Concrete Nashville 63 by CONCRETE Magazine

concrete615.com 6-8 ........................ Syk Sense 10-11 ....................Society DJs 14 ................... Music Reviews 18 ......... Nashville 10: Miss Kelz 20 .............................. B Mak 22 .................... Kyndall Harris 24 ............................... Vyrgo 28-30 .......................Charlie P Publisher: Capo Ad Executive: Capo Art Director: Rex2-tm Nash 10 Photography: Tavell Brown Editorail Photography: Tavell Brown Ad Photography: Visual Flavor Ad Graphics: C3GRAFX, Kyro Ink Publishing Consultant: Bryan Deese

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CONCRETE: Can you tell the readers who you are and where your from? Syk Sense: I’m Syk Sense born and raised in Nashville,Tennessee. CONCRETE: Who are some artist you have worked with? Syk Sense: I’ve worked with Drake, Kelly Rowland, Jamie Foxx, Travis Scott, Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug and the list goes on. CONCRETE: You received a platinum plaque for your work on Drake’s album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, What does it feel like knowing you had a part in one of the biggest albums in the country? What were your thoughts when you received the plaque? SykSense: Man the feeling is unmatchable. Can’t say unreal at all because having this accomplishment and being blessed with the friends I have in this business is as real as it gets. I knew this would happen and I would visualize the possibility of me working with Drake and 1da. And hanging up that platinum plaque on my wall. All I could do was Thank God. It’s crazy how as a kid my dreams weren’t even this big and now it’s a reality. I only used to dream of just being heard from my grandparents attic in South Nashville. Now my music moves whole stadiums full of people across the entire planet. With one of the greatest artist of our time. Club after club, I see those beats being heard and appreciated. That’s what we do this for, for that effect and that respect. CONCRETE: How would you describe your sound as a producer? Syk Sense: My sound is unexplainable to me. I’ve never been able to put a certain type of sound to my stuff. Simply because the way I make my shit. I go off the smallest of sounds or whatever can inspire me. I don’t know how to explain my sound, I guess it’s unorthodox. CONCRETE: Being from Nashville do you feel it inﬂuenced your sound? Syk Sense: Yes it has. I grew up listening to Quanie Cash, Pistol, Three 6 Maﬁa. I had all those CDs. Growing up in Nashville and just seeing all the music around me, hearing country and listening to music through my family, it all inspired me. continued on next page

CONCRETE: How did you get your start? Syk Sense: As a kid I would always hear music and beats and I was drawn to it naturally. I didn’t care about the lyrics until I could fully understand what they were saying. Even listening to Three 6 Maﬁa I was like,” Damn that production is crazy!” And then eventually I started seeing programs come out and I was like I could do this. Before that my Grandad would always have keyboards around the house. If you go over there today you’ll see about 10 keyboards just laid out. I would make little sequences on there. Not making beats or anything but just my creations. I just wanted to make new sounds and back then he would call it noise, “That boy making noise again on that keyboard.” CONCRETE: You’ve gotten a lot placements. What advice would you give other producers trying to get heard? Syk Sense: I would say whats gotten me to these places with these people are my relationships. You have to build solid relationships with people that you really f*ck with, and it’s simple as that. My relationship with 1da took me to the next level and it wasn’t all peaches and cream. I was signed to him for about 2-3 years before I even got one record placed. It was just my persistence with that relationship. We just have that type of bond were I know if I send him sh*t he gonna play it. You have to make sure you have those relationships and even if you don’t, you still have to put yourself out there. You have to be heard. So don’t be afraid to play your shit, get up there shine and continue to make music. Don’t ever quit! CONCRETE: One of your most recent placements is on the Meek Mill “Been There” record ft. Rick Ross. How did that situation come about? Syk Sense: I was in the studio with my homie DJ Crew and we were going through some samples on his computer. The ﬁrst thing we made wasn’t the version on the album but it had like a skit from one of Ice Cube’s videos, “Imma treat you like a king”, what king? Like Rodney King, like Martin Luther king, like all the Kings from Africa.” Then the beat just dropped. So we made that part and that’s really what started the whole beat just that little clip. I found another little sample put it together and sent it out to my homie OZ, he stays in Switzerland. He has a close relationship with Meek and made “Backyard” with Travis Scott. He sent it straight to Meek and Meek picked it up instantly. CONCRETE: You’ve worked in Atlanta and LA but your from Nashville. Do you fee that you have to leave the city to be successful? Syk Sense: I feel like the way Atlanta creates and Nashville is two different things. For instance in Nashville, say you want to get some studio time you have to either call somebody or know somebody or call one of these studios and book a 8hr - 12hr block and you’re automatically on that time frame. We’re slowly starting to change that, underground studios are starting to come up and we’re trying to make it different to were you don’t have to worry about paying producers for the beat up front or paying for your studio time. You just go in and create. In Atlanta, when I walk in the studio there’s no telling whose going to be in there. I got a placement with DJ Drama off of that. The difference in Atlanta is less structured and more on creating and respecting the art. Nashville we have the talent, we have all the resources that they have but we don’t have that same mindset.

