BENJY GRINBERG
8
R. L. STINE
14
JOEY T H U R M O N
22
MATTIEU ETHAN
26
DANIEL WEISMAN
30
CEDRIC DEAN
34
ANDRIONNA L. WILLIAMS
36
Editor / chief
I am giving Thanks to a few people: Allah, God, Stephone N .Shaniqua H, Lashamekia & Calvin B, Ronnie W, Courtney & James P, Kevin Black, Kebo & Samantha Cyrus, Bro Charles & Family, Tara Thomas, Gymini & Family, Cheri Simmons, Poka Jones, Tootie,Humprey, Radcliff, Shugg, Mark da Dj, Monroe DA Cook, Rick R, Mom, Nathan N, Rasheed N, Dough Boy, Aalyiah N, Kandi A, Martha S, Consuelo E, Gfive, Robert C, Tishawn S, Tara.T, Lyn.K, Twann & Kevin Clark, GrusleHard Radio, 704djs, Nervedjs, Johnny O, Sean D, Unir1, Scott, Southern Barter Entertainment Exchange, Dagrahyndmusic, Laurie Sossa, Walter “ Pop�, Layce, Cynthia N, Justin B.Raz B, Also I want too give thanks too my family past and present.
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Coming in Feburary
BENJY GRINBERG
At
a time when lack of investment in artist development is one of the most common gripes in the industry you could say that it’s encouraging to encounter, in Rostrum Records, a label where the patient development of homegrown talents is its chief focus. But given that the first fruits of its labours are Wiz Khalifa (US No.1, UK Top 5), whose debut single topped the Billboard Hot 100, and now Mac Miller, whose debut single has attracted over 30 millions YouTube views to date, “encouraging” seems too feeble an accolade – this is an astonishing testimony to the power of brilliant artist development. X10magazine speaks to label president Benjy Grinberg about his first encounters with Wiz and Mac, what their development has involved, and how Rostrum will soon prove you can do major label numbers as a small independent.
What were your original motivations behind setting up Rostrum Records? I had been working at Arista Records and wanted to be able to develop my own artists and do it my own way, and so started Rostrum in 2003. I felt like music executives needed to be patient with artists and let them develop over time, and so our focus with the label is artist development - finding artists early, and then putting a lot of time and effort into developing the artist across the board, from their shows to their music, their songwriting, their style … everything. How did your experience at Arista help inform the direction you took and how you did it? I learned a lot at Arista. I got to see how to run a good record operation and how to treat artists. I learned from watching what the staff did, and took those lessons and applied them to a more homegrown situation - where Arista had 200 employees we had just a few of us, who did as much as we could with what we had. Have the connections you acquired while working at a major proven helpful in furthering your label’s cause? They’ve been vitally important. Ultimately it comes back to the artist and their talent, but to have a strong network of executives, producers and songwriters all comes into play, and helps the artist’s progression. What does an independent label have to do in order to not only survive but thrive in today’s music industry climate? You have to be very knowledgeable as to the most economical ways of making the records, and then the best ways to exploit the recordings, in terms of marketing and promotion. You need to understand where the money is in this day and age and where it isn’t. You can use ‘where the money isn’t’ to help promote ‘where the money is’. There are a lot of free things you him and try it. Have the connections you acquired while working at a major proven helpful in furthering your label’s cause? They’ve been vitally important. Ultimately it comes back to the artist and their talent, but to have a strong network of executives, producers and songwriters all comes into play, and helps the artist’s progression. What does an independent label have to do in order to not only survive but thrive in today’s music industry climate? You have to be very knowledgeable as to the most economical ways of making the records, and then the best ways to exploit the recordings, in terms of marketing and promotion. You need to understand where the money is in this day and age and where it isn’t. You can use ‘where the money isn’t’ to help promote ‘where the money is’. There are a lot of free things you can do that you might not make money on but will help you find that money elsewhere. So, for instance, if you put out a lot of free music and gain all these new fans, you can then sell them t-shirts or concert tickets. It’s all about knowing which pieces to move and which to keep in place. You’ve said that it’s important for labels to listen to their artists. Can you give any examples from your experience that highlight the importance of that attitude?
When we were about to release ‘Rolling Papers’, Wiz [Khalifa]’s debut album through Rostrum/Atlantic, Wiz suggested we put out a mixtape (‘Cabin Fever’) literally two weeks before the album was due to come out. From a strictly business standpoint it seems counterintuitive to flood the market with ten new free songs when in about a week or two you’re going to want to sell an album that you’ve spent a lot of money and time making. But Wiz knows his fanbase better than we do - he’s their age, goes to the same places they go, consumes music the same way they do - and so we decided to listen to him and try it. What it did was create even more attention for the main album than we had anticipated. Instead of being a diversion, it ended up being a good move. Pittsburgh is a relatively unfamiliar name on the music map of the US. What is the music scene like in the city and how is it developing? It’s not a huge scene but there is a scene, and local artists like Wiz or Girl Talk or Mac are setting examples for other artists in Pittsburgh to follow. They are representing Pittsburgh. They show you can stay in Pittsburgh, develop yourself in Pittsburgh and become a household name across the world. Those artists coming out of Pittsburgh are also helping develop the scene here in a way where there are now more people interested in managing, promoting, and actually creating the backbone for a really thriving industry. You can’t just have artists, you need the people that surround them and help them get from A to B. How did you first meet Wiz Khalifa and what impressed you about him and made you want to sign him to Rostrum? I met him in the fall of 2004, a year and a half after starting Rostrum. I was living in New York at the time. A friend of mine (Chad Glick) had been hanging out in a Pittsburgh studio (ID Labs) started by his friend (E. Dan) and he’d met Wiz there and a couple of other artists. He gave me a mixtape with all these different Pittsburgh artists on it and he mentioned Wiz and a few others. I said, “Who is this kid (Wiz)? I want to meet him the next time I’m in Pittsburgh.” There was something about the way he wrote his song and the way that he was rapping that made me really interested in him.
When I met him I immediately knew I needed to work with him. He was 16, an amazing lyricist, and even though he wasn’t all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special. We’ve spent the last seven years developing, and over the last year it’s really blown up. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of grinding to get to where we are, but we both have a lot of loyalty to each other. What things do you look for in new artists and what kind of things impress you in terms of what they’ve achieved on their own? For me it doesn’t come down to achievement, but for them to have a true vision for themselves and their art. That way I can really get involved and share in that vision and help take it there. If they don’t really know who they are, where they want to go or what their voice is, then it makes my job a whole lot harder. Artists develop over time and the road ends up having twists and turns that you never expected musically and otherwise, but to start with a true understanding of yourself makes it very attractive for me, because it gives me a clear guideline of where we need to go. So how can new artists actually attract Rostrum’s attention? We keep our roster very small because of the attention that we pay to each artist. The best way is not necessarily to send in a demo or any of the standard ways, it’s really to do your thing on your own, and if it’s good we’ll hear about it, and if it’s something that we feel we can share a vision of and really work with then we’ll reach out. First thing you can do is build your own little scene or your own little fanbase. We get dozens of emails and submissions every day and it gets numbing just to try to listen to all of that and understand who each artist is. Artist development is key to Rostrum and a driving force behind your success. Can you explain what the development work with Wiz Khalifa involved?
