- 1 week ago
Join beloved food critic and internet sensation Keith Lee for an intimate conversation on how he turned honest reviews into a movement. From the power of storytelling through food to navigating marriage in the public eye, Keith opens up about staying grounded, redefining his image on social media, and what it means to grow with your audience while staying true to yourself.
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00:00So, I have an amazing young man in the back.
00:03He is a viral sensation, and to me, he exemplifies the power of perspective
00:08and the impact that you can have doing what you love.
00:12Now, I did ask him a question.
00:13I asked him, has he been to any restaurants here in Louisiana, in New Orleans?
00:19Tell me your favorite restaurants here in New Orleans.
00:23And not Acme.
00:24I need to hear, like, what are your favorite restaurants here in New Orleans?
00:27New Orleans.
00:30Okay.
00:31Sunday?
00:34Mondays.
00:35Okay.
00:36On Saturday, we're going to go to Mondays.
00:38Okay, well, the next young man coming up will let you know, do you or don't you,
00:42when it comes to what you eat, where you go, and where you patronize.
00:46Please welcome to the stage our host for this panel, or for this conversation, rather,
00:51Ms. Kimberly Wilson and the viral sensation, the one and only, Mr. Keith Lee.
00:57Good morning, Essence Festival.
01:04My name is Kimberly Wilson, and I am senior editor here at Essence Magazine.
01:10And I am with someone who really needs no introduction.
01:15Honored.
01:15But we're going to give him his flowers really quickly.
01:18Let's do it.
01:18So, he is one of the most trusted voices in food, I'd say.
01:23That was amazing.
01:24He's built a massive following by doing exactly what most people don't, tell the truth, right?
01:31No frills, reviews, and he's been going to some of your favorite restaurants across the country.
01:37So, give another round of applause for Keith Lee.
01:41Thank you, man.
01:45First, I want to say, y'all can hear me?
01:48First, I want to say I'm honored to be here from the bottom of my heart.
01:50I appreciate every last one of y'all for taking a minute of y'all time to be here.
01:54It means the world to me.
01:55More than y'all will ever know.
01:56I thank y'all.
01:58Yeah.
01:59I thank y'all.
02:00Okay, Keith.
02:01So, how does it feel to be back in New Orleans, back at Essence Festival, one of your favorite food cities?
02:07My favorite food city.
02:09I love New Orleans, man.
02:11Yeah.
02:12I love New Orleans.
02:13I love the people.
02:14And, again, I love that y'all came out just to hear us talk, to hear us enjoy black culture, enjoy being here, being in this moment.
02:22Yeah, I'm forever honored, man.
02:23Yeah.
02:23I love New Orleans, though.
02:25Okay.
02:25So, we have to talk about the Keith Lee effect.
02:28Talk to me.
02:29Talk to me.
02:29You have affected dozens of businesses.
02:34You've driven thousands and thousands of customers out to these restaurants, sold out all the food.
02:41So, talk to me.
02:42How do you grapple with that responsibility of the influence that you have with your platform?
02:47It's not me.
02:48It's God and it's y'all.
02:49If it's not for y'all that will stand in these lines and support these businesses and go and highlight the small person in the neighborhood that will often get overlooked, it wouldn't be a Keith Lee effect.
03:01At the end of the day, I'm just eating food.
03:04I'm sitting in the car with my family.
03:05I'm sitting in the car with my kids.
03:06It's the real power is the people who will go on feet and really go and support these restaurants and the power of prayer.
03:13I think that's what I'm an exemplification of is what happens when you pray and what happens when you listen to him.
03:18When he asks you, are you ready for what you're asking for?
03:22And the answer is yes.
03:23Okay.
03:24So, talk to me.
03:25How do you stay grounded through it all?
03:27You've only gotten bigger and bigger throughout the years.
03:30So, what keeps you grounded?
03:32And we know God is one of it.
03:33But what else keeps you grounded?
03:34I'll be chilling.
03:36I'm not going to lie to you.
03:37I'll be chilling.
03:37I'm always with my family.
03:39I'm always with my kids.
03:40I don't really live a lifestyle that is different than I did before everything took off.
03:46I sit in the house.
03:47I sit.
03:48I play the game.
03:49I eat food.
03:50When I'm not traveling a lot, I think that's the biggest difference is that now we've been blessed enough to travel.
03:56And out of a month, I'm probably home like five days.
