The ARCast

Ep.115 Lost and Found - Michael Foxx's Remarkable Comeback (Pt.2)

August 06, 2024 • The ARCast • Episode 115

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Ep.115: Lost and Found - Michael Foxx's Remarkable Comeback (Pt.2)

Welcome back to Pt.2! In this continuing episode, Michael Foxx candidly shares his gripping journey of addiction, battling meth and later Adderall, while maintaining a facade of normalcy. He delves into the demons and psychics that marked his darkest days, the struggles with faith, and how a chance encounter with Cryptic Wisdom on tour helped reshape his life. From facing near-death experiences to eventually finding a deeper connection with God, Michael's story highlights transformation, recovery, and the power of surrender to something greater than oneself. Listeners will gain insight into his battles, victories, and the ongoing journey towards healing and redemption.

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Booda: Hey guys, Booda here. Thank you so much for tuning in to part two of this episode. Without further ado, let's jump right back into it. 

Michael: Method, you know, utensils for smoking methamphetamines in the smoke shop. And so this is the beginning of, uh, the darkest days in my entire life with, uh, demons and psychics and, uh, all kinds of stuff like that, because I went home and I smoked that stuff and I went, oh my god.

If I did this every morning before I go to work, I could just keep being the only employee of the smoke shop. I will not need I was trying to hire help. Because I wanted to have days off. I wanted to have breaks. I think I had a girlfriend that at the time she kind of would come in and then, you know, help me out.

She just kind of wanted to. And so my addiction with methamphetamines was very private. Nobody knew that I did it. And I would wake up in the morning and I would do a couple of tokes. I presented it to myself as if it was a medicinal thing that I was, well, they give people Adderall, they give people this.

I'll just do a little bit of this in the morning. I'll make it through my day. I'll have a meal at night. I'll sleep three hours or roll around for three hours, whatever. And then I'll start the day over. 

Booda: Like your morning cup of coffee. 

Michael: Yeah. Yeah. And that, and that, and that's, that is exactly how I justified it in my mind is that this is what I'm doing right now because, uh, I was very productive.

I'm somebody that really likes productive substances, something that makes me go and go and do more and produce more. And I think that's where it became dangerous because I had individuals in my life as my weight starts to drop and my complexion starts to change. They suspect that, Something extra is going on.

Nobody ever sat me down, really, to stop to talk to me and say, Hey, this is so bad. Because it's like, well, from the owner's perspective, he's getting like the work of five guys out of the pay of one. 

Booda: No shit. 

Michael: And, uh, you know, our sales were through the roof when he did get out of jail, he'd come into the cash register and he would take pictures of the money in the cash register.

And he'd come over to me and he'd go, here's a thousand bucks. You know, when Christmas time came, I was making car payments on this truck and he knew who the person was. And when Christmas time came, he walked in on Christmas day and gave me 500 cash and the title to my truck said, your truck's paid off.

I took care of it. You, what you're doing around here, this is keep it up, whatever you're doing. Okay. Keep it up. And I don't think he necessarily meant substances, but so, so yeah, eventually I was getting, uh, I was just showing a lot of signs, you know, the mental side. I was not being able to control the mental part of it anymore.

The paranoia was setting in. And then because my gift of discernment was also going through the roof. Now I am dabbling with my gift. So now, uh, you know, an old man comes in. And I instantly had a connection with him and he tells me his wife is dead and that he had needs help selling all this stuff. And so I took a personal interest in going to his house and selling all these M& M things.

He had collected all these M& M stuff. And I would sit down and I'd say, I'm, I am a medium and I'm here to help you because this is something that's important to you. And so eventually, Uh, a customer comes in, an old lady, two old ladies, and, uh, I'm butting heads with this old lady. We're just, she's snippy and I'm snippy and she's snippy and she gets to the front of the register and I say, ah, I know why we're having this problem.

It's because I am a medium and I have a message for you. And she looks at me and she goes, Oh wow, I've always wanted to meet one of those people. Give me your phone number. I'll contact you sometime. So. Months go by and I get a phone call and we're in the dark stages now that we were talking about and she goes, listen, I don't know who you are or nothing, but I am a medium and I have visions about you and I, I'm pretty sure you're about to be in a lot of trouble.

And I denied it, and I denied it, and then she validated to me, and she said, Oh yeah, well, I know that you like to watch pornography in your music studio. And I did not have internet. There was no way a hacker, there was no means for somebody to know something so intimate. And from that moment forward, I went, whoa, that is your good lady.

You got me. So I started seeing this lady and, uh, she just said, you know, I saw her one or two times before I finally started riding in ambulances. I started, uh, going to the hospital. I rejected treatment. Uh, there was someone who had offered treatment and in my state, I just. told them that they didn't really care about me.

They, you know, just probably wanted to get some kind of perk or look good. Like they got 20 people. It was terrible. I was so rude to that lady. And she was a, she was a genuine lady, this person. She actually had a kind heart to do that, to do that kind of work, to do this kind of work. You got, you're a sincere person.

So yeah, it, it became very, very dark for me. And, uh, luckily after going to the hospital, like two times in one week and feeling like there was a giant hole in my chest I was able to just, you know, I got fired from the smoke shop, uh, because I was, I could tell there was colluding, like people were talking.

About me and my drug use and then I get the paranoia and I'm like, what are you guys doing? You know You tell me nobody's here and you need my help and I pull up in the parking lot and there's 40 people here because they Were gonna have like a mediate they were gonna do like the pass the pillow thing around 

Booda: Yeah, 

Michael: and I was too scared to go inside.

I wouldn't go inside I said no you need to come out to my car because what what is this? You told me nobody was here and now I get here and everybody is here So what is, you know, so I got scared, so they fired me from that job. And, uh, and so I quit the drugs, but this is where there's a whole nother thing in spirituality that can be so much more dangerous than drugs in many ways.

