Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Hosted by Dr. Val Civelli, White Coat Black Sheep explores physiology, functional medicine, and the medical questions most people are told not to ask.
This is where evidence meets curiosity, where dogma gets uncomfortable, and where real world medicine takes priority over headlines.
From understanding your lab work to debunking hormone myths, medication misconceptions, and optimization strategies, this podcast helps you understand what is actually happening inside your body.
If you care about health and think there might be a better way to practice medicine, you’re in the right place.
Welcome to White Coat, Black Sheep, where science gets curious and dogma gets
uncomfortable. I'm Dr. Sevelli. We're here to talk physiology,
evidence, and real-world medicine, plus the questions you're not supposed to
ask but probably should.
If you care about health and think there's a better way, welcome to our show.
Hello.
Hey.
Hi.
Thanks for joining me.
No, thanks for having me.
So what's your name, and what do you do?
So my name is Brandon Benavidez, BBB.
My middle name's Benjamin. I'm sorry I'm a little nervous right now.
No, you're perfect.
I mean-
We're just chatting
... I've been live like this a really long time.
I've done a lot of interviews before, but for some reason why your vibe is
pretty heavy.
But it's good.
In a good, happy way?
Yeah, a good happy way.
Okay.
Yeah, so my name is Brandon Benjamin Benavidez.
Benjamin Benavidez.
And I go by B3, and
I'm a musician. I wouldn't just say I'm a rapper. I'm a musician.
I'm from Bakersfield, California, born and raised.
I have music out. I have albums out, mixtapes out.
I also do
shows. I've opened up for artists. I've done it pretty much all.
That is so cool.
I've been on every radio station here in Bakersfield, been on the news,
first rapper to ever be on the news.
I throw a toy drive. I'm the only rapper to throw a toy drive
during the holidays-
That's so nice
... for Safe Haven. Yeah, so what I do is
I have a bunch of artists that come-
Yeah
... and perform, and all the toys go to Safe Haven, and-
So you organize this?
Yeah.
Okay.
A toy drive, so yeah. I do toy drives every...
Last year's my second one, third one, and I think I'm going to switch it up a
little bit. But yeah, no, I'm just-
That's cool
... I hate it when people say that, "Oh, yeah, no, I
run the city. I do..."
Cool. What do you do for your community then?
You're so right.
You know what I mean? 10 out of 10 times you don't do anything but just rap.
You know what I mean?
So you care to make an impact-
Yeah
... and to be a positive footprint.
I'm from here. I grew up here, but I live in Los Angeles.
Oh, like right now?
Yeah. I live in Burbank. I work for the movie industry. That's my job.
Okay.
But I still come here, you know what I mean?
Because I have friends here, and I still care
about this place, which is weird, because a lot of people are like, "Bro, why the
hell do you care? You moved out. Why are you-"
See, that's what I said on a few episodes ago is it just pulls people back.
Right. No, it's-
It has this charm
... it's my home. This is where I'm from, and-
Yeah
... if I could live here, I would, but the movie industry
isn't in Bakersfield. It's in-
Yeah
... Los Angeles.
Well, they might use our desert, our oil rigs to-
Yeah
... film.
There's been a couple shows. There's-
A few episodes
... yeah, my dad, he got me in, and he did "The Cell,"
and the-- I don't know if you've ever seen that movie with Jennifer Lopez.
It's kind of dark, weird.
I don't think I have, but I'm also a really bad movie person.
Oh, okay. Yeah, they-
Yeah
... shot out here in Bakersfield, so yeah.
No, they definitely use Bakersfield for- ... things.
But yeah.
Yeah. That's awesome.
Yeah.
So okay. I know you're in the music industry.
What initially took you into that whole
like, "I want to do this, for real. I just-
It's funny
... I want to go all in"?
To be honest with you, when I was here, I wanted
to play football, right? That was my dream. I was really good.
I was really, really good.
But then I kind of just, it wasn't fun for me anymore.
And in high school, I would do music. You know what I mean?
I just remember it being fun. You know what I mean?
But I never really took it seriously till my senior year.
Then once I started taking it seriously, I was getting booked for
shows while I'm a senior, at 21 and over clubs.
That's fun.
So it was like, how-- Well, I'm still young. You know what I mean?
How am I supposed to... Oh, don't even worry about it.
And my dad was cool. He would come with me and make sure
everything was cool, and I like doing 18 and over clubs, too.
That was cool, and I was--
I didn't
really try to do that. It was more of a hobby until
I figured out that I was really good at it.
Yeah.
That's kind of when I was like, "Okay, I'm jumping in." You know what I mean?
That I've been-- The stories I could tell you, and every
man has his story.
Yeah.
And I
just--
It's
what I love doing, and it's something that I'm comfortable at
to where-
Yeah
... I don't have any worries. You know what I mean?
Even my job, my-- With movie industry, dude, I deal with so many people.
I'm a labor foreman.
So I'd recently--
I just finished off a movie called "Sponsor" with John C.
Reilly, and that was stressful. Being a boss is
stressful in the movie industry.
It's so stressful.
Yeah.
And I'm sure, yeah, because the stakes are so high.
