Rock Solid Entertainment

   By
Black Jac

What’s  
happening
General? How’s it
going man ? Give
our readers some
info on yourself  
and your company,  
Rock Solid  
Entertainment.
We’re an indepen -  
dent label, locally,
out of Nashville. I
was born in  
Cleveland, Ohio and
raised in California. I moved here to Nashville  
because my mother is originally from here. I have
family here. I started out djing at an early age. My
uncle had his own record label in Long Beach,
California. I use to go to his company quite a bit. He
would teach me a little bit about the music business.
I really wouldn’t get into the business side of it, until
later on. What kind of label did your uncle own ? I
was young. So I can’t really remember the name of  
the label. I do remember this one cut that he put out.  
It  was kinda big. U remember the song “Two Of
Hearts” ? Yeah ! Suge Crawley was his name. The
chick that did that song was his biggest artist. She
went nationwide. I can’t remember her name.  What’s
kept u in Nashville, and stopped u from going
back to L.A. ?  There’s so much competition and too  
much politicing going on back in L.A.  What’s the
rap music scene like, in Nashville ? We got quite
a few independent labels here. I deal with a lot of em.
This city here is an alright city. It’s a college city and
it’s young. How many artists do u have on your
label ? And what are u  workin’ on ? Right now,
we’ve got ILL Gates coming out. We had a release,
May 4th. The New Breed Album. How did yall hook
up with Gary Payton (LA Lakers) on that album ?
He’s a friend of mine. He sees that I’m serious about
this music. At first, he thought I was playin around.
Now, he’s one of our biggest fans. Anytime a person
invests in something, they wanna make sure the pro-
is worth selling. U know what I’m sayin ? He’s helpin’
me out on this project right here. Because he’s a be-
liever. He believes in the project. Normally, when
people think of Tennessee and rap music, they  
think of Memphis, first. Is there any kind of com-
petition between the two cities ? Memphis and  
Nashville are like night and day. Memphis is already  
established. U got 8 Ball & MJG, Triple 6 Mafia,  and  
Gangsta Boo. Memphis has a sound established  
outta that city. Nashville doesn’t. The difference  
between my company and the others around  
Nashville, is, mine’s not just one sided. I’ve got artists  
from California, the South, and the Eastcoast.  
What’s it gonna take for Nashville’s rap scene  
to get it’s name out there ? Well, Nashville’s
already got kind of a buzz because of Young Buck (G-
Unit). But Nashville doesn’t have an established
sound, because Young Buck hasn’t come out with his
solo album, yet. So he can show the world..... this is
how I get done, this is where I come from. Everyone  
knows what sound to look for out of New York, LA,
and down South, now. Down here, we have a lot of
different sounds. How do u feel about those who  
say  that the South is only good for Crunk
Music ? Some of the coldest artist to ever hit this  
game are from the South. From Scarface to
Ludacris.  From T.I. to Outkast. They ain’t about
crunk music. Anybody in this business who ain’t
workin’ with artist  from the South, have got to be out
of their mind. The South is hot right now. How many
markets have yall hit ? We’re in 35 markets. We’ve
got Select - O - Hits doing our distribution. Who are
some of your artists ? We’ve got ILL Gates (an r&b
singer), a  female - Sweets, PYGs, TNT, Slow Poke,
Caliber,  and Diggs. A lot of your artists are from
California. Is  there a lot of traveling from
Nashville to Cali ?  Naw, cause they all moved here.
And they love it here. Yall got any videos out ?
Yeah, we got videos out in some local markets. ILL
Gates’ video has made it to BET’s Uncut. Hey, we’re
looking for Rock Solid  to do some big things in
the near future. I’ve  heard some of your tracks,
and they’re supa tight.  I appreciate your time and
the opportunity to be featured in your mag. Good
luck to yall on whatcha doin. Yall go out and get
that Gary Payton Presents The New Breed and any
other product u see from Rock Solid Entertainment.
                www.rocksolident.net