of times I'm just, hey, what's up? Oh, we just thought it'd just be a random argument or random disagreement. But my wife has them. Sturdy wedding. Like, you remember in 1962 when this happened. And then in 1938, this would be like, whoa.

[Torre]

Yup.

[DJ Envy]

So I would. Right. Fight. Meaning sometimes I would make things up just to win an argument.

[Torre]

Oh, shit.

[DJ Envy]

And that was the biggest problem. Because we weren't arguing to understand, we were arguing to win.

[Torre]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

And once we realized we need to understand each other. Cause we are on the same team. We really didn't have arguments like that. We'd have disagreements. We'd go back and forth with what she thought, what I thought. And sometimes we agree to disagree or we'll, you know, lean towards somebody else. And that made our relationship a thousand times better.

[Torre]

Okay, so you dealt with something that a lot of couples have dealt with as far as infidelity. And I'm not saying anything that you talked about it on the radio. So it's already out there. And I don't wanna rehash the specific story, but how did you guys deal with it and. Cause a lot of couples have had a guy comes home, like, I cheated, or she finds out. And then some people stay together, some people break up. So how did you guys get through that?

[DJ Envy]

The most important thing was, was honestly. And this always sounds cliche when I say it was faith. Right.

[Torre]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

And for people that don't know, I'll break down what happened when my wife found out it was over. She wanted to leave. There was no turning back. I tried everything. I mean, I was R and B singer, outside in the rain, singing. Nothing worked. My wife has a best friend. His name is Rashid. He's an attorney. He's also a pastor. Didn't like me at all. Didn't like from before. From before. Just really didn't like me. Thought I was immature. Thought I was controlling. Thought I was very. What's the word I'm looking for? Didn't have the confidence I needed as a person and would take it out in our relationship. And I was. And I was very insecure. Very insecure growing up. But I think that started from me coming up. I had glasses and braces. I was short. I didn't get girls. I wasn't inexperienced. So now I have this beautiful, smart girl. I never wanted to lose it. I always felt like I wasn't Good enough for her. And that went into relationship. Obviously, I worked a lot on ourself. We worked a lot on our relationship to actually change that. But he called her one day, and, you know. And, you know, we went through the whole thing of what happened and explained and, you know, apologized, and he was there. He was. And he called her one day and was, like, out the blue and was like, you know, I was praying on this, and this is the weirdest thing. He was like, God sent me a sign that you guys don't need to break up.

[Torre]

That you guys don't need to break up. He said that to her out of the way.

[DJ Envy]

He said that to her. Now, this is a man that did not like me.

[Torre]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

Didn't respect me, and wanted me out.

[Torre]

And he was not asked to provide an opinion. He just. He did not.

[DJ Envy]

Just called, and my wife was like.

[Torre]

And he knew y'all were going through it.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, I think everybody did. Was on there. And my wife was like, okay, that's cool, but no, I'm out. And he was like, I'm telling you. He was like, matter of fact, I'm gonna stop working today. He was interning, and I'm gonna fly to New York, and I'm gonna stay with you guys. Because he was like, God has given me this feeling. He flew to New York, and are.

[Torre]

You like, yes, please help me out.

[DJ Envy]

I have no idea what's going on at this point. My mind is going all over the place. I wanted to quit radio. I just wanted to just stay in a room by myself. I'm losing my everything. Tyrese, who I have no relationship with the singer. The singer calls me one day, says, hey, now, mind you, I've never told anybody what Rasheed said. Called me and said, hey, I was praying, and God told me to reach out to you to talk to your wife. Now, mind you, I don't know Tyrese, other than him coming to the radio station and doing things. I don't know him. Nothing like that. He just happened to be in New York and called me and said the same thing.

[Torre]

Interesting.

[DJ Envy]

So I said, okay. So I put. I put my wife on with Tyrese, and they started having conversations, and Tyrese and Gia, Rashid and Gia just started having conversations. We all just started having conversations. And it was the weirdest thing. It was the same sentiment that, you know, Gia said, hey, send me a sign, because right now, we're going through it, we're talking, we're this, that, and the other, and pretty much said the same thing. Tyrese said, God gave me a sign to come talk to y'all, because God doesn't want this relationship to be over.

[Torre]

Do you believe that?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Torre]

Are you spiritual?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Torre]

Even more now because some people be like, I don't know what these guys are really talking about. But you're like, I believe that you are telling the truth.

[DJ Envy]

Because both of these individuals, Rashid didn't like me. I had no relation to Tyrese.

[Torre]

So they had no.

[DJ Envy]

And they were speaking in the same tongue, same terms, same sayings, and it was the weirdest thing ever. And they don't know each other. They never met. It was just the same identical talk.

[Torre]

So because Gia is getting the same spiritual message that resonates with her from two separate people that helped her open up.

[DJ Envy]

Open up a little bit. Yeah.

