Joe Rogan Experience #2163 - Freeway Rick Ross

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) Good to see you again, my friend.

   4. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:13

      Man, it's been a long time.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      It's been, yeah, like nine years. Yeah, we were talking about it.

   6. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:18

      Yeah, yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:19

      It's been a while.

   8. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:20

      Yeah, yeah. I've been-

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      For people who don't know-

   10. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:21

       ... I've been waiting.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:23

       (laughs)

   12. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:24

       (laughs) I was like, um... You know, I dialed your number and it wasn't working no more. I was like, "Okay, he gonna- he'll-"

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:30

       I've had about eight different numbers since then.

   14. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:32

       "... he'll call me."

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:33

       (laughs)

   16. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:33

       (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:34

       Yeah.

   18. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:34

       I said, "He'll call me."

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       Yeah. For people who don't know, the real Rick Ross is not a rapper, just like your shirt says.

   20. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:40

       And you know, you know who inspired that shirt?

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:43

       I think I did.

   22. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:44

       You did, you did.

   23. JRJoe Rogan0:44

       (laughs)

   24. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:46

       And you don't even know the whole story.

   25. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       What's the story?

   26. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:49

       Well, you know after that day you, you told me that I needed a shirt, right?

   27. JRJoe Rogan0:53

       Yeah.

   28. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:53

       You know I was, I was really homeless then.

   29. JRJoe Rogan0:56

       Really?

   30. FRFreeway Rick Ross0:56

       You didn't know that part of the story?
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Wow. …

   1. FRFreeway Rick Ross15:00

      and three months.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:01

      Wow.

   3. FRFreeway Rick Ross15:03

      Yeah, so, so you know, the system is... And, and you're absolutely correct. The system can either make you or break you. You know, um, I was mad when I first went to jail. You know, um, but then, you know, I, I, I started analyzing my life. And, you know, I wanted to know how I got there. You know, "What, what are you doing here?" You know, "This wasn't part of the plan." (laughs)

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:25

      Right. Right.

   5. FRFreeway Rick Ross15:25

      And I, I just figured I made some bad turns. You know, I listened to some people that, uh, for the most part, loved me to death, you know, woulda, woulda died with me. And they gave me what they had to give me. You know? And what they had to give me was the drug game.

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:41

      Yeah. It's just so crazy that you were connected to this enormous story with Oliver North and Ronald Reagan. You know, Ronald Reagan had to testify about it. You know? I mean, the whole thing was really insane. It was, it was an insane cultural moment 'cause I remember, I was young at the time, I remember watching it all play out on TV and seeing how this ins- insane story was playing out. That they were selling drugs? What? The government-

   7. FRFreeway Rick Ross16:13

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan16:13

      ... was involved in the drug game so that they could fund-

   9. FRFreeway Rick Ross16:15

      When Gary Webb came-

   10. JRJoe Rogan16:17

       Mm-hmm.

   11. FRFreeway Rick Ross16:17

       ... and told us about this, I could not believe it. You know? Like, no, not, not Ricky Ross. You're not... You, you're talking about Ricky Ross, right? The guy who, um, couldn't read in school. Uh, the guy who couldn't get outta high school, who was pretty good at tennis but he couldn't make it in tennis. You know what I'm saying? Now you're telling me that he was working with the White House, with Oliver North and George Bush and Ronald Reagan and-

   12. JRJoe Rogan16:43

       Crazy.

   13. FRFreeway Rick Ross16:43

       ... and then the CIA come to my cell and Maxine Waters come to my cell. And what? All these people? (laughs)

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:51

       I know.

   15. FRFreeway Rick Ross16:52

       It's just like... For me, it was, it was unbelievable. But even, even, even when I, when I, when I first went to jail, before all of the stuff hit the fan, you know, one of the guys that went to elementary school with me, he came up and he said, "Man, I heard the stories, but I couldn't believe it was you. You was the poorest kid in, in the school. Like you and your brothers used to change pants, and you had holes in your tennis shoes, and you used to put tennis balls on your, on your shoes so your feet wouldn't be on the ground, and that was really you." And I was like, "Yeah." He was like, "Man, you used to make millions of dollars?" So it was one of those stories that, you know, you really had to see it to believe it.

   16. JRJoe Rogan17:30

       We had, uh, Michael Ruper on the podcast back when he was alive. Michael Ruper was the cop that-

   17. FRFreeway Rick Ross17:36

       I knew Michael.

   18. JRJoe Rogan17:37

       Yeah. Michael testified on C-SPAN. He was at one of those C-SPAN hearings and testified that he witnessed the CIA selling drugs in South Central Los Angeles. It, it is one of the craziest videos. Michael was courageous.

   19. FRFreeway Rick Ross17:55

       I read his book.

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:56

       Yeah. Which one?

   21. FRFreeway Rick Ross17:57

       Uh, I don't remember. (laughs) It was so long ago.

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:59

       Crossing the Rubicon?

   23. FRFreeway Rick Ross18:00

       Yeah, yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan18:01

       Yeah. He, he wrote that. And then he, he did that, that book... That movie rather, documentary, COLLAPSE, that scared the shit out of people.

