While some people are now becoming familiar with the name “MeMpHiTz,” courtesy of his hosting duties on BET’s music video program, The Deal, the Memphis, TN native has been making significant contributions to the music industry behind the scenes for a few years now. When Mickey “MeMpHiTz” Wright isn’t interviewing some of hip-hop and urban music’s most significant artists in front of the camera, chances are that he’s attending to his music duties as the CEO of his fledgling record label Hitz Committee Entertainment, home of artists such as Huey (”Pop, Lock and Drop It”), Trai’D, Derty, and K. Michelle.
A&R Department got the opportunity to converse with the executive that signed chart-topping singer/songwriter T-Pain to Jive Records, and who has helped produce hits for artists such as Youngbloodz (“Damn”), J-Kwon (“Tipsy”), and UGK (“International Player’s Anthem” featuring Outkast). For our interview, MeMpHiTz took time out of his busy schedule to discuss with us his approach in signing talent as an A&R, the old school versus new school mentality, the digital era, and the future relationship between labels and artists.
Were you nervous bringing an artist like T-Pain to Jive Records since he didn’t have a conventional sound and image?
No. I was excited ‘cause I’m not a conventional A&R. I don’t … I know what A&Rs in the past consist of and what they’re looking for, and what it’s supposed to look like, and what it’s supposed to sound like. That’s the exact opposite of what I usually look for in an artist.
Being the host of BET’s show The Deal, which highlights a lot of up-and-coming and emerging artists, what is your assessment of the next generation of talent?
That they’re more in tune with the digital world than the old-school audience is or the old-school era is. It’s almost like the older school era they’re set in their ways; it’s like “This is how it was. This is how it was when we flourished. And this is how it should always be, and anything different than this, I am not gonna have anything to do with it.” Whereas, the newer generation coming up is sorta like, it’s like generation now—it’s like “We want it right now. What if we don’t wanna hear your album; we just want that song.” So it’s kinda like you can be stuck in your ways of the old-school era of how it used to be and you can try to run that on this younger era if you want to, but you know, it’s your decision because you know … yeah it’s the internet’s fault that it’s like it is now, but hey, it’s here. So, I just think this younger crowd is more in tune with this digital era and they’re gonna continue to feed people, feed generation now, and generation now just wants what it wants right now; not saying that they don’t want albums, but you can just look at album sales right now man and tell. Unless you’re a superstar, you’re not really selling any albums. You might sell some albums later on in your career if you keep on, just continue to hit people with things that they want, they start to get a love for you, but that’s artist development without the label doing it. The new era is their own artist development; they’re doing their own artist development and then these labels are jumping on later. It’s kinda like, they’re just more in tune with the internet, more in tune with the digital—how digital works—all the different technologies, when the older era is kinda just like “I ain’t with it.”
How come artists that acquire success selling ringtone songs have a difficult time finding success with their album sales?
Because the audience doesn’t know them yet, or the audience doesn’t … this is what it is: the audience doesn’t know them yet; the label has probably not put enough time in this artist to do the artist development—what I was talking about—to make people … if people buying your album that means they have a certain liking towards you, and not just your song. So if you have any kind of personality or anything that people need to know about, or any type of artist development, it’s really the labels job or your teams job to figure out what’s interesting about you that would make people be more into you than they would be, or as into you as they are into your songs.
If established acts are currently having a difficult time selling records, why don’t labels go in a completely different direction and take chances on signing new artists since they’re not getting sales results anyway?
I mean I think they are taking chances, it’s just like the deals are changing. It’s kinda hard for a lot of these labels to sever ties with these artists that came from the older era and that were selling records at one-point. It’s hard to just totally shut them away because you know they’re real artists, and the artist development was put in them to grow the fan base that they have at this moment or whatever they grew when they were doing what they were doing. But now as these different younger artists are coming out with these different songs all over the map and having the clubs rockin’, I mean, you just can’t fight the music. If somebody in Timbuktu has a song, and he made a song in his basement and it’s just working, I mean, you can’t really do anything about that, it’s kinda like, it is what it is.
Soulja Boy Tell’em and Asher Roth were discovered on the internet by Mr. Collipark and Scooter Braun, respectively. Is the internet the new medium for A&Rs and music executives to discover talent?
It’s a way. It’s definitely a way. You still got some places that, you know, people just not on the internet. That don’t mean they not making hot music; it just might not be the way you find them. But like I said, this younger era knows about this internet, and they know how to get seen and heard now, and that’s what they’re doing. So yeah, if an A&R is up on his game and he’s trying to go where the game is going, instead of being where the game is at, yeah, he probably wanna check out the internet ‘cause it’s probably up there, somewhere.
It’s almost like the older school era they’re set in their ways; it’s like ‘This is how it was. This is how it was when we flourished. And this is how it should always be, and anything different than this, I am not gonna have anything to do with it.’ Whereas, the newer generation coming up is sorta like, it’s like generation now—it’s like ‘We want it right now. What if we don’t wanna hear your album; we just want that song.’ So it’s kinda like you can be stuck in your ways of the old-school era of how it used to be and you can try to run that on this younger era if you want to, but you know, it’s your decision because you know … yeah it’s the internet’s fault that it’s like it is now, but hey, it’s here.