[Torre]

To be like, maybe we can continue. Did she demand, like, certain. Or say, like, we need these new boundaries, these new rules, Whatever, whatever.

[DJ Envy]

She didn't demand anything, but I gave her the new boundaries.

[Torre]

Okay.

[DJ Envy]

And the new boundaries were everything consisting of. We have a phone up relationship where my phone's on the counter. My wife could pick it up.

[Torre]

You say you have a phone. What?

[DJ Envy]

I call it a phone up relationship.

[Torre]

Phone up. Right.

[DJ Envy]

So you know how some people put their phones face down? We have a phone up relationship. My wife can go through my phone. My kids could go through my phone. My kids grab my phone. My phone's out there right now with my son. Like, there's nothing to hide. If I'm doing a show, if I'm out and about, if I'm in the club, whatever it is, my wife can say, I'm coming or I'm going. I wanted her to go. I invited her. I wanted her to go out. I wanted her to see the changed person that I was. And it took some time. And my wife never went through my phone. She's never checked. She's never checked my phone records or nothing like that. And it's just a. A relationship that almost started over. It actually made us closer. Cause we were able to talk a lot about a lot of things that we weren't able to talk beforehand.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And that was about 15 years ago, 12 years ago.

[Torre]

We see that sometimes that people get stronger out of it, out of the conversations that happen out of that crisis, and they get more bonded. Did you make changes within yourself in that moment?

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely. Changes within myself. Changes with things that I did, changes with the people I hung out with. You know, the main thing with me was. And this was insecurity.

[Torre]

Right. You did it cause of insecurity yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And I'll tell you why. In ego, I always grew up feeling like I wasn't good enough. Wasn't good enough at DJing, wasn't good enough at being a person, wasn't good enough at a lot of these things. You gotta understand, like I said, I had glasses, braces, acne. I was five foot five until one summer I went from five foot five to six foot. So I've never had girlfriends. I wasn't the guy that had tons of girls. And every time I tried to do something, I always felt second rate. So now when I'm in this industry and I'm starting to do good, everybody's coming to me and it's feeling good. I'm feeling like the man now. And I took advantage of that. But that was all insecurity and ego. It wasn't felt from coming from a good place. It was coming from a egotistical place.

[Torre]

Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy. I mean, I appreciate too, the perspective you have on yourself. Are you in therapy?

[DJ Envy]

No.

[Torre]

Because it sounds like, you know, I mean, you spend a lot of time thinking about yourself and, like, these sort of things.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely.

[Torre]

Because you clearly did a lot of thoughtful reflection.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. And praying a lot more. And being vulnerable. And I'll tell you what those two things have done. So in our first book, which is Real Life, Real Love, we talk about our relationship. We talk about all this in the book. It was so many things that I feel like as men, we don't ever talk about.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

So the first thing that made me really insecure was, and it went viral, was me not being able to please my wife. So you got to think me and.

[Torre]

My wife being in the bedroom.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. Me and my wife have been together from 16 and 15.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

We don't have conversations about sex with anybody. I know. I have it. We have the sex talk of what sex is not to get pregnant, but we don't have that talk. So for me, I'm sure, like a lot of guys listening, we learned sex from watching porn.

[Torre]

Yeah, of course.

[DJ Envy]

And I thought that the way to please your wife is you pretty much jackhammer her for 30 minutes, right?

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And that wasn't the case. So when we would have sex, she wouldn't have. She wouldn't be pleased. From penetration. Now from me going down on her, of course. One day we got into an argument and she told me, like, you're not pleasing me, I'm not having came. I was faking it. And that's where a lot of the resentment came from.

[Torre]

You resented that?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Torre]

Cause I'm not living up.

[DJ Envy]

Cause I thought I was pleasing you. I thought I was the man Dingo. And you basically shot me down. And we had to go through that. And, you know, and. And I put it in a book because there's a lot of men that deal with it and a lot of women that deal with it. A lot of women don't say anything to their spouse.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

And I would tell you the amount of emails and DMs and conversations I got from women and men saying, you know, I didn't know anybody to talk to. And it's good because now we can have that conversation.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

I had to learn my wife's body. I had to learn what sensuality is and sexuality. And, like, I had to learn. And I'm not ashamed to say that I had to learn that because now our sex life is amazing. But back then, it wasn't.

[Torre]

Of course, we as men have to learn their sexual life is entirely different. Right. We're. We're immediately ready all the time. They need to be warmed up in a very particular way. And they needed to come through the ear as well as the eye. That's right. All these things. Right. And I mean, even like, you really. Like, if she just grabbed your dick, you'd be like, let's go.

[DJ Envy]

Let's go right now.

[Torre]

If you touched her there, she'd be like, whoa.

[DJ Envy]

That's right.

