industryLIFE: The PA Did What?

I got a call to work a three month gig with a veteran female rapper who was releasing her next album. The label was putting a lot of money and effort behind the project as she was the top selling female rapper to date. The project would consist of capturing the behind the scenes adventures of the artist and present "a day in the life" video with the album. I put a team together that consisted of several cameramen and myself as the producer. We started the project by capturing video of her writing and recording in studios in LA and Atlanta, shopping with friends and the finale' would be capturing the making of her first music video from the album. The project ran smoothly and the label seemed to be happy.

The last month of the project I was called to personally accompany her to Miami where she would be shooting the video. It was a much needed get away and when you can get away and make money you go! I got in contact with the video production crew and found out where they were staying and made the hotel and flight arrangements. About a week later I was in Miami. I had spoken to the production coordinator on the video and she informed me that she could send the production van to pick me up from the airport so I gave her my flight info and moved along. The day that my flight arrived, I went outside looking for my ride only to find there was NO ride. I called the production office and was told something had happened to the van and that I would have to get there on my own, so I called a cab. When I arrived at the hotel, it was busy with the production crew, talent and extras all preparing for shooting over the next day. I settled in my room and went to check in with the production crew. When I entered the room I introduced myself. The crew, professional and very accommodating, asked that I wait and they would get me a copy of the shoot schedule, so I did. As I sat the producer asked how I had gotten to the hotel, I told her that I had taken a cab. Then quiet feel over the room so of course I asked what was going on? To my surprise I was told the reason I had to take a cab was because the production van was MISSING! (WTF)

Seems the production crew had arrived in town a few days earlier to hire local crew for the shoot. They had hired a man to work as a PA (Production Assistant) and driver. They had completed all the necessary paperwork, given him unlimited access to the van and his per diem and that was the last time he had been seen. At this point that was 3 days ago. As we worked over the next few days, the inside joke on the set became, Dude, where is the van? We still didn't know.

On the last day of shooting we were tired but the joke was only gaining steam. We still had not heard from the driver and the shoot was done. Since it was the last day and no one knew where this guy or the van was, they filed a police report and we all went back to our respective cities. A few weeks later I ran into the production coordinator back in Atlanta. We talked for a bit and I asked if the van was ever recovered?To my surprise she said, "yes". Apparently the van was found several days after we left (via cabs and another rental van), in a notorious drug area but the driver was never seen again.

Goes to show you just never know whose been hired to work with you!

industryLIFE Book Series: Who's In Vol. I?

Vol. I featured some well known faces, places & things.  Can you name them all? Get ready, Vol. II is coming!

industryLIFE: Do You Love Me or Do You Love What I do?

When it all began, he was so smitten. She was a cutie, who seemed like a cool around the way girl. He was an out of work DJ.  He didn't have much going on at the time, but he tried his best to get her to talk to him. She wasn't interested, but kept it friendly enough to make him think that someday maybe they could hook up.

As time went on... she was offered an internship at a company out of state, which she took.  That lasted for about a year.  While she was away, the DJ set out to become "World Famous". His skills on the turntables were carving out a nice name for the young man! Before you knew it, he was building his brand and getting where he wanted to be.
Now as luck would have it, the young woman was wrapping up her internship, and decided to return to Atlanta to complete her studies. When she settled back into the city, she could not help but hear about the DJ, who had tried so intensely to make her his woman, because now he was everywhere! From celebrity parties, to charity events, if a DJ was needed he was on the bill.

Eventually they bumped into each other, and thanks to his current status, this chick decided she was NOW interested. Not much had changed about him, except for the amount of money that he was making, and his status in the industry. However, the people around him began to wonder if her intentions were honorable.

Time went on, and this still very humble guy, had no idea what his public image was doing for his love life. Immediately the woman began to make it very easy for the dude. If he wanted to take her out, she NOW had time. If he wanted to come by for visit, he was NOW welcomed. Eventually, things got intimate, and before long, they were an item.

Time passed, and soon people forgot about how this union had began before her internship drew her away.  All except for a select few who could still see past, and all the fake "love" she was NOW showing.  After some time, news came that they were having a baby. AWWWWW!!!  Dude was excited. He was going to be a dad!

In an attempt to do the right thing, he began making plans to buy a house for his family. He also began to adjust his schedule to be there for them. Then, he finally made the decision that it was time to make the relationship official, and get married.  Now while he was planning all of this, the woman, was making other plans.

Since she never really liked him in the first place, and was only there for the perks.  She was having major reservations about being with this dude in a house, or a marriage!  As the arrival date for the baby drew closer, there was a huge shower planned to welcome the bundle of joy. When the people who didn't trust the relationship from the beginning arrived, they noticed just how foul this chick really was!

