For some college students, four years can seem like a lifetime. For Mickey “MeMpHiTz” Wright, four years kinda is.
That’s how long it took Wright to go from a struggling rap fan with big dreams to shot-caller at one of the world’s leading record companies. More specifically, MeMpHiTz rose from the intern ranks at now defunct Arista to the VP of A&R at Jive Records. Along the way he has boosted the careers of artists like the Youngbloodz, UGK, J-Kwon, T-Pain, and most recently, Huey. Now, bred for rulership by industry vets Jermaine Dupri, Diddy, and Mark Pitts, the HiTz Committee CEO is on the verge of writing the second chapter in his book of success.
This time DX's Industry 101 is taken to school by a man who’s come a long way, and managed to bring his hood with him. In this candid interview Memph drops knowledge about making hits the hard way, real A&R salaries, and his time with fallen rap legend, Pimp C.
DX: This industry has a lot of rags-to-riches stories. What do you think is different about yours?
MeMpHiTz: I don’t think it’s too much different, a lot of people; especially driven people, they have something in their mind, a goal in mind that nobody else can understand how bad they want it. And they do what they gotta do to get to it. I feel like I’m one of those people. And I’m doing it through the avenue of music. Coming from Memphis, I never really thought about working at a record label, 'cause we really didn’t have those. It was really just a point of survival. Most entertainers usually have to go to big cities where people are doing the same things that they want to do, to even have a chance. So I put myself in that realm and I felt like I wanted it more than anyone else around. That’s how I always move. Nobody else wants this more than I do. That’s what keeps my story going, where I came from.
DX: Is there a secret to making hits?
M: People say that I’m a producer, but I’m not a hands-on producer. I’m not like a producer that actually puts my fingers to the pad. I’m more of an idea guy, I hear something in my head and I give the idea to one of my producers and they kinda add on to the idea that I’m trying to give them, to bring it to life. I just kinda put my ideas out there. My company HiTz Committee, is like a committee of people that I kinda… [even though the last word is mine]... it’s a couple of peoples’ opinions that I value. Sometimes I throw stuff out there, and they don’t like it but I go with it anyway. Sometimes they do [agree], and we’re all in agreement but at the end of the day, I have the final decision. I don’t think it’s really a secret to making them, some people just have the gift; I think it’s more of a gift than a secret.
DX: Hip hop catches hell for being too commercial. As the A&R, that’s pretty much your job; to make the music sell. Does that make you the bad guy?
M: People look at us like bad guys, I think, because their music is not working or not selling. Even people who feel like they are putting out music with a message; that’s cool, because I enjoy that type of music too. But at the end of the day, my job is based on me bringing music to the forefront that’s going to result in sales…or I’m out of a job. So I really don’t pay those people too much mind. They be like, “Yo, all he does it put out commercials and ringtones…” I mean, what do they want me to do? What do they want A&R’s to do? This is what we do. We have a gift of hearing certain types of music. It’s not like we going out looking for…I don’t know if other A&R’s do, but I don’t go out looking for certain types of songs. I just hear something that I love. I’m more of a radio head. Growing up, I just stayed on the radio. I always listened to the radio. I kinda got an ear for…even like Country music to Pop to Alternative, anything just anything. When I hear something, I immediately know if I feel like that song sounds like something I would hear on the radio. That’s how I listen to music. When I get the album, I put depth into it, I’m really not so much into just putting out only hit music, I’m also about signing hit artists too. Sometimes it’s a double–edged sword. Sometimes the first single is so big that people don’t really want to know about the second one, or don’t really want to hear about the artist’s life. Nowadays, people just go to the computer, to iTunes to see what’s new and hot, and click and they’re good. So it’s my job to kinda keep pushing at people, keep pushing this artist down people’s throats, keep coming with new music, new videos new ways to make people so-to-speak, like this person. So at the end of the day, it’s not all easy and gravy. I actually have the crazy job of trying to make people [along with my label] like these artists, and not only just look at them as a ringtone or a hot song. That’s a hard job at the end of the day. And a stressful job.
DX: Are most A&R’s compensated on a salary situation, or is it based on commission system?
M: It’s about how the company came at that particular A&R. I think everybody’s deal is different. I get a salary and points on things that I sign. As far as my own company goes, I have an imprint deal with HiTz Committee. I got my own artists now, so a larger portion of the funds come to me. It’s all different types of things that go on, every A&R probably has a different type of deal going on. Some of them are consultants…etc.
DX: On the artist side, how does the typical record deal work?