   25. FRFreeway Rick Ross18:08

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan18:08

       Did you ever see that movie?

   27. FRFreeway Rick Ross18:09

       I didn't see the movie.

   28. JRJoe Rogan18:10

       The movie was just him sitting there chain-smoking, sitting in a chair, explaining-... how the, the whole system was going to fall apart. Wind up not being correct.

   29. FRFreeway Rick Ross18:23

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan18:23

       But it was, it was mostly about oil, and mostly about the way the economy is run and the way our, our government is... The, the way everything's structured. That, uh, we are on the verge of collapse. And he was telling people back then, like, "You better get ready. You better get ready for everything to fall apart."
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   How quick did it…

   1. FRFreeway Rick Ross30:00

      200 bucks, 300 bucks at one time.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:04

      How quick did it come?

   3. FRFreeway Rick Ross30:06

      Oh, it took- it took a little while. It took a few months. But you know-

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:10

      That's (laughs) that's crazy though.

   5. FRFreeway Rick Ross30:11

      You know- you know, when- when- see, when I started selling drugs, I was a tennis player, so I was very disciplined, you know? Ran, I did my runs. Uh, I would... My backhand is off, I'm gonna hit three, 400 backhands over and over and over and over again. I'm not gonna stop until I do my number. And I took that same mentality into the drug business. You know, I'm not gonna, uh, um, stop selling my drugs to take my girlfriend to the movies. You know, I'm- I'm not going to the club.... I'm not drinking, I'm not smoking, you know. I'm gonna stay up under this tree and wait till the money come. (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:53

      (laughs) It's funny, because that discipline would have served you well in anything that you had an opportunity to do.

   7. FRFreeway Rick Ross30:58

      I just didn't know that.

   8. JRJoe Rogan30:59

      Yeah, well, 'cause there's no way you could have known.

   9. FRFreeway Rick Ross31:00

      Nobody ever... nobody ever sat me down and told me. I didn't have a coach. I didn't have a... My mentors sold drugs, robbed people, stole cars.

   10. JRJoe Rogan31:10

       Yeah.

   11. FRFreeway Rick Ross31:10

       You know, those were my mentors. Those were the guys... Y- you know, my mom and my dad broke up at four months, when I was four months old, so I, I didn't really know my dad. Met him a few times. Uh, so the male figures that I saw was these street guys, you know, Crips, you know, Bloods. And, and when I started playing tennis, I was 18 years old, and I was old enough to know, like, "Oh, I ain't shooting nobody 'cause he wear red. I ain't shooting nobody 'cause he wear no blue." You know, I ain't with that. I'm not sticking no gun in nobody face to rob them. You know, I'm- I'm not doing it. So I had to find what I felt was a valuable way of making a living. And when I saw cocaine, shoot, they come over and they dancing, "We going to the club." "I, I need a 50." (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan32:00

       (laughs)

   13. FRFreeway Rick Ross32:00

       "Me and my girl, we turning up tonight." So I was like, "Damn, they gonna give you $50 and you make them feel like that? I want a part of that."

   14. JRJoe Rogan32:09

       Mm.

   15. FRFreeway Rick Ross32:09

       "I want to be with that. I want to be the one to make them happy like that there, and, and I'm gonna get paid to make them feel like that there. I'm all in." And, and I dove in, you know, and, and I was in love, you know. I was in love with the business. And it w- it was... it wasn't-

   16. JRJoe Rogan32:26

       Well, it was the first very successful thing that you'd been a part of.

   17. FRFreeway Rick Ross32:30

       Yeah. I mean, I was a little successful at tennis, you know. Y- I made all-conference, all-city, and... but that didn't put no money in my pocket.

   18. JRJoe Rogan32:39

       Right.

   19. FRFreeway Rick Ross32:40

       (laughs)

   20. JRJoe Rogan32:40

       Right.

   21. FRFreeway Rick Ross32:41

       All the trophies was good, and, you know, the pats on the back, but, you know, now, I'm putting money in my pocket. You know, I can go by my mom house and say, "Hey, go pay your light bill."

   22. JRJoe Rogan32:50

       Yeah.

   23. FRFreeway Rick Ross32:51

       You know, uh, "Put gas in your car." You know, my little brothers and sisters didn't have to go to school with holes in they tennis shoes no more.

   24. JRJoe Rogan32:57

       You know what's really crazy, Rick? (clears throat) That here we are, in 2024, you know, this is, uh, 40 years later, right?

   25. FRFreeway Rick Ross33:05

       Mm-hmm.

   26. JRJoe Rogan33:05

       Forty years. Forty years later and nothing's changed in terms of drug dealing. Nothing's changed in terms of drugs being legalized. They're still giving money to criminals, and, and particularly criminals in Mexico. I mean, that's literally what funds the cartels. And the fact that there's a demand in America (clears throat) and the supply is all brought over, or for the most part, a lot of it is brought over, by the Mexican cartels, we're just empowering them. We're just giving them money.

   27. FRFreeway Rick Ross33:38

       And... and... and... and, you know, I, I thought about that a lot, about what you saying, and... because, i- in order to get rid of drugs the way they trying to do it, they would have to get rid of all three elements.

