Peep Kevin Chiles' Full VladTV Interview About His Book 'The Crack Era'
Above, you can check out Kevin Chiles’ full interview with VladTV about his career as a drug kingpin and businessman which was recently released in 20 parts.
If you follow me, you know that I’m the deputy editor/digital content curator for the legendary Don Diva Magazine. This has been beyond a bucket list position for me. As a teen, I used to cop copies of Don Diva out of the 7/11 in my area and read them. As I read them, I would think about how cool it would be if I could write stories for them one day. Now, I have written more than ten cover stories for Don Diva, have edited full issues and have published thousands of blog posts (a few of them viral) for Don Diva’s website. It’s still surreal to see my full name in the opening credits of the print magazine as deputy editor and digital content editor.
None of this would be possible without Don Diva founders Tiffany and Kevin Chiles. I reached out to Tiffany around 2012-13 to see if I could write for them and it’s been on since. The love I have for the Chiles family is long. They were among very few people who believed in me when I was looking to expand my voice nationally after working for a local newspaper in Chester, PA. When I reached out to Tiffany, I was homeless and they took a chance on me when I was working on my old ass iMac in a shelter. I have since secured housing, but due to the Chiles’ faith in me, my status with Don Diva has only grown. Though we haven’t gotten a chance to work a lot intimately (I’m in the Philly area and Don Diva is based in NYC), together we have expanded the brand and kept the wheels spinning.
One of my pleasures working with Don Diva has been helping to edit Kevin’s autobiography, The Crack Era: The Rise, Fall & Redemption of Kevin Chiles. I won’t give away much, but Kevin’s story is extraordinary. Though I’m not a proponent of the phrase “lift yourself up by your bootstraps,” because I don’t think it’s realistic for most, Kevin is a rare exception. Through his insatiable hustle and tenuous grind, he was able to lift himself from abject poverty to a multi-million-dollar lifestyle. In fact, newspapers would report that Kevin was the biggest drug dealer in New York City since Nicky Barnes and that he raked in profits of $40 million during his reign.
The book led to a few great interviews online, including the one with DJ Vlad above. In the Vlad interview, Kevin stayed true to the man that I know him to be: a highly intelligent, articulate man who lives by a code shared by all true men of honor. In the interview, Kevin goes all the way from opening his first crack house in Harlem with product from Dominican and Colombian plugs to expanding to DC to his mother’s tragic murder to funneling his money into legitimate businesses to ultimately going to prison for ten years. Kevin also speaks on his connection to the Paid In Full movie muses Rich Porter, Azie Faison and Alberto “Alpo” Martinez. Kevin speaks on the kidnapping, torture and murder of Rich Porter’s little brother Donnell as well as Porter’s death at the hands of Alpo. He also expands on his previous claims (which were proven) that Azie and Alpo cooperated against him.
Peep the interview, but you won’t get the true full story unless you read Kevin’s book. Grab a copy along with exclusive “Crack Era” merch and authentic copies of Don Diva here.