When we first started working together he loved writing verses and being as lyrical as possible but didn’t write hooks very often. Sometimes he would just let the sample play during the chorus. So the key for me was to really force the issue of creating a full song - helping him to understand song structure, arrangement, and how important it is to write a great hook. Over the course of time, he started writing the hook even before even any lyrics were written, and then he started coming up with these full visions of songs. He has turned into the most amazing songwriter. The main part of my job is to create the environment for the artist to thrive. So that might be in making sure that they have studios and the right people to work with, and making sure that they’re always comfortable and in that zone that’s going to bring the best out of them. I can’t take all the credit – it’s a team effort. We have our hometown producers, ID Labs, and E. Dan, who’s the head of ID Labs, and they’ve been really integral in helping guide Wiz creatively. With each project all of us are together creatively taking it to the next level. How much time do you take, need or even have to develop? For different people it takes a different amount of time. I’ve been with Wiz for seven years. I’ve been with a band like Donora for four years, and they’re still just getting off the ground. With Mac [Miller], whom I signed only fourteen months ago, it’s gone a lot faster. I’ve never dropped an artist from Rostrum and that’s why I keep my roster small. If we commit to working with you, we’re going to work with you until you don’t want to work anymore, because we’re not going to be the ones to stop. That’s how seriously we take it and how committed we are to our artists. As an independent label with a new rap artist like Wiz Khalifa or Mac Miller, what would your plan be in terms of introducing them into the music market? We first have to make sure that the material is worth the public’s ear. Sometimes you create a lot of music and don’t release any of it until you start getting to the level that you really want it to be at. Once you’re at that level, a lot of it is internet and social networking-based. You can do a lot with blogs, and with Facebook and Twitter.
We’re known for getting our artists on the road early. So before many people knew who Wiz really was, we were doing shows for small crowds in the region around Pittsburgh, whether it’s Ohio or West Virginia or wherever. In a lot of cases we treat our rappers like indie rock bands. It’s like, ‘get in the van, and let’s go!’ Through that process the artist develops as a performer and as a songwriter because they can see first-hand how people are reacting to the songs that they are writing. It really helps in taking their artistry to the next level. Wiz Khalifa is signed to both Atlantic and Rostrum. How did that deal come about and how does your relationship work with major labels? Wiz was already signed to Rostrum and so in order for Atlantic to be involved with him, they had to do a deal with Rostrum. Together we work out the distribution and marketing and all the other aspects. They’ve been a great partner for us, they really understand Wiz and our way of working, and we’ve been very, very happy there. In each case it’s a different scenario. For Mac we’re totally independent and have our own distribution through INgrooves on the digital side and Fontana [Records] on the physical side. We’re going to release Mac’s first official retail album worldwide in November, and we’re doing it all on our own. So in each artist’s case we have the flexibility of doing what we feel is appropriate for that artist. How did you first discover Mac Miller and what level was he at when you started working together? I’ve known Mac for a while. Mac, Wiz and I are all from the same area and all went to the same high school, but in very different years - I’m ten years older than Wiz, and Wiz is four years older than Mac. When I was recording with Wiz at ID Labs Mac would be there recording as well. And over the course of time I would give Mac advice and guidance from afar. We weren’t working closely together, but I would give him a little hand along the way. Then when he started working on his K.I.D.S. mixtape I noticed a maturation in his sound and approach to his music. All of a sudden it made me really interested in what he was doing.
So I decided that instead of having this arm length relationship I really wanted to work with this kid and help take him to the next level. At the same time he was getting different offers from different people, but being the hometown label and with him looking up to Wiz, he really wanted to work with Rostrum. So last year we formalised the relationship and released K.I.D.S. It’s just insane how fast it’s been growing. He went from 30,000 Facebook friends last year to 1.2 million this year. Before you signed Mac Miller to Rostrum you said you were advising him on the label deals he had been receiving. For artists in Mac Miller’s position that are approached by labels, what are some important aspects to bear in mind and watch out for? Well, there are a lot of terms in the deal you have to understand and be knowledgeable about, but the first key is to have a good lawyer. Secondly, you have to know something about the company. You have to know about their approach to their artists. Are they the type of company that is just going to sign twenty artists in the hope that one or two of them take off, or are they more selective and detailoriented? You should talk to the other artists signed to the label to get an understanding about whether they’re happy and how supportive the label is of their careers. Just doing your research and due diligence to get a better understanding about the situation you’re about to get yourself into, is very important. At the time I was advising Mac I wasn’t yet interested in signing him. I was just giving him very straight forward, neutral advice, which was to make sure he understood where these people were coming from, to make sure that the deal wasn’t for too long a time period and to make sure that he really gets comfortable with the people before he signs any paperwork. When I’m interested in an artist these days, one of the last things we do is paperwork. In many cases we’ll almost be done with an album before we solidify the relationship in that way. To me it’s much more organic,
it’s much more about the relationship, and much more about understanding each other musically and having that sort of connection before I make an artist commit legally. I understand how hard it is to sign a contract, I understand how uncomfortable it is to commit yourself like that, and being that I understand that first-hand and understand artists, it’s not something that’s on the top of my mind, it’s like, we’ll handle that when it’s necessary. In what areas were you helping Mac Miller develop as an artist once you started working together? Basically helping him with his song selection, and helping him bring out his musicality. He’s such a musical person - he plays almost every instrument on demand. So I was making sure he understood that it was okay to bring out that side of him - to get more musical with it and to really speak his mind. We also got him on the road right away. After the K.I.D.S. mixtape he did the Incredibly Dope Tour, which did extremely well for a first tour. Every show was sold out - it was really unbelievable. And then it was about seeing how great a performer he was developing into by focusing him on his stage show and on developing his production and song sequencing for shows. No matter how far you get you’re always going to need that help because as the artist sometimes you’re too close to the situation and need someone watching from the front of the house to say, ‘Hey, when you do that song you should do it this way.” A lot of what we’ve been through with Wiz I applied those lessons to Mac 100%. That’s the only way we all grow. Mac Miller’s single ‘Donald Trump’ was a breakthrough success. What was key to that? It’s just an amazing song that people gravitated towards right away, and it has a great video. DJs at radio stations started to play it on their own, and it just took on a life of its own. Even though it was available for free through his mixtape, we’ve still managed to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of the song, which is a testament to how popular it really has become.
It really comes down to the song. It’s not necessarily anything special we did. It’s just that his fanbase really gravitated towards it. And then of course Donald Trump himself made a video blog about the song and shouted out Mac and said how happy he was the song had over 20 million views. That was a pretty surreal moment. Wiz’s brotherly relationship with Mac has obviously helped his development. Is that something you’ve encouraged? Yeah, I encourage it, but I don’t force it at all. It’s important for both artists to have a relationship and it’s important for it to come from their heart. It can’t be like, ‘Hey, Wiz, why don’t you show him some stuff?’ It has to be Wiz providing a good example naturally. So if Mac goes to one of Wiz’s shows and sees what he does, or they’re in the studio together and make a song, Mac picks up a lot of things from Wiz and applies it to his own situation. I try to bring people together and if they gel and have a good relationship then that’s just amazing to me, but I don’t want to play matchmaker in any sort of way. The network you’ve successfully set up with Wiz would also no doubt be inspirational for the path you follow with Mac Miller? In the urban and pop music world, it’s a fairly small community, and so in developing Mac we’re going to talk to the same people at MTV, we’re going to talk to some of the same promoters in some of the same cities, we’re going to use a similar booking agent … those sort of things are just sort of standard. We have a great booking agent in Peter Schwartz at The Agency Group, and he’s doing an amazing job for Wiz, and so I brought Mac to meet with him. But I didn’t say, ‘Mac, you have to use this booking agent’. It’s like, ‘This booking agent has been doing amazing things for Wiz. Do you want to meet him? He really likes your music, and I think you’d be good together.’ Then they meet, and then I leave it up to Mac. It’s always the artist’s choice. How do you see Mac’s career developing in the future?