[Torre]

Like, you gotta start here and then move down slowly, get close to you. They wanna be teased. Right. But we as men know, and porn does not educate us at all in a way that's gonna help us be good lovers.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. And, you know, being vulnerable. Of course, I got a zillion and one jokes.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

But I didn't care about that. I cared about the fellas, the men and the women that hit me and said, thank you. Like, we go on vacation. And so many women say, this book saved our relationship, saved our marriage. Cause it just opens the door to have that conversation. It could be envy. And Gia spoke about this in their book, how does it feel? It just starts that conversation. So being vulnerable really helped. And when I was preaching to my kids, I needed to preach to myself. Meaning, you know, I always say, why do you care about what a comment says? Why do you care about this person, care about what happens in this house and how it makes you feel? And I had to start standing on that. Like, I don't care what you say. Crack the jokes. I'm good at the house. I Don't care about your comments, I don't care about your memes, I don't care about your whatever you say. What I care about is what happens in the house.

[Torre]

But you said things there that helped people's lives and helped their relationships. So even if these people who are too young to understand are making jokes, these other people are like, you really helped me correct. And like, I'll take 10 of those versus 100 of like, you don't understand. You'll get there one day. When you get older, be like, yo, what he said was real right there. Why you guys are the Breakfast Club, the dominant show in this ecosphere of hip hop media. Why?

[DJ Envy]

I think one, because we were very real, very honest. I think also we started at a time online when most people didn't. You gotta think when they put the Breakfast Club together. I always tell everybody what made sense was we were all side pieces. Right. And when I mean side pieces.

[Torre]

Right. He was right. Charlamagne was rocking with Wendy.

[DJ Envy]

He was Wendy's sidekick.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

I was Ms. Jones sidekick when she did Hot 97 and Angela Gui with Cypher Sound sidekick when he did Sirius Radio. So we never.

[Torre]

But Charlamagne is. He was. But he's not a sidekick. He's the star. He is a star now.

[DJ Envy]

Back then he was Wendy sidekick.

[Torre]

I know. And I did Wendy when he was the sidekick. When he is in his heart, he is a star.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely.

[Torre]

And so as soon as he wasn't sitting next to Wendy, it was like, oh my God, Absolutely. Who is this person?

[DJ Envy]

But you know, with Charlamagne, most people don't understand. Is he never. He never. He. Let me put it like this. He never chases to stardom, right?

[Torre]

No, no, he. He just is.

[DJ Envy]

He just is.

[Torre]

He just is.

[DJ Envy]

He's funny and that's irreverent and that's what makes the show so great. You have three members that don't chase being the star. If it happens, it happens. Remember when Breakfast Club first started, I was the bigger name. And then everybody transcends into their perspective role and it takes from there and there's never jealousy. We always want each other to win.

[Torre]

Yeah. Okay. What happened with Jess?

[DJ Envy]

Well, Jess went online and she had some problems. She had some issues how she felt the show was handling her. And she was absolutely, positively right. I don't love the way she handled it, but she was right. And when. I mean, she was right. You have Jess, you have Lauren, you have Charlamagne and myself. We all have different roles.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Usually in radio we have Somebody that defines those roles. We know what each other's role is. We know that this is Charlamagne's role. We know that this and those roles weren't defined. And it made her feel away.

[Torre]

But you gotta feel it wasn't defined for Jess.

[DJ Envy]

It wasn't defined.

[Torre]

Cause when it was Angela, it was clear, this is what you do. This is what you do. This is what you do. Correct. What is your role? When it was Angela, what was your role?

[DJ Envy]

My role has always been the same. It's always been the driver, the captain. I steer the ship. And then we all. We have different things. I'm the family man. I'm the dj. I do the music. I do, you know, generational wealth. The things that I do is my role. Charlamagne is.

[Torre]

You're kind of, like, mellow.

[DJ Envy]

Correct.

[Torre]

And I'm like, he's gonna just be even and like, hey. And Charlamagne might come in and throw a bomb. Might make a joke. Right.

[DJ Envy]

I always say, like, if you think about, like, of a basketball team, I'm gonna be the point guard. I'm dribbling the ball up the court. Let's say Jess or angielee at the time or Lauren, they might be the shooting guard. Pass it to them. They're gonna shoot.

[Torre]

And Charlamagne's.

[DJ Envy]

Charlamagne's gonna dump. He's Dennis Rodman. He's gonna grab rebound. He's Draymond Green. He's gonna. He's gonna stir some stuff up. And that's pretty much what the Breakfast Club is.

[Torre]

But so is Jess out?

[DJ Envy]

No, Jess is not out. Jess is still good.