She was down right mean & disrespectful. She was nasty to his friends, and even nastier to him! Everyone just watched in shock while the elephant in the room whispered, "She does not want him, she wants the fame & money!" And the elephant was right!  Now sometime between the house being bought, the baby coming, and the shower, he popped the question... and she answered with a big fat NO!

He was devastated... He had so many plans to make this work, but that was the last thing on her mind. To her, he was just a paycheck. A easy way to generate income so that she wouldn't have to work. She didn't want to marry him, she wanted to marry his money!!!

Heartbroken, the DJ decided not to go backwards, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. He pulled himself up by his boot straps, paid her the child support, became a good dad to his son and moved on with his life.

Eventually she tried the same move with another dude. But wouldn't you know it, he had a surprise for her. He was already married with a family, and wanted nothing to do with her, or the baby she was expecting! Thank God she did finish her education because she NOW had to get a JOB!!! 

#ILBS - Always Business, Never Personal.

The world of entertainment & music are difficult, this we know but what so many fail to realize is that it is always BUSINESS. Sure you are going to meet a few friends along the way but when money comes into the picture it's gonna get sticky.

In a recent interview on Power 105 NYC, veteran rapper Beanie Sigel voiced his knowledge on what he  learned during his Roc-a-fella days. Seems Beanie was never out for the money but he was in business with people who were. What he didn't know is that since he displayed his ideas or as he says, "Thinking out loud", in an open forum he set himself up to be robbed. Beanie says, "We were family" but admits that is a word that is thrown around so loosely in the business that you better not trust it. Since Beanie was under the assumption that the click was "family" he thought everyone was looking out for each other but as it turned out they were not.

Beanie has had his share of problems but when watching the interview you see this is a man who has been hurt. He had love for his dudes but in the end he learned that no matter the amount of love, it's always business. Click the link to read more....Cash Rules Everything!

http://www.power1051fm.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=449850&article=10369491

industryLIFE: AskKissy.com Review

It’s a book written about the entertainment industry with a bit of a twist.. While giving you the lessons and stories about the “Back Alley” deals, and the shadiness of the industry, the book takes time out between each chapter to explain to you the lessons that you should have learned and what you should do in those situations.

The stories are Primarily Atlanta Based, and written by a woman who spent the beginnings of her adult life in the industry, the book speaks on some Major Players in the Entertainment Game. And the Foreword is written by another Industry Insider and Entrepreneur, my friend C.F. Hutton, who took the time to edit the original version to include an incredible opportunity within its pages.  I won’t give away too much but you can check it out when you get your copy.

The book details the humble beginnings of the music industry in Atlanta..

Read more: http://www.askkissy.com/2012/06/14/industry-life-times-book-review/#ixzz1xtyKGuti

industryLIFE: The Young, Restless & The Rappers

At the time, he was just an up and coming rapper but he and his click were making a lot of noise in the industry. While on a trip to to LA he met a young woman, a dancer. She was a beautiful girl, kinda in the "girl-next-door" sorta way and the two connected. The story goes that he mistook her for her sister, a choreographer responsible for quite a few music video routines. After the mistaken identity was cleared up, the rapper became quite smitten with the chick. There were trips and frequent calls between the two.

On one occasion, the Rapper did a show in Atlanta where baby girl lived, she and her crew were invited to the show. The chick and her crew were always trying to make moves in the business and tonight would be no exception so she accepted. Seems one of the chicks in the crew had heard that this guy was preparing to fund some films and she had some ideas she wanted to put in his ear. They decided that this would be the place to make the introduction and put the play into motion. Little did they know that nothing planned would happen. As time came to make it to the venue, one of the chicks in the crew decided she didn't wanna be VIP, she just wanted to see the show. This chick, whom some liked to call a weed head, had been home all day smoking and sipping wine without eating anything (bad combo!). Well as the day turned to night she was feeling great or so she thought. When they arrived, the venue was packed and dude had looked out for them. He got them in with no problems & backstage with no problems. But near the stage was another story. The AC stopped flowing like it should and the place became a sweat box.

