R and B money.
Honey, we are.
Thank ta Malati.
We are the authority on all things R and B.
Ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Tank and this is the rmy Money podcast, the authority on all things.
Yeah, yeah, all.
Things A building R and B in the building, yeah, hm hmmm.
Where you gonna put your army.
Sometimes you want to congregate, yeah, associate, Yeah, sometime they want to grind.
They want to grind on you.
Yeah. Yeah.
And spaces where there's R and.
B only high You are good at this, man, it's only R and B and we're gonna get into this ship because you need to be in the place where this shuts up with it.
The founder, Leona R and be on himself.
Happy to be here with my brothers.
This is it.
This is a long time coming.
Jabari Johnson bro.
I remember, yeah, I remember. It's like, yeah, you gotta come. I want you to sing at this R and B only thing. I was like, R and BE only. What does this mean they're only doing R and B.
I was like, well, I love that.
But it's really just about the music. You're a surprise, right right, It's just part of the experience. We're just moving the music and everything that that that comes out after that, anything that comes along along with that is just the cool part of the curation to where since you decided you wanted to be a part of R
and B only, here's our gift to you. And I was able to come out on your stage twice Chicago and La, you know, in front of your LED walls, your DJ and your smoke in your lighting rigs and get real R.
And B that we all own too that you.
Yeah, yeah, not as I said, your LED walls, your CDJ.
Yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir.
Say the boy got his own money and bro, what an amazing thing that you have created.
Thank you, R and B. Thank you, Thank you. I'm just grateful because you know I was. I was graciously let.
In to R and B.
You know what I mean, Like I'm always grew up loving R and B. My mom played you know, I always tell the story my mom used to have like baduism on the on the counter, like like like it like it was a piece of artwork, just because of the way.
That album cover.
Yeah you know what I mean.
Like yeah, so like you know, but I grew up on hip hop, you know what I mean. And that was my first love. And R and B, man, is just like it was something that was just really driven in the household, you know what I mean, And it was always being played from like the stuff in the seventies to you know, the nineties when I grew up.
And then once I started to see what was sort of lacking in the live space in R and B, I felt like I was graciously let in by the fans, you know what I mean, And like I just like really don't take that for granted, you know what I mean? And I try to try to really provide an experience and value to the R and B community.
So what do you like to be called? Ye in this whole thing?
Right?
Because you know, everybody's okay, well I'm a this or I'm a what you do multiple things? Yeah, yeah, you're doing well.
Appreciate it really well for yourself, you know what I'm saying. So that's I like to you know, like to ask, like, like what do you see yourself?
Ask?
That's a great question. Man.
I don't really get caught up in like labels and stuff, but I think ultimately a creator, you know what I mean. Like, just like because on the one hand, I am a founder, you know, I am the CEO of my company. But it's not just limited to that. I don't just sit in a business hat all the time. You know, a lot of stuff I do is creative, you know. I executive produce series. You know, I'm literally like making records right now with artists, you know, like I'm uh directing
videos sometimes, you know what I mean. But at the same time, like I'm also balancing budgets, you know what I mean. I'm also like, uh, you know, making sure that payroll is clear and running. I'm also you know, you know, making sure that everyone's four one K is set up, that our employees in the company, you know.
So it's like it's just like creative hat, but as.
Well, I'm I'm a I'm a real business owner, you know, and I really do this business thing for real. So I just think like the word that can encapsulate all of that is creator.
Mm hm. Why R and B?
Though, if you were raised so hip hop, yeah that was your first thing, like your first mind?
Yeah, why R and B?
I think it's really one word. I think the genre overall in the live space was underserved, and I think that for years and years and years, people's view of an R and B show was an artist on stage with a microphone and maybe, if they were lucky.
A band behind them.
I don't think people before we came into the game, I don't think people could conceptualize a show involving a DJ. I think that they always thought that that was a party, you know what I mean. If I'm going to a party, it's a DJ there. And when I started going to you know, electronic music shows, I started seeing like incredible hip hop DJs alongside artists, like opening up for an artist, you know what I mean, but having their own flow
and their own show. I said, Man, this isn't really happening like this in the R and B space, you know, Like like I said, it is just really filled with a bunch of incredible artists doing their thing. But I wanted to provide something where I thought people could have that same experience of a concert but sort of have
it be a hybrid of a party. But I just really wanted to make people pay attention to what was going on on stage, but just from a DJ perspective, like telling stories through music, and that's what I thought was missing, And that's that's how R and B on.
It was really birthed and with this idea, with this thought, what is your first move?
WHOA so well, really, I was doing hip hop parties at first, and at the end of those parties I would play R and B exactly and I would well, I was hosting. I would always hire DJ. I never was a DJ myself, but I would always hire DJs and I would host the events. And I turned the fader down one day, and sometimes the DJs would hate this because I would like grab their yeah, yeah, I would grab the fader from there right, turn it down,
and and so I would. I did that, and I was like, if I did an R and B only event, would you guys come? And I had noticed at some point like we would play R and B in the last hour and a half. But as these parties were kept progressing, all of the women would really come. Like for the R and B sets, they would be like, oh, I know they're about to do R and B, Like
at the end, I don't want to be there. When at the time, you know, this is like little UZI vert, you know, asap ferg, Like this is like the era of turn up hip hop, you know.
What I mean?
