[Phor] Nina and my son are moving to Atlanta
and I've been dreading this day, I ain't gonna lie.
- So what about your pops? Where he at?
- He's in New York. You wanna come
for emotional support? - Hey, look,
more than emotional support. [Draya laughing]
- If he acting bad... - Security.
- ...we might just have to smash him.
- Oh, my God.
- They're not your friends.
They're your employees and you've gotta hold that.
Otherwise they're gonna keep stepping over you.
- So I've gotta be the bad guy.
- So you can spend the time with your kids.
[Ashley] They way you've been making me feel like
what I'm doing is not as important as what you're doing.
- How? What the [bleep] you doing?
- That doesn't matter!
I just wanna know that you believe in me and mean it!
Don, don't make me look like I'm not doing anything!
If you believe me-- - How?
If that's what the [bleep] y'all feel, cool.
- ♪ There's no more ordinary lifestyle ♪
♪♪
♪ We livin' for the moment talkin' right now ♪
♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
♪ We livin' for the moment talkin' right now ♪♪
♪♪
- ♪ I been, I been king-like since royals had cake ♪
♪ Man, I been, I been dope-like blowing smoke out the gate ♪
♪ Man I been, I been top shelf since champagne... ♪♪
- I love New York! What's up, brother?
How's it going, baby? Hey, let me know
where the ladies at, you know what I'm saying?
All right, baby, I love ya.
Hey, I love New York, man. Ain't nobody shot at me yet.
- That's the Empire State Building behind you.
- Where's the Empire State? - Right there, behind us.
- This, like, my third time in New York.
So I'm really trying to soak it up this time.
But I'm really out here to support Draya.
You know, she's going out there to see her family.
Like, I know she need a friend. You know what I'm saying?
I know she would be there for me.
[horn honking] How you feeling?
- I'm happy to be home. - Okay.
- I mean, I haven' been back since before the pandemic,
so it's been awhile.
I am finally home, and I'm a New Yorker
through and through, straight from the Bronx.
This is where I started my tattoo journey,
so it's crazy to think that my extended unknown family
have lived by the entire time.
And I'm just finding out that my father and my siblings,
they were there too.
- Is you still meeting with Anastasia?
- Yes. While we're in New York,
Anastasia put together a dinner for me
to meet my aunt, my cousins,
and a couple of my uncles, and I am nervous.
She also set up for me to meet my dad in a couple of days
for the very first time, because, honestly,
that's a get-together that you have to do one-on-one.
I think we're here, I think we're here.
♪♪
- [Prince grunting] - All right, we are here.
- You know what I'm saying? - You're excited.
- ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Here we go, here we go ♪
♪ We don't play, we don't play It's about that time, time ♪
♪ Get out of my way, get out of my way ♪♪
[Don] That was good-ass fun, though.
- Yeah, man.
- Good-ass work. - Always need that.
- This the one place, like, I'm in control.
- Oh, I feel you? - Like, I'm me.
Like, I'm in control of my hard work.
You know what I'm saying? - Yeah, for sure.
- You ever been, like, woke up some days
where you feel like you blessed but kind of like,
"Ugh, man, I'm still just irritated, not happy"?
- Not thankful? - Yeah-- no, I'm thankful,
I'm more than thankful, but...
you could be thankful and not satisfied at the same time.
- Mm-hmm. - I'm still in that place
where I just feel a little worn thin because
I'm trying to find the balance between accomplishing my goals
along with keeping everybody else happy,
satisfied, feeling supported. - Sure.
- I think I was having this conversation
with Ashley the other day. - Mmm.
- I'm fine with sacrifice, I'm fine--
I'm fine with putting everything on my back
for you to do what you've gotta do.
Hey, chase your dreams.
I'm gonna do what I've gotta do on the side,
but, like, I ain't gonna take away from you
to get my [bleep] done type , [bleep]you get what I'm saying?
It's just that while doing that, I--
You can't be coming at me about the most minute [bleep],
because it's like, "Are you not seeing the bigger pictures
of the sacrifices while I'm trying to be there for you?"
- They only see what you're not doing.
- Yeah. You've gotta recharge me
so I keep doing what I'm doing and keep us above water.
When I talk about recharging as a man, I'm simply saying,
"Showing more appreciation towards me.
"Taking the time to actually notice
how hard I'm working to make sure that we're good."
And so all I'm asking for her is just to wind down a little bit
on how much pressure she's putting on me daily.
I feel like she constantly makes me feel like
I'm not doing enough.
I'm not in a "[bleep] it" mode,
but I'm more in a place of acceptance.
- I was just gonna say that. - Where I'm kind of like,
"You know what? I've gotta still do what I've gotta do,
"because I've gotta still hit certain points,
"and I'm hoping that you grow along that journey with me
so that we ca-- you can experience it with me."
People grow-- grow with us or they not.
- Yeah-- - That's what I'm learning.
- No, I-- I-- I feel that.
