Instrumental Intel - Ep 15 The Music Business: A Veteran's Perspective with Fabian James (8-10-24)

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Achickwitbeatz presents ⁠the Instrumental Intel podcast⁠, bringing you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news & tips, insights & interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm EST on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠.
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Instrumental Intel Podcast

Achickwitbeatz brings you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news, insights, interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm ET on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio,⁠⁠⁠ Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠, and your favorite podcast platform.

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Transcript Generated by Riverside

00:00

Hey, thank you for tuning in to Instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz, and I'm thrilled to be bringing this episode to you today. I've got beats produced by me for your inspiration. I've got a little bit of a rundown of what's been happening in the music biz. And later, my special guest will be joining me, Fabian James. He is a veteran in the industry on both the business and creative side, so it's going to be a good time. And so, you know, before I get ready to get all the way into it,

00:30

Gotta give a shout out to my home station, Grander Radio, out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And with that, let's go!

12:21

All right, I'm back with the music biz brief. First up, Warner Music Group is restructuring its recorded music operations. So Max Lousada, the CEO of Recorded Music, will step down at the end of September and transition into an advisory role until January of 2025. Elliot Grainge, the founder of 10K Projects, who also happens to be the son of Lucien Grainge at Universal, will become the CEO of the new Atlantic Music Group, overseeing Atlantic Records,

12:51

projects. Julie Greenwald, who was initially appointed the chairman of Atlantic Music Group, will depart by January 2025 after 20 years with the company. Warner Records will now also include Warner Music Nashville, Nonesuch, and Reprise. This restructuring aims to create a flatter global organization with regional leaders reporting directly to Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl.

13:15

So the overhaul follows Warner's announcement of 600 layoffs, representing 10% of its global workforce to be completed by September 2024. And speaking of Warner Music Group, they've also announced their financial results for the quarter ending June 30th, 2024.

13:31

The company reported total revenues of $1.554 billion, marking a 3.1% year-over-year increase when excluding certain impacts. Recorded music revenue hit $1.251 billion with the streaming revenue growing by 10.2% to $863 million which was driven by artists like Dua Lipa and Twenty One Pilots and so forth. Warner Chappell Music's publishing revenue also rose by 11.7% to $305 million.

14:01

increased to $141 million thanks to strong streaming performance and effective cost management, which includes some of those cuts that we were just talking about. CEO Robert Kyncl highlighted the company's focus on artist development and future growth.

14:15

We'll see exactly how that pans out. Next up, Sirius XM's second quarter results are in. Revenue dipped 3% to $2.18 billion, but net income edged up to $316 million. Despite losing 100,000 self-pay subscribers, total subscribers grew 2% to $33 million, and advertising revenue jumped 10% from the first quarter. The churn rate remained steady at 1.5%, showing resilience amid the shifts.

14:43

Also an interesting tidbit, Irving Azoff's Iconic Artist Group and LL Cool J's Rock the Bells have partnered with Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA to expand the Wu-Tang brand. This deal aims to preserve the group's legacy and attract new fans covering their music catalog including iconic albums like Enter the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers, Wu-Tang Forever, and The W. The partnership will also explore opportunities in film, TV, merchandise, and brand collaborations, including a project with Nike.

15:13

from legendary status to iconic status, ensuring Wu-Tang's influence endures for future generations. What a beautiful thing. Alright, and it's no surprise numerous artists and rights holder groups are back in the No Fakes Act, a new bipartisan bill introduced in the US Senate on July 31st to combat AI deepfakes. Introduced by multiple senators, the act would establish federal property rights for individuals' voices and likenesses, protecting it against unauthorized AI-generated content.

15:41

All three major labels endorse the legislation, and with provisions for deceased individuals and exceptions for news and parody, the bill is seen as vital for safeguarding creators' rights in the AI era.

15:53

Alright, next up, the MLC has partnered with fraud detection company, Beatdapp, to enhance its streaming fraud detection capabilities. This collaboration aims to ensure accurate and timely royalty payments to songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers in the US. Andrew Mitchell of the MLC highlighted their ongoing commitment to protecting members, while Beatdapp CEO praised the partnership for tackling the evolving issue of streaming fraud.