[Torre]

So she's still part. So even though all this happened, y'all gonna keep.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, we've had. We had a conversation. You know what we also have to realize is Jess grew up in the social media world. Jess's whole thing has been social media. She's never been afraid of social media. She's always dove into social media.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

So nothing has changed. That's Jess.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Well, what we had to do was make sure that all of us together have a conversation and communicate so we never get on that page again. It was kind of weird, and I was upset with Jess because she went to social media. But that's Jessica. That's my sister. I just. I just didn't like the fact that she allowed the comments to piss her off. But we moved on. We passed. We've all spoke, and we're all in a great place. I love Jess. I love Lauren. Those are my sisters.

[Torre]

What you asked Me when I did your show.

[DJ Envy]

What. What did I ask you?

[Torre]

Because I wasn't really. I didn't know what was going to happen. Right. Because you're definitely a little nervous going in there.

[DJ Envy]

A lot of people are.

[Torre]

None of these motherfuckers could have asked me. And I don't know if you knew. I know Angela socially from before she was famous. Right. She's cool with Santi. Santi Gold, longtime friend of mine. So Angela. So I would see them like I knew her. I'm like, she's super nice. Charlamagne's gonna punch me in the face. What's he gonna say? What's he gonna say? And then envy comes and be like, so how come you ain't pay your taxes four years ago? I'm like, this motherfucker. I was late on my tax bill four years ago. And you know what? I'm like this mother. I'm like, charlemagne's being nice. Like, what if. Did somebody tell you to ask that?

[DJ Envy]

No. So for people that don't know the Breakfast Club, there's a zillion and one questions that we get that producers send us, and then we all do our own homework, right? And it's a give and pull. Meaning, like I always tell people, people get comfortable. And then when we make you comfortable, we ask a question that might be a little controversial, Right. Then when you get a little edgy, make you comfortable again.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

Then we ask you another kind of question that might be a little conversational, and it just depends on how the conversation gets. Now with that, usually that would have been an Angela Yee question, but since y'all had a great relationship, she wasn't gonna ask any questions like that.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

So now a lot of times that gets thrown on me, even when you look at. Sometimes when it's relationship issues and relationship questions, usually the woman in the room asks the relationship question.

[Torre]

Yes.

[DJ Envy]

But if they have a good relationship with the person, nine times out of 10, they're not going to ask that question. But these are usually the questions that people want to know that they seen online. So they don't come from nowhere. They, you know, but we have to ask now. People don't have to answer. Sometimes people could just say, you know what? I'm working it out with the irs, and I can't have that conversation.

[Torre]

No, I know. I felt like that's. That's your gotcha question for me, because that's an easy question. I mean, so many people are late with their taxes. It seems the kind of thing like, you should be embarrassed about it, but I'm, like, not really embarrassed about it.

[DJ Envy]

It's just questions that we always ask. Like, we do our Googles and make sure we try to leave no rock unturned.

[Torre]

I always look at the Birdman interview. Is that like, that was an epic moment. And it's 45 seconds, right?

[DJ Envy]

Ooh. Like a minute 13 or something like that.

[Torre]

He barely sits down.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Torre]

I mean, I just wondered. Living through that moment is crazy.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. That was probably the biggest viral moment ever.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Ever.

[Torre]

For you guys?

[DJ Envy]

Just anybody.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And the crazy thing about it, for, like, the first year, we never got credit for it because iheart was against going on YouTube at first. So whoever clipped that first video and put it out is so paid right now because he lived for a long time without us taking it down. And then once iHeart went to YouTube, we clipped it and still got, you know, millions and millions and millions. But it was a. It was a weird day. Charlamagne. I was talking about Birdman a lot, and Birdman didn't like it. And he wanted to pretty much stand in Charlamagne's face and say, don't play with my name.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

And it was gold. Radio gold.

[Torre]

It was definitely Radio gold. Do you a moment like that. I mean, he's a real gangster. At least he's connected to real gangsters. I mean, like, we talk to rappers all day long. Eventually one of them's gonna be like, fuck you. You worry about extra shit. Charlamagne dealt with it on the street.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. Once I wasn't worried about Birdman, and everybody asked that same question. Now. He had a bunch of artists with him. He had Rallo with him. He had the rest of showing with him. He had his artists, but his guys from New York that were behind me are my friends. So a lot of times when these rappers come to town and, you know, they know they're New York gangsters and New York street dudes. I'm a real New Yorker.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

So I know all of them.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

You know, I've done DJ'd the clubs. I hosted the club. So I pretty much know every street dude and gangster. So I wasn't worried about that. That wasn't something that we were worried about.

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[Torre]

All right, we got to talk about the real estate. And you were so open about the infidelity and everything. Cesar is about to be sentenced.

[DJ Envy]

Caesar. Yeah.

[Torre]

Excuse me. Cesar is about to be sentenced. How are you feeling right now? Cause you weren't charged.

[DJ Envy]

Was not charged.

[Torre]

Is that cause you testified against him?

[DJ Envy]

No, I never. I never.

[Torre]

They didn't ask you to testify against him. How did they not ask you to testify against him? Were you not his partner?