04:00But those five days, I'm literally just sitting back, minding my business.
04:04But when I am out, again, I'm with my family at all times.
04:07And I think that's the real answer is that keeping the people closest to you will remind you what's important.
04:13The whole social media fame, fame in general, money comes and goes.
04:18But what doesn't go is the true value of having the people that mean the most to you around you at all times.
04:24Okay.
04:25Okay.
04:25So, we're in New Orleans.
04:27I appreciate y'all.
04:28You said it's one of your favorite food cities.
04:31What has been the best food that you've had in New Orleans?
04:34And you have to tell us the exact order because people are here.
04:37They want to go.
04:38They want to visit.
04:39So, this is my number one food city for multiple reasons.
04:43But Cajun food is probably, Creole and Cajun food is probably my favorite food.
04:48I would say the number one food spot I've been to is a very simple spot, too.
04:53And they actually are reopening this weekend.
04:55The name of it is Cajunlicis.
04:57And it was a small mama pop shop.
05:00And it was the very first restaurant that ever got the Keith Lee effect outside of Vegas.
05:04Because New Orleans, for those that don't know, was the very first stop on a food tour for us outside of Vegas.
05:10And I got an eight-piece Cajunlicis wing.
05:15And it was the – it's like a Cajunlicis special sauce that they make.
05:18You can see my mouth starting to water.
05:20It was like a Cajunlicis special sauce that they make.
05:21And it's like a spicy, sweet garlic sauce.
05:25But it's like chunky almost.
05:27So, it's like fresh pieces of garlic.
05:29It's fresh pieces of onion.
05:30It was super spicy.
05:32But it still had a little bit of sweetness to it, like some fresh honey.
05:34It was the best wing I've ever had in my entire life.
05:38They got so – so, they were at the point of closing because it was so slow.
05:42After we left, this was two and a half years ago.
05:45After we left, they had to permanently close the location because they couldn't handle the influx.
05:49So, now they moved to a bigger location, and they reopened it this weekend.
05:53Wow.
05:54God is amazing, man.
05:55Yes.
05:56Clap for that.
05:56For sure.
05:57So, is there a city that has surprised you in terms of their food scene?
06:02Oh, that's a good question.
06:04I would say there's a few cities.
06:07Baton Rouge, surprisingly, had a decent food scene to me.
06:09Okay.
06:11I feel like the people in Baton Rouge really made the experience for us.
06:15See, the people in Baton Rouge are amazing.
06:17I would say Baton Rouge was probably one of them that surprised me.
06:21I would say another one that surprised me.
06:23We were just in Savannah, Georgia.
06:25Okay.
06:26Shout out to Savannah.
06:27Okay.
06:27We got one.
06:28So, we were only there for like two days, but Savannah, Georgia had a really good food scene.
06:34I would say my most slept on that I didn't anticipate was going to be like a really good food scene was Seattle, Washington.
06:42Wow.
06:42I did not think Seattle was going to be like that, but Seattle was like that.
06:45Okay.
06:46Now, on the other end, is there a city that still owes you an apology?
06:51We saw the Atlanta content.
06:53No offense to Atlanta, but...
06:55I wouldn't say necessarily an apology, but I've been to a few places that I wouldn't go back if the goal was to eat food.
07:04Okay.
07:04Um, I would say Atlanta is one of those.
07:08Okay.
07:08Uh, I frequent Atlanta a lot.
07:10I go back to Atlanta a lot, back and forth.
07:12Uh, but Atlanta is a business place for me.
07:14Atlanta has the mecca of black culture.
07:17It has the mecca of black business people.
07:19It has the mecca of us.
07:21And I think it's one of those hubs that have some of the most intelligent and some of the most powerful black people that's on this planet.
07:29And everything but food.
07:33I will go and I will go and politic and have conversations and do things that I feel like are very important for the movement of the culture.
07:42Um, but when I want to eat, I go back to the room.
07:45I ate somewhere there.
07:46Okay.
07:48Now, we talk about the Keith Lee effect, and obviously the businesses play one part of that.
07:53But I think in terms of just reviews and content that we see online, your style has inspired so many.
08:01Just, we see so many food reviews of people in their car nowadays.
08:05And I think you kind of started that.
08:07So, in terms of when you see people with the same format or kind of recreating your style, how does that make you feel?
08:15Or are you completely unbothered by it?
08:17Uh, it don't bother me.
