INNOVATOR: E-Love
QUEENS, NEW YORK | E-LOVE
INTERVIEW TERRELL “REALIFE” BLACK PHOTO ROB GOLDSTON
VALIDATED: So, to jump right into it, you were born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New York. What’s your earliest memory of hip hop culture?
E-LOVE: I was listening to Funky Four Plus One, Sha-Rock and those guys, back when I was a kid but I was listening. I just remember she kept saying her name “Sha-Rock”, that name just stuck with me. Then you know after that, I heard about Kurtis Blow and I finally met Kurtis Blow and Run-D.M.C and those guys. That’s my early memory of hip hop.
VALIDATED: So, you were actually amongst the first of Def Jam signees? How did that opportunity come about?
E-LOVE: Well, I grew up with this kid named LL Cool J also known as the GOAT in Queens. And at that time, only Run-D.M.C and Kurtis Blow, Flash and those guys was doing that thing. And we were trying to get a record deal. So, every label that we went to, they said no. So, at that point in time, we decided to take a different route, we tried to find somebody that had our interest at heart. And we were trying to find an independent guy that wanted to start his own label. And we happen to find Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons and one of the Beastie Boys heard the cassette, he said, “Yo, Rick, this is your guy right here.” So, next thing you know, we met Rick and the rest is history and Russell Simmons.
VALIDATED: So, I understand you’ve actually worked with LL Cool J a lot?
E-LOVE: Yeah, we grew up together from the time he was 12 or 13 years old, we were still boys. And at that time, he was just starting to get his style and his rhythm going and trying to master the art. So, I started with him from the very start to right now. There were a couple of gaps in between, because I was in the hospital, but minus that time was a little bit of a hiatus. But overall, I started off with him, we just reunited at the 36th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, actually.
VALIDATED: Yeah, I saw that and that’s a huge achievement. Where does that rank amongst your list of achievements?
E-LOVE: The Grammys, Mercury Awards, Soul Train Awards, all those awards, those are all great awards. But the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, that right there has to be the icing on the cake at that point in time. Not too many times do you look at your audience and see Paul McCartney, Jay Z and everybody, plus it was a total full house. So, that was a totally incredible experience.
VALIDATED: It sounds like it was a surreal moment for you?
E-LOVE: No doubt about it.
VALIDATED: No, I definitely understand that. So, you’ve actually co-produced with LL Cool J as well?
E-LOVE: Yeah, over the years, yeah numerous songs on radio, CD.
VALIDATED: I understand now, also, you actually played a role in launching the careers of Tupac and John Forte?
E-LOVE: Well, when I met Tupac, he was already going. I worked with him through DJ Vodka, that was working with LL Cool J for a while. Bobcat’s cousin was the one that introduced us to Tupac. And then from there, I and Bob wanted to do something for Pac's “All Eyez On Me” and another CD that came out after he got killed. But John Forte is somebody that I actually mentored from the time he was 13 years old. I actually got him into this Prep School called Philips Exeter Academy, in the New Hampshire area. And I was like his big brother/stepfather. And I’ve actually mentored him all the way up until he signed with the Fugees when he met Wyclef, because John is from Haiti, Wyclef is from Haiti and they had this Haitian thing going, they both had dreads, they both were young at that time. So, Wyclef was like, he’ll be a great addition to the Fugees, and he was actually a really good addition. And he even released one of his… I think it was called Ruffhouse/Colombia, that was the label. He released one of his CDs and it actually went gold.
VALIDATED: Yeah, I have that album. That’s actually one of my favorite albums.
E-LOVE: Yeah, it was smoking.
VALIDATED: So, I also understand that you actually appeared in the “Krush Groove” movie? Did you have any idea at that point how big that movie was going to be for Hip Hop culture?
E-LOVE: No, not really. Because at that time, keep in mind, you have Run-D.M.C, New Edition, Blair Underwood, the Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Sheila E, those were the stars of that movie. We were actually extras everyday just carrying things on set. So, I was talking to a producer – God rest his soul – George Jackson. I said, “George, do you think we could?” He said, “E, check this out, you guys are extras, you aren’t Stars yet. These roles right here are all for stars. Just keep carrying that box, we’ll let you know when it’s your turn.” So, I was flipping through the dailies every day. There was an audition process. And I said, “You know what, George? I think I’ve seen something right here. Right after the scene here, we could just walk right and act like he’s about to perform and he’ll do like half of the bar and then they’ll throw us out” and George said, “Yo, I did like that though, you got the gig.”
