Sammye Scott Interview: Life of a Major Label A&R Exec (Kaliii, Rico Nasty + more)

It's not as easy as this person's popping, or I think this person's dope. So I just want to sign you. And Atlantic's like, okay, sign whatever you want. I like to court you. I like to spend time with you. I like to understand what your mindset is, your outlook on things is. Like, do you really even want this? Like, or are you just taking up advantage of the fact that you had a viral moment? That's not the type of person I want to go in business with. For me, I want to know that you understand this is an opportunity that I'm affording you to change your life. The One More Time Podcast is officially done with music. It's over. This one is over. We're full send TV and film. And I am beyond thrilled to be welcoming in today's guest. It's Raven Simone. Holy shit. On the pod. That's so raven. Let's go. It's the future I can see. And we got the intro.

Look. Oh shit. I've never been filmed on the intro. Uh no, all jokes aside, we don't have Raven Simone. Jokes aside. Yeah, we couldn't get Raven. Couldn't get Raven. No, but we had to settle. You know, back to music. God damn it. We got the senior director of AR at Atlantic Records. We got Sammy Scott in the Sammy Scott building. Hey guys. Let's go. Thanks for coming, Sammy. Yeah, we were we were I want to make sure we get this on record, Henry. We have been trying to get Sammy Scott on the put on the podcast. Yes. Before the glow up. The big platinum shit with Cali. You know what I mean? Like, I just want to make sure. We're not clout chasing. I mean, a little bit. We are, but like I just want to make sure y'all know we wanted to get her before area codes went fucking, you know, platinum. But we knew you were the real deal. Yeah, we did. And I appreciate it. And and before the billboarded women in music honor honoree status, okay, that's like fresh off the press. So congratulations.

Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. I mean, it's gotta feel great to be recognized by an industry leading, you know, platform like Billboard. What do you think? If you, you know, maybe they told you, or maybe you've just done some introspective thinking. Like, what why do you think that they, you know, selected you for the you know, honoree status this year? I would think I've done some introspective thinking. Okay. So they didn't tell you, they were they weren't like Sammy, here's why we picked you. Not at all. But I mean, I would assume or speculate that you know, I have been working hard for like a very long time, and I've been at Atlantic Records for six and a half years. Oh wow, okay. Yeah, for very long time, and laying it like brick by brick by brick. I think it was a great foundation. Um, and it's put it's it served as a major like platform for me to grow and develop as an executive. Like uh, it's kind of like when I worked for Boo, like I have no choice but to learn everything, which is like that's my personality. That's the type of executive I am.

I'm always on the ground running. What's the next level I can hit? I want to learn all facets of the music industry. So whenever I sit at a table, whenever I'm faced with trials or whatever the case might be, I know how to face them because I've had experience in you know each component of the music industry. You're never blindsided, yeah. For the most no, and I'm a solution-based person, so it's kind of like my goal is to figure it out. Yeah, no matter what it takes, get shit done. So uh back to your question. I would I would say um, you know, signed Callie two and a half, almost three years ago. Okay, so you did sign her. Yes. Okay, cool. Because I know you've obviously inherited acts probably over the years. For sure. Yep. For sure. That's way different than signing, yeah, courting, signing, inking the deal, and then hit the ground running to you know, Platinum Records and shit, Henry. I mean, come on, but Johnson, what are you doing over there, bro? God damn. Bro, we got Sammy Scott on the podcast. The fuck? Well, yeah, Wake up. Myself and success actually signed Cali. Um, and you know, we went in, um, we signed her off Do a Bitch, and that has success for her.

And then I just feel like each year. How'd you find her? Even so, interesting enough, I found her from um young Jock. Young Jayo-C. Yes, young Jock. Atlanta's finest. Shout out to jock. It's going down. Atlanta's finest. It's going down. What's up for Jock? No, dad has Bow Bow. So I've known Jock since I was in college since I was like 19. So is everyone in Atlanta. But we didn't get to ink a deal through him. Fuck. Right? It's yeah, very crazy. But yeah, I've known him for a very long time. And he had told me like a year prior about Callie, like this girl, she's fire, she's gorgeous, she plays soccer, and she's a dope rapper. And I'm like, okay, cool. And he was just telling me about her and telling me about her, but it was a little early. And then I think like a year later, he had told me about her again, and we were setting up a meeting, and it just so happened simultaneously, her song Do a Bitch had started taking off. And then also ATL Jacob, shout out to Jacob.

ATL Jacob, ATL Jacob, Who agreed to come on the podcast via Ashley and then hasn't? come on. And via me in person, but also not really. That's okay. It's fine, we'll get him. maybe Sammy Scott can hook it up. I'll get him in check Let's Go. Yo. Um, and so that's little bro. Yeah. And he was like, yo, you gotta meet my girl, Callie. She's well, he calls her Khalia, but he's like, she's super dope, X, Y, and Z. And I'm like, all right, cool. One day we're at the car wash on 14th Street. And I love where this is going. Continue. And I run into him and he's like, oh my gosh, like, this is my girl. This is who I wanted you to meet. And so that's how I actually met her for the first time in person. At the car wash. At the car wash on 14th Street. Oh my gosh. Did you know she was a star? Right when you saw? I'm not yeah, she stood out. Really? She did. This is when she had the red locks. at the car wash. Yeah. Damn. Yeah. So that's how I met her. Like I said, Jock had been telling me about her for a long time. What's his relationship to her? Who? To Jock to Cali. Um she signed through his company.

Oh, really? Him and his business partner, CJ, yeah. Jock's at Jock's still out here. Don't sleep on Jock. Don't sleep on Jock. Who sleep on Jock? I mean, maybe some people are. Yeah. I mean, and they need to wake the fuck up. Because he's out here inking deals with platinum fucking superstars. No, I I do owe that to Jock for sure. And Jacob. That's true. Who actually introduced me? Yeah. Yeah. Fire. Damn. Okay. Okay. So, anyways, God damn. I was just talking about the billboard shit. Yeah. I know. This is okay. So wait, so I don't even know if you yeah. So like they saw you clearly sign Cali. Correct. And then, like I said, do a bitch was the first record we signed her off of. And then we met with her in the studio and she was playing us records and she played us mm-mm. And I'm like, yo, this is it. Success in our relationship. It's a fucking no brainer. Like, this is the next record. And then we released mm-mm. And obviously she had her level of success with that. And that went gold. And then um So when you said it was too early, I I I just want our audience to kind of understand. Yeah, this is coming from Well, not too, but

it was a little early. No, sure. And I don't I don't mean to like put, you know, I don't mean to make it a bigger deal than it is, but I think it's it's important for our audience to know because there are a lot of aspiring artists and producers, like I was saying. So, like, if they're at a certain point in their career, and when you say it's maybe a little early, well, what is you know what what do you really mean by that? So, I mean, I feel like you have to keep working, and it also depends on the AR and where the A&R is in their career, and what they're trying to sign, what they're looking for. For me, um, I already have artists that I was working and building and artists developing from the ground up. Yeah, so for me, it was like she it's like absolutely nothing going on at the time. She didn't even have do a bitch out. So I was like, let's, you know, work her a little bit, put some records out, be consistent, like let's build up something for her. And then that gives me like leverage when I go in the building to be like, hey, this girl's dope. She's been consistently putting out music, she's building momentum, she's hot in Atlanta.