08:18Uh, I think it's a theme going on to be upset about stuff like that.
08:22Uh, but for me, it's enough money out here for everybody to make.
08:26And I feel like don't nothing stop what God has got for you.
08:29And I feel like I don't know who I'm talking to in here.
08:31But can't nobody or nothing stop what's meant for you.
08:34Uh, and I feel like if the second that you get distracted or you start looking at other people or what they're doing, you forget what God has put in your life and the mission and the purpose that you own.
08:45Uh, so for me, I don't never mind.
08:47Even when people walk up to me and they start, and they start dancing, I don't never, it don't never bother me.
08:53I'm honored, man.
08:54And when you, when you post, people listen.
08:56And I think why we all love you is your authenticity and how honest and raw and real.
09:03We get to see you with your family.
09:05We get to see all of that.
09:06I am who I say I am.
09:07And I feel like a lot of people don't really see me outside because I do be with my family.
09:12But again, I'm honored to be here.
09:14I'm thankful to be here.
09:15And I will say in front of everybody, I am Keith and I am exactly who I present myself to be.
09:20For sure.
09:21So why do you think your approach has connected so deeply with people online?
09:27Because your, your followers are in the tens of millions at this point.
09:31Uh, I, I think what it is because people are tired of seeing characters.
09:35Um, people are tired of seeing people that you know the second you meet them in person.
09:38It's not going to be the same energy.
09:40Um, I feel like people are tired of seeing the, the facades.
09:44Um, and again, I'm blessed enough to, to have a reassurance in who I am.
09:48Um, so even when people say things about me that I know that that's not true, it don't
09:52bother me because I know exactly who I am and what I am and who I am is rooted in something
09:57deeper than what anybody can take away from me.
09:59Uh, so I feel like that's what people may resonate to.
10:02But at the end of the day, to genuinely answer your question, I have no idea.
10:06No idea.
10:07I eat food, I stay with my family, I pray, I mind my business.
10:12So when other people, and I also have imposter syndrome, so I don't see myself how people
10:15see me.
10:16So when, when people see me and they be freaking out, I'd be freaked out because I'd be trying
10:20to figure out what y'all be freaking out about.
10:22Uh, but again, I'm nothing but thankful for it.
10:25And you and I actually talked about that last year.
10:28Keith was featured in our Essence magazine last year and we did an interview and you talked
10:33about actually having anxiety when you started out.
10:36Absolutely.
10:36And I, I, we don't see it, but you talk openly about anxiety and even the mental health aspects
10:44of what this career has developed from you.
10:47Can you talk a little bit more?
10:48Uh, I think it's very important.
10:49I think, uh, not a lot of people, especially not a lot of black men, um, have access to
10:54be able to outlet that and to be able to speak in it and be able to stand in it firm.
10:58Um, I've always had social anxiety and I've always dealt with depression.
11:02Um, and anybody in this crowd right now or anybody that's listening to me, if you deal
11:07with depression or you deal with social anxiety, God got you.
11:10And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
11:12Um, and that's something that I tell myself every day, um, it's easier said than done to
11:16trust the path that you own.
11:17Um, but for me, it's something that if I shy away from it, it doesn't get any better.
11:24The second that I accept it and the second, second that I own it, it don't have a control
11:28over me anymore.
11:29Uh, cause two or three years ago, I couldn't imagine it being on this stage.
11:33So the second that I, I battled with it upfront and confronted it, uh, cause that's what TikTok
11:37was for me.
11:38I would sit up the camera when I had eight followers or 10 followers and I would pretend
11:42that it was a thousand people watching me.
11:44And I would just do that over and over and over until I got into a repetition to where
11:48I wasn't bothered by my anxiety or I wasn't bothered by my inner thoughts because I'm an
11:54overthinker.
11:54Um, it still, it still does bother me because again, at the end of the day, I still battle
11:59with it to this day.
12:00Um, but again, y'all don't know how much y'all helped me and y'all don't know how much my
12:04family and how much the people around me helped me and I can never be more appreciative.
12:07That's why I always say thank you.
12:09And I genuinely mean it.
12:10And we appreciate that.
12:12So you shared a story with us earlier about changing the lives of this family, this business.
12:19And we've seen that story so often with you, but talk to me about.
12:24The legacy that Keith Lee wants to leave behind, not the food critic, but the family
12:29man, um, the businessman, where are you hoping this will all go?