So, George was like, “Let’s give it a shot, it doesn’t change anything. Let’s see how it looks on tape.” So, we walked in and that happened to be one of the scenes that was actually embedded in everybody’s mind. Because you saw somebody come in with energy that you haven’t seen before, because everybody else in the movie were stars. We had a couple of show dates here and there, but across the country, we were totally unknown. So, that movie was a Warner Brothers theatrical release, that just shot us to another plateau because at that point in time, the world had a chance of seeing LL for the very first time in a real big way on the big screen.
VALIDATED: What was it like being on the scene seeing that part of the culture, like you said, the Fat Boys, Run-D.M.C, etc?
E-LOVE: Kurtis Blow, Sheila E… It introduced them to Blair Underwood. That wasn’t his first role because at that time, Blair was a TV actor and he was on one of them shows. I know because my mom used to force me to watch it.
VALIDATED: Yes, I remember because my grandmother used to force me to watch it every day, along with a long list of soap operas before I could watch cartoons. (Laughs)
E-LOVE: Exactly right. So, you’re seeing Run-D.M.C, Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, Sheila E, you seeing everybody doing their thing, you’re like, “Wow, this is amazing. I’m happy to be here, but when is it going to be our turn?” So, our turn came around real soon and we were totally ready for it. But it was just exciting to see everybody that was huge stars under one roof for that many days working on a common goal. It’s no egos.
VALIDATED: How long did it take?
E-LOVE: It was about a month’s shoot.
VALIDATED: You actually co-wrote and directed “Gangsta Party”, the Tupac featuring Snoop video?
E-LOVE: Yeah, I was one of the co-directors in that movie. We went to treatment, nobody liked the treatment at first. And I said, “Well, let’s just give it a shot and see what Pac said. So, Snoop thought it was cool, Tupac said yeah, let’s roll with it. So, we shot two days and at that point, they were like, “Yeah, let’s roll it out.” And it happened the label loved it the minute they saw it. So, we had the approval of the label. And next thing you know, it was released.
VALIDATED: So, what was it about Tupac, the person or the artists that made you think, “Hey, I think this guy has it”?
E-LOVE: As a producer, you’ll meet the artist, and you’ll start talking to him or her and you’ll listen to their ideas, you’ll go back and forth. But it’s not really until you go with them in the studio, that’s where all of it gets real in the studio real fast. So, in the studio, he just had a way of doing things and saying things. And his idea was even one step ahead of the engineers a lot of the time. So, I said this guy is going to go all the way because his mindset is different from the average artist and he’s able to do and say things in a way where most engineers there wasn’t really understanding until hours into session, and they were like, “Oh, I see exactly what you were saying two hours ago,” he is always ahead of everybody else. So, you just felt a vibe about him, the minute you meet him.
VALIDATED: Oh, nice. You’ve definitely worked with legendary artists. Who are some of the other artists you’ve worked with that people may not be familiar with?
E-LOVE: I did a song with a BG from the Hot Boyz. A real good friend of mine, he did a song for a soundtrack… really talented artist. To me, BG was right there, with everybody else in the Hot Boyz, he just ran into a bad situation. But actually, he should be out in about three to six months. I already heard some of his new things that he has coming, it is going to be exciting to see what he does when he gets out.
VALIDATED: So, was there anybody that you wanted to work with that you haven’t had a chance to work with?
E-LOVE: The person I wanted to work with, I actually had the opportunity to work with, was Stan Lee. Stan Lee from Marvel Comics. I’ve always wanted to work with Stan Lee and Michael Jackson. Stan Lee, I brought him to the first Tokyo International Comic Con in 2016 and we had 175,000 people there for three straight days for Stan Lee, Jeremy Renner and Lance Hendrickson. And it was an amazing Comic Con. And the other person I always wanted to work with was Michael Jackson. I was just about to work with Michael, on the “This Is It” tour and he passed away.
VALIDATED: Regarding Comic Con, what is it that you’re doing in Asia?
E-LOVE: Well, in 2015, I actually moved over to Tokyo. I’ve been living in Tokyo for about six, seven years now. I got funded by a publicly traded mobile gaming company in Japan. So, I’m actually developing two games. There’s a drift driver VR racing game. We have a guy by the name of the “Drift King”, he’s the face of the race game, he’s also the guy that started the “Fast and Furious” franchise. That’s why they named #3 after Tokyo Drift, his name is DK. And the boxing game is called “The Takeover”. The kid named Teofimo Lopez, my Godson, he just fought last weekend in New York City. He happened to actually lose his championships. But he’s still the face of the game, “The Takeover” is still reigning supreme and they’ll be back on top.
VALIDATED: So, how did you even get into the video game world?
E-LOVE: Well, I’ve always been a gamer since I was a kid, there was Pac Man, Centipede, Space, NBA 2k. So, I said, you know what… Instead of playing this game, I’m going to figure out how to make the software. So I put together a team of engineers and we made our first game, we made our first sketch of the game and then I went over to an agent. The agent joined my software team together. So, right now we’re developing a racing game and the boxing game simultaneously. Plus, we have two soundtracks to go with each game, one soundtrack for each game. And they have some of the top artists, whether they are current artists or classic artists, on the soundtrack.