CONCRETE: Who came up with the idea to start Society DJs? DJ C-Lo: The whole Society DJ thing came from something I had started a long time ago called Hit Player DJs. Which consisted of me, Rage and a few other guys. As time passed I wanted to get everybody back together. The city has started changing with social media, Dolewite becoming the new PD, big shows coming around plus all the holiday mix shows. I thought it would be good to bring all these guys together in unison. So I called Spade and he said he was thinking of doing something similar. He reached out to everybody, we met a few times and got the ball rolling. CONCRETE: Who is all in the Society DJs? DJ C-Lo: Myself, DJ Rage, DJ Spade, J-Roc, DJ Trap, DJ Twoee, DJ Jazzy T and Dolewite. CONCRETE: What is the purpose of The Society DJs? DJ Spade: We basically have four pillars that we operate under. First is DJ camraderie. C-Lo had some success before with getting DJs together so we are bringing that back around and getting all of us on the same page. If one of us are having a issue, we make sure we help rectify that issue. Whether its with club owners or whatever, it’s so that everybody can work and get along together. Second is giving back to the community. We will be doing a lot of community involvement events from turkey drives to back to school stuff. Third is breaking artist, working with these artist showing them the right ways to approach the DJs and how to get records played, the whole back end of the game making sure your records are registered with

BDS or media base so when we do get these spins they will show up. Fourth would be bringing events to the city. We have had different artist from other states come to the city and we do meet and greets with them and get them to look at Nashville as a spot they need to stop at on their promo runs. CONCRETE: How do you pick artist that you want to help push? C-Wiz: They have to have substance. I think my input from society DJs is that I’m the most seasoned and deﬁnitely the oldest one of the bunch and I’ve seen a lot. I like to have records with substance so in order to get my attention and everyone else’s attention you have to make something thats worth something. A lot of people are looking for that quick hit as oppose to something that has long lasting substance. It has to be a record that we can play ﬁve years from now, not a record that in three months we are already looking for the next hit. CONCRETE: Are you guys looking at adding more djs to the roster? C-Wiz: Well a lot of the younger DJs need to understand that outside of just being a DJ and having talent you need to respect the people who laid the fondation for you to be able to work in any of these venues. A lot of the young DJs don’t understand respect. All of us have given the game something and we are here to give knowledge to DJs outside of us as well. I’m not saying that we are closed to new members but this unit right here touches all facets of what a DJ movement should be. I will honestly say right here right now we are good.

Amerigo Gazaway - The Trill Is Gone

If your familiar with Amerigo’s work then you already know what to expect from this project. It’s like your favorite UGK record made love to your favorite BB King record and had a beautiful baby. The way these artist blend is almost like an unreleased studio project. Bun B and the late great Pimp C seem to be a perfect ﬁt for BB Kings smooth guitar riffs and soulful blues. Not to mention the magic touch that Amerigo gives it along with the unreleased interviews. What a great combination! BB King could have been the third member of the Underground Kingz adding even more greatness to the recipe. Bless your ear drums with this project.

Scotty ATL - The Cooligans

Scotty ATL seems to just get better and better with every project that drops. “The Cooligan”album is the icing on the cake. Production is on point going from smooth laid back vibe music, soulful classics to charged up bangers. With features from B.O.B, Cyhi The Prince, Curren$y, Snootie and even some hip-hop legends 8Ball and Devin the Dude! Scotty seems to cover every angle while still staying true to his sound. This one is a no brainer if you love good music then listen to The Cooligan.