16:18

Also in industry news, a British startup called Bluejay Technologies is suing Spotify for patent infringement over Spotify's remote group session and jam features. Bluejay claims it shared detailed presentation with Spotify back in 2018 during business discussions.

16:33

Spotify introduced the remote group session in 2020 and Jam in 2023. Bluejay was awarded a patent for its system for streaming in April of 2023 and is now pursuing legal action. Spotify has not yet commented on the lawsuit. Okay, Apple and Amazon have announced their latest financial results. Both companies reported significant growth in their services division, which includes their music businesses.

16:58

Apple saw a 4.9% year-over-year increase to $85.78 billion in the second quarter, while Amazon's revenues grew 10.1% to $147.98 billion. Apple services revenues increased by 14.1% to $24.21 billion, and Amazon subscription services rose 17% to $9.66 billion.

17:20

However, neither company provide a new figure specifically for their music streaming businesses. So hopefully some of the music industry insiders will do an investigative breakdown and if they do I'll be sure to share it with you. Alright, and this one specifically for the listeners. In Africa, the Music Business Academy for Africa is launching its fifth edition in September 2024.

17:41

It's running nine months under the theme ‘A Music Industry Ecosystem’. The program is supported by The Orchard and Music Ally and it aims to equip aspiring music industry professionals and artists across Africa. New this year are French and Swahili translations to reach more students. Since 2020, over 1,000 participants have graduated from the program and registration ends September 29th. So if you're eligible, make sure that you get in there before the dates up.

18:08

Alright, and finally, Paris-based music company Believe has fully acquired Turkey's largest independent label, Dogan Music Company.

18:16

After initially acquiring a 60% stake in 2020, Believe has now purchased the remaining 40% for 38.3 million euros, which is about $41.8 million. This acquisition is part of a Believe strategy to expand globally, with recent investments also including a 25% stake in Romania's global records. The Believe CEO has stated that they aim to spend somewhere between 200 to 300 million

18:46

UK, and Japan. So obviously they are well on their way and definitely keep you posted with the happenings there. All right and that does it for the music biz brief for this week. I'm going to take a quick pause for the cause and then I'll be back with my special guest Fabian James to give his perspective on the music business from both the creative and business side and it's going to be a great time so keep it locked.

27:20

Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz, multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit achickwitbeatz.com for resources for artists and instrumentals in various genres available for songs, blogs, blogs, podcasts, themes, TV, film, commercials, and more. Once again, that's achickwitbeatz.com. That's A-C-H-I-C-K-W-I-T-B-E-A-T-Z.com Let's make something happen.

27:50

Thank you so much for tuning in to instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz. And I am excited to say that I have with me in the virtual building today. Fabian, I mean, you just multi-talented. You got a lot of stuff going on. So like, I don't want to kind of pigeonhole you with the introduction, but from being a music artist to management and all the administration of all these different aspects of the music business.

28:18

If you could, you know, first of all, welcome to the show, but tell people a little bit about your background and how you got into music. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Thank you for allowing me on your platform. Uh, no, it ain't, it ain't pigeonholed that cause you know, I'm a man of many talents, Swiss army knife, uh, I dedicate myself to that, uh, you know, to that name and, and, and what that means and what it carries in it. So, uh, I'll be brief. I run my resume down a little bit. Um, you know, like.

28:47

You know, like the Queen said, Grammy nominated, singer songwriter and arranger. Started out as an artist, you know, started, you know, my background is similar to a lot of people. Started in the church, my mom didn't know I could sing until I was seven. It was, I'm gonna be telling my age a little bit, but you know, it used to be a video show that used to come on television called The Box.

29:16

And, you know, Janet Jackson, I was always a big fan of the Jackson family completely. So, you know, Michael is of course on my top five, my mouth rush more, but Janet was always somebody who music got listened to as well. For some strange reason, I was always drawn to female artists for some reason. So and she was one of them. She was definitely one of them. Phyllis Hyman is the other one, but getting back to the story. Her song Control was on the box, her video.

29:46

for the song control and I'm singing it with her word for word. Uh, hadn't wrote it down, just memorize it by watching the video a thousand times. My mom coming to the living room cause I was supposed to be cleaning up and she like, boy, turn that television down, uh, and clean up and do what I said. But she came in and noticed that the TV wasn't even up that loud. So what she was hearing and who she thought was Janet Jackson was actually me singing. Yeah. Crazy, right? I mean, I'm, you know, hitting her notes and all kinds of stuff like that. So it is crazy. So.