VALIDATED: And how will you release them? Like, will it be independent or…?
E-LOVE: The game is going to be released through the “Steam Community” you’ll be able to get it whether you have an Android or iPhone, it will be a free download. If you want something in the game, say if you want bigger tires for your car, that will be $.99, if you want a bigger engine, that will be $.99. But both games overall are going to be free. And you’ll be able to buy whether it be single or your favorite song from a soundtrack for $.99 as well.
VALIDATED: You’ve also worked with Levi’s?
E-LOVE: Yeah, Levi’s used safe sex… it is a 30 seconds spot that actually was started by Wyclef from the Fugees, he released it, that was part of the safe sex campaign. We went to schools and talk to kids about having safe sex. Gave out condoms and gave out Levi’s and so on.
VALIDATED: When you’re presented with an opportunity, what is it that makes you say hey, “I think this is something I want to do?” versus, “No, it’s not really for me?”
E-LOVE: It all depends if it’s a music opportunity or film, it depends on what it is, I weigh it out to what I’m working on at the moment. Sometimes it’s a fit, sometimes it’s just not for you, so you just stay focused on what you’re doing. Most of the time, I like working on my projects, because I have full control of my projects. If I’m working somebody else’s project, I tend to be under that person’s thumb, because now they’re going to expect you to do this, this, this, this, and everybody has different ideas of success, they might think that you’re not successful, because you did do this. So, sometimes there might be a conflict. So, I like to focus on what I have full control over.
VALIDATED: When you mentioned, everybody has a different vision or idea or definition of what success is, what does success mean to you?
E-LOVE: To me, success is being able to sleep at night, knowing that you put in your best possible work, knowing that you actually launched a couple of careers along the way, knowing that you are doing something that helped the youths of tomorrow, because for me, I’ve done it already. I’m here to pass my knowledge on to the next generation, because there are some things that come their way that they might not be able to anticipate. So, sometimes it’s better to hear from somebody with a better resume than yours and a longer resume that yours.
VALIDATED: And I appreciate the fact that you’re even willing to do that, because a lot of people aren’t.
E-LOVE: Yeah, this business is really funny. You're focused, or you’re not focused. So, me, I always try to help kids find their way because, I’ve met a lot of different kids and I make sure to try… we have a program to get these kids from Compton, Watts area, down to UC Irvine. We have a deal with one of the deans over at UC Irvine, where we’re able to bring kids in for 35% to 40% of the tuition, and their books and all that. We actually put over 300 kids through college in 14 years, the program that I’m working with.
VALIDATED: Wow. Now is that the Separation Summit?
E-LOVE: Yes, that’s part of the Separation Summit. The Separation Summit is all about mass outreach and keeping the family together in the city. So, we are going to have the Separation Summit in Vegas in 2022. My partner is one of the top civil rights attorneys in the country, Linda Wallace Pate. She has a very strong resume. She’s not just an attorney, she’s actually written legislation, she’s dynamic in this space right here. Nobody is better at what she does, nobody.
VALIDATED: That’s awesome. How did you get into Community Give Back?
E-LOVE: Well, in New York, every Thanksgiving, after I left the hospital, we all did toy drives to the kids in the hospital, then we did turkey drives in the 80s. We did Father’s Day drive on Father’s Day, Mother’s Day rolls around, we bring the mother’s flowers and the things that she would like for the kids that she couldn’t afford. So, I’ve always been… whether I live in Campton, Ontario, I’ve always been involved with that part of town because that’s where a lot of the kids are being pulled apart by a system and placed in state care. So, the state can receive $150,000 a year from the federal government. So, there might be 100,000 kids in this position in the state of California. This is the largest children’s welfare system in the world, in Southern California. So, there might be 100,000 kids. And so you do the math 150,000 times 100,000 kids, you are talking big dollars here. So, this is going on in every city, every state. This budget is bigger than the national deficit.
VALIDATED: And yet you don’t hear that much about it.
E-LOVE: You’re not going to hear about it, they never talk about what they don’t want you to hear, remember that. But let’s talk about the real issue. There’s over 300 men on death row in Florida and they all used to be ex-foster kids. There’s a problem with that.
VALIDATED: Wow. So, you actually were one of the co-contributors or co-founders of the marketing strategy that we know today as Street Teams.
E-LOVE: Absolutely.
VALIDATED: How did you come up with that idea?
