The driving force behind the success of southern hip-hop culture is the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s the drive and fortitude of young business men and women that has resulted in some of the most successful independent labels the industry has seen like Cash Money, Rap-A-Lot, No Limit, and the now defunct Suave House (once home to Eight Ball & MJG). Keeping in line with this tradition of great entrepreneurs, Houston native and Southern University alumni Stefan Jordan is preparing the launch of his newly formed record label, Hall A Fame Entertainment.Jordan who is involved in various business entities of his own including real-estate combined resources with good friend and fellow Southern University alumnus Jonathan Goins to build the company. “We basically decided it is time to start this company and we’ll either succeed or fail” said Jordan. Aside from his business ventures Jordan, who played trombone in the Southern University marching band, has a heavy musical background.
Jordan views the south’s underground music industry as a golden opportunity to prosper. “The underground scene out here is like the major label scene. You can make a million out here if you work hard enough.”
The upstart Houston/Louisiana based recently released its first compilation CD entitled “Tha Roster.” Hall A Fame’s talent list currently consists of Atlanta native Mr. Hanky who also doubles as the in-house producer, Louisiana artists C.Price, Copper Top and Bezey, and 19 year-old PV student KB who hails from Cloverland in Houston.
KB, a fairly new edition to the label first began writing lyrics and freestyling during the 6th grade and says he began to take his rap career seriously during his freshman year in high school. “I met Stefan three months ago he heard me rapping on a mixtape, liked what I was doing and signed me,” said KB.
When asked who in the music industry he saw as an inspiration KB cited fellow Cloverland rapper Lil’ Flip. KB believes the variety of artist under the Hall A Fame umbrella is what will make them unique, “My style is way different from Copper Top, and the other artist on our label and each of them has their own distinct style .”
In terms of what will help him compete from a business standpoint Jordan cites his professionalism as the key to his label’s success. “Presentation and professionalism is everything. You have to be organized and have all of your paperwork in order. There are no friendship handshakes or shady dealings at our label, and you know everything that’s going on upfront.”
Stefan Jordan says that Puffy and Dame Dash are two executives he looks up to because of their work ethics. “They’ve shown that you really gotta just go after what you want, nobody’s gonna give you anything. And you can see by what they’ve done that it’s possible to take nothing, turn it into something, and turn that into something that’s great.”
When asked what advice he had to offer for future entrepreneurs Jordan.