Executive Spotlight is a new installation where we highlight Management, Promotion, and all of those hard working people that make things happen behind the scenes in order to give upcoming talent a chance to get through to the world. This week we bring to Jazzy D of Jazzy Management. Jazzy has several years under his belt as a west coast ambassador and we brought him in to let all you smart dumb cats(thanks ghostface) how real managers need to handle themselves.
illRoots.com: Thanks for the look family. Why don’t you give the people a small taste of your background in music.
Jazzy D: Well, my music background started in 1982 out here in the West Coast, me and Ice-T are like some of the pioneers of the west. I started rapping at a club called the Radiotron before that it was called the Radio. The Radio was one of the first hip-hop clubs out on the West Coast, I used to go out there and see Ice-T. Then it went under new management and I became the MC there every Friday and Saturday night called the Radiotron. They filmed the movies Breaking 1 and 2 there and the rest is pretty much history. They formed the radio station K DAY, one of the first 24 hour Hip-Hop radio stations. Greg Mack and Tony Gonzales used to be my DJ and I made my first record there. My first records were “answer” records. So I was a young dude didn’t really know the business side of the game and just did what I was told to do. The dude that owned the label had me doing answer records after “Fly Girls” came out I did an answer to that. I felt like I wasn’t showcasing my true talent. Then also WC is like a little brother to me he and his brother they got their little situation. So I did a few records with Quincy Jones son, QD3. Just a few songs here and there, I was on Parliament Records on a song called “Bustin’ Out”. Other than that I just figured that the business side of things was the best route for me to go so I ventured into the business side. You know I’m the voice behind the real well known character known as “Gangsta Granny” on all of WC’s records. I did some stuff with Dre, I [also] did some commercials and we’re pushing all that now.
JAZZY D (President of Jazzy Management)
illRoots.com: Well I know you’ve been venturing into the management industry, but what’s the best part about management to you?
Jazzy D: The best part about the management to me, believe it or not, is me educating managers. I know that sounds strange because most managers are intimidated by other managers but my thing is I’d rather educate managers because 85% of Artists loose because they get their best friend, mommas, daddy’s, their neighbors to manage them. But the manager doesn’t really know the job of a manager. They don’t know how to go into a meeting well groomed and speak very articulate to where the label will look at them as an asset and not a liability. That’s why I’m here. I started Jazzy Management as a movement to educated young and up-coming managers to know how to go in and negotiate deals, to know what publishing is, to know what a mechanical royalty is, what a point is, merchandising, how the digital game works. I feel like we are covering a lot of ground now. We have Jazzy Management West, South, and East, we’ve got a division in Poland. So we are getting a lot of work done. I’ve got guys hitting me up on the daily talking about “Thanks Jazzy for schooling me on the business side of things.” So I started Jazzy Management as an educational piece for managers because I had a manager that didn’t know nothing. I know how it is to have these guys saying their managers and you know you got a record that’s on the radio everyday but you have a manager that has no contacts, he doesn’t know how to set up interviews. He’s thinking that the people should contact you.
illRoots.com : Whats some of the bigger artists that your pushing for the upcoming year?
Jazzy D: We’ve got Eastwood that used to be on Death Row. He was on the cover of XXL with Suge, Crooked I, and Left Eye back in the day. He has a couple labels interested in doing some things with him. We have a Warzone project coming out, Warzone is Kam,MC Eiht, and Goldie Loc. I manage Kam so we are going to be promoting that project their signed with Snoop. We also have Saaphyri, the young lady that won Mo’niques Charm School, and was on the Flavor of Love. She is just on the TV and Motion Picture side so we just don’t do music. She’s going to be in a movie with Vivica A. Fox and on Season 3 of Flavor of Love. I have Young Trump, that’s C-Murder’s son, he used to be a group with Lil Romeo. We’ve got Sonja Blade, she’s done work with Whookid. She wrote a couple songs for Shaquille O’Neal. She’s got a lot of people looking at her. We’re trying to get her on some commercials and doing some TV stuff. One of the biggest things we are working on is a project called “Delafornia” with Fred Knuxx. He’s on the new Vibe, right now he has a real big buzz on the West Coast. I really don’t try to show favoritism but with this guy its different I met Knuxx because of his grind. That dude has a grind that’s out of this world. He has like 5 projects he’s working, we’ve got some up and coming cats so I’m constantly working everyday.
illRoots.com: So what does Jazzy Management offer that no other management offers?
Jazzy D: Well first off what we do is educate our artists. We are constantly teaching our artists what certain things such as publishing are. You know we don’t hide anything from our artists, any meetings that we set up our artists are there. We don’t just come back and tell them what happened. We promote our artists to the fullest. We set up show, do email blasts, mission statements for sponsorships, everything. We pretty much a promotion team as well as management.
illRoots.com: Hip Hop from the time you started to the current, what have you seen and how has that deviated from original purpose of hip-hop?
Jazzy D: From when I started we were way more unified. I can’t really speak on other coasts but on the West we were way more unified. The unity is what I feel it should be and that’s just my opinion, its terrible. You’ve got different cliques when in order for us to eat they have to see that we are unified. Back in the day it wasn’t about the money if somebody put a record out or was doing a show you supported them. Hip-Hop is just glorifying this crip-hop and gangbanging, its cool if you can educate the youth that its not the way to go but I’m totally against it. A lot of these artists don’t let them now the consequences. A record shouldn’t raise a kid but they are deep influences on a kid and these artists need to remember that. Its more about material things and not about education anymore. Back in the day you had options. I’m here to do something totally different.
illRoots.com: As far as the internet, How do you feel that’s changed the overall aspect of how to promote an artist?
Jazzy D: It has its pros and cons. Back in the day we had to foot it, we had to put out flyers, and if we had to be at a certain place then we were there, and we appreciate this gift called Hip Hop. You know a lot of these artists don’t realize the sweat and tears that we put into to make this what it is today. Some of us got our ass beat for hip hop, meaning I used to sneak out the window to a club that wasn’t really hip to hip hop to introduce them to hip hop. The good thing about the internet is you can touch people within 5 to 10 minutes thousands. These young kids have to realize the sacrifices that we made before this digital age. They said hip hop was a form of music that was for the ignorant, now they can’t say that because its everywhere. Now the smart and intelligent are listening to hip-hop.
illRoots.com: One Song to sum up you life?
Jazzy D: “The Message” Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, that describes my life coming up in the streets where I came from. That was the first song that represented the streets without saying cuz or blood. They new he was from the streets and he didn’t have to say that he carried a gun and I’ll blast this ni**a none of that. I was on the West Coast and it broke through from an East Coast artist so you know he had the power.
illRoots.com: One piece of advice to making it in this game.
Jazzy D: You don’t work you don’t eat. Make the labels come to you, book your own shows, if you smoke weed or drink and you complain about not having the money. Sacrifice and invest in your career. Stop getting permanent marker and writing your names on the CD’s that’s very unprofessional. People need to stop crying and conduct themselves in more of a professional manner. Not just young cats but old cats your success is determined by your grind create a buzz for yourself and stop crying.
Thanks Jazzy, and look out for the next Executive Spotlight where we check in with Record Pools and one of the largest record pools in the world "TJ's DJ's"
Executive Spotlight: Jazzy Management
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