- After our fight last week, I asked Ashley
to join me in one of my therapy sessions.
I needed us to be able to talk in a controlled setting.
You know, this actually has to happen
for the health of our family
and because we actually genuinely love each other.
- I'm dealing with that right now with Nina.
- How did the move go?
- Better than I expected.
I know this may have not been ideal, but also...
we were making the best out of it, you know what I mean?
- Right, right, right. - So let's move like parents,
bro, you know what I'm saying? For our son. That's it.
- I mean, that's-- that's common sense.
- It was hard for me to watch my son leave me like that.
I definitely feel like a part of me is missing.
But it does make me feel better about moving to Dallas,
knowing that they'll be safe in ATL.
And it's official now that I'm moving to Dallas full-time.
I'm excited to see where this journey takes me.
I mean, I wanna get along with-- I wanna make this [bleep]
smooth as possible.
As long as she knows that I'm still on her side,
like, I'm still on her team, you know what I mean?
- Yeah, it's so-- but I mean, honestly, bro, it's a--
[bleep], it's a level of trying to get there, but, uh...
- It's gonna be a process.
- You know, I'm proud of my brother for being able
to recognize, with his maturity, that the hard decision
was the right decision.
Let's go get something to eat, though.
- Hell, yeah.
- Cold. - [bleep].
- I'll tell you, that Dallas move
don't sound like a bad trip to get into--
- Come on, man, come on, man.
♪♪
- ♪ We've got our whole lives ahead ♪
♪ We've got a million things in our head ♪
♪ When we are alone we can do wonders ♪
♪ But we doing better when we with each other ♪♪
[Prince] You sure that don't say "marijuana"?
[Draya] - It's a drink.
Mamajuana. - No-- yeah,
draw an "R" on that "M."
[Draya chuckling]
- We have a lot to celebrate, right?
- I'm saying, though, you know what I'm saying?
- You're in New York. - Yeah.
- I'm about to meet the fam-fam.
- I'm saying, though, I'm gonna just sit right here, all right?
- Emotional support. - If I see something,
I'm gonna say something.
I feel like you'll be all right. - Yeah, it should be good.
[Draya] I've only spoke to Anastasia,
so this will be the first time
that I'll actually be speaking to these people.
Getting to know them can mean having a whole new family
that I've never had before. And I'm not gonna lie,
I'm really grateful that Prince is here
because his presence is making this a lot easier on me.
So you've never been to the Statue of Liberty,
Empire State Building? - Like, inside of her?
- Don't say that out loud. [Draya laughing]
- But I'm saying, like-- - Nah, come on.
- Hey! - Hey!
- What's up? - Hi!
- How are you? - I'm good. How are you?
- You remember Prince, right? - I'm good.
- Hi, Prince. How are you doing?
- What's up, girl? I like that shirt and pants.
- Thank you, thank you.
Had to get the streetwear look a little bit.
- I like how, like, we're all matching, though, low-key.
We need a-- we need a picture, we need a picture.
So, only expecting you today?
- I don't wanna lie...
but really it's-- it's-- it's just me.
Me is all I've got for you. I'm sorry.
It's-- - What-- okay.
♪♪
Why didn't I-- like, did they give you an explanation?
'Cause last we spoke, everybody--
- No explanation.
Just flopping, just constant flopping.
- You coming here as a family representative
because I only have a relationship with you.
You know what I'm saying? - It's embarrassing,
though, regardless. Like, you're grown,
and I know that you've got your own,
and I know that, but it is embarrassing to have
no one show up for you.
- I wish I could say I was surprised
but a lifetime of bull[bleep] and excuses
really prepared me for this moment.
- I ain't gonna lie, I feel for Draya, this is cold.
Clearly, her family don't know who she is.
You know, how great of an artist she is
or how great of a person she is.
- I put myself out on the line, been vulnerable enough
to come and meet up with a bunch of strangers
that I don't [bleep] know. - [Anastasia] Exactly.
- But, like, is this the family dynamic?
Is this what the [bleep] this family is about?
Because I'm gonna keep it real with you,
if this is what it is, I don't want no part.
- They all know you're on the show, right?
So everyone's so excite-- it's-- it's [bleep] embarrassing.
- Yeah, but [bleep] the cameras, it's not about--
- Yes, exactly-- - This is real-life [bleep],
this is my life, like I told you,
I choose to put my life on a TV show
and-- and-- and share my experience with people.
I ain't never told none of y'all that y'all have to do that.
None of y'all. And I told y'all,
if y'all felt uncomfortable with doing this [bleep]
on national television, I would be okay
with coming to meet y'all privately.
But everybody was like, "No, it's okay.
We think this is awesome."
Come on, man, this [bleep] is [bleep] crazy.
Like, I just found my family, my whole other
half of my family. - Exactly.
- A whole part of me that I didn't even know
I would ever find.
