Idris Elba ｜ Chunkz & Filly Show ｜ Episode 13

No, you are the coldest, you know. No, come on. Aye, what's that playing joint you did? Hijack. Yeah, incredible. Don't do that one. Oh yeah, do you see that? You know me, sorry. Allow me with the humble. Like, you are the ******* god. Come on, man. I'm just... Get your ass on the board. I think it just sunk in. This is not a joke, you know. This is legendary stuff. Yes, my people, it's Chunkz. Yes, it's your boy, Young Philly. And today we are back with the Chunkz and Philly show. Now, this is probably the most exciting guest we've ever had. And ever will have. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been the oldest guest here. It doesn't matter. No, the most handsome, the most handsome. Yeah, the most handsome guest. Have you been one of the man of the year kind of vibe like? I haven't been, no, no, no. I hosted GQ Man of the Year one time. Did you, yeah? I got it for 2016. No, you didn't. Yeah. What, who does that man of the year stuff? Why did you believe that? No, it was a lie. Who got sexiest man of the year or something? Oh, me. Yeah. Yeah, I got... You know you did, though. Man said, oh, me. Yeah, I swear. I thought he was talking about you. No, I'm saying that you got sexiest man of the year when? What year was it? Uh, I think it was 2017. Yeah, and I got 2018. I was the year after you. What, sexiest? Yeah. No, I see it. Yeah. Hopefully I'll win it one day, man. But first of all, no, no, but congratulations on your show. I'll watch your show. Thank you, man. Very informative. Well done, man. I didn't even get to the, to the intro, but yeah, this is Idris Alba for people that are listening in the, um, audio. Crazy, crazy, crazy achievement for us to be honest. I want to say thank you so much for coming down and coming out to the podcast, man. Thanks for having me. But I just want to talk quickly about first meeting Idris. Now, Philly, I don't know if I told you the story, but... No. Do you remember? Oh no. Nope. So let me tell you, just cause I remember. No shade though. I just don't remember when we first met. It was Soccer Aid. Oh, we met before that. We met before that. We did meet before Soccer Aid. So I'm the idiot then. I think we met with Maya. I was hanging out at one time, I was at a party. Yeah, but I was like, I'm talking more just on a conversation. Cause last time I, when I saw you with Maya, I think it was just kind of like in passing. I was like, why are you doing UK? You know what I mean? But I think from first time actually having dialogue was at Soccer Aid and it was, it was nuts. Cause I was just like flipping out. I've been watching this guy forever. And it's kind of like, he knows who I am. You know, it was just crazy, crazy. It's a real feeling, genuinely, man. And he actually spoke to me in Somali. You speak Somali? Well, two, two, two, two. Yes, because the missus is from, she's Somali. Come on, bro. But don't ask me to speak today. Give me a word. Only thing I can say is like, I love you. Sorry, that's a bit inappropriate. How do you say that? Uncle Jack live. Yeah! That's amazing. You don't know my brother. Come on man, I love people. Is it? I didn't know that. Nah, genuinely, I remember meeting him and I was thinking, this is surreal. I went back to the end and I told all the men and everyone was like, whoa, are you crazy? That's nuts. Cause obviously everyone watches The Wire and everyone watched it growing up. So it was kind of like a surreal moment for me. Um, but what about you, Philly? I actually don't know. How did you feel meeting me? No, I felt good meeting you. Now, you know what's funny? Cause, cause you're hilarious and, you know, a big personality watching you. And then, uh, I didn't realize like how serious you are as a sportsman. Like he loves it. He's just, he's not joking. When it's football, it's training. I was like, I'm running up and down. Like I'm really trying my best, bro. That's one thing with you, you're a mad fit. Yeah. A mad fit. He's a great player, but he's one of those players, like, you know what I mean? Like it's like, yo! Passionate, wants to win. I want to win! Yeah. How I met Idris, I actually don't remember. All I know is that I must've seen him somewhere, showed him mad love. Cause ever since then, we just see each other. And it's just, it's just hella respect between the both of us. I remember one time we was at a club somewhere and- I remember that night. Yeah. You know, you know, you know that night I was on a date, innit? That's right. I think you even told me! I enjoyed the date so much that I said, yo, we're going out. I've gone out. I've seen Idris in there. It is Mrs. I said, yo! It was sick still. Yeah, I remember that. You were sitting over there. I remember, I remember. Yeah. But let's get into the serious stuff. So I've recently seen that you've dropped a song. And the whole basis of the song was to promote knife crime. I feel like the first question I want to ask, based on me seeing that, is why did you do that? Okay. So firstly, just to say, it was a camp, it's a campaign. Nonstop Your Future is a campaign against knife crime, anti-knife crime. And the campaign is designed to sort of basically raise as much awareness about this, what I think is a crisis. You know what I mean? There's a lot of people getting hurt, murdered and getting sent to jail over knife crime. Okay. And I just feel like there's been this sort of like blinkered approach to how we approach it as a society. It feels like we just, just like, oh, it's not really my problem. It's not really my problem. That's really tragic when we see it on the news, but no one's really doing a collective effort, collective effort to sort of stamp it out. So I decided I'm going to try and use the platform. I've had Don't Stab Your Future for a long time. It's called Don't Stop Your Future, but originally it was called Don't Stab Your Future. And I've had it for about three or four years. And I decided that, you know what? I'm going to try and make a bigger push in 2024, because I'm just tired of seeing young people just getting murdered, seeing young people that really holding onto knives, not because they want to, but because it's protection, or because, you know, they're in a gang and that's their only family, or they haven't got any sort of like any, what's the word? Like a mentor to look up to, to help them navigate through a young life, right? So they carry this knife. It's part of their protection method. And they either end up dead, hurt badly, or in jail for a long time. And it's kind of like pointless. It's senseless. But why was that so? I'm so actually interested. Why was that important to you? Like, was it someone maybe close to you that got hurt? Like you were sitting in your house, and why did the thought and the feeling come to you? Like, why is it so important for you? You know what it is? Because I'm a parent. I've got three kids, you know what I mean? Two sons and a daughter. And whenever I see parents that have to bury their children because of something so senseless, as a parent, not as an actor or any activist, just as a parent, my heart bleeds. It's like, boy, you're not supposed to bury your children. They're meant to bury you. So first and foremost, before anyone has anything to say to me, it's the reason I'm on this so hard is because I have a kid, and I want him to live. I want his future to be secure. I don't want him to get into a mad beef because our society has decided to just overlook that you can get a knife online and just get into it really quickly. So that's my first thing. Secondly, I really do feel that when I was younger, I'm like 51 now, yeah? When I was