♪♪
[Ryan] With the addition of new artists
along with some day-one artists,
I have to elevate this to be one of the world's
greatest tattoo shops.
- What y'all think about the booth?
[Ryan] Part of this expansion is revamping this whole shop.
- Do we have more workers as well?
- There's a level of complacency
that's starting to affect the way the business is run.
Look, booths built, booths empty.
I'm literally sitting here paying bills.
- Well, I know who I'm apprenticing under
is in New York right now.
- You our apprentice now.
- So what about your pops? - He's in New York.
- If you go, I'll fly with you.
Hey, man, I love New York...
- That's the Empire State Building behind you.
- Where the Empire State...
[overlapping chatter]
- I stopped by Puma's shop today
just to pick his brain on opening up a shop.
- Well, I mean, you are a part of a brand already.
- I don't want Ryan to like, feel like I'm competition.
- You want his support. - Exactly.
- I talked to Stasia and she, she's showing me pictures.
And you fought for them, and you didn't fight for me.
- [stammering] I did-- I couldn't find you.
- I still got dreams too.
- I need you to lay a blueprint out for me.
What's each step. - Did you do
those things for me too?
With your dreams and stuff?
[Ashley] You be makin' it feel like
what I'm doing is not as important as what you're doing.
- How? If that's what the [bleep] y'all feel,
cool.
So overall, I don't feel like
anything she does is directly connected to me.
- What I heard you say is, "You are not a good wife."
- Yeah. - You think I'm finna sit here
and let you tell me I'm not a good wife--
- No, again-- - So,
are you gonna be here permanently?
[Phor] The more I make happen in Dallas,
the more I need to be here in Dallas.
Nina and my son are moving to Atlanta,
and my plan will be to be in Atlanta as much as I have to.
♪♪
- ♪ 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 ♪♪
- ♪ Yeah, where they wanna take this? ♪
♪ I can see the foes up close, they debatin' ♪
♪ They coughed up what's already done ♪
♪ I'll always be number one ♪♪
- The way that this is set up is what we call a duplex down.
- Mm-hmm. - So the kitchen,
living room, living area up,
there is one bedroom up, and there's a powder room.
- Opening a shop in London is definitely still a go
but Chicago's the most beautiful city
I've ever been to.
I'm definitely settling into my apprenticeship at 9MAG,
and my acting career is here.
I just have a lot going on here.
- Ooh, girl.
You about to get this house,
you about to be a homeowner, ahh!
- Yeah, I've just, I've really been
considering making Chicago home.
- What made you like, come to that conclusion?
- Well... - Not too long ago,
your ass was ready to move to London.
- I said I was gon' work in London
and I was gonna be in London part-time.
But, uh, speaking of relocating,
how was New York, though?
- New York was interesting.
Um, [bleep] did not go as planned with family.
- What happened? - Well,
my sister put together like, a meet and greet
with like, a couple of my cousins, my aunt,
and nobody showed up.
- You are [bleep] me.
- I kid you not, nobody showed up, girl.
So... only expecting you today?
- I don't wanna lie, but really, it's just me.
Me is all I got for you, I'm sorry.
- What happened with your dad though?
- He actually did come,
and he just was not taking any responsibility
for anything that he did, everything was an excuse,
and it was somebody else's fault, know what I'm sayin'?
It was just-- - Are you alright?
- I'm okay, yeah, I'm okay.
- That breaks my heart.
- Meeting up with my father went exactly
as I thought it would-- pretty disappointing.
- Are you seriously considering relocating to New York?
- I mean, I can't say that it's not on the table, you know?
Right now, I have my family out in Virginia,
which is my mom's brother, Uncle Dino,
and his lovely wife, Aunt Tiffany.
And they've been my rock for a long time now.
They gave me, you know, that family unit
that I never really had.
But then, I got news that my uncle's wife
was very sick.
If my auntie's health keeps degrading
the way it is, my uncle needs help,
you know what I'm sayin', like, I gotta get
closer to home and I might have to go home
while I kinda figure out all this new information
that I didn't know before.
I really haven't made up my mind yet if I wanna
move back to the east coast.
Whether I move to Virginia to be closer
to my aunt and my uncle, or if I decide to go
back to New York where I pursue a relationship with
my sister Anastasia. Either way,
it's gonna be a tough choice and both options are on the table.
- You know I support you a million percent
every step of the way.
[Draya] I'm gonna have to talk to Mr. Henry.
