Boss up! MTV is taking viewers to the forgotten borough of NYC with the new reality TV series, Made In Staten Island. The cast is made up of young adults whose family ties to the street life run deep. During tonight’s season premiere, fans will follow along on the cast’s journey as they learn to navigate their lives away from that lifestyle and forge a more honest path for their futures. In Touch exclusively sat down with Made in Staten Island cast members Christian “C.P.” Patterson, Karina Seabrook, Paulie Fusco, and Dennie Augustine and they defined what the “street life” really is — and they explained why they’re trying so hard to get away from it. Watch the video above to see C.P., Karina, Paulie, and Dennie explain the meaning of Staten Island slang words and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

“The street life, to some people, might be selling drugs or whatever the case may be,” Paulie told In Touch. “But to me, the street life is anything that’s not a full-time job. If you’re just on the street and you’re doing anything to get by and you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd. If you’re out smoking or drinking, you’re not going to school.  It’s just not making any progress. Just doing illegal things to skate by — that, to me, at least is what the street life is considered.”

Karina agreed. “To me, it’s the fast life, getting by. Hustling on the streets. Making bad decisions,” she told In Touch. And she should know. Karina comes from a long mafia blood line — her grandfather is the notorious Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano and her mom is former Mob Wives star Karen Gravano. She is also Paulie’s girlfriend and they’ve been dating for two years.

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Paulie and Karina’s co-star Dennie, who is known as the “godmutha” of the crew, offered a different perspective. “I think when a lot of people hear us say street life, it’s not like anybody saying, ‘They sell drugs,'” Dennie explained to In Touch. “I think street life goes more towards, they don’t have a comfort [at] home or with their families, so they found comfort somewhere and that comfort ended up relying on people that aren’t a good cup of tea.”

For Made in Staten Island star C.P., the street life is something that he and his co-stars are trying to leave in the past. “There’s always gonna be that stigma that on Staten Island, everybody wants to be a tough guy and everybody thinks that because of who their father was or who their uncle might have been or their grandfathers, that they let that get to their head and everybody runs around and tries to be the biggest and baddest,” C.P. told In Touch. “On the show, we’re just trying to get out the fact that we’re just trying to overcome it.”

Made in Staten Island premieres tonight, Monday, January 14. at 10 p.m. ESt on MTV.

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