Jonny Shipesis an American music entrepreneur and producer. Credited with discoveringNipsey Hussle,Joey Bada$$,Sean Kingston,Big K.R.I.T.,Smoke DZA,[1]andDruski,he is the founder and CEO of GoodTalk, an independent record label, artist management, merchandise and music publishing company,[2]and the successor to his earlier companyCinematic Music Group.[3]
Jonny Shipes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jonathan Shapiro 1980 New York City |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur Producer (music) |
| Years active | 2000 - present |
| Employer(s) | CEO and founder, GoodTalk, Cinematic Music Group |
| Website | cinematicworldwide |
Shipes is also the co-founder of Smoker's Club, a cannabis lifestyle brand and semi-annual music festival and tour,[3]and a partner of a donut shop in the Hamptons.
Early life and education
editShipes was born and raised inNew York City.He heard hip-hop and rap for the first time when he was six, while attending a summer basketball camp, and "fell in love with the genre from the start."[4]His taste extended beyond hip hop and rap, and in addition to the Geto Boys, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Jay Z, OutKast, Nas, Scarface, and Snoop Dogg, he grew up listening toGuns N' Roses,Dido,Portishead,andBjork.[5]
Shipes was expelled from the high school he attended during his sophomore year and moved toEast Hampton,where his mother, Linda Shapiro, then lived.[5]A star basketball player, he graduated from East Hampton High in 1998.[6]
Career
editDJ, promoter, manager
editAfter he graduated, Shipes—who had DJed in high school—supported himself by DJing and cleaning pools. In 2000 he began to promote parties such as "One Shot," a Thursday night event at a club inWainscottthat drew 1,000 people every week. At around the same time, he metPuff Daddyat a pickup basketball game; when the location of a retreat for Combs'Bad Boy Recordsstaff fell through at the last minute, the company's head of marketing, Jameel Spencer, asked Shipes to help find an alternative site. He secured a new location for the retreat, and shortly thereafter Spencer hired Shipes as the first employee of Blue Flame, Combs' marketing company.[5]At the same time, he was an A&R intern for Combs.
Shipes returned to New York City, and in addition to DJing, working his marketing gig at Blue Flame, and interning for Puffy, he produced and engineered recording sessions. He also managed DJs includingDJ Felli Fel,DJ SpinbadandDJ Kay Slay,and at 22 became an artist manager, representingFoxy BrownandNappy Roots,among others.[7][4]He discovered and signedSmoke DZAin 2002.[8]Over the next several years, Shipes managed artists includingT-Pain,Brown, Nappy Roots, Big K.R.I.T.,Joey Bada$$,Cam’ron,andSean Kingston.[3][4][9]
Cinematic Music Group, Nipsey Hussle, Big K.R.I.T, Joey Bada$$, Flipp Dinero
editIn 2007, with Smoke DZA, Shipes founded Cinematic Music Group (CMG),[5]named to reflect an artist's ability to convey visuals with music.
Sean Kingston's debut album was among Cinematic's first releases. Released in conjunction with Epic andJR Rotem's Beluga Heights, the album contained four hit singles, including "Beautiful Girls",a #1 hit on the Hot 100.[4][9][10]
In 2008, Shipes metNipsey Hussle,whose music was recommended by Felly Fel, a DJ whom Shipes managed at the time. Shipes heard two of Hussle's songs onMySpace,[11]and "instantly fell in love with the rawness, the message and his hard deliveries with sing-song hooks about the life he was living. He was painting pictures with every single word he spoke." A day later, Shipes was en route to L.A to meet Hussle. After several weeks of negotiations, Shipes signed Hustle to Cinematic in both a management and recording deal. Shipes worked on Hussle's albumsBullets Ain’t Got No NameVol 1,Vol. 2andVol 3,producing "Strapped", "I dont give a fucc" & "Hussle in the House."[12]He remained close to Hussle until Hussle's death in March 2019.[13]
Shipes met and signedBig K.R.I.Tin 2010, and discoveredJoey Bada$$in 2012.[14]Shipes signed Bada$$ andPro Era,named for his Brooklyn crew, shortly after they met.[15]Cinematic released his mixtape1999in June 2012. Bada$$ released his debut album,B4.Da.$$in 2015. It entered theBillboardcharts at #5.[16]
Shipes signedFlipp Dineroin 2016, and in 2017 Cinematic released his debut tapeThe Guala Way.In 2018 Dinero had a multi-platinum single, “Leave Me Alone."[17]Luh Kel,Abby Jasmine,Mick Jenkins,Slayter,Yungeen Ace, andJaydayounganalso signed with Shipes during the latter part of the 2010s. He co-produced Luh Kel's platinum single "Wrong," as well as his gold single "Pull Up."[18][19]
Shipes connected with comedianDruskiearly in Druski's career and began managing him in 2020 as the comic's Instagram following approached one million.[20]It has since grown to nearly six million. Shipes and Druski co-founded a film and TV production company, 4Lifers Entertainment.
Smoker's Club, FELT, NYC Together,Munchies,Grindstone
editIn 2009 Shipes, Smoke DZA and Shiest Bubz founded the Smoker's Club, a cannabis lifestyle company, and Smokers Club Records,[21]merging their love for music with their love for cannabis. The first Smoker's Club show took place in Austin, Texas duringSXSWat the Fire Engine House. DZA,Devin the Dude,Big K.R.I.T.,Wiz Khalifa,Schoolboy QandKendrick Lamarperformed. In 2010, Shipes, his then-business partner Steve-O Brown, Smoke DZA and Shiest Bubz subsequently launched the Smoker's Club Tour. Shipes personally financed the firstSmoker's Clubtour.[8][22]The Smoker's Club now sells clothing and cannabis too since legalization.[23]
Shipes was a partner in FELT, a New York-centric streetwear line.[24]
A "pro stoner and amateur cook," Shipes has appeared on theViceseriesMunchies.He has attempted to make food including donuts, shrimp and grits, and pizza rolls in "Recipe for Disaster" segments, and hosted several episodes ofDrunk Eats.[25][26]He went into the food business more seriously in summer 2020, when he invested inSag Harbor, New York's popular Grindstone Coffee and Donuts.
