This Is North Preston (2019) - full transcript

[choir singing "Total Praise"]

[female reporter 1] A dead body
was found inside the trunk of a car

in North Preston Cemetery
yesterday,

making it the second homicide
in two weeks

for the small community
of 4,000 people.

[female reporter 2] Funding for Operation
CeaseFire has been approved by the government

and will go into action
next month,

looking to reduce the high rate of gun
violence in the town of North Preston.

[male radio host] Up next on Power 92.3,
we've got Just Chase's new single "Ego"

that's been quickly climbing up the
Billboard charts since its release.

[male reporter] Multiple men from North Preston
have been arrested for human trafficking



and forcible confinement in
a nationwide sting yesterday.

Officers say that the gang,
North Preston's Finest,

is responsible for a pimp ring
that spans the entire country.

[Chase] Right now,
we're on our way up to Preston.

North Preston, man.
My hometown.

Today I drop
one of my biggest projects,

and, you know, also,
it's my mom's birthday, so,

I'm going to see her as well.

Before I go see my mom, I'm just
gonna pop in on my dad real quick.

He has no clue that I'm coming.
Surprise his ass.

Aw, man. Feels good
to be back home, man.

Welcome to Shatner Land itself.

Whoo!

- Hey!
- Hey! What's up?



- Good to see you.
- How are you?

Surprised!

What, you didn't call or
nothing to say you were coming?

- What...
- Good to see you. How's everything?

[both laughing]

- How's everything?
- Look at you. Good.

[both laughing]

[Chase's father] I remember when I
taught you how to drive them trucks.

- [Chase] Yeah.
- And then when I took you out on your own,

I went with you
the first few...

For a week, but then,
when I let you go on your own...

The first day
I let you go by yourself...

I flipped over
in the dump truck.

- Rolled the dump truck over.
- Oh, my god. I remember that.

- I'll never forget it.
- Lucky I didn't hurt myself.

I always had him working for me
right from a little boy.

- Teaching him how to...
- From the age of eight, nine, right up. Me and my brothers...

Teaching him how to run the
Bobcat there and stuff like that.

I had a hard time trying to
keep him focused on the job.

When I think he's supposed to be at
work, working with the dump truck,

and he's out hanging out
with his gangster buddies.

Your mom went in
your bedroom one day

and she called me in your
bedroom when you wasn't home,

- and we found a sawed-off shotgun
- Yeah, I remember that.

in your dresser. Hiding underneath
your clothes in your dresser.

And I was, like, blown away,
I'm saying, and I took it.

I took it, and I... I...

- That's crazy.
- ...got rid of it.

- It wasn't there when I went...
- That gun...

And then I start hearing
all these, uh, rumors about

guys looking for Justin,
and shooting at him,

and him shooting back at guys,

and a couple of his really good
friends, good buddies...

- Yup.
- ...got killed in that.

That's when I decided,
you know,

I gotta get him
out of this city.

And I took him to the airport
one day and put him on a plane

- and sent him to Toronto with some relatives of mine, and...
- Yup.

He said, "I don't wanna
see you come back down here.

I wanna see you focused,
and stay out of here."

He said, "Focus on your music."

I've been driving
since I was two.

[laughs]

One thing about me, boy.

You got a copy on me, Shatner?

10-4, Johnson.

This truck right here,

basically saved my life.

Kept me out the streets.
Man, it was so bad,

I was full-time in the streets
driving this truck.

It got so bad one day,
at one point,

that I used to keep my gun
right here.

Right there. Right underneath
that seat right there.

Covered up with a newspaper.

My dad
didn't know that, though.

[scoffs] If he would have known
that I would've been dead.

But, yeah, it was crazy, bro.

Shit was hectic, bro.

[horn honking]

Getting a little rusty there, chief.
Are you having trouble backing up there,

lock your digs in.

I know, that's 'cause...

I ain't a driver.
I'm a singer.

[both laugh]

Okay, I gotta go see Mom,
so I'll check you later.

- Okay.
- I'll be back.

You sure you don't wanna work
the rest of the day in the truck?

No, no, no. [laughs]

[choir singing
"The Storm is Passing Over"]

[Chase] My mom had
a big influence on me.

Always, always believed in me
from day one.

When others didn't,
she was always, had my back.

My name actually
used to be Chason.

And, um...

Now it's Just Chase,
but she, uh...

She always told me, like, "If you ever go and
you make it in this career, in this life,

please run with
the name Chason

or have it involved
in there some way."

So, it was, like, that meant
a lot to me, too, so...

Yeah.

To be honest,
I'm really excited to pay her a visit.

It's been a while
since I've been here.

Over six months and, you know,
it's gonna be great just to visit her.

[choir continues singing
"The Storm is Passing Over"]

Happy birthday, Mother.

I miss you so much.

I love you, and I know
you're smiling down right now.

I feel your energy.

Love you. [kisses]

Right now, we're at the
graveyard up in North Preston.

I came to visit my mom

My mom passed away in 2011.

Every time I come
to Nova Scotia,

I just have to come and see her and just get
that energy back and just feel recouped again.

So, I was really close
with my mom, and, uh,

releasing this project on her
birthday just means the world to me.

She meant a lot to me.
I'm her only son.

And, yeah, we were
just like best friends,

so this is amazing to just
be releasing this on her day,

and happy birthday to my mom.

If we understand
where we came from,

we'll understand
where we're at.

Soon as we understand
where we're at,

we're gonna understand
where we need to go.

Where I grew up in North
Preston is a small town

with about 4,000 people.

It's the biggest
black community in Canada,

and there's only one way in
and one way out.

[Kwabby Oppong] It's very unique because
there's no other community that I know of,

the inhabitants have been there
for, you know, 250-plus years

and they're all related,

and, uh, they're all black.

You gotta understand this
community been in existence

since the beginning of Canada.

We are now at
the Black Cultural Center

where you could come learn
all the history you want,

see the proof
in the indigenous history

of African Nova Scotians that
migrated here from America,

the Caribbean, the Loyalists.

Everybody that has made this
culture the place that it is.

Remembering
our original true story.

The diversity that exists amongst
all the different communities

is because of all the different migrations
that took place that brought us here,

but we all brought different
characteristics, traits, and ancestry.

When they think about
indigenous Scotian history,

it's always related
to the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad is one
of the most significant migrations

because America enslaved us
for over 400 years.

Canada abolished slavery
30 years before America,

so it was to the point that they
knew once they crossed that border

they were gonna get freedom.

The Underground Railroad provided
that with Harriet Tubman.

She led them from the Southern states
of America all the way to the north,

following the North Star.

If you got to north and you
crossed over at the border,

you came to Canada

and then you migrated to the
black settlement of Nova Scotia.

The Underground Railroad's
last stop was here.

"Underground Railroad."
People think it's train tracks.

It's just barefoot, no train.

Walking through swamps,

through bushes,

perimeters of lakes,
guided by the moonlight.

Hoping to get free because you
don't wanna get whipped no more.

Nova Scotia are all the ones
that got away.

Preston are all the ones
that got away.

[Sam Pazzano] There's an irony
worthy of Shakespeare,

in that, North Preston,

it was a safe haven for Black
Loyalists escaping slavery.

Now, the North Preston's Finest
has transformed this

into a hub for its gang's
activities of sex trafficking,

which is the latest form
of slavery.

The spirit of North Preston,

is one of victory.

In spite of stereotypes,
in spite of racism,

in spite of discrimination,

in spite of history of being
neglected and rejected,

this community has thrived.