Mac’s career has grown at such a crazy speed that I can only imagine. But we’re going to create a lot of waves with this album we’re releasing in November. I think it’s going to do better than a lot of people are anticipating. We’re then going to embark on another tour and start working on the next project. Over the next twelve months I really think it’s going to grow immensely. He’s going to be one of the biggest artists in the world. I really truly believe that. What are your ambitions for the label? My ambitions are for it to be a great home for artists. We have certain business ambitions but they really take a backseat to working with the artists that we really love and believe in. The label selection of artists is really a reflection of my taste, and because my tastes are wide-ranging the artists on Rostrum are going to be wide-ranging. It keeps it really fresh and interesting for our staff to work with different types of artists and to learn different things from the different paths that the artists take. So we can apply lessons that we learned with Wiz to one of the rock bands or vice versa, and it keeps us on our toes and it keeps things really fresh. As some of the major labels are letting go of staff and becoming smaller I see Rostrum growing, taking a slightly more independent route, and being able to compete with the majors. That’s what I’m setting up to do here. With this Mac album we’re about to release, we’re going to do major label numbers as an independent. We’re going to prove that you can be just as successful when you do it on your own.
R.L. STINE
magazine had a chance to meet up with the number-one best-selling children’s author of all time, R. L. Stine is most famous for the creepy Goosebumps series, and now The Nightmare Room series. Born in Ohio, Mr. Stine lives in New York City. Teen Ink thanks him for being part of the Interview Contest.
XS10
We’ve heard you get thousands of fan letters a week. What’s the weirdest, or funniest, fan mail you’ve received?
In the early days, I could; I think every kid deserves an answer, because it’s hard for kids to write letters.
Well, some of it’s hilarious, but I’ve gotten horrible, sad letters.
I make sure everyone gets an answer; at one point I had a staff of five answering mail. I try to read as much of it as I can.
My favorite is a weird one, from a girl early on in my career. She said, ‘Dear R. L. Stine, I loved The Babysitter. The same thing happened to me, only it was my uncle who tried to kill me. Keep up the good work. ‘ That was pretty scary. I actually notified her teacher and said, ‘You should look into this. ‘ I never heard back. My all-time favorite letter was from a boy who wrote, ‘Dear R. L. Stine, I’ve read 40 of your books and I think they’re really boring. ‘ Isn’t that perfect? At one point, I was getting 2, 000 letter a week. My mailman hated me. One day he took the big canvas mailbag and just threw it in the apartment. Do you answer all your mail?
Your books require a lot of imagination. Do you think people are born with imagination, or do you think they develop it through reading? I think everyone has imagination, but at the same time, it’s a very mysterious process. When I was nine, I was drawn to scary programs and would listen to science fiction shows on the radio. I really can’t explain why I found that stuff so interesting. I think I absorbed all those and the many Ray Bradbury stories I read growing up. People think they lose their imagination as they age (obviously you’re an exception). Why do people believe that? I think that most people don’t have the luxury of sitting at home and writing stories. They have to find other ways to earn a living which might not demand as much imagination.
There are lots of ways to express your imagination through writing. One is poetry, almost all teenagers love to do that. Have you ever written any poetry you’d want to share or publish? No, I’m horrible at it. Back in my hometown I sponsor R. L. Stine Writing Workshops in the public schools. We have professional writers come for two weeks every year and work with kids who are really interested in being writers, but not poets. The world has enough bad poets. I try to discourage everyone from writing poetry. Yet, every once in a while a kid writes a poem that is really good, and you sit there and think, Oh, wow, this kid can write. Since you’re an author of horror novels, you probably expect this question: what has been your most frightening personal experience? I don’t like that question; there’s no way anything frightening can happen when I’m in the house all the time. They don’t let me out of here. I haven’t had a scary life, aside from real personal things. I do have a phobia that my nephews think is just insane: I cannot jump into water. I have to step into swimming pools. It’s a real phobia, but my nephews think it’s hilarious that this scary guy is so terrified of jumping into water. Why do you think people like to be scared? I think everyone likes a good scare, and I think everyone likes to be able to have creepy adventures and face monsters when they know they’re safe at the same time. What do you respond when a little kid writes you and says one of your books gave him nightmares?
I hate that, I just hate that. You don’t want to give kids nightmares; luckily, it doesn’t happen often. A woman wrote to me once, ‘I like your books because they give my kids shivers but not nightmares. ‘ This was perfect because that’s what I try to do; I don’t want to terrify kids. Have you ever written something that was really scary and then had to make it less frightening? It’s usually the opposite; my editors tell me to make it scarier. I tend to pull back and they’re always saying, ‘You have to make it scarier. ‘ Except once. The Girl Who Cried Monster is about a girl who discovers the librarian is a monster when she sees him eat a kid. The editors thought that was a little much, so instead I gave him a tray of snails on his desk, and every once in a while he chews one up. Do you have a whole bunch of ideas in your head, or when you start to write do they just come? It’s usually one at a time; it’s gotten harder because I’ve written so many books. I need a new idea every month since I do a book a month. They usually come from a title; I don’t really have ideas in advance, but almost all my ideas come from thinking of a really good title and seeing where that leads. I work backwards from every other author; most authors get an idea for a story and think of a title later. Is there a reason you think of a title first? It just works for me. One day I was walking down the street and the title Brain Juice popped into my head.
Then I started to think, what would happen if kids could drink brain juice? Maybe they would get really smart. Maybe they’d get so smart, no one could stand them. It would ruin their lives. That turned out to be one of my favorite Goosebumps books. Do you ever get ideas from readers? That’s never worked out; it’s a shame. And I’ve never gotten any ideas from my dreams. I have the most boring dreams. One night I dreamed I was making a bologna sandwich. Most of your writing is fictional and crazy. Do you ever put little autobiographical events in? I was a very fearful child, and I can remember that feeling of panic. I use that feeling a lot that’s from real life. The only other thing I use is - I grew up in a little suburb of Columbus, Ohio and I use that setting a lot. I’ve never written a book about New York City, where I’ve lived for years. It’s sort of a superstition of mine. The settings are all suburban, from my childhood. Every once in a while there will be an incident that sparks an idea. I was at an airport watching a family say goodbye to their little boy -he was flying by himself, and they were hugging him and the parents were totally nervous. I saw the mother hand the boy a note as he boarded the plane. I watched and thought, What if he gets on the plane and he opens the note and it says, ‘We’re not your parents?’
What’s the one element of your writing that you believe makes you different from other writers? I really like kids. I think I’m really good at talking with and writing for them, because that’s my level, basically. Another thing I do that many writers don’t value as much, is I want a lot of surprises in my writing. I don’t want to be able to predict what’s going to happen. I work really hard at putting surprise after surprise in each book. I try to shock readers and tease them and lead them off in the wrong direction. We read that your son hasn’t read any of your books. Sad to say. And he’s in one of the books, too. He just wouldn’t read them. Have you ever tried to get him to? Oh, always. It did make me nuts, but if you’re an author, your kid is basically going to be a non-reader; that goes without saying. Every writer I know, their kids don’t read their stuff. It’s a natural way for kids to get their parents. Kurt Vonnegut’s daughter was a big Goosebumps fan. When she was 12 she told her father, ‘Oh, he’s a much better writer than you, Dad. ‘ This was Kurt Vonnegut, for goodness sake; I was so embarrassed. She wouldn’t read his books for anything. Do you believe in ghosts? No, I don’t believe in any of the stuff I write.