Shipes raised money in partnership with NYC Together during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic by offering a singles contract to unsigned artists and charging a $20 submission fee for each entry. The submission fees were used to pay for learning devices and home tutors for kids in Brooklyn who were quarantined.[27]
GoodTalk
editIn summer 2023 Shipes sold the Cinematic Music Group catalog to Interscope Geffen A&M in a deal reported to be worth eight figures, and launched a new venture, GoodTalk,[2]a full-service entertainment company with divisions including talent management, a new record label, clothing and festivals verticals, and 4Lifers Entertainment, the film and TV production company he and Druski co-founded.[28]
References
edit- ^"Cinematic Music Group C.E.O. Jonny Shipes Talks Major Labels Blues, Signing Joey Bada$$, and Sony RED Partnership".Vibe.2012-08-22.Retrieved2020-10-07.
- ^abCarl Lamarre (2023-08-02)."Jonny Shipes Sells Cinematic Music Group Catalog to Interscope, Launches GoodTalk".Billboard.Retrieved2023-08-23.
- ^abcSuarez, Gary."Cinematic Music Group's Jonny Shipes Explains How To Run A Rap Record Label".Forbes.Retrieved2020-09-30.
- ^abcdYang, Rachel (2018-12-04)."Cinematic CEO Jonny Shipes Talks Sean Kingston, Flipp Dinero and 'Building From a Dream'".Variety.Retrieved2020-10-08.
- ^abcdTaylor K. Vecsey (2019-08-28)."A Love of the Music Biz Hustle".East Hampton Star.Retrieved2023-08-28.
- ^"Living the dream as a hip-hop entrepreneur".Crain's New York Business.2019-06-11.Retrieved2020-10-08.
- ^Cline, Georgette (2020-02-02)."Cinematic Music Group Gives the Major Label Machine a Run for Its Money".XXL Mag.Retrieved2020-10-11.
- ^ab"Cinematic's Jonny Shipes & Smoke DZA on Turning Smokers Club Tour Into a Premier Stoner Brand".Billboard.Retrieved2020-10-09.
- ^abEll, nicole (11 February 2011)."Meet the Man Who Discovered Nipsey Hussle, Big K.R.I.T & Smoke DZA: Jonny Shipes [360] - XXL".XXL Mag.Retrieved2020-10-09.
- ^"Jonny Shipes Interview: Cinematic Music Group - DJBooth".djbooth.net.9 June 2020.Retrieved2020-10-13.
- ^"Cinematic Music Group CEO Jonny Shipes on First Signing Nipsey Hussle: 'He Was Disciplined Even Back Before the Success'".Billboard.Retrieved2021-02-09.
- ^"Nipsey Hussle Tells The Epic Stories Behind 'Victory Lap,' Track By Track".NPR.org.Retrieved2021-01-28.
- ^Mira, Steven (April 11, 2019)."Cinematic Music Group CEO Jonny Shipes on First Signing Nipsey Hussle: 'He Was Disciplined Even Back Before the Success'".HitMusic.RetrievedOctober 13,2020.
- ^"Joey Bada$$: 'They call me a Marxist and anti-white gangster rapper – they don't know anything'".the Guardian.2015-01-29.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^"Capital STEEZ: King Capital".The FADER.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^"Who Is Joey Bada$$?".Complex.Retrieved2020-10-13.
- ^"Flipp Dinero Could Be Brooklyn's Next Big Rap Star".HYPEBEAST.7 June 2019.Retrieved2020-10-13.
- ^"HITS Daily Double: The B-Side - Luh Kel (Cinematic Music Group)".HITS Daily Double.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^"How Cinematic Music Group is establishing an empire with differentiation".Modern Life Mag.6 January 2020.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^Jewel Wicker (27 September 2021)."The Viral Life of Druski".Complex.Retrieved16 June2023.
- ^Diep, Eric (2016-06-13)."Cinematic's Jonny Shipes & Smoke DZA on Turning Smokers Club Tour Into a Premier Stoner Brand".Billboard.Retrieved2023-06-14.
- ^White, Eeshé (March 30, 2016)."Cam'ron Headlining 2016 Smokers Club Tour With Smoke DZA and More".The Boombox.Retrieved2021-01-28.
- ^Ju, Shirley (2022-09-01)."The Smoker's Club Co-Founder Shiest Bubz Talks The Legacy Of The Brand".AllHipHop.Retrieved2023-06-14.
- ^"The Blossom Effect: FELT is Bringing A Consistent + Needed Voice into Streetwear Culture".Modern Life Mag.26 March 2020.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^"Recipe For Disaster - VICE Video: Documentaries, Films, News Videos".Video.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^Codingest."The Best Late Night Food in Williamsburg, Brooklyn".Cooking Shows.Retrieved2021-01-29.
- ^Woods, Aleia (3 April 2020)."Hip-Hop Donates Over $5 Million, 100,000 Masks, $20,000 in Meals and More to Coronavirus Relief".XXL Mag.Retrieved2020-10-12.
- ^Preezy Brown (2023-08-02)."Jonny Shipes Sells Cinematic Music Group, Launches GoodTalk".Vibe.Retrieved2023-08-23.