about- Wow, you look amazing. Oh, thank you very much for saying that. You do, you look amazing. That's cool, man. Thank you very much. You look amazing. No, but when I was younger, like, I grew up in East London, Hackney, Cannontown. Both those areas are areas where, you know, the community was either black or brown or poor, right? And a bit of all of it. And in those communities, we've seen crime and violence, obviously. And I had a fork in the road a few times or end up down that route. The two things saved me. One, music, right? Being a DJ, my uncle was a DJ. My cousin's dad who's there, my late uncle, he was the one that got us into DJing early. He was like, no, you're not going out to play football. Come with me to lift boxes. And I was like, well, I don't want to lift boxes. But in the end, I ended up loving it. Yeah. I would go out with him and DJ. The other fork in the road is when I was sort of about 14 years old, I went to a boys' school in Cannontown. And Cannontown at the time was a National Front area. National Front was a sort of right-wing organisation just wanted black and brown people out. And in that area, I used to face it all the time, walking down the street. Oi, come here, you this. Oi, come here, that. You know what I mean? And you're getting chased and you're running for your life and all you're getting into scuffles. And them times, knife crime wasn't as big as it was, but people carried knives. And that fork in the road for me was, my drama teacher saying, you're really good at acting, you know? Why don't you come to the extra classes? Boy. And you go to a boys' school and everyone's playing football outside or going on after school to do something and you're going to drama class. That was a definite moment for me there. Just very quickly, I had a debate once with Harry Pinero and I've always believed you have a choice. Like you specifically said there was two paths you could have gone down, but you chose to make the other choice. Both of you, so question for you, Chunks and Idris. Do you feel like you have a choice or do you feel like your environment really pushes you to that sort of lifestyle? I think it's a mix of both, in my opinion. I feel like it's very case by case because there are a lot of situations, for example, like a lot of cases that there are, I'm just an example, of course, like there's a kid in his area, his mum's a single mother. She's struggling with the finances, et cetera. And he feels like he has to, this is his only option as a 16 year old man. That he has to now do X, Y, and Z. It might be illegal, of course, to provide for his own family. Of course, when it comes to law, it's not right what he's doing, but on a humane and morality kind of basis, it's kind of like you have more understanding. And because of the fact that we are from the same upbringing as these kinds of guys, we have more understanding to it compared to somebody else, you know? So I feel like, of course you have a choice, but then it's also like you can be pushed into a corner. You know what I mean? I don't agree that you should ever be killing anybody. I don't think you ever should do that. You know what I mean? There's always a justice system for it. But I feel like in terms of, which is probably coming off the angle a bit of knife crime, it's more just crime in general. I do have more of an understanding because of the fact that I had that choice. Because I had friends that had that upbringing, but I decided to just stay and left because I was scared of my parents, if I'm honest, you know what I mean? And I was like, I don't wanna make them sad, basically. I never wanted to see my mum cry. Because you mentioned your uncle. So then where does, basically what I'm trying to ask lads is where does it stem from? It's that nature, it's that age old question of nature and nurture, you know what I mean? I think it's like, it's all substantial, it's all circumstantial, it's all case by case, objective. So I will never stand here and think, you shouldn't have done that or you shouldn't have done this. Instead you should have, bro, we don't know what opportunities they had growing up. Also, I feel like the thing about raising awareness, right? It's not just about saying, oh, you've got a choice. It's just making you see that, where I thought I had this way or that way, I probably had this way and that way and that way. But when you're younger, you can't see that scope. When you're younger, you just focus on them. So that young man that he's talking about, it's like, yo, I've got to feed my family. My mum's struggling, boy, if I shank a man, I'll get that watch, I'm gonna give her two bags. That isn't the only choice he's got. But at the junction that he is, from his limited perspective, like I said, blinkers, that's all he can see. And I understand that, you know what I mean? Especially when you come from a poor community, you know what I mean? Where, you know, you know what I mean? Like, you just haven't got that abundance of choices coming your way. It's not like people are coming up to you, be like, hey, son, do you want a job? I'll give you, no, it's not like that. And social media has made it even worse. Yeah, and social media is, yeah. People have to live up to some certain expectation as a standard that's not realistic. You know what I mean? Everybody's got designers and watches online and then all their rappers, their favourite rappers talking about Lamborghinis, et cetera. And it's kind of like, well, I want that. And I want it now. You know what I mean? So it just gives them unnecessary pressure. And I feel like, of course, social media has only gotten bigger. So I feel like that as a reason, maybe as to why the knife crime has even gone bigger, because we were speaking off camera quickly and Philly mentioned the fact that he thought that it was going down. Yeah, I thought it was worse growing up. He said, oh, it was probably worse growing up. And statistically, I could be incorrect, but maybe you could provide some insight. But I feel like it's gone worse as the time's gone on. And maybe you wouldn't obviously be aware of it because it's not your surroundings anymore. And we're now 27, 28, you know what I mean? 51, looking lovely. So it's like, that's probably the reason as to why you feel like it's not as there. Yeah, your perspective changes. So to your point, like knife crime has always seen waves, ups and downs. Okay. And we're in a down, as in there's more happening right now. And it's spreading across the nation where London had a fever pitch at one point. Now the fever pitch is in the Midlands. Yo, I thought it was just London. That wasn't us. And that's a big misconception. I think the media has a lot to do with this, is that it is always described as a London problem. And furthermore, it's always described as a black and brown problem. And that is definitely wrong because that's not what the stats are telling us. The stats are saying it is a much wider nationwide issue. It is affecting all ethnicities, not just black and brown. And the point is that really like striving home is that the areas where funding in those areas for youth services have been declined. We're seeing a spike in crime. Of course that's going to happen. Where are these youths getting their knives from though? No, bro. So listen, I'm saying in general. Buying them from where? Bro, there's no restrictions. There's no teller like, because I could buy a knife on Amazon now, innit? There's no poles in the system. Like for example, now, obviously back in the days when we were 13, 14, I've been stabbed when I was 13. I got stabbed in my knee. I was in and around the wrong crowd of people. And my