Okay, so as many know we are making our daily moves and as we do this there are small things that I feel need some "explanations". For this to happen, many people say why not go directly to the source of things, I mean directly from the horse's mouth. So as we watch this motion picture called "Life" unfold, there becomes need for director commentary on certain scenes. Just imagine if you were watching "Finding Nemo"(yes, Finding Nemo, I have a son, sue me) and the guy from Pixar was sitting next to you talking about the whole thing. So for the most part, we talk to the man known as Kenny Burns and his thoughts on Studio 43, Wale, Rocafella and all the many other occurences.illRoots.com: Talk a little about Studio 43?
KB: Studio 43 was actually created out of a bad business deal that I did when I had the girl group "DREAM". Basically I had a company called 2620, it was an address we all used to hang out at back at home in DC. So when I moved to college I called that my business. I met this lady that was throwing all this money at me and I signed the paperwork without reading the paperwork. So she ended up taking my name and telling me "She owned me" and I was like "No One Owns me". I said I'm going to assess with Studio 54, which was obviously one of the biggest clubs in the 80's and I used to see all this freedom in the clubs. Then me and my crew we had this things called 4-3, we used to hold it up in all the go-go pictures, it used to me "Forever". You know four and three equals seven, you know the whole positive numbers and shit so. So I came with the name Studio 43 and initially we were a management company and as I went through my ranks in the music business and I would dabble in management. When I left Rocafella almost 4 years ago, I said I was done with music and if I ever did anything with music again it would be to put my city on. I tried to have conversations with Go-Go bands, thats how I met UCB, I met with their manager while I was at Rocafella. While I was there I tried signing me a go-go band and that never worked out but it started the relationship and a year after doing clothing, Ryan Kenny, I said "You know what I need to put my city on". Just really getting back into the scene, my sister Robin was in the club and I was like "Yo if you hear somebody on the rap side let me know". I felt that rap should be first because people wouldn't really get Go-Go off the top. We get a rap artist with some influence of a little go-go off the top and then get it poppin. So she had told me about this kid DJ Alize had played on the radio called Wale.
I got online and heard a song called "Rhyme of the Century" and from that I knew dude could actually spit. I said lets see whats up with him. So I got with DJ Alize and Wale and started doing business immediately. What I have done with any of my A&Ring in the past is get all my music together. I like to see what temperature is going on and see if he had any other songs which was unlike any of the songs I heard before. He had these songs done by a kid named Southeast Slim, thats another artist from the DMV area, and it was a song called Dig Dug in the joint and it wasn't structured it just had like a 24 and hook. So I said lets chop it up, long story short "Dig Dug" became very popular and I had the equation that if we could somehow get the DMV on this hip-hop/go-go fusion then its a wrap. Go-Go bands have toured on the inside of the beltway for plus years and there was bands that played 3 or 4 times a week. We were really on this independent mentality with Studio 43 like we are going to get paid dates and start selling records and basically do it ourselves. So I told Wale in four months we are going to be getting paid shows, you aren't going to have to worry about distribution, we are just going to keep pushing. Four Months came, he's making money hand over fist, and doing his thing.
I had got hit on Myspace, and obviously I get hit all the time about people wanting to get down with the movement, so people who come at me interestingly I pay attention too. There was this one kid, Dan Weisman, and we started having a dialogue with him and some lawyer he was working with, and then from there I started telling Wale about him. Wale, then, I guess formed some type of relationship outside of me knowing. I had a production slash management company slash this and that. I basically like to know everything that is going on. So whatever the situation may be we can all benefit from. I end up hooking this thing up with Fader magazine and the initial call was made to my man that owns the joint and I told him about Wale and we have this whole movement and blah, blah, blah. Obviously it was passed down on his side and whomever it was passed down to talked to Daniel Wiessman on their own. I was sort of taking out of the situation, which is kind of ironic, because one weekend Wale's mom was looking for him and she called me and I was like "I guess he's at the hotel". He calls me and I finally get in touch with him and he's like "Yo, I been thinking, I don't know if I want to go forward with the current situation I want you to be involved in my career, but I want to make other moves". I was like "What other Moves?", and he said "Well I don't know about being signed with Studio 43 anymore, I mean I want you to be involved in my project, but I just don't know". So I said you know what I'm going to fly up there and we will talk about it. I get off the phone and I see all the stuff that Daniel Weisman is doing online and it doesn't mention Studio 43 or Kenny Burns and I'm kind of bugged out. So I called him back and he's like "Nah I ain't put that up there". This was the conversation I wanted to wait to have, but now we are having this over the phone, and things got a little intense.