Dude, I did "Twisters" in Oklahoma-
... and ran 30 guys, and I've-
Oh, gosh
... never done that before in my life. The most I've ever ran was six.
Was that a fun set?
Oh my God, dude. Oklahoma was so much fun.
When they told us we were going to go out there, I'm thinking they have pastures,
cowboys, and-
That's how I pictured it
... and a bunch of-- You know what I mean?
It's not that?
No.
What?
So where they put us was
in
Bricktown. So
in Bricktown, you have
all the things that a person would need, the bars, the
restaurants, the fun, the clubs,
the comedy clubs.
It was like-
It was like nightlife
... Starbucks.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? So it was cool because
my dad's a construction coordinator,
so I have a wife and a child. So they
plugged it to where I had basically a one-room apartment, and my dad was like, "I'm
not going a whole year without seeing my granddaughter."
Oh.
So my wife and my child were out there with me the whole time, which was cool.
Yeah.
I got to do that.
Yeah.
And my wife got to-- Because she was still little.
My child was about three, so, no two-
Mm-hmm
... two and a half, three.
Yeah.
So they would g-- Our apartment was right next to a waterfront.
Mm-hmm.
So she would walk every day, go to Starbucks. And it was cool.
I saw the Lakers play at Paycom. I saw Paul George, and then the
Dodgers fan- ... so the Dodger
farm team plays there.
Then the Dodgers playing also in Texas, in Dallas, so-
Mm
... we went to Dallas. It was like a two-hour drive past a Buc-ee's, which we stop
every time because-
... Buc-ee's is fire. I don't know if you know what that isHave you ever
heard of Buc-ee's?
I've heard of Buc-ee's, but I don't know if I'm just like because you suggested it,
it sounds familiar. What's their-
It's like a gas station on steroids.
Okay.
It's like if Walmart had a gas station, it would be Buc-ee's.
I'm telling you. Like it is so-
Is there Buc-ee's here, like locally?
No, it's just Texas.
Okay.
I think there's a couple in other states, but not here.
I've got to look for a Buc-ee's.
Bro, I'm telling you, the brisket sandwiches are crazy.
I have had Dallas or Houston brisket sandwiches.
Okay.
And I ordered ribs once, and it was like the largest rib I've ever seen in my life.
I was like,
"What do I do with this?"
You eat it.
That's what you do. But yeah, no, it's just I was comfortable
with music. I feel more at home and feel more at peace
and, yeah, just-
You're living your purpose. That's what that is.
Oh, no.
That's what you just described.
For real.
Yeah.
So yeah.
Right now, I'm working on another album. I recently released an album in August.
Yeah, I rushed that,
and there's reasons why I rushed that, which we won't get into.
But this time I'm kind of letting
God write this album.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not forcing anything anymore.
Because what I would do is every night I'd sit
down at my laptop or computer, put in the
headphones, "I'm not moving until this song is written."
I've done that before.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
I'm not doing this until this s**t is written. I'm sorry. I was like... I'm sorry.
No, you're good.
Okay.
You're good.
I'm not doing it till it's written.
Yeah.
And some of the stuff is good.
Right.
You know what I mean? But then I'm just like imagine if I took my time,
and that's what I'm doing right now. I'm taking my time now.
I'm not rushing anything.
What was the timeline of the first one that made you feel rushed?
Like start to finish.
What do you mean?
So the first one you said felt rushed.
Well, that would be my
third album, that was rushed.
Okay.
No, fourth. Ooh, fourth album.
Good job.
So yeah. It was my fourth album that was rushed.
I don't count my first one because my first one I'm not really proud of, and I
didn't really do much promotion for it, but it's still there, so whatever, still a
part of me. But,
last summer,
I wanted to drop in August,
and I want to say I made that decision
in June.
So I did that in two months. Which I had a couple joints
that, a couple songs that I was sitting on that weren't out yet.
Yeah.
So I released those-
Yeah
... in that album, too. And a couple other songs by two that were out-
Yeah
... and I used them as singles, which I put on the album, too.
So I was four deep, and I just went nine.
So I did five extra songs in the count of two months.
So that's unheard of. I
would never do that again.
Why?
Just because I
didn't take my time. It was a great album.
It's called Neapolitan, and there was no...
Okay, so you know Neapolitan ice cream?
Yes.
There's no
certain flavor to it. You got three different flavors.
So,
the three flavors is like there was no direction.
It was a lot of different stuff on this album that
I called it Neapolitan.
Yeah.
Because you get a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit, you know
what I mean?
Yeah.
So that's why I called it Neapolitan. So there was no direction.
And this next one will have direction, and it'll
have... You give me time,
I'm good.
Yeah.
I'm really good. I'm very good. I'm sorry.
This is how I feel. This is how I'm supposed to feel.
Yeah.
I'm the best damn rapper in this city.
Yeah.
Straight up, period.
Yeah.
And I've proven that-
Yeah
... over and over again.
Yeah.
But you give me time, and I will...
This album was rushed, and it was good.
Yeah.
You give me about a year.
Right now, I'm going to make it my classic, my Twisted Dark Fantasy,
my Carter III, my-
Yeah
... my 36 Chambers, my you know what I mean?