What do you think is the biggest problem facing teenagers today? I hate questions like that. People are going to want to know. Well, when I was a kid we had childhoods; we didn’t have to be sophisticated and cool. We could just be kids. We weren’t exposed to as much stuff, and every sitcom on TV wasn’t just about sex. I think the biggest problem is that kids are growing up too fast and not having fun just being a kid. It’s a very tough job to be a kid. Is it a hard job to be a writer? It’s never been hard for me; it’s the only thing I do well. Ask my wife; it’s the only thing I’m competent at. I came from Ohio and moved to New York to be a writer. I got magazine jobs right away and wrote for all these fan magazines. Then I worked at Scholastic for many years doing educational magazines. My goal in life was to have my own humor magazine, all I wanted was to have my own Mad Magazine. When I was 28 I got it. I did a funny magazine for ten years called Bananas. That was my life’s ambition and I reached it. And then Bananas folded; it wasn’t popular anymore. I had no idea what was coming, it’s been very exciting and I feel very lucky. Is the success of your books one of your greatest surprises? The success of the Goosebumps stories was a total surprise to everybody. You can’t ever
plan on having that kind of a success; I’m in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest-selling children’s author in history. To me that’s amazing, because I wrote for 20 years and nobody noticed. When I was a kid there were a lot of horror books for adults, but other than Goosebumps, I don’t remember seeing any for kids. No one had done it. I did Fear Street first. When I started, they said, you can’t do horror as a series, no one would buy it. Someone once asked Agatha Christie, ‘Why do you think your books are so popular?’ And she said, ‘I just stumbled onto something people wanted to read. ‘ And I think that’s what happened with me. How many books have you sold? Well, Goosebumps has sold 220 million in this country. It’s just huge all over the world, it’s incredible. Altogether I’ve sold over 300 million books. Are the Harry Potter books in the hundreds of millions? No, they’ve sold 35-40 million. They get a lot more media attention, though. At one point I was doing a Fear Street and a Goosebumps every month, so I did it by doing 24 books a year; J. K. Rowling does one a year. She’s smart, she has a life. Have you had any significant disappointments? Yes, I did a book series before Goosebumps that I loved. I always wanted to write funny stuff, and I did a series called Space Cadet about the five umbest cadets in the Space
Academy. It was just slapstick humor. I loved these books; they were my favorites. I thought they were really funny. No one bought them, they were a total flop. A lot of people say scary books, movies and TV shows are a big reason for teen violence. What do you think?
Back to writing, are there any jobs or internships you’d suggest for a young person who really wants to be a writer? Well, I would suggest they try to get some kind of magazine job. I came to New York and started getting publishing jobs. I didn’t stay home and send in manuscripts from 500 miles away.
Well, I think they’re totally wrong. I think my books are really healthy, and I think they help kids deal with a lot of anger.
I was working in a publishing company and got to know a lot of editors, and they would leave to go to other companies, and then I would know someone at all those other publishing houses.
Also, I don’t really think mass killers read these books; I’ve never heard of somebody reading one and then running out and doing something horrible.
Being in the business gave me a real head start to being a writer.
And I think violence in movies and on television is very healthy. Everybody has these pent-up feelings, and I think it’s good relief to be able to sit and watch it.
I came to New York - I didn’t know a single person - and started answering ads in the papers.
People who say kids are going to be influenced don’t realize that kids are very smart; it’s insulting to kids. Whenever there’s some horrible tragedy they start saying, ‘Well, let’s make sure kids don’t go to these movies, ‘ or ‘Let’s censor the lyrics in their music, and give them a curfew. ‘ Every solution is a punishment, not a solution. There are a lot of people who don’t like young people and resent them. They are the ones who try to solve serious problems by punishing kids. What do you think is leading to the violence? I wouldn’t even venture a guess; there are a lot of serious social problems. People have these natural tendencies and they shouldn’t be repressed. My brother has a son and they didn’t want any violence in the house; my nephew wasn’t even allowed to watch the Muppets. They never allowed him to have toy guns. One day he was visiting us, and I gave him a slice of American cheese. He bit it into the shape of a gun. He was obsessed.
How did you start getting publishing jobs?
My very first job was with a fan magazine, making up stories, interviews with the stars. I learned to write really fast, you learn to write fast and to make up stuff. It was very good training;you think it’s horrible at the time, but it’s good training. Then I answered an ad and got a job working for Junior Scholastic Magazine; I ended up staying there for 16 years. What about college, did you major in writing? I was an English major at Ohio State. Back then every college had a humor magazine, and that’s all I was interested in. Three of my four years in college I was editor of the humor magazine. How does writing for TV compare with writing novels? It’s totally different, and in some ways it’s irritating, because it’s collaborative. I sit here by myself all day writing books. But when I wrote for television I’d write a script and then I’d go in and all the puppeteers and producers and the
director and writer would sit around a table and rip your script apart and suggest other things. You have to collaborate every step of the way; everyone is an expert. So, there would be three or four versions for these little five-minute puppet segments. Then you’d come in and they would shoot the segment, and the puppeteers would say whatever they wanted in front of the cameras. And every once in a while you’d recognize a word of yours, but that was the process. What is your new TV series, “The Nightmare Room”? Most of the episodes are based on the Nightmare Room books, but other people write them. How do these books differ from Goosebumps? Goosebumps was sort of a roller-coaster ride, with monsters jumping out or hiding under the bed, and running from werewolves, and becoming invisible. The Nightmare Room series is quiet, darker; I’m trying to do “Twilight Zone” for kids, where you step into a place you’ve been a hundred times but suddenly something isn’t quite right. There are no monsters; it’s more psychological. One, Liar, Liar, is about a boy who never tells the truth, he even lies to the reader. He lies about the color of his eyes when he’s describing himself. He tells so many lies that he lies himself into a parallel world. I needed to do something different from Goosebumps. I wrote 87 of those, and I needed a new little twist that would give me story ideas.
I get up in the morning and still enjoy getting to the computer at 10 o’clock each morning and writing my pages; I do 15 pages a day. Do you edit yourself as you go along? Yes, except my secret is that I do a chapter-bychapter outline first; I never wanted to do it, but my editors forced me to. The outline has everything that happens in the book. That’s the real work. It has all the chapter endings - every chapter has to end with a cliffhanger - and it includes all the action of the book. So, when I sit down to write, I’ve done all the thinking and I can enjoy the writing. Most people hate outlines, and I hated them at first, mainly because my editors always made me revise and revise the outline, so by the time I’d done three outlines, I’d be sick of the book. But now I can’t work without one. Do you think writing is lonely? Yes. But I think too often teachers present writing as something that is very serious. I hate it when people tell kids, ‘Write what you know. Write from your heart. ‘ That’s terrifying; I’ve never written a word from my heart, never. I’ve been writing for 30 years, and I’ve never written a single word from my heart, and I never write about what I know. I think that makes writing sound too hard, it makes it sound like work. What do you tell kids to write?
What keeps you motivated after you’ve sold so many books?
I tell kids to write to entertain yourself, write to be entertained. Writing should be fun. I tell them about all the insane things I’ve written just because I love to write.