Before I got to DC it was a bunch of other shit that was going on. They were calling local people at the radio station saying that "Is Kenny up here talking about me?", when I called no one. I really was kind of like mute to all that because I'm like look he's signed, because I'm thinking somebody is trying to sign him and thats why he's trying to get away from me.
Marky - Go Download "Mick Boogie Presents Marky"
Either way I leave this completely alone and a couple months go by and I get a call from my man Rich Kleiman over at ALLIDO, Mark Ronson's partner. Basically saying that this shit was brought to him from this kid Daniel Weisman and they don't have any paperwork with you, so I made it clear that wasn't the case. As well I don't want to be in business with someone that doesn't want to be in business with me, so if you want to pay me my money back lets run it. Bottomline, the figure that I quoted to them was too high and they went back and forth on all these points and what they can offer. So I said "Look its a production company, if distribution comes into play than we can talk". I left the music business because of the same type of funkiness, if you will, Jay and Dame were two people I met together on the embarking of their empire and to see them feud and all the division caused by random people I was like "I'm not even fucking with this music shit, I'm doing clothes". Then I jump right back into trying to help my city and jump right into some bullshit myself. I waited a year and a half and in that year I found my point guard in Marky. Too be honest I have never met a kid that was so mature for his age. We have so much in common, if he was a little younger he could be my child, thats how much we have in common. Just his integrity for a 19 year old it impressed me. So I was like one: I'm not going to stop Wale because if the DMV gets on thats going to be great for everyone, I got Marky lets get the race going. Bottomline a year and a half goes by, Marky has a deal with SRC as well as his own credibility outside of what the go-go affiliation is. He has is own identity, with the heart throb lane, and going for the girls, and doing his thing.
So then there is an opportunity thats comes Marky's way and the playlist is obviously called "Keys to the City" and its about DMV and whats going on, and is nothing that we asked for but just something that happened. So then we get some information that the songs were taken off of the playlist. In the way that it was represented to us it was some things said about Marky and Studio 43 and Kenny Burns that weren't accurate, weren't necessary, and were basically flat out flagrant. It wasn't presented from the stand point that this is whats presented, it came back with some cussin and fussin. The bottomline is I never have done anything to hurt Wale personally or his career. I've only been a supporter of the DMV movement which he at that moment was spearheading and I've basically had people who wanted to bring diss raps and personal harm up off of him because of that. I think that at a certain part its like "Come on already". I think that is the lowest form of hate possible because if you are representing the city then you need to shed light on the city. This is the only other major artist on in the city, meaning this is the only other artist signed to a major deal, why wouldn't you support that. So there is an underlying tone to that is pure hatred. I traverse on the phone with Wale about whats going on and he assures me that he has nothing to do with it, and that his manager is pissing off alot of people, so I'm like "Who is telling the truth?". My thing is you don't know whats going on in your camp? As well your letting them put things out there that you don't co-sign nor agree with? I find it hard to believe that Wale didn't know about it, and if he didn't know about it when he found out about it he did nothing to stop it.
illRoots.com: So you look at it as more of a miscommunication within their own camp that needs to be resolved OR this is how I feel about you type of thing.