- ♪ Combos in that time zone ♪
♪ And a first touch and my mind blown ♪
♪ Head in the clouds with a blindfold ♪
♪ Dreamin' loud with my eyes closed ♪
♪ And the wind chimed and my mind froze ♪
♪ She skipped town and I was all alone ♪
♪ Took stuff and my heart was gone ♪
♪ My feelings too I'm numb and cold ♪
- Hey, dog. - What's up, gang?
[Prince] New York was an eye opener.
Me and Draya did a bomb-ass tattoo.
Then we had got some chopped cheese,
me and Spyder, Spyder showed me around and [bleep],
that's my boy, his bald-headed ass
funny as hell too.
That's a real bar?
[Spyder] So that's the even iller part.
- You get a shot with your purchase.
- A what? Ooh!
But I'm happy to be back in Chicago, you know,
with my Chicagoans.
- What's up, though, man? - It's hot as hell, boy.
- Boy, it's super hot, man, [bleep].
- Well, you used to that [bleep] already.
- Yeah, yeah, I just got back from Dallas, boy,
it was 95.
- 95? In Dallas? - Yeah.
You know, I'm just trying to fully established out there.
I really gotta lock in. - What, like,
on the music [bleep] or the tattoo [bleep]?
- Just really everything, bro. Like, as far as Chicago go,
I don't know if I really have anything... here.
Especially now that my child's mom in Atlanta,
my son out there, so... - Right.
- Also my family in Atlanta anyway,
so, y'know, I'ma just be between Dallas and Atlanta.
- I mean, congratulations, [bleep], on your move, [bleep].
That's real [bleep], that's big, bro.
- I do wanna set up like, before I leave,
I wanna put like, a get-together...
- Okay. - ...dinner, chop it up and,
you know, holla at the gang
before I get up outta here for real.
- [bleep], I'm slidin'. I'm slidin'.
Like, you know, me being a tattoo artist,
you know, I always wanted like, a space of my own.
Just like how you made your footprint
in the city, bro... - It's time for you to do yours.
- I'm ready to do that [bleep] too.
- I feel that, respect, respect. - And we just gonna make it...
You know, we got legends behind us, bro.
- What, like, what you got in mind?
- It started off as, you know, a family thing,
me and my little brother, Johnny started doing piercings
because of me. - Yeah.
- Our thing was Blood Brothers.
You know, he draw blood, I draw blood type [bleep].
We drawn together by blood.
Come on now, every tattoo artist
wanna open up their own shop, even if it's a studio.
It's me and little bro, so I already got a piercer,
so tha-- that's just one,
and I got a tattoo artist, that's me, boom.
But I'm not gon' lie,
Ryan gave me a great opportunity.
Even though this was a dream of mines,
I'm still a little nervous about telling him about the shop.
I just really want my own family legacy.
- I just feel like you should communicate it,
at least at 9MAG.
- I mean, it shouldn't be a competition thing.
Me having an establishment and whatever we wanna do
on the west side is w-- what we doin'.
- Yeah, I mean, [bleep], that's what you supposed to do...
- I just need the support.
That's what I'm really asking for,
'cause I really don't even know how to [bleep] ask for help.
- ♪ I'm makin' trouble, you're makin' trouble ♪
♪ But you don't have to worry ♪
♪ 'Cause I've got, I've got ♪♪
- Hello.
♪♪
Hi.
- What's up, everybody?
♪♪
[cell phone ringing]
- Hi, Jet.
You know, that little thing called work.
Where the [bleep] are you?
Where's Chelsea?
So what time are y'all walkin' here?
Oh, my God, I gotta go.
- Church.
[laughter]
Where y'all at with it? - Walkin' through a park.
- That's about right. - But, Shogun, no--
- Yessir, hey, the cherry blossoms
are blossoming right now.
You hear me? It's a good day.
- Ryan has asked me to put together a spring tattoo sale
where people can come get discounted tattoos,
no appointments needed because it's been
a little bit slower compared to last year.
You here for the special?
- Yes, I am. - Okay.
- It looks much better here, I feel like...
- So I'm expecting a lotta clients
to come in today, but one thing I'm noticing
is the artists are being a little bit more lax
and they're not on time.
Chelsea and Jet
in the botanical gardens looking at the cherry blossoms bloom.
Not [bleep] right now, and this is not the time
nor the place or the event.
Like, no, we don't have time for this.
So this is True. - Hello.
♪♪
- Alright, do you know which one you wanna get done?
♪♪
Hi.
[indistinct chatter] [stereo playing]
♪♪
[music stops]
[overlapping chatter, laughter]
- Why they yelling so much? - They havin' fun.
- Like, Jet literally got yanked out
of the botanical garden to come to work,
and he hasn't had a client.