12:33Uh, I pray and I thank God in advance that when you think of my name, you think of integrity.
12:38Uh, and you think of somebody who gonna stand on what they stand on at all times.
12:42Uh, if it's something that I am firm in, I put my feet on the ground and I want my kids
12:47to look up to me as that.
12:49Uh, and when they look back at videos like this of us doing an essence interview and
12:53they look at videos of us having conversations, I want them to know that I am who I say I
12:57am and that nothing will push me off my square and nothing will push me off my pivot.
13:01And I don't care what level of success people deem me at.
13:05I'm always going to be myself.
13:06Um, and you talk about being who you say you are, but what's something that you've learned
13:12about yourself in the process, right?
13:14Um, you've had growing popularity and now you have a global stage.
13:19I'm sure there've been a lot of learning lessons along the way.
13:21Uh, I've learned I'm stronger than I think I am.
13:24Um, I felt like in the beginning, I wouldn't have imagined being able to take the criticism
13:29that I take, um, and not allow it to bother who I am or, or my, my core.
13:35Um, because I'm sure y'all see the same things that I see.
13:38And I want y'all to know, I do see a lot of it.
13:40I don't see all of it because there do be a lot, but I do see a lot of it.
13:43Um, and me three years ago could have never imagined that I was able to stay steadfast and
13:49stay firm, uh, and what it is I feel like I'm, I'm on this earth to do.
13:53Um, and other than that, I feel like I've learned, I got a little rhythm.
13:58If you used to follow me at the beginning, I didn't have rhythm at all.
14:00I couldn't catch a beat to save my damn life, but now I can dance a little bit.
14:04Uh, so I feel like that, that's something I've learned about myself for sure.
14:08And we know that there is no such thing as an overnight success.
14:12Absolutely.
14:13And there are a lot of people in the audience, I'm sure, who want to start their next thing,
14:18right?
14:19Uh, with no platform, with no PR, with no team behind them, what advice would you give
14:25to not just aspiring creatives, but aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to kind of tap
14:31into their own purpose?
14:33Uh, I think the main thing for me is that you are the platform.
14:36The platform isn't true.
14:37You are the platform.
14:38Uh, and I say that as somebody who was on buy, I say that as somebody who was on, as
14:43an Instagram comedian back before they even had videos, when they just had pictures and
14:48memes, um, I say that as somebody who's been on social media for a very long time and people
14:53know me from TikTok.
14:54Um, I would say it's not necessarily the platform.
14:57It is who you present yourself as on these platforms.
15:00And the number one advice I always try to give is that do something that if it was to blow
15:06up tomorrow and people expect that from you, that you will be happy with doing it.
15:10Cause I know a lot of people, they will make videos or they'll do things that's quick or
15:13do things that's trending.
15:14But what if that thing takes off and now for the next three years, people only want that
15:19from you.
15:20And if it's something that you genuinely don't want to do, you're going to be miserable.
15:24So I say do something that you genuinely want to do and the numbers will come.
15:29The accolades will come.
15:30The money will come.
15:31It's about doing things that you feel like you are genuinely passionate about.
15:35Okay.
15:36Now you talk a lot about family.
15:39Absolutely.
15:39How's your wife doing?
15:41Big and pregnant.
15:42Yeah, so my wife is seven months.
15:45We just left France a week ago before we got here.
15:49I think we was at home for like three days.
15:51So she stayed back this time.
15:53And this is the first time that I've been without her with one of these events.
15:56And I'm going crazy.
15:58I'm going absolutely insane.
15:59But I see her in two days.
16:01I can't wait.
16:02How is it juggling fatherhood and fame and business and all of this?
16:08It's a lot.
16:09But I think what differs me than most people who are deemed successful is that I have a four-year-old and a two-year-old.
16:17And they come with me like 90% of the places that I go.
16:20And I have built an infrastructure.
16:22I've been blessed enough to build an infrastructure to where they fit in and they don't necessarily like mess up the mold that we've built.
16:30And I feel like a lot of people will either go out and venture and then come back and grab the kids.
16:36My kids have been with me from the very jump.
16:38So when everything first took off, I made sure the very first food tour they was with me, the very first going to a different trip or a business trip they was with me.
16:48So that way when things did get to a higher level, I didn't have to readjust or I didn't have to get used to or accommodate things for them.
16:55It's already accommodating.
16:57It's already built in a mold.