M: It’s different kinds of deals. Sometimes you can have an artist where maybe they only have one song that you like. As a business man, you would want to do a singles deal maybe with an option. Most singles deals come with options. In other words, if you come with more material, then the label will continue to process you and your music. Sometimes the artist comes in and they’re already together, and you do a full deal. You look at different artists different ways. Some artists are ringtones. Some artists are real blown artists. You just don’t know. It just depends on the vision of what that artist is, or what the artist could be, so you structure it around that.
DX: Talk to me about your own label, HiTz Committee.
M: It’s different, but you know I’ve had a lot of training. People that I came under…L.A. Reid, Mark Pitts, Jermaine Dupri, you know, Puff. I just see all of them doing things, and they kinda took me in as a little brother. So I see them running their own companies. So kinda now that I’m having those issues with my own company, I’m glad that I was around those types of guys. Even though every artist has its own situations and stresses, it’s like I’m a counselor. Making sure that they’re not doing crazy things, making sure budgets are right, making sure they got money in their pockets… It’s almost like a family oriented high school for artists, almost like X-Men. Every artist has their own talents, their own hits. So, it’s stressful, but I’m ready for any challenges come my way. If I couldn’t handle them I’m sure God wouldn’t have gave it to me.
DX: Compare your Jive days to your Arista days. What was it like working with both of those powerhouses.
M: Arista…even though I was still proving myself at both of them, Arista was more like my vision didn’t really count. Nobody wanted to hear what I wanted to do with my life. It was more like my slave days. I was just proving to everybody that I’d go through anything just to get a shot. Arista was more of like proving myself; Jive was like my work at Arista paying off. I got more privileges now, my opinion counts all the time. And its like, I look back on my Arista days and those are the days that got me to these days. At Arista, I had a lot of responsibilities, but it didn’t really mean anything to anybody 'cause I was just a slave and an intern in everybody’s eyes.
DX: You’ve been involved on some pretty big projects. Could you shed some light on what it was like watching Bun and Pimp C work together?
M: It was almost surreal to me. I grew up on their music for so long. In the south, they’re like our Jay-Z, or our Nas. They talk about real life situations, and they party and they talk about things that the south could relate to. And the south is pretty big, so they affected a lot of people’s lives. And then I got to work with them, in the same room, to hear them joke around with each other and joking with me and telling me things about the game. They were at Jive so much longer than I was, so they were kinda telling me things about how Jive was back in the day and how it is now. It was crazy. It was one of the experiences for me that was almost like a fairy tale. It’s like when I’m actually in the room with these people I’m listening; but I’m also thinking about how just yesterday I was watching these people on TV or listening to them in the car. And now I’m actually having conversations with these people. It was crazy for me.
I was just about to be the A&R on Pimp’s solo album. I co-A&R on the UGK album that went Number One with Chris Lighty, but this one I was about the be the main A&R on Pimp’s project. It’s just sad that he had to leave that young, and we just got nominated for a Grammy. So all this time they been trying to get on, and then finally in the game with them, and we’re doing big things, and then he had to go. I guess when it’s time to go, it’s time to go, but it’s still kinda messed up. Everybody is still in shock.
DX: Talk about the projects you’re working on now, and how important it is for you personally to rep for Memphis...
M: We’re still working on Huey we just did the video with Huey and T-Pain, and I actually did a verse on that one. I loved that one 'cause I actually signed both of these guys and I’m in the middle of them doing a verse. I said I wasn’t going to do a verse until I was the boss. Now I’m the boss, so I kinda went ahead and did it.
DX: [Laughing] How real is that?
M: That’s super hood for me. [Laughs] I told people when I left home that’s what I was going to do, and a lot of people thought I was on crack rocks, but I ended up doing exactly what I told them I was going to do. Huey, T-Pain working on another album. I got my new girl Asia Cruise, she’s like Pop, a 17 year-old. I got a clock on her, its one of my little marketing schemes. The album is WhoIsAsiaCruise, [click here] so it’s just a silhouette showing, so nobody gets to see her, until the clock gets down to zero and the album drops. Should be around January 23 or 24th. Hopefully its one of my marketing schemes that people will remember for a while to come. I just signed a new artist rapper out of Dallas, Trey-D who’s got this record called "Gutta Chick." That’s coming out soon, he got an album coming out that’s untitled right now…and my last artist I signed is Chip Da Ripper. He’s out of Cleveland. He’s super dope too, but in ‘08 I’m going to start shelling out all this stuff, 'cause I just feel like its time for a change man. Some of these older cats need to move over and recognize that it’s a new wave coming, and I hope to be one of the leaders of the new wave coming.