[Neville Provo] North Preston is one of
the best communities in the world to me.

I love my community,
I love my people.

You know, North Preston
gets a real bad shake.

They wanna say that we're the worst
place in the whole wide world.

Lot of poverty.

Hard times.

This is one of
these little towns that

you gotta make it in it.

Yeah, exactly.

You can't really
describe this place other than

when you hear you gotta
make it in this town.

Lot of things go on
that shouldn't go on.

It was different when these guys
were growing up. Dudes were just bad.

- Now we got the fuckin' shooters.
- Yup.

We got the people that wanna
kill you for just saying hi.

[Shaney Boy] North Preston
came a long way.

It's a very spiritual place.

It's a church community.

And there's also that culture,
that dark culture.

There's fires, like, there was
pimps, there was hookers,

there was crack dealers, there was
fiends, there was everything here.

This is the first time we're
getting to share our story.

[Chase] I've been on
the streets for a while now.

That life will always be
a part of me,

but it doesn't define me.

[engine revving]

That's how it goes down, man.

- That's some North Side shit.
- That's it. That's it. That's it.

[clamoring, laughing]

[Chase vocalizing]
All right, all right...

♪ Niggas wanna know
what's real ♪

♪ Niggas trying to test
their skill ♪

♪ Not focus on their meals ♪

♪ Noticed how... ♪

♪ Had to show 'em
something real ♪

♪ I get business on appeal ♪

♪ Confessing how
you really feel ♪

♪ She just doin' it
for the thrill ♪

♪ Notice I was in the field ♪

♪ Notice I would never steal ♪

♪ I just set that play
in motion ♪

♪ Now you fuck with
Nova Scotia ♪

♪ Notice I was never home ♪

♪ Notice that I'm not alone ♪

♪ Now it's time to let it go ♪

Now we're gonna make this toast to
Chase, North Preston's Finest.

The whole gang,
everybody...

[all cheering]

[man] North Preston's Finest,
to me,

is like we always say,
it's not a gang, it's a lifestyle.

The outside world,
they made it the gang

that they made it be,
you know what I mean?

North Preston's Finest are young
black men from that tiny community

of pimps and human traffickers,
gun and drug dealers.

They usually target young
teenage girls who are troubled,

who come from broken families in broken
communities such as North Preston,

and then they convert them
into prostitutes.

These are men
who were raised in, uh,

basically an
opportunity-starved environment.

They turn to crime to escape
the poverty of North Preston.

[Mike Savage] People know
of North Preston's Finest

which gave it a very tarnished
name in the eyes of many,

not just here, but, um,
in other parts of Canada as well.

North Preston's Finest is an
organization that was largely set up

to take young women out of the community
and bring them into the sex trade.

I was trafficked by a pimp from North
Preston when I was 17 years old.

North Preston pimps
are known for brutality,

as well as recruitment
of very young girls.

You often find that fathers and brothers
and uncles and grandfathers were pimps.

[Natasha Falle] North Preston pimps are known
as being one of the largest pimp gangs.

They're very well organized.

They have girls in strip clubs,
massage parlors, escort agencies.

They're known to be
extremely violent.

They're known to have
a lot of women.

They're known
to brand their women.

Back in my day,
street prostitution was really prevalent,

and the North Preston pimps owned
more than half of the corners.

There are policing
organizations in this country,

uh, in particular,
in Quebec and Ontario,

that have labeled it a gang.

What gang?

[laughs] You know what I mean?

I'm gonna say it out
like a million times, bro.

We ain't no fuckin' gang, man.

But...

To the outside world,
it might look gangsterous.

It ain't just some
friendship shit. We family.

- Nah. Yeah...
- You get what I'm saying?

- It's beyond friendship.
- It's family, man.

- It's friendship, family...
- Know what I mean? It's family, man.

And it's just...
We move as one.

That's the part they don't get.

So that's why when you say...

Like, "What is this?"
Like, what is it we have here.

Like what he just said.
He couldn't explain it.

- [Velly] We can't make this shit up, man.
- [Chase] Exactly.

- [Velly] We can't make this shit up.
- [Chase] It's us.

This is our life.

Cops, they just try to put North
Preston's Finest into a gang

which is a brotherly tattoo
that we came up with.

You know, my mom's
North Preston's Finest.

My dad's
North Preston's Finest. Uh...

My aunts and uncles,
a lot of people from here, older people...

It's been described as
everything from a crime syndicate

to a group of youth who
take pride in who they are

and want to be recognized
for their community.

Yes, there are folks that are
linked to criminal activity.

And we know that through seeing the crackdown
on prostitution and pimping rings,

and yes, there were individuals in Ontario
that were connected at that time as well.

[Denise Allen] To the police, who don't
understand the culture of North Preston,

and to the media, who doesn't care
about the culture of North Preston,

they created an article
on North Preston's Finest

because one individual
was found guilty of pimping,

who had "North Preston's
Finest" tattooed on his neck.

And said that
this is a gang of pimps.

Mmm... [clicks tongue]
Actually, no.

The charges now
are not pimping anymore.

It's human trafficking,
which is even worse.

All of these cases that had
convictions all had one thing in common

and that was North Preston.

How can you stereotype
an entire community

based on what your perception
of North Preston is?

You're not gonna take our
community and just destroy it.

You're ruining lives, you're ruining
kids' perceptions of themselves,

their confidence,
and everything else.

[Provo] You know, you're calling the
community's name out, "North Preston."

You know,
you're saying, "North Preston,"

and so, when they know you're from
North Preston, you get a label.

They put them all into one
category, North Preston's Finest.

They got them up there
with the Hells Angels. [scoffs]

That's a joke.

So what does that do
with the kids?

The kids don't wanna say
that they're from here.

People don't wanna say they're from here.
They get ashamed.

Because of all the negativity.

But, see,
I am North Preston's Finest.

[hip-hop music
playing indistinctly]

That's not the whole story.
That's one side of it.

- That's just a lie.
- But there's a whole another beautiful side to it as well.

Know what I mean? So...

At the end of the day,
we're all...

♪ That's just the way it is ♪

Like, there's people who...

They may be going through some shit
financially, you know what I mean?

- You're right. Yup.
- Struggling, know what I mean?

The struggle's real.
People be struggling, and then, boom.

But they can call that person,
their cousin, their uncle, whoever,

- and help them out maybe one from time to time.
- Right.

That uncle, that cousin, that brother,
whatever, maybe they're a pimp.

Maybe they sell dope.
You know what I mean?

Like, at the end of the day,
like real shit, like...

If it wasn't for the pimp game,
we may not have made it this far.

- Real shit. And I ain't even sayin' that.
- And that's...

- I'm not saying that they're fucking...
- That's facts.

- We may not have made it this far.
- You know what? That's facts.

Real shit, bro.
It was a part of the struggle. Like...

- That avenue of finances helped this community...
- Yeah.

...grow, but that ain't the only
thing that helped the community grow.

Just like the motherfucker that
had a construction company.

I grew up around a bunch of pimps,
drug dealers, gangsters, and hoes.

So, it's like, you will become
what you see every day.

So that's what I became.

That was the cool thing.

Nice cars, nice clothes, nice
jewelry, nice hoes, nice money.

And that's what it was.

And I got into it, you know what I mean?
Like, that's just what it was.

It's normal to us.
It's the regular life.

It's a regular lifestyle. It's not
even like this... You know what I mean?