Who are some of the newer artists that impress you?
Ummm. The newer artists that are out or the newer artists that are coming?
Both.
Well, I’m not gonna give you the ones that’s coming ‘cause that means somebody might steal ‘em [laughs]. Well, you know, of course Soldier Boy. Of course, like I said, I gotta go with my man T-Pain, the newer era. Flo Rida is out there doing his thing. Plies. You know they got their own audience and they’re killing the game and people are trying to figure them out, but some people just get it and some people just don’t. So those are a couple of artists. Rick Ross. All those people they winning because they get it. They know what time we’re in. You can’t just be in the studio making music for yourself, and then come up and think people just gonna jump on it because you got an album coming out. It don’t work like that. You gotta know where we are, you gotta know where you at, and I feel like those are some of the artists that knows what’s going on right now.
Rap music has always been regional with the East Coast, West Coast, South, and Mid-Western states having a period of dominance. What type of sound do you think is next?
I think it’s just gonna be a blend of what’s already been here because that’s the only thing it can be. I mean, whatever’s been here it always goes and re-morphs into something else, so it’s kinda like sound shifting. You might hear Crunk mixed with lyricism. You might hear some East Coast tracks with down South lyrics, I don’t know. It’s just always changing. I don’t really know what’s next until I hear it.
As a music executive, what factors do you look for when signing new talent?
The artist’s drive level. Does the music sound good. What kind of work ethic do they have. Like I said, it’s not as much about look with me but I gotta see that I can be able to do something.
What are some of the challenges that your label Hitz Committee Entertainment faces in the current climate of the music business?
Trying to come up with the music that’s gonna compete. That’s really … I think it comes all down to the music, and then second to the music is how are you gonna sell it, or how are you gonna make it appealing to people to wanna buy. So, that’s all I really need ‘cause I’m kinda confident in my talent searches or when I’m looking for something, or when something runs into me or I when run into something; I’m kinda comfortable with that feeling that goes off in me when I think I’m connecting to something real—so that’s cool. Now making sure the music is competitive—because it’s still … it’s music, but in this music business this is a competition—so you’re making sure your music is competitive, making sure your music is good, making sure your music is appealing to a crowd that wants to buy it, and really that’s it. And making sure that my artists are developing in a way where people are gonna love them as much as they love their music.
It seems like new artists in the rap category have a more difficult time breaking into the mainstream as opposed to other genres. Why is there a difference in transition?
I think because people feel like all rappers are talking about the same thing. And then when you do have … when it’s so saturated and then you do have a new rap artist that’s coming with something new, it’s kinda like, “ah, I heard that before,” or either they [fans] don’t wanna get into their story as much because they either look like or sound like something that people have already heard. Now if you got something totally … every couple of years you know, something comes out of the blue and it’s like, this is different from anything we’ve seen in a long time and people buy into it, you don’t know why, people just … they were hungry for something, they don’t know. Right now I feel like people are being … the audience is being pacified but that always happens. The audience is pacified with hot songs for a little while and then all of a sudden every couple of years a hot … a real, genuine hot artist comes along and people buy into that art, and you know, it just is what it is. It always happens.
What types of changes do you see occurring in the music business in five-years?
Way more 360 deals. I mean, way more deals with newer, younger artists that’s coming by way of … you know ‘cause now labels are kinda being like … it’s almost like labels are going at these artists like it’s a singles deal until proven different. So it’s gonna be a lot of … they gonna be attached to everything because you just don’t know. You don’t know when it’s a … these days they’re not just gonna sign an Eminem because—no they might because still labels is doin’ that, but I’m talking about the ones that’s kinda connecting more to the digital era. It’s like, you’re not gonna just go out and sign an Eminem as fast as Jimmy Iovine would’ve 5-6 years ago. It’s just not gonna happen. It’s kinda like, do you have something that can work right now? And if you’re … singles deals with options, like if you can prove that you can do it again, do you really have material? After listening to the artist’s whole package, is this an artist that sounds like it’s something that’s gonna come and go, or this something real? They’re more like testing the water. It’s almost like they’re sticking their foot in the water and seeing if it’s hot or cold, and then it’s kinda like, before they get into putting both feet in. It’s like testing signs.
What do you think the music industry needs more of and less of?
Way more artist development. It needs way less—and artist development as in videos, good shows, good showmanship. Just like, the label actually putting time into the artist enough to develop them where people like them—that’s what we need way more of that. Way less of … stubbornness. Stubbornness toward the digital era.
R. Kelly, the self-declared “King of R&B” is set to release his tenth studio album, Untitled (Jive Records) on October 13th. In support of the new album, Kelly is scheduled to headline the “Ladies Make Some Noise!” tour beginning in Mashantucket, CT on October 8th.
