Janet Jackson – a free agent

Janet Jackson is a free agent. Who the fuck cares. She hasnt made a hot record since Rhythm Nation. I worked that record when I was a rookie at A&M, I remember Charlie Minor telling me one night at Roxbury when I had “Black Cat” banging from the system, “Ev, you make sure that everybody knows you work for A&M. Get on the Mic in that booth and let them know A&M is in the house. Sure enough as any good street promoter will tell ya, if the Djs are supporting you in the clubs and the people are dancing to your shit – Its a hit. And sure as Charlie was the master of promotion, this was the hottest promotion playground in LA, and the last time janet was bumped in a club. check out lastfm info”In 1990 with the release of “Black Cat” from her “Rhythm Nation 1814” album, Janet Jackson became the first, and only, artist in Billboard history to score a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, R&B chart, Dance chart, Adult Contemporary chart and, Rock chart. When “Black Cat” hit #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock singles chart as well as Billboard’s Hot 100, it was the first time a song hit #1 simultaneously on both of those charts.” Yeah, I worked this baby…

She had a little buzz when she went to Virgin but she never had the streets or the people behind her like Rhythm Nation. Hanging out with the Tribe doesnt make you cool, and doesnt make you hip hop. Qtip, Phife and Ali Shaheed are hip hop, Janet jackson not hip at all. It was a cool attempt to get to the kids but janet had a hit with, “Thats the way love goes” and the rest of the album was a coaster at my house. 

So the fact that Dimitja Jo is a free agent is no surprise, She was the biggest of  them all back in the early 90’s, now she is just the biggest – literally the biggest, and its a shame.  Bad management, bad A&R, and a Huge Ego led to her wack ass albums. Fact is she needs Jimmy and Terry not Jermaine and hip hop. She needs a treadmill, some slim fast and a fucking writer.

The only place for her is Live nation or with some Dubai Prince that will bail her and her brother out and let them do shows around the globe taking 50% of the gross. Because after the Jacksons pay off all of their fringes, there is usually only enough dough to cover the costs of a cup of coffee. Any label head willing to give her any dough without a 50-50 split on everything should be fired. She’s done. Well done… She needs to call it a wrap. Thats wrap with a w, not Rap with an R…

Street teams 102

What is the right time to drop a record? When the streets are calling thats when. People waited for Snoop, waited for Eminem, 50 cent and the Game. And they waited for Lil Wayne. The record business isnt over. But the people running the business have been dead for a while. Doing dumb shit to fool the kids, wasting money to bullshit retailers and paying money to artists that dont deserve to be in the studio in the first place. My suggestion – Dont pay the artist until you know if they are really committed, really focused and really talented. Dont waste my time. Concentrate on building platforms before wasting $$$ and wasting our time. All the artists that have become big starts today have built platforms before they dropped a record be it Jack Johnson or Lil Wayne. Both spent time in the streets or at the beach…

Guitar Hero

A few months ago I went over to one of my bro’s offices and he brought me out their latest smash release, ‘Guitar Hero’. Now I am not a gamer but I was blown away by this video game. It is awesome, just one more reason to understand that the music business is changing – fast. 

Not for nothing, but this game could change people’s lives. And here’s why.

I put the game on in my recording studio and my daughter Ella picked up the guitar and started hitting the cords and jumping up and down like a rockstar. She then picked out a song and became a rockstar. She played the game for hours and posed in front of the camera in her black and white leggings, her rockstar tshirt and her pigtails shaking back and forth. I couldnt stop laughing. My friends were on the floor, but she wasnt done.

She climbed up on my desk grabbed the mic and did a better performance than half of the people that walk into our recording studio. She really thinks she is a rockstar. and thats just half of the story.