It's normal.
Like what he just said.

- We don't think about it like that.
- Yeah.

It's just
a natural thing to us.

Pimp watcher, yeah.
We grew up... That's...

It's normal to everyone
that grew up here, right?

- It's a lifestyle. Yeah.
- It's a community. A lifestyle, exactly.

- We're North Preston's Finest.
- Yeah.

It's a lifestyle. It's not...
It ain't... It's not a gang.

It's a lifestyle.
That's how we live.

Nothing wrong with that.
That's how we live.

[Velly] So we was always repping North
Preston, you know what I'm saying?

Like, that's what we do.
We represent where we're from.

We are proud people,
so we rep that.

And, you know, they look at it
like, oh, well, you know,

a couple one or two guys
get in a little bit of trouble,

they got a tattoo
saying North Preston's Finest.

Know what I mean? So then now
they start paying attention, like,

"Oh. This group of people, we gotta call
them something." You know what I mean?

So we're gonna call them
North Preston's Finest.

♪ Turn on the radio ♪

♪ Flick on the news ♪

♪ NP Finest all day That's
what These bitches choose ♪

♪ A lot of you snitching
Still too many real ♪

♪ North Preston with me
So fuck how you feel ♪

♪ Just a gel nigga comin' up ♪

♪ In my hood ♪

♪ Chillin' at the fire hall
Throwin' rocks at the cops ♪

♪ In my hood ♪

♪ We stay strapped
But we learn to stand by ♪

♪ In my hood ♪

♪ We got a dollar over here
Pimp hoes and sell rocks ♪

♪ In my hood ♪

[Velly] So now they took that and
made it like, "Oh, this is a gang."

You know what I'm saying? So now they
take what they believe to be a gang,

what we believe to be a lifestyle,
a culture, who we are as people,

and they take it and they run
it and they call it a gang.

[Oppong] North Preston's Finest is a group of
young guys, they hung out because of music.

If some of the people that
associated or identified themselves

as North Preston's Finest

became involved in criminality and,
you know, moved outside of the area.

People within
different jurisdictions

classified them
as North Preston's Finest.

I'm forever gonna be
North Preston's Finest,

no matter what I do,
no matter my walk of life,

because that's who I am
as a person.

I ain't no gang member.
I'm just a human being like anybody else,

but I represent
where I'm from,

- and I believe in that.
- [bike revving]

- [laughs]
- [Timer] This place is one of those cities...

It's not the Bronx,
it's not New York, it's not Boston.

It's North Preston.

It's a jungle

where everything goes.

I'm normally one of the guys
that gets drunk on the scene,

and fucks a scene up,
right?

I'm your friend, I'm your...
I'm the devil.

All these young niggas out here
gonna achieve something today.

It's just,
when are they gonna achieve it.

Is it gonna be... When the violence
gets out of control too much,

where we can't stand
one another,

or is it gonna get in control where
we can communicate with one another,

and build something great other
than a city of hatred and jealousy,

and all of that stuff
don't make no sense to me.

Lot of young cats out here
need to survive

instead of going under.

I'm the worst one,

the last one, and probably the only
one that gonna tell you this...

Things gotta change,
or thing's gonna get worse.

[Oppong] So, we just located a
vehicle that was recovered stolen.

And my opinion would be,
it was targeted,

'cause there's some vandalism on there,
like, some statements on the vehicle.

When people spray-paint stuff,
or they key vehicles,

uh, and steal them,
that's not normally a joyride.

There was, uh, a statement on the
vehicle that was racially motivated,

and that lets you know
that racism still does exist.

Racism is real.

All day.

Bigotry and prejudice

and stereotyping and
generalization is still very real.

[stutters] And, unfortunately,
it's part of the DNA of North America.

Oh, yes, racial profiling is very
much alive and well in North Preston.

It wouldn't be logical of us to think that
racial profiling has completely gone away.

I have experienced
racial profiling quite a bit.

You know, a lot of cops, they
target blacks, you know what I mean,

just try to pull them over
for no reason.

I think racial profiling is the worst
ever right now. It's ridiculous.

I can be in a car
with a young gentleman,

you can just sense
you're guilty for nothing.

[Savage] Today, a lot of the challenges go back
centuries, I would say, certainly decades,

which is that the community has
been the victim of systemic racism

throughout its history.

We had the famous case
a while back,

of Kirk Johnson, who's a boxer,
who was picked up for driving while black.

- [bell rings]
- [crowd cheering]

[commentator] ...entering the ring
wearing black trunks with white trim,

hailing from North Preston,
Nova Scotia, in Canada.

[commentator 2] Kirk Johnson is the
number-one-rated WBA heavyweight contender,

and he is the mandatory defense
for the champion John Ruiz.

Kirk Johnson's gonna be the next
Larry Holmes in the sense that

he's the guy who could win the
title and hold it for many years.

I'd like to bring him up now,
the WBA mandatory heavyweight challenger

Kirk Johnson from Halifax,
Nova Scotia.

[applause]

Sorry. I'm sorry.

From North Preston,
Nova Scotia.

[applause]

- [indistinct commentary]
- [crowd cheering]

[Velly] Kirk Johnson was,
you know, a hometown hero, man.

When I was, like, maybe eight,
nine years old, man,

like I could turn on the
television and watch Kirk Johnson

battling for world titles,
knocking people out.

He was somebody that we had
an opportunity to look up to.

I won my first Canadian title
at the age of 14.

I won, like,
six Canadian titles in a row.

Then I won a world title
at the amateurs also.

You know, the first Canadian
to do it fighting.

Lennox Lewis, he did it,

but the Cuban fell on the steps
and hurt his back.

But I literally did it, you
know, fighting all the fights.

And right there and then
I said, "You know what, shoot.

Lewis got a world title
as an amateur

and I got a world title
like Lewis,

so I'm gonna be world champ
like Lewis is world champ."

That's when it came to me.

I said, "You know what?
I can really do something in this world."

I was big on just thinking that
I could conquer the world.

My professional record
is 37 wins,

one draw, one no-contest,
and two losses.

Twenty-seven knock-outs I have.

What made me wanna step up when
it came to the racial profiling

and wanna combat it, was...

[scoffs] It happened to me
too many times.

When I brought my car home,
it was only a Mustang,

but when I brought it home,
within three weeks, I got stopped 29 times.

And that's 29 times
with me counting.

And then when this man,
badge number 454,

racist cop stopped me,
and had me there for two and a half hours,

and wouldn't accept
my insurance,

he wouldn't accept
my registration.

I told him I'm coming home
to see my mother and father,

and then he took my car
to try to humiliate me

and I just told him, "I'm gonna get you.
I'll see you in court."

He was a man
who was racist towards me,

he didn't have no reason
to stop me,

and put something on me, then you
have people start trying to judge me.

And I just realized that

you do have people who just hate
you for the color of your skin.

I accept the finding that Mr. Johnson
was discriminated against,

and recognize that this has been
a very humiliating, stressful,

and painful experience
for him and his family...

When it comes
to people's human rights,

if you violate that, that's a
right, and that's hatred,

and we've been
going through that there

for 450 years of slavery or what-have-you,
and we don't wanna go back to that.

[Shaney Boy] As far as you
see, the racial profiling,

Kirk probably experienced it

because they didn't want no black
man rolling around with nice cars

and having millions of dollars.

I've seen it myself,
like, if you...