16:59And I'm blessed to say I know my kids and my kids know me.
17:02And for somebody who's only been home for four days out of the month, we're at home for four days out of the month, I feel like that's a blessing to be able to say that I'm like this with both of my kids and the one that's on the way.
17:14You guys are about to be outnumbered.
17:16We are.
17:17We are.
17:17And somebody told me yesterday, they was like, you better get off of that girl.
17:23You be on that girl now.
17:27I feel like so I'm only 28.
17:28I feel like people think I'm either 35 or 40.
17:32I'm only in my 30s and my wife is too.
17:33My wife is 28.
17:34And we promise ourselves that we're going to do it.
17:37We're going to do it as much as we've been blessed enough to do it.
17:39And we're going to do it to the point where we're going to have all the kids we've been blessed enough to have them.
17:45We're going to have them early.
17:46So when we're done having kids, we're done having kids.
17:49And we've got a bunch of adults right next to each other versus having a 14-year-old and a one-year-old.
17:54Like we want a 14, 10, 8, all in a row.
17:57Get every stage of school out the way in one walk.
18:02Now we have seen you do some really exciting collaborations.
18:09I think the first that I saw personally was the Chipotle with Chipotle.
18:13And what I really loved about even seeing them is that they were so organic and authentic.
18:18They were already brands that you loved.
18:20But is there a dream collaboration that you could have?
18:24Oh, that's a good question.
18:25Before we get into it, how y'all feeling?
18:28Okay.
18:29I'm having an amazing time, so I do want to check on y'all.
18:31So brand-wise, I would say my dream collab, let me ask y'all a question before I answer that.
18:37How would y'all feel about going to a festival that we throw?
18:42Yeah.
18:42So that's something that's in the works.
18:47I'll give y'all an exclusive.
18:48It's not confirmed completely yet, but that's something that we are in development of.
18:54And I think it's a lot of brands, I think, that will fit that mold.
18:58I know Coke is here.
19:00I think Coke would be great.
19:02I really want to work with Asics.
19:03So Asics is the store that me and my wife worked at.
19:06So that's how we met.
19:08We worked at a shoe store, Asics, and we opened the very first store in Las Vegas in the South Premium Outlets.
19:14And it just so happened that the Chipotle that had the Chipotle sign on it was right in front of the mall that we worked at, that we first met at.
19:22So for me, that's alignment, and that's showing that everything that we're doing is what we're supposed to be doing.
19:29So I would say Asics is probably my dream collab.
19:32Okay.
19:33Now, what are you cooking at home?
19:35You're always testing so much food, but what are you eating and cooking at home?
19:39So that's how I very first started, was cooking four meals a day for my wife when she was pregnant with my first child and cooking while I was in the middle of training.
19:47Because a lot of people don't know, I've been a professional fighter for 10 years.
19:51And during my entire fighting career, I would cook for myself.
19:54I would have food scientists around me and food dieticians to really help me curate my meals.
20:01But I was cooking four times a day nonstop.
20:03Now, I don't cook so much because I'm barely home.
20:08But when I am home, yeah, I don't cook.
20:11I'm eating out.
20:12Yeah, I don't be having the energy.
20:14I be exhausted when I get home.
20:17And you talk about being on the road so much.
20:19So what are some upcoming cities that we could expect on the Keith Lee food tour?
20:24You're getting all of it out of me today, huh?
20:26I'm going to get cussed out when I get back.
20:29So our next food tour is Portland, Oregon.
20:34Yeah.
20:34Our next food tour is Portland, Oregon.
20:36We probably going to do it.
20:38I can't tell you when we're going to do it, but we're going to do it soon.
20:40Okay.
20:41Okay.
20:42So be on the lookout for Portland, Oregon.
20:44So you've also hinted before at maybe owning your own restaurant someday.
20:51Is that still a part of the plan?
20:54I will say we have a lot of things that we're working on behind the scenes and a lot of things
20:59that I've been blessed enough to be a part of.
21:02And I think this year, God willingly, is going to be the year that cements a lot
21:08and that sets a big foundation for longevity and really puts a lot of things in place.
21:15And it wouldn't be possible without y'all.
21:18None of it would be possible without y'all.
21:20So I follow you on TikTok, and I know some of your food habits.
21:24I know you don't love sweets.
21:26There's just certain things, but is there a food that you didn't think you would like,
21:31but you ended up loving?
21:33Sushi.