The next day we went into Hollywood for lunch at this great Italian joint inside Fred Seagals. As we sat down my luantic daughter grabbed two knives and started banging on the table, ” I am IRON MAN, dadadadadada dundadadun. the people started to look over as I said Ella chill out, we are at a restaurant baby. The waitress came over and couldnt believe it, so did a bunch of other customers. But thats not all. Ella decided it was showtime and busted out her version of our favorite song, ” Momma told me, yes she told me, Id meet girls like you, She also told me stay away you’ll never know what you’ll catch….” in the middle of her verse this guy looks over wearing black leather pants with a boa around his neck and a bandana around his long black hair. He was in a business meeting at the next table. He hears this version of Surrender and says, “You gotta be kidding me?” I said nope, she does this all day long. I said to him, ‘you want to hear her sing one of your songs? He said which one? Depends on her mood but maybe she’ll give you “Train kept a rollin, or Walk this way” You see the guy was Steven Tyler the best rock and roller of all-time and my kid was rocking the house – all because of Guitar Hero. And because her daddy is a really cool daddy. She stopped singing after all the applause to say, “daddy I gotta go peepee’ You see my daughter, Ellabelle Rose Forster is three… yes 3.

Nelly

Just saw Nelly perform his new single on the Leno show. Wow! It just goes to show you that he is truly one of the best there is, time and time again. His flow is so smooth, his hooks are so memorable all the time and he doesn’t have use profanity to get his point across. His beats are club joints that get your head bobbing and you start singing the hook. On every one of his songs!

Hot In Here took hip hop to a whole new level. It combined an uptempo, club jam, with that southern rap style that just rides the beat to the fullest. Whether Nelly is dolo or with an entourage like Ashanti and Akon he is by far one of the best hitmakers there is today.

When Nellyville hit the airways back in the 90’s and Country Grammar was riding high on the charts Nelly had brought a new flow to radio. Sisco soon followed and you had a grip of hip hop artists that were really breaking in the clubs more than the street as traditional rappers usually do. It was the fact that these artists were really “hook based” hip hop artists and not just busting lyrics and trying to focus on their 16s.

I am glad he is back, and I’ll be buying his new smash record.

Street Marketing 101

How to get to the hipsters. Thats the question being asked at every major ad agency in the world. How do you get to the most elusive group of highly motivated consumers that cant be pushed, pulled or harnessed by traditional marketing tactics. The answer – Stop trying so hard. 

Thats right. Stop the barrage of bullshit. Most kids are followers, but they dont follow big business. They follow the hip kid. The kid that is their age, that has insight to what is going on in the world, that has friends in other places not just their school, team or neighborhood.  You have to drop little gems that they can find when they are searching for other stuff. Its almost like finding a hidden message or a magic trick. You never really see it coming but when you do figure it out, you want to share it with others.

 

A great street promoter knows whats hot almost instantly. With a record for instance, if you set the groundwork, you can almost chart the course of how the record will evolve. The process of regionalization first emerged in the early days of record promotion. Artists and their managers would get into their cars and drive to a stick. An Antennae. Any antennae that they could find. That was a potential spin. So what they would do is pretty elementary. They would surround the station with promotion, hit the soda shops, highschools, anywhere kids would hang. Same thing today. Except now things happen faster, and there are more things. More ways to gain awareness, more things to present to the audience, more ways to build fans.

As one of the founders of street teams it was essential to connect to the hip kids, the alpha males and females that are on the pulse of whats happening. So how do you get to these kids? Here is a quick list of some tips to get into the in-crowd.

 

1. Go Where They Go – The problem with big business is they think they can steer them in a direction by bombarding them with ads. This barrage of information usually turns kids off. Instead of doing TV ads and spending millions on widespread marketing, NIKE realized that its better to spend money online in microgroups, and thus have diverted the majority of their TV campaigns to the little screen – The Computer. Through groups, meetups and social networking NIKE found that the kids want what they want, If they are into Mountain biking or extreme sports then why not spend money there, instead of widespread blasting during prime time television. Even though they might get a much bigger audience on TV, that does not necessarily mean they will buy the product NIKE is pushing. But if they are marketing a new soccer shoe to a soccer mom website, the buzz will be quicker and much more effective. Soccer moms buy everything to make their babies happy. 