And it's when you start dabbling with the psychics and you start messing with the Ouija boards, and you start messing with the crystal balls, when you start messing with magic works and rituals. Luckily for me, I, uh, have always been scared to death of. You know, Ouija boards and all of the actual, uh, works, because I think that people that don't have that kind of a gift, that's what they resort to, to get that power, you know, which that's a lot of the reason why I hung out with some of the people that I hung out with when we were talking about my earlier life was because I was addicted to the power I got when these gangsters are treating each other gruff and robbing each other and hurting each other.

But when they saw me. They'd be like, Oh, it's Mike. We love Mike. It's little innocent Mike. He's our little baby around here. And so I always felt like, well, I got some gangster ass friends now. Nobody's going to mess with Mike because my gangsters will go and get ya, you know? And, and the day always comes where a gangster gets in a bad situation and you're going to be the first person that they're going to go to, to make their situation better at whatever cost or expense to you.

So yeah, so I started meeting with this lady, and this lady is super legit. She, uh, she works with the feds finding missing and exploited children. She's always found the bones of every child that she's ever sought out. 

Booda: Really? 

Michael: Yeah, this is a legit lady, and she, she lives, uh, It very modest, I'd say in poverty because she has committed her life to this, whereas a lot of mediums and stuff sort of, um, their intent is fame or money or something like that.

And so she kind of helped open me up a bit more. And, uh, it's just, you can't control it, man. If you're not considering the source, you know, this, you know, this part of the story is so dark that I can't, I just don't have it in me to share it. But I went down some extremely dark roads. I saw the lengths of the road.

Um, I saw the extent of the power of Satan. This is when I absolutely, you know, I didn't see it like a ghost of Satan or whatever, but the experience that I went through made me realize that we are living in a world where In a real life Twilight movie. And I say that because in Twilight, there was all these regular kids going to school with vampires and werewolves who are having these secret wars and fields and nobody knows about it.

That's a dope analogy. And it's happening right before your eyes. There's a war going on between the, uh, you know, the warriors of God and the, uh, people of Satan. And it's happening all around us unbeknownst to us. And it's right. It's in perfectly plain sight. And, uh, this is where I really, really, really found God.

You know, I was, I told you, spoke to you earlier. I was raised Roman Catholic. I did not really understand it. That's why I said, thankfully, I didn't get involved in that because I didn't understand it. It was in Latin. It wasn't really of interest in me. Then my mom, when we moved to Arizona, moved to just a Christian church and she played her music in the church.

And I mean, I had some successes in that. I would go to these youth conferences, maybe 10, 000 person youth conference in what at the time was the Dodge theater. And I would do just an activity as a spectator. And then the pastor would find me and the pastor would pull me out and say, I want you to get on the stage and talk to everybody.

So I'm like, okay, this is cool. My very first youth conference. Now I'm on the stage talking to all these people. And I had like one of the greatest testimonies and it had, you know, not because of the story, but the reaction, I reached the people, the best. I articulated it the best. 

Booda: My question to you is, like you said, You grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, right?

And with all of the stuff that you had experienced growing up, with your father not being there, you know, the rebellion, you know, all the phases, all the breakups, all of these things, did you have any sense of faith up until that point when you realized that you had a discernment? Or did it, what was it to you?

Did you think it came from something greater than yourself? 

Michael: Oh man, what did I think of that? So anytime that I had an experience in, uh, church groups or whatever, where I was engaged with, they were extremely positive experiences. You know, one of the times I, I think I briefly mentioned it. One of the times I went to a youth conference because my parents thought I needed to go to a youth conference to kind of get kind of back on the path of God.

I was just supposed to be a spectator and they randomly chose me to be one of the people to come up on the stage and talk and just, I, they, you know, there might've been three or four other people that they chose to come up and speak, but I had that. It was the Dodge Theater. We're talking 10, 000 people and I'm telling my testimony.

Of, um, the activity that they had us do. So the youth conference takes a break in the middle and they send you out with your adult, um, chaperones and they sent us into the heart of Phoenix so that we could witness to people. That was what they wanted all of us to do. They wanted us to go around and witness to people.

And so the ice cream truck started coming down the street with my group of people. And I said, This is so me, this is so me. I'm going to do the ice cream people. Right. So the ice cream truck rolls up and it's these two girls and they were, they did not speak English, you know, they spoke Spanish. And so I got my ice cream and I started talking to them and they looked very confused.

And I, you know, and I said, I kept saying it over and over, you know, by the way, you know, G you don't take Jesus into your heart. He's here for you, blah, blah, blah, things like that. And. I just eventually said, do you, is any of this sticking, you know, are you getting any of this? And, and the, the daughter who could speak, she said, we were having a very long conversation about this this morning and, and, uh, and we're, we're just, we're blown away because we asked God for a sign in the morning because we are feeling a little lost.

We're going through some hardship and we just, we really need to know that he's here with us. And, uh, and so when they pulled me on stage to do the, to speak to everybody, it was just like, I had line after line where people were cheering because my whole message at that time was that God is so powerful that even through the language barrier.

We were able to reach somebody that had been searching and let them know he's here still you asked He's here. He loves you. Things are good. And so oh man I was like a little celebrity that day when that youth conference got out and I was just trying to leave the theater People wanted autographs, people wanted pictures, people wanted, adults would say you're going to be something someday, you're going to be a pastor, you have a great, promising, cause I could just articulate myself well, I think a lot of people when they got on that stage were nervous.

Especially kids my age, we were like, I was like 15 years old. And so 

Booda: Ten 

thousand people. 