E-LOVE: Well, when I was about 15 years old, I did this TV show when I was about 9 years old and that actually changed the scope of my life. But how the Street Team started, I was working for a guy named Peter Gatien. Peter Gatien, used to own three of the top nightclubs in New York City, The Tunnel, a legendary Hip Hop spot, everybody and their mother played there, and the Limelight, which was a church Gothic, like Marilyn Manson, that type of audience. And then you had the Palladium, Madonna played there. As a matter of fact there was a time when Doug E. Fresh was the headline. We were going on before Doug E. and this girl named Madonna was an opening.
So, what I did for Peter, I rallied the 1000 kids from Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. I had 1000 kids mobilized at night, then we would get a box of stickers and they would put them all over the trains, bus stops, etc. So, we would promote the club. I started bringing ballplayers, Wall Street guys, all types of entertainers, people from the tech world and professional people to all his clubs. So, right after that, I started doing the poster and bust stop billboards. That’s how I started the Street Team.
VALIDATED: How did people take to it, because I know there had to be some pushback in the beginning?
E-LOVE: Oh, I got a call from a guy, “Hey, guy. Hey. I’m looking for a Mister Def, you have your stickers all over my billboard. Oh, okay, why don’t you come down to this address? Let me give you a lesson on marketing, and how things work in the professional world.” So, I went down there and he sat me down, he said, “You see these boards here, they give me $20,000 every month to bring traffic here. I’m putting my things up tomorrow, but I can’t put my things up because your stickers are all over my expensive board. And you put your stuff there for free. So, let’s talk, this is how it is, if you want to be in this business, this is what you have to do.'' So, he gave me the do’s and don’ts of the billboard signage world because, you drive down the street, you see a billboard, they’ll say, “Do not post here.” They were talking about guys like me back then. So, it’s a process to that, I actually learned it and I became really good at it. So, that’s why we got the TMobile account with SKI TV, as well as the Chrysler account Ski team.
VALIDATED: So, when you come up with these ideas… I know it’s like a broad question, but it just seems like some people’s brain works different from others, let’s be honest. Like, you’re a thinker, and from what I get is more so you think outside of the box, and you try to figure out the solution. What is it about you that has you do that?
E-LOVE: Oh, I can’t describe it, it just comes to me. It’s not like I sit down and think about this. I could just be right here right now, zoning, driving, just doing some regular things. And I see something on TV that might trigger my brain and I write things down.
VALIDATED: Yeah, that’s what I thought. It’s just like I said, some people, that’s how they’re wired, that’s how they think, they find a solution, they think outside of the box. But what does early 2022 look like for you?
E-LOVE: Well, I have several projects that I’m working on with some A-list names, I just can’t say at the moment. We have two or three incredible huge videos, I’m supposed to be shooting huge videos. We have a single for the soundtrack that I’m going to release, that’s going to be with Chuck D and Chris Payne, that song is already completed, the videos is 80% shot, we’ll finish up the video. We’ll drop that song first quarter 2022. “Step Back” that’s going to be for the boxing game with Teofimmo Lopez and we’re going to roll a second episode of our reality show called “Innovator”.
“Innovator” is a reality show that follows me through putting a software team together for both games, you’ll see me and my other producers in the studio, producing songs for the soundtrack. We got some incredible songs on the soundtrack. Some top artists and we have some young up and coming artists that have not had their opportunity yet. So, this is going to be opportunity for some of the young artists around the country that we signed on, for them to get out there and get their work, get their name and face seen, so they can start generating interest from the audience, and then generating some money to feed their families.
VALIDATED: So, at this point in your career, as you look back, what’s the one piece of advice you would give your younger self.
E-LOVE: When you want something, go after it 100%. There’s going to be rough days in any space you choose, whether sports, politics or whatever, there’s always going to be rough moments. You really want this, you really have to go the extra mile. And you really have to be true to yourself, be true to who you are, and focus on what you really want to do. And don’t try to sound like Lil Wayne or Drake because guess what? We have Lil Wayne and Drake already. We don’t need anymore artists trying to sound like those two. You need to sound like who you are, at the end of the day, for you to be noticed.
VALIDATED: Where can the readers find you on social media and the internet?
E-LOVE: You can hit me up on my IG, @eloveglobal. I want to shout out to some of my guys overseas, all my guys in Tokyo, keep it going, to our NetDragon college pool in China, Japan to my peeps down there in Tijuana, you know what’s up, meet you at the border. I’ve got to give a shout out to all my guys on the West coast. Just please say a special prayer for my boy Kango from UTM, he’s fighting for his life right now. And I’m definitely praying for your healing 100%, you stay strong, we got your back. And shout out to my family in New York. To my co-owner of Alkaline Farms and Renaissance. The company that we own back East and everybody in the islands and what’s up to New York and the DMV area, I love you guys. Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, everybody.