[Michael Blue Williams Location]

You need to be in the city to be successful in the music industry. I think it’s an interesting twist. I have a friend, Ted Lucas, who manages Slip-N-Slide Records. He’s had a lot of success with Trick Daddy and Trina and things of that nature. He’s in Miami. He’s not in New York. He’s had success being signed with Atlantic which is based in New York. Him and I recently talked about it. Had he been in New York more on top of the label, would he have had even more success? Probably.

I think that the thing is that if you’re not gonna be in New York, you don’t have to break out in New York and L.A. anymore. That’s gone. You can break from wherever you are. But if you’re signed to a major record label and you’re distribution of something is in New York or L.A. or something like that, then you better be up in this city and in these labels and in their faces or have somebody in your company in their faces staying on them. That’s relevant. To be successful, I think you got to be where the action is, that part. But you can break and you can be a star and get into the music industry and never leave Dallas or be wherever and never leave out of Houston and get started. You get a buzz in your city, get some hype, get people talking about you. The major record labels will get excited and they’ll come to your city and sign you and do the whole thing. And you’ll sign your paperwork and have a record deal and may have never left Saint Louis or someplace.

Is your success gonna reach Nelly’s if you don’t get out and get to New York and get in front of the head of the promotions and all those people that work out of New York? No. You’re not gonna achieve it. You got to get to New York and L.A. to get the big dollars and get the most out of this entertainment industry.