It's going to be
just mm. You know what I mean?
Yeah. You can just feel it.
Yeah. No.
You know it in your soul, and your entire nervous system-
Yeah
... that I'm going to just kill this.
Yeah.
I'm going to nail this.
Yeah. And I'm going back to where I started,
meaning where I recorded first at-
Yeah
... to where I was hungry.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? I recorded at so many different studios, different nice
studios that are just nice. You know what I mean?
But now it's like, no,
I'm switching it up. I'm kind of trying to get out of my comfort zone, too, so
that way I can face adversity to put that in this project to
where... I have a couple names for the next album-
Yeah
... but I haven't honed down on one, but it's-
How long have you been sitting on the three names?
About
we're in April.
February.
Okay.
So I've been sitting on three names and I don't know yet.
I'm still
in the writing process.
Yeah.
So once I finish and everything's mixed and mastered and done, and then, so it'll
come to me. It always does.
Yeah. So I'm just meeting you.
Yes.
And I already think I like the way that you contacted me.
Mm-hmm.
I
felt you're a very driven person.
Right.
And
you have something that you really
wanted to share, right?
Right.
So I admire anybody who-
Right
...
resonates with that, who takes an action to do-
Yeah
... something in a direction.
Right.
So you're doing everything already.
Yeah.
And everything you just described,
okay, so my takeaway already is that you're also a perfectionist.
Yes.
You're never going to feel,
I think, completely satisfied with any product-
Mm-hmm
... even if you gave it a whole year.
Yeah.
So the fact that you're finishing something and you send
itThat-
Right
... is everything.
Right.
I think you are successful.
Thank you. A lot of people, that's a first, man.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it-
You are successful
... because a lot of people are so completely different from your attitude.
You finish something, send it. Perfection,
it doesn't exist.
Yeah.
Don't even put a timeline of something on it.
You keep doing what you're doing, and I'm going to
learn more about you.
Yeah.
But just in what I know already,
you're probably the hardest out of anybody around you on yourself.
Thank you. Yeah, I try to be, and
it's it's a gift and a curse.
It is.
You know what I mean?
It is. Yeah.
Yeah.
I think I have that, too.
I set standards for
myself and-
Yeah
... yeah.
And it's never good enough.
No.
Ever.
No.
Ever.
And I have to because I'm married, too, so I have to
separate B3 from Brandon because my wife married Brandon.
And sometimes it's-
You know what I mean?
Is that how the conversation goes?
Sometimes. My wife's just like, "Okay, B3."
You know what I mean?
Feels like you're in trouble.
Yeah, well, sometimes.
Feels like B3 is in trouble.
I'm married to-
Brandon is fine.
Yeah. I'm married to a Latina, so I'm always in trouble.
You know what I mean? So.
Fire.
But yeah. No, tomorrow, it's actually our anniversary, so I'm pretty stoked about
it.
Aw.
Six years.
Congrats. That's awesome.
And I have a four-year-old little girl.
Aw.
Yeah.
Do you love it?
Yeah.
You're scared.
No, I'm not scared. I love being able to come
home to just girls.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? Because I'm around guys all day. You know what I mean?
Yes, I do.
And I just want to come home to girls, and just my daughter is just like, no
matter, even if she didn't see me 10 minutes before,
she acts like she's never seen me before every time she sees me.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
I encourage men to have girls
first because I was like, "Man, I want a boy.
Oh, yeah, I want a boy."
Yeah.
Bro, having a girl is the best. You know what I mean?
Did it soften you a little bit?
Bro, I became a little b***h.
Period.
Like you're done.
I start crying for little dumb s**t, dumb things that like, "Why am I
crying right now?"
I feel like that's just being a mommy-
And then also, it's like parents-wise, like being a parent, too, now that I'm a
parent-
Yeah
... I watched Willy Wonka, the one with Shia LaBeouf, I guess.
It's just like-
Uh-huh
... and when the little girl reunited back with her
mom, bro, I was crying. I'm like, "Oh my God,"
because I have a girl, and I would hate...
And then also, I don't know if you watch Baylen Out Loud, the girl
Baylen. Have you ever heard of her?
No, but I'll look her up.
So she has Tourette syndrome. So every five
seconds is crazy.
So,
she went to London and strapped this thing on to where it's supposed to control her
Tourette's. And she strapped it on, and her Tourette's went
away.
And that made me emotional because I'm a-
Was this a real thing or it's like a show?
It's a real thing.
Okay. Oh my gosh.
Yeah, it's called Baylen Out Loud. Look it up.
Okay, I will.
Yeah. And that made me emotional because her parents were there fighting,
and my daughter has autism.
Okay.
So I'm fighting every day with that.
It's a
struggle and a blessing at the same time, because not only is it teaching me
patience, but it's also teaching me, I'm learning more
about her. You know what I mean? So I love my
daughter, bro. My daughter is the best, but yeah, having a girl
is
the best. I couldn't even-
Life-changing.
Yeah, dude.
Just a small thing which is life-changing.