- It's like part of me feels like it's my fault
'cause I don't really-- I really don't
bang with some people, you know?
But it's just the people that had my hopes up too.
Like, if y'all was really, like, okay with this, like--
- All they'd have to do is say, "Look, we-- we good,"
or, "We're not gonna be able to make it" from the gate
and don't get my hopes up, and I would've been
all right, I would've been okay.
I'm gonna just-- I'm gonna take a minute, though.
I'll be right back. [Draya clearing throat]
- You good?
- Yeah, I'll be right back. - I'll-- I'll be back.
Don't go nowhere.
- I just really can't believe that these people have
known about me my entire life,
and nobody thought to reach out or look me up.
I mean, how cold can you be?
My dad has one chance to get this right.
If my father doesn't show up in a couple of days,
I think I'm not gonna give him another chance
to disappoint me.
- Hey, even though this some real [bleep], though,
ain't nobody's family perfect, though.
You know what I'm saying? - Bro, you ain't
gotta have a perfect family,
but you've gotta at least have a family
that show the [bleep] up. Like, you know when
I first heard about my father was at my mother's funeral.
A man came up to me and was like, "I know your father",
at my mother's funeral, bro.
Why would you wanna put somebody through that?
Just leave me the [bleep] alone? - Here's my thing--
if you say you're done, right, be done.
Don't be done for no other reason
but for you wanting to be done with the [bleep].
- Yeah, I don't want that in my life.
I don't.
- Just don't think about it too much.
[all cheering]
[Tatti] Oh, welcome to Black Ink!
- What a surprise!
- Look, booths filled, booths empty.
I've gotta pay for these [bleep] empty booths.
I figured the goal of 9MAG is to be the top tier.
But at the end of the day,
everybody could leave this [bleep]
and I could just make it all about business.
- Relationships tend to fail because of unmet expectations.
- If we don't find that place to meet,
where it's like she's gonna go this way,
I'm gonna just keep going that way.
- Your language is giving me separation options.
- Yeah.
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪♪
♪♪
- ♪ I'm gonna stay into the grind ♪
♪ But I grind harder ♪
♪ Not that you don't shine but I shine harder ♪
♪ All with this ambition that we... ♪♪
- After last night's disaster with my family,
I need something to lift my spirits.
I need something really New York.
[bowl dinging] - [Young Bae] What is this?
- It's a singing bowl, but you're doing it the wrong way.
[Tatti laughing]
- You're gonna do it? I'll go ahead and do it.
Watch, look. Hold on.
[bowl dinging]
Look, look, look...
[all cheering] - Oh, welcome to Black Ink!
[bowl dinging]
What a surprise!
- This is my first time being in one of y'all's shops.
This is nice. - Yes, welcome to Brooklyn.
- What you gonna be doing out here?
Change of scenery for a second?
- Just a little while. - Word.
[bleep] call on the phone, you'll be, "Man, I'm gone."
I let the [bleep] know I'm out of town.
I'm out of town, I'm gone. You know, I-- kind of tense
or whatever the [bleep] you calling me for.
Leave me the [bleep] alone. - What?
- What the [bleep] did you just say?
- You don't listen, [bleep]?
Basically, [bleep]'s calling my phone, right,
and I told him, "I'm OT."
OT, that's "out of town."
New York just don't get me.
Like, I don't understand what the [bleep] I've gotta do.
I've gotta talk like I'm from Brooklyn?
"Hey, I'm walking here! What you wanna do?"
- Who called who? You called who?
- If a [bleep] calls me-- one of the guys.
- Spydey, you know Draya from the Bronx?
- Yeah, fact. - How crazy is it that
we're seeing her in Brooklyn?
- First of all, they came from Chicago,
so that's even crazier-- - She from Iraq.
- I'm not gonna lie, I was totally confused.
The whole time he's like, "So tell me about the city."
I'm like, "Well, you know, we've got Queens,
we've got Jersey, we've got Harlem, but we've got Brooklyn."
Bronx girls don't go to Brooklyn, though.
- Visiting New York and visiting Brooklyn is like visiting
two different states. - Why is it different?
There's a million things.
- 'Cause they're across the water [bleep] or what?
- First of all, first of all-- no, bull[bleep].
- Ow! - Ow!
- When I used to be on the committee
for talking [bleep], I used to-- [Young Bae] Oh, my God, shut up!
- A'ight, you don't wanna hear that, all right.
But-- you ain't show him nothing since you get out here?
Show all the new rats and stuff there?
- Not yet. See, I've gotta get a rental first because--
can I be honest with you?
I never got down on that train [bleep].
For some reason, I could never read the map
and I [bleep] around and end up in Brooklyn.
- Hold on, you're from New York,
you don't know how to take the train?
- Bro... I mean, you've gotta be ready
for anything if you're gonna ride the New York subway.
I think Spyder might be Prince's best bet
for getting that full New York experience--
the nitty-gritty, how to get on the train, all the spots--
'cause I've been gone for a while.