I just love it. I still enjoy it. It’s a real challenge not to repeat myself.
You don’t have to write serious literature, you don’t have to be an artist to be a writer. I’ve
written GI Joe books, coloring books, even bubble gum cards. What’s your most favorite book that you’ve written? I have to divide it up; there’s a funny novel I wrote called Phone Calls that is about teenagers calling each other. It’s really funny, very twisted. There’s another funny one, How I Broke Up with Ernie. I’m really proud of those. And there are a couple of Goosebumps I’m really proud of; Brain Juice is a perfect combination of scary and funny, I think Do you ever have a hard time letting go of something you wrote that your editors say you have to change? Oh, always. I hate to revise, I hate it, and I have a lot of editors. You think, Oh, by now you’ve done all this stuff, it will be easy, but sometimes I have to do three versions of a book, and I complain about it all the time. It’s very hard to get the same energy for revising as for writing. How do you work up that energy? This is my major failure as a writer. I always think that if it’s typed, it’s finished and is a masterpiece. I consider it done and I’m on to the next one. And that’s a real problem; many writers are the opposite. I don’t know which is healthier. What do you do if you don’t respect the editor? I don’t have that choice; my wife is my editor. You said you have lots of editors. My wife has a company called Parachute Press, which is a children’s book packager. My books go through her company. In addition to my wife, two other editors in her company read everything. Plus I have two editors at my publisher, Harper-Collins, so there are five editors for every book. But you must respect them all enough that when they throw your book back at you . . . Well, I argue all the time. I don’t win very often. Sometimes they agree with me, but they’re usually right; it’s easier for others to see what’s wrong with writing, especially when you’re as self-satisfied as I am. And my wife is very smart, she’s always right. We’ve been married 32 years and in that time I’ve never been right
PRESIDENT JOEY THURMOND ENTERTAINMENT LLC PRESIDENT OF NOJOES CLOWN CIRCUS THE NEW INDUSTRY STANDARD
JOEY THURMOND
First, let me say thank you and what an honor it is to be interviewed by your magazine. I am very excited to be a part of XS10! Reader want to know the different between your circus and every other one out there. One of the first things that come to mind is that at our shows everyone feels like a part of the show. No other show gets the audience as close to the action or brings the action out into the audience like we do. The second thing would be the energy levels at our shows. There is no down time! From the time the audience member enters the show area they are delivered into the world of the circus and it’s excitement. Whether their age is 8 months or 108 they are going to have a blast at our shows. What do you offer your customer that other circuses don’t? We offer more bang for the buck and an environment where everyone is welcome. One of the most wonderful parts of Circus is that it cuts across all socio-economic borders, reaches to the soul of it’s audience, and delivers them from whatever troubles might be going on in their private lives and transports them into a magical wonderful world full of amazement, wonder, magic, and love. At our shows the audience will hear an average of 60 different pieces of music, see custom one of a kind costumes, huge computer surround sound, state of the art lighting effects, and various special effects from confetti cannons to snow to bubbles and lazers. They will get to see acts by performers from around the world and here at home. Some of the performers are current world record holders and perform acts that can’t be seen in any other shows on earth! Is it hard running a circus and traveling all over the world? There are sometimes logistical issues traveling and having to book the shows while dealing with clients concerns who may be on the other side of the earth but, we always make it work because solving problems and making our clients feel appreciated and wanted and our audiences amazed is exactly what we do. The travel is the some of the best parts! We get to see so many wonderful different places and meet so many different types of people that getting to perform is almost just a bonus sometimes. What made you decide to be in that line of work? I grew up in a low income environment. I only got to go to a big circus once about age 6. When I got there I remember having to pull down the “bally” or the skirt type fence that separated the performers from the audience so that I could see over. I remember seeing all the animals, and other performers but, the clowns are the ones who really stood out. There were clowns who juggled, clowns who balanced, clowns who walked wire, clowns who worked with animals I mean these guys did it all! The only other performers who were in the show as much were the show girls. I obviously wouldn’t have made a great show girl so it was into the world of clowning I went. I came home from that first trip to the show and taught myself how to juggle and balance unusual objects. I played Charlie Chaplin in my school plays and while the other children were playing normal child games I was playing circus. I had a circus ring made of old pieces of ply wood, the family dog was the animal attraction, I juggled and balanced and then would pack it all up on a little red wagon and move to another yard or part of the property and set it all up and do it again. Performing for family, friends, or anyone else who would watch. After school I had opportunities to be involved with professional sports entertainment and after a career ending injury went on to the police academy. After years of being on the police department I was re-introduced to the art of clowning while on my and my wife’s honeymoon. I came back and began to submerge myself into learning costuming and makeup. Volunteering at local children’s hospitals and nursing homes I had a wonderful hobby. Almost immediately I began to get requests to go and perform at various functions. From that it grew into a small one clown show. Four years later after realizing
that I was turning down more money clowning than I was earning from the police department and seeing that our show had now grown into a full three ring circus and our demand was higher than ever I retired from policing and committed full time to the art of clowning. And isn’t it very competitive with other circus? While there is competition out there in circus, ours is so unique and special that we have a very narrow niche. There simply is no other show that is able to accomplish what we do during our shows and for the value that we offer. In 2013 we changed the company motto to “The New Industry Standard” and it has became true during the past year. Other shows are now looking to us for ideas and embracing a lot of our progressive thinking about how we operate with our clients and audiences. How did you get the name “No Joes Circus “? There is a little patter that goes with the name NOJOE. I always say that I thought that was my actual name until age 12 or so because that’s what my Mother was always telling me “No Joe”. Then when I got to high school it was the same thing all over again! All the girls said the same thing “No Joe”! But, it has helped us in our industry. It is such a unique name that it really does help us to stand out from any competition. So is it true you treat all your customers like family? Absolutely! I actually don’t like the term “customers” I prefer to call them “Partners” or “Guests”. If it weren’t for our Partners we wouldn’t exist! When a Guest comes to our home we always try to make them feel welcome and appreciated and like they can be themselves and let go. That is exactly the feeling I want our Guests to have when they come to one of our shows. We employ a “ten foot rule” with all our performers and personnel. If a Guest or Partner is within ten feet of a member of our team our team member will greet them and offer assistance. After a performance all our performers remain out front signing autographs and taking pictures with our guests until everyone has had an opportunity to be thanked for coming to our shows. During our shows we also give away free souvenirs at every performance during the short intermission. So do your circus do a lot with the local schools and boys and girls club? We try to do as much as possible. In fact, we work with more than just the schools and boys and girls clubs during 2013 we worked with Exchange Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Jaycees Clubs, 4-H Clubs, Churches, Lions Clubs, Theatrical Guilds, and more. I have written and had published two children’s books both of which I have the awesome opportunity to go to schools and speak about. The first in the series is “Nojoe Makes New Friends” and the second and most recent “Nojoe’s Circus Dreams” are both available at all major book retailers around the world. Getting to speak to schools and other civic groups is one of my very favorite things to do. We also have a foundation, the NOJOE Foundation was founded in 2008 by my wife and I and continues to give back thousands of dollars each year to various charities all across the U.S. including scholarships to students in the performing arts. One of the programs that I am most proud to be a part of is the NOJOE Foundation Sunshine Ambassadors Program. This is a group of volunteer who receive training and go into Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Etc. and provide events like tea parties, game days, small shows, etc. The Sunshine Ambassadors really change the lives of all they touch.