I was stoked when she came out because it was like, "Oh, my God." And we're at the
point now where it's if I'm in bed with her, and my wife's laying next to me,
and she tries to touch me, and she says, "My daddy." "My
daddy."
She's territorial.
Yeah, straight up. So that's the best.
Aw.
So, yeah.
I love that.
Yeah.
Has anybody ever
mentioned that autism has...
Okay, so being in Bakersfield,
I'm really, I guess, familiar with the landscape, and I trained here in
medicine, current medical, Clinica Sierra Vista, Rio
Grande.
You from there?
No, Florida.
What part?
Pensacola, Florida.
Pensacola.
Yeah.
Nice.
It's a military town.
Yep.
So, but I'm out here, right? And so just knowing what
medicine has to offer. So when it comes to autism, do
you feel like
you're getting
good support, feel like-
Yeah, my daughter has ABA.
Mm-hmm.
She also has speech therapy.
Okay.
And she also has
this full schedule, and she has school in the mornings.
See, that's what it should sound like, a full schedule.
Yeah.
Because the people who don't have anything, it's like, "Well, I'm so sorry you
weren't plugged in."
It's good for her, but then I feel bad because she can't be a
child. So any time she gets the chance to be a kid-
Yeah
... I let her be a kid. You know what I mean?
Because she's always in class, or she's always-
Training
... at the school or at-
That's true
... we have somebody that comes to our house and does ABA therapy-
Yeah
... and then speech therapy, and-
Yes
... so she's getting what she needs.
Yes.
So we're doing that as parents, but I also feel bad because
her whole day is...
So any time somebody calls off, or if I can't come, dude, I'm taking her
to the park, or I'm taking her to Chuck E.
Cheese, or I'm taking her-
Yeah.
I let her go be a kid. You know what I mean? Because I feel like she needs that.
I need that.
I think everyone needs that.
So.
Pick me up. Yeah.
There's a doctor that I just met here, and I'm
so impressed. I'm so impressed with her, and I am also
going to just try the entire experience
as a patient. But she does functional medicine.
Mm-hmm.
I'm functional medicine.
She has a GI, a gastroenterology background.
ButProfound outcomes when it comes
to autism, for asthma, allergies,
psoriasis, a whole array of things that are connected to the
gut, which is also the brain
Yeah.
It's funny you mention that. They said that autism starts with the gut.
Yes.
And what they eat.
Yes.
And-
The good and bad bacteria
... I don't care what you say,
I don't care how stern you are, dude,
they're not going to eat what they don't want to eat.
No.
Period.
No. Have you heard of gut transplants?
No, I haven't.
Okay. There's so much, I don't want to focus on
that because there's so much.
Mm-hmm.
But
I think anybody who has any of those
issues that are connected to the brain and the gut, and the
skin-
Mm-hmm
... allergies, lungs.
Really, it's pretty much everything. Okay?
But that in particular, she's probably the
smartest person that I've ever met.
Yes.
And I just met this person. And talk about the science, the
diagnostics, the treatment options.
And I've traveled the world learning how to treat these things and-
Right
... to not just do wellness and how to
prevent disease-
Mm-hmm
... but people who already have certain things, they're otherwise normal, their
families are normal, but they're experiencing
something, like autism.
Yeah.
There's
all kind of different principles we could go into.
Yeah.
But I think it's not forever.
Well, but then also, my child,
she has febrile seizures. So honestly, I
feel because... Okay, so this started when she was two.
I feel like she was on the right track.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
To be normal, which I'm not saying autism isn't normal, but-
It's not normal
...
well, I mean-
It's just she didn't start there, right?
So I feel like after those seizures, she's had 16 of them when
she's four.
Mm-hmm.
Which is wild.
Yeah.
It sucks when your child's seizing and you can do nothing about it.
Horrible.
No matter that you're here.
Yeah.
But we definitely felt a decrease
after the seizures.
Mm-hmm.
And we kind of feel like that had something to do with her autism,
her having... You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So I mean, the doctors say, "Oh, no, it's normal.
It's healthy."
No, I don't believe that. I believe that any seizure is bad.
You know what I mean? And they said it's like unplugging
a cable and plugging it back in. And it's like, well-
Yeah
... there's a remote where you could turn it. You know what I mean?
I
just feel like her seizures is
what made her autistic because she was on the right track. She was talkative.
Now she's verbal, but not much. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So I could be wrong. You could be like, "Dude, you're totally
wrong."
No. No, you're not totally wrong.
But-
By normal medicine training, we all start with the same
training. That's the standard of care, right?
Yeah.
So that the medical boards and the boards that we answer to, like primary
care for me.
Mm-hmm.
He's cute, right?
Yeah, he's a dope.
And
the subspecialty board for me, functional medicine with
AFRM. So all of those entities, they
standardize our language.
Mm-hmm.
They standardize our reference ranges.
Yeah.
That's how we talk.
Yeah.
So
you, though, noticed when at this point they
were fine, and then this happened, and then this was the outcome, right?
Right. Yeah.
So yeah. The doctor said the right
things according to the books. They said the right
script, right? But the reality is the questions that
I want to ask as a black sheep, okay, is like, "Well, why did the
seizures happen?"