- So were-- were-- all y'all gonna be inking
while y'all out here? - I plan to.
I've got hella clients out here. - [Prince] I brought my [bleep].
- [Spyder] Oh, word? - I bring my [bleep] everywhere.
- Hell, yeah, that's like a [bleep] American Express.
[Spyder laughing]
Never leave home without it.
[Tatti] Let me show you the shop.
Let me give you a little tour of the shop.
- Yeah, hell, yeah. - So this is the lounge.
Okay, that's the VIP chair you just rose from.
So that's good, okay.
Here we have our-- you know, our merchandise
and our front desk or whatever.
- Let me get a hat.
- Where you wanna set up?
- Yeah, so we've got six stations.
- We get to pick?
- You could pick one of the first two stations.
- I think you should sit right here, you should sit right here.
- Prince and I have been through the wringer
on the Chicago tattoo scene.
First at 2nd City and then onto 9MAG.
And through it all, we've just become so much closer.
So, obviously, I'm gonna enlist Prince to be the yin
to my yang and collaborate with me on this piece.
- ♪ Let's go we ready for anything given whoo ♪
♪ I'm talking buried equipment whoo ♪
♪ You know it's time to go get it ♪
♪ You never did listen we very explicit ♪
- This is my first tattoo in New York
and I'm doing it with my friend. She from New York.
It's all good.
- ♪ We're ready at all times it's a go ♪
♪ That's where my mind is ♪
♪ I got my both eyes on the goal ♪
♪ That's where you find it ♪
- I have to say, I love the camaraderie between
the shops and the artists.
The fact that the Brooklyn shop is giving Prince
and I a place to work is pretty cool.
- ♪ We ready at all times its a go ♪
♪ It's time that we ride ♪♪
- You ready to go take a look at it.
All right, let's do it.
- Ooh!
Nah, it's fire!
Okay! [Prince laughing]
- Did we do that, did we do that?
- That [bleep] decent.
That's dope. You're gonna be able
to show that off all the time. - Thank you.
- For sure. Group hug. - You're welcome.
Oh, yeah.
Boom.
♪♪
- Oh, see, I would...
[both laughing] - [Draya] We did that.
- ♪ Right here right now ♪
♪ So hard you never come down ♪
♪ You're never going home ♪
♪ You're never going home ♪♪
[woman] We ready to do this?
- [Ashley] Mm-hmm. - How are you doing?
- Uh, you know, good. - Good. Tired but...
I was fine when Don suggested that we should go to therapy.
I think that there's things that we needed to talk about
and get off our chests, but this is Don's therapist.
So I definitely hope that things are not just one-sided.
- All right, so the first thing that I wanna say is this--
relationships tend to fail because of unmet expectation.
What are some unmet expectations that still exist
in your relationship right now?
Ashley, we'll start with you.
- Um... communication.
Um, sometimes it kind of make me feel like number two,
and it doesn't make me feel like a priority.
- When you are triggered to feel like number two,
what does that do to you?
- I'm not gonna lie, I-I kinda go off.
- Okay. - Yeah, I kind of go off
and it become a big argument.
I have a way with words sometimes,
so sometimes my tone and my words can get out of hand.
He is the same as well. - All righty.
Don, what about you? What expectations are not being
met in this relationship that you wish were happening?
- I think for me my expectations keep changing.
Not to, like, right now. Like, if we don't really find,
like, a real middle place, it's like whatever changes
or growth is gonna be changes that's apart.
If we don't find that place to meet,
where it's like she's gonna go this way,
I'm gonna just keep going that way.
- I keep hearing in your language that you're using,
it is giving me separation options.
- Yes, that's what it's giving me, and this
is new to me as well, that's why I'm like--
- You keep saying everything's-- - It is because--
- Because these are my--
- No, these are not, no, these are not.
- You get offended every time I say--
- No, today you're sounding like you're, like, over it.
That's what you're sounding like.
- Well, I sound like I'm over-- - Yes, you are, you are.
- Okay, again... - You're sounding like
you're over it. - This is why I shut down
when we talk. - I don't know what Don thinks
that he has been communicating with me,
but he ain't never said none of this [bleep].
I mean, I love Don, but I'm not gonna sit here
and let him talk to me like this and expect for me
to still wanna be with him after all of this.
If this is something that he feels,
then we need to definitely talk about it
because it feels as if he don't want this anymore.
He has been becoming more and more distant towards me.
Um, I feel like he pushes me away.
To me, I feel like that's one of our biggest disconnects.
- I do feel like we're emotionally disconnected.
I told her, overall, I don't feel like
anything she does is directly connected to me.
I think she does what she do for the crib,
she does what she do for the boys,
but when it comes to me, I don't feel like
there's any direct effort and to what it needs
to be done for me as a wife to her husband.
- As a wife and his friend and the mother of his kids,
I do make sure that I look after him,
our household and our kids. - I feel like
you look out for the kids. - Okay.