[DJ Envy]

I was his partner when he came to seminars. Okay, so now this is the funny thing with Cesan. I wish I had my phone so I can show you a note. The thing with Ceeza is me and Ceza did seminars. That was it.

[Torre]

That was the public facing part. You didn't do business with him?

[DJ Envy]

I did one building with him. That was me and him directly. Outside of that, when he was doing the things that he did on the side, I had no clue why he did.

[Torre]

But when you guys are doing seminars, talking about this stuff, didn't you say, I want to do this too? What you mean like we're telling people how to do do these real estate deals?

[DJ Envy]

No, the seminars were a way to tell people instead of spending money on jewelry, cars and clothes, to invest your money in different things. So for when we did the seminar, we brought people to the seminar to have conversations. Like, we bought contractors. We brought Auction.com, which was a site that people could actually buy houses from. We bought attorneys. We brought people. So you give people an outlook of what they can do in real estate. That was it. It's kind of like if you do a seminar based on doing radio, you explain to people what radio is and what you can do in radio. That was it. It was just an encouragement for our people to think outside the box and not think bottles and jewelry and cars. That was it.

[Torre]

Were you. Do you think that. Do you now think that you were really providing a service for those people?

[DJ Envy]

As far as thinking outside the box? Absolutely.

[Torre]

As far as sometimes seminars are real and sometimes they're not. Do you now think like, yes, we were genuinely educating these people, or maybe not.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely. We were genuinely educated. I mean, you're talking about four or five hours of not just myself or Cesar. You had so many different people speaking. I mean, you had contractors, you had attorneys, you had auction.com, you had so many different people. Because if you look at real estate, real estate is broke down to too many different angles, yet all these different people in these angles discussing what it is and what they. People that need to do. Not as of going to those people, but just explaining what it is. When I bought my first house, When I was 23, my interest rate was 23%. That's very high because I had no idea. Yeah, I had nobody to talk to. No clue. And I tell people that in that Seminole what my first interest rate was and how people should go from bank to bank and shop to get the best interest rate. Yeah, that was it. There was no, well, I have to put money down to do this. There was no taking money or anything. At the seminar. Once the seminar was over, I would take picture with a bunch of people that, quote, unquote, consider themselves fans, and that was it. I mean, outside of that, there was nothing more.

[Torre]

If they thought that you had done something, they would have charged you, of course. So, like, as well be clear, like, you were not charged. So clearly the government did not. They did their investigation. You were standing next to him. They clearly looked at you, and they clearly were like, he didn't do the shit.

[DJ Envy]

Correct.

[Torre]

You had no idea that he was not a clue.

[DJ Envy]

Shady, not even a clue.

[Torre]

So are you a victim?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Torre]

How could he con you?

[DJ Envy]

Easily. He says, envy, I have this building. I think it'll be a great investment. Do you want to jump in on it? And I'm like, how much? He tells me, I give him $500,000. I never received a quarter dime, nickel, penny or anything back. Never nothing back. That building still stands, and I know nothing about it. You do.

[Torre]

See, because I come to the seminar because my man DJ Envy is there. And he says, this guy, I don't know, knows what he's talking about. And we brought these other people to explain. And your man turns out to be extremely problematic. Illegal, et cetera. I wouldn't have gone if you hadn't said so. I'm like, how did you not know?

[DJ Envy]

It's the same thing like this if me and you are in business together and we own a McDonald's. Right? And I say, hey, guys, I appreciate Torre for this McDonald's. He really showed me how McDonald's works, and I appreciate it. I'm just telling you guys, look at the things outside of just regular, because this thing works at McDonald's, right? Now. If people hit you without me knowing and starts talking to you and you start doing things on the side, I have no clue about that. That's not my business. It's not like I'm not part of those LLCs. I was never in those meetings. I had no clue whatsoever. Similar situation. Ja Rule in the fire situation.

[Torre]

And the fire fire was the concert. Oh, the fire festival.

[DJ Envy]

Fire festival, Right.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

The guy, Billy, whatever his name was, was taking people's money. Didn't put things together. Ja Rule had no clue, right?

[Torre]

He didn't. Right?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, he had no clue. Now people say, well, why don't you have a clue? Well, I have the Breakfast Club. I have six kids. I have car show. I have my own thing, me. And his business was just seminars.

[Torre]

Yeah. Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Outside of that, nothing. I was never part of anything that he did outside of that. Did you.

[Torre]

I assume you haven't spoken to him in a very long time because probably.

[DJ Envy]

Lawyer, like, haven't spoken to him for two years.

[Torre]

Don't fucking talk to him.

[DJ Envy]

What would you.

[Torre]

What would you say to him if you could?

[DJ Envy]

The first main thing. Why? Why? You know, it's funny, the first. When we were doing the seminars and everybody would say, hey, I want to do this, I want to do that.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

The first thing I told him was never take a dollar from a person. And he said, why? And I said, the reason you never take a dollar from a person is because if it doesn't work out, you.