That’s how long it took Wright to go from a struggling rap fan with big dreams to shot-caller at one of the world’s leading record companies. More specifically, MeMpHiTz rose from the intern ranks at now defunct Arista to the VP of A&R at Jive Records. Along the way he has boosted the careers of artists like the Youngbloodz, UGK, J-Kwon, T-Pain, and most recently, Huey. Now, bred for rulership by industry vets Jermaine Dupri, Diddy, and Mark Pitts, the HiTz Committee CEO is on the verge of writing the second chapter in his book of success.
This time DX's Industry 101 is taken to school by a man who’s come a long way, and managed to bring his hood with him. In this candid interview Memph drops knowledge about making hits the hard way, real A&R salaries, and his time with fallen rap legend, Pimp C.
DX: This industry has a lot of rags-to-riches stories. What do you think is different about yours?
MeMpHiTz: I don’t think it’s too much different, a lot of people; especially driven people, they have something in their mind, a goal in mind that nobody else can understand how bad they want it. And they do what they gotta do to get to it. I feel like I’m one of those people. And I’m doing it through the avenue of music. Coming from Memphis, I never really thought about working at a record label, 'cause we really didn’t have those. It was really just a point of survival. Most entertainers usually have to go to big cities where people are doing the same things that they want to do, to even have a chance. So I put myself in that realm and I felt like I wanted it more than anyone else around. That’s how I always move. Nobody else wants this more than I do. That’s what keeps my story going, where I came from.
DX: Is there a secret to making hits?
M: People say that I’m a producer, but I’m not a hands-on producer. I’m not like a producer that actually puts my fingers to the pad. I’m more of an idea guy, I hear something in my head and I give the idea to one of my producers and they kinda add on to the idea that I’m trying to give them, to bring it to life. I just kinda put my ideas out there. My company HiTz Committee, is like a committee of people that I kinda… [even though the last word is mine]... it’s a couple of peoples’ opinions that I value. Sometimes I throw stuff out there, and they don’t like it but I go with it anyway. Sometimes they do [agree], and we’re all in agreement but at the end of the day, I have the final decision. I don’t think it’s really a secret to making them, some people just have the gift; I think it’s more of a gift than a secret.
DX: Hip hop catches hell for being too commercial. As the A&R, that’s pretty much your job; to make the music sell. Does that make you the bad guy?
M: People look at us like bad guys, I think, because their music is not working or not selling. Even people who feel like they are putting out music with a message; that’s cool, because I enjoy that type of music too. But at the end of the day, my job is based on me bringing music to the forefront that’s going to result in sales…or I’m out of a job. So I really don’t pay those people too much mind. They be like, “Yo, all he does it put out commercials and ringtones…” I mean, what do they want me to do? What do they want A&R’s to do? This is what we do. We have a gift of hearing certain types of music. It’s not like we going out looking for…I don’t know if other A&R’s do, but I don’t go out looking for certain types of songs. I just hear something that I love. I’m more of a radio head. Growing up, I just stayed on the radio. I always listened to the radio. I kinda got an ear for…even like Country music to Pop to Alternative, anything just anything. When I hear something, I immediately know if I feel like that song sounds like something I would hear on the radio. That’s how I listen to music. When I get the album, I put depth into it, I’m really not so much into just putting out only hit music, I’m also about signing hit artists too. Sometimes it’s a double–edged sword. Sometimes the first single is so big that people don’t really want to know about the second one, or don’t really want to hear about the artist’s life. Nowadays, people just go to the computer, to iTunes to see what’s new and hot, and click and they’re good. So it’s my job to kinda keep pushing at people, keep pushing this artist down people’s throats, keep coming with new music, new videos new ways to make people so-to-speak, like this person. So at the end of the day, it’s not all easy and gravy. I actually have the crazy job of trying to make people [along with my label] like these artists, and not only just look at them as a ringtone or a hot song. That’s a hard job at the end of the day. And a stressful job.
DX: Are most A&R’s compensated on a salary situation, or is it based on commission system?
M: It’s about how the company came at that particular A&R. I think everybody’s deal is different. I get a salary and points on things that I sign. As far as my own company goes, I have an imprint deal with HiTz Committee. I got my own artists now, so a larger portion of the funds come to me. It’s all different types of things that go on, every A&R probably has a different type of deal going on. Some of them are consultants…etc.
DX: On the artist side, how does the typical record deal work?