- I feel like you're a great mom.
I keep telling you, you keep putting the criteria together
of your check-- your own checkoff box
of what you feel as a wife,
but I keep telling you that's not meeting my same box.
- Right, 'cause you're solo
and you're not meeting my box as well.
- That's what we come into agreements of.
- Okay.
- What I heard you say is, "You're not a good wife."
That came out of your mouth, Don.
- Yeah.
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪♪
- So you said-- what I heard you say is,
"You're not a good wife."
That came out of your mouth, Don.
- Yeah.
- Okay, I want you to stop and pause on that.
- Whoo-wee!
I think I need to excuse myself.
Can't believe what I'm hearing.
I can't believe all this that I'm hearing
from Don right now, like...
I know me and him have issues,
but you saying all these things
that you never said to me before?
Oh, this is [bleep] up.
A man that feels like his wife is not a good wife--
why waste your time?
Why is we even wasting our time?
This is the very, very first time today I heard--
- On my grandmother...
- Don, you have never told me
that I was not a good wife. I ain't never that damn crazy
to sit here and let anybody tell me "Oh, you're not a good wife."
- Crazy? - And I'm just sitting here...
- That makes you crazy. - I'm just sitting here
prancing around, um, being cool with him, okay, but you're--
That's the point. Now you're changing it up.
- That's what you do. - So if that's how you feel,
you shoulda told me that [bleep] at home.
- I been told you this before. - You have not told me
that at home, 'cause if you did...
- And this is what you do... - Don, okay.
- How you never wanna hear what I say?
When I say it, you get overly defensive because I'm being
open about it because change needs to happen or we're not
gonna be together, and when-- - Yes, but the biggest thing,
you shoulda told me this. - You acting like...
- I say this all the time! - You do not.
- So let me talk to y'all. Let me talk to y'all.
- Don't pretend like you do. - Don, Don, Don, look at me.
- Every [bleep] time, bro. - Don? Don?
- Acting like I don't talk to you.
- You think I'm gonna sit here and let you tell me I'm not
a good wife, and I'm gon' still be cool with you?
- I did, you won't let me tell you.
- No, you don't... - You don't let me tell you.
- If you woulda told me that,
we wouldn't even be here right now!
- You lying', bro. - Don? I need you
to bring yourself back... - Yo, she lyin', bro.
- Just look at me, look at me.
- 'Cause she know she lyin'. - I'm not lying!
- I need you to regulate. I need you to regulate.
Bring your eyes to me. Look at me.
Bring yourself back. There we go.
♪♪
The reason why I let you all even do this,
is because the only time you all began to share
your deepest truth is when you're in a rage.
And when you're sharing your deepest truth,
you can't hear. And if the only way
you can tell your deepest truth to each other
is through that, y'all don't know each other.
[Ashley] Don definitely need to work on certain things.
He doesn't communicate well.
But that does not classify him in my eyes as a bad husband.
After everything, you say that I'm not a good wife?
Well, if I'm not a good wife, why the hell you with me?
And if you woulda told me that in the past,
we wouldn't even made it here to therapy.
- So what is the goal here then?
Just to keep existing?
Why are you here?
Do you want this relationship?
- I don't even feel like he even love me no more, like...
- Do you love him? - Yes, I do.
- Do you want this relationship?
- Yes, I do.
- I do.
- ♪ Get your mind right money that is my type ♪
♪ Money y'all don't grind right ♪
♪ Hungry for the limelight ♪
♪ Get it, unh, get it, unh, get it, unh, get it, unh ♪
♪ I had to... Get it, unh, get it, unh ♪
♪ Get it, unh, get it, unh get it, unh, get it, unh ♪
♪ Get it, unh, get it, unh ♪ - Yeerr!
Yeah! - What the word?
- What's good?!
So today is the day that me and my man Prince is going
on a tour of Brooklyn, you know, the one that the tourist vans
and the trucks don't get to show you.
There's a lot of dope amazing Black-owned businesses
out here, and I'ma show him a few of them.
- [Prince] This a real bar? - So that's the...
- That's the pawn shop, you get a shot with your purchase.
- What?! - ...Bottles up there.
- Ooh! Y'all get down. - [laughing]
Listen, baby, in Brooklyn, you can't spell hospitality
without Hennessy.
It's how we get down in Brooklyn, baby, you heard?
Spread love the Brooklyn way, we were talking about that.
- I thought that was just in a song, y'all for real.
I appreciate him showing me around the city today,
I ain't gonna lie. I was really
out here with Draya, but he was, like,
"Look I'ma show you around Brooklyn."
- More wealth, health and freedom.
- Let's go.
♪♪
- Ugh, I feel like I got, ugh, feel the head coming up.
- ♪ Can I kick it, yes, you can ♪
♪ Can I kick it, yes, you can ♪
- We got brown stew oxtail. We got curry oxtail.