30:15

From there, my mom was a very good singer as well. She made her transition, she was doing a lot of gospel music, but she started out singing in lounges. And that's actually where she met my dad at, who was also part of a band at the time. He could hold the note as well, but he was more of an instrumentalist. He wasn't necessarily a vocalist or whatever. So that's what they met. But once she found out I could sing, she started...

30:43

you know, teaching me some things, teaching me how she go about doing things, her preparation for it, and to kind of introduce me to being able to perform in front of people. She started having me do verses with her because she would lead her church choir. So what she would do is she would teach me the songs that she would lead. And from time to time, she would have me come up there and either do a second verse or the bridge with her or harmonies and stuff like that to kind of get me used to being in front of people when I perform and stuff like that.

31:12

basically grew me very young. Went from that to, of course, you know, like everybody else, you do the group thing in grammar school, you do talent shows in high school and things like that. Going to, you know, high school, I met a lot of talented people in my life. My mentor to this day, Mr. David Yokely, who graduated out of Grambling University, his beautiful mother, Queen Yokely, his brother, Will, who's outstanding on the music side.

31:42

drums all that kind of stuff just like Mr. Yokely is so from there I met a lot of people in school and one of the person people I met was Kendall Nesbitt who's also Grammy nominated he you know is keyboard wizard you know I'm saying and I feel like he's kind of a prodigy because he plays the keyboard he's an instrumentalist to the to the highest degree but he's not musically he's not trained he didn't go to school for nothing and stuff this was just he sat at a piano one day and

32:10

He saw what another pianist was doing, so he copied. So it was just natural to him. But going off of him, he got an interview with Robert Kelly, R. Kelly, you know, artist, legend, icon, you know what I'm saying, you know, that comes out of the city of Chicago. So he was hired on to work with R. Kelly in the Chocolate Factory, his studio group, his producers and engineers and stuff like that.

32:39

Me and Kendall was very close. We was actually in a group together. So that once again, the group concept or whatever. So, man, it was very close to what not. So from time to time when he would go to the studio to work on things, to work on projects that Rob had going on and what he was doing, I would come with him. So one day I'm in there, Kendall's doing this thing on the keyboard. I'm singing some things. Rob comes out of the room where he was at. And he's like, who in here singing?

33:08

And you know, for all intents and purposes, we're gonna keep it real. We're gonna keep it real on the show. We will keep it real for a second. So, you know, when I, when, you know, he had a lot of yes men around. So I'm saying that to say this, when he said that everybody automatically, like, like, like soldiers in the army pointed at me, like they was going to get in trouble for not telling them who was singing. But anyway, um, you know, crazy. Wow. Anyway, so I love Rob mos def. Uh, you know, he, he look over at me and he, you know,

33:39

This fat Ian right here, he's singing. So you know everybody got to laugh and stuff like that. I'm, you know, a little dejected, but at the same time what, you know, he turned around and was like, okay, sing something else. So I did. And what I sung was, and this was again, this was strategic in me doing this. Not only did I sing one of his songs, I sung a, and again, this was showing my age, because back in my day when music came out, it came out on tapes, it didn't come out on.

34:06

You couldn't download it. It wasn't on Spotify, or all them other places, and all that kind of stuff, Apple Music and stuff. So we had to go buy the tapes. And given my upbringing or whatever situation is, I brought the bootleg tapes out of the gas station. I couldn't afford to re-upload them. I got the $5.00 joints, not the $15.00. But anyway, yeah, so I sung one of his B-side songs. I sung a song called For You, which was off...

34:37

I believe it was the Born Into the 90s album. Either the Born Into the 90s album or the 12 play. I wanna say the Born Into the 90s album. I believe you're right. His own 12 play. Yeah, so I sung that for him. So Rob is, he's a machine. So his whole thing is, yeah, that's good. You sounded pretty good. You didn't hit that note there, you didn't hit that note right there, but you still sing something else. I sung another tune.

