MR. TALK IS CHEAP: Smitty
INTERVIEW INNOCENT? PHOTOGRAPH @IAMTYDAVIS
Brooklyn, New York native and BDM CEO Smitty discusses how he became “The Plug” and “The Outlet”, new artists do’s and don’t’s and building an empire brick by brick.
Ask any successful entrepreneur to describe in one word what it took for them to become successful and 10 out of 10 times they’ll tell you it took hustle. Brooklyn, New York native and BDM CEO, Smitty is the definition of the word. “The Plug” and “The Outlet”, as some call him, helps talented up and coming artists reach their next plateau. You can catch him rubbing elbows with some of Hip Hop Cultures most beloved individuals, including P Diddy, Jada Kiss, Beanie Sigel, and Wallo and Gillie to name a few. Consistently expanding his network while expanding his net worth, he overstands that his word is his bond. Validated recently sat down with Smitty to get the inside scoop on everything BDM and more.
VALIDATED: Being from Brooklyn, a New York native, what's your earliest recollection of Hip Hop Culture?
SMITTY: My earliest recollection would be, when I saw Biggie Smalls a while back when I was younger. I was driving with my cousin and he happened to know him and I ended up meeting him like way back. That was probably like my first recollection, you know, that I can speak on.
VALIDATED: So, I know you as "The Plug", but what is it exactly that you do?
SMITTY: I pretty much connect the dots. You know, I make it happen. If something needs to happen with an upcoming artist that's serious about his career, I put him in position, you know, some might call me the cheat sheet, along with "The Plug" and "The Outlet", who pretty much put artists in position to win.
VALIDATED: And I know you had no idea he was gonna end up being as legendary and as iconic as he turned out to be. Lol
SMITTY: Nah, definitely not.
VALIDATED: Did you see greatness in him at that point though?
SMITTY: To tell you the truth, at the time he was already lit. He had put out the "Juicy" video and all that so I knew who he was. So yeah.
VALIDATED: As you've mentioned, many people consider you "The Plug", and you told us what it is you do, but how did you get your start?
SMITTY: You know, just running around. I played football so I was always popular amongst my peers. I started going out and I always had a movement and my crew with me so we would go places, and since I was a leader amongst them, people started wondering like "Who's this guy"? And it just started going from there. Like everywhere we went people would ask who I was. And since I was about my business, I got a degree from the University of Connecticut so I was always business minded. Whenever I saw a way to make money or do something I was always on top of it.
VALIDATED: How did you end up at that college?
SMITTY: I played football.
VALIDATED: Which position did you play?
SMITTY: Strong Safety.
VALIDATED: Which qualities do you look for in an artist, before you're willing to take them on as a client?
SMITTY: I mean, his grind has to match my grind, because everyday I’m on my grind. No days off, even Sundays I’m on my grind. It's a couple things, he has to have the look, you know, has to match my grind and that's pretty much it.
VALIDATED: Do you mentor artists also?
SMITTY: Nah, technically I mentor artists because I pretty much give them a blueprint on what they need to do. I might meet an artist and do radio with them in NY, then we'll shoot to Atlanta, we might shoot to Chicago, we might shoot to Miami, so you know I always believe in having a game plan. My motto is plan , prepare, and then execute.
VALIDATED: So who's an upcoming artist you're working with currently, that people should be on the look out for?
SMITTY: Keen Streetz.
VALIDATED: Where is he from?
SMITTY: He's from Far Rockaway, Queens.
VALIDATED: What’s the biggest mistake, you'd say you see upcoming artists make consistently?
SMITTY: They follow the wave instead of doing what they need to do. Instead of being the leader, they are followers. My thing is, when you create your own lane like I did, you drive at your own speed you know. I built this from the ground up. I just came out here to visit my dad and then I met up with a couple of DJs and I been coming back here like every single month just runnin' it up. I set up shop. I did that by creating my own wave. When you create your own wave you do what you need to do.
VALIDATED: That's true, when you create your own wave, you control the board.
SMITTY: Exactly.
VALIDATED: I also understand you have a few artists on your BDM roster, what can you tell us about that movement?
SMITTY: I mean it’s a movement, I call it a movement because anyone doing something positive or making moves or elevating themselves in life, I consider them a part of my movement, but you gotta move righteous you know. I only move with the righteous so it’s a movement.
VALIDATED: Do you have any artists you are working with currently that you're gonna release any time soon?
SMITTY: Well I been thinking about starting my own record label. I have a few artists, too many to name, I don’t wanna forget a name but that’s something I'm definitely looking into.
VALIDATED: We've seen you with Hip Hop heavy weights, including P Diddy, Rick Ross, Beanie Sigel, to name a few, and influencers like Wallo and Gillie, but who are some other well-known artists and influencers that you have worked with?
SMITTY: I've worked with a lot of people, TI, Jeezy, YG, Jada Kiss, I mean Burna Boy, Davido, you know. I've done it all, Lloyd Banks, 50 Cent, I brought Lloyd Banks around my neighborhood when I first started out. Let’s see, there’s Red Cafe, Fred Da Godson, Kay Slay, DJ Self, Joel Ortiz, HeatMakerz , Jim Jones, Benny The Butcher. I mean you name it, I probably either broke bread with them or we put a play together.
VALIDATED: So your moniker "Talk Is Cheap", what's the backstory on that?
SMITTY: The backstory of that is people always called my phone to talk, you know, I started getting tired of it. So if they wasn't talking about business or something that made sense, they started saying, my man was like "Yo, you can’t call Smitty if you ain’t about your business because he ain’t gonna talk to you." The word started getting out like, “Don’t call Smitty unless you about your business.” So then I started saying yeah, “Talk is cheap!” and I just ran with it. One day I think Jada Kiss repeated it and it just took off from there. So now everyone just calls me “Mr. Talk Is Cheap.”
