On 03.29.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
This is the behind the scenes look at Ludacris’ My Chick Bad Video featuring Trina, Diamond, Nicki Minaj, and Eve.
On 03.29.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
For those who don’t know, I am hard at work on BET’s The Deal, a hip-hop entertainment show that airs at 3am AKA the graveyard shift. I am very proud of our show because we’re not just playing what’s hot; we are showcasing many aspects of hip-hop and shining a light on mixtape artists, producers, executives, entrepreneurs, and even some culture. Clutch the pearls.
BET Producer Kristen V. Carter
Kristen V. Carter is the owner and CEO of JazziDreamer Entertainment and producer/writer for BET Networks. Please follow her on Twitter. This is her celebrity blog post and WE absolutely love everything Kristen V. Carter does! Thanks Kris.
“Happy Spring Everyone,
Thank God for some sunshine. I don’t care how long it lasts; warmer temperatures are here for now and that’s all that matters. For those who don’t know, I am hard at work on BET’s The Deal, a hip-hop entertainment show that airs at 3am AKA the graveyard shift. I am very proud of our show because we’re not just playing what’s hot; we are showcasing many aspects of hip-hop and shining a light on mixtape artists, producers, executives, entrepreneurs, and even some culture. Clutch the pearls. (If you can, please DVR the show and spread the word.)
Last week, we hooked up with Snoop Dogg so that he could co-host the show. Prior to our tape day, I was a little nervous. I knew I’d have to prep him for his reads, etc and I’m always a little bit weary of ‘high-profile’ talent. They are usually pretty detached, moody, and they like to show off by singing and dancing all over the place while their team laughs at all of their jokes. But my producer quickly told me that Uncle Snoop is a ball of fun and will do anything that I ask of him.
Although reassured, I did get a little worried when Snoop showed up hours late and went straight into his dressing room to smoke. That dude is a straight chimney! I mean firrraaaaah. I thought maybe he’d be very mellow & kinda grumpy (I don’t know a thing about smoking or smokers), but when he came out of his room, he was awesome and so sweet. He danced around, he joked around, he even messed up and said ‘wait am I supposed to start off, baby girl’? Also, he didn’t have enough clothing to change for three shoots so we thought he was going to stay in the same outfit for the second shot of the day. When we asked him, he turned around and said, ‘I can’t look like yesterday’ and ran off to get a new jacket.
Besides getting a mean contact and smelling like weed on the way home, the experience was great and I realized why Snoop has been a mainstay for so long. He connects with everyone and makes people feel comfortable without being flashy, arrogant, or showy. And you know it’s a good shoot when my staff (who are comprised of people who are ‘unimpressed by fame’) all got up to take pics with Uncle Snoop. By this point, I was holding in coughs because of the smoke but I’ll do it for tha Doggfather.
Good times…
except for the fact that the train conductor started sniffing when he went by me to take my ticket! 
”
On 03.29.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
For all Party Boyz Booking and Management contact Tiffany Price 877-871-9484
Party Boyz Management Team
“Home of DJ Mr. Rogers & the Party Boyz”
Tiffany Price
www.sonicbids.com/PartyBoyz
877-871-9484 (office)
973-280-6399 mobile phone
877-259-5012 (fax)
Spotted at Lenox Mall in Atlanta, GA, Chris Brown and artist Tiffany Cheri Price met up for a photo shoot opportunity.
Spotted at Lenox Mall in Atlanta, GA, Chris Brown and artist Tiffany Cheri Price met up for a photo shoot opportunity. Nah, it’s not Chris Brown’s new boo but the R&B singer, Tiffany Cheri Price, pitched a song concept to Chris Brown, got the song to him that she wrote, and will hopefully be working on a collaboration with Chris Brown soon.
On 02.14.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
“I meet people all the time with a desire to be a director and/or a producer but most don’t know the difference in the job responsibilities, so I thought I would take this time to define the two in laymen terms.”
Dianne Ashford is a film producer who has a long compendium of films and owner of Symmetry Entertainment in Atlanta, GA. She is a producer for Rainforest Films who is responsible for the films Stomp The Yard, Stomp The Yard 2, Obsessed, and other major films. She is an award winning film producer and outright beautiful and caring person.
“I meet people all the time with a desire to be a director and/or a producer but most don’t know the difference in the job responsibilities, so I thought I would take this time to define the two in laymen terms.