This is where we are with that. And so you're doing that off the I mean, because she could take the I'm assuming you were doing some sort of like involvement with her pre-signing. Not really. Oh, okay. All right, so you were giving her the space and time to through jock, yeah. Through jock. Okay, so you're kind of like jock, keep keep keep pushing. No, Jock literally brought it back up to me a year later. Okay, and he's like, Sammy, yeah, look what we've been doing. The time was right. Yeah, and then I felt like the time was right. And like I said, simultaneously, she happened to have do-a bitch moving. Yeah, so what do you have to do, right? When you talk about going back inside the building, that speak for like, I gotta go meet with people at Atlantic to you know, basically like plead my case for why we should be investing in an artist like Cali for our roster. Correct. Like, what does that actually look like? Can you give us like an insider look into what those conversations are like? What are you having to prepare?

What are you having to bring to the discussion, right? Like just so everyone knows, like when you're, you know, getting an A&R to take a chance on you, like this is what they have to go through when they're pitching it. Exactly. And a lot of artists or teams don't understand that. It's not as easy as this person's popping, or I think this person's dope, so I just want to sign you. And Atlantic's like, okay, sign whatever you want. Sure. Like, no, it's definitely not like that. Um, I think it's more so of one, I have to believe in it. Like, I'm not a clout chasing AR. And I don't mean that in a negative way or anything like that, but I'm not like, oh, this is going viral, this is going viral. Let me just sign everything that's going right. Like, that's just not the person I am because I believe I believe in like the longevity of the relationship. Virality essentially is a moment. Yeah. It's like, how do we build that into something else? So I like to court you. I like to spend time with you. I like to understand what your mindset is, your outlook on things is. Like, do you really even want this? Like, or are you just taking up advantage of the fact that you had a viral moment?

And it's like, why not get a million dollars if I can get a million dollars? Like, for me, that's not the type of person I want to go in business with. For me, I want to know that you understand this is an opportunity that I'm affording you to change your life. Yeah. How much, how important is data in those type of discussions? How do how much do the numbers matter? Well, it depends. Oh, she got so uncomfortable with that question. Oh my god, I'm so curious. I've never seen someone tighten up. You're just like, we were flowing and shit. And she's like, skirts and what? She's like, They don't not matter. No, that's like it's like you just said Lord Voldemort to Harry or some shit. You know what I mean? Data is like Data must not be named. No, no, no, no, no. And our research. How much of the research people play into this? Uh oh my gosh. No, but seriously. Okay, in all serious. Like that was hilarious. It's real. Okay, so no, data definitely plays an essential part of looking into an artist to a certain degree. It just depends how you utilize that.

For me, I look at it as a tool, just like I look at TikTok as a tool or Instagram as a tool. Okay, cool. This is what you're telling me. This is the space that they're in. That's great knowledge to know going into something I'm looking after. So it's like, hey, it's here now, but it's not looking promising for the next following weeks. So I know like maybe this is just the moment, and let me take a deeper dive into what this really is. But like I said, as my type of A&R, that's what I do anyway, which is like I like to court. Sometimes that's not the situation. Sometimes I don't have to, I don't have the time to court you as long as I would want to because now it's a competitive deal and it's about closing the deal. But I'm more so I want to spend time with you in the studio. I want to see how you work. I want to see like, do you like creatives in the room? Do you like to produce yourself? Do you like people just to send you folders? I want to sit with you at a restaurant. I want to go out to the club with you. I just need to know how you move. What's like what's your outlook?

What's your mentality with going in to creating um what's your work ethic like? Because I'm not outworking you. I bust my ass every single day, and that's my job to bur bust my ass inside the building for you. So I need to know you're gonna match my energy. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah, that's huge. I mean, because I even did a very brief stint as a manager, and that was my biggest challenge was like I felt sometimes like I was wanting this more than than my artists. And I had to learn that the hard way Yeah, I really quickly learned that, and I was like, you know what? I think I just like this podcasting thing that I can just work as hard as I want to work. And if we succeed, it's thanks to like, you know, of course, we're business partners. I don't don't look at me like that, bro. Like what? You're like, oh yeah, you do the all the work. No, I'm not thinking, I'm not saying that, okay. I was literally just looking at you because you're talking. Okay, well, yeah, no, I just feel like it's it's definitely something where, you know, I wanted to be more in control of my own destiny because like, even as an AR, you're, you know, you're basically bound by the success of the talent. Yeah, yeah.

For sure. That's stressful. I think it's very stressful, and I make sure I make that clear with any artist that I'm meeting with off back. I'm setting the precedent for you all to understand this is what this looks like, and this is the type of A&R I am, and I'm gonna fight for you and fight with you no matter what. But sometimes it's gonna be you and I on the same team and us against the label. And sometimes it's gonna be you, your team, myself against the label, and sometimes it's gonna be the label myself and you like, and when I say against, I mean we're not gonna always see eye to eye. Everything is not gonna be glitter and gold. So it's like that's why I need to understand. And obviously, I'm not gonna know them off like front to back, back to front, just off of a few meetings and spending time with them, but I can more so understand because you're gonna reveal who you are. Yeah, you can see real quick. Yeah, exactly. If you really want this, or you're just doing this for the hell of it. I don't have time for just the hell of it. I'm trying to change the world. I'm trying to change the music industry, brick by brick by brick.

Let's go. There you go. He he's awake now. He's awake. You're awake. She's like, don't kind of play me. Oh. So are there some ARs though that are okay with that like viral model? For sure. Okay. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's why you have different types of ARs. You have some ARs that are like in the studio ARs and they spend all that's me. I'm in the studio. You're a studio rat. I'm a studio rat. Not as so before I used to be in there like 24 hours a day. Oh, Jesus. Now I've gotten to a space where it's like I go there early enough to, you know, do what I need to do and get my work done before anyone gets inside the studio. Because being that it's a studio, my office is in there too, but it feels more like a studio than my office. So I like to just have my own space and then my sessions start at one o'clock, or sometimes they start at eight o'clock and one to eight, eight to three, I'm in a studio and then I'm out. I'm not in there literally 24 hours a day. But I am the type of still a long time.

No, it is a big part of the gig. Yeah, exactly. But I'm a hands-on AR, so I like to be present. I like to set the precedent for the session, especially if the creatives have never worked together. I need to make sure the synergy is there, and that's why it's super important. Also of understanding who you're putting in the room with your artist, or even if your artist isn't in there, understanding what creatives you're putting in their room and understanding their personalities, understanding if this person knows how to play the forefront and the back end, and that they're gonna be conducive and match this person's synergy who has the alpha synergy, like all those components matter. So that's my niche is being with the artist. Like I said, I'm not signing every single artist that comes about, but the artists that I do sign, I've all had I've had success with. Yeah. And I've spent a lot of time with. So how does it work when you're like setting the stage for a session? Right? Like just you set up a session, I'm a writer, Henry's a producer, right? Maybe the artist is there, maybe they're not, it doesn't really matter, right?

But just we come, you're there, you said you like to kind of kick things off and like set the stage for the for that session. What what are you actually doing? So like what are you saying? You know what I mean? Like how does that go? For and it does depend if the artist is in the studio. Okay, so let's let's say the artist is there. Yeah, because I like for, for artists being in the session, you have to understand the artists and their personality and how they work. Like some of my artists are more so vocal and they just go with the flow. And then I have other artists that are very like protective of their energy and it dep they go off other people's energy. So depending on how the creatives come in is gonna set their mood of how they create and how the session's gonna go. So it's important, like time is money essentially. And granted, you're not gonna come out with a hit every single time. I don't look at my studio sessions like that. I want to make the best records possible, and I'm not here to force anything. Um, but I need to know the writer that's coming in, the producer that's coming in, what energy they're on, and that they understand this particular artist goes off energy.