Right.
Why are we unplugging and replugging in, right?
They try to tell me it's normal, that most toddlers have
febrile seizures, but then I found out that my wife
had epilepsy.
So I'm like, "Is that
coming down to her?" You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And I don't want to blame my wife for that because it's not fair, and I
would never do that. But-
Yeah
... it is in the back of my mind like, okay, she had
epilepsy-
Yeah
... she had seizures, so maybe it's hereditary.
And it's gotten to a point where we want to have another one, but we're scared.
I don't know if I want to have another one because not only is my child's
not self-sufficient yet, my wife's 40, and
I don't
feel like it would be fair to bring another kid in this world
that's gone through the same things that my daughter has.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And then my wife's like, "Well, we never know till you try.
The doctors say that it's unlikely, da, da, da." I'm just like, "Dude, I-"
Yeah.
I'm
grateful
for what I have now-
Yeah
... but I don't want to... If that's going to be the outcome,
I'd say keep it. I wouldn't put
another child of mine through what my...
She's had 16 at four.
Yeah.
That's a lot of freaking seizures.
Yeah. And you know what I think another question-
You know what I mean? And it's like... I'm sorry, not to cut you off.
No, you're good.
When she's hot, we have a matter of seconds to cool
her down.
Yeah.
If we don't cool her down in those seconds-
Seizure
... done. And then also, she'll seize more than
five minutes-
Mm-hmm
... we got to stick something up her rectum.
No, I would-
Yeah.
No.
Yeah.
It sucks.
Yeah.
And I don't-
A cat scan?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I don't want to do that.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? So it's
It's-
We just feel like-
Horrible
... the decrease wasAfter she had it.
There's a nasal spray option now that's available.
It comes down to,
okay, so the symptom of seizures is happening.
Yeah.
Right? The why remains unanswered, and even though it
started years ago, it's still happening.
And maybe there was a virus that she had at that time that
started it. The best that medicine can do, you're experiencing it, and
it's like, okay.
I would say the first one she had was COVID.
When she had COVID, that's when it was. We were in Denver.
I was doing a movie with Anthony Mackie-
Mm-hmm
... called "Elevation." I don't know if you've seen it.
Mm-hmm.
I was in-
I have it
... oh, I'm sorry, I was in Boulder.
Okay.
And the movie was over. My wife stayed behind with the baby.
So I'm tired, I'm just going to kick it here. It was snowing anyway.
Yeah.
Me and my dad, we went to the wrap party,
and all of a sudden, I get a call from my wife, frantic, just
freaking out, crying. And I'm thinking,
I was scared I was going to lose my child.
Absolutely.
So I was like, "No."
So then we rushed out of there, went to the hospital, and then they explained,
"Okay, so it was a febrile seizure.
It's somewhat kind of healthy." I'm like, "Somewhat kind of what?"
Because it was less than 15 minutes-
Yeah
... I'm sure.
Yeah.
That's what I'm hearing.
Yeah, man. But yeah, we definitely feel like there was a decrease,
but yeah.
To feel helpless.
Yeah.
And-
I feel helpless now still.
Yeah
Because there's nothing I can do about it.
Well, you're in the right place.
But give her what she needs and what we feel...
You know what I mean? But back to autism,
it's the gut thing,
yeah, that could be right. I also heard that some actress has, that
girl from...
The bigger girl, she's a comedian, she's funny. I forget her name.
She had a child, and he had autism. But apparently, she switched his
diet to organic-
Keto
... oh, keto.
Keto.
So you know what I'm talking about.
Yes, I know exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I guess it
helped him.
A ketogenic diet is incredibly,
incredibly impactful to eliminating-
Right
... seizures. Eliminating. So a stable glucose
is pivotal for management of seizures.
Not all seizures, but for unprovoked
seizures that, it sounds like it fits at least the profile that you're
describing.
Right.
It's super helpful.
Right.
And so, yeah, we don't know all the triggers, and
it's so frustrating.
Right.
And I can't even imagine years of dealing with that is
hopeless.
She hasn't had one though in about a year.
Okay.
And they say that they grow out of those after four.
They can.
So we're hoping.
Yeah.
We're hoping that it's-
Yeah
... it's over with.
Is she on any medications like-
No
... Keppra? Okay.
No. We didn't want to put her on any medications.
Mm-hmm.
So.
It's really awful, I think, when that happens, because
not only are you dealing with seizures, but then the Keppra or
the treatment of it and prevention of it-
Mm-hmm
... delays the learning phases of the
child.
Right.
So it delays them, so now they're special needs,
trying to catch up later.
Yeah. And that's even harder, knowing that-
Yeah
... my child's special needs. And it's like, okay,
do I let her go to school where kids are cruel?
But then if I don't let her go to school, then I'm taking her, she's going to
be, "Oh, so weird." You know? And we homeschool.
It's like a lot of s**t goes in my head, it's like, okay, so-
That's the rabbit hole. I call that the rabbit hole.
Yeah.
So I think playing out all of that, I would just throw it away
because you have to stay solid.
Right.
