LULU (BYI ENTERTAINMENT) (September 2007)| Interview By: Eddie Gurrola

       Dubcnn recently caught up with the CEO of B.Y.I. Entertainment, Lulu, for an exclusive feature about the music industry. As owner of the label that is home to Omar Cruz and producer Rome, Lulu made headlines earlier this year by signing a 50/50 joint venture deal with Geffen & Interscope Records for Omar Cruz’s upcoming debut album “The Sign Of The Cruz.” In this interview, Lulu tells us about how he first formed his company, his motivation behind doing so, and the steps he took to make it happen.



He lets us in on many secrets about major label tactics, and also gives detailed advice to young artists on how to get the attention of record companies. If you are interested in the music industry at all, this article is a must-read.


As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: eddie@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done in September 2007.

Questions Asked By : Eddie Gurrola

LuLu Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Dubcnn: We’re here with Lulu, the CEO of B.Y.I. Entertainment. How’s it going today?

It’s fine. I’m enjoying this nice weather out here in Southern California. It’s beautiful out here today!


Dubcnn: Let’s talk about the label, B.Y.I. Entertainment. You’ve got Omar Cruz and the producer Rome on the label. Tell us about how you formed the company in the first place…

I formed the company probably five years ago. With me being in the industry for about seven years, I didn’t see [any] outlets for Latinos to try to take that next step, which is to get on a major [and] try to actually get heard all over the world in the right way. I knew people who worked at the different labels, and [they] were always confused on how to market Latino artists. They didn’t know [which] route to take. One of the main problems was that there were no Latino entrepreneurs, Latino CEOs, or Latino labels that were actually in the position to give [another] Latino the opportunity.

So I just decided to form a company that could open the door for Omar and Rome, [and] for all the young kids that are in high school and junior high that have dreams of becoming artists or having their own label. [I want them to] have somebody that they can look up to and say, “You know, he looks just like me. He came from exactly where I come from.” I just [want to] give inspiration to our people. I think we need more people hired at labels - more Omars, more Romes, more Lulus out here just to show the next generation out here that we can do it. There’s no reason why we can’t own labels. Why can’t we be the next Roc-A-Fella, the next Aftermath, the next Jay-Z, the next Russell Simmons, and the next Dr. Dre?


Dubcnn: Definitely! So, how did you go about putting the label together when you first started?

[When I] first started man, I had to get my legal stuff right first before anything! That’s the advice I give everybody. But I knew some lawyers, and I just wanted to get my company incorporated, and I went through the whole procedure of doing that, and doing that the right way - not going to paralegals and trying to do it that way. [In] this up-and coming game, if I was going to be respected, I had to have the right team. So I had to get these lawyers that I trusted to form the company. And then I just started.

You know being in LA, being in the streets all the time, a lot of people always used to ask me, “Yo, can I get my demo to you?” because at that time I was working with The Clipse a lot. I used to help The Clipse get some shows out here, and just take care of a lot of West Coast stuff for them. So a lot of people would give me demos, and I was always looking for a Latino artist. It’s not easy to find a Latino artist that I feel can take that step. So I was grinding out there, looking [and] asking people. One person led to another person and that’s just the way I went about it.

I was working with other artists, and it just didn’t work out the way I wanted it to work out. I just kept my head up and kept moving on to the next artist, [to] see what we could do. I’m not over here trying to rape people with their publishing or nothing like that. Most of the time, the way I work is, you come to the studio, and if I like the way you rap or whatever, let’s get down on some music first - because the music has to be right, before anything. If it sounds right, then we can sit down and let’s talk business. If it’s not there, there’s nothing to talk about. You can’t keep the lights on if the music ain’t makin’ no sense.


Dubcnn: That sounds like a good way to approach things. So you signed a 50/50 deal with Geffen and Interscope. Was that for all of B.Y.I.’s future projects, or was that just for Omar Cruz’s album?

No, that was just for the Omar Cruz project [“The Sign Of The Cruz.”] Like I said, my lawyers are good - they’ve got a lot of knowledge under their belt. Actually, Interscope and Geffen wanted to give me a label deal, but they weren’t really gonna give me a lot of money because I didn’t sell independently. B.Y.I. as a label never sold records independently. We give out mixtapes, we never sold [our releases.] So when we went over there, at first they were like “Oh…” Then they came with the whole label deal, and my lawyer was like, “We don’t want the label deal because they’re gonna give us crumbs. We haven’t proven ourselves yet.”