If the police see someone who has
something nice, or driving a nice car,

I used to have a Saleen Mustang, it
was, like, a really nice flashy car,

and that was the most I ever
been pulled over in my life.

[Johnson] You know,
I speak to so many kids.

Some of them say they get stopped
all the time for no reason at all.

They said, "Well, the police
say you fit the description."

And I can't lie, I will stop that way
before somebody stops me and says,

"Oh, well,
you fit the description."

I said, "Description of what?"

"Somebody who robbed a bank."

[scoffs] I said, "Okay.

Well, I got, like,
$2 million after taxes in my bank account,

"so who do
I need to rob, right?"

[Provo] Kirk got stopped a lot of times.
I got stopped a lot of times.

Law-abiding citizen all my life

but the amount of times
that I've got stopped

it was crazy and ridiculous,
like, unreal.

Like, it made me feel like, you
know, they don't want me here.

Racial profiling,
police accountability,

there's still a giant gap between
community and police relations.

Um, we still have to speak against
issues, uh, like excessive use of force.

A justice system that has not
been fair to people of color.

If we look at it
across the country,

it's magnified
in North Preston.

When you look back
at the Halifax Race Riots,

a little bit over 20 years ago,

where black people had to
go to the streets to protest

because they were being denied
access to public facilities.

That was in 1992.

Not 1952, not 1962.

'92.

The city of Halifax is reeling
from a wild street riot

in a downtown neighborhood
last night.

A riot touched off by growing racial
tension between blacks and whites.

Fifteen people were injured in the
melee, eight people were arrested.

[clamoring]

[man] What the fuck, man?
Get the camera off...

[Savage] We have an over-representation
of African Nova Scotians

that are picked up by police.

And also an over-representation in the
court system of African Nova Scotians,

which I'm hoping changes.

Prejudice and racism
and racial profiling,

they did it all
to our generation.

[choir singing "From the
Rising of the Sun"]

Right now, we up at
my Uncle Texas' place.

As you can see,
he has a junkyard all over here,

when I used to be
running around,

taking all the parts and stuff
off the cars when I was younger.

This is where it all started.

I used to come up here.
This was my getaway.

Come up and learn
how to play the bass, guitar,

everything.

- Where we at, T?
- What's this?

Where we at?

- Huh?
- [Texas speaking indistinctly]

What's up? What's up?

[both] ♪ Making lots of money
'cause you're dancing side to side ♪

♪ Girl is hot, hot
Too hot, girl ♪

That's what
we started on, right.

- Yeah. All right.
- [laughs]

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

[Chase laughs]

[both laugh]

[Chase] Yeah.

[Chase] No.

Yeah, I was always
just singing.

And he would play
the wrong notes.

[both laughing]

♪ Lord, they say
They're fooling you ♪

Exactly.

♪ By coming to church
On Sunday ♪

♪ Laying hands on folks ♪

♪ Stomping and jumping around
Thanking the Holy Ghost ♪

Yeah, that's what...
That's one of the songs we used to do.

[chuckles]

Yeah.

This is where, like,
I learned how to play the bass,

the guitar, and the drums
back there, like...

Uncle Texas
taught me everything.

Justin was a cool guy, funny, comical,
liked to crack a bunch of jokes.

He always loved singing.

Singing was his passion.

[Melly] Me and Chase,
we knew each other our whole life.

He had a talent for singing. He had a
passion for singing. That was his dream.

I'd been very supportive of
Chason getting out of the streets.

I used to tell him myself, "Go sing, man.
Go do something better with your life.

"Get up out of here, 'cause you got a
real voice that can carry you a long way."

He was such a rebellious
little bad-ass,

that our parents purposely put us
in different schools growing up,

because they didn't want me to
end up following down his path

'cause he's always been a problem
child, right from day one.

Just always trying to
find a way to get in trouble.

Then he eventually
found his way around guns,

he kind of got obsessed
with guns.

It wasn't shortly after
that I started seeing him

carrying guns, and bragging
about having beef with people,

and saying what he's gonna do
when he sees his enemies.

He was going down
a path of destruction, really.

Like, he was either gonna
end up dead or in jail, then...

When he was in that life,
I was very worried about him.

I'm seeing both sides.
I'm seeing my parents

stressing out to the max,
worrying,

and I remember them telling me when they
get a phone call at the middle of the night

that something happened
to Justin, or some bad news.

I wasn't the type of dude to be just,
"Oh, yeah, I got a gun. Look at me.

I'm a fucking gangster..."
Nah, it wasn't like that.

It was about, "No, I need to protect my life,"
because some shit was going on at the time.

"You think you wanna kill me?
Nah, I'm gonna protect myself."

I had to stay strapped up.

It was either my life
or their life.

[Randall] His music career
was slowly starting to pick up.

People take different paths
in life.

Chase stuck with the music.

It opened up doors for him.

I obviously chose
the wrong path.

Probably could've been
in the same situation as him.

I chose the streets.

I started off on the streets
selling dope.

And carrying guns.

When the dope sales
started getting slow,

I started robbing people.

So that's what I went to jail for.
Robbery. Armed robbery.

My sentence was seven years.

[Chase] Randall's a great cat, man.
A talented guy, man.

But, like,
some shit happens sometimes.

Like, everything always
don't go right.

Sometimes it goes left.

I went right, and he went left.

He had to go away for a bit,
so, it was just like...

That's just how it happens
sometimes in North Preston, man.

♪ Late night hear my line
in your phone too ♪

♪ Ain't nobody know you
Like I know you ♪

[Skip] When Chase sings,
goosebumps.

A lot of people could sing,

but can they give you
that same goosebumps?

♪ You missing all the things
We used to do ♪

♪ Got anything You would
have made it through ♪

♪ Anything you wanted
I gave to you ♪

What he has
is something that's needed,

that gives music life.

I grew up going to these
churches, that when they'd sing,

you would feel
that Holy Spirit.

When Chase sings,
it's like the Holy Spirit's inside of him.

♪ And you did it to me, baby ♪

Growing up here was rough, really
rough, but you become used to it.

It's like the normal, normal
day-to-day for us.

I was caught up in the street
life, you know what I mean,

for a long time,
and it's just like,

when my friend got killed
in front of me,

that was my time.
That's what just triggered my head.

Just right there, it was like,
"Okay, that's enough for me,"

and I'm not trying to end up in
jail for the rest of my life.

Little Nathan was like
a best friend of mine.

A little brother, great guy.

We would do everything
together, you know?

We did a lot of
street shit together.

Fuck the street shit.
Put that shit aside.

Like, Little Nathan
was a great person.

This is where we all
posted up there, man.

We were all over here...

When the day my...
My buddy got killed,

right in front of me,
right in front of all of us, actually,

we were just
posted up right here.

Little Nathan right here.

God rest his soul.
All the rest of my boys right here.

Next thing you know,
just, pop, pop!

Pow! Pow!

And, you know, we all just
fucking scattered, scattered away.

Little Nathan
went running up this way,

and he just fucking collapsed right
out there on Aunt Lala's lawn.

Time we seen him,
time we get out there,

just his whole neck was just
fucking blown open. Just...

Crazy, man. It just really
messed with my head.

It fucked me up a bit, man.

Er, no.

[stutters] Yeah, we never worry
about seeing them no more, but...

Yeah, God rest his soul, man.

He was like my best friend, and, um,
that really took an effect on me.

And I just took it from there,

and just decided
I'm done with the street life.

You know, I'm gonna go
pursue my music 100%.

Sold the three straps
that I did have,

and, you know, hey,
here I am, man.