2. Four wall the market with stuff that the kids like. For example, if you are marketing a hip hop project you need to do several things before putting it on the radio.  You need to hit the clubs, the mixers, the chatrooms, the malls, the highschools, the colleges, the lifestyle accounts. Then you need to hit the video outlets, and then radio stations and press outlets. Its a lot of stuff but unless you build a base, the project will be baseless and there wont be anything to support the project from the ground up. This is the fundamental reason that most records do not make it. Mind you the music must be competitive, but it needs all the other stuff to be successful. Throwing dollars at radio has never been the best money spent on a project. Getting kids to talk about a record before the radio stations even have it, now thats money well spent.

3. Create an experience, Captivate the audience – By designing unique and fun ways to communicate to the consumer you can build a relationship, trust and loyalty. The fact that people can participate in games and contests means they will come back in order to play and hopefully win something. This event marketing has been instrumental in building brands for years. The Pepsi / Coke competition and the new Mac / PC campaigns have been some of the most successful campaigns ever. Its much more fun to play than to watch, this holds true in marketing as well. Enlisting brand ambassadors and street team members has been best way to penetrate the college market for years. Students are deciding what they want to do for the rest of their lives in college; becoming a street marketer is their first entry into corporate culture. They get hands on experience and are privy to inside information, corporate philosophy and vision and in some instances the work experience as a street team member is like being an intern, except you are onsite instead of in the office. This hands on, peer to peer interaction and the information gathered, is the most valuable a brand can get.

Estelle

Estelle is one of the best records I have heard in a long time. The music is great, she sounds so sexy, and Kanye delivers as always, rounding out a great “American Boy”. The first time I heard the record I was driving with my babies Ella and Huddie. We were headed to malibu and the song came on and their legs started kicking in their car seats against mine. I looked at them in the back and they were jamming. This has always been my sniff test. If my three year old and my five year old start dancing to a song its a hit. And sure enough this one is is a smash. Instead of playing records for programmers to gauge a hit, we should be playing records for preschoolers and seeing if they react. They will give you real honest feedback not some bullshit remark like what does their myspace look like or what is the commitment from the label.

Entourage

I think Vinny Chase is the coolest guy on TV. He’s a guys guy, chicks dig him. He is always calm, collected, and really depicts what a young star should be. He should be doing more movies, like Emile Hirsh The rest of the cast is also exceptional, Drama is such a great big bro and although I really never liked E, he is starting to grow on me. I think his coming out moment was when he got in Billys grill in last seasons Medellin piece. Turtle is a great slacker best bro and Ari, who I have known for a while is the best agent in the biz. As a former UTA alum, Ari Gold is a mix between a bunch of guys who really believe that they are the stars and everyone else is just filler. One person I do miss from the mix is Debbie Mazur who really kicked it up a notch as the publicist and sometimes mother figure to Vinny and the boys. The first two episodes have been just what I expected, great fun for everyone. It was good to see Mark in tonights episode. One of my bros, Lukas Haas has been added to the mix which is great. Looks like its gonna be a great season.

Beautiful Day

As I sit in row 4 aboard flight 26 from Miami en route to Los Angeles listening to Anita Baker’s, “No One In The World”, I listen to each word as they flow eloquently off her lips. “Every time that I’m with someone…, I wanna run back to your arms again… Please take Me back… Nobody loves me like You Do…” ring out and hit a chord in me.

 

My trip back home to New York was fantastic, I took 16 of my cousins to the Mets game, saw the Yankees, saw a bunch of friends, met a girl and went to Little Italy in the ten days that I spent there. However, it was my enlightening experience in Miami that lead me to believe several things about myself and even more about others.

 

The phrase, ‘allow my self to introduce Myself ‘, are not as corny as they might sound.

 

Have you ever asked yourself “Who am I?” Have others ever told you – Who they think You are? Are You a friend? A foe? A lover, or a fighter?

 

I sit aboard this jumbo jet and I start to think about the people in my life. This has been a very tough year – mentally and emotionally. The money thing comes and goes but people – they can make or break you.