So make sure y'all like you're not in a corner, not talking to anyone or on your phone the whole entire time because they're gonna take it like you're not interested in working with them. So do you say that before they show up? Absolutely. You prep them? Yeah, I prep everyone. I prep them on the phone, I send briefs, and I prep them when they get in the room. Okay. So everyone has a very full understanding of what this is. Yeah. Yeah. And I let the artist know hey, this is this type of writer, and this is this type of producer. Yeah. And this is what they're great at, and this is their vibe and their energy. How do you deal with like because we've heard you know tons of stories about you know, artists like having different relationships with their ARs, right? Like, how do you successfully insert yourself into the creative like landscape? You know what I mean? Because there's some artists, like you said, who maybe aren't as receptive to trying to work with a new writer or a new producer or whatever, right? So how does that part, how do you handle that part? Um, I think it's like a massaging situation.

Okay, yeah. A little at a time. Yeah, it's a little at a time. Like, I've had artists that had never worked with writers before. And, you know, I it's a trial and error. Like, I have I'm like, hey, this person's dope. They're not here. It's once again me setting the president. They're not here to take over your studio session. They're not here to write the full record for you. They're here to be a backbone for you. They're here to brainstorm with to bounce ideas off of. Maybe they come up with melodies that maybe that's not your strong suit. So that's what they're here. Maybe they're here for the wordplay. Maybe that's not your strong suit. Um, yeah, it whatever, whatever that may look like with the creatives that's in the room, that's what I try to make clear to everyone. So everyone feels like they're in a common space because energy is very integral in your studio sessions. That's all it's based off of is energy. 100%. So if the energy's thrown off, then already know I can tell a few minutes into the session. Well, about an hour into the session, how the session's gonna go. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. It takes a lot. Like, this isn't something I learned overnight. Like back in when I was in college, and um I in I was uh an assistant for a management company. That was my first time understanding being in a studio and understanding studio sessions and being able to see um different creatives and how they work and when people come in the studio and how that works and all those things. So this is years of time just learning and observing. Mm-hmm. How do you deal with I can't remember who we talked about this with, but um basically, like if a studio session is is is you know going on and they're they're making a record, right? They're in the process of making a song, and you're just like thinking in your head like this ain't it. Like just you know what I mean? Like they're just making something that who did we talk about this We're like basically this guy's opinion, I can't remember who it was we were interviewing, but their opinion was basically like sometimes you gotta let them work it out, right? Because sometimes there's like gold on the other end of this trash that you're hearing, right?

Correct. So if you're hearing the trash, how long do you let it go? Or like that's the real question. I'm just being honest. No, that's a real question because sometimes I give them space because that's real. Sometimes there is gold at the end of it. So I'll leave for a little while and then I'll come back in. Because sometimes, as an AR, when you're in a session the entire time, they feel like pressure, like they have to come up with the perfect things. And it's like, I don't want you to feel that pressure because if you feel that pressure, you're not gonna get you're not gonna make the best version of whatever record we're trying to make. It's almost like their boss is in the room, my teacher's watching me take the exam. Yeah, exactly. And you're talking over me like this, like that's that's not gonna work. That's not really conducive. So, you know, I'll give them some time, and then when we get to a certain space, if they're still stuck on it, I'm like, let's move on to a different idea. Yeah, let's just move on to something new. And then if we come up with some different ideas and want to come back, cool. But spending too much time when you're going back and forth and you and the other creators aren't on the same page at that point. I have a classic line.

I'll I'll just say, like, let's maybe like uh let's let's like let this one breathe. Let's save it, you know. Let this one breathe is a cool one. Let it breathe. I like that one. The most condescending thing you say. No, I just know what he's getting at. I'm not done. Look, and then you say, look, like, okay, let's listen to it in an hour and see how we feel about it. And then, you know, I'll listen to it in an hour. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you do, and you're like, oh, this was kind of good. And then sometimes you listen to it an hour and you're like, let's try something new, you know, and you move on. But but so, like, do you have the uh this is such a weird word, but do you have the authority to basically say, like, hey guys, like let's move on? Absolutely. Okay, okay, but like, but does the artist but but like what if the artist wants to keep working on it or something like you know what I mean? Like, that's what I mean. I meant by I didn't mean like authority I mean, I don't know. That sounded weird, but you know what I mean. I feel you. I mean, because I'd kind of be like, if I'm the producer and I'm feeling it, I'd be like, like, who the fuck? like let me. I'm paying for the student? I'm playing. Okay, so there, there we go.

That's the authority. Here we go. Financial authority. I'm kind of hearing this, like, time. Excuse me. Right. Excuse me. I was feeling I was vibing. Like, you know, you guys can finish this song somewhere else. I wasn't even saying that. Not on my watch, bitch. No, but dead ass. Like, sometimes I do, like, I don't want it to seem like I'm like a militant person when it comes to things like that. Because sometimes you kind of sit. You kind of. I mean, hey, I I don't play about. She don't play. You ex-military. No, I'm psychology. Which branch? Which branch were you in? The Marines? No, no, no, no. Okay, okay. But yeah, you don't want to come across. Yeah, I don't want to come because like once again, it's an energy thing. So my energy matters. Like, once again, I'm setting the president in the room. So it's not like, yo, what the fuck? Cut this shit off. It's not like that. That's what I'm saying. No, no, no, no, no, no. It's not like that. Like I said, sometimes I let them get it out, and sometimes I'm like, yo, let's just try something new, you know. You know, I don't want y'all to spend too much time on this if we're not coming to a common space on that.

Okay. I'm I'm good with people though. Okay, but I'm really good with people. I know. And and I thought I was good with people until I got in a bunch of studio sessions, and I was like, I don't think I know how to navigate these waters. Cause I will just blurt out like this ain't it. Like but sometimes you have to say that too. But the rapper, will have like two and a half bars out, and then I'll be like, what's this song even about? See, no, because you gotta let them get it out. Yeah, that's what I always say. I've gotten better about I've gotten better about that. But sometimes there will be a whole verse and a hook, and it's there's nothing there. And you know that's fair. You know, that's true. you have to restructure, you have to take this piece and take that piece and let's switch it. And what the verse is, we should really chop that up and make that the hook. And you're producing at that point. And that's why, like, I'm gonna be honest, we've toyed around with because I mean shit. We just have this big network now of like executives and artists and producers, and like I I've toyed with, I don't think I'm the most like music-making creative out there, but at the same time, like I do trust my like judgment on music sometimes. Like, right, I'm a huge fan.

I talk to people that are at the highest level operating, so like I'd love to try and like make sure an artist actually trusts me so that it's this common ground of like I deserve to be opinionated, you know what I mean? Because I think that's the issue, right? If you're just like in a session, it it maybe it's my imposter syndrome, but it is like who the fuck am I? And like you clearly have earned it. You gotta start somewhere. Yeah, exactly. I need someone to maybe like trust the fact that let's work on this together. Yeah, Correct, you know, correct, and you're very correct. I think um, trust is one of the most important things. Like the creatives have to trust you, the artists have to trust you. If you're in and out, you're not really present, they don't respect your opinion with their music, then they're not gonna trust you in the studio. Yeah, I've built that respect with my artists and with the creatives I work with. And I obviously sign with every single creative because I don't know every single creative prior to them coming into the room that I'm putting them in. But I'm really big on building relationships and understanding who I'm working with. Yeah. Okay, so here's another situation that I want to get your your take on.