[Melly] I had a friend,
Little Nathan,

after he got killed, Chase, he was
like, um, "Man, I gotta do something."

I'm like,
"Man, go chase your dream.

Just, when you get it,
come back to the hood,

and everybody will appreciate you,
you know." And that's what he'd done.

Why should my best friend
die in front of me like that?

Just, like...

Yeah.

Just, like, really fucking...

That was it for me.
Like, just seeing that...

That really...
Yeah, that really...

Took a piece out of me.

I just decided
that I wanted to just

focus on my career,
and that was it for me.

[Provo] Look, the culture
is very violent.

When the guns
get in the wrong hands,

and you start
playing around with them,

and once they get that gun
in their hand,

that devil comes in,

and then next thing you know,
you're trying to kill your own people.

You see how they change

to literally want to kill
their own flesh and blood.

It's mind-boggling to me.

[Chase] There's always been
guns in this community.

From other generations
right up to my generation.

It's gonna always be like that.

It's just a regular,
normal life. It doesn't...

It's nothing...
I don't think...

nothing of it. It's just like
a regular life. It's just...

Like I said, you become used to
it, become immune to it.

Gun violence has definitely
gotten worse down here.

Basically,
you protecting your life,

because if it's not you,
then it's gonna be you.

Once we start losing people, and,
you know, they dying from gun violence,

and that means like I gotta
protect myself down here.

It's just what it is
in North Preston.

I have three brothers.
Two of them are incarcerated.

I have two cousins that's
incarcerated right now as well.

One's doing 12 years.

One's doing 9-14.

And my brother Wade's
on his 20th year.

Incarcerated right now.
They're all for murder.

So when you add the guns to North
Preston, man, it's a rap. It was a rap.

It was over, because now,

everybody gotta
defend themself.

I'm trying to live,
so if you try and take my life,

what I'mma do? I'mma die?
No, I ain't gonna die.

I'mma try to kill you
before you kill me.

Once the cancer spread, man,
it was a rap.

You know what I mean? This community
wasn't built for gun violence.

It's too small.
We're too connected.

[Chase] Right now, we're up on the
block itself, you know what I mean?

- [Velly] Sub-division.
- [Chase] Sub-division, right. So, you know...

If things get crazy out there, man,
we done did it all up here, man.

- Yeah.
- Like you know what I mean? "RIP," as you can see,

to my man's dead Rico.
Cruise, little brother.

Good friend of mine, man.

Shit just gets crazy up here.

At day time, nighttime,
any time of the day,

it could just pop off
in broad daylight.

I was about 16 when I first got my own...
My first strap, man.

- Yeah.
- Strapped up to the nines, big .40-cal Springfield.

Seventeen, one in the head.

That's 18,
I used to jam it that way.

- Yeah.
- That's how bad it was out here.

It used to be so heavy on my hip,
it used to put a mark on my hip.

Because I used to be standing
so long out here with it on.

- Yeah.
- You know, once the shit started to pop,

it was kind of like, either you're
gonna be in the house and hide,

or you're gonna be a man.

[all agreeing]

If you ain't got it with you,
you know...

Put it like this. You could get that
smoke if you never had it with you.

- Uh-huh.
- At any time. Trust me.

Me, personally,
it was that bad at a time

that I wouldn't leave
the house without it.

- No.
- Like, I said, I wouldn't... I was...

I was driving a truck
at the point.

- Yeah.
- Working for my dad.

And I would drive with that in
there, in a dump truck.

- I remember that.
- Yeah.

It's like,
it came to that point.

- It's like, I wouldn't go nowhere without it.
- No.

- I had to have it on me at all times.
- Yeah.

[man] When your life's on the
line, you gotta have it with you.

- [Velly] Yeah.
- [Chase] Exactly.

When you have a killing within
your community,

so, it's further than
black-on-black crime,

it's family against
family crime.

[Savage] I think
they've been acknowledged,

and perhaps,
acknowledged too much,

what some of
the crime problems are.

The kind of problems you have when you
just basically leave a community alone

and have it cut off
from all of the amenities

that the rest
of a community have.

[Reverend Gray] Poverty is pushing
our children into lives of crime.

Most of the crimes committed
by young black men and women

are crimes of economics.

Now, don't get me wrong,

are we committing violent
crimes against each other? Yes.

We've gotten so angry,
we have devalued ourselves.

Because others
have devalued us.

So we're drinking the Kool-Aid.

We gotta take
responsibility, too,

because, at the end of the day,

if I don't take responsibility
for my actions,

how can I change them?

You know what I mean?
And these kids...

Like, I look at these kids,
they look up to me.

But if I'm over here, running
around, shooting up the town,

that ain't gonna work,
you know what I mean?

These kids are gonna look at me
and they're gonna run back

and they're gonna try
to emulate what I'm doing.

So, at the end of the day,
I gotta take responsibility for my actions

if I'm gonna take responsibility
for that kid's future.

[Sgt. Smith] There's always
been an inherent mistrust

between the black man and the police
since we first came to the country.

But in Preston, yeah,
there was a long history of mistrust.

It took a long time to break
down some of the barriers to...

To get us where we are today.

There were rock throwings,
there were shots at cars,

there were windows
knocked out of police cars,

police cars
surrounded by people.

I can vividly remember one of the Chronicle
Herald stories that said, you know,

the police are not wanted
in our community.

It hit the driver
in the wrist, actually,

just missing the head
of one of our female members.

Police relationships...
It was very terrible.

They wouldn't even attempt
to come into our community.

Cars were tipped over,
tires were sliced,

windows bashed in,
it was terrible.

[Oppong] It takes time to get to
the point that we're at now today,

where it's more of a norm to see us in
the community than it was 10 years ago.

Now, having a permanent place
in there

really has made a difference,
I feel.

[Velly] They put a police
station in the rec center.

- Try to figure that one, though, I don't know.
- [man 2] Yeah.

You know what I mean?
Rec center police station?

- I guess, you know what I mean? But they did it.
- Yeah.

The cops didn't
come up here a lot

'cause they didn't get a real response
from the people, you know what I mean?

Like, the people
wasn't really...

Like, people don't know nothing,
know what I mean? So it was like...

The cops really wasn't getting nowhere
when they come up here and shit.

'Cause people, you know...

A lot of times, they used to
bust the cops' windows...

[Chase] Yeah,
chuckin' rocks and shit.

...so it was costing the cops a lot
of money to be in the community.

They don't really
need to be here 'cause...

You know, I always felt that
we're doing a good job on our own.

Since the police came, we lost more
lives than when they weren't here.

We solved our own problems
with each other.

People talk,
they communicate.

They didn't just call 911.

We pretty much governed
our own selves.

We never had police.

It was always our elders
that kept us in check.

Soon as we let the government
come into our community,

that's where
the violence started.

There was never guns with us
fighting amongst each other at all.

It's always been,
the community deals with it themselves.

I find we governed ourselves
better alone.

Like, we could take care
of ourselves better.

When the police came, it's everybody
shuts their windows, close their doors,

let the police deal with it.

Where, before,
it was more intimate,

where we could
take care of our own selves,

and it was much better,
I found, that way.

