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| THE MUSIC SPECIALIST |
This is one of those articles that I couldn’t wait to write. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Recently I participated in a conference with the opening night event geared for a Freddy Rolle (former Grammy Award winning producer) press event announcing the signing of his latest act The Bank. The acts manager (let’s call her Daffy) structured the deal and was to invite press, professional athletes, the reunion of the singing group White Road and of course Freddy Rolle.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
The Freddy Rolle Kool-Aid is a condition that affects weak minded people who believe that Freddy Rolle is the epitome of the music industry, everything he says is fact and NO ONE is as good as him. A belief that everything the act & management does must please Freddy Rolle and stepping on other people is the correct way to show how much they respect Freddy Rolle.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
Daffy sent photographs of the super producer and acts to me for publicity, the day after I started posting the photos Daffy calls and says ”Who gave you permission to use those photos?, White Road is upset about their picture being seen and want it off the web”. Right then I knew that this person was drinking the “Freddy Rolle Kool-aid”.
The day of the event Daffy shows up with her act The Bank for a sound check. The first words I heard from her were “No one else can be on the stage; this event is only for my act. We are going to have a 2 hour press party and Freddy Rolle doesn’t want to see anyone other than his new act”. Amazingly this woman thought that our entire event was going to change into something she perceived and had not communicated to anyone else. Really this is not new thinking, most people when they are “Drinking The Kool Aid” feel that they are better than you and they can command you to do what they want. Unfortunately for her I have seen Kool Aid drinkers before and understand their thought processes, (or lack of). I calmly explained that we already had a show planned and her act would be the finale. The show would go on as anticipated but I would make sure that she had at least 1 ½ hours to do whatever it was she wanted to do. We provided a large elevated stage, professional sound & lights, invited press & corporate sponsorship, had 3 camera crews onsite, were streaming the entire event “live” and had reserved 5 tables for her entourage. The only stipulation was that ALL SOUND had to be off at 11:00pm due to Atlanta city ordnance resulting in a $10,000 automatic fine.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
Daffy then proceeded to rant and rave because her act needed wireless microphones to perform. Please remember that this is 4 hours before show time, there was no rider or communication prior to her arrival and her attitude was “shitty” at best. I immediately had to calm the sound engineers down for she had cursed them out and told everyone within ear shot that we were ALL ass holes. By the way her daughter and grand daughter were with her and the act, resulting in a massive lesson in how to be a diva before you are a star. With the help of a few friends I was able to find her 5 microphones for The Bank’s sound check and performance.
They left telling me that the stage had to be cleared and ready for a 9:30pm performance.
Our show was excellent giving a cross section of Black Music Month performances by both young and old. Opening with 80 year old Mr. Tommy Brown who lectured, sang, danced and told standup comedy, followed by Neo Soul, R&B, Gospel and Hip Hop acts culminating at 9:27pm when the stage crew cleared the stage for The Bank.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
Daffy’s daughter arrived just at 9:30pm and we asked her where was (super producer) Freddy Rolle and the act The Bank? She basically told us that they would arrive when they wanted to and to stop bothering her
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
At 9:45pm we started text messaging Daffy telling her that we were under time constraints and the show had to be concluded by 11:00pm. She texted back that they were 7 minutes away. This continued in 10 minute intervals until they arrived at 10:46pm.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
The super producer and act’s entrance to the event was momentous, not only did they have the required amount of video hoes, but they also carried their own television camera crew to record their “honored” arrival.
Instead of placing the act onstage they put Daffy’s grandchild on stage for a one song performance, followed by Daffy herself taking the stage and reading a 2 page bio on (super producer) Freddy Rolle.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
The act finally took the stage at 10:58pm and at 11:00pm exactly the venue management cut the power The Bank never got to the bridge of their song. Of course it was my entire fault, I didn’t have the proper equipment, I mistreated the act and I completely disrespected super producer Freddy Rolle, who by the way hasn’t had a record deal in over 10 years.
Interestingly enough The Bank has not recorded anything yet with super producer Freddy Rolle and their current project tanked. They DO NOT have a major deal but are spending money like they are a major and carrying a lot of ego, disrespect, dishonesty and drinking way to much KOOL AID hiding what ever talent they may have.