And the girls were just coming at a certain time and they were just like enjoying it so much, and the entire room just like erupted when I asked them if they if they would come to something that was on and be only. And so the first move was just like, all right, book a small venue. And so I booked a venue down the street from where I was doing it. I was I was having my events in La at this place called a Dragonfly on Santa Monica Boulevard. And then we booked a really small venue
off Sunset. Maybe it held to like maybe about one hundred and fifty two hundred people.
It wasn't even really like a venue. It was kind of like a bar.
Hold on, let's get this because I want to get because you're not You're just You're not just a creator. Yep, you're a businessman.
Yep.
How do you book this venue? Do you do a deal with the venue in terms of the door. Do you say, hey, let me buy out your venue?
Yeah for the night? Like, how did you do that?
Ever since I started, I was always I it was always important to me to have as much control as I possibly could have. So I always and to this day, we still only do rental deals. So I would say, hey, I'll at the venue and maybe there's a fixed fee, but maybe that you know, fee can go down if we have some sort of bar participation. So like let's say at this time, maybe the venue cost about like twenty five hundred or something to rent, but if we did x amount at the bar, that twenty five hundred
might go to like fifteen hundred. And then if we did more at the bar, that fifteen hundred could go to five hundred, and if we hit the highest tier, it.
Would be a free, free venue rental. Yeah.
So that was like how I started all of my deals. And you know, it's evolved a lot now as we're in like much larger capacities, but the spirit is still there.
You're betting on you're betting early people.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yes, you're hedging a real bad yeah.
Yeah.
And there and there's a there's a lot of skin in the game, and there's a lot that can be lost when you do that because it could rain and nobody could show up. Yeah, and now you you you've already paid that fifty percent deposit to the venue and they don't care if it rains or not.
They had the staff.
Yeah.
Yeah, so yeah, you could, you could, uh and I have many times you could.
Uh.
You could lose your shirt on some of these deals.
But at the end of the day, when you take the most risk, naturally, when it works, you're going to be able to have the most reward.
So your first your first one, yeah is Dragonfly is correct?
Well, well it wasn't Dragonfly, it was it was another venue that I don't even down down the street. It was I believe it was called the Lost Palmas or something we recently. Yeah, it was all off of Lost Yeah. Yeah, so it was there and that one cracked. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Honestly, it was just under the amount of people that were at the hip hop shows. And so I was like, you know, but the thing is like the hip hop the room was and the hip hop
stuff was ticketed. This one I made a free rs VP, but it was free rs VP before a certain time. It was like free rs VP, free rs VP before nine thirty because I knew if I incentivized people to get there early like that would that was that was the payment for me. It was like, you don't have to give me any money to come to this show. But if you get here early. That's more time you drinking at the bar, you know what I mean, that's
that's more time that that people. You know a lot of times, especially in LA people want to get to some place where it's already popping at They don't want to be there.
They don't want to be the first people in the building.
Yeah, exactly right, And so like they didn't mind getting there. Now everybody got there at about nine to twenty five, you know, and then the line is wrapped around the corner, it looks and you know, so now it's like okay, cool, once we got everybody in, and it goes from like
nine thirty until you know, two am. I just noticed that, like, wow, this music, it has the key ingredients to storytell through music throughout the night, right, and and those those ingredients are it has to have a past president in the future, right, So like there's an old school that people really want to hear, but there's also a current like at the at the at the current time, this is what the music sounds like. And then there's like this up and coming you know what I mean of the genre and
where it's going. And as long as we have that, we can curate the music in a way where we can take people on the journey, you know. And I started all those wheels started turning in my head on the first show.
So you were curating the DJ's playlist.
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely. I wouldn't just tell a DJ, hey spin an R and B set, you know what I mean? And that that's not even how it works to this day. You know, like we really sit with music, you know, I work with the music director and we curate everything, and then there's a lot of like, you know, we have moments in the show where we might we might get the crowd interactive, and so we'll put you know,
actually we're doing it with one of your songs. In this season, we have a we have a moment that progresses from like baby making music or I think it's love making music, baby making music, and then freak nasty music. And we put a screen up and we have like three options for each category and we get the crowd involved, the nextra crowd to choose which songs they want to hear, right yeah, And I think on freak Nasty that's when one of the three options is when we and I
can't tell you how many times that song wins. Yeah, And I always show you out when whenever, whenever, if I'm on stage, if I'm hosting none of these shows, I always say it's time to play big bro tanks joints. It goes absolutely crazy nasty.
Yeah, and it's under.
Freaking appreciate you putting me in the right category.
You got stuff that can fit in every category.
But like I know, I get back make room for everybody. Like the variety is what makes it dope. That's I love that. What is like even when you're when you're now when you're picking DJs, are you or were you
at that time? You know, did you have a database of of of of DJs that you knew were well versed in the R and B space or was it something that you have to like now teach and and and kind of curated you say, the playlist and all of these things so that you can have now your stable of DJs that understand your format.
No, No, it was definitely like I was rocking with the people that I had known, and it was it was a very different thing back then because at that time it was really only males DJing at R and B only shows. Now we're known for and it has evolved into like, we only have women DJ at our shows and very intentionally.
No, we did Chicago. It was a young lady, Yeah, san Diego.
Da big shout out to Dasa. She was actually the first women DJ that started working with me and it's still rocking on.
The team to this day. Yeah yeah, So, but.