All right. So that's kind of like the in studio, like while the song's being made. All right. Now I want to talk about like, all right, songs are made. Okay. Okay. And now it comes down to like, what are we releasing? Okay. Okay. So artist brings you a handful of records. How do you deliver the like that song's not it? Right. This one is, or like we need to redo that song. Like, there's gold in there, but we need to get back in the studio and work on it some more. Like, you know, try something new, like maybe take this part and you know, all the things you were kind of, you know, uh, you know, alluding to. How do those conversations go? They're not easy. See, that's the hard part. artists and creatives are sensitive about their shit. Exactly. I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit. That's exactly what I was saying. So it's so true. And that's that's even the harder part. It is.

And I always want to be respectful because once again, I'm not a writer or a producer or an artist. I'm not in there performing. So as much as I am a creative in my own space, um, it takes a lot to do what they do every single day in the room and on stage and selling a product and things of that nature. Um, so I am careful in my approach, but I also would be doing a disservice if I wasn't being completely honest with them. My favorite way to kind of word it that I found works pretty well is to say something along the lines of like do you think this song could be better? Do you think you can do that hook better? And just kind of like challenging them almost at that point. How do you say it? Not this sucks, but like, do you think you definitely can't say it? No. Some people do say that. I I don't take that approach. Good. But I'm I'm very So there are some tough love, like ARs of just like that shit sucks. That shit ain't it. They said just like that. That shit ain't it, bro. Yeah. Yeah, and for me, I'm just.

I think that's me. I think that's me. It might be you. That's why you're not an AR. I'm gonna be. Oh my god. One day. All right. You'll see. For me, it's more so that's how it started off. I think that's worse. Sammy, that's worse. That kind of hurt me. I just like wanted to throw up hearing that as an artist. Like, yeah, this is my lead single right here. What you think? Lead single? Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Bad news or the worst news. No, but that ain't it. Yeah, that shit. Yeah, all she goes is that shit ain't it. The double up. No. She just adds the mmm before. Anyways, but no, okay. So you start with the mmm. No, but where do you go from there? How do we go? But they know what that means when I say that. So they just say they're just like, alright. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's like, I just feel they're like Sammy, what?

Yeah, yeah. Callie and I were just going through this today. Oh, yeah. About the title of her project. And I'm just like, Oh, what are the options? Can we weigh in? Come on, what are the options? Nah, I'm not saying the options. Oh, fuck. We'll bleep it out. We were so close. I know. We were close, but I'm not saying. She looked like she was about to give us. Off camera, you tell us after. I'll tell you off camera. Okay. Yeah, I'll tell you off camera. But I was just like, mmm, and she's like, Sammy, I made up my mind. I'm like, I'm still not sold on it. She's like, I'm gonna sell you on it. You'll understand once we get the cover art It's in that. She's like. Oh, she's selling, yeah. She's going to push it until it's too late to change it. She's gonna go to the grave for this title, bro. I'm like, I don't know yet, but literally, I'm very like I said, honest. Like, we have a great relationship, so it's more so like even today when we were at a meeting. I'm like, I feel like you should change this line. She's like, you always think I should change a lot. I'm like, I wouldn't be doing my job as an AR if I didn't let you know. It's true. And so then what? Is she gonna change the line?

She might not change the line, but I let you know my thoughts on it. She might. She might not. I mean, it's your shit, you gotta perform it. And I don't say, like, I say that in the most positive way. Like, if she believes in it, she wants to stand on that. I can only respect that. Yeah. But I did give you know my insight and opinion on it. Yeah. So, okay, I think there's a lot of misconceptions, and like even in my own mind, right? About, especially when it comes to dealing with like a major label system, you know, like the one that Atlantic Records is part of, right? How much control does the label have in what gets to be put out? You know what I mean? Because I think everyone out there, great question. Yeah, everything everyone out there, especially the uninformed people, and even the like slightly informed people like us are trying to be informed as well. Are trying to figure it out of like, you know, everyone talks a big game about like, oh, my label wouldn't let me release this, right? And so how how much first of all, you gotta take those type of conversations with a grain of salt. Because it's always a two-part fold to things, you know.

You know, it's always more than that specific sentence of sure, my label won't let me release music. Oh no, I can't, obviously, I don't know everyone's story, but I mean that's the first thing artists. I think some people just say that for content, and it's not even true at all. Yeah, it's a good biting line. Oh, whatever. your label won't let you NBA YoungBoy. perfect at it. Yeah. Fuck the label. They won't let me release it. I'm like you know. Yeah. But but so, you know, like hypothetically, where is the line being drawn, right? Like if you and or you know, your boss or whoever else is involved in like Callie's project, let's say she brings you the project, yeah, and you know, like where is the line drawn of like no, like this is what I'm really and I I don't know, of course it's maybe like artist by artist specific based on their deal or whatever, but how far can it go? I mean, it does get a little tricky sometimes, yeah. Let's talk about it. An artist who is very adamant and they feel strong about their body of work or whether it's a single, and I could feel strong about it as well, or maybe I don't feel strong about it, and I have to go into the building and sell it, like a who do you have to sell it to? I have to sell it to my higher ups.

Yeah, so still within like the AR kind of Yeah. A&R. and then like even shit up to the chairman, yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, you know, more than anything, and this is what I appreciate about Atlantic is it's a record-driven label. So What does that mean? meaning they're big on records, like creating records, like they're not just like, oh, come up with some shit and just throw it out there, like, no, we are a record-driven company, we make real records. So still really caring about what songs get put out. What albums get put out. Yeah, Absolutely. Okay, and maybe everyone's flexing that power a little bit, maybe. Yeah. Did you just don't do that, bro? I'm just saying if they care about the records and they think that these two records on your album aren't it. Okay, but so let's go back to all right, so then, like, let's say, you know, you know, you do have to sell this, but like, I guess my question still, and you know, however, you can answer it, is like, at what point is it like we're not putting that out? How can that go?

Um, it can go order two. I'm coming back to you and your team, and I'm like, hey, the label feels like this is beatable. They feel like this isn't strong enough yet, or they feel like they love the body of work, but we're missing like two or three records. Um sometimes I can be in agreeance. sometimes I may not be in agreeance. Yeah. Um, it's just really about finding a happy medium. Um, but the label can be very adamant about hey, we want this to be like they're not wrong about what they're saying or the reason why. Like, you just want the best possible product and body of work. No, it's all subjective. They're pulling putting up the money to put it out. And it's subjective anyways. So, like, just because the artist thinks that it's exactly perfect the way it is, and the label doesn't, or vice versa, if the label likes everyone can be wrong. Exactly. Y'all both are sometimes gonna be wrong and this shit's gonna flop. So it doesn't matter, right?

Y'all could both be in agreement and it still doesn't work. So that's all opinions, correct? But yeah, like there are it is a very like viable situation where you do go back to the artist and be like, we need to keep working. We gotta keep working, yeah. And then it's just that's no, it's not as simple as that. No, because they might be like, No, I feel like my body of work's done. Yeah, and then what happens? Is that like a stalemate? No, let's just call let's call a meeting for everyone to sit in the same room and have this conversation. Yeah. Because you're just the mid- you're somewhat of a middleman. I'm the liaison. So essentially, like the middle woman. Yeah the middle woman. Sorry, I mean, how dare you assume pronouns? I know. Spelman woman. Middle person. Spelman woman, middle person. I'm the liaison between the artist, their team in the building, and all the departments in the building, and the artists and their team. Yeah. So yeah, like, you know, my job when you're not hot or you have nothing going on, or we're in recording mode for the next six months or a year. My job is to keep the building still engaged in what you have going on.