You can't do what you're meant to do if you're even thinking of all of those
things. So, and this is what I counsel my patients and clients on
is
you can't
even imagine those different situations-
Right
... because there's no end.
Right.
That's not a good place. That's worry, that's fear.
You can't do anything with it, right?
Just when you... Are you a mom?
No.
When you're a parent, it's automatic.
Yeah.
And I get what you're saying.
Yeah.
You are right.
Yeah.
But, I still just want the
best-
Yeah
... for her. I don't want her to
feel bullied because she's different.
I don't want her-
Yeah
... to come home crying saying, "Oh, they told me this and why.
Why am I like this, Dad?" You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So it's like, dude, kids are cruel nowadays.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? And I don't
want that for her.
Yeah.
So, it's just, yeah, you're right.
It is
a bad place to be, but-
And we're in the right era. So I think, if this were the
situation with
maybe whenever we were born and all, and even, or our parents' generations,
that's different. But today, whenever people say, "This is there forever," I'm
like, "No, it's not."
Right.
Look at AI. We're tremendously advancing.
The US, I can tell you, is 20 years behind.
In Europe, autism, it's not looking like it is in the US.
Wow.
And there are people who are getting their lives back.
There's tremendous things that are happening.
So I will tell you about it off air.
Okay.
Yeah. There's a lot.
Cool.
And even here locally, Bakersfield has an incredible doctor that I want to connect
you with. I need to find out if she does see people under
18. I didn't ask her that. But, I mean-
Do you watch "Love on the Spectrum"?
No.
It's great.
No, but I als-- Oh, I should watch.
Well, it made me think about it because you said people over 18.
Yeah.
But yeah, "The Spectrum," the, "Love on the Spectrum,"
that's-
I'll check it out
... it's really cool. It's actually really funny. So.
Yeah. Okay, so whenever it comes to brain conditions,
if you think about ADHD, that's something that personally affected me for
years.
Right.
And it's so frustrating because it's like, I know that I'm smart, I
know that I can do really challenging things, and I can remember and
learn things and whatever, right?
But then the fact that like-I'm supposed to be in this
environment where there's a time test and there's
the pencil tapper and
people talking to each other. I'm like: "Can you not?"
Right.
"I need to focus."
Right.
But no one else is bothered by it.
Right.
So, I don't know, just little things that you can see how the
world requires you to be.
Yeah.
And then how I don't fit that mold or you're worried
that someone might not fit the mold. That's okay.
Right.
It makes you... I don't know. I'm fine with it.
I'll ask my nurse, Sarah, if she's fine with it.
It works.
Yeah.
But yeah, I think we all have our challenges and our gifts in life, and so-
Yes
... you can't change it, don't change it. Don't need to change it.
Yeah. I agree.
Yeah.
I've got to ask you, a Florida girl-
Yeah
... how do you like Bakersfield?
I love it.
You love it?
Yeah.
You love it? That's great.
I've been here since 2015.
Oh, okay.
People are so nice.
Yeah.
They're so nice and just warm and
inviting, and I was just like, I just haven't been many...
I lived in Miami, Chicago. People say, "Hi, hello," and over-
Yeah
... in a lot of these bigger cities, like, "Why are you talking to me?"
Right.
Like, "What was that?"
Right. I loved it, too. A
Florida girl, I'm thinking most Florida people
that I know want to be by the beach. They want to constantly either be in their
bathing suit. You know what I mean? I spent time in Miami, I spent time in Panama.
Yeah.
And I would never live in Miami. I would visit. It's nice.
It was hard.
I've been there.
Yeah.
It's-
It's hard to live there.
Yeah. It's not easy.
I've been to Smashing.
Yeah. It's not. It's beautiful-
Yeah
... but I could never live there. Panama City was cool.
The-
Yeah
... that was nice. But
Bakersfield, if I could
live here, I would again, but my
family's in LA.
Mm-hmm.
My wife's family is in LA, so you've got to...
And it's so much cheaper here.
It is.
I live in Burbank and have a back house I pay $1,600 for.
Oh my gosh.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
To where I can live here for a three bedroom-
Yeah
... and I have a one bedroom. A three bedroom for
1,200.
You're closer to the airport, though.
Right.
You can fly anywhere.
Right.
For a better price.
I love Burbank Airport.
Yeah.
It's so good.
It really is.
But yeah.
Oh, gosh. So, okay, let me ask you this.
When it comes to your health and the things that, the
demands that are required of you, in your industry
as being a rapper, I imagine you have to travel and
even working on set, you're managing people, you have to stay organized,
mental clarity.
There's a lot of demands. You need your voice.
You can't be sick.
No.
You don't get to be.
No, I don't get to be sick.
Yeah.
I get looked down upon if I'm sick.
Yeah.
You use rain, shine.
Yeah.
A lot of people in the industry, because my dad is
who got me in, and my dad made me a boss, so
I was forged in fire to where, okay, this is what's expected out
of you.
I love forged in fire.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
This is what's expected out of you, do it. And I'm not the best at it.
I'm still learning. You know what I mean?
And I love working with my dad, but I hate working with my dad
because he's such an a*****e to me sometimes.