 

Have you ever sat down and pulled out a pen and pad and said to yourself, Who are my friends? Can I depend on them when times are rough; or are they just fairweather friends that you hear about in songs.

 

Every year I go through the same ritual. I take out my pad, or most recently, my cell phone and laptop and delete the people that have taken up my time, depleted my bank account and broken my heart. I erase the names from my screen so I can pretend not to think of them. Even though I try I can’t let go, I see the people in my dreams. Whether asleep or awake. But not anymore. I am tired of trying to work things out with people that don’t deserve my friendship, I am tired of talking to people that waste my time. I am tired of caring for people that don’t give a damn about me. I am tired of loving people that don’t deserve my effort. I am tired all the time.

 

I have spent the past few months connecting with my spiritual side, sort of. I have noticed an attachment to G-d that I feel really good about. I can no longer look at my friends and business associates as people who have let me down. I can no longer look at relationships that have failed, and complain to my friends and family that these women are all fucked up. I have no one to blame but myself. Trusting others to better my life – Forget it. Trust no one. Forget that too. Thats no way to live either.

 

I just spent 5 days with a woman I barely knew in a place I have never been. IslaMarada, Key Largo Florida The Moornings estate has to be one of the most romantic places on earth. There are hammocks that swing over the ocean, Palm trees that bend into the water(think Bruce Webber or Tommy Hilfiger ads.) My cottage called the TreeHouse was a private escape surrounded by palms and coconut trees with Mango and Papaya growing wildly all over. The resort was

a coconut plantation until recently and has housed the President and numerous celebrities, Mellencamp, Madonna, Brando, Pacino and Deniro to name a few. The sunsets were spectacular, the sunrises even more incredible. The most incredible thing about retreats is of course the people. Nobody on the island gave a shit about Prada and Gucci, cared about Rolexes and Cartier. Nobody cared if you Iced Out (Diamonds) your watch or drove a Bentley. What they did care about was each other. You see – I was there for a wedding. My Friend Jme and Ana Paula, are both Supermodels. Both Rich. Both Famous if you know the modeling business. Both- my friend.

 

As I look at the people who gathered to celebrate their wedding I cannot believe my eyes. This is not your typical event. Usually at weddings you see a lot of your parents friends. A lot of family you never met looking for a free meal and the wedding party looking for a score. Not here. Not my friends. First off, EVERY ONE there was gorgeous! Models after models came from all over the world to see my friend walk down the aisle. From London to Brazil I made new friends and learned more about what’s important than maybe ever before. My friend Jme, made the aisle in which he and his wife would walk with his bare hands. Out of bamboo, lined with roses and sunflowers, the eighty foot path to the ocean was spectacular. Each table had a fishbowl filled with water and sea shells they had both picked from the beach, with a sunflower inside. There were no tuxedos at this wedding. Ana wore an amazing white chiffon gown that flowed off her body so amazing I cannot describe it in words. Jme looked so handsome. There was no makeup artist, no craziness, They didn’t care about the nonsense. They cared about each other and the people with them. Thats it.

 

It was at that moment when I saw them walk down the path that I began to think about what really matters. Its not about what you have or where you live. Its about who you are and what your about. I look at the helplessness I feel sometimes because I cannot help my best friend as he fights a battle with Cancer, or my cousin as she faces the same fate. I get so angry that my business seems to never run as smooth as I’d hoped. Just as I think of all these tragedies I start to daydream, of my nephew and hearing his voice, or my brothers yelling at me for wearing their clothes or taking their cologne, or my dogs running through my house mud on their paws, jumping on my bed to kiss my face and at that moment I realize – This is my Life…

 

I cant say that I pray every day or go to temple on the regular, but I do thank G-d every day for allowing me to experience my nephew Jamie, my brothers Brian, Darren and Jonnie, my mom and dad, my cousins and all of my close friends. I thank him for giving me my dogs: Tango, Maddie and Shayna, Coco, Tribbbie and of course Butkus for they have brought me so much joy in my life. I am glad that I have loved, that I felt love and shared love with others. I have experienced a lot in my 35 years. One song constantly comes to mind when I think of my life: Bill Withers’, “Lovely Day” the words, “Then I look a You, and the worlds alright with me. Just One look at you – and I know its gonna be… A lovely day”

 

I hope I get married one day, have a family of my own, kiss my Wife as JME kissed his, tell her “You are the Sun, you are the Rain, that makes my life a foolish game… You need to know I love You so. And I’d do it all again and again.”

