HNHH original series How To Roll is back, and today's episode features none other than the man behind Survival, Dave East. A sharp lyricist with no shortage of charisma, East has quietly enjoyed life as a marijuana connoisseur. And to think, it all picked up steam thanks to a couple of wealthy university girls. But first, the origin story.
Despite having been a longtime Backwoods loyalist, Dave East ultimately made the jump to Fronto Leaf after an influx of counterfeit Backwoods infiltrated the hood. He proceeds to reminisce on his first time smoking, which occurred after catching his older cousin lighting up in secret. "She was into fighting, smoking before me," he laughs. "I caught her smoking, and I was like I'ma tell if you don't let me [smoke]. I might have coughed for an hour straight. I just walked around, then I was scared to go back to my moms. I was paranoid cause my pops smoked weed. I knew if I get around him, he gon' know the vibes. I got some Vizine, I tried to get my eyes right, but I was mad stupid!"
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He also reveals his college ambitions, which found him looking to land a placement in the NBA. "I went to college mad focused," he admits. "Wasn't smoking no weed. God damn kept getting in trouble, getting into it with the coaches. They suspended me for four games, then I could play the next trhee, then they'd suspend me another game. I was like, fuck it. I was kinda on the team, kinda off the team. On University of Richmond, I was an outcast. All the students came from super rich families. Nice cars, all of that. Me being on the basketball team, all of the females on the campus they was big fans of the basketball team."
"Two or three of us on the team from the hood, so we finessing," laughs East. "They got daddy's car, daddy's credit card, they ordering us mad pizzas!" We was running it up! And they would buy the weed. They would buy weed every day. Sugar mama shit back then in college. They had the money. We stayed in the dorms, and they had senior apartments on campus...Once I wasn't on the team no more, I was over there smoking my life away. Every day. Looking back on it, terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible weed."