You know, like the way it started was it was it was male DJs who were primarily known in the hip hop space, but they had this R and B knowledge and I will work with them.
To curate the sets.
But I started to realize as time went on, seventy percent Because I'm a data guy. I'm a nerd, right, so I'm always like I was making people select what gender they are when they got a ticket, Like that was something that I was doing super early so I could get the data on what does the audience look like and analytics, right, and I started to see like
seventy percent of the audience was women. So if seventy percent of the audience as women, but it's a male host and a male DJ up here, you know, we're giving you guys what our perspective is, but really we should be given what y'all's perspective is you know what I mean? And so and then I really wanted women to feel seen, like I wanted them to look on the stages that we were on and see themselves there.
You know, And to this day, I don't think you really see that many women DJs, you know, in front of the size crowds that we're in front of, right, and so you know that when you're coming to an R and B only show, now, it's only going to be women DJs because they're they're serving a crowd full of women.
So you only have women DJs.
Now, Yeah, that's it. And that's been going on for the past seven years. Yeah, I say, you find you women. Yeah, and I got to give a big shout out to all of them. But uh so we got Dasha, we got Tierra Monique, we've got Magic, we've got Gap soul h We've got Savage, and we've got dj Ashby. So big shout out to all the women of R.
And B on I think I'm a steal savage.
Savage, savages, savages.
She gets the crowd going. Yeah.
When you when you're when you're going through the progressions and of course you're doing these analytics and and figuring out now attendance and all of these things. What are the things that give you the indicators that Okay, now it's time to move this from this club to now this club. Now we can't even do clubs. Now we're in palladiums and now we're in like you know, what are the indicators that give you that?
Yeah?
So I think it's two things. The velocity in which tickets sell when you drop them, right, So, like in our industry, you guys know this, you have an announce in an on sale. So an announce for those that don't know, is when you announce a show or a tour, that's just like essentially just like putting it out to the public. Right then you have the date that the tickets actually go on sale. And sometimes that could be the next day, it could be two days later, it
could be two weeks later. But when you go on sale, that really determines the interest of the people, you know what I mean, Because like sometimes you have a situation where you blow through the tickets and you sell you know, the whole show out, or sometimes you might sell ten percent of the venue, you know what I mean, And you're like, WHOA, So I think the first thing we look at is the velocity and the speed in which
tickets go on sale and how fast they sell. I think the second thing, though, is sometimes you have markets that are just you know, people people just.
By late, you know what I mean.
People, Yeah, people walk up, yeah yeah, people just like you'd be surprised that how many tickets get sold in the last forty eight hours. We would, And sometimes you know, you're sweating, you're you're, you're, you are really wondering like is this going to work? And then the last forty eight hour hits and you know, it just just ticks up.
And so.
Ultimately between the on sale and the actual you know, like the fully you know, after the show is completely done, you have the data on like what has been done. And typically if we're if we're selling out quick, then we know that we need to move into a bigger room. Yeah yeah, But if it's taking a little bit of time,
then we'll probably double back. We'll come back to that venue, will know this is the right size that we need to be in, you know, and then we'll just we'll just assess it on the next run.
Like I know Tank is here, I know he's here, right but what's the biggest record in R and B only?
Oh, I mean, it's so it's so many.
It's so many because you know, now we're in our tenth year and we've thank you so much.
Spin. It's been incredible, incredible journey.
But I've seen I've seen I've seen records go like this, and I've seen records go like that, right, I've seen. But it's it always it always boils down to the classics. And I can't I can't give like one political right now, but one record see you, I think I think I've I would have to, I would have to say something along the lines of like like Fantasia when I see you usher Superstar the way the way people just want to sing that. Yeah, of course, you know.
Chris Brown say goodbye. You know, that's a that's a that's one that is to be.
Surprised at, like the whole rooms, you know, just like go crazy, Tevin Cable, can we talk? Is just like we don't even really play that record anymore, just because like you can hear it everywhere. Anybody that does R and B anything is gonna you know, that's a that's a go to. But it's still is what it does. Man, those are the those are the ones like that. I would say, I'm going down still yeah.
Yeah, yeah, s w V. I'm going oh no no marry marry my bad Yeah no, what's the s w V one though? No, no, no week week that's the way.
Love love, Yes, but I still that that one kind of is in the same vein as the the Tevin Campbell Like it's like it's like, yeah, just kind of like played.
Out classics, but but but classic.
As you're curating these playlists and these shows, because yours the shows, yours parties, and within a show, there is a set list, absolutely right, So how do you how do you say, like, maybe we don't play this huge record because other people are playing it.
Yeah, we have to do that all because the.
People want to hear those records though, Bro, yeah yeah, but I think I come and.
I don't hear love. I'm gonna have some hate for somebody.
That and tell you that, and it happens, and that happens, and we catch and we catch a lot of hate. Because it's impossible to please everybody. We cannot play every because here's another problem with that, right, if we play that every season, then why are you gonna come back again?
You know what I mean?
Now, what happens is it's only a small portion of the show, but some of those records get weaved in and out for each season, right We we we look at the playlist and the set list for a particular season, and then we have to say.
It's like a tour. It's like your set list for for this tour.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, going to run. Absolutely.