35:01

And then when he told me to sing again, I hit him with the, Your Body's Calling, which is a song that's very, you know, that was one of the, one of his top songs when he first came out the gate, he came out swinging with that record. So from there, um, he kept me around for one, but then he allowed me to assist Kendall on working on his 1997, uh, double CD project called Rated R. Um, which in return, thus got me my Grammy nomination. So, uh,

35:30

So, you know, for doing work on there. So, so that's, that, that solidifies the Grammy nomination thing. Uh, going from there to work with him. Then, uh, I went off to do background singing for Dave Hollister for three years. Uh, which was very fun. That was, that was, that was crazy. Another shot town artist, you know, and, and luckily for me, I was blessed and gifted with the opportunity to work with artists that was in the same city as mine. And, you know, work with artists from other places was dope too. And I got a chance to do that.

36:00

But to set my foundation with people that come from the same background as me, so they understood the same struggle. I think that that locked me in even more and made me more ambitious to be what it is that I wanted to be. Uh, but by me being so young, you know, you're young and dumb. So with that, uh, being the case, I was offered an opportunity by a Blackground Records that was ran at that time by, uh, Timbaland, uh, to be a background singer.

36:30

And I was offered a seven-year contract to be a background singer But like I say young and dumb, you know, I'll do background for a year or so But other than that, I you know saying I want to be in the spotlight I want I want the girls clamoring for me, you know I'm saying I want to have you all that kind of stuff like that And like I say when you being young and dumb, you don't understand that One of your idols Fabian Luther Vandross started out as a background singer for Bette Midler He didn't come out of it

37:00

You know what I'm saying? It's a lot of artists that I mean Marvin Gaye who is who is one of one on my on my billboard Oh my Mount Rushmore he was doing everything from you know being a chauffeur for the Jackson 5 to Being a backup drummer for Smokie Robinson and Stevie Wonder and Motown, you know, I'm saying Looked his way You see what I'm saying? So thank you Queen. So that's what I'm saying. Like he was doing everything he was

37:27

He's literally the driver that was picking the Jackson 5 up from the airport. You know what I'm saying? He was one of them dudes and it wasn't no, I'm too big to do that or whatever situation is Motown, you know, for, you know, whatever business practices that people felt like they was doing or wasn't doing back in the day, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the purity of the art form that is music. And when it comes to Motown, it was so many superstars in that building, Queen. Like, you know, the, the, the Supremes, the, the temptations and of course, those are the biggest names that known, but.

37:56

The Marvelettes, you know, of course Smokey, you know, of course, the four tops. Yeah, Rick James. You know what I'm saying? Man, Rick James came through that like a ball of fire. You know what I'm saying? Ebony Eyes is one of my all time favorite songs. You know what I'm saying? That he did with Smokey Robinson. So, like I said, me being young and dumb, that crushed the opportunity for me because had I signed the contract, I would have been flown out to be on what I didn't know at the time, but later on found out.

38:25

what would have been Aaliyah's final album. So that was gonna happen, doing background on that project. And it also would have gave me opportunity, even though I met him a little bit further down the line in my career, it would have gave me opportunity to meet Tank because Tank was on that record, on the project as well. So that would have gave me a chance to work with Aaliyah, who was a legend in and of herself, get a chance to, you know, collab with her before she made her untimely transition. And then also,

38:52

build more where I ain't no telling where I would have been. You know what I'm saying? Getting to know Tank from the ground floor. You see what I'm saying? That would have been so dope. But like I said, I got a chance to meet him a couple of other times when he came here to Chicago with the R&B concert that was at the Wintrust Arena. I got a chance to chop it up with him there. Shout out to Tank on that. But yeah, so missed out on that opportunity. Still want to be a solo singer, but throughout the course of the way.

39:20

I got wind of Maxwell. I got wind of the Erykah Badu's. I got the wind of listening to The Roots and Dwele and stuff like that. And it got me to feeling like, okay, what type of music is this? This ain't the typical R&B music. This some music that got traces of gospel in it. So what is it? And when they hit me with the title of a Neo Soul, I was like, Lord have mercy. I got my whole writing style, I gotta change it up. So.

39:49

I switched over to that, switched over to doing that, came out with a stepping song called Step With Me. I had my little brother, somebody that I'd known since he was a young man, Shaquille on it doing a rap or whatnot, came out with that. Got to doing a few shows in Detroit, opened up for K’jon, opened up for Brian McKnight, opened up for the Gap Band, the Billikin Parade, Dru Hill, Tank. So that was the right, you know.