We're not hourly employees,
so we don't get paid if we don't do a tattoo.
[screaming continues]
- At first, I just thought Jet was joking.
Then once I started to really listen
to what he was saying, I feel like one of
the reasons that he went so crazy
is he was talking about production.
When the artists come in sometimes,
if they're setting up to do a scene,
and then, you know, if they're playing music,
the music is so loud sometimes.
And you know, production might ask them
to turn the music down, or turn the music off
and, you know, they feel some type of way about it.
I do feel he could've gone about it another way
instead of losing his [bleep].
- Girl... Ryan...
- Has anybody talked to Ryan? - I don't think so,
but he gon' be mad when he find out.
- Let's jump! Let's jump!
[overlapping shouting]
- Jet, come on. A'ight, right here,
right here, a'ight, check this out.
You got your moment to say everything
you [bleep] wanted, where the boom mic at?
Talk about it. Right now, [bleep].
Everything you just said,
talk about it but make it make sense,
how you feel, this your time.
No, we ain't stagin' [bleep],
either you talk or not gon' talk.
Don't talk when ain't nobody listenin',
talk when it's your time...
Then say it again, [bleep], so the world can hear.
- Oh, my God...
- Just make sure before I got outta here
we had a time to kinda catch up
before, you know, I went my separate way.
- This damn near feel like separation.
I don't even know where to go from from here.
- [bleep] that [bleep]. [bleep] this show, bro,
we don't have to have a show for people to respect us.
- I'm payin' out my [bleep] pocket because
[bleep] not doin' they [bleep] all the way.
I got back rent going on here.
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
[Shogun] Jet, Jet, Jet...
One thing I said, bro, that we talked about--
We can talk amongst each other.
This is your time to say
whatever the [bleep] you wanna say
and get it off your chest.
Since Ryan isn't here, I'm taking the lead
to get our team of artists back on the same page.
I really want people to get everything off their chest.
If you feel like you've been slighted,
if you feel like you've been looked over,
this is your time to voice it.
- All these new artists that's getting hired,
that's cool, but the real artists
that's been here for [bleep] years,
they need to be acknowledged, bro.
Not just get swept under the rug, boy.
[bleep], I been doing this [bleep] since
[bleep] 2013, boy.
Let's acknowledge the real artists that's
been here for [bleep] ten-plus years.
Not [bleep] that just came in this [bleep] like,
"Ooh, woop-dee-doo, let's go, let's [bleep]...."
I'm not doing that [bleep].
- Jet's not getting enough shine because I work here?
I've been doing this for 13 years, tattooing,
this ain't no made for TV [bleep].
- I'm a solution driven person.
I'm not one to go dwell on a problem.
So how do we give the people that's been here
for the longest acknowledged?
- I think [bleep] can start with some respect.
We come in here every [bleep] day,
we be in here working, [bleep] come in,
"Be quiet, turn the music off..."
When people walk in the front door,
let somebody come in, put their [bleep] down,
you know what I'm saying? - I do.
- Then say "hello." [bleep] walk in,
right past here, through you like you don't even exist.
- When Ryan decided to let the show come back in,
I asked his permission for, who in your shop
is accessible to me for me to even approach and film?
That's for him to find out from all of you all
who's down and who's not,
and then he comes back and he tells me.
- No, it's not that they wanna be on it,
it's just the general respect when they first come in,
everything is like, in a rush and a frenzy.
They walk through the doors, like, "Oh, no, you can't
go through here," and then today,
they're telling me it's 10-15 people waiting here.
So I'm texting my artists, you know, to get here.
And when they get here, it's only five people here
and now they sittin' around like, what?
- The beef isn't really with production,
you have to talk to Ryan about that.
- That's facts. - [B-Slam] If the artists
had reservations or concerns about things prior to,
they could've brought that up with us before
instead of blowing up right now
with production about production.
The other half of the battle is talking to Ryan.
- Can we get an amen on church [bleep]?
I gotta work, y'all [bleep]...
- Let the church say "amen". - [all] Amen.
- Let the church say "amen" again.
[all] Amen again.
♪♪
[phone ringing]
- [B-Slam] Hello? - Yo.
- I mean, I literally-- I literally just finished
working about 9:00 AM this morning,
and I needed to take a nap, so I'm just like, you know,
leave me the [bleep] alone.
But what the [bleep] is going on?
Everybody keep calling.
What the [bleep] happened?
[Jet] Where the cameras at?!
Call my [bleep] brother!
- That [bleep] crazy.
The more people that I bring into it,
the more personalities I'm gonna have to deal with.