mum and dad always tell me to avoid chilling with these people. And it was kind of like, well, they're my friends. They're my brothers, et cetera. And it's kind of like then being in and amongst it and then being stabbed, thinking I don't ever want to feel this pain again. I remember seeing my mum's reaction, like brother, it was so emotional. I just seen her burst into tears. And whereas all my brothers and my guys weren't there, you know, so it was kind of like, and who's going to be there for you? Your mum and dad and your sisters and brothers that are there crying for you and waiting for the police to come in the ambulance. So it was kind of like putting it into perspective. I feel like it sounds crazy, but I was lucky to have that experience because it made me, you know what I mean? Get away from that. So I feel like it wasn't life threatening. Of course it was just my knee, but it was like something that made me realise if I not stay on this path, it could really go left for me. But I feel like, like I said, with the knife stuff, there's loopholes in the system because when we were younger, there was just like maybe like a three, four inch blade and stuff. Now there's things called zombie knives, ZKs. I'm sure you've heard of that. Do you know what the zombie knives are? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why the big campaign for me is to try and get the zombie knives, the machetes, the samurais basically banned. So, you know, there's a whole distribution chain is how you can get them. Someone has got a warehouse somewhere where they're sitting there. Someone puts an order on the web. Someone picks it up in a delivery car or the Royal Mail and delivers it to someone. All right. And that whole chain, I need to disrupt it because I feel like, you know, we can't stop gang violence. We're never going to understand it. The government's never going to understand that. The police are never going to understand that. But the actual delivering of knives, that's a commerce. That's a black and white commerce. And I feel like symbolically, if this country says, we have no tolerance for these knives because there's no place for them. It's not like man's gardening. You know what I mean? Like, why do you have a samurai? You're not in martial arts. The zombie knife, you've seen these. And obviously, listen, like I say, I'm not here to preach. My thing is we've got to raise awareness. There's a you somewhere with a zombie knife that's bigger than his leg and he's carrying it because of power or protection. Power to be like, yo, I'm the man. No one's taking it from me. All right, or what if they get me and I haven't got nothing on me? Yeah, and I don't want to touch on that because I feel like it's very easy to be sat here and saying to these kids, of course, like you need to drop the knife, drop the weapons, et cetera. But I feel like I'm sure you've seen that video clip that went viral recently about the kid that was in a shop, a chicken shop. If you don't understand, I'll show you after. He was in a chicken shop. He was with, I think, somebody. And he's just there chilling. And you see that on the camera, there's two guys walking in the chicken shop with a knife, right? He's now turned around and then he's startled because he's seen them coming inside the shop with a knife. They've got two. So he's just ordering a munch. He's ordering a munch. Yeah, two guys have walked in. He's now turned around and seen the guys. They've got these ZK big zombie knife flipping machetes and then he's drawn his one out. So as he's drawn his one out, they've now been startled by the fact that they've got these knives as well. So it's just like, can they stand still? They had these tools, they're just thrown at each other. And then these two have decided to run away. That guy, that kid now in the shop, if he didn't have a knife on him, let's be honest, like it would have probably been morbid and he would have died. You know what I mean? Or been stabbed at least. It would have been bad. So it's kind of like, how are you now going to tell this kid that saved himself by having a knife? Ah, drop your weapons. I don't know, what do we do, bro? So hence reason, that's what I'm trying to, that's what I'm, it's a question, of course. Yeah. And there's no answers because at the end of the day, government don't know what to do. You know what I mean? Let's be honest. Like, like you said yourself about the fact that there's been an increase in crime when you've decreased the community centers. When I was growing up, I had community centers and I feel like a lot of kids were the reason, the reason they're not on the road life now is because of the fact that we could play ping pong, we could play football. There was like people that were older than us in their 30s and 40s telling us not to do this because they've been to prison. And generally that actually helped us a lot, in my opinion, definitely helped me as well. But it's kind of like, now they're deciding to lower the funding and what do you think, what do you expect to happen? It's like, what are they going to do? Do you know what I mean? You know, you've got these youths and they, if a youth center, they've got two adults that run that youth center and that's an adult that can talk to them on a level, not a parent, not a teacher, but someone that's like, yeah, yeah, come in my year. Oh, you've got beef with him, man. Just squash that, don't worry about that, blah, blah, blah. And they end up being friends. Yeah, give you a perspective. That person right there, that salary that you're giving that person to be there 24 hours to these kids is worth its weight in gold because these kids need the mental. So if you cut the services, because it's not the question is like, oh, well, our council haven't got money for this, that and the other. So we have to make cuts somewhere. Well, if you cut those services, then you're literally perpetuating a bigger problem because you're also spending money on the police when they come in and deal with a stabbing, paramedic, you're spending on a hospital bed, you're spending, the whole gamut costs more money than the salary of two youth workers. Wow, yeah, that's deep, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but for real, it's like, they look at it like that. Because I've heard that argument, oh, well, there's a lot of cuts, where are we supposed to get the money from? Or just think about, can you afford not to? Can you afford not to? Because if crime's going up and it costs you this much money for crime prevention, police, all the services that taxpayers pay, and you did the math, if you just put a bit more money in the youth services, you might save that money. Save lives at the end of the day. Save lives. I feel like the main problem as well for me would be the fact that it's so easy to get a knife. That's the main issue. It's like, I ordered one off Amazon recently, right? Because obviously I want to start to get into my cooking bag, right? So I ordered like these big knives, of course, whatever. And all Amazon said to me was, are you, because my, you know, they said, what's your age? I said, I'm 27. All right, thank you, mate. Enough. And they just gave it to me, bro. It's like, of course, I know what I'm going to do with a knife. You know, I'm making food, brother. But it's kind of like, it's very unsettling that I could just get a knife that easy. Because imagine somebody that's 16, 17 and they're thinking, I want to order a knife from Amazon and it just comes to them. You know, you can just fake an age. It's like, there needs to be restrictions. Kitchen knives are one thing, but the zombie knives are another