[laughing]
We got jerk chicken, black truffle alfredo.
[choir sings]
- I'm not even gonna lie. Once I took a bite
of that pizza, boy, that [bleep] was hitting, boy, goddamn!
- ♪ I'm a studio conveyor ♪
♪ Mr. Dinkins, would you please be my mayor? ♪
♪ You'll be doing us a really big favor ♪
♪ It don't stop, here it come, y'all ♪
- This my city now, I love it to death.
It is what it is. - Thank you, bro.
I don't know, if I was looking hungry or not...
[Spyder laughing]
But that [bleep] was fire. When you decide
to come to the Raq, pay you back.
- One day I could definitely come out there.
Maybe do some work. Get some [bleep] done.
- You need to tat. That [bleep] be going crazy.
- That [bleep] a'ight too. You know what I mean?
- You funny as hell. - You enjoying Brookie?
- Brookie! [laughing]
[chatter]
I stopped by Puma's shop today just to pick his brain
on opening up a shop.
- Well, I mean, you are part of our brand already.
- I don't want Ryan to like, feel like I'm competition.
- You want his support. - Exactly.
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
♪♪
[singing throughout]
♪♪
♪ To the top, to the top... ♪
[music slows and stops]
[knocking]
- Yo. - What's going on?
- What up, though? - Nothing.
Coming in to check on you.
- It's quiet. - It is quiet.
Ain't nobody here today.
It just-- it's just one of them days, you know?
Right? Gon' be bussin' later.
- It ain't look like that.
- Not right now. - Not today.
Not last week. Not yesterday.
I been peepin' and noticing
a bad trend around the shop, you know, people
either coming in late or not showing up at all.
You know, not keeping schedule.
As a owner and as a leader, this becomes very stressful.
When you have no artists and no tattoos being done,
you got no revenue for the shop.
- It's about to pick up. It's about to be hot outside.
- It can pick up. - Mm-hmm.
- If 20 people come in here right now,
I wouldn't be surprised. - Mm-hmm.
- Do I have 20 artists? - Yeah, that's true.
- Look, booths built. Booths empty.
I'm literally sitting here paying bills.
I gotta pay for these [bleep] empty booths.
So... You know what I mean?
If nobody's here, you know, I'm paying for the [bleep].
- Right.
- I won't do that [bleep] forever.
Because these bills aren't paid so they're behind.
If nobody does [bleep] in here, who does it fall on?
Exactly. - So you feel like people
are taking advantage of you here.
[Ryan sighs]
- I don't feel like they're taking advantage of me.
I feel like I haven't laid the law down
completely as I thought I should.
- Mmm. Okay. - You know?
Some changes will be made that everybody's not gonna like.
It's not like I, uh, I resent my artists for not showing up.
It's just the fact that I'm disappointed in them.
I figured the goal of 9MAG is to be the top tier.
And at the end of the day, everybody could leave this
[bleep] and I could just make it all about business.
Maybe you have these bills to yourself one day.
- Oh, nice, I'm looking forward to it.
So do you actually have a plan in place
for your artists not showing up?
- I have one in place. - Okay.
- I was just, you know... - When are you gonna enforce it?
- Since they don't expect anything,
I guess it'll be when they least expect it.
- Well, I know who I'm apprenticing under
is in New York right now.
- I haven't been seeing you around a lot without her.
- Draya was in New York. You know that.
- I thought we just had mixed schedules, but...
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's never met her father in person.
- Y'all say like, what... What pops?
Is it really her daddy? - I... yeah.
It's really her father. I'm just, like,
where does this leave me? I'm her apprentice.
- You our apprentice now.
- I'm 9MAG's apprentice.
- If she don't come back.
♪♪
- ♪ Yes allow it ♪
♪ Time to celebrate ♪
- What's up, yo? - Ay...
[chatter]
[lively chatter]
- Yeah, man... - This where the magic happens?
- My Chicago cousin, welcome to Art 2 Ink
and all that, you know what I'm saying?
How's your time in New York been, man?
- Ay, I ain't gon' lie. This man, he get down.
He showed me some [bleep].
- Let me give y'all a tour and [bleep], man.
- This looking a'ight!
- I stopped by Puma's shop today
just to pick his brain
on opening up a shop.
I been tattooing for about seven years.
My little brother, Johnny's been piercing for about five.
- What's up, y'all? - This is Johnny.
- I know you look familiar.
- This is Prince's brother. - I met him last year.
- And it's always been a dream for us to have our own space.
- You know, I've always been into gallant work
and, you know, really displaying the kid's art.
- I never stopped dreaming.
Like, I just been building on it.
You know, just waiting for the right time.
Like, it's always been something
that I knew that I was gonna do.
I been talking to Johnny.
He been asking like, what's next for me and him?
- Yeah. - Been putting his little thing
at that spot that he got. - Mm-hmm.
- In the neighborhood. We probably could
make some business of it. - Well, you gotta have a start.