Hey, this is what we're working on right now. Here's some music to hold you all over. Here's a sampler. We want you to sit with. We're not done, but this is where we are as of now. So we'll start providing like a vision and direction of where we're going. What's the what's the label's expectation as far as consistency, right? Like how often should the artists be dropping? I think it varies from artist to artist. I don't think you can put that across the board for every single artist. Okay. Some like a Bruno Mars, obviously it's not gonna drop the same amount as the up-and-coming artist. Okay. So let's talk maybe about the up-and-coming artists. Because I would say, once again, majority of our audience is probably like aspiring artists. Some of them are at the level where maybe they could be, you know, some of the lower artists on a major roster, anyways, right? What what's the what's the typical consistency, like typical output look like, you know, from an up-and-coming? I mean, and once again, I think it still varies because I've had artists, um, like someone who's close to like an NBA young boy, like obviously he's built his cult following off of dropping like maybe once a month, twice a month. Yeah, it just varies.

And then someone like Callie or like another emerging artist, it might be like every three to six months. Yeah. Let's go, let's go way lower. Oh, we're going way lower than these first deal minimum amount. I think you should be dropping as much as you can, to be honest. And especially like when you're looking at new artists to sign them, if they built momentum off of being consistent like that, you got to continue that when they get in the building. Because that's how they built where they are. So I'd say once a month. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At least a single, right? Yeah. Yeah. And then it might not even be a standard single, but you're dropping Something. product. Yeah, it's over a hundred thousand songs being uploaded every day. So is you competing, regardless if you're signed or not signed. Yeah. It's you competing with everyone. Yeah, that's huge right there. It's like, why, you know, I could listen to you or I could listen to Drake.

Correct. Why should I listen to you? Yeah. So you got the full-time gig at Atlantic after doing the like consultancy, right? Yes. And and so you were working on A Boogie's project hoodie season back then. And then I think you know the story I heard you tell in another interview was basically like, all right, after my work on that, I basically got the full-time like gig. Is that yeah, essentially. Okay. So what do you think? I don't know if that's why they hired me. I may this is me speculating. Okay. Oh, I I was gonna say, what do you think you did on that project that warranted maybe you know the full the full time offer coming in? Um for me, if you're asking me, I feel like I showed devotion, dedication, consistency. Um, I was adding to the project with creatives, yeah. Um, I mean, that was his biggest project out to date. Yeah. So a banger, yes. Yeah, yes, yeah. So, and I I didn't AR the full album. Yeah, to be clear. I no, for sure. But I did work on a lot of records.

How does the co-A&R? How does the co-A&R situation work? It varies. That seems weird. Does it? Is that hard? Or is it harder in my head? Sometimes when you're not on the same page as the other AR, then maybe it can be. Yeah, I just think there's so many types of ARs now that it's it's easy if you have one person that does this and one that does this. It's easier for them to fill in. Correct. Because everyone's like I said, there's different types of ARs. You have some ARs that are relationship ARs. You have some ARs that are lifestyle ARs. You have some ARs that, like I said, are in the studio 24. hours. Some ARs aren't ever in the studio. Like it just varies. Yeah. Yeah. What does everyone think an AR does that they just don't do? Right? Like, you know what I mean? What do you mean? What do you mean by that? Like the the most common. I don't know what he means. Okay, the most common misconception about what an AR does. Sorry. Uh huh. I'm listening. Sorry. What's the most common misconception about an AR?

Do you still have questions about that? Or do you understand? I kind of get what he's saying. Yeah. So I just feel like AR used to be more like obvious back in the day, and now it's a little bit more. Yeah, just it's different now, right? Okay, okay. Yeah, just just like what do y'all do? I gotta readjust in my headphones. Hold on. No, like, no, it's more. I got you scratching your eyes. I mean, it might be that it's springtime and maybe the pollen's coming in. I don't know. You know, or I don't know, maybe that's what I do when I'm uncomfortable. at this point. I don't know. But no, okay. Well, I guess I have two ways to ask this question. One of which was not supposed to be offensive. Okay, one of which I'm gonna just be offensive, is like there's a lot of shit talking about ARs. There is. There's a lot of shit talking about ARs. We've had multiple ARs on here Uh huh. that have been like, there will be no AR slander on this podcast. Yeah, and that's fine. Why do you think ARs do get a bad rap sometimes? I think it's um a multitude of things.

I think it's one that particular artist might not have had a great relationship with the their AR and they could never get on the same page. Um, and the artist was used to doing have doing what they wanted to do, however they wanted to do it, and not used to structure, which is what a label's gonna come with. Um I think it's that. And I also think some people just want to do whatever the fuck they want to do. Shouldn't sign to a major, right? Like good luck independent. Especially if someone who's like a new emerging artist who's never had success, like I would think you would want to like take heed and listen to someone who has had success in this and knows what they're doing. Um, but some people just they want to do it however they want to do it, and it becomes a fighting battle, an uphill battle, you know, with the AR, and some people are like, I'm not, you know, I'm not dealing with that shit. So then it causes a rift in the relationship, and maybe they stop showing up to studio sessions, then you get the narrative of, well, my AR is never around.

It's like, but you don't ever listen to your AR. Uh huh. Yeah, so why would I invest my time and energy? into it? They're gonna start investing elsewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's almost like it's it's such a two-way street from what I'm hearing, right? It's like you need the artists just as much as the artist needs you because, like you said, you're the liaison to the building who's gonna get their project, you know, the maximum like value that it can, right? Like across the different functions. It's important. You know how many artists are signed to a label? How many are signed to Atlantic? I I don't know at this time. On average, I can't speak on the thousands. We've done a lot of restructuring. Yeah, there's been a lot of restructuring going on in the can I take us there? Why do you want to take us there? I just want to I just need to take us there. Just real quick. What's up? Umg fired 40% of their staff. Umg fired 40% of their staff. That was some of my friends. I knew that was coming. I know.

Yeah, okay. Let's don't we're not laughing at that. It was a funny segue, but we didn't. I'm laughing at the segue. I know, I know. I'm telling her that. Okay. I know what you're laughing at. We're not laughing at your friends saying that. No, I know. Clearly. I know. We we empathize with the people that were impacted by the you know, layoffs that that you know that UMG did. Do we think that that's gonna be a trend across you know, Warner and other we had layoffs as well? Really? They just weren't as publicized or what? They were publicized. They were okay. Shit. I feel like everything I saw was just UMG, but probably not as massive as 40%. Correct. Yeah, yeah. Okay. And so just you know, from someone who's I guess what you know, what is the label's rationale, right? Like, I'm sure I'm assuming you got some PR, you know, or put you know, comms email about the layoffs, right? Like, what's what's the rationale for the restructuring and like downsizing that the labels are saying? No comment?

No comment. Okay, fine. I tried, Henry. I know. I tried That's interesting. okay. But can we talk about this then? Hold on. What about it? clearly they think they'll be more profitable with uh smaller staff. I mean, I think it's as simple as that, really, right? Maybe. Maybe what kind of conspiracies are you brewing? No, I mean, just there's obviously like certain departments that I think were most impacted, for example. I don't know if it was the same at Warner. Okay, it was the same. Oh, I was just saying that I heard you. Acknowledging All right, goddammit. I'll move on. I'll go back to fun shit, not you know, awkward shit. Um, all right, so area codes went platinum in under a year. 10 months. 10 months. That's awesome. So congratulations to Callie and to you and the team because give it up for you guys. Yeah. Are we on the roster? Probably not. You're not her right. You're definitely not on the roster. You're definitely not either. Unless you like big boys. I got you.