Behoward - Be Patient

It was hard to be patient while waiting for Behoward’s new project. Nasty Nyse handles the majority of the production which is the ﬁrst sign that it’s dope. Behoward lyrically runs laps around the majority of artists out. He doesn’t get caught up in his feelings or come across as a mad rapper, but he does let you know exactly what it is. Telling people if they sleep on him he will , “cut off they eye lids”. Behoward has found his lane and seems to be full speed ahead. The delivery is smooth but so far from soft, he makes sure his words are felt and not only heard. Some of our go to tracks are “RICO(freestyle)”, “King Howard”, “Buckets”, “Iwahjuss”, “On You”, “Lust For Life” and “TMRW”.

Illuminate - Polymath EP

Illuminate goes in over some crazy beats having fun but still delivering some nasty bars. Like “I’m the perfect mix of the Gestapo and El Chapo, and Picasso but my skin is Blanco, watch me drop the needle into a fetal position and get my rock on.” GOOD GAWD! This isn’t a project full of crazy metaphors and backpack rap it’s actually far from it. It’s a nice blend of everything dope. The production is on point which he did himself in entirety. Some of the records that stuck out was “ID”, “Just Be”,”Still Love”, “Whoa”, “Aﬁcionado”, ah screw it the whole project is dope! Take a listen then add it to your playlist.

Tha Captin - Big Ball Cappin’

Tha Captin is back with another one! The album starts off with the song “Wait” letting people know he ain’t waiting for it, Tha Captain is going to go get it. The majority of the project is a lot of trap talk, the type of records that motivate you to grind harder. The song “Don’t Grind Won’t Shine” ﬁts perfect in that category. Tha Captin teams up with Boosie Badazz for a trap house anthem he also recruits Bank Roll Fresh for the record “Shake It Off”. Surprisingly our favorite records are the ones without features like “Swing My Door, “Studio” and “Momma”. Production is on point, hooks are catchy and the overall project goes hard. Get you a copy!

HomeTown: Nashville Measurements: 34b 29 41 CONCRETE: Biggest Turn On/Turn Off? Miss Kelz: Biggest turn on kissing nice juicy lips turn off is if you can’t kiss. CONCRETE: Favorite Designer? Miss Kelz: I don’t have a favorite designer. CONCRETE: Three artist we would ﬁnd in your iPod? Miss Kelz: Fetty Wap Young Thug and Future.

CONCRETE: Can you introduce yourself to the readers? B Mak: My name is B Mak. I am originally from Chicago born and raised. I’ve lived in Tennessee for the past ten years. CONCRETE: You were in a rock band. What made you transition to rap? B Mak: Basically, I’ve always been a rapper at heart, it was my first passion. The reason I went solo is because when you have a team if everyone on that team isn’t dedicated to the same journey and goal then you’re not going to get any where. You’re only as strong as the weakest link so I decided to separate myself from the group. I was knowledgeable from playing in a rock band for years. I learned from that and did every aspect of the game from recording to booking shows. CONCRETE: How do you define your sound as a artist? B Mak: My sound is I don’t give a f*ck! You will get a piece of what I’m going through at the time I wrote that song. You might be able to relate because you understand what I’m going through. CONCRETE: What’s the meaning of the album title Back to Reality Reality? B Mak: Yes, it’s been a back and forth thing where I’m living almost two lives. I do these packed shows, sign autographs and then wake up and go work a nine to five. You have to deal with a double life, from normal to living the dream. I want to show that in my music. CONCRETE: What can the B Mak fans expect from this project? B Mak: Back to Reality is a big mix of me partying and working hard. What I’ve been through and telling it in these songs. This is only the beginning, I’m going to keep pushing until I reach my dream. CONCRETE: You recently dropped a new video with Lil Wyte. How did that situation come about? B Mak: It was the person who has been recording, mixing, and mastering my songs in Franklin, it just happened that Lil Wyte was in town. He came by the studio, I played him some songs and a few stood out, we connected, and it just happened. CONCRETE: Are there any other features? B Mak: Definitely, Yung Jay is on a record called “In the house” and then there is a bonus track with Jelly Roll called “Maintain.” CONCRETE: Who are some producers we can hear on this project? B Mak: The Heisman, Mindful Music, Greenway, and DJ Money Green. CONCRETE: Any S/O? B Mak: Shout out to CONCRETE Magazine, Greenway, all the people involved in the project and people that’s been with me since day one. I want to let the city know that I’m coming.

