Cruisin' with New Mexico social media star Johnny James

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There’s a local man who’s been skyrocketing to stardom, simply by making videos about New Mexico’s unique culture.

Phrases and things only New Mexicans know. Johnny James is sharing with the world:

• “Down here in New Mexico, we got our own way of doing things. And we DEFINITELY got our own way of saying things.”
• “You wanna go check out that new chicken place that just opened up real quick, errr what?”
• “The classic New Mexican phrase…ombers.”

Johnny James is an unintended influencer, having some fun with his own culture. He started making videos on social media during the pandemic. There’s a certain unfiltered authenticity that has garnered him hundreds of thousands of followers.

“I started making videos from a real point of view, from us down here, for us down here. And it just cracked off,” he said.

Johnny’s life hasn’t always been something you’d want to share online.

“Totally fair to say. Straight up, I’ll be all the way honest… from like 13 to when it was done, I grew up in the streets selling dope,” he said. “I got kicked out of school in the 11th grade. Had my ‘jito when I was 16. I always kinda credit him for shifting my trajectory.”

Now, at 39 years old, Johnny has four boys and has a career in music, podcasting, cannabis and, one that he hates to admit, influencing.

He knows having an influence can be a good thing.

“If I can be like, look… we have similar backgrounds but if you take a different route, look where we are now,” he said.

Johnny is using it good. Recently, he started a GoFundMe to raise money for people affected by the Ruidoso fires and flooding. As expected, New Mexicans have turned out, raising more than $70,000.

People know Johnny. When we cruised Central with him in his ’64 Impala lowrider, many people spotted him from a mile away so we had to stop a few times.

See the full cruise and story in the video above.