[Torre]

Are the face, right?

[DJ Envy]

If you invest in the stock market and you lose with Chick Fil a, you don't know who's the owner of Chick Fil A. You lose your money, right? And he said, all right, cool. I've never. I'll never take a dollar from anybody. That was it. Me and him never had a conversation ever else again. Never knew. Was never in the building. Never. Not on the llc, never received a quarter, dime, nickel. And believe me, when I said I had to give up every last bank statement, every last irs, every last email, every last text, every last cell phone, every last recording they done went through my thing like a colonoscopy, of course, UPS Ins and out and down. And there's a reason why I haven't been charged. Because it doesn't exist.

[Torre]

Because they went through everything and they saw you didn't know.

[DJ Envy]

Correct.

[Torre]

There was definitely a moment when I'm reading headlines and I'm like, I don't know if envy gonna make it through this just cause I'm reading whatever. Right. And, you know, if you see this and that. Was there a moment even though, you know, I know I'm solid, but we don't know we're gonna pull through a given situation. So was a point where you were like, ooh, this a tough one. I don't know if I'm gonna get through this one.

[DJ Envy]

Um, no, no. And the reason being is because I knew the truth. I knew the truth. And not only did I knew the truth, they done went through all. I done had to give up everything. There was nothing that I did not give up or say, oh, no, you want the text? Here, take all my text messages. Here's my email. Matter of fact, here's my phone.

[Torre]

You have to. I mean, correct. You're not being benevolent. Comes and say, we want to see your shit. You. You have to show them.

[DJ Envy]

And I gave every agency all my information, my account information, everything. Yeah, it was nothing too high.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

It was never a thing of. Oh, wait, wait, wait. No, take it all. So to answer your question, no, what bothered me was the public in terms of what. This is what I realized how nasty social media is. Right? Nobody cares about the truth when a lie is more entertaining.

[Torre]

Right.

[DJ Envy]

And what I realized is people do things for their own selfish need. And I'll explain. After leaving here, I'll shoot a video and say, you know what? I was talking to Tor Ray and I realized Torre has a third arm that comes out as an asshole. And it's true. And I seen it myself. And oh, my gosh, this, that, and the other. That video will get 2 million views.

[Torre]

You're an idiot. Why would that even come to your mind?

[DJ Envy]

I'm just thinking something. That's crazy. That video will get 2 million views.

[Torre]

Yes, it would.

[DJ Envy]

Right? And we reward that. You know how we reward it? Because now when you get 2 million views on TikTok, you just made $2,000. So you're like, oh, tomorrow. You know what I meant to tell y'all? When I left the Toray interview, him and his cameraman was kissing in the back. I seen it myself. That gets 4 million views. I just made another 3 million. $3,000. So now I'm like, oh, this works.

[Torre]

So people understood. We can cake up on envy.

[DJ Envy]

It's not just envy. People cake up on making lies up and people.

[Torre]

Oh, so people were lying about it?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

[Torre]

I mean, I feel like, you know.

[DJ Envy]

What the biggest lie was, which was really hurtful. And I never talked about this with anything. The biggest lie was when I seen a news Network say that iHeart offices were raided and they took computers out.

[Torre]

And that never happened.

[DJ Envy]

What computers would they take out of iHeart? Were they looking for Drake music? Were they looking for Mary J. Blige?

[Torre]

Well, they would be looking for conversations.

[DJ Envy]

There is no conversation. Like, it's a radio station. And if we all know radio stations, the only thing in those computers are drops and music. Like, were they taking Kendrick's new album?

[Torre]

The government doesn't know that.

[DJ Envy]

No, but it never happened.

[Torre]

But they never asked you to testify against him?

[DJ Envy]

I can't testify on something I don't know. I didn't know what was going on. I've never seen.

[Torre]

But they interviewed you.

[DJ Envy]

No, they wouldn't. Never.

[Torre]

You never had to give them a statement. Surely they had to say, what did you know? And you're like, I don't know anything. Do you know about this? No. Do you know about this? No. Do you know about this?

[DJ Envy]

No. They asked me for all my information. My cell phone, my emails, my texts, my this, my that. Mr. Casey, do you know anything? No, I wasn't privy to any of that. I wasn't privy. Here's everything. I have no idea what he did, how he did it. I don't know.

[Torre]

Do you feel like he hurt your reputation?

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely, Positively. Without a doubt. Without a doubt.

[Torre]

Cause this is still in people's minds, and they don't fully understand what really happened.

[DJ Envy]

Yes. And, you know, I want you to really think about it. The reason we started seminars wasn't because of personal gain. The reason we started seminars is because I seen people going to seminars and they were paying $10,000 for a seminar, $3,000 a seminar, to actually learn something. And it bothered the shit out of me. And I was. My way of thinking is, I'd rather you take that $10,000 and invest it in something than to spend it on this seminar. So we started doing these seminars for $49 just to pay the venue back. So we. This started.