M: It’s different kinds of deals. Sometimes you can have an artist where maybe they only have one song that you like. As a business man, you would want to do a singles deal maybe with an option. Most singles deals come with options. In other words, if you come with more material, then the label will continue to process you and your music. Sometimes the artist comes in and they’re already together, and you do a full deal. You look at different artists different ways. Some artists are ringtones. Some artists are real blown artists. You just don’t know. It just depends on the vision of what that artist is, or what the artist could be, so you structure it around that.
DX: Talk to me about your own label, HiTz Committee.
M: It’s different, but you know I’ve had a lot of training. People that I came under…L.A. Reid, Mark Pitts, Jermaine Dupri, you know, Puff. I just see all of them doing things, and they kinda took me in as a little brother. So I see them running their own companies. So kinda now that I’m having those issues with my own company, I’m glad that I was around those types of guys. Even though every artist has its own situations and stresses, it’s like I’m a counselor. Making sure that they’re not doing crazy things, making sure budgets are right, making sure they got money in their pockets… It’s almost like a family oriented high school for artists, almost like X-Men. Every artist has their own talents, their own hits. So, it’s stressful, but I’m ready for any challenges come my way. If I couldn’t handle them I’m sure God wouldn’t have gave it to me.
DX: Compare your Jive days to your Arista days. What was it like working with both of those powerhouses.
M: Arista…even though I was still proving myself at both of them, Arista was more like my vision didn’t really count. Nobody wanted to hear what I wanted to do with my life. It was more like my slave days. I was just proving to everybody that I’d go through anything just to get a shot. Arista was more of like proving myself; Jive was like my work at Arista paying off. I got more privileges now, my opinion counts all the time. And its like, I look back on my Arista days and those are the days that got me to these days. At Arista, I had a lot of responsibilities, but it didn’t really mean anything to anybody 'cause I was just a slave and an intern in everybody’s eyes.
DX: You’ve been involved on some pretty big projects. Could you shed some light on what it was like watching Bun and Pimp C work together?
M: It was almost surreal to me. I grew up on their music for so long. In the south, they’re like our Jay-Z, or our Nas. They talk about real life situations, and they party and they talk about things that the south could relate to. And the south is pretty big, so they affected a lot of people’s lives. And then I got to work with them, in the same room, to hear them joke around with each other and joking with me and telling me things about the game. They were at Jive so much longer than I was, so they were kinda telling me things about how Jive was back in the day and how it is now. It was crazy. It was one of the experiences for me that was almost like a fairy tale. It’s like when I’m actually in the room with these people I’m listening; but I’m also thinking about how just yesterday I was watching these people on TV or listening to them in the car. And now I’m actually having conversations with these people. It was crazy for me.
I was just about to be the A&R on Pimp’s solo album. I co-A&R on the UGK album that went Number One with Chris Lighty, but this one I was about the be the main A&R on Pimp’s project. It’s just sad that he had to leave that young, and we just got nominated for a Grammy. So all this time they been trying to get on, and then finally in the game with them, and we’re doing big things, and then he had to go. I guess when it’s time to go, it’s time to go, but it’s still kinda messed up. Everybody is still in shock.
DX: Talk about the projects you’re working on now, and how important it is for you personally to rep for Memphis...
M: We’re still working on Huey we just did the video with Huey and T-Pain, and I actually did a verse on that one. I loved that one 'cause I actually signed both of these guys and I’m in the middle of them doing a verse. I said I wasn’t going to do a verse until I was the boss. Now I’m the boss, so I kinda went ahead and did it.
DX: [Laughing] How real is that?
M: That’s super hood for me. [Laughs] I told people when I left home that’s what I was going to do, and a lot of people thought I was on crack rocks, but I ended up doing exactly what I told them I was going to do. Huey, T-Pain working on another album. I got my new girl Asia Cruise, she’s like Pop, a 17 year-old. I got a clock on her, its one of my little marketing schemes. The album is WhoIsAsiaCruise, [click here] so it’s just a silhouette showing, so nobody gets to see her, until the clock gets down to zero and the album drops. Should be around January 23 or 24th. Hopefully its one of my marketing schemes that people will remember for a while to come. I just signed a new artist rapper out of Dallas, Trey-D who’s got this record called "Gutta Chick." That’s coming out soon, he got an album coming out that’s untitled right now…and my last artist I signed is Chip Da Ripper. He’s out of Cleveland. He’s super dope too, but in ‘08 I’m going to start shelling out all this stuff, 'cause I just feel like its time for a change man. Some of these older cats need to move over and recognize that it’s a new wave coming, and I hope to be one of the leaders of the new wave coming.