So the times that I feel that I wanna take off,
somebody outta these 20 people gonna have an attitude,
if something gonna happen in the time that I just
wanna go home and sleep.
What is he mad at?
I mean, I can...
I can understand his plight,
but would he be doin' that [bleep] if I was there?
He might be talking about the right things,
but it might be the wrong time.
I would've interrupted that [bleep] in the door,
you know what I mean, because is there
clients in the shop, is he scaring clients away?
Having an epiphany or having a breakdown
or something don't go along with business.
Tell everybody there and hit everybody
in the group and tell 'em
there's a mandatory meeting tomorrow, no exceptions.
A'ight, man, I'll see you tomorrow.
- Alright, later. - Peace.
[exhaling] Oh, man.
- ♪ Lately I just been thinkin' ♪
♪ Lately I just been thinkin' ♪
♪ Lately I just been lately I just been ♪
♪ Lately I just been thinkin' ♪
[traffic sounds]
[Ashley] It's been a couple of days since our therapy session
with Dr. Love, and things has been super awkward.
If Don and I wasn't picking up the kids right now,
we wouldn't be doing anything together.
I know we haven't said much of nothing
to each other after the therapy session,
but do you really feel like I'm just this bad wife to you?
♪♪
- You just stuck on that.
I mean, I'm trying to figure out
what it's gonna take to make the crib
and the home whole.
That's the problem right now.
This counseling session was really just a bunch of years,
or a bunch of things built up that just
kinda were coming out.
And if it came out harsh,
that wasn't the intention to hurt nobody
or make you feel some type of way, it was just
to let you know this is just-- I mean, I want my wife
to make me happy, I want my wife to do these things.
As my wife, it's not that she's supposed to make me happy,
it's just that I don't have somebody truly having my back.
I have a successful gym with my team,
I body build, I act,
on top of the fact she has her own business,
she's going back to school, she's working.
By the time we get home, it's literally just energy of
who gon' do for the other, and nobody does for the other.
And the reason I'd rather just keep going back to Dr. Love
'cause it seem like that's the only way I can communicate
with you when I say things that are serious.
- Well, it's, I mean... [stammering]
it's like, when we don't see Dr. Love,
then what is even happening with us?
There's just like a weird--
it's weird right now.
Knowing that now you feel like everything has to be
limited into counseling,
this damn near feel like separation.
I don't even know where to go from from here.
[Don] You know, if we can't find a way
to come to common ground, if I continue to grow
into this type of person,
and if her state of mind is only focused on this way,
there's no way we're gonna meet here
and, I mean, we're only gonna
essentially continue to grow apart.
- So if you a cast member, are you here for 9MAG
are you gonna still be here when the cameras leave?
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
- ♪ Ballin' like LeBron I put them numbers up ♪
♪ Mm-hmm, last time that I checked ♪
♪ Y'all wasn't doing much, mm-hmm ♪
♪ Y'all too busy worryin' 'bout that other stuff ♪
♪ Mm-hmm, should be handlin' business... ♪
- Let's go. - Whole team.
Nobody left out.
- The only people that told me
that they were not coming
Suerte, and Draya had a family emergency.
- When I first heard that, you know, Jet was around
the shop snapping, I'm like, Jet don't [bleep] out
for no reason, so me calling the meeting
is to be able to give a ground floor
for everybody to be able to say
whatever they feel they can't say regularly.
What's up?
I wanna hear it from all of y'all,
because we can't get [bleep] accomplished
if everybody not sayin' what they gotta say.
- You know, like a couple months ago,
we have like, meetings or whatever talking about
what we were gonna do moving forward,
how 9MAG is being represented.
We should be at a certain standard
of Black tattooers, and anybody
who doesn't come around as much,
they should let it be known their level of involvement.
- You talking about people on camera and off camera
or just people that's contracting?
- Okay, so let's talk like that then.
So if you a cast member, are you here for 9MAG?
Are you gonna still be here when the cameras leave?
Or is it a person like Jet and Kyle and Mark,
that's really here, we really been here
and we wanna make the brand look
as best as possible, you know what I'm sayin'?
We still are a real shop,
and we still have real artists, bruh.
- This is what I need people to understand.
Y'all are artists down to the wire.
This is not a show about artists.
It's about people who work in a [bleep] shop,
and what they do in they [bleep] life.
It's a [bleep] lifestyle show.
So they not gonna see the great artistry
that y'all do all the [bleep] time.
If we sat around and only showed the [bleep] that
we think is [bleep] funny and the [bleep] we do,
this [bleep] wouldn't be here.
- Okay... - But I got--
- Check it out, bro. If they want some [bleep],
and we can't provide [bleep],
we gotta bring in other people for [bleep],
take the [bleep] out, bro.
