Features

Perspective: Rawle Stewart

Rawle Stewart
Artist Manager
Showtime Ent.
Chicago IL

Job history
I started music in college. In ‘92, I went to Alcorn State University as a radio announcer at the college station, then as a DJ. I worked at the local clubs in Lorman MS and on campus. I did two years there.
I left college and did little odd jobs but I still stuck to the music doing street promotions, passing out pluggers, and doing stuff here and there.
Then I started doing neighborhood parties then worked up to doing major events, like after parties for acts performing in Chicago. From there, I did a couple of shows like an Easter event with Total and a huge after party for Cash Money in ‘99.
From that point, people knew how I was getting down with the music. Then I went to Twista’s former manager in 2000. He wanted someone to book shows for him. Initially, I though he wanted to invest and do shows. When I realized that he wanted me to book shows for Twista, it was easy for me from my experience doing street concerts. I started out being Twista’s booking agent, then his road manager, then finally his manager.

What are you currently working on? Your day-to-day responsibilities?

My position is basically to do things that enhance Twista’s career and take him to the next level so that he has a profitable future. And that means everything from negotiating contracts with his recording label, negotiating contracts with other artists like Speedknot Mobstas. I also work with producers Tight Mike, Toxic, and consult Shawna on DTP.

On the consulting side, I don’t charge a fee because I feel like the game has been good to me and I’ve had many people in the past help and influence me so how can I turn around and charge for open knowledge. I’ve never been a fan of people who have power or a position where they can help other people, and yet hold back, charging a fee for everything that they do. If you’re my homie or a close friend of mine, and if I can help you, I’m going to help you.

Taking off from that, when you manage artists, do you agree to a contract or is it a handshake deal?

It’s under contract. I feel like you have to be clear on what the job duties and what your position is as a manager to your artist. When you’re dealing with an artist, you never want your artist to be lead under assumption with what you are responsible for doing and you always want to be clear what you expect from your artist in order to get to that next level. With a contract, both parties are well aware. And it’s professional. You can get a handshake and a verbal from anybody, but when you have somebody that’s willing to guide your career, and do whatever they can do in their power to make sure that you get to that next level and be profitable, and their willing to put their name on the dotted line to help you secure that, I feel that’s more than generous. It’s more than fair.

Have you dealt with artist that have not listened to your directions with regard to their career?

In my earlier years doing street promotions, and working with new and upcoming artists, there’s always a conflict on why things ain’t moving fast enough or why they aren’t seeing things that another artist may be getting. You’re going to always run into that kind of conflict. Sometimes you have to school new artists to the game and let them know that it takes a lot of work and motivation to get to the next level.

With regards to your management style, are you a confrontational or accommodating person?

I’m accommodating to a certain point. I feel like this is a business and with any business that you work in, you have bosses and you have supervisors, and you have workers. To be a leader, you have to have leadership skills. And I try to show that in everything that I do. I try to be a leader and not a follower. And being a leader isn’t a person carrying around a bat or rolls with a gang of 30 or 40 people to get their point across. A leader is a person that uses his mind, his skills to get stuff done. You look at great leaders of the world and even leaders of gangs, 9 times out of 10, they are 150-160 pound, small type dudes. It wasn’t so much of their body build or what they packed behind their waistline but it was how they used their mind to get things done. And how they used motivation and intellect to influence people. And I believe if you use the same rule, especially if you have knowledge of the game, you can get a lot of stuff done. People respect a person that can get things done quickly, and on time.

How do you develop leadership skills and do you impart that on the artist that you work with?

It’s an experience thing and a timeframe thing. Leaders are not born, they’re molded by experience. It’s something that you learn throughout your years, and enhanced by personal experience. I try to invoke everything that I know upon my artists. Every aspect of the game that I know, everything that I’ve learned, and everything that I do, I try to pass down to my artists because you never know. I’ve never tried to cover or block knowledge. Knowledge is open to everyone. I don’t put a cloud or shadow on my work ethics or what I do. I’m open with everything that I do, especially with my clients. So I want them to learn the game and be as smart as I am to because I’m not going to be your manager forever. I’m not going to be there when you grow old and die. Life is about learning and getting to the next level so if I can teach somebody else and at the same time help them, it’s God’s plan. He’s knocking out two birds with one stone. Life is about learning and excelling, and if I can teach somebody and excel, then I’m completing the Master Plan.

What inspires/motivates you?

Just seeing elevation in my life. Seeing where I used to be at and now. Seeing my friends that’s close to me that’s not in this business excelling because of me help, or my motivating and pushing them. It’s a motivation to see someone who started off at the bottom that’s steadily climbing, reaching their goals.