CONCRETE: Where are you from? Kyndall: Memphis, Tennessee. CONCRETE: How old are you? Kyndall: 12 years old. CONCRETE: Where did you get your passion for dance? Kyndall: My passion began by watching my mom and dad dance around the house and at family functions when I was very small. My siblings, Chase, Sydney, Austin and Diamond grew up watching all of Michael and Janet Jackson’s videos as well and we would dance to our MJ Wii game every weekend! CONCRETE: How long have you been dancing? Kyndall: Six years. CONCRETE: How did you get on tour with Janet Jackson? Kyndall: There was an audition process. CONCRETE: What is it like touring with Janet Jackson? Kyndall: It is beyond anything that I could have ever imagined! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. Janet is so beautiful and kind with a gorgeous spirit! She is the best BOSS EVER! I love her very much! CONCRETE: We seen you on Americas Got Talent what was that experience like for you? Kyndall: America’s Got Talent was so fun! The level of talent there was out of this world! I loved dancing with Nick Cannon, we had a dance off and he’s a really good dancer! Can’t wait to see him again! CONCRETE: What’s else do you have coming up? Kyndall: I am currently focusing on the Janet Jackson Unbreakable World Tour that’s scheduled until 2016! CONCRETE: Do you feel Memphis inﬂuenced your style of dance? Kyndall: I love Memphis, the level of talent there is enormous, unique and amazing! That is were I received most of my training before moving to LA! CONCRETE: What’s some advice you would give to your peers that want to follow in your foot steps? Kyndall: I want to encourage my peers to always “Go For Their Dreams” never giving up and to always believe in themselves! They should pursue their dreams with passion and dedication!

CONCRETE: Where are you from? Vyrgo: Originally from Barbados by way of DC. I’m a Army brat so I moved around a lot. CONCRETE: How did you get your start as an artist? Vyrgo: I actually started out in a gospel group called Favor. We started at Cathedral of Praise, Kevin Stancel one of the top bass players in the world helped put the group together and developed us. CONCRETE: What’s the best way to describe your sound? Vyrgo: I adapt to the beat. My sound is really eclectic. I have a hard side, a R&B side and then my Bajan side as well. CONCRETE: Which leads to your next project titled “Versatility”. What can listeners expect from this album? Vyrgo: It’s something that I have been brewing for some years. This is honestly my first real project that I’m releasing. Syk Sense is one of the main producers on this a long with Chino Dollars and Band Play. I’m excited to release a different side of me. This is a project that men and woman can relate to, there is a little something for everybody. CONCRETE: The new season of Empire just started and last season one of your images were featured on there, How did that happen? Vyrgo: The photographer that shot the image was Jamie Dubois she is a stock photographer. She posts her images for other people to use for whatever it is they need the image for. I have no idea why my picture was used they didn’t alter the image or nothing. They blew it up and its hanging on the wall. I’m actually the only unknown artist in that scene. There is other pictures of Mariah Carey, Marvin Gay, Ray Charles and then me. That’s my confirmation that this is where I need to be. CONCRETE: How did you find out you were on it? Vyrgo: I was at work and my phone started blowing up. People were actually taking pictures of me on the screen and tagging me in it. I went home and watched it like a million times. CONCRETE: So did you audition to get on the show? Vyrgo: Yes I did, the tour bus audition when it came to Nashville. You get on the bus, go in the booth and you basically have 45 seconds to sing for your life. So that’s exactly what I did.

