You are recognized industry wide for your creative leadership and artistic innovation. Tell us about what is happening with Urban Grind TV.
Urban Grind TV is doing what it does best, that is evolving to serve the culture and meet the vigorous demands of the entertainment industry. This year Urban Grind TV started its 12th year on Comcast cable in Chicago and its twenty-fourth season of television that is over 600 episodes with a new show weekly. Urban Grind TV has garnered 23 awards for its productions and service to the entertainment industry.
We launched Urban Grind Radio about 5 years ago in response to the tremendous amount of music submissions that we received on a daily basis from all over the world. From independents to major labels, they were constantly sending us new music and we saw an opportunity to fill yet another void in the industry. Urban Grind Radio quickly syndicated across the country growing to over 15 different stations worldwide that syndicated the show. Urban Grind Radio is also available on IHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Tune in at UrbanGrindTV.com
Inspiring others is important to you. How are you inspiring artists today?
The best way to inspire people in my humble opinion is to share your story with them, I mean the raw story, the struggle. I am talking about when we didn’t even have real heat in the studio, we would huddle up around a small propane heater just to warm our fingers up so we could keep working. The door was broken so snow would literally accumulate at the bottom in winter. We are based in Chicago so it gets really cold here, the studio is a loft above an auto repair business. This place was built in the 1880s and its old and hard to heat. This was not an ideal place to build a studio but we made it happen against all odds. People told me that celebrities would never come, but they have been coming through the doors of Smokey Studios for almost 20 years and having a great time. Walking up the stairs in the hallway you can see the signatures of the entertainers from all over the world that came to Chicago to be on Urban Grind TV.
I would tell people that I came home from the military with two traumatic brain injuries and a bad case of P.T.S.D. with no idea what I was going to do with my life or how I was going to support my family. So, I decided to purse what I loved the most which was music, I had knack for business working for my family since I was 8 years old. So, I combined what I loved and what I was good at music + business = music business. I have stumbled and I have fallen but I never gave up on myself or others around me. My spirit will not allow it to happen. I am here to honestly say to anyone that reads this “You can be whatever you are inspired to be if you have the heart and the nerve to see it through. You need the heart to believe in yourself and your dream enough to dedicate yourself and make the necessary sacrifices it takes to build something from nothing. You need the nerve to overcome the obstacles and people that will get in your way, the ones there to test you. Those distractions are there to make sure you stay focused on your targets, if you allow them to get you off your game then you are not precision as you need to be and it’s time to regroup and reset.” I would tell them that if I can do it, like others that came before me, then they can do it too.
Tell us about the recent deal with Urban Grind TV and the deal with Universal Music Group’s Ingrooves.
Urban Grind TV is an award-winning television show and creative agency that encompasses Music + Media + Management divisions so it was a natural progression to move into the distribution game. We found that a lot of creatives did not understand distribution, copyrights or royalties in general, they just enjoyed being creative. We wanted to ensure that these creators could enjoy the fruits of their labor. I graduated law school with a focus on Intellectual Property and have been handling music administration and registration for almost 20 years, so I understood the need to get these artists properly registered and compensated. I created the Music Royalty Registration Program which handles the dozen or so music registrations available to fully monetize the creatives. I beta tested the program with some of the artists that we manage and would have some incredible results. I knew that I needed to scale this program and offer it to the masses. The next step was to find some music distributors to work with so once we fully registered and monetized their catalogue we could set them up with a great distribution situation for their music and videos. I began calling my contacts in the industry and soon we narrowed it down to a few distributors that we felt would be a good match for Urban Grind TV Music Distribution. We felt that Universal / Ingrooves was the best fit for the current catalogue and here we are. In the next few weeks, we will be announcing the Executive Staff at Urban Grind TV Music Distribution. Our first release is from a fellow military veteran and an incredible artist Ocho Mexico. Ocho Mexico’s single “Mardi Gras” is a true classic and an ode to the turn up. Ocho Mexico’s “Mardi Gras” is available everywhere.
Our marketing and promotions division at Urban Grind TV supports the artist’s release once it drops setting up artists interviews with Shade 45, This is 50, Ruff Ryder Radio, Hip-Hop Weekly and more. Urban Grind TV Artist Management Division released three projects in 2020 that charted #7 on the ITunes and #17 on Billboard while appearing on BET, MTV, Music Choice, Footlocker TV, and MTV Tres. We have some major projects in the works for 2022 that we look forward to releasing.
What does this mean for Urban Grind TV?
I feel that the real question is what does it mean for the culture? Now we can protect, strategize, and monetize artists worldwide with major distribution and promotional outlets never available before on this scale to the independent music scene. When the artists win, the culture wins than we all win. It was my vision to create a platform for artists and entertainers to promote their intellectual property, the fact that we can take that to the next level is definitely exciting and much needed. This means that artists from all over can reach out to us at UrbanGrindTV.com or call 1-888-380-1913 and get in tune with the movement.
What are you most proud of during your career?
I am most proud that I can say with close to 20 years in the entertainment industry throughout the ups and downs I always acted as man of integrity. I always listened to my gut with people and situations and regardless if we could do business or not I treated them with respect. I am far from a perfect human being but I was raised with integrity and to treat everyone with respect even your enemies. If you believe in the American Dream that’s my story, a poor Spanish kid from the Southside of Chicago with a dream to work in the entertainment industry. I enlisted in the Army to serve my country, I get injured and come home with $7,000 left of my enlistment bonus to figure out what I am going to do with my life now. I was a young man with a family to support and a promise to myself that I would show my son Wally IV that he could do anything he wants in life because he sees his father live his dreams each and every day.
No excuses, no sad stories just a lot of passion and grind. I took a loft above my family’s auto repair shop and built a recording studio, which became a production company, which developed into a full record label with talent in Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B, Reggaetone and Latin Rock. That record label 1913 Records evolved into Urban Grind TV, Urban Grind Radio, Urban Grind Lifestyle Magazine, Urban Grind Lifestyle Clothing, Urban Grind TV Artist Management and now Urban Grind TV Music Distribution. Mark Twain said something like “Success is a combination of ignorance and confidence”. I would like to think of myself as ignorantly confident, ignorant to the obstacles we’re going to knock down and confident that I can overcome anything that stands in the way.
Share your vision of Urban Grind TV for 2022?
My vision for Urban Grind TV for 2022 and beyond is to reinforce The Urban Grind TV Conglomerate across not only the Midwest but the entire world. Music has been therapy for my soul and I have seen it help people get through their darkest times. I want to spread some positive vibes into the universe as appreciation for our blessings. That’s how we keep these opportunities coming by being innovative and always forward thinking. We look forward to signing some more talent to Urban Grind TV Music Distribution so if you got heat call 1-888-380-1913 Hit The Line Up & Get Your Grind Up!