Three years ago, my good friend and “play cousin” Xavier (Chief Xcel from Blackalicious) Mosley and I had this brilliant idea to develop a new concept in record label. It made sense afterall. Xavier, is a successful artist/producer/entrepreneur who taught me a lot about how his group and business partners (incl. DJ Shadow) became successful using a “Long Tail” approach to the music business. And myself, well I’m a current agency guy- former record business guy who was thinking about the next, next thing in the mid 90’s and because of my inability to execute and do visionary work in a corporate structure (Columbia Records) drove me to broaden my horizons in my career outside of the record business track I was on. We even went so far as to discover a group; a talented and at the time, unknown duo called J* Davey from L.A. Our concept was to merge a “Long Tail” approach to breaking the act and utilize my relationships and experience with Fortune 500 brands. I took my uncovered gem of a band to my friend DJ Jazzy Jeff and we were off and running–so I thought. In the end after offering the band a contract for a deal, the banded opted to …
We had over 500 people (see archived show below) listen in last night as we remembered Shakir Stewart. From Japan, LA, Oakland, New York they called to laugh, cry and even get angry about my guy who always greeted you with a “get at me.” I mentored him from the time he was in college until the day he passed. He was a very good man, ambitious and focused. He unfortunately decided to take his own life, something many of us will never understand. I pray for his family and children and commit myself and challenge my colleagues to stay connected to each other. The music industry is like a big family and community and though I am not working at a record company, it’s a connection I will have for the rest of my life. Shakir Stewart was like a little brother to me. Like so many of us from the Bay Area, we dream big. I’m so proud of the achievements and accolades but I was most proud of the passion he had being a father. He will be missed.
This is from an album called “B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret” that I conceptualized and executive produced in the early 90’s. I paired together 12 NBA Players with 12 Hip Hop producers for hip hop/sports history. It was an amazing project to be involved with. We sold 10 records, I bought 5 (LOL) but it was a lot of fun to work on. This song was produced by Warren G and was the first video. This is a classic find for me. In the video is my friend and Cedric Ceballos junior college basketball teammate Leland “Pookey” Wigington.
Last Friday, TheKeyinfluencer.com and Blackweb2.0 held an afternoon Blogger mixer/meetup & live streaming chat whrere we had a suprise visit from MC Lyte who talked about her digital strategy, current career/voiceover work, new group “Almost September”, and the launch of her new blog called OkaySister.com. Our conversation which was a little bit of a chat and a little bit of a working session where many of us gave Lyte best approaches to her web strategy. We had about 60 bloggers both in our offices and online in what some are calling a “historic event.”
I came across this live video of my friends DJ Louie Vega/ Kenny Dope of MAW fame at my favorite conference of all conferences: Winter Music Conference in Miami. Fitting as Atlanta is anxiously awaiting Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) arrival this week where he will no doubt shut this city down as he does about 2 times per year. The importance of DJing has been on my mind a lot lately as I recently had an opportunity to take my kids to Barnes & Noble to see Grandmaster Flash at his book signing for his book, “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats”. Looking forward to getting into the book and big up to Flash, who is truly a scientist first and then a DJ.
Being friends with various DJ’s has its clear advantages besides knowing all the very cool and rare records and being plugged in to all the best venues worldwide. I absolutely love being in the booth with a great DJ (incl but not limited to the likes of King Britt, Timmy Regisford, Rich Medina, O.P., D-Nice, etc etc) and being able to see people of all colors, shapes, sizes and religions, …
Been holding this one under the lid, very excited for my good friend Kenard Gibbs and his partners Peter Griffith and Anthony Maddox who acquired the rights for Soul Train a few weeks ago. I have been an avid Tivo fanatic of the old Soul Train re-runs over the last year or so and my 6 year has become addicted to the dance and styles of the 70’s. This deal has been in the works for a long time and really glad that they were the team to end up buying. Soul Train is as American as Apple Pie and has a long history with our country. Most importantly, we seem to be headed down a cultural path where dancing is becoming big again with young people (Randy Jackson’s “American Best Dance Crew”, Soulja Boy’s success, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance”) and they couldn’t be relaunching a brand like Soul Train at a better time. For me, I grew up watching Soul Train, my first experiences at music industry functions as a “snotty nose” intern were at The Soul Train Awards and my cousin was even the host of Soul Train for a season despite his questionable dance skills! Hats off to Madvision and looking forward to …
I’m so proud of SantoGold aka Santi White. I have known Santi White since the mid 90’s where she worked as a young lad in the A&R department of Epic Records while I was at Columbia Records and have bumped into her over the years in the NYC music scene. She was always the smart Wesleyan Univl. girl who had the great ear even back then. All I can say about this amazing woman is she is filled with tenacity, creativity and passion that you just don’t find anymore. This rare bird is completely pushing the envelope of music at a time when the music business is crying for “agents of change.” She busted out on the scene as a songwriter and was the chief pen and Exec. Producer behind, “How I Do” a great and slept on album by RES in 2001. She was in a rock band called Stiffed that I saw a few times in NYC and though I wasn’t a huge fan, her star quality and experience rang thru. The SantoGold thing is going to be big, mark my words and she is already garnering huge critical acclaim. Her business seems to be running smoothly and I hear she is now managed by Jayson Jackson who managed Lauryn Hill and …
I happened to catch the news of the passing of a music industry legend, George Butler. I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Butler when I started working at Columbia Records in the 90’s. His name in the 550 Madison building was legendary and I remember him also for his dress. This was back in the day when your suit said it all. This guy was a legend so you can imagine the horror when I could barely find news on his departure. So I hit my digital network and connected with one of my “uncles” Vernon Slaughter who was kind enough to share this with us
My friend, James Andrews has graciously allowed me the space to share a few
words about the passing of a great man and a truly key influence in the
recording industry.
Dr. George Butler passed away on Wednesday, April 9, 2008. He had been long
suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia and his last few years were very
difficult. It’s sheer irony that a disease that literally makes you forget
who you are would take from us a man who accomplished so very many
unforgettable things. From signing and producing Wynton and Branford
Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Ronnie Laws, Bobbi Humphries, Marlena