thing. And the thing is, I think the tech companies have to also sit at the table about how they can help intervene. Because if I say the word knife now in front of my phone, guaranteed somewhere in my timeline, I'm going to see a knife, something's going to happen, knife crime's going to come up. That is an algorithm that's not helping the situation. To your point earlier about social media, like amplifying the situation. It's like, you can get advertised on your phone a knife. You know what I mean? It's crazy. And if you're 12 and your mom and dad got you an iPhone 15 for Christmas, that's your portal to it straight away. Man, that man tried for me. I'm going to try and get this knife. Obviously, tech companies can help that. And I think the government need to apply pressure on the tech companies, on the manufacturers, on the whole loophole and be like, all right, can't get these into the, you know, if it's a zombie knife, we don't need it in this country. When they had those dogs, I think it was like the XL bully dog. They're banned now, no? Yeah. How quickly did they do that? Banned it in six months. Yeah. Oh, I get you man. As in, as in, as in. No, no, no, I get the point, I get the point. You like me, can I get the point? Exactly. Because, controversial, I don't want to be cancelled. But the truth is, this is an animal pet loving country. Okay. Our, you know, we're very, you know, conscious of animals and pets and dogs. You know what I'm saying? It's like, in television and film, if there's a dog that dies, most people switch off quick. They're like, oh no, no, no, I'm not interested in that, right? That's how conscious we are. We love our animals. And that's why I suspect that when the bully dog came over and it was biting people and biting children and da-da-da-da-da, it was right at the consciousness of the parliament. MPs got it through very quickly. When it comes to knife crime, it's kind of like, it's a community problem. It's a black problem. Oh, it's a poor problem. It's like, it's not at the consciousness where people are going, okay, okay, let's just stop this now. Because it can be done quickly. Yeah, I was going to just say that. It just goes to show, innit, if they really wanted to do something about it. I genuinely believe, and now this is my standpoint on it, like genuinely, right? And this is my opinion at the end of the day. Like, you can get angry on me for all you want. Like, I genuinely believe that it is an issue that they can resolve, or not necessarily resolve, but definitely decrease and improve. But I just feel like they're deciding, there's no pros to that for them. You know what I mean? Because I don't know what that's going to involve. It's going to involve looking after the poor communities. Of course, with the government we have in place right now, their target audience isn't the poor communities because we wouldn't have voted for them in the first place. You know what I mean? But I feel like at the end of the day, like, let's be honest, that's the main issue about it. I feel like with the governments, it's like, they don't really care about this issue. And they have issues with the exile bully dogs, which just shows you, with six months in and out, they've changed the whole law. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like, if you really wanted to, you can make it harder, but you're deciding not to. So I feel like that's where we need to approach. And number one, that's the number one place. Number two would be the kids. Now, what would your opinion be on the best resolution in terms of making sure that these kids are putting down the knives? Listening to them, come on, listening to them. When do we get, you know, every radio station, every TV show is an adult. Where do you get in the young youths having these conversations? I mean, big up to my brothers. No, no, but he's right. You know, he's right. Where are the forums where young people can discuss this? Because you know what I mean? Like people think kids are kids are kids. They're not. Once you're past 12, you're practically a young adult in this day and age. You know what I mean? And if you go to prison, you're only getting this much grace before you are treated like an adult in prison. So that area of youth voice, where are we hearing it? Why is it no young people in parliament, in the MP's office, sitting down with the mayor, discussing the real issues? You know what I mean? And if not the young people, the parents of the young people, because the young parents of victims are the most clued up on this subject. I'm a voice. I'm an activist. I'm a flag bearer, but I'm not an expert. When I sat down with the parents, the mothers especially, because they have to trace back what happened to their child to the minute detail. Dude, we need to listen to these people. I say we need to listen to young people more, have more podcasts of like, all right, talk to us about the beef. What is it about? Let's understand it. Because the more we can understand what's going on, the better we can help them or intervene. And even what we're doing now, I know it's going to help so many people. I like going to clubs. And I remember I left this club once and there was loads of Somali kids outside the club. And all of my boys thought I'm easy, but I'm a man that stands on my own too. You know what I'm saying? No one doesn't really make me feel uncomfortable. So I've gone over to one of the Somali youths and I've gone, why you man out here? And he's looked at my watch. So he was just basically implying that they're out here to rob people. Do you get what I'm saying? I took the youth aside. I think I made him sit in my car. I can't remember even how it went. But I'm talking to the guy now and I've got through to him so much to the point that I've got him on Snapchat. Do you know what I mean? He's messaged me like a week later and I've messaged him and I've gone like, remember what I said to you, none of this is worth it. The risk is not bigger than the reward. Do you get what I'm saying? What can happen to you from what you're going to get out of that little eight bag kettle is not worth it. So I feel like what you're doing is amazing. I feel like what we're doing now, we've been having this conversation on this podcast. It's going to touch people. So I feel like another way for us to improve on it is people within our position of power to do stuff about it. Do you get what I'm saying? We're doing our little two pence here, but just even alone having this convo, Ian Wright's done something. He bought a cage on the estate that he grew up in. Do you get what I'm saying? And I feel like it's affected everybody. Like, I feel like, for example, I know somebody that's been affected by knife crime. I have myself. Have you, I'm sure you probably know somebody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, so it's like very close to home. So I feel like it's something that everybody's experienced or heard of. And it's like one of my best friends has been stabbed, you know, my friend I'm talking about. So it's kind of like it happens so often, but I think it's kind of swept under the rug, which is kind of crazy. But I had a question for you, of course, because I'm not sure that you're even aware of the quote unquote for the audio listeners. No, I'm okay. And the quote unquote controversy regarding you being the flag bearer in itself. Because obviously Idris Elba, everybody knows him for all his acting that you've done, obviously, as well as your music. But I feel like maybe in the roles that you play, a majority of them obviously could be quote unquote, again, violent and angry and et cetera. So it's kind of