[bleep] the [bleep], [bleep] the show, bro.
We don't have to have a show for people to respect us.
- Tell me what has been represented as [bleep],
between bringing cast members in like Prince and Draya
as they naturally came in.
[Shogun] Yeah, that's unfair, bro.
Draya is a [bleep] monster, and I can't let you get down...
- I'm not trying to get down 'cause I respect Prince,
I respect Prince to the death, bro--
- Because little bro don't-- - I'm not sayin' none of that.
- I already got one foot out the door thinkin'
about my future,
now I gotta think about this guy.
It's never been about TV with me,
I just got on this [bleep].
I be at the shop working every day.
Like I held it down at 2nd City
during the pandemic, the cameras wasn't there.
I come in this bitch and I work,
camera's not there or if the camera's there.
Regardless if they there or not, I'm gonna be there.
[Shogun] I get the frustrations.
But when the cameras ain't here, we are 9MAG.
When the cameras, we are 9MAG and are, guess what,
they filmin' that [bleep] right here at the same time.
- And I feel like I got brought here for walk-ins,
but walk-ins don't even wanna come in this bitch,
'cause they gotta go through so many procedures
just to get in this joint.
The everyday money that I expected
to come out here and get, I'm not gettin' it.
It's been a time where I came to the front door,
you know, and it was like, okay, you can't come in this way.
I turned around, I walked my ass home.
Is this where I thought I worked?
- I know artists are creative people,
they don't like a lot of rules or hurdles to jump through.
So to come into work and have to COVID test
or, and have to wait, it could explain
why there've been so many empty booths at 9MAG lately.
But I wouldn't let that hinder you
from doing a job that you're there to do.
- Every time I come through this door, bro,
I make sure I check my energy before I come in here.
And I feel like [bleep] when I go back home,
and it's like, bro, what're we doin', bro?
- It's gotta be a better system
with this situation and just tattooing,
because most [bleep] can't eat with both of 'em going on.
- I-I'll give you that,
and I'ma also counter that to any and everybody.
That is what happens sometimes,
when the clients gotta go through that [bleep] like that,
but y'all also know we don't film in this [bleep] every day.
We ain't filmed in this [bleep] three days straight,
so can't nobody account for that [bleep] for seven days
like production getting in the way of their [bleep].
'Cause I look in that group message
every [bleep] day, and half the time,
that [bleep] say, "Hey, there's clients, here,
"[bleep], there's walk-ins here,
anybody here, anybody coming?"
Maybe that's my fault that I'm not giving y'all
what y'all need to make y'all wanna have the incentive
to come in this [bleep], or y'all so resentful
of this [bleep] that I brought around,
which is the cameras, but I need to know that.
Because now, we have gotten to a point to where
this [bleep] ain't doing what it's supposed to do
and we not even handlin' our business how we need to.
I got back rent going on here.
♪♪
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
- We have gotten to a point to where
I got back rent going on here.
I'm payin' out my [bleep] pocket
because [bleep] not doin' they [bleep] all the way.
Everybody that works here I have talked to,
and y'all all made a [bleep] promise that,
yo, this some [bleep] that [bleep] movin'
and I'm here to [bleep] move with it.
It's lazy [bleep] in here and everywhere,
we said we gon' do it, how the [bleep] we end up here,
where we owe rent?
Can't nobody in the [bleep] city
[bleep] with us, and we sittin' here
where we can't make it.
I don't know business like that,
but I'm learning it and I'm trying to grow
and I'm trying to take on everybody else's insight 'cause
a lotta y'all know the [bleep], more than me, but I need it!
I can't just make it happen on my own,
and I really don't need people sitting around waiting
to see if Ryan gonna do it, and if Ryan don't [bleep] it,
[bleep] it.
I do have great plans for 9MAG and the team,
but I can't do this [bleep] on my own.
I honestly don't know if Jet would've had that outburst
if I would've been there that day,
but I'm kinda glad I wasn't there
because people needed to hear Jet out.
And I woulda interrupted that [bleep] in the door,
but there's more accountability that I gotta take as a leader
to make my artists, especially my original artists,
feel comfortable because it could be a way
that we could grow this shop, as opposed to me consistently
having to go back to the business drawing board.
I've had people come and go, what I've always been able
to depend on is a Jet.
I'ma try to do my part as best as I can,
but I also need help and people doing
what the [bleep] we gotta do.
And if y'all sayin' continually that
this is that, that is that, the cameras doing [bleep]
like that, then I will adjust.