21:35Anybody love sushi in here?
21:36Yeah.
21:37So I'm a texture person.
21:39I always say I don't like eating things that you can eat without teeth.
21:43So like Jell-O, puttin', anything.
21:48I like grits, but it got to have bacon in it.
21:51It got to have some texture.
21:53So never in a million years did I think I would like sushi.
21:56Because of the texture.
21:57But I fell in love.
21:59I feel like for me, the seaweed has to be really crispy.
22:02And it has to give that, like, crunch.
22:04Again, my mouth water.
22:06And you can tell I really love food.
22:08But it really, for me, has to be texture.
22:10But sushi is probably the most surprising.
22:12Okay.
22:12And we know that you're typically supporting a lot of the mom-and-pop restaurants and things like that.
22:19But is there a chain restaurant that you love and will always defend?
22:23Ooh.
22:24I wouldn't say.
22:27Yeah.
22:28Okay.
22:28So there's a place called Cane's that I'm very, very familiar.
22:32I'm sure everybody in here know.
22:34Because it was born and bred in Louisiana.
22:36I feel like it gets a very bad rep.
22:39And for me, I feel like it's because people don't know how to order it.
22:42I feel like it's a very specific way that you have to order Cane's.
22:46I just put my order out there maybe, like, a week ago.
22:48Because I didn't realize that I'd never put it out before.
22:51But I feel like Cane's is a place that's very, like, overly hated for not a lot of reasons.
22:56Okay.
22:57And then another question for you.
22:58What is worse, bad service or no seasoning?
23:03Ooh.
23:05Okay.
23:05How bad are the service we talking about?
23:08It's real bad.
23:09It's real bad.
23:09Real bad?
23:10You waited two hours for your food.
23:12Oh, girl, I can always add my own seasoning.
23:14Yeah, definitely service.
23:16Yeah, definitely service.
23:17I can always add my own salt and pepper.
23:19And what is one food trend that you think is really overrated?
23:25I think food trend in general, I wouldn't necessarily say, like, is food-based.
23:34But I think the trend of being upset at what people like.
23:38I think that's for me because everybody's taste buds is different.
23:40Everybody has a very specific thing that they like and what they don't like.
23:44And I don't think anybody's wrong is wrong and anybody's right is right.
23:48It's only right to you and it's only wrong to you.
23:50I would say being upset at people for eating certain things that you wouldn't necessarily eat.
23:56I would say that's probably my least favorite.
23:58And we know that you're hearing about a lot of these restaurants by folks who are DMing you, right?
24:05Whether the restaurants themselves or your fans and your followers.
24:08But what's been the wildest DM that you have gotten?
24:11I get a lot.
24:18Rather, it's like an aftermath of going to a restaurant.
24:21So I'll give you an insight.
24:23We only go to restaurants that we get invited to.
24:26And the reason I do that is because after I leave, I don't want the restaurant, if I give my honest opinion, to be like, nobody asks for your opinion anyway.
24:33Or nobody asks you to come here.
24:35Or who asked you or like that kind of rhetoric.
24:37But one restaurant we left, I won't say exactly what city, but one restaurant we left, it was a restaurant that asked us to come multiple times.
24:49And once we left, I wasn't a huge fan of one of the things that I had.
24:54But one thing about me, I never say it's disgusting, it's nasty, because, again, everybody's taste buds is different.
24:58I just said I wasn't a fan of it.
25:00And I got an email from the owner's mom basically saying, like, if anything happened to her son, it's my fault.
25:08If anything, like, if he do anything to himself or he get upset or if he mad or if he don't open his restaurant again, it's my fault.
25:16I feel like it's a lot of pressure for no reason.
25:18And I would say that's probably the craziest one, because at the end of the day, I'm just eating food, and I'm eating what you asked me to come and eat.
25:25And anybody out there that has a restaurant, I would like to say, if you don't want me to be honest, do not invite me.
25:31Leave me at home.
25:32I'm more okay and more happy with being at the crib with my kids and my wife rather than coming out and having people upset at me about what they asked my opinion on.
25:42Okay.
25:42And you talked to us earlier, obviously you got your start in sports, right?
25:47Is there any kind of dream to return back to that?
25:52My wife would kill me if I said yes.
25:55I was getting punched in the face for a living, so she don't want that no more.
25:59I would say I definitely want to get more into athletics.