Directors are creative people. They provide direction to virtually every department on the set from the cast to the locations. They consult with the wardrobe department on the style of the characters. They meet with the Art Department on the look and design of the sets. They collaborate with the Director of Photography (DP) on the visual look of the film and the camera movement (pan left to right, tilt up or down). They are concerned with all things in front of the camera. They provide the vision.
Producers are action people. We do everything in our power to make the Director’s vision a reality. Our world is behind the camera. We negotiate deals with actors, hire the crew and maintain the budget. We are the point of contact for all things right or wrong (mostly wrong) on a set. We are the most celebrated and hated people on the set; The Kings and Queens of “NO”. Not the most glamorous job, but somebody has to do it! That’s where I come in J!
In essence, both jobs are crucial to the movie making process but they are two totally different beasts and I’ve only given you a small look into some of the real responsibilities! No two days are the same, there are challenges both must face on the daily basis but that’s why the movie making business is so magical and that’s why you have to LOVE what you do to do it!”
Written by Ms. Dianne Ashford of Symmetry Entertainment.
On 02.10.10, In Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
Greener – Arrested Development from Terry Bello on Vimeo.
On 02.06.10, In black famous people, Current Events, by Gerard Spinks
Diddy jumps off his private jet to deliver some Ciroc new flavors.
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, Entrepreneur, by Gerard Spinks
You must have provable sales numbers that you can show to people when you go to a pitch meeting. Do NOT focus on a recording contract. Focus on marketing and selling your music.
Believe in Yourself
Music is a very crowded market as seen and evidenced by the proliferation of artists on Myspace. Myspace pretty much went to crap from all the artists on their promoting their music via comments and posting bulletins. The truth of the matter is that to really get a deal like Drake you must be able to show a record company that you have sales in some form or another. You either have sales from shows or you have sales from a reputable digital distributor such as The Orchard. You will get a recording contract if you walk into a label and show them the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet report showing that you have had 2,000 ringtone downloads from iTunes in the last 3 months, and 5,000 album sales from online retailers in the last 3 months. If you cannot prove this, you will NOT be entertaining a recording contract or top flight management from Chris Lighty and Violator Management.
You must have provable sales numbers that you can show to people when you go to a pitch meeting. Do NOT focus on a recording contract. Focus on marketing and selling your music. Focus on raising money to run your advertisements on these social networks such as Myspace, Facebook, and others. And again, you must REACH millions of people and get thousands of clicks on your website or song. This is the business side of music. Music is NOT about entertaining people because you have a passion for the craft. Music is about reaching the masses and proving to labels that you can reach this audience. You are forced to generate big numbers that start by reaching smaller numbers and building up a musical tsunami for yourself.
On 01.28.10, In Current Events, Entrepreneur, by Gerard Spinks
What do you do then if that seemed like the sure fire way to get noticed and the cheap way and every one tells you to utilize social media and facebook to promote yourself?
Believe in Yourself
Compile your best songs and attempt to put together your own album. Try to be different and make unique music. Once this is done, it is critical to move on to the next phase of the DIY Music Guide and that is to build an audience and build a fan base. This is NOT done the way artists thought it to be done on Myspace. Do NOT go putting your music on other people’s myspace as a comment. Do NOT go sending your music to DJ’s on Twitter via zshare links. Do NOT get an email of all the DJ’s that your boy has and send them emails promoting you as the next Drake and new coming of Hip Hop. This does NOT work and only makes everyone pissed off.
What do you do then if that seemed like the sure fire way to get noticed and the cheap way and every one tells you to utilize social media and facebook to promote yourself? You must find someone around you that has some money or work yourself to do this next part. You must find a sponsor who will help you pay for advertisements on Facebook and Myspace. If you’re utilizing Facebook primarily, you can create a Fan Page on there and upload your tracks to Facebook. You can also easily put your music up on iTunes via a digital distributor such as The Orchard.
The Orchard will create an account for you and allow you to upload your tracks. As a distributor, they will then get your tracks on all major online music retailers including iTunes, Walmart, Napster, etc. Your tracks will be in the online retailers. But being in the retailers and being found in iTunes is still like being on an island. No one knows you’re actually stranded on the island. You must promote yourself. Experiencing sell through of your music is the toughest part of the music industry. Having people buy your music is NOT easy even if you’re music is great. In order to get 1,000 people to click on your music you must have at least 1,000,000 people see your advertisement. This is NOT a joke and no exaggeration. The only way to truly move any type of record and get people’s interest is to literally pay in advertising or pay the DJ to spin your record.
