Before They Were Famous

Perhaps now more than ever before, the music industry is going through a crazy influx of emerging young artists – meaning that it’s becoming increasingly hard to stand apart from the pack. But for up-and-coming hip-hop superstar Yung Bleu, that’s anything but the case after his newest hit singles featuring appearances from the likes of Drake and Chris Brown have him finally garnering the type of attention he’s always deserved. Only a few years ago, Yung Bleu was getting his start by crafting homemade ballads into his flip-phone Nokia and earning himself the beginnings of a loyal fanbase. As he developed, he’d hone his confident, bold, artistic, and uniquely creative voice into one that delivered a string of hit singles like “Miss It” and “Ice on my Baby” that would transform him into the most successful hip-hop act to ever emerge out of Mobile, Alabama with his upcoming album called "Moon Boy" which going to be released on July 23.

In this history of professional wrestling, no one created quite the “cult of personality” as CM Punk did during his heralded run from 2011-2014. Despite the immense success, he found in the latter half of his run with the company -- to say that this former world champion left WWE under a dark cloud of resentment is probably something of an understatement. In the seven years since he left the squared-circle behind, Punk has worked hard to reinvent himself – he’s dabbled in MMA, become a comic book writer, and even taken up starring roles in big-screen horror projects. But as happy and satisfied as Punk seems to be with his current life, it’s hard not to think back about his run in the WWE and wonder about what might have been. Could he have ultimately become as popular a Hollywood star as other former WWE Superstars like The Rock and John Cena?

Whistlin Diesel is doing something right because this man is pulling in a lot of views on YouTube & Facebook which is allowing him to destroy a lot of high-priced machinery. I mean his latest Instagram post boasts that he's already dropped half a million dollars into a customized truck called the Monstermax 2 which he said will be the largest truck on the road. He's bought plenty of vehicles worth over $100K just so he can destroy them. Were talking about an F250, F350, A Smart Car, a Toyota Hilux, a Duramax, Hellcat, a Jurassic Park Jeep, a Monster truck, and plenty more. The funny thing is – he doesn't do it for the money. The most popular question he gets asked – is why does he destroy these beautiful cars. In a 2019 he posted a video titled The Reason I Destroy All My Trucks. Back then Whistlin Diesel claimed he wasn't making millions of dollars but after having taken a look at his YouTube trajectory and the massive growth he's experienced in the years since – we got a good feeling he's making that bank and more. Good for him! According to Cody, it did all this without any hands out from mom or dad. He's also managed to buy himself one car he doesn't plan on destroying. If you clicked on this video, it's likely because you were wondering what kind of money Whistlen Diesel is working with and where it's coming from. In this video, I'm gonna walk you through his various revenue streams and we are gonna take some educated guesses as to what he's actually pulling in. Also, we will go over some of his expensive purchases and how he likes to spend and destroy his internet fortune. For the super fans of his content he's also dropped some new merch – take a look. “ Introducing unisex super extra insulated ultra-plush swag suits.”

Matt Carriker, is a veterinarian with his own clinic, but he has generated millions and millions of subscribers through his various YouTube channels — Vet Ranch, Demolition Ranch, and OffTheRanch but his YouTube career started off modestly enough with him posting Dog Versus Deer over a decade ago. His fan base are known as the Demolitia which is described on Urban Dictionary as: the term used to describe an unstoppable army of g u n-crazed Americans led by Matt Carriker, the creator of Demolition Ranch. This is a combination of the words demolition and militia. On his channel, he has everything a g u n fanatic could ever dream up. With him having tested glass, safes, cinder blocks, and kinetic sand just to name a few. He's even used PVC pipes to form odd shapes and make curve. However, he has also destroyed objects and vehicles using tanks and massive steel swords. But how did this vet turned demolition god get his first start on YouTube, well you are about to find out.

For those of you who may not have heard of them yet, ZIAS! is a YouTubing duo comprised of the entertainers “Just Zik” and B. Lou -- two former football players who met at Tulsa University and instead of going pro in their sport of choice, ended up betting on their own personalities carrying them to internet fame. When speaking about the beginnings of their relationship, they told Oklahoma’s News On 6. Zik might not know how to explain it, but I think I can – long story short, these two made the wise decision of simply being themselves, one that would pay off when, over 4 Million followers later, these two are freestyling and cracking jokes on their path to worldwide fame. But where did they come from and how did they meet? Well, stay tuned because in our newest episode of Before They Were Famous, you’re about to find out.