'Cause ain't none of that [bleep] worth losing
the [bleep] integrity or what the [bleep]
bread and butter of this [bleep] shop is supposed to be.
But I can't do this [bleep] on my own--
I need the support of the team.
Do I have that? - [all] Yes, sir.
- Will I have that? - Yes, sirski.
- This meeting has been needing to happen.
I actually appreciate Ryan,
you know, opening up
and being honest about the financial issues
'cause we can actually do something
to turn things around.
- May the church say "amen."
- [all] Amen. - Amen again.
- We'll figure it out.
[clapping, chatter]
♪♪
- ♪ I think about the big dollas, big money ♪
♪ The big life, I know you wanna live just like me... ♪
- After that big meeting at 9AMG, it kinda felt
like 2nd City again.
- I never wanna see you back in here again.
- [bleep] y'all, man.
[bleep], you not workin' outta
no [bleep] car, bro, [bleep] that.
When I walked out that place,
I took my brother with me
because I don't want the drama.
Jet bringing my name up is drama.
I wanna open up my own shop
to design my own atmosphere that I know that is drama-free,
that ain't gonna have no hating-ass [bleep] around.
It's cold as hell in here.
Honestly, the owners is just waiting for me.
They waitin' for me to sign that paperwork.
[bleep].
♪♪
- There's a lotta work to be done in this [bleep].
- It's always gonna be a lotta work, bro.
It's better than being up at 2nd City.
- Yeah, I'm with you when you right.
- Look, this what I was thinking.
These two sides right here, boom.
Put a little wall right here.
My spot, and then your spot.
This the neighborhood, bro. It's [bleep] up over here,
it ain't like it used to be, bro.
Like, our old high school's right across the street.
We could go speak to the kids over there across the street,
like, bro, we used to be in here in school,
now we got an establishment right across the street,
come check us out if y'all wanna get some
art-related talents, you know what I'm sayin'?
- I'm with all of this as long as I know
me and you on the same page.
'Cause you got somewhere to work out of,
but I don't want you doing too much
and then something knock you off
and you leave me high and dry.
- How am I gonna leave you high and dry, gang?
- 'Cause you got too much going on.
- What you mean I got too much going on?
- You just said you got too much going on.
- I need your help. - A'ight...
- I need your help, [bleep]. - I'm gonna be here
and I'ma continue to be here.
- A'ight.
Whole time, we gon' put your booth over there
by the toilet... - Not finna be
by no bathroom, [bleep] wrong with you?
- Somebody take a [bleep] in that bitch.
- You can be by the front door,
like at 9MAG.
Be the first face they see when they walk in.
- That's how you feel? - You Prince.
- What the [bleep] that supposed to mean?
- Prince. - [bleep] you talkin' about?
You Johnny. Johnny boy...
- Damn, we got a leak?
Goddamn.
- I see the potential in this [bleep].
Don't get it twisted. I loved my time at 9MAG,
I just didn't have a timeline put together
for Blood Brothers with my little brother.
But after what Jet had to say about me,
the timeline is right [bleep] now.
And I just gotta tell Ryan,
and hopefully he don't fire my ass because
I'm gonna need a job in order for me to open this bitch up.
Taste the potential. Taste it.
[smacks lips] Taste the potential.
[Johnny spitting]
- Not the drip.
- Let's go then. - Let's get a bucket
before that [bleep] the wood up.
- Blood Brothers? - Blood Brothers.
- Blood Brothers.
- Speak it into existence. - Yes.
- Everything bro did, I'm actually doing that [bleep]
for my family right now.
Like, I put my money into a space
for my little brother and me to work at.
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
♪♪
- ♪ Every time I give 'em heaters, give 'em heaters ♪
♪ You know I'm a park it, break the meter, break... ♪
- Tonight is Phor's going away dinner
and I don't want Don walking in
thinking about our marriage problems
when he about to say goodbye to his brother.
Don and I have been together now going on ten years,
and we have been through hell and back.
Whatever it's gonna take for us to just make sure
we get through this together,
we're gonna do what we gotta do.
[indistinct chatter]
♪♪
- Whole time, though...
[chatter continues]
[all cheering]
- Don't leave!
[Phor] It's that time.
My last night in Chicago.
I'm feeling a little bittersweet, you know?
These are people I worked with for a while, you know?
People I've grew to love and build friendships with.
But I gotta step away and I gotta do Phor right now.
Um, I just wanna, you know, have a toast with the family,
you know, if that's cool. [group murmuring]
I appreciate everybody for coming out
as I just make sure, you know, before I got outta here
that we had a time to kind of catch up and just,
you know, chop it up before, you know,
I went my separate way and moved out of Chicago.