♪ No, no remorse ♪

♪ No, no, no ♪

♪ Last night I think
I caught a feel ♪

♪ But last night I think I lost
The feel for you ♪

♪ Last night I almost
Turned the page on you ♪

♪ Last night
Thinking in the mirror ♪

♪ Last night
I think I caught a feeling ♪

♪ Last night I think I lost
The feel for you ♪

♪ Last night
Staring in the mirror ♪

♪ Talking to myself
So consciously ♪

♪ How you showed
No more remorse ♪

♪ You showed
No, no more ♪

♪ I feel no more remorse ♪

- ♪ I get no, no more ♪
- We found the fire hall, for the block.

Whatever, you know...
[stutters]

- Fire hall, man.
- [Chase] Yeah.

That's what it is,
a fire station.

- We're just here, man. This is our every day.
- Yeah, all day.

- Yeah, every day thing.
- Life happens here.

[Chase] You're right.
You're right. [laughs]

- What it is.
- Tradition, man. Go way back.

Before these young cats signed,

we known for basketball players,
athletes, you name it, fighters...

- Singers.
- Singers.

- Pimps.
- You're right. You're right.

A lot of those.

This is a pimp nation.

- Right here. What you looking at?
- Exactly.

[Chase] I'm telling you [laughs]
the pimp capital come from this.

[Velly] When we grew up,
the people that had the nice cars,

the people
with the nice clothes,

- man, they were pimps and hustlers, man.
- That's what it was.

So what were we gonna do?

Success is [stutters]

diamond chains, and gold chains and nice
cars, and bitches, and all that shit.

That's success in the world
for blacks.

You know what I mean?
So that's...

How am I not gonna
wanna do that shit?

Know what I mean?
No matter what my upbringing was,

if I'm growing up
in an environment every day,

all I keep seeing
is the same shit.

The successful people, in my
eyes, were the hustlers, man.

And every house you see, every
successful person you see is a doctor.

What you gonna do when you get old?
You gonna be a doctor.

My parents
did a great job raising me.

I can't even knock
nothing my parents did,

as raising me,
you know what I mean?

But the environment
raised me too.

I'm a product
of my environment.

Growing up here, there ain't a
lot of opportunities and shit,

so if I dude be like, "Yo,
I'm about to graduate high school,"

maybe "I got a kid on the way," or "I'm
just trying to get some money," you know...

- Where the opportunity at? Know what I mean?
- Mm-hmm.

- Right.
- Like, they put us out here to die, basically.

- Where's the opportunity? So what we gonna do?
- Not like us.

Are we gonna starve?
No, we're not gonna starve.

We're gonna do what we gotta do to
get this money, know what I mean?

Some people
choose that lifestyle.

Know what I mean? Others don't.
There's a lot... That's the thing.

They're only telling
half the story.

Not everybody from North Preston
is a pimp or a drug dealer, man.

Know what I mean? Like,
there's people doing all kinds of shit.

We got dudes about to go
do their MBA,

we got dudes boxing,
we got dudes in school,

- we got dudes doing all kinds of different shit.
- All kinds of things.

It don't necessarily mean that we're
just pimps and drug dealers. No.

You know, you don't have no
other choice but to be a cliche.

Your life turns out to be a
cliche right from the beginning

because it's just so...
It's a competition

between all cousins,
all family, everybody.

It's everybody competing to get the best
car, the best mansion, the best everything.

That's what this place is.

We push each other
for greatness.

[Chase] Shaney Boy, great
friend, I look up to him.

The guy taught me a lot, man.
Like I said...

He taught me the ins and
outs of the street life.

And that's just straight up.

He taught me the ins and outs
of the pimp life.

He just taught me
how to move in general.

[Shaney Boy] This is the perfect
time to get my story out.

And my story is,
I went to jail for a gun,

and I was involved
in a lot of things.

They took me down
for human trafficking.

I'm not gonna say
I was totally innocent,

but I paid my debt
to society.

Today, you know,
we're doing music,

and we get to tell our stories
through our music.

I don't have no regrets, man.

You know, it is what it is,
you know what I mean?

I knew what I was doing.

I'm not gonna blame it on anyone.
I take full responsibility for me.

Being a pimp entails like
keeping your bitch in check,

like, staying on top
of your money,

not getting too fucking drunk
and shit.

We gotta stay focused
out here in the game, right?

Pimping is about words.

It's all about
what you can say.

And I mean,
that's real pimping.

A lot of pimps like
a lot of money, right, so...

They're not just really pimps,
they're hustlers, they're money-makers,

they're just go-getters, right, so they
fuck with that dope and shit, you know.

Couple will sell a gun
here and there.

You know what I mean?
Come up on this thing.

Get a couple burners,
let that shit go,

they don't want
that shit around.

You know,
real nigga shit, though.

You know, it's all about how the
player plays the game, right?

[Chase] The pimp capital of
this country is North Preston.

[Velly] They say that we
the pimp capital of Canada.

I probably wouldn't
disagree with that

'cause, yeah, there's a lot of players
that come out of North Preston.

To me, a pimp is a dude
that, you know...

He got a lot of women, you know
what I mean? He got a lot of girls.

If a girl wanna give you
some money, you know...

At the end of the day,
if she wanna give you some money,

she gonna give you some money.
That's between me and them.

[Falle] A pimp is someone who
trafficks women and girls.

A pimp will use manipulation, force,
intimidation, he'll play on her vulnerabilities.

Stories of murdering girls,

and, uh, dumping their bodies
in forests.

When we're speaking
in terms of North Preston,

pimps, they usually expect you
to make a quota.

If she comes home
with less than that,

she can surely
expect a beating.

[trafficking victim] You don't
leave until you get the money

that you need
to get to go home.

There's no coming up short.

That's not an option.

And if you choose that option,

there's gonna be really serious
physical, brutal consequences.

The violence
became very routine.

He choked me, and I really
thought he was gonna kill me.

And that...

For me, that was it.

Violence is a huge factor.
I mean...

I haven't met one single girl or woman
who was involved in the sex trade

who hasn't experienced
physical violence.

For myself, you know,
I've been burned with cigarettes,

I've had both my arms broken,
my nose has been broken three times.

Just a lot of broken bones.

I was growing up in that era
with the pimps, and that was it.

It was just like,

if you're not a pimp,
you're not really much anything.

Human trafficking would be where
someone is taken from a community

and forced into the sex trade.

They may not have even realized
they're being forced into it

until it's too late.

"Pimping" is the term
from 20 years ago,

and, you know, maybe even

you know, people that are
involved in human trafficking now

are, you know, still using
that term of "pimping."

There's definitely individuals that
are involved in human trafficking

that have connections
to North Preston.

Guerrilla pimp.

- Guerrilla pimp.
- [clamoring]

"A pimp who regularly uses force and
threats to keep his money in line.

"Guerrilla pimps have a high
turnover rate of hustles."

[indistinct conversation]

[Provo] Yeah, we got
pimp cultures in North Preston.

They were the ones that,
when someone needed cash,

they were the ones,
when no one had nothing, they had.

That's just how it was.

Cats weren't getting jobs.

They were getting no education.

So they had... [stutters]
That was like a survival thing.

A lot of people
looked up to them.

[Velly] How can I go be a
university bachelor of anything

when the person up the street
that I look up to...

That I look up to.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

- ...is getting money out of bitches?
- [Chase] Mm-hmm.

- What I'mma do?
- Definitely.

- Know what I mean?
- I'm gonna get some of that money too.

I'm gonna get a bitch
and get some money.

- I'm gonna get some of that money too.
- Right?

But what I'm saying is,
that ain't the whole story, man.

- Nah, nah.
- That's just the part that they wanna tell.

Girls find us, right?
So, you know what I mean?