Yeah, we kind of have like those classics, there's gonna be like three or four of them because we're playing about one hundred twenty two, one hundred and fifty songs every show, you know, because remember we're not staying in songs for all three verses, right like sometimes we get in and out. Yeah, but yeah, so you're you're there's I will say, if you experience the show, it's definitely
something for everybody. And we and at the same time with those classics, you know a lot of times there's there's new classics, you know what I mean, Like and there's stuff that people really want to hear that might not be twenty to thirty years old, but it might
be ten years old, you know what I mean. And it's like it's one of those new classics that people are like, damn, you know what I mean, Like Bryson Tiller Exchange, you know what I mean, Like that's that's very much up there with some of those older classics to a newer generation though.
Yeah, no, absolutely, but you better play Frankie Beverley.
Oh yeah, yeah, Frankie Beverly, so before I let go. It's damn, They're always going to be played. That's a confetti moment for us.
First of all, congratulations on ten years, really really, and it's not just like there's not just ten years in business. It's ten years of progressing and elevating in business and growing in business like this not a you ain't just here for ten years.
You're cooking for ten years.
Right, And as you approach this ten year anniversary anniversary, what would the ten year guy say to the first or second year guy like you wish you would have known in that time. I mean, it was good to get the lesson, but had you had that one or two pieces of information.
That's such a good question.
Thank damn, if you'd have had an R and B money podcast.
Honestly, I think it's gonna have to be a lesson that I've learned over the recent years, and it's when you have to have hard conversations, run to them and have them quick, right. And that can be with employees, that can be with partners in business, that can be with you know, artists and managers.
You know what.
I've been in situations where like I've said, I had this money for somebody to pop up, and then like something happened in the business and I didn't have the money anymore, and I have to just make that phone call and be like, I don't got it on this round, I don't have.
It right now.
And I know I said I was gonna you know what I mean, and I wanted to make it happen. But I rather my I rather my integrity be intact with you. I'd rather be like, stand up and I'd rather, you know, double back on it later. And so but it's hard, you know what I mean, you have to have. But the thing about hard conversations is that you're never gonna have to stop them, you know, so you might as well just run towards them, have them when you
need to have them, and iron it out. Because what I found in my earlier years when I would put stuff off and when I'd have to wait to have hard conversations, like things would get blown way out of proportion, you know what I mean.
And I was miss missed so much misunderstanding that can happen without having the.
Actual yes, and that's time progressive, yes, yeah, because then you put people in position where they can't adjust boom, and then and then it starts to feel like, oh you just fucking yeah, yeah, you know what I mean. You played me this whole time, So then it's like, okay, so when did you realize that you have all my money?
Yes?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, you know what I mean.
Because and in business altogether, especially in promotions, right, I think there's a stigma that comes along with it from the beginning that you have to work against. Oh the first thing people say, JANKI promoter. They made the movie
about it, you know what I'm saying. But it is the first thing, because it's been so much bad promotion and bad business done from people since the beginning of the time that you know, for a young man like yourself getting into this game, you had to be mindful of that.
Yeah.
And the thing is I didn't even know right, like, because I don't to this day, I don't really look at myself as.
A promoter, you know what I mean, Like you're definitely a promoter too. Oh it's an element, yeah, yeah, no doubt about it. Yeah.
But I come from the content creation world, you know what I mean. Like I come from like making YouTube videos, interviewing artists, like making media and so in that world, true, I was always like marketing stuff and promoting stuff, and you know, but then it's like promoting shows and when there's money involved, you know, there's a lot of people on every front that were like who is this guy? You know what I mean, Like, because it's the venues
that are like, we've been screwed over before. It's the fans like oh when you imagine, Like it's easy to talk about all the stuff right now, but imagine when you start in the show and there's no talent involved, traditional talent involved, right and you don't have a huge Instagram following, and all you have is an idea or a few pictures from the last event. You have to like use the few pictures that you got from the last event and videos to like promote the next event
and keep going. And when people hit an Instagram page that they've never seen before, and they're like, oh, R and B on the show happened in there, and they're like, I don't know, this looks like a scam. I mean people still say that to this day about our shows that.
Have never been before.
I mean, and we have all this media, we have all these testimonials, we have everything to prove that it is a legitimate business and real but people have been screwed over so much by Jankie promoters that you know, if it's new to somebody, people just automatically go to like, I don't know if I'm gonna spend my money with that. And then and then when we had COVID, oh my gosh, that just made everything crazy because.
Everybody was scamming.
I mean people, people, people were putting putting tickets on sale, and then they were not you know, the shows weren't happening. They were being like, it's postponed indefinitely, you know what I mean.
Yeah, it's just right. Those two don't even go together. So there was a lot that we had to overcome.
For sure, absolutely.
And what I'll say, Bro, is we've done business with you, and I'll put that out there.
You are a great business man.
Think when you handle your business and you take care of people the same way when you when you present it to them, it's the same way when they get there and what.
Comes from it.
Yeah, that's super important.
We were never on the other side.
Of the hey guys, luckily, and it's.
Like, you know, you know, attitude reflect leadership, right, and so yes, you are. You are a great reflection of even the people you surrounded, your staff and everybody, like everybody around it's a pleasant, pleasant, cordial and professional like it's I'm very blessed. Yeah, man, super cool. Love it's crazy.
Man.
So you you did a very very amazing job with that part of it, because that's hard to maintain.
Extremely extremely man. Yeah, I think.
There's always like somebody that wants to be an asshole because they want to be you show.
Yeah, I don't care who you are, you're getting it.