But I love-
He's telling you this is fair
... but it's like he's supposed to be that to me because-
Yeah
... it's like, bro, you need to learn. You need to learn.
Yeah.
And I do need to learn more.
Yeah.
And I see my... My
mom is my dad's secretary,
and my sister's a sculptor, so I see them every day, and I hate
it. I hate it because there's times where it's just like, dude, I don't want to see
you guys today.
That's a lot of family time.
Yeah, it's a lot.
That's a lot.
We're close.
I think of family in doses.
And even the dog comes. My dad has a Doberman.
Her name is Gracie, and that's his emotional support pet.
Of course.
So, there's nothing trainable about that dog, but it still
comes.
Oh, gosh.
You know what I mean? It's
cool.
As far as health wise, I could care less
about that. I came to the realization to
where... Because I was fit, dude. I promise I wasn't this fat.
I used to be fit. I played football.
I went to the gym religiously for eight years, just going
hard. Knowing I want to go to the next level.
And then once it wasn't fun anymore and I got hurt, it was like, "Man, I
don't want to f*****g do this."
Wait, how did you get hurt?
Oh, I had an ankle problem that I couldn't...
Okay, so
imagine just being a foot, right?
Yeah.
So, you know that little spot right there in the crease?
Yes. Yeah.
That, it just, it hurt.
It's a really bad spot.
Yeah.
I wish you didn't do that.
It
hurt. I rehabbed it. I did the most and I-
Did you fracture it?
I don't know what I did to it.
Yeah.
It wasn't fractured.
Lick a minute.
I don't know what happened.
Yeah.
I wasn't the same anymore.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? And then also my knee.
Yeah.
If you feel my knee-
Same side
... it's still, it's-
Same side.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's like, it wasn't fun anymore, and I wasn't the same.
Mm-hmm.
Because I used to be explosive. I was really good.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And I relied on my talent to go to college-
Yeah
... which was horrible at the time, but now-
Why?
... you could do that.
What do you mean?
Because I didn't give a damn about school. I didn't care.
Oh, okay. Like the academics.
I could do the academics. I would do just enough to be eligible.
Yeah.
Just enough.
But your foot, you had other, it wasn't your-
Yeah, in high school, yes, it wasn't like that.
Yeah.
What I was trying to tell you is if I would've put my mind to it, I
could've probably played D1 and been good, but I
went to BC, and after that it was, I'm good. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
I
know now that-Because I thought about it the other day,
a couple of weeks ago, not the other day. I have to be here for my kid.
Yep.
Especially with autism.
Mm-hmm.
So I need to switch a lot of things about me.
I haven't done it yet. I need to.
Yeah.
I'm a beer... I love drinking beer.
I'm a beer connoisseur. That's my only downfall.
Other than that, I'm learning. I've been eating only when I'm
hungry,
not religiously morning.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And honestly, I'll cut it down to two a day.
Yeah.
And I'd even cut it down because my wife, she loves having late-night cereal.
And I don't. I used to, but not anymore.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? And I'm trying my hardest to get down to where I want to be.
Yeah.
And I need to get healthy again because
I have to be here for my child. So that's really my main...
F**k my job. Whatever.
Yeah.
I got-
What's your age?
I'm 36.
Okay.
And
I usually have a beard.
Okay.
But it's gray.
You have a gray beard?
Yeah. And I'm just like-
When did it turn gray?
It started turning gray when I did twisters.
No, because I never used to roll out of my bed.
Never used to roll out of my bed.
What do you mean?
I was so stressed and so overwhelmed to where I used to roll out of
my bed. And I still roll out of my bed now-
With-
... because I'm stressed all the time with work and-
Yeah
... I'm a soul-- I'm the only provider in my family, dude.
My wife doesn't work.
Okay. That's a huge, that's a lot.
Yeah. Dude, I have so much on me.
Yeah.
It's ridiculous.
Yeah.
You know what I mean? But I don't want my wife to work because
I need her to be the-
Yeah
... stay-at-home mom.
Yeah.
Especially for her.
Yeah.
Which is fine. You know what I mean?
But it's-
Is she-
It's like-
Yeah. She's good with that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She's perfect with that.
Yeah.
She's the best.
So you have love and support-
Yeah
... and you have a lot of boxes checked.
So the next-
And here's the thing, though. Listen.
Yeah.
So, I'm doing all this, I have boxes checked, but
sometimes I need something to make me feel
at ease.
Totally.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So that's where
talk comes in. And I know it's horrible.
I shouldn't. I should find another hobby, something else other than
music. Music helps, but I'm so tired
sometimes, whereas I'm not trying to go to the studio.
Yeah.
I'm chilling at home. You know?
Yeah.
But it's just
I need to get more healthy, especially just for my kid.
She needs me here.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And I definitely feel like I
live longer doing... I get what you're saying.
Yeah. Okay, so
when I have this conversation with my
clients in the clinic-
Mm-hmm
... it's really
lifestyle, logistics,
what can we do exactly where you're at.
Because sometimes you can't go hardcore and
do maximal all these supplements.
I just need to be disciplined again. That's it.
There's-
I need to find that dis-
... interest there
... I need to... No, if I'm disciplined like I used to be-
Yeah
... I can get back to where I needed to.
