Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maserati Shellz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Maserati thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The mission of Maserati Shellz is “H.O.P.E.” Honor Obligations Positive Empowerment!!!! My goal is to lead by example and be a Real Model not a Role Model. Because there’s a big difference. A real model shows who they really are and their real struggles and mistakes. Whereas a role model plays a role that is fictious, and misleading. I think social media has given false perception the right of way to how people think and judge personal success. “Social media platforms drive surges of dopamine to the brain to keep consumers coming back over and over again. The shares, likes and comments on these platforms trigger the brain’s reward center, resulting in a high similar to the one people feel when gambling or using drugs.” With this add to it the sight of only seeing peoples highlights of winning or their best life. I want to bring real back, real pain, real mistakes, real failure. More than 40% of Instagram’s users are 22 years old and younger, with about 22 million teens logging onto the site each day. Expanding the base of younger users is vital to the companies’ growth. Teens who struggle with mental health say that Instagram makes it worse, but that they are compelled to spend time on the app for fear of missing out on cultural and social trends. The features that Instagram identifies as the most harmful to teens appear to be at the platform’s core, such as the pressure to look perfect, only to share the best moments and the internal algorithms that govern the “Explore” page sending users to increasingly harmful content. Social comparisons are worse on Instagram than other popular social media sites with teens, such as TikTok and Snapchat.

Maserati, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

. In August 2009 I was arrested for attempted murder (a life case due to enhancements), I represented myself. I ended up beating the life case and taking a plea deal for eight years. That eight years saved my life and made me a man! I was released April 24th, 2017. Upon my release, I started 8182 Entertainment, and I began releasing Mixtapes under “Maserati Shellz”, but something was missing I wanted to give back to the same community I hurt so I founded the 8182 Foundation Inc. Which was a non-profit organization that mentors at risk youth and hold community events. I mentor at risk youth I also mentor aspiring entrepreneurs who want to understand grit. The biggest thing that I am most proud of is the 1Oc hip hop basketball game we created for local youth, hip hop artist and community. we have 3 consecutive years of this game we bring out over 10 vendors, from our local community in Orange County, CA. My Record label, my podcast, my non-profit organization is for serving the community on different levels. On the music level we teach ownership and contractual knowledge, on my Podcast we focus on empowering through knowledge, and experience. Our Non-profit deals with serving others who are less fortunate.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In August 2009 I was arrested for attempted murder (a life case due to enhancements), I represented myself. I ended up beating the life case and taking a plea deal for eight years. That eight years saved my life and made me a man! I was released April 24th, 2017. I’ve had a stroke, been in a coma, been parlayed, kidney failure, lungs collapse, heart stopped, been on a ventilator, Shot in the face in a prison riot. But I wouldn’t change anything because all of these events made Maserati Shellz many are called but few are chosen.

How’d you meet your business partner?

How I met my brother/business partner DJ Redrum we both went to Gilbert East High School; we didn’t hang out much we just seen each other here and there. So, I caught a Case in 2005 and was released in 2006, an My uncle Legendary rapper Bulletproof (RIP) takes me to Dj Redrum’s home studio when my first day out and My uncle is bragging that I can freestyle better than anybody. Dj Redrum laughs and says sure and says he has beats and I said play them. I freestyle for hours straight. The next day I went back to jail for 3 months. For gang terms violation when the task raided my trap house. So, when I get out again, I was living with my uncle but the Gang Task Force labeled him as a gang member from my hood so I couldn’t stay there. So, my uncle asked Dj Redrum if I could live with him and he didn’t hesitate to say yeah, The Gang Task Force, my PO and police raided our home numerous of times he never told. so in 2007 I went back to prison and was released 2008 we started Maserati Music Group then in 2009 i went back to prison I got out 2017. That’s when we created 8182 Entertainment LLC, Which is 81 for his birth year and 82 for my birth year. Loyalty OVer Everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: 8182ent.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maseratishellz/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelton.bullock.5/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maserati-shellz-b134a71a1/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/MaseratiShellz_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Talkingwithmaserati

Image Credits
John Doukas Photography