- Ooh, look how he dipped the head.
- I don't like it. - Damn, man.
- I'm just at a place now where I feel like
I have to learn how to get comfortable
with being uncomfortable, you know what I mean?
You know, I feel like Chicago is a place where it's always,
you know, we've done so much here
and I'm just ready to expand and just, you know,
put my son in an environment where it's a little more
peaceful and safer... - Absolutely.
- Definitely gonna miss you. - You know, in the meantime,
I wanna just have a good time with,
you know, my Chicago family and just, you know,
make a toast and, you know...
[all toasting]
- Hey, to Phor going home and leavin' home.
[all groaning, laughing]
- I definitely appreciate everybody who came out
to show love to me.
They've been nothing but supportive,
motivational people, and I'ma definitely miss
my girl Draya, for sure.
I appreciate the tattoo she did for me,
putting my son on me, you know, so I feel like
she's gonna be with me forever.
- You better not make no dollar Chi-town [bleep] song, [bleep].
- [bleep], boy, eat your food.
[laughter, chatter]
If you gonna move around, once you relax,
how much you expect Chicago to get...
- I'm already there... [chatter continues]
- They either fear it, they either scared
or it gonna be a problem. - Yeah!
- I'm from the 'Raq.
Just like this man, this man, we from here.
So like, everything bro did to bring
opportunity to everybody, I understand the [bleep].
Like, I wanna do that [bleep] for my family,
I'm actually doing that [bleep] for my family right now.
Like, I put my money into a space
for my little brother and me to work at.
Like you saying it's time for you move,
I just wanted to let y'all know that [bleep].
- So you basically saying you finna open up a shop?
- [Prince] It's time. - Hey, man, congratulations.
- Thank you, bro, you know what I'm saying?
It's a family spot that I want to dedicate
to my sister that's gone, my mom, my grandma,
this is [bleep] that we talked about
way before I got with y'all.
♪♪
I'm still rockin', with y'all, bro.
But I feel like I need to do it.
- I get where you're coming from,
and we gotta do what's best for us, you know?
And I gotta get a little closer back to home,
so right now, I know I gotta make a move.
- What the [bleep]?
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
[Prince] I'm still rockin' with y'all, bro.
But I feel like-- but, look, this just
what I feel like I need to do.
- I get where you're coming from,
and we gotta do what's best for us, you know?
And I gotta get a little closer back to home,
so right now, I know I gotta make a move.
To be a part of 9MAG is an honor,
but right now I gotta make sure my family is okay.
I went to New York to meet my father for the first time,
and that [bleep] was crazy.
And at the time, my auntie was sick,
and, unfortunately, my auntie passed.
- I'm sorry for you. - I'm sorry, baby.
- I appreciate that but, like, at the end of the day,
it puts into perspective how important family is.
All I could think about is making sure my uncle's okay.
With my auntie passing, right now my uncle
needs me more than ever.
He's alone now, and I really can't
let the logistics of booking a flight
stop me or slow me down from getting to him.
And being in New York gives me the opportunity
to get to know my sister Anastasia a little bit better,
as well as my father and the rest of my family.
If they even want to, that is.
- Probably before, I probably would have
[bleep] threw a fit about this, that and the other.
But right now, I'am support you
in doing what you gotta do, you done came here,
you done been real, you've rooted yourself
and I'm just gonna keep moving forward how I got to.
I gotta talk a step back from everything
because how did my ten-year artists
who down for me for the most loyal [bleep] snap
because of what we've brought around
makes them feel a certain way.
So the new ways that I'm doing 9MAG,
it might not always follow with TV.
I might have to actually get it away from the people
who can't handle [bleep] and who could be
better artists and businesspeople without it.
If that's gon' protect the integrity of 9MAG,
then that needs to happen.
Did we not go around the world and make people know
that 9MAG was about great art?
When they thought that Black Ink was just
some [bleep] in a [bleep] shop [bleep] and fighting?
- So check it out. - Wow.
This looks really good.
- So is it everything you pictured?
- I love this tattoo, I love it.
- Oh, [bleep].
- We showed them what 9MAG was separate of Black Ink.
You know what I mean? So if that's what we are
and that's what we gon' continue to be,
we gon' elevate and do more,
whether it's with or without TV.
[Shogun] 9MAG was able to shine a light on
Black tattoo artists out of Chicago.
Once upon a time,
there wasn't a lot of us.
And now they created these platforms
that's known coast to coast and around the world.
You know, there's people in Uganda that hit me up.
Literally, one kid said, "My dream is to work
at 9MAG Tattoo."