[Torre]

You said you weren't making money from the seminars.

[DJ Envy]

No, the seminars started, but at first it was just a way to help people. Hey, let me bring all these people in and talk to y'all about this. So you see another option. That's what it was for. It wasn't for anything else. So when you try to help people and say, look, I just want you to think outside of, of the normal things that you're doing. Think outside of spending all this money on your kid's fifth birthday party. Think outside of you buying this car. Think long term. That's what it was. And it really turned up and it backfired because I never took a dollar from anybody. Not a quarter of a million.

[Torre]

You made nothing on the seminars?

[DJ Envy]

No, the seminars was a business. Yes, we made money on seminars, okay.

[Torre]

Even though it was only 50 bucks to walk in the door.

[DJ Envy]

It started off as $50, okay? But as the venues got bigger, it was $99. But yeah, we did seminars, was profitable. But anything outside of that, no, we made no money off of it. I didn't make a dollar, quarter, nickel off of anything.

[Torre]

You weren't doing deals based on the seminar?

[DJ Envy]

I never did a deal based off a seminar. I've never did it. There is nobody in their right mind that could say me and Envy did this deal together to buy out nothing.

[Torre]

Are you still in the deal with Cesar, that school? Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Cause me and him, I still own a percentage of that school, but nothing is going right now. He's in bankruptcy court and all that.

[Torre]

Other stuff, but yeah, because he's gonna have to get out of that.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Torre]

I mean, we assume he's gonna do time.

[DJ Envy]

I would assume.

[Torre]

Are you angry with him?

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely.

[Torre]

Would you like, like to beat him up? Outside of the legal ramifications of that, like, is that how you feel? I want to fucking kick your ass. Fuck my shit up.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely. You got to think when you think somebody is doing something out of the kindness, out of the heart, and you found out on the side they're doing bullshit that you didn't know about it, and it puts your reputation into any type of bullshit? Absolutely, positively. You know, people's whole thing is envy. Knew. And I tell everybody this, if I knew, would I give him $500,000? If I knew, right? If I knew, would I receive a dime, a quarter, a nickel penny? Nothing. Nothing. This doesn't do anything but hurt me. So, yeah, to answer your question, yeah, I would love to drag them all up and down. Patterson.

[Torre]

That is funny. I mean, yeah, I can understand the anger.

[DJ Envy]

It's kind of like this. You're in business with somebody, right? What's one of the businesses that you with somebody?

[Torre]

A business that I'm. You could I. I am far less diversified than you. But let's say a restaurant, just for an example, right?

[DJ Envy]

Let's say your partner in a restaurant does some side shit that you know nothing about, and now you're the face. So they say, torre's partner took my money. Torre's partner told me this. Torre's partner. Now your name is getting dragged and stuff, and you're like, I have no idea what's going on. What do you do? Nothing you can do. You just got to sit in it and say, I wait for the facts to come out and the truth to come out, and you're going to get beat up. You realize who's your friends and who's not your friends. You realize who wanted to see you fall. You realize who wanted your job. You realize all that. And they're just beating you up and kicking you, and there's nothing you could do, but you just got to sit in it and you just sit in it and you pray.

[Torre]

You sit in it and you pray. That's a lot to sit in because that's on your integrity. It's also on. Like, I feel like a lot of people didn't think that you were corrupt, right? Like, just the person. We know, we don't think that he's. But we think that he was fooled, which goes to the notion of, like, was he as thoughtful in this situation as he could have been? You know what I mean? Like, that's. That's. I think that's where we come down. A lot of people come down on it.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. But I always tell people, at the end of the day, we're our own men and women, right?

[Torre]

We make our own choices.

[DJ Envy]

We make our own choices, right? And if somebody made a choice to work with him and I didn't even know, I had no clue, why am I blamed for it? Because I wasn't part of it.

[Torre]

I don't want to belabor the point because you've been very open about this. I think as a community, I think we expect. I would have seen the con man. So why didn't you see the con man? The con man can't pull his eyes. Pull the wool over my eyes. So why Big smart envy. Who's got money? Who's got businesses? How come he didn't see he's street, right? You street smart. You aware. So how come you didn't see it? I think that would be the vibe. Not that he tried to steal my money, but how come you ain't see I would see the con man? How come you ain't see it? Right?

[DJ Envy]

Which is the truth. But if I wasn't dealing within that.

[Torre]

World, how would I see it? I wasn't with him when he was doing that, so how would I see it when he was robbing people? I was not there. I didn't know about it. So how can I be responsible or it at all colored from. I know what she was doing when you weren't with me.