What are your biggest challenges or the downsides of what you do?

Just people. Managers are like therapists, negotiators, everything wrapped up in one. It’s like every opportunity or situation regarding my artist, I have to deal with somebody. And I don’t know the character of that person. As a negotiator, I have to deal with people to get my way. It’s a psychological game because some people are firm and steadfast about what they want. And everybody that I deal with I have to see what’s their angle. What’s their motive? What are they trying to gain and where they are trying to go with a situation before I can involve myself of my artist because it takes a team of people to get to the top but one single person can pull you down, if you are not careful. So I definitely have to be careful with the people that I deal with and do business with because it can take just one person, one wrong decision to crumble everything that I’ve worked for.

Do you hire friends and family in your staff? Do you put on the homies in you circle or do you avoid mixing family with business?

I don’t mix family with business. But there are certain friends that I knew were struggling in the music business, trying to get on and I offered them positions to do certain things so they can get a taste of the other side of the game versus having to struggle. And they can continue doing what they’re doing outside of work hours but they can now say they have a piece of our success. It’s not just one person, it takes a team. And any successful story that I have I share with my team because we have all worked for it.

Are entourages necessary?

In some cases. Some people use entourages to show visually power in numbers. I’ve never been a fan of that. If I have an entourage, everyone has to be doing something, they have to have a purpose. I just can’t be rolling with three or four of my guys, going on the road with Twista, and he’s got four guys, that’s a gang of people. If I’m on the road with this many people, there’s a purpose to it. There’s a reason for it. And we discuss it. With every show that we do, we discuss who’s going and why. Some artist, they don’t care how many guys they roll with because they’re not paying for it, the promoter is.

But professionally, that doesn’t look right if you just got a gang of people with you and they’re not serving a purpose. In some cases, people look at and talk about how you carry yourself, especially when you’re doing shows or interviews. When you got 20-30 guys around you, how can you conduct business, especially if they’re not doing anything.

How important is security/protection on the road?

It’s real important. My artist is the golden goose. And I definitely don’t want any harm to come to my artist. This is the bread and the butter. This is how I eat and I don’t want anyone bringing harm or even thinking about it. There’s people who have different motives. Some people do things just to say that they did it. They try to get so close. I read about a guy who gets behind-the-scenes at the Academy Awards and never has a pass. Why does he do it? Just to show that he can get close to the stars. People have different motives so I have to protect my interests and make sure my artist is protected, he’s focused, and he’s safe so he can do what he does best, and that’s perform.

How do you balance your personal and professional life?

It’s hard. I think that the people hurt the most from my career are my kids. You come to that crossroads of working at the video store, 9-5, and come home, struggling for what you have, or go on the road, 5-6 days out of the week, do shows, get this income, and help your kids with their future so they can do something less strenuous than what you’re doing.

It’s a decision that I have to make everyday. I love my kids. I hate to leave them and do what I have to do because I miss out on the regular stuff like seeing my kids tie their shoes for the first time, or see them go to school in the morning, or being their to help with their math homework. Or miss the kid musicals or parent-teacher meetings that others parents attend but I’m not around for. I miss a lot of that stuff with my kids but I look at the future, the bigger picture, and I’m not going on the road to make money to buy clothes and jewelry but to help build an easier, better future for my kids. And if it means I have to do this now to secure a good future for them for the next 20-30 years, then so be it! I’ve been on the other side of the game with my parents and I just want to provide for them.

How may kids do you have?

I have 3 children, an 11 year old boy and two 1 year old girls.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

Helping Twista go 2x platinum sales on “Kamakazi.” That’s been my best achievement, especially knowing how hard he worked for it and his struggles as an artist. I look at his career as a fan, as an industry person on the outside looking in, and I was blessed to be apart of his career as a manager. And it felt good to see him get the recognition, the respect, and everything that he worked for. I always said that God looked at our situation and placed us on the same path, knocking out two birds with one stone. He was an artist respected in the game but never had the commercial, mainstream appeal where you sell a lot of records. And I was a person trying to get into the game, struggling to get to that plateau. He didn’t have to pick me as a manager. He could have went with a number of experienced managers at that time. He could have went to Violator or Paul Rosenberg. We went to those people when I was his road manager. I got on the phone and called these people, and set up meetings with Paul Rosenberg, Chris Lighty, and Dame.

The first meeting was with Dame, He was doing Roc-a-fella, he told Twista they were peoples and he would love to take on that responsibility but he was so wrapped up with Rocawear/Roc-a-fella and everything else that he wouldn’t be able to give Twista’s career that quality time that he felt was needed. We respected Dame for that decision and he expressed that if we needed any help, he would help us in any way.