I have a question what makes a good clown? A good clown has to start with a good base. A good base is a good heart! Someone who is willing to give of themselves to see others happy is a wonderful place to start. I’ve never known a group of more pure, genuinely giving people than clowns. There are very few rivals in fact it’s quite the opposite. If someone is in need they are there. It’s almost like a need for the clown to make someone’s day a little brighter. With that, a good clown also has to be properly trained and know what to do and not to do. Just because someone wants to help and their intentions are of the highest order doesn’t mean they will be perceived that way. Proper training can take years. So, when you see a good clown realize that it doesn’t just happen. Anyone can put on a costume and makeup and have the appearance of a clown but, few have the soul, know how, and love of the art. What is clowning mean to you? Clowning to me means the window to my soul. When I’m able to perform I am giving everything that I have. There is no 90%. It’s 150% all the time. It’s the wonderful honor that God has allowed me to have to bring happiness and release from the day to day problems of the lives of others. It’s an enormous responsibility. I as a clown have a duty to my fellow man to show the true art that has been passed to me by my mentors and the part my life is to play in the world. Clowning is a very serious thing indeed. When we perform we never know who is out there watching that needs that release. We never know what they may be going through and laughter is the true medicine that will make their world a little better. That’s why no 90%. What is the history of clowning? That is a long response! There are others more qualified to answer this than me but, I’ll give it my best. Clowning has been around in one form or another as long as their have been records kept. We find Court Jesters and Harlaquins in ancient times. We find the spoken comedy in Vaudeville and the physical comedy in silent movies. Then with the advent of sound in motion pictures the best records were kept. Joseph Grimaldi is one of the earliest recorded names in clowning. As legend has it even our own Uncle Sam was derived from an American clown by the name of Dan Rice who was also a stilt walker. The earliest form of Circus in America was 1793 when Mr. Ricketts brought his show of equestrian events and trick riding to America. Is it true a clown is the heart of the circus,with out clowns will there be a circus? The clown plays many roles in the circus. The clown behind the scenes may be a rigger, work with tent crew, truck driver, cotton candy maker, or an assistant to animal care. The clown may also be the school teacher who travels with the show to educate the children growing up while their parents perform. The clown is on the floor more during the show than any other performer. He provides the comedic interlude between acts that may cause the audience to be anxious or fearful of the life of the performer. The clown will also be used as the distraction in case of an emergency or accident during the show. The clown is also the performer that the audience most easily associates themselves with. Would there be a circus without clowns? It’s been tried before and the audience simply wouldn’t have it. Clowns and the circus are an old married couple that will never survive apart. If you could describe what is a clown too people what would be your answer? He/She is a loving, giving person, with one true goal in life and that is to bring joy and happiness to others. Clowns are some of the least paid performers on most shows but, have the highest responsibility to the audience.
What do you see when you look into the faces of all your customer that come see you? New opportunities to make sunshine! Smiles and laughter are the grease that make the world spin more easily. A wonderful chance to share a little of myself with people. That’s the wonderful thing about clowning is that a good clown will never use political, racial, or other undertones. It’s simply the Human race and loving each other and being able to enjoy one another for who and what we are no matter what. And if you was a super hero who would you be,and why? Probably the Skipper from Gilligan’s Island. I know he isn’t what you would call a superhero but, he was the one that kept everything together for the castaways and still had a loving funny bone too. I feel like the Skipper in our shows because I’m the President, head booking agent, logistics guy, director, truck driver, and the protector of everyone on the show. Yeah, I’m going to say I’m the Skipper. How can our reader get a info on were too get tickets too see the show? Our schedule each year is updated around February and that will list every stop on our tour. It’s easiest to visit www.NojoesClownCircus.com for that info. In 2013 our shows traveled to 13 states and performed over 700 performances on top of lectures, speaking engagements, and appearances. Again, Mr. Neely Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to be considered for your magazine. I look forward to working with you again soon. I am going to attach the photos to an additional email. Thank you again! Is this a love or a passion or both? It’s more simply a way of life for me. This is absolutely something that I was born with. God put this in me for a reason and that means that I am supposed to share it. Whether we’re a singer or actor or clown if we have a talent and don’t share it with our fellow man then shame on us! That being said you absolutely have to love it! It’s a love of the people and the art for me. We are getting so much attention now that we have been blessed to be involved in some wonderful projects it’s even more of a responsibility. During 2012 a film company form Atlanta based Espuete` Productions followed us to 12 states and completed a full feature length documentary about us called GreasePaint. The film has been released to film festivals across the country and has won numerous awards including Best Documentary. The website to find out more about the movie is www.GreasePaintFilm.com We were also able to be involved in the Video of the Year nominated video by the Grammy Award Winning Zac Brown Band for “Goodbye In Her Eyes”. We have recently been contacted for two different television series, commercial casting, and another music video. A true passion of mine is getting to share the art and teach others. I have had a wonderful relationship with the American Clown Academy in Newark OH. The ACA has a very unique way of instructing performers in that it is such an intimate setting. Students have the chance to work one on one with some of the best in the business and truly learn what they want to know. www.AmericanClownAcademy.com Coke or Pepsi? As a self proclaimed Soda Junkie I’m going to tell the truth as I see it. A good Cola is rarely mass produced. I’m a big fan of the old soda fountains where colas were mixed like a fine cocktail. I do have a bit of nostalgia so I’m going to have to go with one that isn’t heard of as often like a Red Rock or Double Cola.
Mattieu Ethan
The name Mattieu Ethan for a clothing line is very classy and unique. Can you tell us where the name came from? The name Mattieu Ethan is my son. The company was named after him. Mattieu is pronounced Matthew. What is the meaning behind your brand “I AM ME”? “I AM ME” means being yourself. Enjoy being who you are. Just knowing that regardless of what circumstances arises in everyday life, you are you. “ I AM ME” allows people to represent themselves and their own individuality, passions and life story. What type of impact are you looking to make with such an open but also statement, I AM ME? The impact I’m looking to make is that Mattieu Ethan Clothing will change the way how people buy their clothing. By providing a product that people can relate to with actual use, and through its name “I AM ME” will bring about self-awareness and innovation.
What do you think sets Mattieu Ethan clothing apart from other designer brands? What sets us apart is that Mattieu Ethan’s “I AM ME” is a social awareness brand. The brand has a meaning behind its name and a purpose. I’m bringing awareness of various social issues through the brand. The brand represents individuality, independence, self-awareness and innovation. What inspres you as a designer? What inspires me is the whole creative process. Having ideas, thoughts, and visions and then being able to work closely with my team and bring it all together to provide a product that people appreciate, that allows people to reflect the individual they are. Aside from the I AM ME T shirts you also have dress attire for men and women. Can you tell us a little bit about the Mattieu Ethan collection? Mattieu Ethan Clothing is bold, casual, fresh, and elegant with a variety of styles and vibrant colors. Our collection consists of Men’s button down casual and dress shirts in colorful plaids, strips and solids. Our Women’s collection you will find a range of dresses that are sexy, casual, and business. You can also find blouses. Please tell us about your support of autism awareness? Autism Awareness is one of the many social issues we support. Autism affects so many people and at times goes unnoticed. We used our brand to help bring awareness on this issue. We recently provided
a White Fashions show in NYC to benefit Autism Speaks. What advice do you have for new designers? My advice is stay focused and believe in your vision and dreams and you will see the success of your hard work. Where would you like to see Mattieu Ethan clothing in the next 5 years? In the next 5 years l’d like to see Mattieu Ethan as a household name, not just for today but for long lasting. You can expect to see Mattieu Ethan as a Global brand giving customers a variety of Men, Women, and Children’s apparel. Mattieu Ethan will be the must have brand for the fashion enthusiasts and mainstream consumers seeking fashion that represent individuality and independence. If you could change one thing about the fashion industry what would it be? The industry allows everyone to be creative in their own ways, at this moment there isn’t anything I would change. Were can we get our hands on the I AM ME brand and the Mattieu Ethan collection? You can shop Mattieu Ethan at our online store www.mattieuethan.com.