So if I called your bar, yeah, because we'll call it.
I think I think that comes from, you know, just having people who their their goal is to like change the game and do something different. It's not to be next to the celebrity, you know what I mean. It's not necessarily to just like be on and be seen It's like I've been able to curate like such an amazing staff because all of them they were like they
were just hungry. At one point, like literally we got ten full time employees and about another forty contractors that work with us, and so but every all of the full time employees started as like an independent contractor. They were just like, hey, I'm available. They I'll do whatever, I'll do this at a show, I'll do this.
And they didn't.
They didn't like get their jobs from like applying on the website. They got their jobs from like doing what was necessary and showing what they could do. And then that evolved and you know, got them their full time position.
Fire.
Another question, as we spoke on earlier that equipment and ship, Oh yeah is yours?
Yes?
When do you say renting this ship is not adding up?
Yeah? Yeah?
When does that? When does that hit you in the face?
So it was probably year.
Three or four when I was just you know, I mean we didn't always have led screens, right, So like, man, I remember days where we were walking around going from city to city in a sprinter van with projectors and fast fold projection uh screens there, you know, and uh and you know having to make sure that the that the that the amount of lumins on the projector were bright enough so that people could see it, right, see your.
Visuals on the screen.
And I'm downloading, by the way, visuals right like I'm downloading stuff from YouTube, putting them on a broke ass laptop, you know what I mean, having somebody else run it while I'm on stage, right and like and that that was that was.
Our visuals here, right for sure.
And so but at a certain point when I wanted to elevate up and I said, oh, we need LED.
This is the future of all live shows, Like.
You know, the LED is gonna be what really keeps people's eyes locked in, you know, because a DJ is djaying, but you know, they can only they can only be so entertaining and still have to be a technician, you know what I mean. So you need some other sort of visual to keep people's attention. And so I started renting the LED, and you know, man, it was so expensive, and I was just like, you know, I have I have a really funny story about this, but uh not funny.
It was just crazy.
I was.
I was spending so much money on the rentals. And then at the time.
One of my DJs was opening open not opening, but we we This is back when Rihanna first launched fenty and she has an opening party for the for the fentie Just brand and it was her holiday party actually, and so we we we DJ the holiday party and get there early. She comes to the booth and she's like telling us, Hey, this is sort of like you know, curating the night. This is the type of music I
want to hear. Boom boom boom. And first off, I'm just like gosh that this is you know, Rihanna's talking telling us like what music to play.
And I'm just like this is crazy.
And so I start like just mingling meeting people, and uh, I said, you know, I really love that all your staff is women. This is before I even have like female DJs. And she was like, oh, you know, I'm going to introduce you to them, like that's that's really that's that's nice that you even noticed that. You know, like so much of her like high up staff was like all women. And she starts introducing me to folks and you know, she said, hey, you need to talk to this woman right here.
She handles like all of the uh, all of the manufacturing for the Puma deal.
Right, And this is why it's super important to get to places early, right, because like nobody's in there at this time, right, And so like I actually got to have like, you know, the five ten minutes with her and meet some some interesting folks. I start telling the head of the Puma manufacturing about my shows on what I'm doing, and I said, I'm saying, I'm showing her pictures and she's like, oh, like, do you do you rent those LED war And I was like, yeah, it's like crazy expensive.
No. Lie.
This woman goes My husband is at this like he's about to go to this conference it's called LED China. And I was like what and she was like yeah, it's like he goes through it every years, this.
Conference where like all the manufacturers for the.
LED screens, like they all meet and they all it's a marketplace and you like buy and sell LED screens there.
And I was like, can you like leave me with them?
Yeah.
She puts me on a WhatsApp with her husband. This guy sends like a bunch of business cards like this person, this person, like all these companies that manufacture LED screens, never heard of these companies. This is out of shen Zhen, China, right, Yeah.
So then it's like he's like, oh, the next the next conference is coming up like on this day, and it's like a month away, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, whoa, Like what we got to go out here, man, because like we're spending you know, depending on the size, like five to ten grand to rent these things at every every show, you know. And so I'm like, all right, let's book the flights, you know, I just me my DJ and then another guy that that I know that
was like selling fake clothes out of China. So that's why, like he he was like, yo, I'll pull up with you.
Where are you going?
Oh yeah, I I need the gate, So US three I need your listen.
Yeah yet, So US three get on a flight, three black dudes in the middle of the engine and we're at LED trying to and I mean this is where my mind was blown, and like, this is this is how I started to know, oh, you have to own this stuff. And I had cut the middleman out and I did a deal. I think I might have the
first LED. I mean I've been back there so many times now and I have the direct relationship with them now with various companies, but at this time, I probably spent like maybe maybe about like eighty to one hundred on the on my first screen, and I, you know, got it shipped over here.
Uh it.
It went to the to like a shipping place by LAX And I didn't even know that these things came in like road case.
I mean, I didn't know anything, you know.
I was just like I had to wait there and I had to wait for the parcel to clear customs. I didn't even know that, like you had to have a customs broker and all this type of stuff.
When you're when you're just freaking that.
Yeah, I'm thinking it is, yeah, like wall, Yeah, that's literally because I had to wait, I had to go and I had to go figure out a broker.
I had to come back.
