BC: That makes for a different type of exchange, especially with attention. Coming from a performance background myself, when it comes to mind, I think about the transition from attendee to performer. Do you think as a performer, your background in dance and Hip-Hop is affecting the way your artist will come about and interact with attendees at the event?
Brandon: Absolutely. That’s something we get into on the HHDJ side. I created a division underneath HHDJ called “SkillSet”. Skillset is dedicated to our clientele that are looking for more of one-on-one private session (single or group). People are looking for that extra attention or group experiences for an outing or corporate event. Another part of “SkillSet” is stage performances for artists. I work with artists on their physicality for being up there on stage. Obviously, verbally they are very good. But it’s a performance, the keyword is to perform. That doesn’t mean you standing there and holding a microphone all night. No, you need to entertain; you need to wow the crowd and engage. That’s what they are paying for. If they were going to just listen to you, they could have bought your CD or music and stayed home. My thing is engagement. We need to think about how we’re going to engage the audience, and force them to listen to you through that. The only way to do that is if you pay attention to them. This becomes difficult if you don’t have crowd scanning. If you can look around, point someone out, or you’re talking to someone while performing, people like that.

BC: I like the whole structure of the audience engaging with the artist. I feel how your background enhances the artist you’re managing. What do they have to say when you’re getting down to the cadence, delivery, their energy? Have you encountered much resistance?
Brandon: Only with artist I don’t manage. I make suggestions and tell them that this is how I would do things.

The other thing is I talk to my artist about the end game and the longevity of their career. The end game is not to get a record deal and be famous off music sales because there’s no profit in music sales. It’s like a dollar to download songs on ITunes, or people are ripping it off from YouTube and online. The profit comes from concerts, lives shows, and endorsements. It’s in cinematic songs placed in movies and collecting royalties on it. That’s where the profit is. The major part of what I said is concerts, which is stage performance. If you’re not good at that, but you can make a song, you’re not going to make it. You will make money from live performances, touring, engaging with the crowd, becoming an influencer. You have to perform. You have to entertain. If they’re not going to your show, they’re going home to listen or to download you illegally.

BC: Do you believe that’s where a lot of artistry is missing the mark, their willingness to perform?
Brandon: Yeah. You need to have the charisma. Look at Em. If you look at his performances back in the day, there was nothing behind it until he started incorporating the gimmicks, the chainsaws, the Jason mask. He made it theatrical. That’s why you see it. You can’t see that by listening to it on the radio. You have to get the whole performance. Jay Z got better with performing. He started calling himself the Black Sinatra because he began performing with his hands. Back then, he never did that. They know where the money is. It’s touring. It’s concerts. It’s why Eminem, Jay Z and the Weekend are making money. The Weekend is getting better performing, especially now that he has the lights, the starship and the money to shell out for that. Whatever you put in is whatever you get out. If you put out something shitty, you will get back something shitty. You have to create a memorable experience. I am 100% behind performing. If you’re not going to shell out money for an extravagant stage design and performance, you have to entertain on another level. Look at Ed Sheeran and Imagine Dragons. Ed Sheeran is up there all by himself w/ no band, no dancers, just his guitars and foot pedals to loop the beats live. His performances are incredible because he’s building something right there on the spot and creating everything from scratch w/ no help. Imagine Dragons have their drums and they bring some serious energy to the stage and interact w/ the crowd!

BC: I wanted to ask more about the music industry side. What do you feel artist are missing?
Brandon: There’s two sides to that question. What artist are missing from the outside standpoint? They’re missing branding. They’re missing clever, viral marketing and representation from what’s seen and not heard. In terms of the inner side, who they are, their creativity, how they’re delivering their lines, who they are as an artist, what they are doing? I think it comes with experience. I’ve been doing this a long time, J Artiste been doing this for a long time. I’m still growing and I tell him don’t ever think that you don’t have room for growth. Even Jay Z has room for growth. Eminem is still growing; you can see that in his album. He’s up against mumble rappers and the new breed. You need to experiment with different things. You’re exploring things about who you are as an artist. That’s an interesting thing. It’s one reason why Cardi B is making so much noise right now.

BC: All up and down my timeline, folks are talking about Cardi B. Have you had the chance to listen to her album? Are there any songs sticking out you?
Brandon: There’s a couple. The one “Through the Phone” I think is very creative. It’s about the way she’s doing it. We’re talking about the right beat to put you in the mood to listen to what she’s saying. Basically, she’s going through the phone, finding things and pissed off because the dude is cheating on her. She’s rapping about it from her perspective: yeah, so what I went through your phone and found out you were doing me dirty. I thought it was creative in her delivery and conviction. Whoever is behind her production is doing a really good job, the marketing, the performances, the interviews, she’s comical, but she’s still her. “Drip”, “Money Bag”, and “Get Up 10” are dope songs too. I’m also looking at this from a choreography dance point. We’re always looking for drops, or the moments that allow you to hit hard. It’s stuff in Cardi’s music chopped up that you can make specific choreography for in those moments. She has a lot of that, which is why many people of the choreographers are teaching to her stuff.