like, why do you feel like you are the right spokesperson? And why, you know what I mean? Why do you feel like people should listen to you? Because, well, you're just only helping the people's mindsets. You know what I'm trying to say? I mean, I feel like, look, you know, films are films are films. Filming violence in film, you know what I mean? Does to some degree glorify violence to some degree. But you're sitting in a film knowing that it's fake. It's fiction. You know, it's fake. You know that that is an actor that is not real life. You know, you know, it's kind of like, let's say superheroes is probably the biggest genre currently, right? It makes the most money, but you don't see people running around with capes, you know, or jumping off thingy. You know what I mean? You know, and audiences know that there is a, there's a reality that I can take with me and there's definitely some I can't. That said, I'm not here justifying violence, but films are escapism. It's exactly it. It is very different from a you in a community who's nervous about going out in his own community. It's very, very different. Okay. A guy that's got a knife in his pocket just to go to the chicken shop. It's very different from a character in a film. You know what I'm saying? I don't, I don't see the correlation. I feel like anyone that wants to use that as some sort of like, well, why should they listen to me? The only reason I should listen to me is because I care enough and I'm a parent and I've got a soap box. I don't feel that I am a knife crime expert. I'm not here to be the flag bearer, so to speak. I just feel like this is a society problem that we need to address. If I wasn't an actor, I'd still have the same voice about it. If I wasn't in films, you know what I mean? So I think that, you know what I mean? I've seen some of the reports. It's like, oh, this is a bit hypocritical, bro. That's lazy journalism to me. I mean, come on. You're going to say something to me, say something about my campaign. Don't ask me about my movies because you and I both know that is fake. It's fiction. It's got nothing to do with a kid on an estate right now that's holding a shank and wondering, boy, is he going to get hurt today? That is more about he's not safe in his community. He doesn't feel like the police have got his back. He's not sure because he's watching the government not really handle it in the same way that he would like to be protected. He knows that he's got to protect himself. What's that got to do with movies? Big Idris Elba needs to do this, bro. Like, that's the way I would look at you. See, if I worked at the Daily Mail and I'm like, right, Idris was all over, like, being a voice for the youth and knife campaigns. I'd be like, wow, this must, the man must really care. Like, for you to create that story. Did you get what I'm saying? Good news don't sell. Let's be honest. Like, gossip and propaganda has been a thing of how many years. So it's like, it's the age old thing. But the way I see it is this, is that if they're, at least someone's reading it going, huh, he's done about knife crime. They got an opinion about it where they might not have even had an opinion about it. You know what they say, all press, in my opinion, if that's the story that you want to run with, great. But at least get people talking about knife crime. But I feel like, you know, the oldest in my area when I was like the 12s, the 11s, the 10, 13, 14, however old I was, like the oldest in my area would be smoking their weed and watching us play football and the youngers and that, but they'll tell us, yo, stay off the roads, little man. You know what I mean? So it's like, they're in and amongst it. They have their ops and et cetera, but they're telling me and my friends, make sure you don't do this. This isn't cool, you know? And I really respect that because of the fact that they could glorify and say, work for me and I'll give you 50 pounds. 50 pounds to me at 10 years old was a million pounds. I'll do anything for that. You know what I mean? But they're the ones saying to me, even if I like, I remember a couple of my friends would go up to me and be like, yo, I want to make money quickly. Stay off that, man. You're not, you're a good youth, man. You don't do that. You know what I'm trying to say? Yeah, yeah, no, there were certain oldies like that. That's mentorship, man. Mentor, that's right. Community, you know, without even realizing you was being mentored, you know. Oh bro, if right now that man said to him, yes, I will let you in. All of a sudden he makes him sell this and then he loses that and now you owe him money. And then you're 14, 15, 16 and you're just getting older. And then you're in post-cold wars and all of a sudden you're carrying a knife. It's like, this is where it all starts at the end of the day. And of course it's like not having that mentorship or let's say you're like your brothers or your dad. And it's just been in and amongst the judiciary system where you're just nonstop being in prison. How are you going to come out of that cycle, bro? It's mentors. And this is why, again, I'm going to relay back on the point that they need to reinstall these funds where they're making these community centers. And that's what helped me. What were you going to say, sir? I was going to say, like, when you say like playing football on the street and that it's like, I don't even see kids doing that. And I'm like, bro, bro. The flipping cage I used to play at is empty. When I go to my mum's yard, I'm driving past and I've seen the cage empty. And I'm thinking that was rammed. 10 years ago, like 15 years ago, I was in there every day with a man from flipping 12 PM to 7 PM until it went dark. And my mum would run outside and say, come back in. Come back in. Like, bro, these were the days. Like now everybody's just at yard. Like I got my nephew. I told you he was three years old and he could type in my password of my iPhone and then go on YouTube and write something on YouTube. I'm thinking, when did they do this? Like, you know what I mean? It's like they're too advanced, but I feel like that's what ruins their brain, in my opinion, of course. Even in schools, it could start from schools, because I remember in school, I had a big up Paul, man. There was a guy called Paul and he used to manage a Sunday league team as well, but they hired him in the school to be that mentor for the bad youths. Do you get what I'm saying? All the bad youths would go and see Paul. Ah, that's all, Mr. JJ, Mr. JJ, yeah. So I feel like it starts from school because that's where you spend the majority of your time. Do you get what I'm saying? So I feel like, again, funds, innit? Two funds though, innit? You know, like when the government's examining, how do we do that then? How do we put more money into youth centres? Definitely look at the schools as a fulcrum, because, you know what I mean, like you said, I remember, you know what I mean, older actor, his name's Paul Barber. He came, he was in the Full Monty, one of those old ones. He came to my drama school. He's mixed race. And he was the first sort of black actor that I sort of was like, ah, this is great. And he sat down in the drama team and he was talking about, you know, this is what my career's like, blah, blah, blah. And he single-handedly influenced me to be like, yeah, I can do this. Because I could see someone that was actually doing it. It looked, well, it's different, but it looked like me, you know what I mean? And he was in the classroom talking about it. He was big on the TV them time there. Those mentors, man, we can't overlook them. We can't overlook them. We need the government to