Man, I didn't even have a way to transport this stuff, right, So like I had to meet and my buddy shout out to Mario man who's who's our production manager now, but at the time he was just a driver. And we had to go to Hurts by l a X and we had to take out the seats of a cargo van and put like road cases in it and and like one at a time, and we were just like put taking the road cases in, putting it in the cargo van, taking.
It to our office.
We didn't even have a proper space for this thing. And uh, that's when I learned about like equipment and ownership. But it was it was when we started doing the next few shows, and then then we had to learn how to work these things.
But what I started, and then we.
Had a we had a show in San Francisco, and I'll never forget this is this is your hometown up in the Bay.
Man. We were at the I want to say it was the the.
Regent or the Regency, and we had to get these cranes to lift the screen up like and then one of them snapped and then the screen is like this like on an angle, and we couldn't open doors because the screen is hanging off and it's cold up in the Bay and people in the Bay.
I love the Bay.
It's like one of one of our top audiences. And we let them in. We let the audience into like the sort of like like a like a lobby area of the venue and they're banging on the door like let us in.
Let us in and.
I'm like, yo, the show is like two and a half hours late, and I'm like, man, are we gonna have this show with the screen hanging like this? And we just didn't know how to work anything. And I just said, fuck it, let them in. And so we let these people in. Man, the screen is like this, like it's just madness. But the silver lining was when I was looking at those expense sheets, you know, and I was looking at the settlements after the shows, that line item of LED rental was not.
On there anymore, you know what I mean.
And it's like now that I was using my own gear, the margins were just growing, you know what I mean. And I was like, Okay, this is going to make itself back in you know, twenty shows and then boom, That's what happened. And then I started to invest more and more and more, and you know, now we have a warehouse in Nashville, Tennessee. We have a fleet of three trucks so we do our own logistics drivers. We have multiple LED screens, we have multiple special effects lighting, cryo,
you know, confetti. I have another order coming from China actually in a few weeks. Just re upped on some more led, so.
Yeah, more.
We talking about buying sniagas and shit.
Yeah, and these are the ones that curve too, so we're gonna be able to do some really cool stays design yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
How many shows have y'all done? Do you have a count?
I do have a count.
You said you were a NERD earlier.
Yeah, yeh yeah, I have checking your nerd right now.
At this point, we are over four one hundred and I think we're about four fifty right now. We've just scaled up to the point where we're doing about eighty to one hundred shows a year now. That started that started last year.
In twenty three. This year, I think we're gonna crack.
I think we're gonna crack eighty and twenty four and now we're really just going eighty to eighty to one hundred every year from here on out.
Yeah. So it's been it's been crazy.
And we're in a we're in fifty five cities, I want to say, in North America and well this is a RB Money exclusive, but next year we'll also do a UK tour as well.
That yeah yeah, yeah, get international.
Yeah yeah, We've already done London, but we need to really just like crush the whole building and just do like full on UK run.
Yeah, you get into it, getting to it.
You got people singing in the shower and ship.
Yes, you know, we wait for you to come in, wait for you to come.
My chest's gonna be out.
I ain't gonna have nothing but the town.
Maybe that's gonna make the internet the Internet the Internet.
M M.
But the lower level, the entry level, is just the tricky part. And so now artists just think well I can just get in. You shouldn't just think you can get in. You should see Chris and say how do I get there? See Beyonce and you should watch her talking about eating air.
Look at the backstory.
You should watch Rihanna go from the little girl to the superstar. You should you know what I'm saying, Like you gotta watch Taylor Swift be able to perform for.
Three hours, you know what I mean?
Those things that is the disconnect steps, the skipping of the steps, and people thinking that you're going to because you're gonna Yes, you might get in, you might get in, but this door will push your ass out so fast. Yeah on you you be knocking at it.
I can see line. Now you're good that horse keep bucking. You can get on the horse hopefully.
Yeah.
But that's why I wanted to I wanted to save it for here man, because I knew you guys would have the perspective.
Yeah it's us man, we can do it, yea.
And now he's going to go be talented.
Oh no, here we go. You spoke of R and B when the keys come. Yeah, you know you and your.
You and your R and B only love the name, love the name.
Ioul curate this R and B, my brother, you are playlists to the tune of one hundred and fifty injuries, my brother you you know what R and B supposed to found.
And with all the R and B you've heard, sorry, this is feeling amazing.
Depend on.
What is the music that resonates with you, the music that has made you come to the conclusion that it should be R and B, Oly Barry huts.
What is your.
Top five?
Your top five, A five? Your top five.
Single?
Are me?
So we got to know?
We thought you gore?
Are you to Barry nothing?
Go?
Yeah?
You mm hm.
Man, you know I watched this show so like, I love when you do that. But now being here.
Like so much better.
It's incredible, incredible, he live.
Oh my gosh, Man, Jabari Johnson your top five R and B singers.
All right, so top five it is not in any order, right, all right? Uhsher mm hmmm yeah, Chris mm hmm. Jasmine, I've never heard anybody on this show say this one, but.
Sanpha mm hmm yeah, sanfa Is.
I just saw him live in Austin, Man crazy, just like writing, just just what he does, like from a production standpoint, mixed with just like his vocal is so unique.
You know what I mean.
And I got one more I'm gonna have. I'm gonna have to go with a new school. I'm gonna have to go with Brison mm hmm yeah, just because I and I feel like I didn't have like any sort of like old like I didn't have Luther in my list oring that type of thing. But I just have to be what's real to me, what music like connected to me?