Them bitches got
broken homes and shit.

You know, they're looking
for a way out, right?

They want money
and shit, like...

Fuck, they're usually at the
club, you know what I mean?

Fucking, them drunk bitches
and shit.

Out there, drinking life away,
you know what I mean?

They ain't got nothing
to look forward to and shit.

They have a good fucking story,
and need us for some good game.

[clicks tongue] You know, get the
bitch in your car, don't let her out.

Tell them there's a better way.

Get paid, right?

Straight up.

There are women being
forced into prostitution,

then there are women who've
chosen this of their own volition.

There are women
who've made that choice,

but there are so many more
women who are being trafficked,

who are being forced into this,

who are being beaten
and abused,

and degraded every day.

Man, them girls brag about
being in the life.

They're superstars,
you know what I mean?

They get their attention
and shit.

They got their bread, a player taking
care of them, hooking them up and shit.

What else could you ask for?

You probably don't even
gotta convince them, right?

Some of them bitches
love sex.

They wanna have sex all day.
I got a way.

[Randall] You see it a lot,
but it's like...

It's almost like
a normal thing.

Anyone is allowed to have a girlfriend
that's a dancer, you know what I mean?

If the media wants to
call that pimping, then...

So be it.

I feel it's important
that this message gets out

because no other
mother's children,

boys or girls,
should be trafficked.

It is the most heinous.

It's akin to murder.

I was trafficked by this pimp
from North Preston.

I'm a different person
because of that experience.

Essentially, that first person
has been murdered.

[stutters] Has been
brutally forced out.

No one should go through that.

[Velly] If I'm seeing
the success

through the eyes
of the players,

through the eyes
of the hustlers,

what do you think
these young girls are seeing?

- Everywhere you go, sex is gonna sell.
- Big time.

Like, this ain't
a North Preston problem, man.

- It's a world issue.
- It's worldwide.

Sex has been...
Sex has been selling since the Bible.

Couple of niggas doing it
is an issue all of a sudden?

- It's the truth.
- You know what I mean? Like...

Hey, I don't know.

I wanted to go to university.

I went to college
for a couple of months.

It just wasn't working for me,
and due to my circumstance and situation,

I got involved in the game,
you know what I mean? It was really...

Really easy for me
to get involved in the game.

I was pimping this, pimping
that, pimping this, doing that.

'Cause that's what I was doing.
That's what it was.

Imagine being in that situation

where you really wanna do
something different with your life

and try for some opportunity,

and people just keep
closing the door on you,

ain't nobody
giving you no assistance

to try to help you
get your situation started.

But then you go
down the street,

and the dudes on the block has got
overflow opportunity, you know what I mean?

So them old-school players,
you know what I mean?

Like, they giving you
the game for free.

That ain't the only thing that's
gonna define me as a person.

Like I got an opportunity to kind of
represent myself in a different light.

You know what I mean?
I got kids now, and shit.

And I want my son to have a different
opportunity than what I had.

I don't want him to have to be forced
into, or make choices that I had to make.

♪ It feels like the devil
Is on my tail ♪

♪ Hey, do you like summer?
I'm hot as hell ♪

♪ You're burning up Feels
like a pot of lucky gold ♪

♪ Oh, yeah They never could
come And just steal my soul ♪

♪ I stand on your bitch
And I take her home ♪

♪ Hey, we got that nigga
Super potion ♪

♪ Oh, yeah
We had a secret location ♪

♪ This be our holiday ♪

[Chase] This is one of my favorite
guys, you know what I mean?

Right here, man, you know.

- Twenty
- In the building, man.

Watched these guys grow up,
you know what I'm saying?

Just like a little brother
of mine right here.

We did everything together.

Like I said, we did
everything together, man.

- Run the streets together, did it all. [laughs]
- [indistinct conversation]

- It's crazy up here.
- Yeah. Trust me.

- Before it used to be everybody all together.
- It's hectic.

Now it's just crazy up here.

You see my boy right here?

- Come on.
- .40 cal through his foot.

You get your head blown off
if you're not too careful.

[woman] Cocksucker!

[man] Don't worry about it.

You fucking train wreck.
Fuck you up.

Do I gotta put you
at 2 a.m.? Please.

Put me up? I own
this house.

There's a lot of fightin'
going on tonight.

Some of this you can keep.
You know what I mean? No, seriously.

- 'Cause it's real-life shit.
- [indistinct arguing]

- So what will get you gone? A cigarette?
- You better fuck off.

- Do you want a cigarette?
- Yeah.

So come on. Come on.

I'll get it from nanny,
and then don't bother me no more.

They ain't home.

I'm going in, and I...
It's in her room.

Go in her room and get it out,
but you don't give me that, cocksucker.

[all laughing]

- Okay. I got you.
- Okay.

Okay, okay. Sorry.

- Thought you already knew.
- Okay, okay.

He's been pimping
since he was five.

Keep a long story short.

Just what it is. Just what we was.
The whole trend.

- Yeah.
- From our uncles, dads, everybody.

That's what you...
Like I said yesterday, we grew up in it,

and that's just
what we've seen

and that's just what we do.

We try to get to the money,
know what I mean?

So, hey,
I can explain it like this.

- We were getting money together...
- Exactly.

...like I said...

Me and him at that time,
you know what I mean?

- Both had our girls...
- We had our girls just working the shit, right.

So there ain't nothing to hide about that.
It's just what it is.

Drinking, lifting, pimping.

♪ Hey, I wrote a song for you ♪

♪ Hey, even moved on from you ♪

♪ Okay
I did it all for you ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ I pushed her aside for you ♪

♪ Oh, girl You see me I'm
still looking flossy ♪

- [clamoring]
- [objects clattering]

[indistinct music playing]

[Chase] What's he doing,
though?

Come on, come on.
Wake up. Come on.

[indistinct conversation]

[clamoring]

Are you serious?

Come on. Come on.

[indistinct conversation]

Drinking one minute,
dancing to the music,

and then choking
in the next five seconds.

[stammers] That's how we do it.

That's exactly how you do it.

- Same... Same with the girls.
- We told you.

- It's a real-life thing.
- Gang, gang.

It's a real-life thing.
It ain't no... It ain't no joke.

- It ain't no joke.
- Wow.

Girls, men...
It goes down.

- Trust me. It goes down the way it goes down.
- [laughter]

That's life, nigga.

- It's gang, nigga.
- At the end of the day, man,

this is what it is.
This is what we live.

This is what it is
up here, right.

- Know what I mean?
- It happens within a blink.

She launched at her
like a fucking leopard.

Well, she was standing over
there, staring at me,

and I just said hello to her,

'cause like if you're looking in someone's
face, you might as well say hello.

And then she came over here

trying to push me out the
way to get to the fridge,

and I said, "Say excuse me."

He's not your man.

Yeah, he definitely was.

Right now, we're in Toronto,
Noble Street Sound... Wait...

Shit. Right now,
we're in Toronto,

Noble Sound...
Wait, what is it?

- Right now...
- [interviewer] Look at me.

All right. Right now,
we're in Toronto,

at Noble...

- Damn.
- [chuckles]

No, I'm not nervous.
I'm actually, um...

[stutters] I more enjoy this
than being nervous.

Yeah, well, yeah, you know, uh, I haven't
put out music in a while, so, um...

I just wanted to release, um...

This great body of work that I've
been working on for a while just now,

so, yeah.

Man, you know what it is?
It's the light.

Um...