Michael: Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is the whole, I don't know what it's called now. It was called the 

Dodge Theater and it was packed to the gills. 

Booda: So you've always had faith. You've always had it, even, even during the roughest times.

It was always something greater than yourself with you. 

Michael: Something greater than myself with me. I think in the time period that I'm working the smoke shop and I'm dabbling with the psychics and stuff, I started to slip away from God because I couldn't really figure out what the deal was with. I had an extraterrestrial experience that was, uh, they say the encounter of a fourth kind.

And it was with somebody else who's the most very pivotal, like a very important person in my life was also there. And I actually had the opportunity to ask them, like, about this. And they, you know, they said, yeah, I do remember that. That was something strange. Long story short, to kind of give anybody insight on what that experience was, is I was up in Payson and I was actually totally sober.

We were all sober. I don't even know, it could have been weeks maybe that we were sober. And, uh, I was staying the night with a friend. It was a girl, you know, she was my girlfriend. And, uh, I woke up because I had a bad dream. So as I'm walking down the hall of her parents house to go pee, I see this purple white light that just has no direction, and I'm a logical person, so I'm like, I'm looking and I'm going, okay, her dad does surveillance systems, it's a strobe light.

If I wait, it'll blink again. No blinking. Okay, the TV's on in a room, it's gonna come through the vent of the room. If I wait, there was no light. I was so scared at this stranger's house, I peed sitting down with the door open, even though their bedroom door, if they would've came out, they would've just seen me there, cause I was logical.

So I go back in my room. Or the room where I'm staying with this girl. And, uh, and I'm probably 22 years old, 20, you know, I think I'm old enough to drink. And now she's awake. Oh, what are you awake for? Well, I had this bad dream about the XYZ and I just looked at her and I'm like, that is the, that's the same dream that I had.

Like what? And it was basically like we were, you know, with some things in another place and, uh, it wasn't a terrible, uh, experience. It was actually kind of cool, but it was just scary that she had. So now I'm looking out the window trying to see if there's like a helicopter overhead or something that could have did the light.

So we're both scared out of our minds. We said, why don't we go to, uh, Denny's where everybody's awake? So that we can have some babysitters because we're experiencing, we are, uh, sober and out of our minds in fear. And so we're driving through the woods in Payson, Arizona, and looking through the sky as I'm driving, cause I'm still looking for what I might see.

And I see, um, something, some lights in the sky or something like that. And I stopped the vehicle and I back up cause there were some trees. So I back up to the clearing and I'm looking, and now we see the outline. Of something in the sky and she sees it and I go, a minute ago, there was a light on. This is, what is that?

And she's like, I don't know. Is it a water tower? And I'm like, that does not look, come on, man. Really? She's like, I don't know what it could be. And so we, there was something at, at the time I thought a police officer was walking up behind the vehicle and it, uh, And what I looked in my rearview mirror, because I jetted away from this person, this figure just turns to gas and evaporates.

And the reason this story is so pivotal is because this is what made me. It made me first leave God because now I know there's something more and it made me start trying to figure out what I experienced. What was that that I experienced? Is that our creator? Was that, is that angels? Is it demons? What is this?

And me and that person went two different, completely different directions because of this event. And so for several years, I. It's not that I lost faith. I was just very, very confused. Very confused. I remember when dubstep music first came out. Yeah. Right. We love it. Right. But when dubstep music first came out.

Even though I was in this phase where I'm trying to figure out what the heck did I experience, I would pray to God and say, God, please don't send me to hell because I like dubstep music. I know that it's so dark, and I know they talk about drugs, and I know they talk about gangbanging and all this stuff, but I just like the music.

I felt, dude, I had many, Many prayer sessions. So that was kind of like, I still had faith. I still had discernment, but it was not a cool topic to talk to people in the circles that I was in to be like, let's talk about God. Let's talk about faith. Maybe you need to put your faith in that. You know, especially growing up with my mom being very point A to point B.

It's not that God wasn't in our house, but we, I think, were so burned out after my mom did three masses every week playing the, you know, doing her instrument and then me being there, that it's like God was not something that was in the home. We didn't have prayers. We didn't have, say, grace or anything like that.

So, you know, it's just kind of like you live your life and then on Sundays you do church or whatever, and then you go back to your life, you know, it's kind of a weird thing. And I don't know if maybe because, you know, my father was in his twenties, my mom was 15 and then the church and then that's how they met was in the church.

They both played music. He would take her to go do church things and then, you know, eventually manipulated her into something that she really didn't want to do. Um, And so I don't know if that kind of is what made my mom where she's like, um, well, I'm going to be involved in church because it's right. But I just, I've got, you know, an interesting situation that makes me not really want to be too involved or spread.

Booda: Yeah. 

Wow. Okay. And around this time, how old are you around this time? 

Michael: I'm in my, I'm in my, so we're talking like when I started like going through the dark days and abandoning kind of goddess stuff. So I am 23, 24, 25. This is right before you met me, right before we went on tour. 

Booda: Okay. 

As far as the, the touring and stuff goes, man, you know, when we, when we first met, I gotta give a huge shout out to my brother David Gonzalez, aka Cryptic Wisdom, brother, if you're listening, man, I love you, dude.

You know what I'm saying? That's my boy right there. I know you said that you were, at least you, you told me when the cameras were off, we went to go grab some coffee and stuff. You had told me that the median, there was that lady about the smoke shop thing that she had told you that you were going to go on tour.

That's wild, bro. 

Michael: Yeah. So, uh, you know, I had my lapse with drugs. I'm in and out the hospital. I lose the job at the smoke shop. And then this lady, you know, validates to me that she knows things from the beyond. And that, um, she told me that she sees me traveling and that she sees me going all over the world and having friends all over different places and I didn't have really anything going on.