That's what Ryan and them created.
They was able to show what Black tattoo
art excellence looks like.
They set a standard.
- What's that, Ryan?
- Hey, brother, I got you a going-away gift.
[all cheering]
In case you gon' miss the little parts of 9MAG
and your brothers and, you know, [bleep].
Got a quick trip down memory lane for ya.
- Oh, my God. - Take this with you.
- Man, for sure. - You dig?
- Love you, man. - Love you too, brother.
- 9MAG at one point felt like a place of no egos.
We stood by each other no matter what was going on.
And when you look at these pictures,
it just reminds you of how it feels
to do something phenomenal
next to a group of people you truly love.
No matter what, history will never
take away that I did something super dope
with my family.
- [crying]
To get something like this presented to me,
you know what I mean, it hits different, bro,
know what I'm saying, like... - That's why we did it.
Took pictures.
These [bleep] memories.
- And it's not just-- they not just pictures,
bro, they memories...
- Real memories in that thing.
- That's why this means so much to me, bro,
'cause I see everything we went through, my [bleep].
I've been by your side, bro.
- I ain't quittin' on nobody, man.
- You my dog, bro, and when I say that [bleep],
I mean that [bleep], bro. - Listen, bro, I ain't
got no brothers, I got y'all sitting here
that have welcomed me in to be a brother over these years.
[bleep], that's some real [bleep].
[Shogun] Shout out to y'all, bro.
Don, Ryan, Phor,
like, bro, y'all created something that's
never been done before y'all
and ain't been done after y'all.
The energy that y'all brought to the city,
this [bleep] monstrosity of a business y'all made, bro--
- Can't be matched. - Y'all did that
out the mud. - Can't be matched.
- Out o-- can't be matched, bro.
- Can't be matched.
- Leaving Chicago is especially hard right now
because I have gotten so close to everybody here.
Brittany, and Don, and Phor,
Ashley, Shogun, I mean, there's so many different
personalities that I've learned to love
and they've been a great support system.
But there's some paths you've just gotta walk alone.
- A few months ago, I was having
some of the worst times of my life.
[sobbing] I can't call her.
I didn't have any family in Chicago,
and these people became my family.
I really feel like I found my home.
And no matter where we all go
and what happens from now,
I feel like we'll all still remain a family.
Very dysfunctional family,
but a family nonetheless.
[overlapping chatter]
- Everybody's going their separate ways
and everybody doing their own thing,
I feel like it's a beautiful thing.
I don't even look at this [bleep] as a bad thing
because at the end of the day,
y'all saw what y'all can do together.
But when we separate, we know we putting in work.
Phor, I know you learnin' from his mistakes.
His accomplishments, your accomplishments, bro,
wishes to you, bro.
- That was a terrible cheers. That was a terrible cheers.
- I was warmed up. [overlapping chatter]
I wasn't done, I was finna say some sexy [bleep]!
[overlapping chatter] - This is for Phor...
- He gave us the Chi-town anthem.
- ♪ There's no more ordinary lifestyle ♪
- I mean, this show is [bleep] crazy, okay, guys?
But I learned a lot,
been through a lot, you know,
and I'm proud to say I was a 9MAG artist,
you know, and that's gonna remain with me.
It's tatted on me, it's gonna stay on me.
Was it worth it? Yeah.
♪ She wanna -- with a -- from Chi-Town... ♪
- When I first came into the circle
with Ryan and the guys, we were young, party animals,
and now, you know, we're older,
we're entrepreneurs, we're fathers.
And part of that was having each other's backs.
Me and Ashley have been through way worse stuff.
I mean, it's been ten years.
These type of things that we're dealing with right now
are gonna keep happening, but it's all about
putting in the effort to work through them.
I know that we're gonna be okay,
and we have to remember, til death do us part,
we gotta fight for each other
and we gotta keep pushing through.
- ♪ She be like man, Phor, you be litty ♪
♪ Just left over East, now we right on LA ♪
♪ I been drinkin' behind the museum... ♪
- I did bring the world to 9MAG,
and I definitely have zero regrets for doing that.
Everybody played they part in growing 9MAG to be what it was.
Myself, Phor, Kat, Van, we all played a part in that.
And in that, I developed some friends and some family
and I developed another layer of loyalty that allows for me
to be so dedicated to growing others.
I didn't even focus on myself.
With that being said, it's time for me
to move forward with my own life.
[all cheering]
- To Phor leaving home and goin' back home!
- To growth! 9MAG!
- ♪ Chi-Town, Chi-Town, Chi-Town ♪
♪♪
- ♪ MTV ♪