So they said, “Let’s work out a 50/50 deal, and let’s see how it works out. Let’s partner up for Omar’s project.” When Omar does well, then me as a CEO can go to Universal, Def Jam, whoever I want, and go get a label deal. Then I can get some real money, instead of them trying to give me a little bit of something. So I just decided to go ahead and do the 50/50 joint venture deal with Interscope/Geffen, and we’ll see how this works out with Omar’s first album.

The way it’s looking right now, it’s great. Hands down, buzz is hot right now. In the streets, everybody’s coming up to [us.] Latinos are appreciative of what we’re doing for the culture. [They talk about] Omar being the best, Rome being the best, [and] B.Y.I. being the best. It’s about B.Y.I. opening doors for other Latino labels to come up and try to get those deals. So if Omar’s album does well, B.Y.I. is going to get a big label deal, whether it’s with Interscope, Def Jam, Sony, [or] Warner Brothers, we’re going to get a major label deal with a lot of money.


Dubcnn: For the Omar Cruz album, are you going to be able to control the sound of it…

That’s the beautiful thing about my lawyers. My lawyers worked it where B.Y.I. controls how this album sounds. We pick what we’re gonna put on the album. It’s our decision. It’s 50/50 – it’s a partnership, but really Interscope and Geffen come in more on getting the record out there, and marketing and promotion of the record. In regard to making the record, that’s where we come [in.] We understand our culture. I don’t think those labels understand what type of music Latinos want to hear. Most of the time, they’ve had other artists and they don’t know what direction to take them [in.] B.Y.I., at the end of the day, is a self-contained unit and we move together as one. We make the records we want to make, we have our own street team, and we have our own publicist. We do everything ourselves.

They just come in when the record is done. When the single is ready to go off, that’s when the big machine comes in with all the contacts they have, and we go on every single radio station. But making music? No. We make music the way we want to make it. The way our fans have [enjoyed] what we’ve been doing from day one, it’s [obviously] been working. If it wasn’t working, then they would have a reason to say that’s not working. But they see that it’s working. They see all the mixes we’re putting out, they see the responses, they see Omar in all these magazines. They see Rome working with other artists like Rick Ross right now. Too Short, Mistah FAB, Fat Joe, and all these other artists are calling to get Rome beats. They see the movement. They see that we’re doing nothing wrong. This isn’t a “backyard boogie” record label, this is a real official label that’s going the right way.

So to answer your question, the music comes from us. It doesn’t come from Geffen or Interscope. We picked the producers that we wanted to go into the studio with - the Cool & Dres, the J.R.s, the Hi-Teks - we wanted to see how Omar was going to sound with them. It worked with some, and it didn’t work with others. I’m not saying that those producers weren’t good, but it just didn’t work for the sound that we were looking for. We already had our own B.Y.I. sound. Rome already developed that before we went to Interscope, so we’re gonna stay with that sound. That’s the B.Y.I. sound, that’s the sound that we have. We have that street, Latino music that when you listen to it, you’re gonna be like…you’re gonna let your mom listen to it, and your mom’s like “Yo, I know where they got that from!” That’s what we bring to the table. Just like Dre brought all that other music, like the James Brown samples, The Brothers Johnson, and all that funk that he brought to West Coast music. This is what we’re bringing to hip-hop.


Dubcnn: With you being a business man, and at the same time wanting everyone to be as creative as possible, what is the best way to find that balance?

Oh man, that’s easy. I’ve been in the game for seven years, going on eight now. When something that’s really good comes, you can just feel it. It’s just that good feeling. You know when the records are hot. You know exactly when that record is hot. You play it, [and] you just see peoples’ faces scrunge up. It’s that record, you know what I’m sayin’? Of course I have a lot of decisions that I make because I am the CEO of B.Y.I. and I also manage Omar and I manage Rome, and I keep all of that intact.

But it’s really more like family. Nobody’s feelings are going to get hurt over here. If I tell you that something is not that hot, it’s just not that hot. Nobody gets hurt, you just go on to the next one. It’s just that that record might not be good for Omar, or that beat might not have been for Omar. It might work for somebody else. But creatively, [B.Y.I. artists] get in there. Rome gets in there and does his thing. I don’t sit there and tell him how to make beats. He does what he does best, and then he lets me listen to it, and I might need to tell him it’s hot or it’s not hot. He’s not gonna cry about it, we’re gonna work, and we’re gonna go until we got that feeling like “Yo, that record is crazy!”

That’s just the way we go about music. There are no “yes” people around us. People are honest, and I’m one of the most honest people you can find. I’m gonna tell you [if] this shit is hot, or if it’s not, whether you like it or not. That’s just my personality, and that’s what they’re used to. If we need this shit on the record, I’m gonna tell you.

