|
"Hip-hop
has become a cultural reference point for the world, and Chris Lighty
and his partner Mona Scott have stayed on the cutting edge of thisrevolution.
They are forward-thinkers who anticipate these trends in music and
have a keen awareness of what the audience wants."
-- Michael Ovitz, Artist Management Group
"Being a part of Violator is just like being a part of a family.
Violator has been the best thing to happen to me, both personally
and professionally. Mona and Chris have looked out for me from all
angles. They've secured my well-being-both as a person and as an
artist."
-- Busta Rhymes
From a management
company to a record label to a marketing group to a multi-media
entertainment conglomerate, Chris Lighty and Mona Scott have built
an impressive empire in Violator. And, most importantly, this success-the
permeation of all areas of entertainment-has been earned by the
powerhouse duo without compromising their integrity, nor the integrity
of hip-hop music and culture, the very thing that got the ball rolling
over 10 years ago.
Running with a rebel posse called the Violators back in the Bronx,
Lighty's roots in rap are grounded to his days as an apprentice
disc jockey, carrying crates in local clubs for legendary DJ Red
Alert and the late Scott La Rock of Boogie Down Productions. It
was a soldier's in-trenches, do-what-has-to-be-done-to-get-it-done
mentality back then, and that philosophy carried over to managing
careers and releasing hit records. When Mona Scott joined the company,
she took over the day-to-day responsibilities of running Violator
Management, as she sees it, "making the impossible possible."
And so they have. Violator Records/Management has sold an average
of 10 million records a year for the past 6 years, and Lighty and
Scott have seen the last 7 CDs by Violator-related artists enter
the Billboard Top 200 Pop Album Charts in the Top 10. Just this
past year superstar client Busta Rhymes went from hawking Mountain
Dew on television to co-starring in two major motion pictures (Gus
Van Zandt's "Finding Forrester" with Sean Connery and
John Singleton's "Shaft" with Samuel L. Jackson), with
a third ("N.A.R.C.", starring and produced by Ray Liotta)
currently in production. The musical roster bounces from those still
watching the streets like Noreaga and Mobb Deep to those who say
they are the "GREATEST OF ALL TIME" (G.O.A.T.) LL Cool
J to platinum producer/rapper/ lipstick pitcher Missy Elliott, NAS,
Maxwell and Cee-Lo.
(Goodie Mobb) recently came aboard for career guidance and Violator's
even watching Ja Rule's back for films. For Lighty and Scott, there
would be no commercials, films or TV shows without maintaining a
focus on the music. Platinum and gold are the norm for each artist
CD on the roster, and in an effort to demonstrate the continuity
of their acts and familial loyalty, Lighty and Scott tied together
their street artists and mainstream stars on 1999's VIOLATOR THE
ALBUM, the million-selling CD that featured a reunited Capone-N-Noreaga,
some of the last music from Big Pun, new tracks from Busta Rhymes,
Mobb Deep, LL Cool J and introduced the first solo record from Q-Tip
since his departure from long-time Violator management clients,
A Tribe Called Quest. That track, "Vivrant Thing," went
on to #1 and garnered Grammy, Soul Train, and MTV Award nominations.
The album's solid material and savvy marketing strategy got Hollywood
and America's attention.
Following those accomplishments, Lighty is putting together a successor
for Summer 2001 release that will demonstrate the growth of the
Violator brand. VIOLATOR THE ALBUM V2.0, will feature the first
music from Busta Rhymes since leaving Elektra, as well as two new
LL Cool J tracks, Prodigy featuring Jadakiss, Staten Island newcomer
Jo Jo Pellegrino with Method Man and others from the Violator camp.
This will be the first album in a new Violator Records/Sony distribution
deal, after many years with Def Jam, where Lighty learned how to
brand his artists under the tutelage of Russell Simmons and Lyor
Cohen. It was a lesson he'd put to good use in his own meteoric
career, when he launched his own Violator label, signing Latin hip-hop
artists Fat Joe and the Beatnuts, then busting out with Warren G's
four-million-selling REGULATE album, Cru, Foxy Brown, The Firm,
and the aforementioned VIOLATOR THE ALBUM. With the Violator Records
move to Steve Rifkind's Loud, Lighty assumes additional responsibility
as Loud Records' Senior Vice President.
Given Violator's ability to straddle the line between grassroots
cred and mainstream appeal, it makes sense that when Hollywood's
legendary Michael Ovitz went looking to partner with some of the
top music companies in the business, he turned to Chris Lighty and
Mona Scott's Violator empire. "It allows us to do what we do
best, which is reach the urban market, and to use the skills we
refined in that market to crossover and assist in the Hollywood
arena" says Lighty, who along with Scott, co heads Urban Entertainment
at Ovitz' Artist Management Group (AMG). "We now have at our
disposal a staff of 200 other managers and executives already deeply
entrenched in film and television; they can open any door, get any
meeting and have access to any talent, including our own."
Having successfully marketed hip-hop from the hood to Hollywood,
Violator brought their street marketing skills to the film and television
world when newly-formed Violator Marketing Group (VMG) landed the
promotion contract for New Line Cinema's summer picture, "Blow,"
starring Johnny Depp and directed by Ted Demme. VMG was created
to successfully market mainstream products to the urban consumer,
a consumer not defined by ethnicity, but rather by lifestyle. Theirs
will be a grass-roots team that furthers what Lighty and Scott learned
from convincing Mountain Dew to move Busta Rhymes' soda sales pitch
beyond urban radio and into multiple mainstream television and magazine
advertisements; and that Missy Elliott could successfully sell Gap
clothing on TV. "What began as a musical movement is now a
part of everyday life-no matter who you are," explains Ovitz.
"The rap culture has gone mainstream," adds Scott. "It's
not about color. It's about the music you listen to, the activities
you enjoy doing, the kind of experiences you claim as your own."
Violator has already made inroads into such areas as TV, films and
the Internet, with Busta Rhymes roles in "Higher Learning,"
"Shaft," "Finding Forrester," and "N.A.R.C."
Rhymes is also collaborating with screenwriters like Tiger Williams
("Menace To Society") and Darryl Quarles ("Big Momma's
House") on his own film ideas, while Noreaga has sold HBO on
his hosting role for his hip-hop documentary, "What What",
which the rapper created, will star in and Ted Demme has produced.
Nas is currently shooting "Sacred Is The Flesh," and is
about to begin production on "Keeping The Faith," two
film projects that he co-wrote and will produce. Ja Rule has also
sought out Violator to guide his television and film career. Under
their auspices, he has recently wrapped shooting on "Fast and
Furious," which features him as a member of a motorcycle gang.
The movie opens June 22nd and also stars Vin Diesel and Michelle
Rodriguez.
"By combining Chris and Mona's expertise and great taste with
the architecture of AMG, we will be able to expand the scope of
opportunity for all our clients," insists Ovitz. "We have
always considered ourselves and the artists we represent to be progressive,
and leaders in our field," adds Scott. "This is just another
chapter in our growth and we accept the challenge!"
Leave it to Chris Lighty to sum it all up. "Let's face it.
Right now, it's a very interesting time to be young and black."
And a Violator.
|