KB: The thing is I had Wale in my house, I treat everyone I do business with personally and maybe that is one of my downfalls but I wouldn't have done anything or let anyone do anything on that front because I accepted him like that. You can't sit here as a dude from the DC and you can't out hustle a hustler. Then tell me you don't know whats going on after the fact now that Marky released this record and I'm getting quotes from you and what you had to say about young'n anyway. That just magnifies what Marky had to say was deserved and it is wasn't any street shit because they don't want that. This is about respect. Marky feels like your going to respect him because you aren't going to take all these jabs and not expect a reprocussion.
illRoots.com: We always find this within many regions in Hip-Hop, and for the most part I find that as the downfall of New York. Alot of people hated on the south, in the beginning, but when they came in they were strong and they let people shine. Thats where you differentiate from down south and up north. You will get little sections that will get their shine because they know in the end its for the greater good. I may not like your music but I respect it in a sense. You can have "Get Silly" and you can have a "Royal Flush" that has lyrics, its the realization that for us to flourish as a culture competition is inevitable. Without that your stagnant and the music becomes stale.
KB: Absolutely, I just think for the DMV it needed this, because it exposes things that are happening and getting the acknowledgement of the rest of the world and at the end of the day we want the best possible representation on the planet. Even when it comes to me for dudes management to be disrespecting me to people that I know that is going to come back to me in the industry and tell me per batum. I am a great relationship man and because of that I'm going to pile that shit up and when its time I'm going to exploit you. That is the only way you can get to the bottom of this, all that head bustin' is frivalous. Its about mainly just exposing the real and the real is y'all took Marky off the playlist that would have bettered every artist on it in the DMV. That playlist before Marky was snatched off had been hit an ungodly amount of times, and now its over 3 and 4 million. So as artist your telling me that your not going to feel some sort of way, that because you were pulled off was personal. Imeem painted it as an existing list was there, but existing list or not there were other artists that got pulled off. Pro'verb, who is fire, and everyone knows that he did the diss against Jay, but let me ask you this is your team is in the playoffs, a team that you've been repping since before they had the name, I don't give a fuck who it is rapping, you are going rep your city. That is all dude did and yet Wale still went on him. You have to have a base before you can have fans. See fans are not a base. A base of people will get up and rep you everyday, while fans are fair weather. Fans hear a new song and like it more, now you are no longer. In DC as "crab-in-the-barrel" as it can be they are the only people in the world that support Go-Go one hundred. There is a loyalty BASE there, if you go against the grain you won't even be welcome in your own city. Its not about energy Studio 43 is creating nor Marky, if you did a poll and ask his peers about Wale, not his fans, but his peers and ask them what they think of Wale I guarantee its in the 90 percentile of people that don't fuck with him. I don't think its because of him, I think its because he's allowing people that really don't know how to handle business. With ALLIDO I respect Rick and Mark and I show them that respect when something is not going on right but at the end of the day its a whole nother layer to this. That is the layer that you can't get away from.
illRoots.com: The underlying problem is what existed before Imeem, that was already their beforehand, alot of people will do the Phone Game back in the day where you said something and by time it got back to you it was all misconstrued. So really there is no way to differentiate the truth without looking at the existing facts that layout.
