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Are you from Florida?
Ozz-I'm
originally from England.
What brought you to Florida?
Ozz-I'm
8 years old, my mother, we are from Jamaica originally
but we were over there when she had me and she wanted
to come over here to live with her sister when I was 8
years old and she decided to stay. Originally we were
going to come here and then go to New York but she decided
to stay down here.
What can you tell me about Dynamyk Entertainment?
Ozz-The
different spelling represents the uniqueness of our company.
Basically, what Dynamyk Entertainment is an entertainment
company for artists by artists. I myself am an artist.
My partner, chairmen of the company he is a former artist
we were in a group a long time ago and he decided to retire
the mic so he could move this company. The concept of
the company is this basically this, its edutainment. We
put on showcases, we educate the artists as far as filling
out copy write forms, how to trademark, we hook them up
with different artists as far as album cover design purposes,
things of that nature. Occasionally, we do different things
as far as fashion shows, we just try to bring all aspects
of the entertainment world together. We do a lot with
the African American research library down here and we
do a lot of different things for the community also.
Do you all manage artists or is it more guidance?
Ozz-It's
a little bit of both really. There are a few artists who
have signed with us. I'm very selective with who I choose.
But there are a lot of artists that we do basically guide
if you do want to call it that. A lot of people come and
ask me about copyright. I always keep at least 50 copyright
forms on me cause of the different artists that I see
during my day. Its actually shocking when you find out
how many artists still have no idea what copywriting is.
As an artist how would you describe your music?
Ozz-My
music is a blend of Bob Marley, Nas, KRS-1, Talib Kweli,
its very educational. I put things in my music that I
research myself and I find out about and I try to put
that in my music so I can spread the word to others. I
know that with now a days you basically get video with
a lot of booty and spinning rims and the Escalades and
everything. That's cool too but you should still realize
how they got what they got. Its not like one day they
were just born one day and picked up a mic and one day
walla there's an Escalade in my driveway. Its not like
that. There are a lot of things behind the scenes that
people don't realize. Through my experiences with the
music industry I decided to put a lot of that in my music,
so even if a person is say listening to music and they
aren't into with true hip-hop style they will still get
something from my words, from my lyrics and they can research
that.
What is a typical day for Ozz like?
Ozz-Typical
day for me, I usually get up around 6:15, I have two kids
so I drop them off, from that point on its either producing
music or my partner and like for instance right now my
partner and I are putting together a non-profit organization,
so we are doing that and dealing with paperwork from that.
Sometimes we go out to each lunch, we try to recruit other
artists or other people to bring them on board. And then
pretty much after that we chill for a minute. Sometimes
we take in different talent showcases. We do a lot of
stuff with the African-American research library. So a
lot of the time is actually spent there doing things behind
the scenes with them because they do their own showcases
for example Sister Soulja was just in town and we were
working with them. My typical day lasts 16 hours I don't
get to bed before 1 or 3 AM.
You always hear about Miami, what's the hip-hop
scene like in Ft Lauderdale?
Ozz-It's
funny you ask that question because a lot of the artists
I come across even though they might be from Broward they
always rep Miami. Ft. Lauderdale has a very diverse culture.
There are a lot of reggae artists here, a lot of jazz
artists, gospel, R&B, soul, neo-soul. The problem is everyone
knows that everyone is going to go to Miami first to see
what talent is down there. So whenever these events come
to town all the artists go there and rep Miami while they
are there. That's how I feel a lot of the misconception
gets out. A lot of these people are from Broward. I've
been down to events in Miami and substantial people are
from Broward but of course when you are in someone else's
city you don't want to go there and rep your city. You
have to kinda give props to the city that you are in.
I love it here in Broward, I personally wouldn't want
to live in Dade it's a little congested and I love the
diversity here. In Miami a lot of the artists are cut
from the same mold, that's not to put anybody down but
there's a lot of artists who try to emulate what they
see on BET and MTV. Up here in Broward, I watch BET and
MTV but at the end of the day I want to be me. If there
are any similarities its purely coincidental.
What type of artists do you primarily work with at
Dynamyk?
Ozz-I
find that R&B artists gravitate to Dynamyk Entertainment
more, I don't know if it's because of our clean cut image,
not to say that I wouldn't sign other artists. I don't
try to control the artists, I let the artists do whatever
they do. Whatever their magic is I let them do it abra-cadabra.
I have noticed a lot of female R&B artists gravitate toward
the company. As for me I have no preference. I even want
to sign a rock band I'm open to all types of artists.
What exactly is it that you are looking for as an artist?
Are you looking for a deal or do you want to stay independent?
Ozz-
The only deal that I would really be interested in getting
is a distribution deal. I produce and I have producers
around me so getting music is never going to be a problem.
I have management around me, promotional people around
me, I really don't need to sign a recording contract.
I just need a distribution deal, and I feel that would
be the launching pad to start our record label because
that is eventually where we are going with the whole Dynamyk
Entertainment concept.
Who are some of your favorite artists?
Ozz-
Bob Marley is my all time favorite. Current artists...
I still dig the underground, KRS-One, I listen to him
a whole lot not just the music, I listen to his seminars
everything, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, mainly with me you
will find I listen to artists who have that edutainment
concepts, the one you can listen to their lyrics and research,
and say "oh yeah he did say that, " stuff that's reality
based. I like Escalades like the next man but at the same
time I'm less materialist and more substance
Visit Ozz
and Dynamyk Entertainment at MYSPACE
Join
Their Yahoogroup
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is an author and the webmaster
For Thabiz.com.
Ozz
interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler,
and Thabiz.com 2006
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be
My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned
Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She is
the founder of Thabiz.com
and Imissthe80s.com
and writes for the Rap,
Teen, and 1980s
section at Bellaonline.com. She is an ASCAP member as a
writer and a publisher. Please contact Dorrie for advertising
inquiries, lyric writing inquiries, reprint rights,
paying
entertainment jobs, or general comments.
Visit Dorrie on the web at www.sparkledoll.com
or add her as a friend at MYSPACE.
Ozz
interview may not be reprinted, copied or distribute without
permission. You may link to this interview.Interview copyright
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com February 2006.
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