Hey you know what I'm saying, but.
Kick you, but but that's mine, you know what I mean? And uh yeah, it's like if I'm if I'm talking about artists that I can just go bar for Barr and I like know the discography and you know what I mean.
Yeah, that's mine.
Top five R and B songs.
Okay, I had this one written down, all right, Sorry, so I'm pulling.
Out re organized business.
Yeah, so all right, Top five R and B songs. Now, I do have a classic on here. I like that Isley Brothers Between the Sheets Welcome, that's just super classic. Alita rocked a bout yeah, Sampa Dancing Circles. A lot of people might not know that one Bryson Tiller exchange. And you know, this is this is kind of crazy because I mean most people would not mention this as this art this song, but this is this is my favorite song from this guy, just because of lyric, lyrically
and what it's about. I just love the storytelling. But Usher Papers, hmmm, yeah, I love that record.
You know, like it's just like he's going he wrote it.
Yeah, he's going in about his divorce.
You know.
I just I just thought that was like such a real and vulnerable record from him, and so like that's one of my favorite all time of Russia.
Yeah, let's build a ould trum. Let's build your super R and B artists, the artists that you're gonna get the attributes from all the cool ship yo artist since the beginning of time, the vocal, the performance style, the styling, and the passion of the artists. Who you gonna get the vocal from that one vocal?
All right?
All right for vocal, I'm gonna I'm gonna go Jasmine Sullivan for the vocal.
You want that.
Yeah, that's just like Soul Church, you know what I mean, Like, that's that so saving?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, lives to be changed, I got it.
Yeah.
Performance style, performance style, I'm going to I'm probably gonna go with Chris Brown for the performance just because like the stamina, the back flipping, just like the ability to
have dancers to rock out solo, you know what I mean. Like, yeah, so like full show, you know, like I've seen like the last four tours he's been on, and even even when he's like next to like going back and forth a little baby, you're like, you know what I mean, Like even when he's with a rapper, it's like it's a different There's a reason he's been here for this song, you know. Styling, styling, the drip, that's a that's a
tough one. But I might have to go, Like now, this one, I might have to go somebody like.
Back in the day.
And I mean, I know he's the king of pop, but I just feel like Michael Jackson with the styling.
You know what I'm saying?
Popular?
Yeah, okay, yeah yeah, So I mean, yeah, it's just like this guy. I heard somebody say this the other day. But it's like, imagine if imagine if he was selling gloves as much, Like, how many would he have moved?
Think about how many Just think about how many gloves moved, just huge, just period, all over the world.
How many Red Thriller jackets moved, how many Beat It jackets moved. How many Penny Loafers got ahead.
Promoted on the ground.
Imagine Jesus Rice.
Wipe up, kids, come on out of here.
Yeah, he would have done a billion.
In that's it.
Like they weren't even like merch wasn't even really done.
He probably did a billion in March, yeah and not and couldn't didn't collect no money on it.
You got the passion of the artists, the passion of the artists, who means.
The passion man like I'm trying to think of like who I feel like.
Aretha, like that like Aretha too, like Aretha's like that's that, that's that music that.
You have jazz singing it.
Yeah, but with Aretha's passion, you know, like that's that, that's that for your soul music, Like that's food for the soul. Yeah yes, yeah, yeah yeah.
So I know y'all might have killed me from my top five, but.
You redeem your.
The vultrying the Vultron was vultroyning.
So I'm gonna call you see what just gonna tap in.
Man, my brother, Thanks for Yeah, I.
Ain't saying no next day, Ain't saying no names. I ain't saying no names. Ain't saying no need what you did? Don't see she.
He's saying, I already know what we're here.
You've been thinking about you.
I've been thinking about this all week. I've been thinking about.
Part of the show Man airportant segment called I Ain't Saying no Names tells the story funny, I fucked up, funny and fucked up.
You know.
I hope that nobody ever, you know, tried to kidnap you at the show and get the.
Money out of you and that type of ship.
But you know, listen, take the wall.
Just won't please please please you have it.
Oh man, you're here, tell us your okay, my iron saying names is uh all right. So we were we were getting into producing our own festivals, and so we had a really big show in Atlanta and this is our i think, our second time doing this, but it was just like a way bigger production, so you know, a list talent.
This wasn't surprise guests.
These were like announced the names, you know, household household names. And first off, the show was just running super late.
We had a.
We didn't have the best production team, and I don't even want to blame them, like I take full responsibility because like at the end of the day, it was me who hired them, you know, And so things weren't things weren't going on schedule. You know, when this happens, like when the doors get pushed and then the first act gets pushed, and then our DJs start getting pushed,
and then it's just a snowball effect. Right, So we start getting into like really later in the night, and I'm having to basically cut all of our DJ sets, right, so, like again we're known for that, and so now we added all these artists, but I'm having to accommodate to
the artist needs and everything that they need. And you know, I'm having to say, like, well, either it's my team that's not going to perform, or some of these artists are not going to perform, and like I don't want that, Like my team is able to perform the next show and the next show and the next show.
And so we had a.
People can figure this out, but I'm still not going to say their name, but we had a co headlining situation. Right, So it's two artists at the end of the at the show, and I'll never forget we got to the to the we were way past curfew and at this point it's one thousand dollars per minute minute that you're.
Over curfewt oh yeah.