I was living at my parents and I worked a little bit in the studio that my friend had that I wish it looked as nice as this. 

Booda: Shout out to Mike. 

Michael: Thank you, Mike. 

Booda: Yes, 

sir. My 

brother. 

Michael: So, you know, we had this guy that would come to our studio and his name was Che Paulson and Che's dad was a funk junkie and he was kind of an honored, an honored guest to us.

And one of the times I had to cut Che's session short, I told him, I'll come to your concert and I'll do the lights at your concert. I'll bring some lights and we'll do your, I'll make it cool. I'll make it up to you. 

Booda: Yeah. 

Michael: And so we go to this place, it's called Joe's Grotto. It doesn't exist anymore. It was a place a lot of live music happened and I do the lights for Che's song.

Well, that night the headliner was Whitney Payton. And 

Booda: shout out to Whitney. 

Michael: Shout out Whitney. 

Booda: Yeah, shout out to Whitney. That's my homegirl right there. 

Michael: She had a song, one song with Cryptic. And so Cryptic, who was not in town, drove all the way up from Tucson to Phoenix. And if I remember the story correctly, he parked in the back, got out of his car, When in the backstage, the song had started because he was delayed and he literally grabbed a mic and got onto stage right at the point that it was his part of the song.

Booda: Saved by the bell, man. That's crazy. 

Michael: Saved by the bell. Yeah. Yeah. We, I, we've got a lot of those stories, me and Cryptic together where we barely made it. But anyways, sorry. I digress. So at the end of this concert, Che comes up to me and says, Hey Michael, it would really mean a lot to me if I could show, you know, introduce you to these people.

I know these guys, they'll know you. So it was just like a fan type of experience, like a meet and greet. I didn't really know what to say to these people. And I shook their hand. Hi, I'm Mike. I did your lights. Che's like, yeah, you did your lights. And we were like, cool. You know, it's great. We have a little picture together.

I do have a picture on my Facebook profile. That's a part of a homage post of me, Whitney and Cryptic in this moment. And, um, Basically, the, the, the psychic kept telling me, you need to find the guy with the glasses. That's who you gotta find. 

Booda: That's funny. 

Michael: Yeah. And so when she told me that, I went, I just met a guy with glasses and she goes, talk to him.

About what? Whatever, just once you go and you talk to him, you'll, it'll work out. It'll work itself out. Just see what happens. And so, um, that day we're talking two days after the concert, I'm talking to the medium. I find out that Che had died, uh, for whatever reason, you know, Che was battling health issues and so he had passed away in his, you know, in his sleep.

They found him in his bed. Yeah. And so, um, And so I reach out to Cryptic and I said, Hey, you know, I'm the guy who did your, your lights. And I just wanted to let you know, if you ever have a show or concert or anything like that, I'd be more than happy to help with your lighting. And he goes, I'm actually about to leave on a tour in two weeks and I have some lights.

And do you think you could come and make the lights work? Because I have this show buddy thing and all this stuff. And you know, what do you think? I said, okay, yeah, I can absolutely pre program your show and make it work. And so I, uh, came and met up with him. And, uh, there was only, you know, maybe 12 days before he had left and I did the lights and then they couldn't get in touch with his DJ.

And so I was a DJ. And so I said, I can do your lights and I could do your DJing. I was not supposed to be the DJ. I was not supposed to go on this tour. I was just supposed to be the lighting guy, get it set up, get it, get it ready for them. And then they were going to do it. And yeah, lo and behold, I mean, the whole chain of events was, Che introduces me.

Three days later he dies. About 14 days later I'm on an international tour with Cryptic Wisdom. 

Booda: I remember being on the road with you and seeing you doing the lighting and the music at the same time and it never crossed my mind that those two things weren't in connection. Like that that somebody would have an individual job.

Like I just thought damn this dude's really fucking good at what he does. It's like your shows were dope bro. Cryptic would say something and then Ooh, when the lights go down, they spin. And then like, I just remember being like, yo, this is so cool. I've never seen anybody do this before. 

Michael: Thank you. That was, uh, my first time ever using, it was a pro a computer program that Cryptic already had called ShowBuddy.

Usually I would be sitting in where the sound guy is and just running it from there. But Cryptic had all this stuff. He just needed someone to kind of patch it together. And, uh, yeah, the rest was history. I mean, we ended up, you know, that tour was, uh, International tour, you know, we, you know, another moment that we kind of made it from the skin of our teeth and it turned out to be a good thing was we were, I was driving the whole vehicle through a no cell phone service area in the Canadian Rockies.

And, uh, I blew the motor, I had the rod in the motor blew. We were a little overweight. We had a lot of people. The motor, the car was going hard. So I ended up hitchhiking and cryptic hitchhiked with me. And we found some people that brought us to this town of about 15 people. So we're, we're in this like movie right now.

And it's drizz, it's not, it's kind of hazy and there's like kind of sprinkling rain and we have two camera guys and they're like, this is so great. This is like how horror movies start. And we get to this town where there's like 15 people and we get to this cabin and this biker, very intimidating looking biker guy comes out.

Oh, you're the boys I heard about. And we're like, fuck, we're dead. We're so dead. And, uh, he goes, he points to this stairwell where it's got this, the light bulb is flickering. I'm not even making this up. This is scary. We were afraid. Now maybe we may, I don't know. So he points to this, to this stair and he goes, you boys will be staying just down there.

Go on, check it out. And everybody in the tour looks at me. Like, I'm not going down there. You're going down there. And I swallowed real hard and I took, went down the staircase and I opened the door and he go, guys, you got to see this. And they come down and it ended up being the most beautiful place. that I've ever stayed on all of Tour, this guy happened to have his entire business where he provides lodging services to the X Gamers during training season.