40:18

full circle for opening up the tank at the Bud Billiken Parade, the after the concert that they used to have after the Bud Billiken Parade. They don't do that no more. But at the Bud Billiken Parade, like when it was finished, they would always have like concerts at Washington Park. So that's how I got a chance to open up for a lot of them as well. So left the music alone, had a bad scenario with management. So I sat down with my beautiful wife, Rebecca. Shout out to Rebecca who's listening.

40:45

or who is listening right now. You know what I'm saying? I love her to death. She's my everything. But yeah, so I sat down and I talked with her and I told her like, you know, you know, I'm not gonna get into details with management dad. He wasn't being a manager to me. So I pretty much sat down and I told, I asked my wife, what should I do? You know, should I keep doing this? She was like, you know, whatever you do, I support you 110%. So from there, I left music alone.

41:12

for a while, for a few years as a matter of fact. Of course I was singing in the shower and while I'm washing dishes and stuff like that, but not trying to really do anything. Then of course family came knocking on the door, Queen, in the form of my young cousin, Devo Luciano, who was a dope artist in every single solitary way. Me and him had a conversation on the phone and in that conversation,

41:39

He told me things that I didn't even really know was going on. And one thing was he was telling me about the times where he used to be, you know, at his grandma's house, which my Auntie Jenny, God rest her soul. And he used to see me come in because I used to, you know, have, you know, a few of my, you know, performance clothes and stuff like that at her house and stuff like that. Don't ask me why I used to have my clothes at everybody's house, all, all different families, how do you know I had my own spot? But anyway, he said he would, he would love to see me come in and talk to his grandma.

42:08

and go get one of my suits or clothes that I had and cleaners and whatnot, to clean up plastic and all that kind of stuff and leave out. And because I had a background gig to do here, I had a performance to do that and stuff like that. He was like, he would just love to see how, you know, that was the closest he had been to seeing somebody that was actually doing something like that on a regular basis. And he was proud of the fact that he could sit back and say, you know, this is my blood that's doing this. So.

42:36

I was one of the factors that inspired him into getting into music, but I wasn't the term factor, but still I played a part in that, so I took account of that. He had started getting some situations coming his way from some major record labels, and he just wanted my advice on it because he knew I was kind of in it. In the midst of me taking a break from doing the thing as an artist, I also went to Columbia College. I know I'm jumping all over the place, but I'm going to try to stay on course with this. So I graduated from Columbia College in 2005.

43:05

My major was music, obviously, vocal performance, but my minor was in business management. So I always had an idea and a thought that when I stopped doing the artist thing, I would always delve behind the curtain, which is something that my mentor, Mr. Yokely, had always told me about. You know, Fabe, one of the best gifts I ever received was from him on my birthday when he gave me a book called Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business. He said, Fabe, you have a beautiful voice. I think you are really gonna be a dominant singer if you choose to and if you work hard at it.

43:35

But at the same time, I never want you to be in a situation where you ask yourself, what if because of a contract that you signed that you didn't fully thoroughly know anything up. So I want you to know everything about the industry. You know about the writing, you know about the arrangements, you know about the fun stuff. Now you need to learn about the business of it now, because at the end of the day, it's music business and then it's just music. So. And me being, you know, learning the management things I took on a couple of artists and whatnot, but.

44:02

One of my biggest clients that I had is my big brother, who I love to death. He was actually one of the groomsmen in my, in my wedding, uh, DJ Reese and uh, DJ Reese is, is well renowned and well known as, uh, one of the first people that discovered, uh, shout out known once again, superstar tank. And right now currently he is her official DJ and he's on tour with her now as she's on the, uh, the butterfly tour with a Jhené Iko.

44:31

I believe in Coi Leray. So Reese is currently on that tour as well. So he's, he's been our DJ ever since the beginning, even when she was with temple and four men and stuff like that. He was one of the people, first people that discovered her. You know what I'm saying? When she was 16 years old and they'd been rocking together ever since. And he was also a DJ for God rest his soul King Von when King Von first came out. But also before that, he was also the official DJ for Lil Durk. So he's, he's been around, but.