As luck would have it, people were everywhere and the stage area was not the best place to be. The chick sensing this, decided to get to an exit ASAP and try to catch some air but as she walked, the place just started spinning. People's faces were jizz saw puzzles. She moved as fast as she could through the crowd. Just as she got close to the door, they announced that the Rapper was coming to the stage! Everybody else in the place began rushing towards the stage, pushing her back in the direction that she had just come from. She fought to get to an exit but just as she did, she felt her body falling backwards and then...black out!!!!!  Now some people who witnessed this hot mess, say she would have busted her ass that night but just as she was falling another rapper whom some would describe as a "has been" saw the whole thing and caught her! The chick so dazed from smoking and drinking all day with no food on her stomach, passed out for a while. When she did open her eyes, there holding her head was a rapper from back in the day holding her head and asking, "Are you ok?" Embarrassed, confused and again a hot mess, she immediately recognized him and replied with, "Father, is that you?" (Father was apart of the performance name he used.) He laughed, said yes and asked someone to get her some water. Well the night went on and "Father" got the chick to her car. He stayed with her until her friends returned but needless to say "Father" and hot mess missed the show.

Now as baby girl was passed on the dance floor of the club, her friends were getting the VIP treatment backstage at the show...

Get your hands on a copy of Industry Life & Times ebook series to find out how this story ends.

#ILBS - Working with The Queen of Pop & her Thugged-Out Prince of R&B

When I first got the call to work on the project, I was excited! Who wouldn't be, she was the Queen of Pop!!! She had sang for Kings and Queens, sold million of albums, won multiple Grammy's, traveled all over the world and her voice was amazing. The project in the works was to support her comeback efforts. See she had been getting a lot of flack for her behavior over the years and to make matters worse, it seemed the whole world blamed her husband. Sure he was the resident bad boy who had multiple baby mamas, was a regular in court/jail but truth be told this dude was really talented. Hell I personally bought his first solo album three times!!!

On this particular day, we were to be on set at 7am. I had met with the producers the day before to pick up money for supplies but all anyone could talk about what how bad she looked and how crazy dude was. At first I thought, they really need to stop hating, it can't be that bad!!!! Anyway, when the date arrived, I left my house at about 6 am and arrived to the location about 6:30 am. It was busy. Equipment trucks were everywhere. It was a crew of say 20 people, some extras and we were all waiting on the stars!! Her call time was 10 am. So in the three hours before she arrived we prepped everything. We made sure no press had access, we made sure all the parking signs were discreet, we made sure the extras were comfortable as the could be and we made sure we had everything requested on her rider including the Earl Grey tea. Time was moving and before we realized it it was 12 noon! Now let me just say that the Thugged-out R&B prince was not suppose to be involved with the project but we all knew that he would surface at some point. Now here we were six hours into the day and we were still waiting for them to arrive! Another few hours passed and like a rocket they arrived, I guess it was about 2 - 2:30. Anyway they pull up in a black Cadillac Escalade with the music blasting. The windows were down and the Thugged-out R&B prince was driving, with half his body hanging from the window. He came at an alarming speed and everyone was running like hell to get out of the way. We got them parked and with out turning down the music the occupants of the car started to get out. There was the Queen, her baby girl and her mother, who was about 60, all inside this vehicle with blaring rap music. Anyway, we get the Queen to wardrobe and after what seemed like hours she finished and came out to set. The Queen's stand in was a young woman about 18 and green to the business. She was very pretty and for some reason she came out and sat right next to me. She looked frustrated so I asked, is everything OK? She took a drink of water and said, I'm speechless. About what I inquired. She told me that at 18 she was a size 1 and what had taken so long was that all the clothes that had been pre-fitted for the queen had to be taken up because she was smaller than a size one! Now since I was working, I really didn't spend much time looking at this woman but when I did she did look deathly thin. I will say she looked so thin that I shed a tear.

During one break, I noticed the Queen and a few of her immediate entourage standing in a circle in prayer.  The Queen who was leading the prayer began to jump up and down and praise God for everything and things seem to be going well regardless of us being behind that was until the Thugged out R&B prince got comfortable. Now the craft services folks had provided some very tasty Swedish meatballs and the Prince really like them. He seemed to have gotten the impression that they were all for him and not the crew. Well the craft services folk tried to keep them coming but the Prince and his crew were eating them as quickly as they put them out. Now since they were for the crew, other members would walk over to the table and snack etc. Well as night fell one crew member an older gentleman made his way to the table to look over the spread. Just as he was grabbing a had full of nuts, the Thugged-out R&B prince who was coming back to the table for a 10th or 11th time, saw this guy with his hands in those nuts and nutted up!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He began screaming, What the f*ck are you doing? Who told you to come put yo nasty hands on my food?! I was in shock and as luck would have it, I found myself right in between the Prince and the older gentleman. I stopped and looked at the Prince scared to death! I turned to see who exactly he was talking too because I hadn't touched the table, that's when my eyes met the gentleman's who was at least 60 years old. He didn't look scared but he did know that this crazy anger was directed towards him. He did not say one word and continued to eat the nuts from his hand. I could feel the Prince coming closer and knew it was time to run when a whole crew of people got up and started grabbing him begging him to calm down....