And I'm just like, you know, first of all, I already lost money on the show, like before the curfew, right, so I'm in the red on this show. And this artist is just like they're an artist, and they want they this ain't their fault, you know what I mean, Like,
there's your fault. So they don't want to, you know, diminish their performance or their brand because you're going over you know, and they're gonna get paid regardless whether it's you know, they did, they did their show, they did what they were contractually obligated.
To do with me.
And the time is going and I mean, now I'm looking at my watch, it's like thirty minutes over, it gets to forty minutes over.
We now are at.
An hour over, and it seems like this artist is just never gonna stop, you.
Know what I'm saying.
I'm like, oh, she ain't even get to the hit yet, Like what is going on? And I'm on the radio, I'm like, I mean, it's damn near tears coming down my eyes, you know what I mean. I'm in front of house and I'm just like I'm talking to her production manager, you know, and I'm just like I'm on the radio, like please somebody stop her, please, Like this is I don't want, Like I don't want to have to cut the mic, you know what I mean. Like I just it's not going to be me to do that,
you know what I mean. But like I'm just begging, like does she have to do her closing record? And I think production manager actually made the call and he was like, you know, like let's cut it, and and then you know, gave that sort of like signal to the to the like monitor guy.
And so like.
The mic didn't go out while this artist was performing. But I think somebody told it, might have told her in her ears or something like that. It was like this is like but but the call was not made from me. The call was made from the production manager on her team. And uh, you know, the everybody knew what this art, what song this artist was going to close with.
She didn't perform that record, and.
I think, and I'm looking at the setlist and and she had like two more to go, and like that song was on the last song, and artist looks to the right to the left says like, hey, I want to thank you guys for everything. Thanks the crowd, you know, I mean like a like a like a true professional. But then says, uh, they're cutting my time short. And I just want to say to everybody running this ship, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. That's my time.
Who's next?
And and and then the show ended, and then like we couldn't even get back on stage and close the show, like.
We couldn't, you know what I mean?
And like I got my whole family at this festival, like it was and I was just just like.
She just basically said f me.
And I mean I just like and and so so mind you, I'm already like sixty thousand down from this right, not from this part, because I've already lost money on the show, got cursed out by by you know, the artist that I love in the door. And then I'm just walking backstage, you know, the night is over and I'm walking backstage to my dressing room. And then I like cross paths with the artists, and so I'm like, what do I do now? Like do I say thank you?
You know? Is what do I do?
And so I just said, you know what, let me take the high road. I said, thank you so much for performing. I want to apologize, you know, and I just took all the responsibility. And you would think that this you would think that nothing happened, you know, like you would think that she didn't just say like if you f you f you, Like it was just like, oh baby, you found I had watch an amazing time, like thank you so much, like we gotta do something again.
And I was just like, you know what I'm saying, because I was like, what is that just a stage?
You know what I'm saying?
Like and it gave me the biggest hug everything, and I was just like, wow, you know, but.
That's my story.
Wow, the great story, the great story.
And it's very familiar.
Yeah, listen, if you have a heart out and I'm headlining your show, I'm your friend.
What did you say? We got twelve minutes? I got you.
When we to X speed.
Get over.
Yeah, promise we get you out of here please.
Yeah.
We don't go drink.
Yeah yeah, so I know now.
But you know what, it's just it's it's it's those learning curves broy and and doing a doing People don't understand doing a show like we just did our own tour, like we the tour from top to bottom, from security to catering to production.
To us Congress. We wet.
We don't start.
No big shot, big shot knock on your.
Big shot works for me. He knocking on my door, It's time to go on shot. You don't talk to me like that.
He shot has all the tools to make you slightly afraid to be late.
Man, I'm coming. It's my show.
But you know it's it's not an easy feed, bro, It's not an easy feed. It's a real business. And we commend you because you know, you're the conversation about RMB only there's there's it's only a great conversation.
Yeah, that's azing.
I've never heard anything bad about ARMB only ever. And that's hard to do. When you're doing so many events, there's always something bound to go wrong. It's always bound for you know, somebody not to be happy and to make a stink and go live and hit the Shade'm like never and that's hard to do. So congratulations on that alone.
Thank you.
Keep making keep keep keep doing that, bro, keep making spaces for us. Man, like I thank you, he thanks you absolutely.
Thank you. Man.
I remember, man, and I'll say this before we get out of here, Like when you guys took me to dinner, you know, you guys took me to sower House. I think it was yep hmm, And it was just like y'all were the first people in the space to like embrace me, you know what I'm saying, And like I just I just never forget it, you know what I mean. I mean, even I remember when you told me that you guys were starting this podcast, you know what I mean, And I was just like, that's going to be something
so important for the game overall because you guys. I know you guys say it, but you guys are really the authority, you know what I mean. Generation like you guys. As long as you guys are here, I feel like the genre is in good hands. And I just want to say, man, appreciate y'all for everything that you guys have done, because you guys really embraced me and wrapped your arms around me when a lot of other people weren't doing that.
There it is absolutely we love you, brother.
And this is the Army Money podcast, the authority on all things R and B. We don't We're not mad at nobody else. We're not mad at your job. But this just happens to be. R.
B joson Concern in the Building, R and B Only Time, RB Money, Get It, R and B Money.
R and B Money is a production of the Black Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show, and you can connect with us on social media at Jy Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode, subscribe to YouTube dot com forward slash R and B money