Booda: Oh, dope dude. 

Michael: And just inside of the mountains is a secret trail that the X Ga So he had just redone his entire underneath his bar. I don't know why he had a 15 people, huge full size bar for a town of 15 people. Uh, but he had just redone his bar and it turned out to be. That part of the experience was pretty good.

So there was a lot of times when you say, you know, it kind of, or it barely worked where he came in saved by the bell. I think like that is, uh, that is a strength of his. 

Booda: That's so cool, man. That's awesome. I met some incredible people on the road. Uh, I got to give a shout out, you know, to Daniel. I met Daniel Bayog, you were there.

I got to give a huge shout out to, uh, My brother, Justin Babel and his wife, Grace, man, that is my, that's the family right there. My wife actually got, I don't know if ordained is the word, but she went through like the paperwork and stuff. So she could actually marry Justin and Grace. And we flew out to Wisconsin and we got to celebrate their wedding together and stuff.

So, I mean, it's amazing how the people that you meet. How they play different roles in your life, right? Like I would have never thought I would have had Daniel in here and you in here and then Cryptic man, I still consider him, he's like my little brother, dude. You know what I mean? And, and bro, I got to tell you too, allowing me to go on the road with you guys during that part of my life where I felt like my world was pretty much over.

You know what I mean? And, uh, I don't even know if you realize it, man, but being a friend and allowing me to be a part of that was one of the most healing experiences of my life. So I got to give you a huge shout out, brother. Um, I was actually going to wear the cryptic wisdom shirt today. I completely forgot, but shout out to you, your whole family, bro, everyone out there, man.

But yeah, it is incredible, incredible times. 

Michael: Just to jump in on that. I think, I think I just had a realization and you know, we talked a little bit on the phone before we came in to do this today and it just dawned on me right now that That is maybe a knack of cryptics because that was my story. I had just got off drugs.

I had no future. My music, I didn't really care about. I was just recording people as a means to get by. I really had no future. And then he took and picked me up and that really, the traveling and the experiences with him molded, the restructured the rest of my life. And if I just think about the fans that we met on the road, you know, I, that is, that's so weird because it's like, it's just a kind of a gift of his that I don't even think he's conscious of that, that these, he has a gift of taking people from a dark place and giving them enough light.

To get their own torch going again. 

Booda: Wow, 

Michael: isn't that weird? That's so weird that you that because it's like the same thing and then you just yeah I never realized that yeah, 

Booda: because I mean he didn't he didn't have to let me go on the road You know i'm saying he didn't have to be a friend. He did it So like just chill, you know what I mean?

Just like yo come through whatever you want come through You know what i'm saying? Like it was just weird like it's weird looking at it like that in hindsight now, I guess 

Michael: because he 

doesn't try He doesn't try to do these. He doesn't try to be, uh, like a superhero for people. Not in those ways, you know, it's, that's really interesting that it's like a natural thing that I, I, if you're listening, I hope you explore into that because I don't know if that's discovered or not, but even how Justin came on the road with us, Justin was following another artist.

And we just liked Justin. Justin had critical thinking skills. 

Booda: Hey, 

we need somebody white to speak to the police. That's the truth right there. 

Michael: That's the truth right there. Yeah. And Justin is a good guy. You know, when he first came on tour with us, me and Bayog, I think culture shocked him quite a bit of the, you know, living up the life and stuff.

And Justin would just pretend that he was asleep in bed. Come on. Let's go party. And he'd be like, Oh my God is so fake. You're so fake. And it is just funny, man. So yeah, Justin is a genuinely good person. You know, he went with us and he was professional and that's he, he see, yeah, he just loves, he gets, he loves being the professional and the person to bring it together and.

Yeah, he gave me a lot of my first DJ music, that guy. He, he was DJing weddings and stuff like that. And he happened to have a thumb drive with a hundred, like a thousand of the top songs in the world. And he gave it to me. I was like, what? Why do you have this? 

Booda: Yeah, that's cool, man. Things all work themselves out, man.

So that was around the time that you were going through some of like your darkest days, man. 

Michael: So yeah, you know, unbeknownst to the world, uh, you know, I didn't have anything going on. You know, I was pretty much done with girls at the time. I was just like, man, that's, you know, not a good path for me. And I, um, didn't have much religion.

I definitely don't think you and I spoke anything about, or I spoke to you anything about it. You brought it with you, I remember. But yeah, no, I, um, that, that's what I'm saying is that if he didn't. Do that I wouldn't have ended up kind of falling back into the life that I was in because I had no path I had no direction, you know, I had been through the addiction with drugs and I basically just he helped pull me out of it essentially by giving me You know the first time that you come home from a tour man, I was gonna change my DJ name to hometown hero 

Booda: Yeah, 

Michael: because everybody wanted to meet up with me.

Everybody wanted to go to my shows. Everybody wanted to be a part of it And I think that, um, somewhere along the lines, cause we, we did this for like three or four years solid. And so it might've only been five tours. I think some of them I sat out, but it was a, this was our continual job that we were doing.

And so I think somewhere along the lines with me, I started getting egotistical and I started getting, I, I, I wanted to just kind of start hanging out with these different crowds of people and I just, I got myself involved in the wrong crowd and, uh, I thought it was the right crowd and so, yeah, I went through this other spiral again where drugs entered my life again, but this time in the form of Adderall.

Booda: Okay. 

Michael: So, you know, for, for anybody struggling with different things and they're not familiar, Adderall is very similar to methamphetamines. 

Booda: That was my vice. 

Yeah. 

Michael: Yeah. It's, they're, it's, they're so similar. And so I went, somehow the devil had this plan Of, well, remember when you were taking the meth because it was a medicinal thing?

