4 minute read
Smokey Eyes Entertainment
Pushes Talent Forward in Columbus
By Scott Berson
Music has been a part of Kelvin Smith his whole life. From growing up around the southside of Columbus, through the Marines, to Texas, Atlanta and back to Columbus again, music has always been playing in his head. Now, back in town for good and accompanied by his wife Judy, they are building up talent and promoting their brand and record label, Smokey Eyes Entertainment.
The label currently boasts two artists – the rapid-fire, high energy of Gizzle (pronounced “jizzle”) Badazz YBFR and the rich and thumping beats of Torrey Fortune. Both artists have released multiple tracks, with slickly produced music videos that showcase Columbus, including Broadway, the Riverwalk and more.
“Music has always been my thing, always been doing things with music,” Smith said. “I put out my first record with our group 1-5 Posse, back in the day while we were one of the first rap groups in Atlanta, back when I was in the Marines. We got together and one of us DJ’d and we started off like that.”
Smith spent two decades in Texas after leaving the Marines, where he met and began a life with his soon-to-be bride, Judy. When Smith’s mother moved back to Columbus and the couple would come to visit her, Smith said Judy fell in love with his old hometown.
“She loves the trees,” he said, laughing. As they like to tease, “There are no trees in Texas.” It was Judy who turned him on to the possibilities of producing music.
“One day she started singing along on the radio, song after song came on. One was by Dolly Parton, and a light went off, that blew my mind. I was like oh my God, I’m leaving out one major part.” The couple knew right away what they wanted to do and they decided to partner on a new label called Smokey Eyes Entertainment. They quickly began making and producing music full on. “We just thought, we’ve been doing this music thing for 10 years, let’s go ahead and just do it,” Smith recalled.
Anyone in the business knows, promoting is hard work. Smokey Eyes Entertainment has two artists under their belt, both of whom have released new tracks recently, Gizzle YBFR released “Gotta get it” in May and it’s #14 on the indie chart as of today and “From Da Bottom”, filmed in Columbus. Torrey Fortune’s first single was “Fa$t Lane” Released in October 2019 and then came “Fame or Reality”.
Smith says he treats the business like family – literally, in Gizzle’s case, since she is his daughter. Torrey Fortune is like family too.
Fortune also currently works in medicine as a lead surgical technician in Texas, helping with emergency and elective surgeries.
“He’s very eclectic,” Smith said. “He’s been making music for years, and I told him, the world needs to hear what you’re doing. I just thought it was so cool. This dude operates on people, he works in medicine, and then he does this music too.”
Their music videos show the artists walking and rapping in familiar places all over the city. “I’ve always loved Broadway and the Chattahoochee River,” Smith said. “I just want to bring that to the forefront. It’s like, when we stand at the podium for the music awards, i’m always gonna throw a shoutout to Columbus, Georgia. I’m trying to get the radio stations to acknowledge, you got a local boy here. I’m trying to get y’all to be the hometown, the home stadium, like the Atlanta Hawks. I’m trying to make Columbus, the Smokey Eyes home stadium.”
Smith said that after Gizzle and Torrey Fortune’s singles and albums dropped over the last few months on Spotify and online, the hype began to build and they were set for a tour. Then the pandemic hit and they were forced to rethink things.
“Before, we had show listings, all the way up to July, then they all canceled. I’m worried about Torrey, on the front lines all day every day, sometimes,” Smith said. So far, everyone has stayed healthy.
Smith isn’t resting on his laurels, though. He has big plans for Smokey Eyes in the meantime, and is working to launch an online streaming channel in September called SEEMA TV. People will be able to sign up and see a stream of music and other content managed and curated by Smokey Eyes, dedicated to highlighting local talent.
“We’re gonna be doing all kinds of eclectic stuff. From folk music to rock and everything in between, you won’t see people just rapping. I look for people with unique skills, unique thoughts on life, totally new to our listening audience,” Smith said.
The bottom line, he said, is “The world needs talent, and I just want to help get it out there.”
Find out more about Smokey Eyes Entertainment, Gizzle Y.B.F.R, Torrey Fortune and SEEMA TV @ SmokeyEyesEnt.com, or call 404-880-3381. Office located at 235 Peachtree Street NE Suite 432, Atlanta Ga, 30303. You can also find them on Instagram & Facebook.