So we went to Paul Rosenberg but we were running late and when we got there, he had already left. We tried to set up another meeting but it never happened.

And then we were gonna meet with Chris Lighty. But at that point, Twista was like, I trust you Rawle, you’re a hard worker so we don’t we try to get this money together. And it’s been on and popping ever since.

With respect to your artist, is it just a business relationship or is there a friendship involved? And can that personal relationship sabotage that business relationship?

There’s definitely a friendship. He’s a good friend of mine. I don’t just look at Twista as a client or only as a person that I get a check from. I really look out for his interests as I do for myself. On the business side, my thinking goes, if I’m Twista, this is what I would want in this situation. Every rapper wants to get to that plateau of a 50 Cent or Jay-Z, or on the business-side, of Dame. So on the business-side, I’m looking out for his interest, and using that same energy, passion, and hunger that my artist has when he steps into the recording booth.

So I take care of business because not only is Twista my client but he’s also my friend. And I want him to sell. Everything that I’m doing is out of respect.

What was your biggest personal/career mistake and what did you learn from the experience?

I think it’s trusting the label too much. With this project, “The Day After,” my biggest mistake was giving the label to much leeway to do what they wanted to do. It’s a learning process right now on what’s going on. I’m looking at a record label now, no so much as a partner, but as an entity that we have to use.

Before, a label would market the record, choose singles, and management would follow, confident that they knew what they were doing because they had been in the game so long.

Now, you have to dictate to them and tell them what to do because, right now, music isn’t what music used to be. You have labels chasing numbers and spins. They’re not pushing music, just throwing it out there and seeing whatever its going to do its going to do. As a manager, I have to stay away from people like that because my artist deserves better. This is his career! This is how he eats. As a manager, I can’t treat my artist like that, and do what I can, but if his project don’t pop, I’m moving on to the next client because I have to get checks. I can’t do that, but that’s a recod laels regular M.O.

Was there ever a time when you thought you might not succeed in what you’re doing? Please explain.

Everyday. Everyday I wake up, it’s a make or break day for me. If I wake up late, I may have missed out on opportunity. If I don’t return a phone call, it can be a make or break situation. Everyday that I wake up and work in this game, I definitely try to succeed and do what I can. If I don’t answer back that one phone call or I don’t go to that one meeting, or I don’t take that one trip, it can be a career altering change.

One that that never changes is opportunity. You have a Kanye that has the opportunity to say that Bush doest not like Black people and it affects his sales. You have a Big Daddy Kane that does an old school show on cable and it affects his career so that people want to get him back in the studio to record a new song. In this game, one thing that never changes is opportunity. And if you don’t jump on opportunities when they happen, it may make or break you.

Guiding principles?

I have two. It’s the basic business rule, whether its music, carpentry, or running a corporation. It’s stay on time, keep focused, and communicate with your people to do good business.

And religiously, I live by the rule to do good by all people no matter what the situation is. As a man, I never under-cut, I never do wrong by people, and I have faith.

You mentioned early on in the interview that your responsibilities to an artist did not last a lifetime. When that relationship ends, do you have provisions that provide for an amicable split?

Yes. I’m not a greedy or vindictive person. I try to make sure that everything is laid out real simple. That everything is smooth so that if the split comes or the time comes to part ways, were parting ways as businessmen but not as friends. We may no longer to business together, but as friends, were dogs to the end.

Artists and managers are independent contractors. Do you set up plans so that your artist has medical insurance and a retirement plan? Is that also set up for yourself?

It’s all about career enhancement and future endeavors. I wouldn’t be a good manager if I kept my artist mind on the present on getting money, and not planning for the future. So whether I’m here or I fall dead, my artist and children’s lives will continue on and be prosperous.

Finally, some new artist deals provide that album production and marketing costs can be recouped from artist merchandising and touring, revenue streams that traditionally have been solely controlled by artists. How do you feel about that?

I don’t let the label touch none of that. I don’t let the label get into his affairs like that. A good plan is that my artist can sit back and watch his money grow. A record label is only going to hold you to a point where you are making money with them. So you’re only making money if they are making money. So if my artist is out there, doing things that are going to make money for him like merchandise sales, performance sales, clothing, movies, endorsements, then that’s what I want. I want that for him. And I don’t want nothing to cross the other.

If one endeavor fails, it attaches itself to the other endeavor to stay afloat. No. That’s a basic business rule. If it doesn’t work out, let’s extinguish it and move on to the next endeavor. If we had an idea for Twista pens, and that didn’t work out, I don’t want it to affect my other deal with Pepsi. No cross-collateralization.

Message Rawle Stewart and tell him what you think

By Ray Tamarra on 1/26/2006[read on] [18 comments]