Get the rest of this story & tips on how to deal with situations like this when you read Industry Life & Times ebook series.

Don't Film My Wife!!!!

Back in the day when there were million $ videos, artist would come from near and far to be featured in a  hot artist's video. Seeing and meeting artist and musicians were always fun until this day.

The video being shot this day was for a hip-hop fav. He was like everybody's little brother. Rapping since the age of five he was a platinum teenager. In this particular song he featured a rapper from an up and coming crew. The rapper flew in with a full entourage including a barber. Since the platinum teenager was a shot caller all hands were on deck to make this happen. Cameras were everywhere, the south's largest newspaper had sent a reporter to cover and all was well until the rapper noticed the media cameras. Being apart of the production team we had to be on top of everything!!!! I noticed a group of 4-5 men standing in a circle talking with a lot of passion and anger and a camera being tossed back and forth so I stepped to them to find out what the hostility was about.

The rappers turns to me and screams directly in my face, "I don't want these n*ggas filming my wife!!" after smelling his breath for far too long, I cleared my throat and replied, "so who is your wife"? See dude was all over the rap magazines with different chicks and who knew he was married??? Anywho, he gets in my face yelling, "if I catch any camera on her, I'm coming to see you!" WTF? Did he just threaten me? Yes he did. I stood there as the whole lot got quite, I then replied in my most professional voice, "ok I'll take care of it." and walked back to the other crew members standing near by. Everybody was in shock. Standing there in amazement somebody asked, what's up with him? So I relayed the story, he does not want us to film his wife and he's serious! Everybody had these strange looks on their faces because like I said dude was always with a gang of different chicks. Ok so we made sure not to film the "wife" cause truth be told, these dudes were kinda new to the game but their reputations proceeded them.

The day went on but since he made such a deal about the "wife" we all couldn't help but keep looking in her direction. After a few glances and positioning of where we could stand and get a better view without being seen, we all stored a mental picture of this girl, not woman but girl. ..

Get the rest of this story & Tips on how to deal with a situation like this when you read Industry Life & Times ebook Series.

Before #AmberRose or #KimKardasian...

Before I knew what a Kardashian was or even heard of Amber Rose, we got to see the plays of one we will call Ms. Pretty.

When Ms. Pretty arrived on the scene,  it was during the time that a chic would have to be tight!... not just cute, but exotic beautiful, not just cute shape, but killer body, to be considered a suitable side piece for particular men in the music business and she fit the bill. Off top, the first adjective to describe her in conversation was pretty. She had grown up in one of those "off to the side" mid-west big cities and as young adults sitting and talking she shared that she was on a two-fold mission, to go to college yes, but most important to also snag a dude with money. She told us, her mom put and kept her up on game. Plain and simple.

One day we noticed she was moving. She said her mom had transferred her to the all girls school a few blocks away because it had a more prestigious name. *wink* We only saw her occasionally after that but when we did we saw the changes. Sure she had been seen in almost every hot car but now she was driving a fly truck or two. She dropped the thick herring bone necklace she was known for sporting and replaced it with a diamond tear drop necklace with matching earrings and bracelet. She went from being seen on campus to being seen ridin' through, sometimes solo but often shot gun with random rappers, producers and actors. She was seen at parties in their entourages and there are those pictures floating around with she and Tupac on vacation. It became so common place for her to be associated with people of name that you just stopped listening. But everything does change, as time passed we got older, people tried their hands at different careers and she attempted to transform or reinvent herself into a stylist. Nothing ever really came of that but she was still a very big staple on the scene.

Then word came around that she was preggers, ok but what everyone wanted to know was by who? It could have been a number of people but we knew it was NOT a 9-5 type dude. When she gave birth, a popular gossip site known for inventing stories had for once, gotten it right, a high profile, controversial and wealthy music mogul was the dad....Check Mate!

Get the rest of this story when you pick up a copy of Industry Life & Times ebook series.

Industry Life and Times

Industry Life and Times began as a project to document and record experiences from those who have worked, lived and been apart of the music and entertainment world. We set out to create a capsule of stories, experiences and appropriate fodder from across the current music, entertainment and sports community.

Since that time, our goals changed and grew into more. From the blog came the ebook and then the ebook grew into a series. We are very happy that you have decided to stop by and visit with us and as always we hope that in creating this space, where we document and share adventures from the life and times of those in and round the business of music and entertainment, that you enjoy our stories, learn from our mis-steps and share your feedback.

(Note: We change or do not mention some of the names involved to protect the guilty.)

Industry Life Book Series