Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Mullins.
Brian, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far and give our readers some background on your art.
I started out really as a b-boy in the early 80s when the hip-hop culture was first starting out. I wasn’t ever really in the business until later on in life; I never thought I would be in the music business or doing what I do. I was just always just a part of the hip-hop culture. Me and some friends of mine used to break-dance and tag walls. I was really good, one of the best in my area. We used to go around and battle people and perform in the streets, at skating rinks, etc. Then around that time, someone saw me, and she was the owner of a dance studio in North Dallas (Lake Highlands area), and she asked me if I would like to have my own class and teach people how to break-dance which I did for a while. I’ve always loved to dance, and this continued for the rest of my life.
Well then we moved later on in the 80s, and I was on the west side of Mesquite, right next to Pleasant Grove. I ended up meeting some awesome people who some are still my best friends to this day.
One of my best friends named Jayson (Trill Gatez is his artist name now), he began doing production in the early 90s and he ended up linking up with other producers (RIP TJ) and started his own company called Power Broker Entertainment and began producing for others, both independent and major label artists and DJs, and he started working on his own music. So in the beginning, I was just supporting him, and we continued to be a part of the local hip-hop culture then I started promoting them some and helping him on whatever projects he was working on.
So word got around that he was a good producer, so he started producing for more people, and we ended up meeting and working with Big AL from Nemesis, a very known pioneer of the Dallas hip-hop scene. Around this time we were meeting and working with alot of other artists, some which we are still friends with to this day, including Sykhe Turner, Mabooda, Hello I’m Throwed and more.
So around the mid-90s, he was doing songs with him and others which were getting some good play, and around that time I started getting into the promotions side of what they had going on and ended up finding out I was pretty good at it LOL. I’ve always been pretty good with working with people, and I was pretty well known already from the local hiphop and club scenes, so that helped me alot.
So I started street and record promotions for them and started doing for others locally, and started to dabble in management of artists also.
So in the late 90s, Al started working on another Nemesis album, so my best friend Jayson (Trill Gatez) was producing some records for that album, and he ended up producing a song called “Hold Up” with Big Al and Mabooda for this album, which ended up getting alot of club and radio play. So I was helping Trill Gatez, Big Al and Mabooda promote this single and started getting more into the business side, and I basically shadowed Big Al while he was working and promoting this album and learned alot about the actual music business.
The album Big Al was working ended up making alot of noise locally, and the single was getting alot of radio play, so I learned alot about radio and the business side from promoting this album and single.
This subsequently led to Big Al getting some distribution deals in late 99 and early 2000, and we continued to work it, and I continued to learn.
Around this time, I started dabbling in photography, videography, and film-making. I figured since I was doing promotions that this would help in my promotions since the internet was starting to grow more and more.
I was always a big fan of movies and film-making and always wanted to try it but just never started down that path.
So Big Al’s album was continuing to make noise, and we were working with DJs and radio stations all over the south, including in Louisiana, which became our biggest market.
The song “Hold Up” was getting alot of radio play and we were starting to perform alot, and the single began to make even more noise.
So this subsequently led to several major record labels taking an interest, including Universal and Elektra, to name a couple.
So we ended up in negotiations with Universal Music group and contracts were sent over for us to review and Al was working with Universal to get the deal finalized.
Then, later on, we were performing in Louisiana, and Big Al became sick at one of our shows, and he ended up passing away that same day.
So after that, Trill Gatez and myself we started working on our company and working on our own music, and we had a couple of singles that were doing pretty well, one of them with Mabooda that I mentioned earlier.
So we began producing more, and I was doing more promotions for us and others and got real heavy into it, and I ended up making alot of noise for myself in the industry, made alot of great contacts that I still used today and continued to work with and promote other artists. Also, around this time, I started studying and working more on photography and videography on the side.
Then also around the early to mid-2000s, my name was buzzing around alot, and I ended up meeting and working with the founder and executive of the Texas Summer Music Conference, and began working with them.
Then continued the photography and videography side and started to do music videos for local people and also began photographing and doing video interviews for alot of artists locally. At this time, it was really hard to get seen and heard in Dallas, so I was just doing my part to help out the local culture.
Then later on me and my friend Trill Gatez, we started our own clothing line and began to brand ourselves online alot, we incorporated the videos for ourselves and others in that brand and working with alot of local artists.
This began to make alot of noise and started to bring alot of artists to us, and I continued to work with and help other artists with videos, street and online promotions all while continuing to brand ourselves online.
I’m leaving out a time gap there lol, but that was the majority of what we were doing, and I continued the promotions and photography/videography side and began to do more music videos for us and other artists while Trill Gatez continued to produce for others.
I started doing more interviews and producing and shooting ciphers which gained a pretty good buzz online and ended up working with alot of very talented artists including Hello I’m Throwed, Knesecary, Rakim Al-Jabbaar, Kaution, Suave Burgandy, Pikahsso, the legendary DOC and a lot of others.
Then continued branding myself online including Facebook, which after a few more years ended up starting a very popular page called “B.ORGNL” which is a hip-hop and fashion-themed page that focuses more on Dallas-Ft Worth hiphop. I felt that Dallas needed more media to support them, and I wanted to help do that.
These ciphers and songs that we have been producing and shooting videos for have made alot of noise the past few years, and I am working on more now while continuing to produce new music and push the brand.
I just love Dallas and the local hip-hop scene, and I want to do as much as I can to help the artists who deserve it.
Alot of talented people here locally and they don’t get to be seen or heard as much as they should.
I just want to do my part in promoting the Dallas hip-hop culture and keep promoting our brand at the same time.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Wow, great question, LOL.
Well as far as an artist goes, I’m more of an artist when it comes to the film-making and production side.
Whether that is executive production or producing videos, I used to rap, but my artist side comes more from producing and film-making.
I feel that you should be able to network and learn how to work with people.
Collaboration is key when it comes to making art.
Also, when it comes to the promotion side of the art, it’s essential to be able to work with people and study so you can stay ahead of the times.
I feel that artists are lacking in their promotion and marketing side of their music or other art and establishing and maintaining the right relationships is essential in this.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
you can see a majority of my work on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/borgnldallas/
We used to have a website but its down right now while we re-do it and re-brand it.
Instagram: @youaintjamminbro
Contact Info:
- Address: 5555 E. Mockingbird Lane #3710, Dallas, TX 75206
- Phone: 2148935071
- Email: bmzpower@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youaintjamminbro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/borgnldallas/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAintJammin
Image Credit:
KNSCRY and BMZ/B.ORGNL
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