Well, now I'll just give you the medicine. So it's okay again, cause it's really actually prescribed to people every day. Don't worry about it and you'll get more things done. And I would drive, I was a driver at the time. I was driving my parents car around. They gave me, cause I had sold my cars. And then when I was traveling.

I was like, well, I don't need, I had kept my motorcycle. And then when I was traveling, I'm like, I don't need a motorcycle. You know, I wanted to like bring it with us one time, but there's no way. And so, yeah, so I was driving my parents car around and I'm hanging with the wrong people and I'm doing Adderall and it, it was just a terrible experience.

Uh, you know, I, I was, I was drugged several times. Um, You know, one of the times that I was drugged, nobody knew that I was on Adderall. And so while, you know, this group of people is waiting for me to pass out to, um, probably not only sexually assault me, um, it's probably going to be far worse, whatever was their plan.

Um, which interestingly enough, that lady that we talked about, the medium, Um, she had called me in that moment and she said, I don't know what you're doing or who's at your house right now, but get them out of your house. I went, no, what? And she goes, get them out of your house. And I just wouldn't do it.

And so, yeah, That's, 

Booda: that's, that's dope. I mean, it's, it's crazy. I don't, I don't, I say crazy. I don't mean like you're crazy. I just mean like, that's just so crazy. The coincidence that, This girl is like so tied to you. It's like a soul tie that she can she can sense these things. 

Michael: Yeah. I don't know how much she appreciates it, but, uh, I do.

And I go back and forth on sometimes if it was good or bad, you know, sometimes I'm not clear on, uh, On, uh, I think the danger just to briefly touch on it. And I know I do want to kind of go into the sexual assault a little bit. The, the danger with mediums is that they, they could tell us things to help guide us, but your ego starts getting in the way because you feel invincible.

You feel like, well, now I know what these people think about me. Now I know where to go to my next job. You know, she had told me, find the guy with the glasses, find the guy with the glasses. That's where you're going to start touring. Then I ended up finding Cryptic and going with Cryptic. So along the way of my ego with being, you know, uh, international DJ to, you know, having this psychic in my pocket, I felt like there was just no way things could go wrong.

And so I would ignore some of the paths that she would, uh, you know, try to advise me to, to avoid or, or, you know, not to, I would have, I would ignore the paths she advised me to go down because I figured, well, I just have her and she'll help me kind of work my way out of it and it'll be whatever. So it's very dangerous when you deal with those people because it messes with your mind and especially just the, the, where is the source?

Where are they getting the information from? Where is this really coming from? There is prophets and the Bible talks about it. There is, the whole Bible is written by people that had dreams and saw ghosts and angels. So there is, uh, the work of God out there, but very few and far between. And so that's honestly the mental health illness that I suffer from to this day is, um, you know, when I have a, uh, thought that something might happen, you know, for example, I shared with you out of nowhere, a couple of weeks ago, I had the thought that I needed to put my pistol in my bed with me.

In case there was a home invasion, I need to have my pistol in my bed with me. And I'm vividly imagining, what am I going to do? I got to be the first person to run out. I got to be the one to protect the family. And I started telling myself, no, no, you don't want to think about this. Why would you think about this?

There's no reason you've gotten, everything is fine. Your life is good. And then I find out two days later, there was a home invasion in a nearby neighborhood and that the guy shot, they didn't die. Praise God. He shot the people who invaded his house, but he got, he was protected and nothing bad happened to him.

And they ended up living. And so the battle begins now where. I don't know if I'm predicting it or if I'm creating it. And this makes me feel very conflicted, very conflicted, because my intention is only to heal. I don't hear voices. I don't see things. I don't have anything like that. It's just like a coincidence all the time.

Coincidences. I could be telling my mom about Tony Robbins. Have you ever heard of Tony Robbins? My mom will be like, I've never heard of Tony Robbins. And then Fox News Live will be like. And our next guest speaker is Tony Robbins. And then everybody just looks at me and I'm like, you know, I don't know.

There's no way that I just instantly teleported Tony Robbins to Fox News. So, you know, that kind of helps me out. 

Booda: Well, the, the thing that I'm saying is like, you know, I'll go back to this whole shit you were saying earlier about the eclipse, right? And everyone's worried that the world's going to end and all this stuff, you know.

For anyone who's not faithful, you know, trust me this is all love like whatever you believe you believe man, you know It's all love here. We respect and love everyone's opinions here. You know, it's all love and respect But it's like even in the Bible, right? If that's the book you believe it says like nobody knows the time or date when it's gonna happen Nobody knows that you know, God is in control of everything and we're not that's a lot of what The sacrifice is of being vulnerable and finally, um, allowing yourself to not feel like you're the one in charge because you're not.

It's him, right? So if you do have this gift, which I believe you do, of discernment and being able to see things, then, you know, you also gotta remember that these negative energies are also gonna try and conflict with the positive ones. You are not a creator. Like, as far as, as far as a higher power goes.

So you cannot create that, you know what I'm saying? I feel like that, would go towards the whole thought process that you were speaking on earlier in regards to your ego and the, the, you know, the, the touring, because the touring shit was not on no little scale. Like this is a, this is pretty much an international tour, right, that we're talking about.

So maybe, you know, I feel like it also says, you know, take every thought captive when you get those types of thoughts. Instead of focusing like, yo, am I creating this? Or am I just, you know, whatever. Look at where the thought Where the thought can lead. Like if you are creating this with this, help boost up your ego.

If you were creating this with this, help make you those, you know, those types of people that are trying to profit off of it and getting egotistical. Like, Oh, this person already, I already know what they think about me. All those things that you were telling me. Right. Versus the other thought process of like, what it actually means.