You can also look us up on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/MattieuEthan?ref=hl Twitter: ww.twitter.com/MattieuEthan Instagram: www.instagram.com/mattieuethaniamme
”Despite having zero experience and no credentials I was somehow able to convince [Wale] to let me manage him.“
DANIEL WEISMAN
If it weren’t for the impossible competition of an early Christmas with Justin Bieber under the mistletoe, hip-hop artist Wale’s (US #2) sophomore album, ‘Ambition’, would have topped the Billboard 200 earlier this month. But with 165,000 sales in its first week, six times that of his debut, it’s still an impressive achievement and one that has delivered on the years of promise and expectation that the Washington D.C. artist has built up, and which reached boiling point over the summer when servers were crushed in a million-plus stampede to download the prealbum mixtape. For the first of an exclusive two-part interview with Daniel Weisman, the original manager of Wale, current manager of Mike Posner, and founder of Elitaste and Likeit.fm, talks about his work in establishing the rapper, including facilitating a significant connection with Mark Ronson and pursuing the cool sneakerhead fans, and explains why a buzz is nothing without a hit record
How did get your start in the music industry and come to manage Wale? After graduating from college in Atlanta – where I was throwing parties with Scooter Braun (manager of Justin Bieber) – I decided to go back to Los Angeles, where I’m originally from, and pursue something in film and television. I started working at United Talent Agency but after a year realised it wasn’t for me and instead took a job as an assistant at a law firm. After two months I was bored out of my mind and already looking for something else to do, and it was when I was visiting Washington DC one weekend that a friend of mine there told me about an up-and-coming artist in the area called Wale. I checked him out and thought he was great. I managed to get in touch with him through Myspace and we connected while he was in Los Angeles. Despite having zero experience and no credentials I was somehow able to convince him to let me manage him. That was my start in the music business ... How did you convince Wale to take you on as a manager if you didn’t have any credentials in the music business? I told him that I didn’t have connections yet but that I knew what he was trying to do and where he was trying to be and could help him achieve that. In the beginning was there a local buzz surrounding him in Washington DC? It’s hard to say because I was in Los Angeles and he was in DC, but people have told that he was the best shot DC had in getting a rapper known on a national level. He had this song called ‘Dig Dug’ that had spun on the radio a couple of times. If Wale is telling the story he will say it was being played on the radio all the time but if you are on Mediabase, which is the radio monitoring service, it only got played a few times but was enough of a story to sell to the people outside of DC, whether it was brands I wanted to get interested in him or bloggers I wanted to write about him. The first publication that wrote about him was Fader. That laid a great foundation for him to position himself as a cool, smart, up-and-coming hip-hop artist. Was he performing live much at that point? He was doing shows here and there but he wasn’t like Mike [Posner]. It was sort of like Mike split in half. But this was in 2006. Mike came out in 2009 and the internet had become a very different place in that time. Myspace was huge when Wale was starting out but by the time Mike was starting it had basically gone out of business. Instead it’s blogs that are now really coming to the forefront in how people find out about new music.
When did he put out his first mixtape? He’d put out two mixtapes on a very local level before I started working with him. When we started working together we decided we needed to do a mixtape that played into his newly found Fader blog culture. I contacted Nick Catchdubs, who was the editor at Fader at the time and had written the article about Wale, and asked him to help with the mixtape. He’s also a DJ and now runs the Fool’s Gold [Records] label with ATrak. We came together and brainstormed tracks, formats and all that kind of stuff. At the time Wale was the first artist to put out a free mixtape online solely to generate buzz. The big thing that came out of that was Wale remixing Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. record. Although we only ever released [‘W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E’] online and hardly did any physical copies, Justice reached out to him about it, and it got on a ton of blogs and he got on the cover of URB magazine with Justice. He became really well known because of it. Was the Mark Ronson connection a significant breakthrough? It was definitely very helpful. Seeing the direction that Wale is heading in right now, I would say probably none of this would have happened if it weren’t for Mark Ronson. How did that connection come about? A year prior to meeting Wale I was in Las Vegas for a vacation. Mark was DJing at a club and I walked up to him slightly intoxicated and asked him to play ‘Ooh Wee’ and we eventually started talking. He gave me his card and we exchanged some emails. When I ended up working with Wale I said, “You know who would love this? Mark Ronson!” Although Ronson didn’t write back, a couple of weeks later he played one of Wale’s song on his radio show Authentic Shit on East Village Radio.
He said, “I don’t know where I got this from but it’s hot!” I called him the next day and said, “I sent you Wale!” He said, “I would love to meet him!” Wale just happened to be going to New York that week so I linked them up in the studio. Wale recorded a freestyle for him over one of his beats. Then Mark gave him the Lily Allen ‘Smile’ remix to record. We put that on the internet and it got a little buzz. A couple of months later Mark was interested in bringing Wale out on his European tour, which included Glastonbury, T4 and Wireless. Then we went to New York to meet with Epic Records and that same day Mark’s manager [Rich Kleiman] was calling and said, “We want to meet about Wale.” They ended up offering a production deal. We then shopped it and ended up going with Interscope. Now he’s signed with Rick Ross. Wale was always torn between being from DC and being embraced by the blog culture that has now come to define hip-hop. No artist breaks out of anything at the moment without blog love, and Wale was one of the first to do it. The fanbase he has built from being the rapper signed to Mark Ronson to being this rapper signed to Rick Ross is pretty extensive. He has over a million Twitter followers and I’m excited to see what sort of success he has with his new album that drops this fall. When you started working with Wale what was your plan in terms of trying to break him? I was very intense in going after the Fader, cool guys, sneakerhead fan rather than the urban hip-hop audience. The thing I never advocated then was going after radio. I knew that Wale could build himself a career out of touring and content and not necessarily from just having a radio hit record. But I think the times have changed a bit – just having a buzz isn’t enough. Hit records really do matter now.
Wiz Khalifa, for instance, had this massive buzz but then followed it up with three hit records. Ultimately if you don’t ever have a hit record then it makes it much harder to sustain a buzz. You may have a few friends that are supporting you but then there are all these outside people that could potentially be fans but are first waiting for you to come up with something that makes them care. I think Wale has seen how much a hit record can help when he was featured on that Waka Flocka Flame record [‘No Hands’]. A group like ODD Future have this massive buzz but no hits. How long can they sustain that? How long can people be into the whole theatrics of it before they going to want something that satisfies them on a deeper level. Someone like Eminem, who ODD Future gets compared to a lot, managed to deliver multiple mass hit records. There was a time where people said, fuck radio, you can do it without radio. You probably can but if you want to be an A-list artist that matters on a global level then radio is still very, very necessary. Just ask LMFAO, Mike Posner, Wiz Khalifa, Adele … they had success at a certain level before hit records then took them into the stratosphere. At the same time it’s not so good to hit the radio too early ... If you hit it too early you have a hard time getting people to connect. You definitely have to have a buzz going first. Even with a big record, to go into a radio campaign without a story is very difficult. What happened once Wale was signed to Interscope? We firstly put out two mixtapes – the Seinfeld inspired ‘About Nothing’ and then ‘Back To The Feature’, which had a lot of features on it – and then put out the album ‘Attention Deficit’. The first single from the album was with Lady Gaga, and the second had Gucci Mane.