- You know, Puma's a little different.
He's opened up a shop that's outside of the Black Ink brand.
So it's something that I wanna do.
- Got the [bleep] crown.
- A denim crown?
- My name, my name Prince, brother.
Let me get that. - Go ahead.
- You know what I'm saying? I'm just a regular dude
from the streets. I'm just trying to be
a businessman, so I'ma have to talk
to somebody who know what the hell they doing.
- Where Art 2 Ink even came from?
Six/seven years, I didn't even know it was popping that long.
- I mean, well, Art 2 Ink, when me and Ceasar
had our fall-out, at the end of the day, I had to figure out
how to feed my kids, you know what I'm saying, like...
- How did bro feel about it? - Well, he didn't
like it at first, but after we
got clear and got back on the same terms,
he's been here a few times, and he likes this place.
Being a shop owner
is different than being an artist.
- That's what I'm saying. I really don't know how to--
Like, I'm thinking about opening my own [bleep] with my brother,
like, I just wanna know, like, what I'm getting myself into.
- Well, I mean, you are part of a brand already.
So it's about communicating with the bigger brand
that you're with-- that you're about to make the...
- Never even really even thought about that.
- 'Cause you don't wanna... - Ruffle no feathers.
- You don't wanna just leave out of 9MAG without saying nothing
because then you'll have everybody mad at you and angry.
You want people to be able to be supportive of you.
'Cause the things that you don't know you're gonna need help.
- I don't want Ryan to like, feel like I'm competition.
- You want support. - Exactly.
- I got this like heavy weight on my shoulders about just,
you know, how people would feel about me opening a shop.
Like, Ryan, just working at 9MAG, I'm just
trying to find a way where I can be loyal to 9MAG
and still be loyal to my own, like, dreams.
- What's holding you back the most?
What would you say is like making you a little hesitant?
- I been in a lot of [bleep] up situations.
You know what I'm saying? Like you said.
Like when I thought one thing was gonna happen,
there's some whole other [bleep] happen.
- I been there. - You feel me?
I gotta try to make this [bleep] clap.
I gotta make it work. - I'll tell you this [bleep].
Don't start setting up the table until the food cooked.
- You get what I'm saying? - You know what they say?
Don't count your eggs before the chickens hatch.
- Right.
- I don't know, that's just some old [bleep]
[bleep] that people say. - It sounds smart.
- Well, okay. - It sounds smart as [bleep].
You know what I mean?
- You can still be part of the 9MAG family.
Still be there, help out, do what you gotta do.
But you can still create your own.
- 9.5MAG.
[laughing] - 10, 10MAG curve.
- 9MAG curve. - 9MAG...
- 9MAG bumping... - Bumping!
[laughing]
- That is it. - Oh, [bleep].
- 9MAG bumping. - Buckets.
- There you go. [laughing]
That's the one. - Word up!
Y'all funny as hell, bro.
- Y'all hungry? - Yes, sir.
- There's so many different...
- Get the crown, B. - I don't forget that.
You know what I'm saying? - I hope they take Link card.
♪♪
- I talked to 'Stasia and she... - Right.
- She showed me the pictures and...
They were in foster homes and you found them
and you fought for them, and you didn't fight for me.
- I couldn't find you. I swear.
- Did you even look?
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
- ♪ We going all the way up ♪
♪ All the way up, all the way up ♪
- Right now, I am just having like
a whirlwind of emotions.
I'm really about to meet my father for the first time.
I've played this moment over in my head a thousands times.
And I still have no idea what I'm gonna say to him,
if he even decides to show up.
- Hi, Draya.
This is for you.
[sniffles]
These are for you.
How are you?
Oh, man, I...
You are so beautiful.
Wow.
Um...
I don't-- - I guess like in my head
I just...
I played it over so many times
of like what I would say and...
- I told Anastasia, I don't know if she told you,
but we had a big fight with the family because
I told her that they was not gonna show up.
I know them. I know how they are.
They don't even like me, to tell you the truth.
- I just felt like they really let me down, you know.
- Right. - Like, I'm not asking for much.
Like, I just wanted to connect with them.
- Exactly.
- I don't hate you. - Mm-hmm.
- Like, I don't. I wouldn't be here.
- No, I know that. I know. - You know what I'm saying?
So I have, I have to be grateful on some level
for you giving me life. - Mm-hmm.
- You and my mother giving me life.
Like when you got out of jail, like how did you guys
just completely fall out of touch?
If you guys were planning on getting married...
- We fell out of touch when I got arrested that day.
- So how old was I when you got out of jail?
- You was three years old.
- At no point did you think, like,
let me connect with her in some sort of way?
Let me reach out to her mom. So why weren't you ever there?
- Because there was-- okay. I'm telling you,
I didn't know where you was at, Draya.
- An address. How could you miss it?
Like, I don't think, I don't...
- I'm telling you... - I just...
So you think you tried hard enough?