Let’s face it – with his shaved head, muscular build, deep voice, and appealing charm, Vin Diesel is a true Hollywood Star – but what you might not realize is just how much of a self-made-man Vin really is. Vin grew up in New York City at the far edge of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village in what they used to call “Artists’ housing”. Basically, it was a space where relatively poor artists and their families could find an affordable place to live. But even back then – in the earliest days of his youth – throughout his struggles with an absentee father, getting himself into hundreds of fist-fights, and regular attempts at vandalism, Vin knew that his future was set in stone. Well, if you’re watching this video, I think you already know how that turned out for him -- but for those of you who don’t know the ins and outs of Vin’s remarkable story, you’re about to learn all you ever wanted to know and more in our newest episode of Before They Were Famous!

After lead star Frankie Muniz would reveal to the world that he he is suffering from extreme memory loss and doesn’t remember filming the iconic show. “Where were you 20 years ago today? I know where I was...Watching the very first episode of Malcolm in the Middle. Can you believe it? 20!! Thanks for embracing that crazy family of mine.” The cast even got back together during the pandemic to read the pilot episode although not all the members decided to come back. Erik Per Sullivan who we all remember as the loveable younger brother Dewey retired from the spotlight in 2010 and even on social media he’s living an extremely private life. Lot’s of Nostalgia to get through in this one and we’ve dug up a ton of old facts you’ve likely never heard before. Malcolm In The Middle first premiered in 2000 on Fox and ran for a total of 6 seasons. The show is often regarded as being an influential family sitcom for it’s lack of laugh track and live studio audience while using a single camera filming style which later became popular for other comedy series like The Office, Everybody Hates Chris, Arrested Development & more. I know it was a huge hit for me growing up and I probably watched every episode at least once. Aright let’s get into the cast.

This has been the week of Oli London. He’s made headlines the world over and his most recent trip to a plastic surgeon has him pulling in as many as 50 Million search results on Google at the time of this recording. I don’t think the press is good press but it looks like Oli London is an influencer who will take what they can get. From the Dr. Phil show to TMZ Oli is proudly showing off all the publicity his transformations have garnered for him and he’s not done yet! London first hit headlines in 2018, when it was revealed that they had spent more than $100,000 on cosmetic surgery to resemble musician Jimin from BTS. That amount is now estimated to have exceeded $400,000 in the years since. That had us here at the office wondering how he’s paying for all this but he does have a cameo account and fans pay as much as $5 to watch him perform in concert. He’s even gone so far as to marry cardboard cut out of his idol Jimin in a Las Vegas ceremony. Phew! We got a lot to get through in this one. Probably should have just slept in today and skipped this one but you guys asked for it so we are gonna get er done.

It’s not every-day that a musician creates a hit single so popular that it racks up over a billion views – and it’s even rarer when that artist then drops off of the face of the planet – but somehow, that’s exactly what happened to the man behind “Somebody That I Used To Know”, the enigmatic singer/songwriter known as Gotye. That single was a pop-culture staple of the early 2010’s and took home a whole slew of awards including three Grammys for Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Alternative Music Album. And yet – soon after returning home from a World Tour, Gotye decided to move on from his world-famous persona to concentrate on a side-project, his alt-rock band The Basics. He’s also worked hard to ensure that a pioneer of the electronic music genre will never be forgotten by preserving the musical legacy of his friend and mentor, Jean-Jacques Perrey. So, no, Gotye isn’t passed away -- though you can bet that rumor sure made the rounds – instead, after achieving the very heights of success, he’s decided to pursue his true passions even if that means shrinking away from the mainstream spotlight.

Believe it or not but by all accounts, Slim Jesus made a pretty decent success for himself during his fifteen minutes of fame – in fact, he’s reported to have made as much as $1 Million off of his 2015 single, “Drill Time” – the track that announced him as the newest drill artist to keep an eye on. The music video for that single turned into a viral hit and featured Slim Jesus, armed with guns while rapping about smoking grass and taking specific pills, basically giving everyone the impression that he was about the hardest thing to hit the streets since 50 Cent way back when... that is, until people actually laid eyes on the guy and realized, he looked way more like Dewey from “Malcolm in the Middle” then he did a kid from the streets of Chicago. That’s probably because Slim Jesus was decidedly not from Chicago, nor was he even from a town that was anything like in Chi-raq, the birthplace of drill – instead, Slim Jesus was a kid from Hamilton, Ohio who, once he lost all of his street cred, more or less disappeared from our lives. Only, now he’s back and finally rapping about something he definitely does have a lot of experience with – scamming.