EXCERPT FROM THE "INTERN DIARIES/INDUSTRY INSIDER"....
....And he did he left a message on the answering machine for me stating he set up
a meeting with a A & R by the name of Vicky Charles over at Universal who
needed an intern the year was 2001 and I was finishing my Junior Year of
high school in Dix Hills Long Island at High school West ,Yes the name of the
town sounds suspect but it was a predominately white neighbor hood with rich
white housewives who drives there spoiled kids to school in Benz’s and rovers
and anything else there long money can get there hands on it was a big change
from living in Rosedale and Ozone Park Queens Hollis or any other place I
had lived , when we moved on our block in the summer of 1996 it was only 2
other black Families out of the 50 plus homes that were in our little
community . At this time I was now 17 and very naïve but very intuned with the
industry from people behind the scenes to the entertainers themselves. So the
day came were I had my meeting at the Universal building I have to admit I
brought along my mom with me to ride the LIRR remember I had jus turned 17 and
my mother was not about to let me travel all the way to the city alone.
That
ride from the Wyandanch train station to Penn station had to be the longest
hour of my life, when me and my mom exited the train and walked along the
platform we noticed it was raining out side and I could have sworn that was
going to be bad luck. When my mother and I arrived at the Universal Building I saw
all types of people out front trying to sell me and my mom there demo tapes, all
I heard my mom say was “ they probably think were are someone important “, then
we proceeded to walk into the building when we walked through the lobby of the
building we approached an elderly man with some sort of rent a cop outfit on
with a Clipboard with a pen attached to it and name tags . The security guard
had to be atleast 65 years old , after the security guard called up stairs to
the label and confirmed my appointment he gave my mother and I name tags and
directed Us to to a wall of elevators and told us to “ take it all the way up to
the 25th floor “ the elevator opened and Out came a number of record label
heads on on there blackerry’s and flip phone to there ears , assistants
going on errand runs looking more nervous than I did on that day You also had
you’r carriers who looked like they took up the majority of the elevators , I
would later come to know that not all record labels use personal carriers all
the time and that would be the job of a struggling intern willing to do
anything to please there boss and be noticed . so I finally arrived at the
25th floor mother in toe sweaty arm pits aswell lol , at this point I was sweating so heavily and hoping
that it didn’t show on my shirt or my forehead I felt the water trickling down
my back and under my arms I was scared straight I was about to walk into an
interview with Vicky Charles the only thing I knew about the woman was she was a
woman and that was it . I almost wanted to tell my mother lets go ! lets just
forget it im too nervous and all I could think about was rejection but I
had to remind my self Rejection is the name of the game and I had to remember
even the best have gotten rejected. So I internally sucked it up and down
the plank I mean the the Long hall way filled with Platinum Plaques Gold
plaques From some of universals Heavy hitters in the Industry this was
enough inspiration I needed to walk into Vicky Charles ‘s office .
A very
Sexy tall model esque type receptionist escorted me and my mother towards her
office were
I was introduced to Vicky’s assistant Dham Raj who was about my
height, Cooli hair light skin and a warm smile he looked to be mixed with
some eastern European he definitely wasn’t all negro . As we grew closer to the
door of Vicky’s office all that nervousness left my body as I entered the office
it was almost pitch black in there , insence was burning no lights only
candles it was a very calm environment the back of Vicky’s big black
Corporate chair was the first thing I noticed she was sitting in the chair
with her back facing the door that was intimidating as hell cause I had no clue
what this woman looked like or how she would act towards me or even what she
sounded like . As I sat down in one of the 2 chairs that were placed in front of
her Mohogany desk my mom waited out side with another one of her assistants .
she remained seated she remined me of a black rosie o donnell and queen latifah
mixed all in one with a dash of Lesbian flavor her skin was caramel with
shoulder length hair she wore all black which freaked me out more than her dark
office and her insence burning making my eyes water . Vicky extended her hand
I stood up to shake her hand ............,
HI Im Johnny I said
she then let go of my hand and said nice to meet you ! and I said like wise .
Vicky was looking at me like this boy looks like he is still on similac formula
but I didn’t let her curious looks deter me in letting her know I was right
for the internship position . Following our introduction Vicky’s first
question was How old are you Johnny and I replied confindently seventeen I
will be 18 in November after my response she tilted her head to the side and
said oooo your young most of my interns are either freshmen in college or
highschool seniors she continued to say unfortunately I cannot take you on ,
but I will keep your name on file and you will be eligible for a
internship when you turn 18 or when you graduate highschool . After that damn
dispointment I felt my own world was crushed but I kept my poker face on and
thanked Ms. Charles for the opportunity left my contact info with her
assistant
as I exited the area were Vicky’s assistants desk were seated I
broke the news to my mother who was patiently waiting for me . As I approached
my mom she immediately asked "How did it go ?" " what did she say ?" " Why do you u
have that look on your face?"... my mom had a tendacy to be a little evasive at
times but I knew she didn’t mean any harm, I just simply said to her "Im to
young I didnt get it" . at that point I don’t think my mom knew what to say to
me so she didn’t say anything , so we proceeded to walk back down that long
hallway that gave me the inspiration from seeing all the platinum and gold
plaques on the wall there is were we saw Dham Raj one of Vicky’s assistants he
approached me and asked me how did it go , I broke the bad news to him and.. he
said well I tell you what since you did come here and you are kinda young it
shows me you really want this he insisted we exchange numbers and he said he
would Call me after he spoke to one of his associates that he knows over at
his old Job Violator Records . Violator records was run by CEO Chris Lighty
and President Mona Scott and VP James Cruz . Dham Raj was reliable he
called me back in about a week which is good by industry standards , Industry
people can be real shady and very fake but he didn’t seem that way. When
Dham Raj called me he said Yo Johnny I got good news I spoke to Simone
Lyons over at Violator Records she is the main receptionist over there he told
me that he set me up with an appointment to meet her to see if I fit the
criteria , That sounded like music to my hears I immediately said thank you
and told Dham I would call him and let him know how it went . The Summer was
just a week or so away at this point and normally I would go to Queens to my
cousin Saquans house he lived in St. Albans off Linden Blvd. Long island was
just too quiet for me even though I enjoyed the lifestyle in longIsland I
need to go back to my roots ,I wasn’t Of the hood I was from the hood soo I
liked to keep my ear to what the niggas in the hood thought was hot and what
was not . In any event the time came to when I had to travel to Manhattan to
25th street were Violator Records was located , since I was staying in queens
for the weekend I would ask my cousin Saquan to Drive me to the city I had
told him about my interview with Universal and how I was too young for that
particular internship so he and my cousin Payne was excited for me when I told
them I might have an opportunity over at Violator Records .......
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