Now I have a business, artists to take care of. I want to make sure everything's going right, because at the end of the day, it's my name.
And several galleries - two had asked me and I said no, because I didn't want to leave things on consignment.
Things have changed a great deal since the days of Mr. Mayer. The studios no longer control, as they did in those days, artists or directors or producers, as the case may be.
When I was shopping around trying to get signed, I made it a point to say, 'This is who I am.' I dress the way I normally dress, and I just wanted to find a label that would accept me for that.
I review all the riders for my music clients and make sure there's healthy food and snack options, like strained yogurt, fresh berries, and lean protein.
I was honored I was signed to Sony. But later I felt like they weren't the right team.
Sometimes it's hard to open up about your personal life, your relationship because you always want the music to be in the forefront. You want the music to be the biggest carrier of everything that you represent.
While working for Diplomat Records, I helped several artists with their online branding and social media. Once I left the label, I worked directly with artists and noticed many artists were overlooked and underrated if they weren't in 'XXL' or 'The Source.'
I have my own marketing company, Always Civil, where I help artists create their online identity. I have worked with Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige, Pusha T - the list goes on.
I like Rick Ross as a person. I like Jay-Z and Kanye West as people. But I hate the companies that they record for.
There shouldn't be any violence in hip-hop. You're getting free clothes. Basically, it's free money.
I've probably represented almost every major artist in the world, either directly or peripherally, at one time or another.
I have a long-standing history of respecting artists' wishes.
Agents run a business, and their business is their talent; some are more general and broad and can rep a little bit of everything; some are more niche. You have to be specific with who you approach and how.
I definitely learned stuff like advancing a show, what percentage I should be paid, what's going be in a contract I'm going sign.
I don't have an agent - I have the William Morris Agency.
I signed with Big Yellow Dog and have been with them for years. The president of the company is a woman named Carla Wallace, who is an amazing publisher who just has a knack for female artists.
In 2013, the week before I dropped 'Crenshaw,' 'Complex' wrote an article that said that Nipsey Hussle is one of the top 25 underperforming artists. I was so offended that I responded with my own opinion about these journalists - their point of view is not validated in our culture.
When I approach a band, I want to respect them and be respectful of their music. I'm not gonna say, 'Look, you guys are real hot, so we'll stick you in the movie, and we'll get it in all these stores and all these stations.' That isn't right.
Everything Ticketmaster stands for is what we're fighting against. They're just a small cog in a machine where the artist is at the bottom.
It took a bit of talking through administrative people, but only once did an attorney try and get in the way of the process and say their artist couldn't do it.
I was the first to promote The Beatles in the States, and Ed Sullivan called me first about them before he ever booked them on his television show.
Since Bollywood is getting more corporate, it is getting difficult for the composer alone to take a decision unless you are a big name like Pritam or Vishal-Shekhar who can speak his heart out and say that 'This is the singer I want for this song.'
It's very hard for an artist to negotiate their fees. My job is to act; my manager's job should be to handle the business side of it.
The stigma with country is it's not cool. That's wrong. Country is very cool. I look at award shows, I look at how country is represented. Country is represented with an asterisk. We have to perform collaborations. We have to perform a tribute. We can't perform by ourselves.