It's like, yo, you're getting, you're getting. It's a gift. You're able to see what's about to happen or you know that something is about to happen. I mean, I, I don't know. I mean, that's kind of the way that I see it. I hope I'm not just talking out of my ass, but to me, that's what it's like. It's easy to know where it's coming from when you could look at the root of it.

Is it a positive thought that'll help everyone else around me? Or is this a selfish thought that, that I'm having? And then help you navigate through those waters a little bit because God ultimately is the one that's in control, not you. 

Michael: Yeah. I love that. And for saying that. I think early on when I was touring and traveling, my ego was out of control.

So every time that these types of things happened, it inflated me. I've done a lot of healing from that time period to now, you know, we talked a little bit about, I went down some dark roads, uh, you know, I was sexually assaulted. I'd be drugged and raped in my sleep by girls. And, uh, and so, Um, you know, I think after I did all of this healing, the place that sometimes I get brought to is, it's not a good feeling.

It's a feeling that brings me down. So it does kind of bring me to this source where I'm, you know, it's conflicting. I don't know. We don't even need to put that in there. It's weird. Anyways. No, no, no, no, no. You're good, dude. I mean, just, I'm just, I'm just saying it to you. And if it makes sense, it makes sense.

If you don't include it, don't include it because I don't want him to have a dark turn in the, in the energy. 

. At 

least for me as a person that when it is something like people get shot, that's pain. And the things that I, I don't ever have, it's always fun, happy. I don't have negative thoughts. 

Booda: Let's clear it up this way in a sense, because it is very, everything you're saying holds weight.

But this leads me to my next question where it comes to, you. You know, whereas before when you were during those dark times, you said that you, as far as your faith goes, God was kind of on the back burner because there wasn't a lot of God in your home. There wasn't a lot of this, right? You were kind of confused on who you were.

During the times that you're experimenting with drugs, your depression, your anxiety is through the roof. You're being sexually assaulted. All of these horrible things are happening to you, right? There was a shift in change. To that person, to the person I'm sitting here in the studio with talking to right now.

So it is very relevant because you don't seem very confused now about where all this shit is coming from. You seem like you're pretty solid. Like how did you get to this person that I'm talking to right now, bro? Come on. 

Michael: So, uh, the, the, the transformation really came from, uh, from a couple of different angles.

I'm, I'm doing the Adderall. Um, the, I'm no longer touring and traveling. Um, yeah. So I'm in this dark stage where I'm basically living in this guy's warehouse working for his company. Um, you know, he kind of had this, Buddy buddy thing. He told me, oh, the reason that you have your problems is because you never had a dad.

And I'll step in and I'll help you be your dad and I'll control all of your bills. So we'll make sure all your bills are paid. I'll take it right outta your paycheck. You can drive one of my vehicles and, uh, you know, you can just live in my warehouse and work my company. And as long as you work, you'll always have everything you need.

And, um. There, there was a lot of dark works happening in that whole situation. And it was so intense that I literally, I came to a moment where I knew that I was directly dealing with evil. And that's not the guy who's evil. It's the situation. And so I just knew that I really needed God in order for me to, uh, to get out of that situation because it was so, uh, obvious for reasons that I was going to meet my demise, whether it be drugs, uh, killing me, or making a bad decision because I'm on drugs, or putting myself in a situation where, you know, something worse happens.

I just knew that was when I went, Oh my gosh, like it is so clear to me that God is real. Angels are real. The devil is real. There's really a war going on and I do not understand the, you know, my gift of discernment. I do not understand this lady. I do not understand everything that's going on. But I just.

I realized that there's always another way. One of my mentors today says that the doors of collision run parallel with the doors of opportunity, very different paths, but the choice is yours, which one you take. And so in your darkest moments, You could choose your demise. You could say this is it and you could submit and surrender and it might be 

Booda: Surrender, that's the word I was looking for brother 

Michael: And and that's what it might be But you know if you choose the other path and you choose to fight and you choose to ever overcome then you will have a breakthrough.

Booda: Oh man. That's another one too. 

Michael: Yeah. 

Booda: That is an absolute other one. Are you, cause what, cause I told you that that's a very significant thing for me, right? 

Michael: Yeah. Would you mind saying it again? 

Booda: Yeah. So, so, you know, we've gone, we've gone through some changes here at this facility. And, uh, there was a moment in time where things were a little bit grim with certain, you know, certain things happening in my life or whatever.

We had a gentleman in here who, who told me, uh, he said, you know, it's super easy, bro. I mean, the energy was completely there when he walked in, he actually lifted my mood up. Uh, shout out to, uh, Alan Percy, bro. If you're listening, Alan, my dude, bro. Um, he came through and he had just gotten laid off of his job and still came in.

It still came in bro, and he, uh, he told me, he goes, I ain't worried about it. He goes, God, God has taught me to, to just take advantage of every opportunity. Like just super positive for someone like me and crying in my, in my shit. You know, he was here super positive, man. And he's the one who told him, he goes, bro, I truly believe before every break, before every, uh, uh, before every breakthrough, there's a breakdown before every breakthrough, there's a breakdown.

And all I kept thinking was, man, and that goes perfect with what you said about the, the, the road. They run right next to each other the road of opportunity in the road of collision. It's so true. 

Michael: Yeah, and that's that has been Kind of the moral and theme of my life, you know, they say pressure Diamonds are made from pressure.

And yeah, you know, I feel like if anybody's out there and There, things are going good and stuff. I encourage you to explore new mental disciplines and explore new things to keep the pressure on yourself so that you can kind of control staying on that path of opportunity. Because I think what happens is we get to these phases where we feel so comfortable and we stop growing and.