 .

 

 

Life Imitates Art

Have you ever heard the term life imitates art, or is it Art imitates life, whatever the case may be this weekend proved to be the former. As stated in previous realizations, I have decided to take a closer look at what really means what, and  more importantly, what matters to me. I went to the movies on Friday with a friend of mine and throughout the movie I watched my friend laugh hysterically at scenes that I really didn’t think were comical. As I probed deeper into the situation, I asked what the heck are you laughing at? “Look at his face”, referring to young William, also known as the Enemy. My friend was laughing at the stars face – the whole movie. As I watched, I started laughing at his face and found myself noticing his mannerisms and his actions much more intently than before. I couldn’t figure it out until the last scene of the movie, when young William interviews the star of the band Russell, in his room, on his own turf, surrounded by pics of his favorite people. The band.

 

The next day I went to a soccer game, it was about 80 degrees and there was pure adrenaline flying around the field. The players were kicking ass, all the fans surrounding the field were cheering them on. My buddy was freaking out because his friend had just scored two goals in the first half. I was drinking a beer and enjoying the game; my friend was playing the game even though he was on the sidelines watching with me. He was playing in his head, rooting on his buddy. Pass, Pass, Shoot. he yelled. As his eyes filled with excitement, I realized again what was going on. Did I miss it again, Was I too jaded to see what really matters. Again?

Nope. I looked at my buddy and said, “You like this huh? Why don’t you play.”

His reply was simple. I just like to watch Connor and Ryan. I’m a football, basketball, karate kid.

 

It was his friend Connor, and Ryan, that he was a fan of. It wasn’t the game as much as it was the kids playing the game. When we got back to Ryan and Connors house, we saw their mommy who is suffering from Cancer, her bald head a shock to me, I have always seen her with her beautiful chestnut brown hair. I can only imagine what he was feeling. When he saw the bald head he stood far away, his eyes wide open, speechless. His two friends stood by his side, explaining to him that their mommy is sick and she has a bad disease, and that the drugs make her hair fall out. I listened to these two babies explain Cancer to another baby.  My nephew listened, didn’t say a word and took it all in. Until we got in the car…

 

Are you OK, I asked. “Yeah” he said. Do you know what Cancer is? “Yep”, he replied.  Is she gonna be ok he said? “Yep”, I said.  And we started driving. We went to the lake and went fishing, tied some worms on our pole and spent the rest of the day at the lake with Ryan, Connor, and Tommy as their Mommy lay sleeping. Three hours later we still hadn’t caught a fish but you would never know it. The kids were rolling around on the grass playing and me and T talked the whole day.

 

Sunday was a different story. I woke up late, actually I watched a movie in bed, “Random Hearts”. It was a movie I passed up in the theaters but finally checked out on cable. The movie, about a man, Harrison Ford, and Woman, Kristen Scott Thomas who lose their spouses in a plane crash only to find out they were having an affair. The story seemed corny at first then I started getting into it. What if my girlfriend or wife was having a secret relationship. What if I get married one day and find out that my wife is cheating on me. Or even worse, has been cheating for years.

 

The problem is, I have cheated on my girlfriend before, and I have hurt people before. What hurts more, getting cheated on, or doing the cheating? I was in a relationship with a woman that I loved but couldn’t trust, I was in a relationship with a girl I trusted but wasn’t in Love. I was getting Married to a girl that I didn’t trust totally but loved incredibly. I always think to myself what if ?  What if I married my ex? Had children, a home with her, a life? What if.