say, right, well, maybe- I'd like to do that. No, I feel like you touched on a great point, which is where do kids spend majority of their time as kids, like from 11 to 17 or 18 now, they're changing the laws? So I feel like that is a very good, I didn't even think about that. I would like to go into a school, you know? And just talk to the kids. You would shut it down. If you did a school tour, and people would be like, right, what was that? What, Philly came to the school? He came for one hour and all he did, in fact, you should do your podcast live from the schools one day. That would be cool. That's a cool idea on tour. Just talk about it. Because it will change one of those people. At least if we're doing it, you know? That's what you said to my brother. Yeah, I said, for me, it's always been a thing where it's the cliche of if we change at least one person's mindset, but we really mean that. It's a thing where that person, his family can now still have him in his life. And whereas if we didn't have that talk, imagine that he wasn't there. Do you know what I mean? So it's like trying to avoid, I don't know, you still got to start small because I feel like you had that point of being the 10-year-old now is what you're concerned for. Because of course, when they turn 17, 18, hopefully that's the thing that changes there. Yeah, I mean, it's a marathon, not a sprint, right? It's going to take time. So I'm trying to, you know what I mean? Like there's a 10, 11-year-old right now that's like literally got that fork in the road. He sees Idris Elba on some video rapping about knife crime and he's about to get one. He might go, raw. Then before you know it, he's down a rabbit hole looking at stories about kids that have gone to jail, how ugly it is in jail for kids. And he's going, you know what? Maybe I won't do it. Maybe I'll go out and play in a cage and play football for a half a day. If I win one of those kids, that's the point here. By God willing, we've had an impact on a young person watching this right now, man. That would be amazing. One thing I want to ask you is portraying these characters, how do you get into that role? Like, is there any type of motivation from your upbringing or like seeing the people around you? How do you get into that bag? I mean, listen, I mean, I think, you know, playing Stringer Bell especially, right, is a drug dealer and someone that was trying to get off the streets, you know what I mean? Like I grew up in Dalston, which is super trendy, but back then Dalston weren't trendy. It was a frontline, you know what I mean? Where people come and got their weed, got their little ting or whatever. But the drug dealers them times there were business people. They weren't, you know what I mean? They were nice guys. It's like, yo, how are you, are you good, man? It wasn't like shady and da-da-da-da-da. These drug dealers had charisma and they were always side hustling this little bag doing something else. That man had a garage or, you know what I mean? He was a DJ, but he was doing this. So my influence on Stringer Bell was what I grew up with. You know what I mean? Like drug dealers were smooth. They were nice people. They were trying to get out of the hood. They were always like making sure the kids didn't follow them. You know what I'm saying? So, you know what I mean? I remember being in Baltimore. I was like, this is like 22 years ago and coming around and thinking, wow. You know, we all see Nino Brown from New Jack City them time there, all those type of drug dealers. And I was like, no, I want to try and approach this differently. I want to try and approach this like the suits and smile gangsters that I grew up in London. And that's where it came from. But actually the real Stringer Bell is a real gentleman who, you know, he's an actual businessman. And he was part of that time period in Baltimore, DC, where they were pushing a lot of weight. And he was a businessman. He got out and he's not dead. He got out, did his thing. But, you know what I mean? I had a real person as an influence as well. But it just reminded me of my youth. Like the people in East London that were just different. I mean, driving around in Beamers and just being nice people. They weren't gangsters, if you know what I mean. Just wanted their money. So for you, what are the next, like what are the first steps in order to try and like minimize the numbers and try to get these knives off these streets? Cause I'm like, what are you going to tell people right now that there's somebody at home? Of course, there's loads of kids at home that know their ops, that know the people they have beef with. Therefore they don't want, the problem I have is the people that just carry a knife knowing that nobody has a problem with them. Like just ifs and what's and maybes, you know, that's the problem. That's come on now. You need to be smarter than that. But I feel like people like that kid from the video, which knows he has people that want to stab him constantly. How are you now going to tell him to drop that knife? That's very important for me. I know. I mean, I really feel like, first of all, you know, the stage is on me is for government intervention to just take knives off out of the commerce. So when no one's making money, no one's selling, no one's buying them. Okay. Let's just deal with that problem first. Okay. The layered problem, secondly, of communities and how we intervene with young people. For me, young people need to understand what the consequences of their actions might be. You get me? Like if you end up in the back of an ambulance with a stab wound and you die, and you're dying, bleeding out because someone left you on the pavement for a long time and didn't know what to do, you need to think about that while you're carrying this knife. Also, if you're someone that just took someone, you're running for your life, at some point it will catch up with you. And when it does, that life in prison is not fun. Okay. It's a long stretch and it's just not fun for you. You know what I mean? Like just remember, whatever beef's going on in your community, right? Do you remember who you had beef with when you were 12? Exactly. You know what I mean? I get it. If you're 15 and then imagine what you're going to be at 25 years old, having done a 10 stretch, all right? Or you're dead. Like if you put yourself in a position and be like, is it really worth it? Is it really worth it? That's the point that I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to tell you, L, squash the beef, you know, gangs and gangs, dah, dah, dah. I get it. You know what I mean? People are in communities where they feel they have to have it as protection. But I just want you to think about, yo, what if I get caught with it? What if I get hurt? What's going to happen to my family? What's going to happen to my mom, my sisters, my brothers and everyone, okay? What's going to happen to my education and my future? Like, it's dead. Now, I'm hoping, I haven't mentioned this, but I'm going to see some people in prison and have a conversation about what it is like for them now and what might they have done differently. Because I think that's going to help me understand how to articulate, okay, what I think young people should be thinking about. And as I sit here, I feel like, I just wish someone had told a young man, listen, bruh, go this way. Don't go that way. Because if you go that way, you're going to be sitting in that jail cell for 17 hours of your day for a good amount of time. And that is no life. And I just wish that, and I don't want to be that person that's like, oh, you need to do this or do that. I just want to shed