God, if you're alive, you're here to learn. You know, you can't just say I'm done learning because you're alive. So you have to find new ways. You know, what I've done to heal and to keep myself on a good path is to continually challenge myself with new disciplines, rather it be just doing my laundry in the same day, every week, making my bed or, um, dietary.

Um, you know, different mental things, mental disciplines, practicing, not speaking out loud, things like I can't or I won't, or, you know, having bad, um, allowing inner thoughts to take over myself and, and defeat me. So I think that as long as we can keep challenging ourself, you know, in different ways, then a lot of the, um, breakdowns, um, that are necessary are caused, you are in control of them.

You are controlling the breakdowns and you're controlling the breakthroughs. If you're just stuck in a place of just pure happiness, you think everything is good or whatever, then, you know, then, uh, then a breakdown will come in a way that's beyond your control. So, I mean, it's beyond a break, a breakdown will come from a place that's beyond somewhere that you might have been able to have more of an influence on.

Booda: Yeah, it gives a lot of hope, bro. Gives a lot of hope for the future. And, you know, for anybody listening out there, man, I hope this gives you a little bit of hope for whatever you guys are going through out there. You know, keep God first, you know, for people that are like uncomfortable with the idea of faith, just find something greater than yourself, whether it's a rock, whatever it may be, man, but just something greater than yourself to, you know, and explore that because it's, it's like, it opens you up to a whole different way of living and surrenders.

The word I was talking about is when you finally don't, uh, obsess about you being in control of every single little meticulous thing that happens and you surrender yourself to something greater. It opens you up to more blessings, man. I just feel that. 

Michael: Absolutely. Yeah. I like how you said that. And it connects to me too.

You know, one of the things that I have found with, um, if people are struggling with the TikTok and they're struggling with the conspiracies and they're struggling with some of the weird stuff that's going, you know, put in front of them, really you're, you're seeking out, you know, magic and magic. I don't mean that in which, you know, which is in warlocks and stuff, but you're letting all of other people's magic fill your brain and you're missing the magic that can be happening in your own life.

You decide to get up and cook yourself a meal and you taste that food and you experience that, that delicious thing that you did. That's the magic. And so I think, you know, a lot of times that most of these things that are out there, they're, That we might not even think are the works of Satan, are just, it is because it's keeping you from creating that magic and experiencing it.

Booda: That's it. That's it, man. That's beautiful. Just like you said, with everything. I think of that with everything. People looking online, yo, this person has money. Look at their house. Look at this. Create the magic in your house, man. You and your husband, or you and your wife, or you and your kids, get together and create it on your own.

Disconnect. Disconnect. Turn that shit off. You know what I mean? This is, this right here is the most raw and authentic thing is to be able to connect souls and talk about real subjects, real situations, man. This is life right here. That, that TikTok shit is not life. You know what I'm saying? So dude, I, I'm, I just, I'm so thankful and I'm so grateful for you coming through, man, and sharing your testimony here.

I really want to kind of let the listeners know this is a very special episode, obviously, because, you know, and my brother's the one who brought the cameras here. So this is all of his equipment. Thank you very much for doing that. You know, but because people have got a chance to, to see you and be a part of your life a little bit, um, since they're watching you and viewing you, you know, what are some of the things that you're doing now in your life?

What are you working on, brother? Like what's going on in your life now? 

Michael: Yeah. I think since I've, um, consciously brought. God and Jesus into everyday thoughts and stuff like that. I've had a positive change in direction. I'm, uh, I'm an agent to a script that's in Hollywood. It's an incredible story about a woman who was a prostitute during World War II, but she was actually a spy and the intelligence that she Brought forward ended up leading to the invasion of Normandy We knew about all of the tanks moving around and the troops This is a true story that she left with my colleague before she passed away And so we're just in the midst of um getting it turned into a screenplay And then funding it we're looking at like a hundred million dollar feature So this is going to be my first opportunity to be a part of something really big I did have some involvement in the Star Wars franchise, the Aliens franchise.

I did some cameos and stuff for the Chronicles of Riddick. Um, so I still do music full time. My job is DJing. I have representation and I DJ in a fancy restaurant in downtown Scottsdale. Um, and that's, you know, I'm very blessed because it gives me the opportunity to only need to work two days a week. I live a modest life and it covers my expenses.

And I commit the other five days a week to, uh, uh, bettering anybody and anything. A lot of times people don't have the time to do a task because of they have to work five days a week. And so I'll reach out and I'll say, Hey, I can go pick that up for you. Or, Hey, would you like me to help you with your resume?

Or I can work in my home with my little brother and then I, you know, we'll get some vinyl rap and I'll say, you want to start a vinyl rap company? Let's try rapping. Maybe you're good at that, you know? And so, um, I think with where I am right now with, you know, my faith has really helped me to just stay solid.

And I really look forward to, um, the future of kind of this new adventure that I'm on. 

Booda: Yeah. That's awesome, man. Well, thank you so much, brother. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up to our homeboy, Michael Foxx one last time. Yo, this has been a huge blessing. I want to thank every single one of you for tuning in.

You know, we do this every single week. So if you want to get in contact with my boy, Michael, if you got any links or anything where they can go check your music out, anything that you're doing, we're going to put that all in the links of this episode. Um, also for anybody. Who wants to come and share the testimony, whether you're in addiction, you know, uh, mental health space at all, suicidal ideations, any type of a struggle that you've experienced and you want to come share your testimony in hopes of helping somebody else, please hit me up.

All the links will be in there as well. You know, but until next time, thank you guys so much for, for tuning in, for watching, you know, wherever you're watching this at, make sure you guys are subscribing and all of that and, uh, much love and God bless you all, man, for real. Peace, dude. And thank you again, Michael.

I appreciate you, dog. 

Michael: Thank you. 

Booda: Peace.