Industry 101: Memphitz

For some college students, four years can seem like a lifetime. For Mickey MeMpHiTz Wright, four years kinda is.

Thats how long it took Wright to go from a struggling rap fan with big dreams to shot-caller at one of the worlds 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 whos 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 dont think its 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 Im one of those people. And Im doing it through the avenue of music. Coming from Memphis, I never really thought about working at a record label, 'cause we really didnt 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. Thats how I always move. Nobody else wants this more than I do. Thats what keeps my story going, where I came from.

DX: Is there a secret to making hits?
M: People say that Im a producer, but Im not a hands-on producer. Im not like a producer that actually puts my fingers to the pad. Im 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 Im 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]... its a couple of peoples opinions that I value. Sometimes I throw stuff out there, and they dont like it but I go with it anyway. Sometimes they do [agree], and were all in agreement but at the end of the day, I have the final decision. I dont think its really a secret to making them, some people just have the gift; I think its more of a gift than a secret.

DX: Hip hop catches hell for being too commercial. As the A&R, thats 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; thats 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 thats going to result in salesor Im out of a job. So I really dont 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&Rs to do? This is what we do. We have a gift of hearing certain types of music. Its not like we going out looking forI dont know if other A&Rs do, but I dont go out looking for certain types of songs. I just hear something that I love. Im more of a radio head. Growing up, I just stayed on the radio. I always listened to the radio. I kinda got an ear foreven 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. Thats how I listen to music. When I get the album, I put depth into it, Im really not so much into just putting out only hit music, Im also about signing hit artists too. Sometimes its a doubleedged sword. Sometimes the first single is so big that people dont really want to know about the second one, or dont really want to hear about the artists life. Nowadays, people just go to the computer, to iTunes to see whats new and hot, and click and theyre good. So its my job to kinda keep pushing at people, keep pushing this artist down peoples 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, its 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. Thats a hard job at the end of the day. And a stressful job.

DX: Are most A&Rs compensated on a salary situation, or is it based on commission system?
M: Its about how the company came at that particular A&R. I think everybodys 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. Its all different types of things that go on, every A&R probably has a different type of deal going on. Some of them are consultantsetc.

DX: On the artist side, how does the typical record deal work?
M: Its 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 theyre 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 dont 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: Its different, but you know Ive had a lot of training. People that I came underL.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 Im having those issues with my own company, Im glad that I was around those types of guys. Even though every artist has its own situations and stresses, its like Im a counselor. Making sure that theyre not doing crazy things, making sure budgets are right, making sure they got money in their pockets Its almost like a family oriented high school for artists, almost like X-Men. Every artist has their own talents, their own hits. So, its stressful, but Im ready for any challenges come my way. If I couldnt handle them Im sure God wouldnt 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: Aristaeven though I was still proving myself at both of them, Arista was more like my vision didnt 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 Id 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 didnt really mean anything to anybody 'cause I was just a slave and an intern in everybodys eyes.

DX: Youve 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, theyre 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 peoples 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. Its like when Im actually in the room with these people Im listening; but Im also thinking about how just yesterday I was watching these people on TV or listening to them in the car. And now Im actually having conversations with these people. It was crazy for me.

I was just about to be the A&R on Pimps 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 Pimps project. Its 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 were doing big things, and then he had to go. I guess when its time to go, its time to go, but its still kinda messed up. Everybody is still in shock.

DX: Talk about the projects youre working on now, and how important it is for you personally to rep for Memphis...
M: Were 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 Im in the middle of them doing a verse. I said I wasnt going to do a verse until I was the boss. Now Im the boss, so I kinda went ahead and did it.

DX: [Laughing] How real is that?
M: Thats super hood for me. [Laughs] I told people when I left home thats 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, shes 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 its 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 whos got this record called "Gutta Chick." Thats coming out soon, he got an album coming out thats untitled right nowand my last artist I signed is Chip Da Ripper. Hes out of Cleveland. Hes super dope too, but in 08 Im 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 its a new wave coming, and I hope to be one of the leaders of the new wave coming.