 

I picked up my pal and went to see my brother in Santa Monica. When we got there he was tired from the night before and we were ready to go. All I wanted to do was hang with my little bro, take a walk down Montana and maybe grab a bite. My buddy wanted to play hoops and so did my bro. I left them and wandered the streets of Montana Ave, only to run into an ex-girlfriend who just got engaged to a guy she barely knows, a real bummer, and then drive home with my friend accusing me of being a cheater.

 

Now, when I confronted him on this he said, well, there’s Auntie Stacey Patti, Christie, Angie and Cindi. The last five years of my life, in one sentence. You see, the friend I was with all weekend was my nephew Jamie. A seven year old.

 

It was at that point that I realized my second realization in just a few weeks. What I am and what Jamie is, – A fan.

 

A fan of movies, a fan of music a fan of sport, but more importantly, a fan of people. It was the innocence of young William in “Almost Famous” that was exciting to my Jamie. The courage and friendship of Ryan and Connor his two pals make him a Fan of them. And the girls of my past – Jamie is a fan of theirs. They touched his life somehow and he was a fan. I thought about all this on my way to work this morning. My 45 minute drive put me in traffic only to find a beautiful girl beside me in a white truck. As she began to wave I realized it was Lori, Patti’s sister telling me that Patti is leaving her 3rd husband and I should give her a call. I’ve seen this movie before I kept telling myself, Do I call. Do I check in? Forgettaboutit. I am moving on. My brothers have been calling me the Archeologist for years. Digging up old bones. No more – Call me the Explorer. I will go where no man has gone before.

 

Jamie says my mom tells him he is a mixture of all of us Forster boys, a little Jonnie – his smarts, Brian – his build, Darren – his temper and Me. He never tells me what part of me he is, but I know he knows…

 

 

 

The Worst MTV AWARDS EVER

Its amazing how much this show has fallen off in the past 25 years. I remember how cool it was. I was just graduating High School and the channel was getting ready to launch. The Moon Man was everywhere. People really didnt know what MTV was until Prince and Madonna showed up and real stars with talent embraced the network. Now its a bunch of bullshit wanna be poptarts, pregnant kids who tune into TMZ,and would rather talk about Britney and Lindsey than music. I haven’t seen a great video on MTV since Jeremy or Enter Sandman. I keep on trying to figure out why they dont show video anymore and the reason may seem kind of funny, but the reality is they cant compete- With YOUTUBE. Thats right. They have no way to compete. With YouTUBE you get over 9000 hrs of video per day. And its targeted to specific audiences. Not mass appeal but focused, really targeted videos. If you want to see cars – you got it. If you want to see it backed up by strippers – You got it. Wanna see a Michael Jackson Thriller video animated with Animals dancing – You got it. Now instead of Videos you get reality TV, Gossip shows and a bunch of Bullshit.  Truth is, they won the battle but lost the war. 

I saw Britney tonight in her shimmery dress. I thought she looked quite Plump actually. I thought Katy Perry looked cute and giving Brit the award was a joke. Probably was owed for her wack performance a few years back. You know all these shows are rigged. Its a known fact. You perform on Grammys – you get a Grammy. Perform on AMA’s you get an AMA. Thats why there is always a major debate on which show to do. The best of all the award shows has always been People’s Choice Awards. You get the best of everything.  I think MTV should put a fork in it and change the Entire format of the station to ALL Video all the time. Make the Reality stuff its own channel, and bring back the news and a real reporting team to get back in to the music business. I also suggest moving the Award Show to Miami and make it a weekend thing. Its the only place you can really do it right. Keep it all on the beach. One Street and Let the whole place rock for a weekend.  And please for the love of G-d, get someone to host the fucking show. That guy although very smart and witty, could not command a stage at all. There was no laughter, no delivery, and no interaction whatsoever. It looked like a school play. A bad one at that. Oh look at that, Its time for Entourage. Saved by Vinny Chase and Drama. Thanks HBO for always keeping up your standards of excellence.