   28. JRJoe Rogan33:50

       Right.

   29. FRFreeway Rick Ross33:50

       You know, you'd have to get rid of the- the manufacturers.

   30. JRJoe Rogan33:53

       Yeah.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Less- …

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      That's interesting.

   2. NANarrator45:00

      Less-

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      Tylenol with codeine.

   4. NANarrator45:02

      Products that are less than 90 milligrams of codeine.

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Okay. So then, then that's where marijuana's gonna be, which is still ridiculous. What schedule is Ambien? That shit's fucking scary. What schedule's Adderall? What's Adderall? Well, it just said it right there, Jamie.

   6. NANarrator45:16

      I bet.

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:16

      Yeah. If you click on what schedule's Adderall. Right, right above? What schedule drug is Adderall?

   8. NANarrator45:21

      Uh, let me see, let me see.

   9. JRJoe Rogan45:21

      Yeah.

   10. NANarrator45:22

       II.

   11. JRJoe Rogan45:22

       Schedule II. That stuff is fucking crazy. I know a lot of-

   12. NANarrator45:26

       Ambien's IV.

   13. JRJoe Rogan45:26

       ... people hooked on that.

   14. NANarrator45:28

       Schedule IV.

   15. JRJoe Rogan45:29

       Schedule IV? Less... That's funny. Xanax. Xanax is IV? I know a lot of people who've been fucked up by Xanax.

   16. FRFreeway Rick Ross45:35

       (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan45:36

       Valium, uh, I know a lot of people who've been fucked up-

   18. FRFreeway Rick Ross45:39

       (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:39

       ... by Valium.

   20. NANarrator45:40

       (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan45:40

       Fucked up by Valium.

   22. FRFreeway Rick Ross45:42

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan45:42

       And then that stuff is less il- less illegal-

   24. FRFreeway Rick Ross45:46

       Man.

   25. JRJoe Rogan45:46

       ... than marijuana. It's crazy. We're so silly. I mean, it's the little baby steps towards legalization. You know, uh, that's one thing that California has above Texas for sure, is the, the legalization of marijuana. It should be legal federal-

   26. FRFreeway Rick Ross46:02

       But they tax the, they tax the shit out of us in, in California, man.

   27. JRJoe Rogan46:04

       I wish they did, and I wish they did something good with it. I wish they took those taxes and cleaned up Oakland.

   28. FRFreeway Rick Ross46:08

       They, they give, they give-

   29. JRJoe Rogan46:10

       I wish they did.

   30. FRFreeway Rick Ross46:10

       ... it to the police department.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:15:00

   Wow. …

   1. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:00:00

      You know, nudge you on the shoulder, "I was just playing, just see, see where you was at with it." Uh, so, soon as those things happen, you gotta get rid of 'em. You know, because when Blandon approached me about selling drugs again, I wasn't planning on selling drugs no more. But when he kept offering it, and, and when I listened to the tape in court, man ... You know, I'm in court. We going to trial and, and they playing the tapes of our recorded phone calls, and he says, "Rick, I got 700 kilos." The first thing that popped out of my mind, my mouth, and I don't even know I said this, "How much?" First thing, and I done told myself, I- I have promised myself, Joe, I promised myself and my kids, "I'm never selling coke again." But when he asked me that question on that tape, which is probably what convicted me-

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:57

      Wow.

   3. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:00:58

      ... I said, "How much?"

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:01:01

      Wow.

   5. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:01

      Unconsciously. I, I think I, I think I had, had fallen asleep behind the wheel.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:01:07

      So, you had already decided to get out?

   7. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:09

      I was out. I hadn't sold drugs in five and a half, six years.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:01:14

      Really?

   9. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:15

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:01:16

       And the conversations on the phone are what got you convicted?

   11. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:20

       Yeah.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:01:20

       Was he wearing a wire?

   13. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:22

       He was wearing a wire.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:01:23

       Oh, my God.

   15. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:23

       Yeah. He was recording the conversation. He was a... he had, he had, uh, he had already become a government informant.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:01:26

       Oh, my God.

   17. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:28

       And I asked him, "How much?"

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:30

       Oh, my God.

   19. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:31

       They played that over and over in the courtroom. "How much? How much?" I just kept hearing myself say, "How much?"

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:37

       Oh, my God.

   21. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:38

       And I just put my head down because I knew that, uh, that was a crucial mistake.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:43

       (sighs) Wow.

   23. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:46

       Even though I didn't, I didn't bite that time. I didn't bite.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:49

       But you did say, "How much?"

   25. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:50

       I did say, "How much?"

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:52

       That's all it took.

   27. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:52

       That's all it took, so that showed an interest.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:54

       Oh, my God.

   29. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:01:55

       'Cause if I would've said, "Oh, I don't fuck with drugs no more, but you know, I'm talking-"

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:02:01

       Yeah.
6. 1:15:00 – 1:15:02

   Section 6

   1. FRFreeway Rick Ross1:15:00

      uh, Terence in that fight as well. I took him in-

Episode duration: 2:31:08