Master P recently used his platform as a world-renowned rapper and celebrity to highlight an extremely accomplished Black entrepreneur who impressed him so much that he extended the opportunity for a collaboration.
It happened on Master P’s (birth name Percy Williams) YouTube show, “Master P Reviews,” which has been called “Shark Tank for the Hood,” conceptualized to help small businesses realize their potential in corporate America and give them national recognition for their products, according to MasterPReviews.
The subject of the most recent episode was Richard Patterson, the founder and CEO of Trion Supercars Group, an exotic auto manufacturer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Patterson met with Master P, along with his son Romeo Miller, for a “preliminary introduction” of the 2000 horsepower Nemesis, of which both men were duly impressed.
“Seeing you create something like this — they see me and pops make history, and music, and products, but seeing a Black man build a car — and not just any car but one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen….” Romeo remarked.
Master P was so excited, he even appeared to propose a collaboration of sorts between himself and Patterson.
“We gotta do a partnership. Yourself with me, and myself, we’re about business, we’re about our culture,” he said. “I just want to let black people, and minorities all across the world know how big this is, for to have a brother like you to be a part of technology and creating stuff that could change the world.”
To add to the possibility of a partnership, the caption for the YouTube episode suggests that he may be working somehow with the “first black-owned supercar manufacturer in America.”
“The auto company Trion SuperCars is changing the game, adding diversity into the automotive industry,” it read. “It’s time for us to change the narrative for our culture by offering economic empowerment. This is history, we have come a long way to be a part of innovative technology, manufacturing and producing our own automobiles. In addition to the high end line of models, we will be producing a line of affordable luxury vehicles. Richard Patterson is a genius, he has created the blueprint for the next era of supercars.”
If Master P is indeed working with Patterson, he has a reason to be greatly optimistic about the possible business venture.
Patterson has worked 29 years in the automotive industry, and a self-proclaimed “car guy since birth.” On “Master P Reviews,” he recalled his obsession with automobiles that has subsisted since his youth.
“When I was in school it didn’t matter what the class was, I was drawing cars. Anything to do with cars that was just my main thing.”
That main thing became his passion when he won a Michigan statewide drafting contest at age 15 and landed an apprenticeship at the General Motors Fisher Body Group. He would go on to become CAD designer at Modern Engineering, where he became proficient with “automobile interior systems, mechanical systems, along with occupant packaging and comfort,” according to Torques Magazine.
He would go on to develop his expertise and knowledge at some of the biggest companies in the automotive industry including Chrysler. He was later tapped as the advanced vehicle engineer for the Tesla Model S. Patterson is one of only four automotive engineers in the world that can build a car from vehicle schematics to finished production, and the first African American to own an exotic car manufacturer in the United States, according to PR Web’s press release. Patterson also designed the landing gear on the Boeing 777 and the Dodge Minivan’s “Stow ‘n Go” folding seats system.
Master P praised Patterson for his accomplishments, and mentioned the history of occupational ideas by Black people being appropriated and stolen. He voiced his support of Black businesses like Trion that can help in the proliferation of jobs and wealth in the community, and inspire others to also become entrepreneurs.
“Me and my son we are business partners and we’re about doing stuff as a family. But what we realized that as African Americans, a lot of our deals, they take it,” he said.
“So now it’s time for us to be the first and to be able to change the property in our culture. The church, new Orleans, California, all these places…we have to start owning things.”
Master P ended the show with a call to action, stating, “’we’re going to take over the world man, we’re going to take over the world.”
“They’ve been stealing our ideas a long time, and now we’re able to control and create,” he added.
“We got to support this new man let’s get our cars from Trion because this is how we change the game and put money back in our community. This is the first black owned car made by black person. This is history.”
He added, “This is only the beginning,” while shaking Patterson’s hand.