If you look at our mixtapes, that’s the way we approach [them] all. All of our mixtapes had a lot of original music on there, and we just push hot shit man. Our motto is [that] we don’t do album fillers. We want you to listen to everything on the record. We don’t believe in album fillers. We [say] “Let’s put the hottest records on this album.” [For] Omar’s [new] album, we’ve done 90 records. That’s the way we go about it. There’s no album fillers at B.Y.I., [just] good music on our albums.


Dubcnn: That’s a great motto to have! Are you going to be signing any other artists to BYI soon?

Yeah! Being one of the only Latino labels that has a deal with a major, I get artists left and right giving me demos, from girl singers to girl rappers to guy groups and guy solo artists. I definitely am looking for artists, but you’ve got to understand, I want B.Y.I. as a company to compete with Aftermath, Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam and all these big labels, [so] I’ve got to find the hottest shit man. I’m here for my people, B.Y.I. is for our people, but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna open the door and let anybody come in just because they’re Latino. At the end of the day, you’ve got to be hot.

Right now, we’re putting a group together, two rappers coming out with that straight heat! You know, [like] that Dogg Pound, DPG old school albums, [and] the Clipse records. That’s the next thing I’m putting together, just two hot dudes that’s just straight raw and gangsta.


Dubcnn: What’s the name of that group?

We don’t have a name [yet.] I have one artist, and I’m looking for the next one to put in the group. I’m also talking to other artists. I’ve got a female rapper I’m talking to right now, and I’ve got an R&B group that we’re about to put together too. But I’m not looking for Menudo! Whoever wants to sign Menudo, they can keep Menudo. We do street music over here, so I’m looking for those kids that come from LA, that come from that street, soul music that are R&B singers. There’s a lot of stuff that we’ve got going on. I just can’t saturate the market like that with every single artist that comes over here, or sends me a demo, because that’s not the type of label that I’m trying to be.

I’m not trying to have 100 artists on my label. I’m trying to have the best of the best, whether you’re a female rapper, or an R&B guy, you come over here to B.Y.I. and you know that you’re really going to have to step up to the plate. That’s just the way that this label is going to be formed. It’s not going to [have] 100 “OK” rappers. I’m going to have the best out of the best.


Dubcnn: Since you’ve been in the music industry for a while, what advice would you give to young people that are trying to get in?

I recommend they do everything that’s possible to get their name out there. I recommend you call Eddie, Nima, [and] try to find out how to get an article on Dubcnn and get a buzz going for yourself. And you should never go to a label. A label should always come to you. If you go to a label, that means you’re begging, you’re asking. That means they’re not giving you nothing, because you’re going to them. Now, if they want to start coming to you, you’re doing something right. Get a buzz. Do whatever you’ve got to do to get a buzz, and drop good quality music.

I respect peoples’ hustles. A lot of people out here definitely have a strong hustle, but their music is horrible. If your music is great, it’s going to outshine a lot of people. So if your hustle and your music is right, you’ve got nothing to lose. I’m coming for you! Believe me, I look everyday. I listen to every demo. People hit me up on the B.Y.I. Myspace, they hit up Rome on his Myspace, they hit Omar on his Myspace – I listen to all that stuff homie! I’m in the club, I listen to everything. I’m trying to get the hottest things. When you think B.Y.I., I want you to think, “Yo, I want to be on B.Y.I.!” just like people say “I want to be on Def Jam,” [or] “I want to be on Aftermath.” That’s what B.Y.I. is here for. So I suggest you get a buzz and you let me come find you, instead of you trying to come find me.

That’s my advice for artists. You know, go do mixtapes, try to get on Dubcnn, be on the forums, get that Myspace thing crackin’, go in the streets, drop off your mixtapes to the Compton swap meet, wherever you can go, drop them off! And stop trying to charge for everything man! Stop trying to charge for every little mixtape you drop. Just give it out for free man, get your buzz up. Let people come up [like] “Oh, you’re so and so!” Then you’re doing stuff right. But a lot of kids out here, they just think “I’m gonna do a mixtape, and I’m gonna try to get 10-15 dollars for it.” I respect that, but nobody knows who you are, so get your buzz up before you start trying to charge.


Dubcnn: Who would want to buy that anyway?