KB: Period, because people don't know that in the beginning of it when Marky did a hip-hop/go-go type of record Wale reached out to Judah, who did the song, and was like "Why you doing that, this is my shit" and I know that was out of pure emotion and that he really didn't know what he was doing so I let that slide when Marky wanted to address it then. I told him don't worry about that because thats not the artist that you are, we did that to get the attention that we did. This is all strategic and everybody knows I was behind the Wale movement in the city. When Wale first came out I sat with dudes on the Eastside of the city, that have been rapping for years and saying "Why ain't you helping us?", and told them "This young'n is going to come into the game and open the door and yall motherfuckers are going to come out like the Bun B's and Pimp C's of this shit. We are going to sweep the go-go in there so people with have to take it and we have this whole master plan". A year later the same plan that I initiated is happening. So am I going to be a hater? For me to be a hater I would pull UCB off the Wale show because I have the influence over that band, they are Studio 43 affiliates. So if I said "UCB, don't go on the road with dude", they wouldn't have went, that would have been hating. But guess what Kenny Burns did, I said "Naw go get yall money, thats better exposure for yall". Not one time have I ever subtracted from his positive. I never took back or said "Fuck dude", there has been plenty of times when I had people come too me and say "Yo KB, hows everything with you and dude". I'm like what the fuck are you talking about its all good. I've told Wale this, I've told Marky this, and now I'm telling you: "This is bigger than all of this, Marky, Wale, Studio 43, its about the city. When they go forth, we go forth." People need to understand that the energy that is coming from "This is for the Money" is a bunch of build up. No its no beef or some "If I see you in the street I'm going to fuck you up" its some "Ni**a that is some hoe ass shit". So rather you did it through somebody or directly it was done by you, and you need to take ownership of that. All you have out here is respect and like I said this fan and base shit, thats some real shit. If you have a core of you that motherfuckers admire, and motherfuckers want to be like, you will always be relative.
I ain't no kid, I'm a grown ass man with kids, I have a life. I've been doing me for so long I don't know how to do anything else. Anybody who knows me knows that I give love to people I know, Wale has felt that love, Marky has felt that love. Fans are fair weather but if you have a base your set. This is like if somebody did something foul from Studio 43, I have to deal with the reprocussions from that because I'm associated. Another thing I would NEVER, come to nobody and say "Man I don't know what he's doing, I ain't have nothing to do with that" and your still rolling with him. You look pussy to me. Bottomline your on the phone with me tell me your about to fire him. I'm talking to industry people they saying he's fucking up all sorts of things, my band on the road aren't happy most of the time. You would think that this dude is going to look like a for real dude if your not handling that. I know the manager is working for you.
illRoots.com: Thats the thing that you see sometimes especially within the industry, there is no guidleines to being a good manager. I think with anything that we do as a human culture you have to look at the source where everything is coming from. The reason hip-hop is the way it is because there is so much marketing behind this and that. When we didn't have the millions behind our artform it was all about saying real shit and looking like money. Now we have what our predecessors wanted, in the monetary advancement of our business', and we don't know what to do with it. Thus you have these bullshit corporations or major labels whom have been around for several years and no major competition until now. The rise of independents is great for the game right now. Alot of people blame right my generation for our hiccups in the game right now, and accountability is key, but we must look at the teachers.
KB: If you take face for what people say to you, with Wale, you know what type of love and dedication that Kenny Burns and Studio 43 gave you so how could you ever let some one disrespect that. Right now as much shit as I've been through with Damon Dash I would never let anybody come to me and say anything about my man, and we fight like brothers. Its that loyalty, this young regime is impressed by the check and it does come from the generation before me. Its that mentality that if you have more you will be happy. The one thing that I learned I didn't want to be that forty year old lonely mother fucker without a base. I didn't want some beautiful woman coming into my life using me for all I have, I saw all that. Coming up in this game I saw all the inconsistencies of that and it either teaches you not to do that or you will fall right into the same trap. At times I sit back and I want the best for Wale and I know some things may not be him but at the end of the day enough is enough. If you know I'm respected and you've seen it first hand why would you let someone else tell you differently.
illRoots.com: Again as most people know in this world the main source of most problem is miscommunication and in this instead of asking someone else to talk about this situation, I went to the source. So I thank Mr. Kenny Burns for sitting down with me and look out for much much more from Studio 43.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS SECTION ARE NOT NECESSARILY FACTUAL OR THAT OF ILLROOTS.COM
THEY ARE SOLELY THE OPINIONS STATED BY THAT BEING INTERVIEWED
