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KENNY MAC: Been seeing this cat Ben Baller around
all over the place.
Always flashy, always crazy, but I honestly don't know what
this mother [BLEEP]
does.
He's just always in the middle of some ***.
BEN BALLER: My name is Ben Baller, and
I'm a celebrity jeweler.
Kanye West to Drake, Nas, Wale, Tyga.
And then you have people like Justin Bieber, who's the
biggest [BLEEP]
star the world, to Michael Jackson.
Deal with actors like Tom Cruise, Doctor Phil, and just
random, you know, Saudi princes.
Billionaires have hit me up.
A lot of NBA, NFL players like Reggie Bush.
Olympic athlete Apollo Ohno.
Professional skaters like Ryan Scheckler.
Actresses and actors, musicians, Kim Kardashian--
just so many different people.
NICK DIAMOND: Ben Baller is a jeweler, entrepreneur,
ex-sneaker collector, car connoisseur.
People might think he's cocky.
Really, he's just a normal, cool dude.
BEN BALLER: I'm a Korean-American, Angeleno.
I was born and raised here in Los Angeles, Koreatown.
Been in love with sports, hip hop, Los Angeles culture, art,
graffiti, diamonds.
Just the LA life--
I'm about it, 100%.
My foundation's always been hip hop
since back in the '80s.
I was an executive over at Priority Records, so I was
there when we signed Jay-Z to his first album deal.
Those relationships--
especially being involved with such monumental projects in
hip hop-- working with Doctor Dre early, and being hooked up
with the coolest people from underground rap to huge rap
stars-- me DJing the black Oscar party, meeting Quincy
Jones and Mary J. Blige and Tupac--
just running around with Tupac, just the
stories I had with him.
Just be around greatness, you know?
I understood what and what not to do with artists.
That helped me really open the door.
ANWAR CARROTS: Name says it all, man.
Iced out, the whips, cash, diamonds.
BEN BALLER: Being in the music business
evolved into my joy business.
My uncle, my cousin brought me into the business, they showed
me the basics.
And then from there, all those connections, those people, and
the respect they have for me then-- they know I strive for
excellence.
They see that I'm putting together some fly *** for
Pusha T. Then people are like, oh, I've just seen that on
him, and I want to get right.
It's like a chain reaction.
EMIL SORIANO: Ben Baller?
He's a decent guy, but you know, sometimes he can get out
of control.
He's just an all-around high-end schmuck.
BEN BALLER: I have regular folks who come in and spend a
crazy amount of money for jewelry.
$50,000, $45,000, $50,000.
It's a quarter million dollars.
Half a million dollars. $600,000.
As far as awareness goes, the internet is crucial.
It's so important to my business and my brand.
SEAN KINGSTON: You be on Instagram, man?
You don't even know your past, man.
He's a legend on these streets.
I be seeing him on Mariah Carey, Run DMC, Slick Rick--
BEN BALLER: I'm a swag champ.
I'm a coach.
ESTEVAN ORIOL: Ben Baller's a superstar.
He's got a big head, about like that, and then he has a
little skinny body.
BEN BALLER: The only insecurity I have is my
long-*** face.
If my head was a little smaller, I'd probably be 10
times more famous.
But you know what that means.
Big brain.
BEE NGUYEN: This guy navigates from the 'hood to white
Hollywood, Paris Hilton to the game.
He's a guy that people love to hate.
BEN BALLER: I am one confident,
cocky-*** son of a ***.
I've been hated on since Show-and-Tell Fridays, since I
was in Kindergarten.
I know who I am.
I don't give a [BEEP].
Know-it-all, back up everything I say, passionate,
hardworking, crazy, talented, very blessed human being
ROB KARDASHIAN: Everyone knows Ben, and
everyone knows Ben's crazy.
BEN BALLER: To anybody who things I'm an ignorant, stupid
son of a ***, piece of ***, or whatever--
I just say, "My *** hurts." Like Drake said, diss me, you
never get a reply for it.
PETE WENTZ: Ben's awesome.
He's really smooth, really fast, really funny.
BENJI MADDEN: Whenever I come to any kind of big decisions
in my life where I need to buy jewelry, he's definitely the
guy that I call.
I've never met anyone else like him.
MALE SPEAKER: He's Ben Baller.