Same Player, Different Team

“I paid more in taxes this year (1996) than I earned in 17 years working for Donald Dell,” Falk said with some lingering bitterness. “I’m all for loyalty, but that has to be a two-way street.”- David Falk (One of the people I study. He made this statement after resigning from ProServ, the company that gave him his first shot).

Most of you who keep up with me and my moves know how I arrived at The Famous Firm. In 2007, fresh off of putting my academics on hold, I was a struggling 19 year old artist in DC trying to develop myself and my company (Da Fam Music) almost singlehandedly. I made plenty of errors that most of today’s up and coming artists make. By the end of 2007 all my money was gone and I had very little success to show for it. In all my stupidity one smart thing I did do was prepare myself; both physically and mentally for the grueling demands of the music business. In essence, I was ready for opportunity if ever it were to present itself.

February 2008. I’m under extreme pressure to either go back to school or go get a 9 to 5 job and my life is at an all time low. One cold morning I attend an Obama speech at University of Maryland and his words motivated me so much that I quit feeling sorry for myself and got back to my business. Within a week I landed a meeting with Sickamore, who resigned from Atlantic Records the same day I attended that speech. He was starting a new company based on morals, ethics, hard work, good music and all the things that I believed in. I HAD TO BE A PART OF IT.

My meeting in New York went great and I sold him my whole story and my vision for the future and he did the same with me. We shook hands, agreed to terms and the rest is Famous history. If you know me you know how passionate I am about everything I do. Giving 70% doesn’t exist in my world. If you’re not giving something your all then it’s not worth doing. So with that mentality I immersed myself completely into the company. I woke up early and slept late. I came up with ideas, spoke up even when unasked, spent my own money on company affairs and the whole nine.

This go getter attitude made myself and Sickamore’s relationship a great one. He trusted my judgement and allowed me to take risks. I was doing my best to brand the company and generate revenue while simultaneously using it to brand myself. He often referred to me as “the Kobe Bryant” of the team. That’s a title I took with pride because that means I was committed to hard work and winning. We had daily phone calls at 10:30AM. In 15 months I probably missed no more than 4 of those calls; I often even stepped in and led the calls in his absence.

Sickamore made frequent trips to DC and my career as a talent rep began to take flight. We had a great balance of friendship and work relationship. He bestowed upon me plenty of knowledge, directly and indirectly. Within months I was closing deals; my first two clients (Articulate and Young Swagg) experienced a lot of success. My role within the company continued to grow rapidly and it appeared to onlookers like the Firm was the place to be. Internally however, there was plenty of frustration brewing from several angles, mostly due to finances and inefficiency on the companies part.

For so much of my youth I bit my tongue; with friends, family, and everyone else around me. It’s a horrible way to live. So these days I pride myself on being transparent and honest with people. The finances at the company, along with the lack of efficiency due to very little accountability started to breed a lot of anger towards us. That’s nothing new for a young company in the music business but steps need to be taken to fix those issues. When the leader of the ship refuses to acknowledge that there’s an iceberg straight ahead then eventually we’re all going to crash. Maybe he has a life jacket, I don’t. If my leaving the company is what it takes to start steering the ship back in the right direction, then so be it.

The Firm has never been my primary, nor secondary source of income. However, if I’m owed money, no matter how small, I’d like to be paid. If I’m not being paid, I’d at least like an explanation. Ignoring my inquiries shows complete disregard for all I’ve done for the company. Add that to the fact that we’re no longer fit to make people famous, and it becomes very difficult to justify putting my all into something. Not only is it unfair to myself but it’s also unfair to the hundreds of kids that approach me seeking help with their careers and I’m unable to help in anyway, shape or form. Not to mention current clients who have been put on hold for several months due to the company being restructured.

I have the utmost respect for Sickamore’s ambition and his ability to change direction at the drop of a dime. That mentality is great for an individual, but absolutely deadly for a team or company. A coach needs to be stable and absolutely MUST communicate. There has always been whispers about things not being right, but when a person gives you your first opportunity, you tend not to believe any negative said about them. To some that may seem naive but that’s just how I live. You don’t talk bad about people I consider family. But when that same family doesn’t tell me what’s really going on, it becomes harder and harder to defend. After a while that starts to reflect on me as a person and as a businessman. When people don’t know what’s going on, it leads to speculation and that’s never good. Not when money is involved. In this current state of the economy, the last thing I want to be accused of is tampering with anyones money or career. I will never tolerate anyone doing that to me and never will I do it to someone else.

These circumstances have led to me deciding to move on to another chapter of my life. Mainly to continue the development of Da Fam. I want to give talented people an opportunity to showcase themselves to the world on a high level. I’ll also continue to record and release my own material from time to time. The freedom and satisfaction I get from creating music is one that the business world can never replace. Whatever I do, I must have ownership or be an equal partner. You can say “we” all you want, at the end of the day unless your name is on paper as a partner/owner, you’re just working for someone else’s benefit. In my one year at the Famous Firm, I’ve been able to observe the successes and failures of many. I’ve seen who and what to avoid. I plan on passing this knowledge on to others who can benefit from it as much as I have.

I’d like to thank every client and potential client (if I ignored your emails or messages it wasn’t because I didn’t want to help, it was because I simply couldn’t help given the circumstances). Thanks to every media person that covered us and anyone who supported The Famous Firm while I was there. Thanks to the whole Famous team (Alfred, Aaron, Mike, Jay, Sterling, Christina, Nina, Sade, Omar, Traycee, Sean, Bash, Jamz, Markus, Hovain, Diarm, Nisarg, Ashley, Tamakia, Pesos and Josh). 8 of those names I just mentioned have also left the company due to financial discrepancies and a flailing system. For those still onboard, I consider a lot of you to be my friends and I wish nothing but the best on everyone.

Sickamore is the first real industry person to ever give me an opportunity in the business and for that I will always be thankful. Prior to meeting me he had never been to the DMV area. He came down here at a time when it was still unpopular for industry execs to even do business with DMV artists and that should be commended. I hope none of my words are misinterpreted as me labeling him to be a bad person. Despite the way things ended, I don’t have any hard feelings or regrets. I just believe he’s a young businessman still transitioning from being a manager of himself to a manager of several individuals. The latter takes a different kind of commitment and I believe he’s smart and hard working enough that once he figures it out, sky’s the limit for himself and his company.

*Sidebar: This is the last I’m going to speak on the subject. I considered not speaking on it at all but I felt I owed an explanation to all the people who have shown interest in me and my Famous Firm activity over the past year.

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