I'm likable. You are, you are. Um, what what do you think was so special about that record? Like if you were to sum it up. Um is special about that record. Sorry, it's still alive and well. Yeah, it is actually. Yeah. Um, but I just thought I think it was different for her. Like it was very simple, it was very open. Yeah, it was genreless. I mean, as much as it was a rap record, it was definitely an urban record, but it felt like it applied to all. Anyone could sing, got a white boy on my roster. he be feeding me pasta and lobster. you know what I'm saying? Such a bar. Yeah, like you know, and it really took off. What I knew it was gonna take off when I started seeing like all the sports teams, like dancing to it. It was hockey players, baseball players, basketball players, doctors' offices, like everyone was creating videos. I'm like, it's for everyone. So once you, you know, you hit that level, then I feel like it's a rocket. So so none of that like response to the record was curated?

No, like okay, so no, no, no, no. So how does that work? Callie, first of all, props to Callie, but, because Callie popped off the record herself initially. Shout out to Callie. Shout out to Callie, Let's go. I need y'all to say shout out to Callie. Shout out to Callie with three eyes. With three eyes. Three of them, baby. Don't forget the fucking second two eyes, people. Don't you dare. It's not just one eye, okay? It's Callie. Callie. Yeah. Okay. So she popped that shit off. She popped it off. Yeah. She posted it on Instagram. She posted, she teased it on Instagram. Then she teased it on Twitter. Um, and then she teased it on TikTok, and then she teased it again, and it just continued to grow. And then I was like, yo, we gotta put this fucking record out. Like it's it's showing us that they want it. The world wants it. Let's put it out. So that is a gem in itself, by the way. Just being able the power of social media being able to tease songs and see what gets a response, you know. And that's what I was saying about the different platforms.

I feel like you it's it's for what you utilize it for. And Callie has taken a great um approach and utilize TikTok to her advantage. So you don't need to stay on her ass about posting and shit. Or do you think that's a good thing? Yes, sometimes we do. Okay, sure. Yes, sure. Sometimes we do. But she like kicking it off, that was like that's all her. Wow. Yeah, like she did that, then it then we released the record, and it just started picking up and Atlantic started working the record. Yeah, so like when you guys start seeing the um response, then what? Is there fuel to the fire? Yeah, yeah, we had that's what the labels there for, essentially. Exactly. So specifically with this record, right? You start seeing teams making videos, whoever, right? How how do you actually respond, right? Like what were some of the moves that were actually made to add the fuel to the fire to that record specifically? So um I come up with this idea of doing regional remixes. Okay, ooh.

So regional remixes to tie into area codes. Oh you see what she did there. Yeah. Big brain. Sammy Scott, bro. I know. Sammy Scott. She's good. She's good. She's good. So at the time it was like, how do we spread this wide? Yeah. And so it was like, let's come up with some remixes and find up and coming artists that we know will work the record, and it will be just as much as you know, a plus for them as it is for Callie. Yeah. And it's a look. So we did um Little Tyler, yeah, Florida. Mm-hmm. We did little Kayla from the Bay. We did Sexy Red, and this was early Sexy Red. Early sexy. We don't even know she's on there. Yeah. Early sexy? Yeah, this is early sexy red. Did an area codes remix? Yeah, she's from Memphis. Where's she from? She's from St. Louis. Oh, she's from Oh, Missouri, that's right. Yeah, yeah. And then we did Kenzo B for New York. Okay. It's such a dope idea. It did exactly what the fuck we wanted it to do. That's Beautiful.

It wasn't even just about the streams. It was more so like let's connect with the up and coming artists and let's build it for visibility. Oh, yeah. I mean, because up-and-coming artists that have motion in their cities. Correct. And all of them have motion in their cities. The cities are riding for them. You know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly. So if they're on this remix of an artist that they maybe hadn't heard of yet, right? Like you know, maybe they hadn't heard of Cali. Yeah. Then it's like, oh shit. You're just commingling audiences at that point. That's genius. It's a good one. Oh shit. Is there any like um influencer, micro influencer like buying? You are you are you buying like posts from people? Is there any of that going on? Well, I don't think it's about buying posts from people, but pulling favors or yeah. I mean, you know, hey, Callie, send this out to your celebrity friends. Right. I know for sure. Yeah. I wonder if like enough artists do that of just like right calling in the favors you know a lot of artists don't like to do it because they feel like they're asking for something and they don't want to feel like they're begging for something but you know I I think it's just like artists to artists they understand more so than me calling your manager and asking your manager to ask your client. the lamest way to do it yeah because the artists have been in that in their those shoes before and they know what it takes. And also you need to be the you need to be the type person that's open to doing other people favors.

If you just are in your own bubble and you're not doing favors for anyone else and you come out the gate asking for shit then it's not the same as if it is that two-way street you know I mean exactly and that's what I feel like the regional remixes were it was a two-way street yeah helped everybody involved that's so cool what a good idea oh man that's amazing um so you know the the the the ladies in rap are just absolutely like crushing it right now right like they're just having their way with this shit right now like yeah let's give it up for the ladies bruh because they're killing it um how how do you feel like do you feel like that's a uh a blessing or a curse for like an artist like Callie right where it's like yes the ladies are having motions so like clearly the you know consumers are receptive to like you know female rap right now but how does you know how do you stand out amongst the competition right because it's hard yeah it's not easy at all because like you have a pool of women in the same space so you like obviously you have your top artists like Cardi and Nicki, and then you have like your Megan and Lottos, exactly. And then you have another space um where it's just like a lot of female rappers. Yeah. It's like, how do you break through?

How do you cut through to that next level? And I think it's about standing out, like not replicating what you see the next person doing. What do you think Callie's superpowers are? I think you know what? Captivating people. Like when she walks in a room, she's really, really great with people and engaging and just being herself. I think she's really funny. And I tell her all the time, you don't talk enough. You need to talk more because you're funny as fuck. And if people just got to see that side of you, you know what I'm saying? Like, they'd love it. So, but she's really great in rooms with people for sure. Yeah. Yeah. No, well, no, she definitely gave me the like, you know, fun loving and like kind of, you know, you know, lighthearted, positive, funny vibes. Like, just but I I agree. I was doing some research just on Callie, obviously, in preparation for this. And I don't feel like she does that enough either. Yeah. Of just like the giving us more of her personality. And I feel like that's gonna, yeah. And that's gonna make her win. I feel I mean, she's winning, clearly, but like just that's really what's gonna Take it even, you know, up a notch, I feel like is giving us that like glimpse into her as a uh as a human, you know what I mean?

Because like the music is dope, obviously. Um, and she's got that star power like from the, from the image side, but like but consumers want to know their artists now. It's not just about the music, it's about being a fan of the person, of the band, of whoever, you know. We love binging that side and getting to know people through the power of social media for sure. So, what is y'all's relationship like? Is it like big sis, little sis? Is it like friends? Is it is it like coworker? You know what I mean? Is it like Callie and I? Yeah, oh that's little sis, little sis. That's a little sis. I mean artists, so she knows when I mean business for sure. Okay, we're not playing here, Callie, but but no, but we have a genuine relationship. So, so you know, uh, even outside of the music, take away all that. Like, I love her to death, and I would do anything for her. So how many artists do you like work with on the AR side? Three. Okay, three. Who are the other ones? Um, I work with Rico Nasty. Oh, shout out Rico.