44:59

He tells everybody, whoever wants to hear it, whoever don't want to hear it. My first manager was Fabian. You know, he was the guy that would make sure I would be prepared for every club that we had to DJ at. He was the person that would talk to the promoters and let the promoters know what they needed me to do, what slot I needed to be in while I'm sleeping. He downloaded music online while getting ready for him to go out and DJ that night. You know what I'm saying?

45:22

making sure he got his white tees in his Fiji water, you know what I'm saying? So, you know, he, you know, so, you know, the management thing. So, but like I said, my cousin being like me, very studious and paying attention to things and not letting you know what it is he's doing. He's watching all of this from afar, because at this point he's in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He's not even in Chicago no more. And through internet, he's paying attention to all my moves with Reese and everything, paying attention to Reese, keeping up with what Reese's doing and stuff like that. So to get back to that story.

45:51

He wanted me to start giving him some advice on some things. I started doing it. We started having conversations about things. He was doing what he wanted to do for his family. When if something breaks for him and things like that, and I was giving him my ideas and thoughts on that. And then, um, he asked me, you know, would you mind kind of coming out of retirement, at least being a role manager, something, you know, saying, you don't necessarily have to deal with the day to day, you just deal with the, you know, once I do the shows and stuff like that. Uh, I made the decision to do that.

46:21

And in me doing that, and I told him this and I thanked him for this because what I'm about to get to right now is because of him. So that's the reason why I'm bringing this story up and me doing this for him and dealing with the day to day business with him and doing the social media stuff, learning new things about social media and educating myself some of the things. And the amount of reach that social media can get for you as an artist, as a creator, as a, you know, podcast and things like that. It made me want to kind of get back into the field and create my own imprint. So.

46:51

but not as an artist anymore. I was so intrigued about the things that was going on behind the scenes. And to a person that don't really have a true passion to it, it does come across as work. But for me, having such a love for it, I'm capable of doing a lot of things, Queen. But if you were to hold the gun to my head and ask me, what am I best at? Anything that I tell you is going to fall directly back into the art form that is music. That's really all I really know. I don't really know anything else.

47:19

You know, I know music before I can, no communication. I know music before I know fashion. I know music before I know feeding myself. So I just always want to be around it. I always want to be in it. I'm downloading songs right before I got on the interview with you, so it's always about music. You know what I'm saying with me? So, but I wanted to be a conglomerate that was, for one, did something that my manager didn't do for me, which was protect the artist first and foremost.

47:46

But then I also wanted it to be a hub where a bunch of artists can come together and work as a team. Because that's one of the biggest knocks on artists here in Chicago. Everybody's egotistical. They don't know how to work together. But now with me, I have my client staff is at 12 now and all of them rock with each other. There's no egos. There's no.

48:11

where you're paying more attention to this person that you do me or nothing like that. Everybody roots for everybody. Everybody cheers for everybody. Everybody knows everybody's birthday. Everybody celebrates what's going on and things like that. So, thus with all of that, for that hour and a half sermon, that brings me to what it is that I'm doing now, which is DDS, which is my management company, which is affiliated through my partnership with my brother, my business partner, where I'm nominated award winning.

48:41

uh, singer songwriter, philanthropist, uh, John Hill, Dr. John Hill, I might say, who also comes from the R Kelly tree as well. Uh, he linked up with R Kelly straight out of high school as well in 2005. And he's responsible for writing hits pregnant with R Kelly. Uh, he co-wrote Sex in the Kitchen for Rob. Uh, he's produced for 50 Cent, Julez, Juelz Santana. He wrote “Sexy Can I”, uh, for Young Bird and Ray J. So.

49:07

I've just been sitting, like I say, you know, you're in a spot that you're the most comfortable at. God's put the things in place for you to elevate. And he linked me with this brother and it's been, it's been on like popcorn. I know I sound old, Lord have mercy. But it really, real talk, it's been on like popcorn ever since. We've, through that company, we are now the official managers for the group Jade, the group, the R&B group from the nineties.

49:37

Uh, so we're the official manager. So you, you know, you want to book Jade, you got to talk to either myself or John. Um, I was just thinking about them the other day. Cause I saw that there is a Australian singer. I think that's the same name. And I'm like, no, we already got a Jade. But yeah, exactly. Exactly. And coincidentally, they're actually out there in Italy now. They're on tour out there in Italy now doing some things. So yeah, so they, they still, and what's so crazy queen, they just switched up, they style a little bit now they're into house.