[DJ Envy]

Even to do it a step further, his assistant that was been with him for 15 years had no idea, really. And she was the closest one to him, really. So this assistant for 15 years had no idea, had no clue what was going on. How can somebody that's not. That doesn't see him every day, that doesn't speak to him every day, know anything?

[Torre]

That's a good point. If you have six kids, is it possible to not have a favorite?

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, I don't have a favorite.

[Torre]

You don't have a favorite? Does Gia. Does Gia have a favorite?

[DJ Envy]

She doesn't have a favorite.

[Torre]

You gotta have a favorite. It's gotta be one.

[DJ Envy]

No, I like them a little bit better.

[Torre]

They're better. They're nice. They're good. They're easier. Is one easier than everybody else?

[DJ Envy]

They all have different personalities.

[Torre]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

So when I say. It's like when I go out, I love to take my daughter Madison. She's the oldest, 23. She is. If there's snow outside, she's the one that's gonna get the shovel and help me shovel. That's her.

[Torre]

Because she's the first one or because.

[DJ Envy]

I think she's probably one of the closest to me. Cause she was the first. So if I'm going to. If I'm going shopping, she's the one that's coming with me. If something doesn't sit right or fit right, she's gonna tell me immediately. Dad, that's just not it. She's that one. So my other kids, all my kids just. We do different things together when I'm working out. My son, Jackson. No, Logan. The one that plays football for Miami. He is.

[Torre]

He's on the team at University.

[DJ Envy]

Miami.

[Torre]

What does he play?

[DJ Envy]

He's a wide receiver.

[Torre]

Is he a starter?

[DJ Envy]

No, no, he's not a starter.

[Torre]

He's second on the varsity. Excuse me for not knowing. That's big shit, dawg. Number 37, wide out at Duke. Miami. God damn.

[DJ Envy]

Number 37, University of.

[Torre]

You spent some time in the backyard throwing a football around.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah. You know what my kids work like. We play football. I had to buy the football machine where you put. Cause I'M not a. Yeah, because I don't know how to throw. I never played football as a kid like that. I played basketball, I played baseball, I swam, I played tennis. But he had to buy the machine and he loves it. He's. But when I say I work out with him and that's why I hear what music is new. When I work out with Logan, I let him plug his phone in and we work out together and he's ripped. I'll show you a picture when we leave. He's ripped like crazy.

[Torre]

Is he taller than you?

[DJ Envy]

No, he's not. He's 5, 7, 5 8. About 5, 8.

[Torre]

Isn't your wife taller than you?

[DJ Envy]

No, My wife is 5, 5, 5 6. She wears 6 inch heels and puts it to my height.

[Torre]

When I've seen her, I felt like she was telling me about it. I guess she's in the super heels.

[DJ Envy]

Yes, ma'am.

[Torre]

Your son's not taller than you?

[DJ Envy]

No.

[Torre]

Interesting. Because my, my child got taller than me.

[DJ Envy]

It's a lot.

[Torre]

When you were looking up.

[DJ Envy]

Wow.

[Torre]

And you're reaching up to hug them. It's a lot. You're. You're a younger kid. Some of them will be taller than you.

[DJ Envy]

My son Jackson that you met, the doctor said he'll be around 6, 4, 6 5. So he'll be tall. He's only 10 with that height. So he's. Yeah, he's. And he, he plays soccer. I'm trying to get him in basketball, but he plays soccer.

[Torre]

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. What else you want to talk about?

[DJ Envy]

Nah, that's it. You know this, my book, the Real Life Real Family and Real Life, Real Love. We really put those books out for people to understand and hopefully get some type of help and be able to start a conversation. A conversation starters with Real life. Real Love is relationship conversation. Of course. Real life, real family is a family conversation.

[Torre]

Yeah. No, I mean, you know, a lot of the stuff that we are dealing with as family, my house is dealing with some of the same issues that you're dealing with the next house. And if to talk about it and be open about it is really powerful because like, oh, they deal with the same shit. Just even knowing you deal with the same shit, I feel less bad because like this is the way humans interact. Like this just happens. It's like. It's fine.

[DJ Envy]

It is. But I just, I love to be able to have that conversation. That instruction manual we talked about earlier that most people don't get. This could be a guide to help somebody out on their journey.

[Torre]

Yeah. Congratulations.

[DJ Envy]

Thank you so much.

[Torre]

Best of luck with it.

[DJ Envy]

Thank you.

[Torre]

Yes. Thanks so much to Envy for a great interview and thanks to you for listening to show gives you fuel to power your dreams. Because you can use your dreams like a rocket ship to blast you into a life you never imagined. You can make your dreams a reality. Maybe this show can help Tori Shows written by me Torre and produced by Ashley Hobbs. Our booker is Ray Holiday. Our editor is Ryan Woodhull. We're distributed by DCP Entertainment and we will be back next Wednesday with more amazing guests because the man can't shut us down.

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