light on the opportunities or the opportunities for change. You know what I mean? And have you been on the grounds in terms of like removing knives from particular areas? And have you done this type of stuff? Big up to Farron. Farron, who's, he's got Faz Amnesty, who's a young man that- Gets rid of the knives. Literally goes to neighborhoods, picks up knives of people that want to get rid of them. I went on a run with him one time. It was in North London. And it was, man, I've got so much respect for Farron. He does not have to do it. He does not get funding from the government. And anytime he goes to the police with these knives, he gets questioned about it. Like, where'd you get these? He's putting himself on the line. Oh my God. But big up to him. No, big up to him. When I went, it was interesting because I didn't meet the person because they didn't want to meet me. They knew I was there. They was like, oh, big up. He just went, I don't want to be on camera. I don't want to be there. So I stayed away. But Farron came back and he's like, yo, man, the guy is just scared. He just wants to get rid of it. Just want, he doesn't want it in his life. And he was a little bit older now. So he's just like, man, this is going to get me into trouble. And he doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't know what to do with the knife. That's the other thing. It's like, oh, I've got it now. I bought it. I'm hiding it in my bedroom. I'm hiding it somewhere. What do I do? If Farron says, listen, I'll take that burden from you. No questions asked and get rid of it. And so like, big up to Farron for doing that, man. Like Farron's, you know, I just think that we just need more mentorship, more like you people talking about this stuff. You know what I mean? We're not going to solve it overnight. The more people that get together and be like, all right, what if the schools worked with the police a little bit more and the health services worked with youth services a little bit more? Because someone in a hospital, like a paramedic who picks up a young kid, he's the first person that person's looking at him like, yo, save my life, save my life. They end up talking to that person. They end up talking to that paramedic. That paramedic will be like, all right, cool. I've understood what he was going through. He was very, very scared. If he had done this and this and this and he tells the youth services that or tells the schools that, then we might be able to sort of like eradicate the problem before. Everyone's talking to each other. You understand what I'm saying? It's kind of like, you know, when you've got a football team, you know what I mean? You know that the physio guys are definitely talking to the kit guys. Why are they talking to them? Because yo, this guy's legs not working properly. So make sure his kit's got the proper things on. It's that kind of connectivity that we need to approach this. Yeah, because we don't have that. And of course, like you said, you've been doing this for three to four years. Yeah, Don't Stop Your Future has been around for about four years. So why is it that 2024 now it's like reignited that fire in you? And why is it now the loudest it's ever been? Well, I think now more than ever, just because there's just more bloodshed, there's more people, more young people going to jail, more young people carrying knives and getting into trouble. And I've been planning this campaign to like boost it from October 23. And I was going to do it right before Christmas. But I thought to myself, you know what? The world is so grim right now. With the wars that are going on, it's so much grim. I thought, you know what? I'm going to start it in 24 where everyone's got a focus, new energy and blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, is that I just feel like our government needs to make a step up. It's like, not just a, let's talk about it a bit more. No, no, no, no. Make us do something for the country so that young people will be like, all right, we do care over here. You know, that's why. Thank you, man. Yeah, it's good. Glad we did this, man. I'm glad we've had this conversation for real. Yeah. I'm glad that you guys got me on here, man. I know it's a bit serious. No, it's good. We can't just live life every day thinking everything's- Can't be oblivious to it, man. And I feel like, like I said, it's something that's affected me when I was a kid. And I've genuinely got like a fear of knives now. Like I can't even, if somebody's got a knife in front of me, like I don't want them to, if they like try to wave in front, like I don't like all of that. I genuinely have a problem with seeing knives. And even the way I handle it, like I'm much more careful because I know the damage it can do. Like that went through my skin, like it was butter, bro. Genuinely, it was so quick. And till today, the worst pain I've ever had in my life. So I just don't want that for any of these kids, man. People that are 12, 13, they shouldn't be experiencing this type of stuff. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like, if you are that kid that's confused and don't understand where you stand in your community, it's just kind of like, just know that the knife isn't the way forward. And I feel like all these kids don't actually think about the consequences. They think I can be outside and nobody will catch me because I have a knife. Like, well, why would they get me? It's like, it's going to happen. And they've made it even harder for you to carry a knife because now they've made it, the sanctions even worse, right? Because I remember before it was like, sometimes six months or, now they're talking years in prison just for having a knife. So it's just, it's not worth it. In all honesty, it's really not worth it, man. But that's not even really eradicating a problem. That's harder sentencing doesn't necessarily eradicate. Because they're doing everything around, like the main issue, which is actually trying to just attack it heads on and realize what it is that's happening. And we've already mentioned those points throughout the podcast, but I feel like it's just kind of like, all the, there's much better ways that you can handle it, man. And I feel like maybe there is, they do know what to do, but they just decided not to do it. Maybe, I don't know. I think that's why having these dialogues from community leaders, right? And I say community because, you know, I feel part of the community, wherever, you know what I mean? Black, brown or whatever. I feel part of the community. I speak to a young demographic and I don't think the government actually knows what to do. And that's fair enough because it's a complex thing. It's a complex thing. I feel like we've got to get together and sort of help them understand it a bit better. We need the police to understand it a bit better. You know what I'm saying? I understand where they're coming from for that point, but I also feel like they know more than they're letting off in my opinion. I feel like if the government know that this isn't the best they can do because it shouldn't just be going up. Like, I understand if there's a now a small progression of it going, like a regression, sorry, of it going down and we can take that. I understand. You know what I mean? We understand that everything's not done overnight, but don't tell me it's going up and you still don't know what to do. Like, come on, man, you're taking a piss. Like, you know what to do and other things. But now when it comes to people dying, like you're kind of like, we don't know. I'm like, come on, bro. We're smarter than that. You know what I mean? But no, generally, I do