50:06

So they did a C.C. Peniston. They switched over to the house music and they booked them busy. They booked them busy. Like we're always getting you know emails and things like that. You know what's the price and all this kind of stuff like that. So yeah, business is booming with Jay. Like they're never in the country and I'm not even bragging. They're never here. Like they're always somewhere outside of the country. So again we've wrote and submitted songs to Chris Brown. We've wrote for Keith Sweat.

50:36

My brother, my big brother, like I can call him on the phone right now and he'll be like, what's going on, Fab, you cool? How your wife doing? Uh, Jimmy Gates from the group Silk. Um, we've been, we've been them because they're, they're, they're back in the studio. They're back working on some things. Uh, next. Uh, so we, you know, we've been working, we've been working at it. So I'm blessed. I'm blessed. But, uh, my voice is starting to, I'm starting to lose my voice. So I'm going to stop talking.

51:01

Cause I know I hit you with a lot in like five minutes, but yeah. So, yeah, I mean, yeah, it was incredible. Everything that you shared. And there's one thing that kind of stuck out to me about how you mentioned you had this opportunity when you were young and you passed on it, but yet everything still kind of came around full circle. So a lot of times, you know, there's artists listening and when they realize a missed opportunity, it can kind of, you know, like stunt their growth, you know, and just kind of harp on it.

51:30

What advice do you have to offer anybody listening right now to keep pushing through? And, you know, cause you still got everything that you were supposed to get eventually. Yeah. Yeah, I have. I have. Uh, first off, I want to say, uh, as, as to what you're saying about the opportunity that I missed, God do bless fools and babies. That's, that's what I didn't know. If I didn't know it then I know it then now, but also to artists, um, if I could give any advice to the artists that's listening out there right now.

52:00

What I would say to them is first off, never undervalue yourself for one, but at the same time. I think, and first off, Queen, I thank you so much, but I feel like the reason why I was eventually able to get the things that I was able to get, even though I made what was a mistake back then is because of one simple thing and one simple thing. I removed my ego out of my mindset.

52:27

Because, and that's the reason why even though I took a long time to go down the block and around the corner, I was saying all that to try to build to what ultimately what it was I was trying to say. I took that opportunity down because I felt like it was too long for me to be singing behind somebody because of my ego. I'm like, first of all, with the voice that I got and the crowd reaction that I get, I'll do the background thing and whatnot just to get my name out there to see if I can lock in something with this label. But other than that, I'm ready to go.

52:57

You know, it's nowhere near now, but I'm talking about, you know what I'm saying, nice little mustache coming in and I wouldn't say a six pack, but a four pack, but you know what I'm saying, I'm ready to let people see it. It was ego. Because anything other than ego would have been like, I have this man whose we know what Timbaland is. You are genius yourself in that field, so you already know what this cat is.

53:22

Yeah. And I'm telling him no. That's what I like. When else could it be, Queen? I mean, me and you have been friends for a while. You can keep it 100 with me. That was dumb. There was no way I got that table, walked out of there with my head hell, how talking about it. Yeah, I showed them what? Oh, the what? Yeah, I think. Yeah, so.

53:44

Yeah, I think a lot of people kind of have those moments, you know, maybe not that huge, but you know, some small ones where it's like, dang, I should have took that. You know, they say hindsight's 20-20. But sometimes when you look back, you're like, no, I should have seen that then too. But yeah. Yeah. And being humble, you know, you follow me on social media, you say, I post that a lot now. And everybody, why you always doing that? Because trust me, people need humility. They need to look in the mirror and say, you know what?

54:13

You're blessed for that same time. You're blessed because of this, not because of that. And it's just, yeah, I was able to achieve some things. I am tremendously blessed. I have, I married a woman that I fell in love with the first time I laid eyes on her. That's a blessing in and of itself. I have six beautiful kids that are very healthy. That is, you know, even though this world is so cruel and so, you know what I'm saying? So hate it. They're making it happen every single day.

54:40

And through those, those kids being productive and, and, and doing the best possible job that can, they blessed me and my wife with two grandkids who are beautiful and healthy and a blessing in and of itself. But at the same time, I had to put a lot of things in perspective in order for me to receive these blessings. You know, I had to know where my blessings was coming from and I had to understand and know that.

