This is Eric Glass.

On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you.

For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing...

To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need.

If not, break it.

Yeah.

To break international laws.

Your life stories, really good ones.

This American Life.

Hey, I'm Ellen from Jacksonville, Florida.

Hey, I'm Cody from Evans, Alberta.

I'm Eric from Nashville.

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn.

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You should support the show like I did.

Just visit maximum fun.org slash donate. It's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorne. You know, a lot of performers can

point to a moment that was their break into the business. The guys in Mob Deep definitely have one.

They're a rap duo. They go by the names Prodigy and Havoc. In the early 90s, they were just

high school kids with a dream. One day, the way Prodigy tells it, they waited outside the offices

of Def Jam Records with their demo tape and a pair of headphones. They waited there begging anyone

walking inside to stop, put on a headset, and listen. And eventually, someone dead. And he was like, all right, I'll give y'all listen. He put the headphones on and he listened to the music. And then he took it off. And he was like, you know what? I like you guys. And he's like, where y'all from? So, we're from Queens. So he was from Queens too. So he was like, all right, look, I'm going to bring out inside the office. I'm going to introduce you out of some people. You know, I'm going to try to help y'all.

That was a major tournament. from Queens too. So he was like, all right, look, I'm going to bring you out of the office. I'm going to introduce you out of some people. You know, I'm going to try to help y'all.

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