It's just, again, I spent so many years in the gym to where I was just burnt
out.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
It's like, dude, if I can... You know what's funny, too, is when I'm sweaty, when
I'm actually doing something-
Yeah
... I start feeling good. You know what I mean?
I love that.
So-
You detox.
Yeah.
Your mitochondria are activated.
I'll start feeling good, and it's like, I should-
Yeah
... do this more often.
Yeah.
But then I...
Yeah. Okay, do you have anybody accountable in your life that would be like,
"Hey, you didn't show up to this?"
No.
So I think that helps a lot.
Right. It's finding-
Checking labs. Right? To see, looking at your own data,
something.
Right. And you know what's wild, though, too?
What?
What's crazy is everybody's diabetic but me. It's weird.
I'm not diabetic. It's wild.
Did you check your labs?
Yeah.
When?
I'm not diabetic. I-
That's weird
... had a checkup a month ago.
Okay.
And I asked, "Can I be tested for diabetes?"
Mm-mm.
Did they tell you your numbers?
Mm-mm.
Okay. Please feel free to text them to me-
Okay
... if you want.
Yeah.
But yeah.
Yeah. But my dad's diabetic. And it's weird because
we have our own
medic. Her name is Veronica.
Okay.
She's family. So any show that we're on, she's with us.
Yeah.
And she's just like, when I have eaten something, she goes, "Let me check your
blood sugar. Let me check your blood sugar."
She'll just finger p***k you?
She'll just p***k it, and she's like, "You're good." Like, "Your oxygen level is
perfect." You know what I mean?
Oh my gosh.
And my dad hates it because he can't do it.
Yeah.
But it's wild that I-
Yeah.
Knock on wood, because it still could happen.
But-
Yeah
... right now, I'm not diabetic, which is thank God.
Yeah.
But, yeah, no, I
definitely need
to hone down. I need to-
Let's do it.
Yeah.
Let's do it.
Would you want me to be a part of that? I can.
I live in Burbank. What are you going to do?
I do Tele.
Tele.
That means there is no boundary that exists for me to take care of
everybody.
You're going to call me and say, "Get your a*s up?" I'm going to be like, "Okay."
No, you'll be in boot camp. I'm enrolling you.
And I'm going to learn, whoever's Veronica, I'm going to know her.
Yeah.
And
Veronica, tell me his vitals right now.
Right.
No, it's accountability, right? And so I'm all about matching somebody
where they're at, and it doesn't mean that you can fix
everything-
Right
... from years of a certain lifestyle, whatever it
is.
Right.
Or if you have a ton of stress on you, you can't change everything and expect to
be successful.
Right.
So just
starting a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or just a Monday, or
maybe just a Friday.
Right.
Something's better than nothing.
And then dropping in exactly where you are and not being a perfectionist.
Right.
Yeah.
Sounds like a lot.
Yeah. So make it simple.
Yes, ma'am.
Start with blood work, which you did regular blood work.
And I say regular because you've already
experienced what it's like with traditional medicine.
Right.
Do you want more?
When?
Okay. So
when, it could be whenever you want, but really by more, I mean there's
more testings you can do. There's always
more customized plans that you can get.
Just-
When I went on a whole wellness, kind of just check myself, I
even got a colonoscopy.
Yeah. Good. I love that.
You know what I mean? Just-
Yeah
... check to make sure that I... You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And I was fine. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So I do care about my health. I just-
Yeah
... need to do a little better job.
Yeah. It's all about how do you feel, and then what are your genetics?
You know your dad's history.
Yeah.
You know your mom's history.
Mm-hmm.
So they are predictions for you. And
typically in medicine, we speak with 40 and over, 65 and over.
Right.
Those are the categories that you really start to see things present.
So-
Yeah
... yeah.
No, I hear you.
Yeah.
Listen to me.
If there's anything I can do, I'm around.
For sure.
Just
message me. I don't mind.
Am I the first local rapper you've ever interviewed?
Yes.
Wow.
Yeah. Do you have anything fun?
What do you mean?
Did you want...
Would we be able to do anything, like hear your latest
album possibly, or-
You want to listen to my latest album?
Or you could do some short, what do you call
it?
You want me to freestyle is what you're asking me to do.
Thanks.
Can you please make it cool?
Make it cool.
I don't know how to. Yeah, freestyle.
Putting me on the spot.
That's hilarious. No, I didn't even know what to call it.
It's called freestyle.
Now I know.
Okay. Give me a second. Your name is what? Dr. Savelli, right?
Yeah. And actually, it's right on time because it's 3:20.
And the plan of the podcast is Black Sheep.
So we can end on this. Yeah.
Black Sheep. All right, I'll give you a couple.
I enjoyed this conversation, and yes, we got deep.
Anytime you need me, I'm down to get on the Black Sheep.
You can hit me on Instagram or hit me on the telly.
Just know anytime you answer, I'm going to answer with Miss Dr. Savelli.
Oh my gosh, you just checkmated me. Checkmate.
Check. Checkmate. That was-
Boom. Done
... that was amazing.
Hang on.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome. Anytime