55:06

every opportunity that's brought to your place and yeah, some opportunities are good and some opportunities are bad, but at the same time you have to evaluate everything. You can't be quick to say no. It's easy to say no to things. You know, the pops cannot know. The mom can know. It's easy to say that. You know what I'm saying? It's hard for you to say yes, but if you do say yes, evaluate every possible aspect of it before you say yes and then ask yourself this question, why am I saying yes to this? And why am I being...

55:35

And me missing out on that opportunity was my ego. I was ready to be, I was ready to open up for her, but not be her background singer. And that was ego, you know, because I really beat myself up about that. You know what I'm saying? But you know, you, you got to take it and go because it is what it is, but it's like, you just got to look at everything as an opportunity and never feel like you're too big or too small. I had a person reach out to me a couple of days ago, coincidentally, for a hosting gig. Cause I've hosted a couple of things for my artists as well, a couple of events.

56:05

And they're like, you know, we don't really got a lot of money and you know, we're going to have it at a, at an arcade place and stuff like that. And you know, you grab me now I'm there to see the brother look.

56:16

My time is valuable, yes. But at the same time, because of the fact you told me what it is that you wanna do and what you're trying to do and what the benefit of it is, let's talk about it. That's what's up. Whereas some people will be like, arcade. You want me to do what? 12 million dollars. You know what I'm saying? So you know, I'm like, man, you know, you gotta be, you got, I'm willing to talk to the janitor as well as the CEO.

56:45

and everything in between. There's not a conversation I'm not willing to have as long as you got some sense. And even if you don't got some sense, I'm educated enough in my vocabulary to understand what it is you're trying to say and we can still try to work something out. And that comes with time, that comes with time, that comes with age, and that comes with removing your ego. Ego stands for me, ego stands for ‘ease God ou’t. I'll never do that. Ooh, ooh. Yeah, man, I need an air horn behind that.

57:13

That's a gem right there. Bim, bim, bim, bim, bim. Right. You're doing the count wrong. Yeah. So OK, our time is close to running out. But I hope that this is the first thing. Yeah, that's a spell on. It's all good. Those are valuable gems, jewels. But before we.

57:36

Close this out, I want to make sure that everybody knows where to follow you. And I hope that this is just the first of many to have you back so we can continue the conversation again. Oh, absolutely. As you can see, I got a lot of air. So whenever you need me, whenever, you know, whenever you, you know, you feel like you need to just get your ears bled, you know, just hit me up. Hey, I need you for one more time. I'm starting to hear a little bit in this left ear, so I need you to talk the air drum again, but anyway, uh, on all social media, uh,

58:04

On Facebook, Fabian R. James, Sr., on Instagram, Fabian James DDS. You could just punch it up or you could punch up team John Hill Corp. I'm on the corporate page. I'm actually the president of that company as well. And we'll talk about that in a couple of more episodes or whatever. I get into that cause that's, that's conglomerate end of the sub. But yes, you can punch me up on that. On Instagram, Fabian, Fabo DDS.

58:32

Uh, things like that. Uh, Snapchat pretty much all about social media is pretty much the same. So shoot me a DM, you know, my artists is on there. I put my artists all the time. We want to do something. If you want to do some type of business or whatever, or a situation like this, just have me come chill and vibe with you and talk your ear off. Just hit me up on social media. We can chop it up. All right. This was up. So yes, I will be in touch because we got to have a part two.

58:55

Cause yeah, this was just so jam packed with information. And I know you got a lot of stories and stuff to tell that could be beneficial for, you know, the listeners. So yeah, we definitely, yeah, definitely got to do this again. So yeah, this is just part one and a part two will be coming soonish, hopefully. Right. We'll work it out. Don't even worry about it. I got you. Well, thank you so much for your time out of your busy schedule. I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to next time.

59:25

All right, absolutely. Thank you, Queen. Appreciate you. Peace. All right, and that does it for this episode of Instrumental Intel. I've been your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz. I want to thank my guests, Fabian James, for coming in to share his information, his experience and wisdom with us. And next week, an artist that he manages, Alexandria B, will be joining me, so make sure that you come back for that. I want to thank you for listening. I want to thank my home station, Grander Radio, out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

59:54

So till next time, you know where to find me. Tune in, tell a friend. I'll see you then. Peace.