26:03I hoop, so I want to do, like, more things, like, athletically as far as, like, playing in basketball games or playing in football games.
26:09I would really love to set up a league that's for underprivileged children in neighborhoods and in food deserts and places that don't necessarily get a sign and have a league for them to be able to come out and creatively express themselves without being judged.
26:24Right.
26:25Now, you know, you talked about being 28 as well.
26:28Think back about 10, 15 years ago.
26:32What would you go back and tell your 13-year-old self about where, like, could you have even dreamed that life would look like this right now?
26:41I would like to say yes and no.
26:43And the reason I say yes, I can see this is because I feel like I don't know who can relate to this, but I feel like if you had that voice that's telling you you're going to be something and you have no idea what that something is or what that path looks like, I've always had that voice.
27:01I've always had that voice that was promising me I was going to be destined for something.
27:06I couldn't see it at the time.
27:07That's why I said no because, again, I've always dealt with depression.
27:10I've always dealt with anxiety.
27:1013-year-old me was very suicidal, and he was a kid that didn't believe that he belonged here and didn't see himself being anywhere further than the next day.
27:22So for me, at 13, I probably wouldn't have believed that I got this far, but that inkling and that feeling that I feel like God has blessed all my life has always been there, and I will go back and tell him that you was right and that exactly what you're feeling was not a mistake.
27:40And to continue stepping how you're stepping and continue to listen to it.
27:45And that's for anybody in here.
27:46If you feel like you got that feeling and other people don't see it, it's not for them to see.
27:51It's only for you to see, and if you know it's there, it's there for a reason.
27:56Amen.
27:57Amen.
27:58Now, we've seen quite a few key celebrity link-ups.
28:03Okay.
28:03Talk to us about maybe your favorite that you've had so far.
28:08My favorite link-up, I would say, was Cardi B.
28:12Yeah.
28:12Yeah, Cardi B. Shout-out to Cardi B.
28:14Cardi B was amazing.
28:16What people don't know is that we had a conversation.
28:19So for me, I only do things with people that I genuinely feel like I can call on the phone afterwards and have, like, actual conversations with.
28:27I don't do the link-ups just for I'm Keith Lee and you Cardi B or I'm Keith Lee and you somebody else.
28:33If you've noticed, I've been blessed enough to build what I've built strictly off of being myself and strictly off of putting restaurants and my family on the forefront and not putting myself as the main character.
28:44I haven't done it with a bunch of press interviews.
28:47I haven't done it with a bunch of media.
28:49I haven't done it the conventional way of going on full press tours or going on people's streams or going and collaborating with a lot of people.
28:59I've only been in videos with people that I can genuinely just sit down and eat food with.
29:04And me and Cardi, we had a full FaceTime for maybe, like, 20 minutes.
29:08She is a very nervous person.
29:10You will not believe how anxiety-heavy she is at times because she's a normal person, and I feel like she's just dealing with the difference of how people deem you successful and how they treat you when you deem successful.
29:25She is literally just a normal person.
29:27And she called me, and she was like, I was so nervous to call you, but I really want to eat some food together.
29:31We could eat food.
29:32And I said, girl, I'm about to bring a burger to the house right now.
29:35And I came over.
29:36I brought my kids with me.
29:37I brought my mom, my mom-in-law.
29:40We sat in the living room.
29:41They was drinking wine.
29:42I don't drink, so they was drinking wine.
29:44They was listening to unreleased music.
29:45They was dancing.
29:46Cardi B is one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life, and shout out to her.
29:50For sure.
29:51Shout out to Cardi.
29:52For sure.
29:52So, Keith, we are so proud of you.
29:55Thank you, man.
29:55Thank you for being here.
29:57Thank you for sharing your light with us.
29:59Absolutely.
30:00Thank you for making us feel like we are in that car with you when we see those videos.
30:04Y'all give it up for Keith Lee.
30:06I appreciate y'all, man.
30:07And thank y'all for being here.
30:10Again, this means more to me than you know.
30:13Y'all be safe, man.
30:14I'll see y'all around, so if y'all see me, please feel free to speak.
30:18Thank you all so much.
30:19Enjoy the rest of your festivities.
30:20Give it up for the host, man.
30:23Yeah.
30:23God's right.
30:24SHOT O.'
30:25I'm here.
30:25Yeah.
30:26I'm here.
30:26Yeah.
30:26I'm here.
30:27I'm here.
30:28Yeah.
30:30You
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