All of them, really,
but I mean, like...

♪ See me no more
See me no more ♪

♪ See me no more
No more ♪

♪ See me no more
See me no more ♪

♪ See me no more
See me no more ♪

♪ 'Cause you just
Play too much ♪

♪ Way, way, way too
Way too much ♪

♪ Too much ♪

♪ Girl, 'cause you're just
Way too much ♪

♪ Way, way, way too
Way too much ♪

♪ Too much... ♪

- Yo, yo, yo.
- Yo.

Man, we feel a lot of fucking
little bit of things right now, man,

but, you know,
we feeling good, cuz.

- Thank you. Thank you for this.
- We like the special audition, man.

We've never seen this before
in our very eyes.

- Very special.
- [laughs]

Yo.

- Man.
- Amazing.

This has been
a fucking pleasure, man.

- You know what?
- Yeah.

This mix tape is my best
body of work I've ever did.

Sheesh!

- [Chase mumbling]
- We're turned. We gotta go.

We got a flight to catch.

♪ I'm not saying
It lasts forever ♪

♪ 'Cause things happen
You know better ♪

♪ I guess this time
We were so close ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ I'm not saying
It lasts forever ♪

♪ 'Cause things happen
You know better ♪

♪ I guess this time
We were so close ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ 'Cause sometimes
You know wrong ♪

♪ But you gotta bring it home ♪

♪ I won't keep you
Waiting long ♪

♪ I could say
She's trying to break it down ♪

♪ Just tell me
She was my baby ♪

♪ And obviously
She drives me crazy ♪

♪ For putting me
This loyalty, that's right ♪

♪ We're so close
That I could taste it ♪

OG style, baby.

♪ Long haul,
I hope you like it ♪

♪ And I hope that
You're not faking ♪

♪ And I hope that
You never change ♪

♪ Seeing I've been
knocked out ♪

♪ Last chance
You better not blow it ♪

♪ You better not blow it ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ I'm not saying
It lasts forever ♪

♪ 'Cause things happen
You know better ♪

♪ I guess this time
You were so close ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ I'm not saying
It lasts forever ♪

♪ 'Cause things happen
You know better ♪

♪ I guess this time
We weren't so close... ♪

Yo, yo, yo.
Next stop Nova Scotia. Whaddup?

[Chase] Well, you know, when I first
went back to see my grandmother,

she had Alzheimer's.

I knew she was
getting really sick.

- Who's that?
- [laughs]

[Chase] "I wanna go see Nana."

"Well, Justin, I don't know if you want
to go in there because she's not talking.

"She hasn't been talking
in months."

This community should be
very proud of you, Justin.

I am.

- And I'm speaking on behalf of your grandmother...
- Mm-hmm.

...that's not able to be...

- I mean, she's here, but not able to speak.
- I know that, yeah.

Because she can't speak
for herself, for this,

- she'd be overjoyed right now.
- She'd be overjoyed.

This is my grandmother
right here.

- Yeah.
- As you can see.

Noreen Smith.

She taught me how to sing.

I grew up singing
in church with her.

Everything.
I did everything with her.

She means the world to me.

And, uh...

She can't speak at the moment
right now, but, I mean,

we're still... You know what I mean?
Everything is still great.

How you doing, Nan?

[grandmother
speaking indistinctly]

Give me a kiss.

Well, okay.

Remember...
♪ I am redeemed Bought with a price ♪

- That's right.
- See?

♪ Jesus has changed
my whole life, yeah ♪

You remember that?

[singing indistinctly]

Uh-huh.

[continues singing]

Nice.

[continues singing]

Mmm, very nice.

[laughs] How'd you know that?

Well, I love you.
I'll see you later.

- Mmm.
- Okay?

Yeah.

Okay.

Wow. Like, did you see that?

Bro, like, they said that,
"Your grandmother don't talk no more.

"She doesn't really sing
like how you used to."

But, bro, like, she started singing the
same song that we always sing together.

And, you know, it's really
important that I saw her,

[stammers] because I'm not really sure
when's the next time I'm gonna see her, so.

It meant a lot to me, so, yeah.

[Chase] And next thing
you know,

she passed away
on Christmas Day.

And that was the last time
that I got to see her,

and she sang to me,

and she spoke to me,
and that was amazing.

That was, like,

the greatest feeling.
I can't explain it.

Yeah.

[Reverend Gray] Maybe one day
somebody will tell our story.

Maybe one day we'll be in
control of the narrative.

When we look
at someone like Justin,

a product of our community

who says,
"Listen, I wanna take you back,

"I wanna take you back
to where I grew up.

"I wanna take you back
to where it started,

"I wanna show you the
ingredients that created me."

That's what it's all about.

For years, North Preston had
been looked down on by everybody,

because of the negativity that
comes out of the community.

But the way I look at it, this
negativity, it's all over the world.

There's a lot of good things
that come out of this community

that are unheard-of, unseen.

[Cain] They don't see the good
and the great stuff that we have.

We have doctors, we have
lawyers, we have surgeons.

We have so much,
but that stuff never reaches the media.

I think that there's...

There's been a much more balanced
view of North Preston in recent years,

but for a long time,

we had areas that were considered
to be very heavily ridden with crime

and North Preston
was the same way.

The change of North Preston's
image has come from within.

People just want people
to see what's there,

which is a very vibrant
community of amazing people.

[Shaney Boy] North Preston's
been a threat to everybody

because this is the
foundation of everything.

People will get
North Preston confused,

but the world's confused.

The world's like
an upside-down map.

And everybody's confused.

If there was no confusion,
there wouldn't be no war.

There wouldn't be
no more fighting for nothing.

There'd be no struggles, there'd be
no change, there'd be no progress,

there'd be no nothing.

When we talk about
our educational system,

we still have too many of our young
people dropping out of school,

because our young people
will say,

"Why should we stay in school
if there is no economic light

at the end
of the educational tunnel?

Then why stay in school?"

Do we have to be concerned
that poverty has forced

a lot of our young men and young
women into lives of crime? Yes.

So, if you want to address
community crime,

address racism,
address poverty.

But, even as a pastor,

if I've got
this righteous rage in me,

just think about the young brothers
and sisters who are not pastors,

the kind of rage they have.

And if it is not dealt with,
it will manifest itself.

Right now,
we're turning on each other,

instead of turning to
each other.

But what happens

when we get tired
of turning on each other?

What happens
when we begin to realize

that the oppressor
is not our community,

and then we rise up
against the oppressor?

Hallelujah, hallelujah!
It all belongs to the Lord.

It all belongs to you,
Lord God.

Everything that I have,
everything that I am,

everything that I would
hope to be, Lord God,

it all belongs to you.

My mind, Lord God,
my body, Lord God,

everything belongs to you.

My soul belongs to you,
Lord God.

Let this church
always be a church of love.

- Lord God, and if it is not, remove anything...
- [woman] Yeah.

...that hinders love
from our bodies.

Remove the pettiness,
remove the spitefulness,

remove the bitterness,
remove the laziness,

remove all the ism
and the schisms, Lord God,

that would cause this church, Lord
God, not to be a beacon of love

and hope.

Love, and hope.

Coming down from the
mountain top of St. Thomas,

into the valley
of North Preston.

Remind us that these bodies
are temporary anyway.

What profits a person to gain
the world and lose their soul?

Forgive us, Lord God,
all of us.

This we ask, this we pray.

- Amen. Amen.
- [all] Amen.

[choir singing "Total Praise"]