I don’t know if Interscope was the right place for him. The album got under shipped. I don’t know how much that played into the sales. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen. The album didn’t make as big an impact as expected. So what actually went wrong? The one thing about music or art is that it’s not like 1 + 1 = 2. You can’t predict the outcome. It was amazing to get Lady Gaga on a single but I don’t know if it was the right choice to put it out as the first single. Gaga already had three songs on the radio at the time so why would they go and play another Gaga record where she featured for a rapper no one really knew about? Plus radio was in a weird transition at the time. Top 40 was becoming more Rhythmic and the other way around. I don’t know if the song would be a hit now but it definitely would have had a better chance. Since then he’s experienced major success with his most recent mixtape ‘The Eleven One Eleven Theory’. What’s been the difference do you think? I don’t really know because I wasn’t really involved at that point. I think Wale was just hitting a certain critical mass. He became one of these hip-hop artists that everyone knew about. Now he is going for the mainstream by signing with Rick Ross and having songs on the radio. The dots are starting to connect. If you keep working hard your fans will tell their friends and they will tell their friends and eventually you have a fanbase. When did you part ways with him? That was November 2010. We kind of grew apart and he was co-managed by Roc Nation, who are still working with him. I was focused on Mike. It was just time to end the business relationship and move on. We are still friends and talk every other week. I’m really proud of what we did together. He gave me my start and I gave him his start.
CEDRIC DEAN With Federal Prisoners in the Lead, Save a Child Month (SACM) Gains Momentum with New Book Dedicated to Child Victims of Violence Read an internet post written by federal prisoner Cedric Dean, as many people do frequently, and he’ll inform you about effective programs and strategies designed to address school and community violence, But if you listen to his heart, you’ll hear this: “I think prisoners have a stake in public safety, and a responsibility to make amends to our communities.
THIS IS THE NATION’S MOST ACTIVE FEDERAL PRISONER working to identify ways prisoners can have a positive impact in reducing violence. And he’s not the only one. Since 2009, federal prisoners have worked with community-based organizations and each other to share information and experience about what works in preventing youth and gang violence. “I contributed to this problem over 18 years ago,” Dean, 41, said. “And since there have been countless unintended consequences, I have a moral responsibility to contribute to its solution.” That’s the primary reason why Dean has had a group of prisoners working on the frontline for over 4 years on effective solutions SAVE has been presenting including mentoring and teaching, and providing prisoners with books instead of bullets. Nearly half of the 219,000 people currently in federal prison are serving time on drug charges. “We are the ones who influenced the misguided to do wrong, so it’s only right that we get them to do right” says Dean. Echoing that sentiment, federal prisoner Jason agrees. “After causing so much chaos in my own children’s lives, I felt obligated to become a dream-maker instead of a dream-killer,” Yabarr, 34, said. Dean and Yabarr say they are determined to make Save a Child Month 2014 as significant as Black His-
tory Month. SACM has already taken off in several states including, North Carolina, Georgia and California, where it partnered with prominent community activist and missionary, Larry Bluford, founder of Operation T.H.U.G.S. and Atlanta’s youth activist Dwayne Mitchell, II, founder of Teens Can Dream. Recently, Dean explicitly asked for Congressional support in a letter to U.S. Representatives and Senators. “We are calling on all members of Congress to participate in SCAM (Save a Child Month),” wrote Dean. “Specifically, during Week Three [Validate], we ask that members schedule appearances in their district and work with constituents to find ways to make their communities safer and to foster positive relationships with residents.” Dean, in his forthcoming book “How to Stop the Killing,” highlights many of the evidence-based solutions he has implemented in some of the nation’s most dangerous prisons. He notes that making children job-ready instead of jail-ready is a high priority for SACM. The 300-page paperback and eBook will be available for free download via www.cedricdean.com on December 14, 2013 - the 1-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. SACM’s mission is to give children alternatives ways to be successful and make positive impacts in their community, This is why - as we focus on the future - we must promote character education and career preparation while at the same time ensuring safety and solace.
For more info on Cedric Dean visit ww.cedricdean.com For more info on SACM visit http://sacm2013.wix.com/save# By email - saveachildmonth@gmail.com
L. Williams
ANDRIONNA A
ndrionna L. Williams was born July 2nd, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was educated in parochial schools in both Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California. After graduating from St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood, California, Williams attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she also resided for 15 years. Andrionna is no stranger to writing; she began writing at the tender young age of 10 years old. Williams’s first literary piece was titled “I Am Somebody” (published in Nevada). She also wrote for her college newspaper, The Southern Digest, as well as some free-lance writings for The Answer newspaper as well as, others. However, In-Laws From Hell was her first published novel. In-Laws From Hell has actually been blessed to see a whole other level. It has been branded and also has several novelty items to purchase. Williams debuted her radio sitcom “You Don’t Know My Hell on July 6, 2010, Webisodes November 12, 2010’, Stage play debuted February 26,2011 at The Orleans Hotel & Casino, sitcom debuting Fall 12’, and a themed reality show debuted October 11’. Andrionna’s next major Stage Play is titled You Don’t Know My Hell… When your personal battle with God leaves you feeling defeated! Williams has been featured on both The Michael Baisden and Doug Banks shows and was being filmed for the Mo’Nique Show before the cancellation of the show! Williams has also been invited to be on The Dr. Phil Show but declined! At this moment, award winning author and radio personality, Andrionna is working on several projects, to which, include an Erotic Anthology for Enrapture, a WOW Factor column in Drama Scene Magazine, along with being a featured writer in Independent Artist Magazine. Her short story titled Loves Last Secret can be read in The Heat of Passion erotic anthology.
Her sophomore novel YOUR WOMAN IS MY WIFE, to which, will also become a stage play and Loving ME... So I can Love you: An Enhancement Guide for the Overwhelmed Parent. Williams is working on a Crime Thriller novel to which will become a TV series. The screenplay UNTIL DEATH DO WE PART is in the works. Williams is also responsible for several award winning pieces due to her being a famed “Ghostwriter”. So just because you don’t see her name don’t think before a shadow of the doubt she isn’t the mastermind behind it! Hollywood has seen many talents but none like ANDRIONNA L. WILLIAMS! Andrionna’s creativeness and ambition caught the eyes and ears of Leftfield Entertainment and A&E that they debuted Monster in Laws a reality series that focuses on married couples dealing with In-Law issues based from her attention catching novel, stage play, and brand IN-LAWS FROM HELL. Williams has received several awards like the Featured Author (NAACP) Diamond International Award, Black Essence Award, California Film Award just to name a few not to mention, have been written up in the Los Angeles Times, Pointe Coupee Banner, Times Picayune, Las Vegas Review Journal, and several other publications as well as entertainment magazines both shelf and internet! Andrionna is also a licensed cosmetologist in two states and currently works out of her salon in the Las Vegas area. Williams also has interest in Real Estate and various business ventures that include her NonProfit organization(s) that assists victims of Domestic Violence and Youth in the Arts. Enrapture presents It’s All About Me bath and body line… Andrionna’s new venture that launched June 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA. Andrionna currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her three (3) beautiful sons. You want to know how she does it…. JUST ASK
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