Exactly, who’s going to buy it? There’s a lot of kids out here man. If you see me in the streets, I’m gonna tell you, B.Y.I. is a label [that] came from the streets. Nobody over here was ballin’. We all came from the same apartment buildings that all these other Latino kids from LA came from - one bedroom apartments with ten people in that shit, and I’m proud of that. That’s where I come from. That’s how B.Y.I. was built. If you see me in the street, don’t try to charge me for your mixtape man, especially if you don’t have a name. Go ahead and just give it to me! Give it to Rome, give it to Omar, you should just give us the mixes.

I’m listening to it man. I don’t turn down material. If it’s hot, you’re going to get a phone call. I’m going to reach out to you. But you’ve got to get out there, you’ve got to build a buzz, build a team for yourself, [and] that’s how you get it. A lot of kids think they can just do it the other way. Making a demo and trying to send it to a label? Those days are over with man. The labels are not developing artists no more man. The best thing for you to do is go up to a label that has a distribution or a label deal through a major label, because that label is more likely to develop you to be a good artist. The labels don’t know what they’re doing no more – they’re lost. The internet has killed that game.

My advice is to get on your grind man. When I mean get on your grind, make sure that everything is on point. Come out with everything – [not until] your lyrics are ready, your beats are ready, your artwork is ready, your Myspace is ready, when everything is ready. Don’t just send in…I have people sending in demos over here with no contact info, with a blank CD. No more man, step your game up! You could at least get a Sharpie and put your phone number or something! So my advice is to get your game up and build a buzz, even if it’s only in your own neighborhood. Build that buzz. That travels. After you build it in your neighborhood, go to the next city and build that buzz. That’s how you get the Dr. Dre's coming at you, and the B.Y.I.s coming at you, that’s how you get that man!

But at the end of the day, make sure that music is good. A lot of people are listening to music, now that people have internet and files can travel real easily, a lot of people are hearing music. So if you’re ready, and you put out a freestyle and it’s not that good, that little freestyle is gonna get all over, and that’s a representation of you. So represent yourself right.


Dubcnn: That’s definitely some great advice, and I hope that everyone reads that over and over again. Thank you for that.

No problem man! I’m here. I’m an LA kid, I love LA, I love Latinos, that’s what we’re here for. I’m here for us. B.Y.I. – Rome, Lulu, Omar – we are what you are. Guatemalan, Salvadorian, Mexican, Colombian, Nicaraguan, whatever, that’s what we are. We’re Latinos – we’re here for you! At the end of the day, when the police pull me over, they don’t know that I’m Guatemalan. They look at me, and they see a brown face. So I represent Latinos as all - every Latino out there.


Dubcnn: Is there anything else you want to say to everyone on Dubcnn?

Get ready…get ready for the takeover man! B.Y.I. is here, we ain’t going nowhere. They let us in the door, [and] we’re taking advantage of everything. You’ll see us on Dubcnn every damn week, you’re gonna see us in every magazine, you’re gonna listen to us on the radio. Get ready. I hope people didn’t think that we were joking, that this was just some gimmick. But we’re ready to compete with Def Jam, ready to compete with Aftermath - I’m ready to compete with whoever wants to compete. We’ve got our guns ready, and we’re going full force and we’re not stopping.

I’m gonna go get the best out of the best artists out there. We’re here for you – hit me up on the Myspace, you can hit up Rome, you can hit up Omar, just hit us up. We’re here, I’m in the streets, I’m in the clubs, I’m in the Compton swap meet, I’m in the Pico swap meet, I’m in the Westside, you can find me everywhere, in every alley, in every liquor store, so it’s not hard to find us. I’m here, I love the West Coast, we’re representing Latinos to the fullest, it’s our turn, and let’s just take over man! It’s our time homie.

Thank you to all the fans that’s been supporting us from day one. Thank you to Elliot (aka SGV,) who originally gave us that first interview on Dubcnn. Thank you to him for breaking us. I don’t think that he knew what he was doing when he first did that interview, but here we are now two years later, and the buzz is big! Our buzz is not only in California either. We’re in New York, we’re in Miami, shout out to Cool & Dre in Miami, shout out to the whole Miami area, and everyone in New York, Chicago, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas, the Midwest. We’re here for you, we’re ready, and I’m ready to compete.

I love competition, and to everybody that has a label, we love friendly competition. And to all the haters, keep on hating because you’re making us that much bigger. Dubcnn exclusive, all day every day. Omar’s street single is on the radio, request it. I know a lot of people always get mad because of what they’re playing on the radio – don’t be mad, [just] request your favorite artist! Request Omar Cruz on Power 106, on KDAY, on 96.3 Latino, on any station go request it. Don’t be mad, just make a change. We’re here for you man!