Rico Nasty. I love Rico. Wow, she's on uh School Boys New Project, right? Yes. Yeah, Pop or whatever. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. That record is hard. And Rico is just such a character. She's fire. She is. Like her shows are fucking nuts. She has no problem standing out. Oh my god. No problem at all. She doesn't fit in that. other. She really set the precedent in that lane, to be honest. Uh-huh. Like she's fire. Um, and then the other one, I'd rather not mention it. Oh wow. Is it a newer relationship? Is it a Sour? New. No. Oh. No. I have all positive relationships Oh, all people I work with. You can't mention? Is it that cool? Fuck, Sammy. We'll find out about it when they have a platinum record in a year, man. Jeez. Oh my gosh. Alright. That'll be another off-camera. Yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, shit. I could ask you like a thousand more questions. You got anything else? If not, we can move into the final segment of the podcast. Let's do it.

Yeah. Let's do it. Damn. Hell yeah. Especially because She didn't, you know, she didn't want to touch on some of the layoffs. I mean, it's not like I just wanna talk about layoffs, but like I know. there's a couple. I mean, I was gonna talk about the TikTok thing, the UMG like TikTok thing. Oh, yeah. You want to like speak a piece on that? Yeah, any quick opinion on that? Like, just you know, for those that aren't familiar, UMG ripped all their artist music down from uh from TikTok. Um, so I don't know if you agree, disagree, understand where they were coming from at all, or I don't agree. Okay, but I also understand it's a business. Yeah. And if they can't come to a common ground on a business acumen of theirs, then they had to separate. Yeah. And unfortunately, it resulted in a domino effect for everyone affiliated with the UMG. Yeah. Which I don't think is fair. But then at the end of the day, we're in a business. So do the contracts cover anything like this?

I I'm that's above my pay grade. You know? I'm because I was thinking through, I was like, damn, is there anywhere in the contract that just says like we can prevent your music from being on whatever social media platform that we want? I don't I don't think so, but I think it's so new. That's TikTok's retaliation to them. I'm Like, oh, you don't want to meet us where what we're saying, then we're ripping down all your like that's just please tell us Warner's music isn't not no. Okay, thank God we can't lose any more major labels. Please off that app. It's gonna be although independents would love it. They'd be like, yes, our music's the only music left. I know. No, I mean, I mean, it really does suck. It's really not fair. Like it really does. It hurts the artists. It does. It's detrimental because it's like this is the same platform that you're telling everyone to get on and utilize to help break your music. Yeah, it's music discovery 2024. It really is.

So it without saying too much, it just sucks. That you know, it's not fair. Fair enough. Well, Henry, we've entered the final segment of the podcast. Let's go. Let's go. Sammy, this is the rapid fire rampage. Oh, I'm scared. Yeah, you should be. Yep. We got a seatbelt on that couch if you want to. It was all it was all fun and games until now. It's a three-part rampage. Okay. We're gonna start with just some short answer questions. Okay. Some nice little lobs. You know, just to get you warmed up, and then it'll get more intense from there. Okay. Here we go. Starting with how are you doing? I'm doing amazing. Oh, thank God. Sammy, give us your top three tips for artists trying to get noticed by labels. What can they do? I would say don't overthink releasing music. Um, I would say be consistent. And I would say put out content because short form content is what's grabbing people right now.

That's what's winning. Period. She said it. We say it sometimes, but now Sammy Scott said it. Sammy Scott said it, guys. So if you don't believe us, fuck it. Now I'm gonna add a fourth one. No excuses. excuses. Ooh. Because excuses are like assholes. Everyone has one. And excuses are for tools of the incompetent. Ooh, that's an even next level. I've never heard that in my life. That was a bar. Tools of the incompetent. Tools of- I mean, it's like so- like an album. Sounds like a punk rock band. Right. Damn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think there's too many excuses out there. Yeah. Okay. Moving on. I don't have enough money. Exactly. That was what I was thinking in my head, but I was like, I'm not even gonna go there. the money is the fucking most annoying excuse I've ever heard of. You can shoot things on your iPhone. Yes. Oh my god. Kanye. Kanye paid all that money for a Super Bowl commercial to shoot it on his fucking iPhone. It's incredible.

Insane. It's incredible. Yeah. There's no excuses. Oh my god. Just literally, we just had Khalid's manager, uh, Courtney Stewart on. Oh, Courtney. I love Courtney. We just had Court or uh Coat Love. Coat Love. Coat Love was his rap name. So yeah, so we just had Coat Love on here, and he's getting just flamed by just, you know, once again, complainers and excuse givers in the comments about like, did this guy just say to shoot videos with your iPhone? Like what a fucking bozo. Oh, he just said the same thing. Yeah. I see. I didn't even know that. No, exactly. That means people have 50 monthly listeners and have four posts on their page. Or your page is private. That's the dumbest shit I've ever seen. That makes sense. No, but he basically went on to say about like, you know, creating a bunch of different versions for your song, like acoustic and sped up, slow down, all that. Imperative. yep, that stuff. Then he said, like, you know, shoot a music video to every single song. He's like, you know, I don't care if you gotta get your homeboy to shoot it with your iPhone, whatever. Just peep, you know, create content. People are Lazy. I don't care what anyone says. You're lazy.

There's resources. Like, even when it's like, oh, well, no one knows me. I only have 10 followers. You have family members, you have friends. Make all of them post it. That's the start. Yeah. Because if you can't get them, then how do you expect the random strangers to support you? Absolutely. Yeah. Okay, moving on. Yep. Sammy, what is the best and worst thing about the music industry? The best thing. Can I make it personal? Or like the best thing is I would say I get to do what I love every day. Yeah. That's a big one. That's the one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The worst thing I would say is the politics of it at times. Yeah. Yep. Especially in the the major label system, probably comes with that extra layer. Here you go, take a shot. It's like, bro. He actually likes labels. I like labels. I do. I'm like your biggest fucking advocates around here. Yeah.

Because I'm in trouble with independent artists. Yeah, the independent love to say fuck the labels. They do. But I just say, I just I've worked in corporate America, so it's the same idea around politics. It is. It's not that it's like, same thing. it doesn't mean you're pumping out bad music or you're bad for the industry. It's just more like you having to get shit done. There's just a lot more red tape. It's just bureaucratic. Like this just is what it is. When you're a fortune whatever company, there's more red There's just shit you gotta go through. Now I was gonna say it's just like Fortune 500 company, same thing you gotta go through. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. But I wasn't meant to like, I like you guys. I'll mute his mic if you'd like me to. Actually, it's very easy. It's one button. He talks too much sometimes, especially during my segment. So moving on. Um you're banned for one question. Sammy, I am an artist with serious motion. I'm making waves, and you love my music. Pitch me. You're serious.

You want to A&R me. You have to A&R me. I'm the shit. You're you've never seen anyone like me. I make the greatest music. This is where you're muted, by the way. And uh and I'm consistently posting content, dropping music, and you just have to work with me. Pitch me. Pitch you like I'm selling myself to you. Yes. Why should you be? I'm muted. Oh, you unmuted me? Why should you be my A&R? Why should why should he sign with you? He's the hottest shit out of the city right now. That's hard to that's so speculative because I don't know what your music sounds like. Just hypothetical. It just looks like the greatest thing you've ever heard. Hypotheticals. So I feel like I'm very personable and I like to get to know my artists, which is why I like to court my artists. I want to spend time with you in the studio. I don't have time for that. Oh whoa.

