Articles & Advice

Zen and the Art of A&R - Round III

The discussion continues...

JEM: Can you give some background on yourselves, and say how the acts you're working with came to your attention?

JOJO: Montell Jordan came to Def Jam through a deal with a label called PMP, the deal ended and we kept Montell, and I was assigned the project. Case came to us through Spoiled Rotten Entertainment -- Jimmy and I have known about him since about '91. Playa came to us through Devante [DeGrate, of Jodeci], who has a [consulting] type of deal with us. And some of my other acts I found through the usual: talent shows, producers, demos.

JEM: So they came from a label, a management company, and an artist. Do you listen to unsolicited demos?

JOJO: Yes. Not a lot of them, but I also give them to some people I know who like to listen. The demo game is funny - you want to give everybody a shot but you can't, and you've got other artists so your time is limited. Besides, it's a crap shoot: I may feel good that day or not have that much to do, the package might look right -- seriously! Thumbs up for a good-looking package.

NADINE: And a dozen roses! Anyway, people always ask, "How do I get in? I don't know anybody." It sounds really, obvious, but I always say, If you're interested in the music business and want to expand your contacts, then hang out where the music people are.

I met one of my artists, Travon Potts, when I was at Motown, working on an Eddie Murphy record, and he played keyboards for a remix. Years later we signed him to a publishing deal, knowing it was a developmental situation, and now I'm happy to say he has a song on the charts with Bebe Winans, he has things upcoming with Monica, and the next Public Announcement single. Who else? I met Mass Avenue in a studio in Atlanta - again, never put a record out, no track record, another developmental situation. Ski had some stuff out already, and I met him through his manager. It's all been through relationships, and not even tight relationships -- a chance meeting, run into somebody's manager or lawyer, you never know. There's no set formula, but if you're gonna set up a showcase and perform, you have a better chance of attracting a certain number of creative people. An attorney who has a lot of contacts and clients and dealings with a labels and publishers is going to have more reach. Just make sure your stuff gets heard, however which way.

BILAL: My first project was Non-Chalant, who had a record called "Five 5 O'Clock" that did pretty well. I inherited that project when I was new at the label. Based on that success, I was then asked by my boss, Hank Shocklee, to assist him with the latest Mary J. Blige record, "Share My World." That's the biggest project I've worked on. Currently I'm working with both of those artists, but lately I've been doing a lot of 12" rap deals. I just picked up the Heather B. single ["Do You"] that they've been bangin' on Hot 97 for the last few weeks, and I also signed this kid from Harlem called More Money who's been real popular on the mix tapes in the last couple of years of years, and the kids have really been talking him up. We're looking to do a few others. The game right now is really singles-driven, so I've focused my energy on making bangin' singles and hopefully continuing that into albums. Sometimes you can sign an act you really love and by the time the album comes out, nobody really cares anymore. The way the label treats an artist depends on how their single is doing anyway, so why play games?

I don't really encourage people to send me demos. I listen to them, but it's like spending your life savings on Lotto! My suggestion to anyone is to entrench yourself in the community that you're trying to reach, and where your music will be heard: if you're trying to be a rapper, make sure you're at the Tunnel or wherever is the place rap is happening in your town - you've gotta be there, because that's where the people who are looking for rappers will find them.

But I don't like to look for things - I like just to be on the streets and whatever comes to me or whatever I feel, that's what I go to. It's no different from dating - whenever you look for a girlfriend you usually wind up with the wrong one. But when I find some talent that shines, I go after it.

NADINE: Yeah, people are always saying "What are you looking for now?" I don't necessarily have a list - it's anything that grabs me.

BILAL: And wherever you are, make sure you're the talk of your town. Because we have family and we all travel, and we're all asking what's going on. Have a demo to present when people are interested, but entrench yourself in your musical community first. And if you're the real deal, it'll happen.

AJ: I'm a newcomer to the game. I work for a company called Spoiled Rotten Music. My artists are Drea and Case. Drea's new artist, she's 17 and my first actual signing. I've also been assisting JoJo with the new Case record. I listen to demos all the time, being that my company is smaller. The rest of you get what, 100 demos a day? I don't have that predicament yet!

JEM: How good are they?

AJ: Sometimes I hear something interesting. Sometimes I wanna hear more. But the people that have caught my ear I've met through being somewhere - being introduced, going to somebody's session, things like that.

JEM: How did you get started?

AJ: This guy [Jimmy] gave me my introduction to the whole music industry. I was what, 15? And he basically took me under his wing.

JIMMY: He was just extremely aggressive. Whenever you're in a hiring position, the people you hire are the ones that make the most noise, that call you the most, that show up at your doorstep, that ask the most questions. I sing in AJ's uncle's gospel choir, and I'd never even mentioned that I was in the music business. So he had to research even to learn that, and he came to me like, "I know you're working with that group, I saw your name on the record," which to me was impressive. And then he called me every single day -- "Can I roll with you to the studio?" -- and that made the difference. I always try to help people into the game, especially kids who could have ended up on the street. And besides, when I get to be 40 or 50 they're gonna be running the industry and I'll need them to say, "Naw - Jimmy's dope! Don't cut him out!" [laughter]

But my very first job was on the road with Al B. Sure. I was the towel guy, you know, I'd hold his bag when people were taking his picture, wait in his car while he was at meetings, that kind of gig. But I did what I had to do. So I'd sit in the car for three or four hours at a time, listening to tapes, talking on the car phone, and I made sure that when [then-Uptown CEO] Andre [Harrell] came around, everything looked perfectly organized. And it got to the point where Andre said, "Al, you gotta give him some money, because if you don't I'm gonna give him a job." Then I worked on the "In Effect Mode" tour with New Edition -- that was my first real check -- and then Andre gave me a job in the Uptown promotion department. They didn't have a video department so I created one, and then I created a full-scale intern program, and from there? Records, production, anything and everything. And now I'm happy at ASCAP.

But if I was an artist in, say, the Midwest trying to go mainstream, outside of the things we said, I would say to go to where the music is: New York, Atlanta, LA. If you've gotta move there, move there. When I was on the road with Al, Jodeci came to us in Charlotte. Devante and Jojo bought tickets -- front row center -- they followed our van back to the hotel, they snuck in, knocked on my door, and sang "Forever My Lady." Then they came to New York and sang at Heavy D's birthday party for no money. We had to give them gas money to get home. They did what they had to do.

No night is long enough, no morning is early enough, no work is hard enough - you do what you've gotta do.

There's always going to be a young buck ready to outhustle you. My first Jack the Rapper convention, I had just enough money to get there, had to beg my mom for money to come home - do what you've gotta do. No night is long enough, no morning is early enough, no work is hard enough - you do what you've gotta do.

NADINE: There's a lyric right there!

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