appreciate you coming along and speaking about these issues because there's things that we do need to highlight. And I feel like even us, like it's opened my eyes to it because it's like, like I said, I've been affected by this and just now thinking back at it, I'm thinking why didn't I ever mention it even more? You know? So it's something that I would love to do. I'm sure Philly, like you said, you've highlighted you'd love to do. And maybe- School's talk. I think it's just amazing, not even that you just come on here and talk about it, that you care so much. Do you get what I'm saying? I feel like it's so important for not just you, not just us, but for loads of people in our position that come from our communities to care more. Do you get what I'm saying? Because I've always used this, this as an example, like you all get caught in the end, man. If Pablo Escobar got caught in an era where wifi and cameras didn't exist, then Brad Ivan's getting caught, man. We'll catch up with you. It's going to catch up. Yeah, exactly. But I will say this, like I feel people are a bit lost sometimes, like, well, what can I do? I'm just a dad in my community. What can I do? All you can do is have the conversations. If you've got a young you in your circumference, just sit him down and be like, yo, what's the fork in your road right now? What do you want to do? What is pulling your attention? I saw a video. I mean, having that chat. It was some guy, some kid in America. He was about, I don't know, 15 to 18. He's run up in the house with a gun, not knowing that the homeowner also had a gun. So now they've both got their guns to each other and he's gone. I'm going to put my gun down. Let's just talk. Bring him into his yard, bro. And he started reasoning. I just thought, mad. Like the power of a conversation. Do you get what I'm saying? It's breaking it down to him like, yeah, I'm going through this, that. I need money, mumsy. Do you get what I'm saying? And he's just going, nah, bro. Like this ain't no way. Do you know what I mean? It could have died right now. There you go. For everyone that's even watching this and listening, if you do know that friend that does carry a knife, potentially, or in and amongst the community where you can speak to people like, and you're thinking in your head, that's not my business. I ain't going to talk about it. Cause I can't like, I've had that standpoint as well. It was kind of like, I don't understand this life. So I'm now not going to sit down with you and act like I know what you're doing. You know what I mean? Just a conversation will help, man. It's not necessarily you telling them, put down that knife. Don't do that. It's more just understanding why the reason they have it. And maybe if there's a reason where you feel like you can have answers towards, like just talk to them. And even if you don't know how to have the conversation, use this podcast as the conversation for them. Just send the link. You know what I mean? Or just send a clip of us talking about a certain moment within it that maybe can relate to someone that you know. You know what I mean? Also, listen, there are amazing youth and knife crime, anti-knife crime organizations that are out there, right? And they just need someone to listen to them. You know what I'm saying? The more we can big up those organizations, like the Ben Kinsella Foundation, the Steel Warriors who take knives and turn them into like gyms and whatever. There's these great organizations. And that's mad. You know, like in the parks and stuff like that, they'll make them out of knives. Make them out of knives and that. That's great. So like, don't stop your future. I sell hoodies, t-shirts. Every penny that I get for these things, I give to an organization. So, you know what I mean? If you want to support and you're not sure, buy a hoodie, wear the acronym, because none of that money comes to me. I just basically pick an organization and give them a check. Is this the thing right here? I did a collaboration with the NFL, big up to the NFL, because they were like, yo, we see this in America and we see this. So they did an exclusive collaboration with me. And those shirts went, they went in America as well. And they was like, no, we want to support anything against youth crime. All the links will be in the description for everything you just mentioned as well. Like, that's the next steps, I feel like. But separately, obviously, I know we've been taking it very serious, but how's your life been, man? How's everything? I'm all right, man. How's your mental health? How's everything, man? Mental health. Last year was a tough year for me. I lost a couple of people in my family that I didn't expect to, and that was tough. You know what I mean? But I'm okay, man. One thing, one bad about me is that, like, you see me, right? You see my life. I go at it. I'm here to live. You know what I mean? I'm not trying to just, like, think, oh, I wish I could have done this. I'm just doing it. You know what I mean? I just try and doing it. Every day, I'm thankful that I've got my health, because health is, without health, you've got nothing. I'm thankful for my family, my wife, my kids, you know, my friend group, friendship group. I just make sure that I try and live a positive life. That's really what I'm about. Thank you for doing what you're doing. Oh, man. Seriously, bro. Like, I think it's absolutely amazing that you care so much. I think, genuinely, I think that is special. Yeah, definitely, bro. I appreciate it. Thanks, man. Yeah, man. I don't want the thanks. No, no. I love that you care so much, man. And maybe you don't know it, but through what you're doing, I know there's so many people you've helped, and I just hope you continue to care so much so you can carry on helping young people. I hope that we continue to care as much as we care during this conversation. I also want to offer our services. If you ever need, man, for anything, I'm there within a blink of an eye. Genuinely, man, I think it's phenomenal, man. I'd love to talk about that for sure. Yeah. Let's just go hit two schools just to start. Us three pulling up to a school, we're saving lives, bro. Yeah, yeah. I'm on it. I'm on it, bro. Do you get what I'm saying? That'd be amazing, bro. We've got to make that happen. Whenever, man. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, bro. Thank you, man. There needs to be more people like you within your position and your position of power that come from the ends. We say community, but it's the ends that need to speak up more on this. And big up people that have, the only one I know off the top of my head is Ian Wright, Fazz as well. Big up everyone that does stuff to help the younger generation. Truly, man, this podcast for me was special. Beautiful, man. Thank you. Very positive, very insightful. I want to thank you too, right? Because, you know what I mean? You're a big influence on young people. Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves and you've turned your personalities into businesses. And there are people out there right now I want to be like Chunks and Philly and that is wicked. So thank you for that, man. Well done, brother. That's why we need to do the school so we can chat and go, yo, you can do Chunks and Philly. Guys, make sure you subscribe, please. And tune in next week for a new episode. But this was probably my favorite one to date. So please guys, just make sure you listen. Yeah. And audio listeners, if you just listened and didn't watch, make sure you watch it, because I dressed like Ants from the Rast. I dare him to look so good at his age. Make sure you like, subscribe, and take care. Bye-bye.