I gotta sign something with someone. I'm hot right now. Why should I sign with you guys? What's Atlantic have to offer? This is the worst negotiation I've ever heard. Literally the worst. Are you just done with it? You gotta get this one. Are you done? Are you done? Is that your pitch? This is definitely not my pitch because I would have shut the shit down and closed the deal. What would you have said? You would have closed it as in like closed the door and said. closed the deal. Closed the deal. I would have closed. I'm a deal closer. Oh, you would have already closed it? Yeah, I would have closed it. You'd already done signed him. Yeah. Oh, you're signed. You don't even know it just happened. Fuck yeah. You're the newest addition to Atlantic's record. Atlantic records. Let's go. I think this is binding. We got a verbal contract. Album on the way. But no, in all seriousness, like Atlantic is um amazing at artist development, I will say, and they really stick with artists. Like they're very big on, like I said, the record making side of things, touring, touching your fans, understanding who your niche, who your fan base is, college people, let's touch every single college everywhere and take over.

Touring, collaborating, you with other artists that are signed to the label, putting you on tour with other people that are signed to the label. They're really, really great at connecting the dots. I will say that for sure. Now I'm interested. Yeah. You're already signed, bro. True. Exactly. You already signed the dotted line. This is just like, by the way, this is what you're getting. Like honey baby, she's a new RB artist signed to Atlantic. Um, they put her on Sexy Red's tour. They have her on Flyana Boss's tour. Callie was on a Boogie's tour. Callie was on Sexy Red's tour. Callie, who's she went on the Jingle Ball tour? Like, they're just really amazing at connecting those dots, which I think are imperative as an up and coming artist. And even as an established artist, you might be like, hey, I want to do a record with this person. And it's like, let's get to that space. Okay. Hey, now I feel like I'm ready. They'll make the call.

And that's real. Like, I've seen it happen. That's huge. Yeah. That's what I expect from my new major representation. So congratulations, man. Thank you. Yep. You get zero dollars of an advance, and you don't own any of your masters. And I don't need it. I just all your publishing is gone. I need the networking. That's all I need. I need the I need to be put in rooms, Ben. I have potential. Okay. Um, okay. Uh moving on. If you're comfortable sharing, what are the last three DMs? Or no, actually, let's say text messages, because I think that's what you're doing right now. What are the last three text messages that you sent? The last two, the last three that I sent. Uh-huh. Can you tell us about them? Yeah. Like, we're interested in the life of Sammy Scott. Mm-hmm. Okay. DMs or text messages. What's juicier, Ben? Let's go with her texts. Okay. He's like real. Whatever you're doing right now. Oh, so. Oh. Um, so I'm late for a meeting right now. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. We're gonna wrap this up. So I told them I was wrapping up the podcast that I was on by way. You are.

You are. Yeah. That's true. It's true. Okay. And then the last text message. What meeting? I mean, we're trying to get to the life of Sammy Scott. Yeah, I can't answer that. It's G14 classified. Is this the artist? Is this the secret third artist? No, it's not the first thing. Is this the secret fourth artist? No, absolutely. There's a fourth. Is this a guy? Is this a guy you're interested in? No, it's not. You don't have time for dating. I'm not opposed to dating, but you just gotta come correct. Oh shit. That's fair. Don't be no clown. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Got two more. Yeah. One was hey, Callie just text you. Thanks for the heads up. Oh. I love that you gotta you gotta text about a text. Life of it, you know. The dang, I gotta respond to a lot of people right now. Wow. thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Someone was congratulating me on the billboard. Oh Not many thing. Yeah. Yeah. So, Mm-hmm. So this is my last congratulations again. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. I thought they were congratulating you on being a guest on the One More Time Podcast. But that'll be. Congratulations for that too. That'll be when this comes out. Yeah, they're gonna be like, oh shit. Congrats. The billboard thing was cool and all. Facts. But okay, um, next two parts we're gonna fly through them real quick. That was part one. Let's get her out of it. Let's get her out of here. Let's get her to this meeting. So this date. How did it date. It might be. She's got a hot date. Let's go. You're courting. You're getting courted. That's right. Am I getting courted? I don't know. That's such an old people's term. I know I love it. You used it like five times. I said I did, but it's so weird because I would never speak about like my dating life like a man's courting me. But when I speak about artists, I'm like, I'm courting the artist. Yeah, It sounds like it's more applicable. It sounds like you're signing like a medieval act. Yeah. There's some shit. The knights of the round table. Oh my god. My hottest bands. I hath courted. All right. This is the this or that section. The Duke, the Duke.

Then you're muted again. This is the this or that section. I'm gonna give you two choices. You just have to pick one. Okay. Very simple. Let's get through it. Starting with hip hop or RB. That's a hard one. Yeah, that's the point. This is not rapping. You're not on. Yeah. Um. Ooh. Damn. Hip hop. Great beat or great lyrics. Both. We'll accept it because you're short on time. Beach house or mountain cabin. Mountain cabin. Rich or happy. Happy. Discover new artists or binge your favorites. That's a hard one. I love discovering new talent. I really do, but I will play the fuck out of a song. Like to the point where it's goddamn annoying. So we're going to binge your favorites? We're going to go with both.

And finally, you become a full-time singer, songwriter, or leave the music industry. Wow. Become a full-time songwriter. Because I'm not leaving the music industry anytime soon. Part two. Fine. Wow. Be careful with that. Wow. The privileges could be revoked. She's such a cop-out, bro. Both. I know. How are you going to let her? Both. Because we're short on time. It's fine. You know. Well, she could quickly say the one. You're a hater. I'm just saying you're a hater. I'm just fucking saying Sammy Scott. Just because she's Sammy Scott doesn't mean she gets a new boat. Well, we'll see how this last section goes. This is the word association. Sammy, I'm gonna say one word. You just say one word, the first word that you think of. Oh, Lord. It's where we really find out about Sammy Scott. This is where we cancel you. This is where it goes down. Here we go. Starting with hip hop. Oh wait, what? Wait. She's so confused, Henry.

Give her the instructions again. Come on. What's the first word you think of when I say hip hop? Tupac. She gets it. Well. Atlanta. Shut up. We'll see. Atlanta. Culture. Champagne. We pop in bottles. Hell yeah. Children. Oh, I want kids one day. Oh. Well, you better get to that date. You can have mine some days if you need it. I'll babysit. Okay. You just signed up for it. Hawaii. Tropical. Tropical. That's not tropical. I mean, I guess it's not. Because it's not. I guess not. Is it? Like, it's not in the tropics, like equator-wise. I don't know. I mean, is it though? That's what I was thinking about. Geographically. It sounded like kind of right. I don't know. It might actually be. How dumb are we? Let us know in the comments. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Don't judge me. I was in psychology with a track and pre-law major. This is this first response, anyway. You're not, you know, you're not supposed to think about it. So.

Handcuff. Fuck no. Pretzel. Pretzel. Pretzel. Mustard. Hell yeah. Walrus. The sea. Hot tub. Bubbles. Junk. Food. Flower. Bomb. Area. Coal! Let's go. This has been your favorite senior director of A&R. Senior director. This has been Sammy Scott on the One More Time Podcast. As always. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Apple Podcasts, follow us on Spotify Podcast. If you fuck with this interview, we are here each and every week. Every week. And until next week, Henry, what are we doing? I'm getting out of here. We are getting the fuck out of here. Let's go! Let's go! Play that shit like one more time. Play that one more time. Play that shit like one more time. Play that one more time. Ah!