Do you feel in your heart you tried hard enough?
- Yes, I did, I did, honestly, I did.
I mean, there was no, no Facebook at that time.
No nothing. - Sure there wasn't Facebook.
when I was three years old
But it's been 30 years, and I really feel like
that's just a bull[bleep] ass excuse.
The fact that he won't take accountability
shows me how toxic and immature he is.
And that he would rather somehow be a victim in this than
acknowledge the fact that the only victim here was me.
Something like-- Then no, no.
There's too many people that knew about me.
And knew-- everybody knew except for me.
♪♪
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
- There's too many people that knew about me and knew...
Everybody knew except for me.
- And no one told me anything.
I did the little bit of bit that I did.
And I came home, and I'm telling you.
I knew that your grandfather lived behind
Mount St. Michaels, that's a Catholic school.
- It's a huge landmark... I was there
till I was 14 years old. - I never...
I'm, I'm, I'm...
[Draya] I'm not buying it.
I feel like he coulda found me
or he coulda at least tried harder to.
He moved on with his life and started new families.
And honestly,
I can move on but I don't know if I can forgive that.
I just, I... I talked to 'Stasia and...
- Right. - And she's showing me pictures.
And all these family moments that...
Like you fought for them. You, you, you...
They were in foster homes and you found them,
and you fought for them, and you didn't fight for me.
- I did, I couldn't find you.
I swear... - Did you even look?
- I did, I looked, and I looked and I couldn't
remember the house, I tried.
- It's a big white house on the corner.
- Exactly, exactly. - How could you miss it?
Like, I don't think-- I don't...
- I'm telling you, I... - I just, look.
I don't want you to sit here and make excuses.
- No, I'm not making excuses. I tried.
There was no way for me to get in contact with your mother.
My mom and I, we lived in that house
for over 30 years, so... she was there.
[chuckling] She was there.
I think she was a lot easier to find than he was.
Even if she did know, seeing his character and whatnot,
I think she made the best choice.
I would love for us to be able to heal from this
and move forward, but I did not take into accountability
you're giving me excuses, it's this, it's that.
You coulda came looking for me. You coulda found me.
You could have found me.
But for whatever reason, you didn't, and I'm not even
here to judge you. You [bleep] up.
You know you [bleep] up.
And that's all I want so we can move forward.
But you just giving me excuses and that [bleep]
is really just getting me mad, it's getting me more mad.
It's making me just wanna be like [bleep] it.
You still haven't said sorry. You've given me
every other excuse other than just "I'm sorry."
- Okay, you know what, Andraya, honestly,
from the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry.
I shoulda grabbed somebody by the hair
and, and, and said listen. - Yeah.
Tell me where she's at. Let's do this.
Tell me right now. I should have done that.
- Yes, yes, like, [bleep], you have two million
of your dollars, fight for me, like it was that.
That's all I wanted, that, that. - Exactly.
Yeah, I know, I know, and I didn't, and I didn't.
- So... - And I deserve everything
you're giving me, and I deserve it.
- I can't promise anything.
- No, that's cool. I can respect that.
- As far as respect goes, as far as
me actually like loving you...
as a father figure, as, as just somebody
in my life at all, it's gonna take work.
- I know. - And I, you know, I don't...
- I'm not asking... - All we can do is see.
- Exactly. But again, just, you know, give me a shot, okay?
Can I get a hug?
All right, kiddo, I love you, kiddo.
I truly do, and again, I'm so, so sorry, okay?
All right.
♪♪
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
- He can apologize, but he still hasn't really
taken accountability. And even when I asked him
if he felt like he did everything he could,
he looked me in my eye and told me "yeah."
And that alone, was a slap to the face.
That was a punch to the gut.
♪♪
- ♪ If it's just for peace of mind ♪
♪ Or it's just to make it right ♪
♪ I just need a minute ♪
- I think we can revisit this maybe in a year or two,
like, try to meet up again. But I just-- I know I can't be
in the same room with him 'cause it's just gonna make me angry.
- ♪ It's a game when none of us win ♪
♪ ...seem to make sense ♪
♪ I could find 100 reasons ♪
♪ I just need a minute ♪♪
- I don't even know where to go from here.
This damn near feel like separation.
- Just make sure before I got out of here,
we had time to kinda catch up before, you know,
I went my separate way.
- This how I was thinking. My spot, and then your spot.
- There's a lot of work to be done in this [bleep].
- Are you seriously considering relocating?
- I know I gotta make a move.
♪♪
- [bleep] the show, bro. We don't have to have a show.
- [bleep] I'm paying out of [bleep] pocket
because [bleep] is not doing they [bleep] all the way.
Did we not go around the world and make people know that 9MAG
was about great art? That's what we are
and that's what we gon' continue to do
whether it's with or without TV.
I might not be able to do this [bleep] no more.
I gotta take a step back from everything.
♪♪
♪ MTV ♪♪