CONCRETE: People know you for working with Young Buck, how did that situation come about and what’s your role? Charlie P: My role with Young Buck is his road manager/ manager. I don’t know a manager that can just focus on managing. The way the industry is right now, how music is valued and how money is made, you have to be able to adapt in certain situations. Them big checks are not a reality anymore. I came about working with Buck as a camera dude. I was making noise, I shot like a hundred eighty videos the ﬁrst year. It was just a matter of time ‘til somebody came around cause they seen what we had going on. My actual ﬁrst industry relationship was with DJ Paul then I linked up with Buck. CONCRETE: You posted some videos of you at 50 Cent’s house. What was it like kicking it with him and did you pick his brain at all? Charlie P: Well the money wasn’t a thing cause I have been around money and the house wasn’t a thing cause I had been around houses like that. It did make me feel like damn I got to work harder now. I approach situations and people how I want to be approached. I know when somebody is picking my brain. I found out that the best relationship you can have is a friendship. You may not do business together or make money together but you can still learn a lot, not only about business but about life. It’s weird cause that’s 50 and he is calling you and you got a room at his house, but I feel I have to go harder cause 50 needs a room at my house. I can’t be around him and not carry my own weight and not be motivated to do bigger and better things. CONCRETE: You mentioned that you put the breaks on the music for a second, can Charlie P fans expect any new music soon? Charlie P: The Charlie P fans are out here and they are f***ing pissed off. I got Charlie P fans dissing me, they putting out ads in your magazine saying f**k me and it’s all because they can’t stand to see me behind a camera or behind the scenes not rapping. It came to a point where I was trying to force feed the fans and you can’t do that. You have to work on your craft, make your product and

if you build it they will come. I got to a point where I wasn’t mixing or mastering, no covers or anything. I was really living off the thrill of going in the club and people like Charlie P in the building, all the little groupies and stuff. But that’s not going to feed my kids kids. That’s not going to put moms in the house she deserves or my team who depends on me everyday. I had to put the breaks on and say f**k me what can I do for these people out here. People are always calling me asking what they should do, so I said man I can sell this. The game is to be sold not told so that’s what I did. I thought I can always come back to music and when I come back, I will be in a better position. I had to go create a demand for my music and now I feel I’m at a point where when I speak people will listen. CONCRETE: What’s some advice you would give to somebody trying to play a role in the industry? Charlie P: If you see everybody going this way, don’t go that way. If you see everyone picking up a camera, go pick up the light, if you see everyone picking up the mic you pick up the studio keys. Sometimes you have to go against what you truly believe in to make your dream manifest. Don’t look at anybody else’s situation and say it worked for them that’s all I have to do. No. It worked for them and they did it ﬁrst. Just do you and be yourself.

CONCRETE: You started off as an artist and since ventured off into the business side of the industry, what made you switch roles? Charlie P: Well being an artist and not being on a major label or not having any big investors you pretty much have to come out of pocket for everything. That was the main force that made me tap the breaks on the music side a bit and learn how to do a lot of these other things myself. Whether it be engineering, producing, or music video graphics. Building an in-house team and learning how to do it myself. I always wanted to be the boss and I came up thinking you can’t be a boss unless you know how to do each individual job yourself. That’s what motivated me cause with the music the money isn’t really there. CONCRETE: So how did you go about teaching yourself these skills? Charlie P: Well before I was a rapper I was a party and event promoter, so I knew the whole passing out flyer game, talking to club owner game, booking dates game and stuff like that. I was also a studio rat. I learned how to record by just watching. From there when I finally did pick up the camera it was so similar to recording vocals that it kind of just came to me. As far as picking up the camera and shooting videos yeah I just picked it up because I got tired of sitting over peoples shoulder telling them what to do. CONCRETE: You mentioned the camera and a lot of people know you for the Black Fly movement. How did that get started? Charlie P: Black Fly came about because we were basically the whistle blowers on the bullshit. No more charging outrageous prices for bullshit beats, no more charging outrageous prices for petty studios, no more charging outrageous prices for regular anybody can do it music videos. It was pretty much me and a few other friends that took our knowledge and relationships that we had built over ten years and used these relationships to help other artists that are trying to be in the business to teach them how not to get f**ked over. Black Fly is an artist development company. CONCRETE: You are a man of many hats, what would you say your title is and how do you define what you do? Charlie P: My title is a boss, in black and white it’s a CEO and a street term would be a music hustler. I build brands, I get people’s shit together and I sell it. I’m not the best at shooting videos, I’m not the best at rapping but every time I have rapped or shot a video I got paid to do it. People think that you wake up one day and you just blow up, like there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but there’s not. I’m a rap hustler just to make it clear. continued on next page