VALIDATED: The borough of Brooklyn has produced some of Hip Hop's most talented and influential MCs, but what would you contribute that to?
SMITTY: I mean, being from Brooklyn, let me see how to put it, I don't wanna say you gotta be from Brooklyn, but being from Brooklyn is an experience in itself. So just living day by day and just running around being a team, you know, making moves, I was always active. Running around with my cousin, going to football practice, doing different stuff, but just being in Brooklyn itself you're gonna have a story and stuff to talk about. Summer in Brooklyn is priceless. So I think that contributes when the artists are making their music, they got stories to tell and you’re gonna always have a story when you living in Brooklyn.
VALIDATED: You've been doing this for a while, but if memory serves me correct, when we spoke before, I think you said you were doing events and that one thing kind of led to the next and that’s how you got your start?
SMITTY: Well to be totally honest with you I was never a music dude. It was just I always been a hustler, trying turn 1 into 2. Whenever I saw a way to make money or an opportunity, like I said, I just hopped on it. So at one point I had met Beanie Sigel, because I played college football, and one of my buddies ended up going to the Eagles, so you know how rappers wanna be ball players and ball players wanna be rappers. So I met Beanie Sigel and I told DJ Craig G at the time, when I was going to UConn about it and he was like, “Yo, let’s do an event. How much would he want? We could make money.” And then ding, ding, ding, my ears just started ringing from there. From there I did Fred Da Godson, Red Cafe, French Montana, Jim Jones. I’ve invested in a couple artists and done moves. Recently I brought Burna Boy to Chicago, I brought Davido to Chicago last Summer. Even this summer, I actually spoke to Burna Boy last week and I’m trying to look into bringing him to Brooklyn, New York to do a show.
VALIDATED: Do you find it difficult to balance your personal life and your work life?
SMITTY: Nah, not at all. I feel like at this point its like a lifestyle. That’s the question of the year though, people always ask me that. I got my daughter, shes my priority everyday, you know. Nothing comes between my daughter. For example, I come out to Atlanta, my dad is out here, so like today is for my dad, tomorrow I’m outside, I'm working. Then Thursday I’m back doing this and then I’m back to doing things with my daughter and everything. It’s just a grind, it’s a lifestyle and I’m used to it. Everyday I’m on it, so after a while it’s like just something I do.
VALIDATED: Do you see that work ethic, leading by example, kind of rubbing off on your daughter?
SMITTY: Oh, yeah definitely. My daughter is a leader. She's aware that her daddy's a boss and I let her boss me around. That builds her confidence. She knows nobody can come to her and tell her anything because she's gonna be like "Nah, my daddy's a boss!” She sees the moves I make. Like if I go and do something and collect some money. If I collect $5,000, I'll give it to my daughter and tell her count that. She'll count it up and be like "Daddy, it’s $5,000." So I instilled that in her and you know, that'll help her grow as a person.
VALIDATED: Last time we spoke, I think you were heading out to meet up with Kanye West. You've met some legendary artists, are there any legends past or present that you haven't worked with that you would like to work with?
SMITTY: Man, I would've loved to have worked with like Biggie Smalls, Tupac, like I would’ve loved to run those guys around the city, but like I tell everyone, this is history in the making. I plan on taking it somewhere it’s never been taken before.
VALIDATED: What do you have going on currently?
SMITTY: Currently I'm in Atlanta running around, tomorrow I'm doing the radio, Swam Izzo, shout out to him, shout out to DJ Scream, shout out to Radio Stew, shout out to Hot Rod, tomorrow I'll be on Power 107.9. I’m gonna go up to 105.3. I'm doing “Off The Porch.” I'm doing “Purple Tape.” I'm running an artist called GPS Codine, from Dallas, Texas. He actually just flew in tonight, so I’m gonna run around with him tomorrow, you know, show him around the city, be doing our thing. 3 or 4 Radio stations, you know, just setting up shop pretty much.
VALIDATED: So what's next for you?
SMITTY: What's next, that’s the question everyone's asking. I think I might start my “Talk Is Cheap” company or I might start my own Record Label to take it to another level. So you know that’s something that I'm working on. I actually just got an entertainment lawyer this past week who's connected me with a few people, so I think that's where I'm gonna take it. I might just start my own Record Label.
VALIDATED: “Talk Is Cheap Records”?
SMITTY: Yeah, something like that.
VALIDATED: That's dope though. So where can everybody reach you?
SMITTY: The best way to reach me is on the gram (Instagram) @Smitbdmceo or shoot me an email at smitbdmceo1@gmail.com. That would be the best way to reach me. Hit me direct. I’m a 1 man army. Ain't no one else booking anything or doing anything. So if you wanna get through, you gotta have to talk to me.
VALIDATED: Do you have any advice for new artists?
SMITTY: You just gotta stay consistent. You gotta stay on your grind. You gotta make moves. Everyday I'm making moves. I'm out here in Atlanta, I fly to Miami Sunday, I get back, fly to Cali the weekend after that. You just have to build your network, build your brand, that's about it. You gotta believe in it, if you don't believe in it, nobody else is gonna believe in it. When I first started they laughed. Now the same people that laughed be telling people they know me. You just gotta be consistent and believe in yourself. Stay focused but consistency is definitely key.
Shout out to Validated Magazine. I appreciate the interview, I appreciate the support, I'm just grinding like everyone else. A lot of people get on here and talk Hollywood and pretend to be big shots. I'm just a regular dude from Brooklyn, New York on his grind and that's about it. We gonna take it somewhere it needs to be taken.