Today we’d like to introduce you to Cedric Wilcoxson.
Cedric, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born & raised in Atlanta, GA. Music has always been a major influence in my life. My grandmother served as a mentor for the Legendary Gospel singer Dottie Peoples at Salem Baptist Church in Atlanta. Dottie Peoples and her choir sang at my grandmother’s celebration of life at Salem Baptist Church. In addition, my father was a concert promoter in the 80’s. His company was called “Standing Room Only”. One of his business partners is the father of Atlanta Rapper “Bloody Jay”.
They promoted acts like Whodini & Fat Boys. As a kid, I spent my entire childhood playing sports in Southwest Atlanta on Campbellton Rd at Ben Hill & Sandtown park. Music was always being blasted loud from cars around the park. My teammates and I would hold mini cyphers before and after our games around the tables by the park concession stand. As you can see music has always been apart my life.
Hip Hop’s Den was formed to be a positive platform for ALL contributors in Hip Hop. Our mission is to establish live music venues across the world called Hip Hop’s Den. In addition, we strive to produce and promote all positive content via our online website. Hip Hop’s Den website was inspired the night Jeezy dropped his single “Seen It All” featuring Jay-Z in 2014. I remember being in my loft downtown Dallas playing it back to back all night. All I could think about is how I wanted to express how much I loved this song.
At the time there were other songs I really liked too and thought it would be dope to express how I see Hip Hop in such an inspiring & motivating way. Without second-guessing myself, I created a tumblr account named “Hip Hops Kool”. The “Kool” was meant to pay homage to the God Father of Hip Hop, DJ Kool Herc. I began writing my reviews on albums and singles immediately. A few months later I realized I needed a real website. That’s when I realized www.hiphopskool.com was taken.
I quickly began thinking of another name and soon Hip Hop’s Den came to mind. I asked my brothers “The Fellas” in our group chat what did they think of the new name? They all agreed it was a dope name. That was the only confirmation I needed to rename my tumblr page and purchase the domain name (hiphopsden.com). Shortly after, I noticed blog sites were becoming a thing of the past. Everyone was putting more energy in creating video content. While I had already purchased the domain name, I had not built the website at this time.
Fast forward to February 2018, I began to prioritize all my efforts to get Hip Hop’s Den up and running as an official website site. In May 2018 I established Hip Hop’s Den Media Group as a Limited Liability Company in the state of Georgia. Mid-July of 2018 the official website was launched with the help of my college homie “Q”. I began promoting the website on all social media platforms and gained attention of multiple entertainers & managers who wanted to promote music videos on my platform. The site is still growing and continues to get positive feedback from everyone who visits.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely been a challenge starting a company from the ground up. Especially because I do not have any real experience in the Entertainment industry. My background is Corporate Finance. I earned a degree from Clark Atlanta University with a concentration in Finance. I was working in Corporate Finance for a Fortune 500 company when I started “Hip Hop’s Kool”. I created this platform literally out of pure passion.
I want to see the culture I love represented in a more positive manner. The hardest part is being consistent and continuing to believe in yourself when it seems like you’re the only one who cares about your product. You have to block out all of your self-doubts and keep a positive mindset through the toughest times. My personal motto is “A positive mindset can overcome anything”.
Another challenge is social media. I find myself becoming discouraged sometimes by comparing @hiphopsden social media accounts to other established Hip Hop accounts. Seeing their view counts & number of followers all attribute to me sometimes doubting myself. Then I will realize this is a MARATHON & not a race. Rest In Peace Nipsey Hussle. I’m glad I was able to attend the Victory Lap concert in Dallas. Victory Lap was my favorite album in 2018. It kept me motivated while I was in the process of building the website.
Lastly, I have managed to overcome my struggles by acknowledging that they exist and focusing on solutions to fix them.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Hip Hop’s Den is literally in it’s infant stage. My plan is to become a major Commercial Real Estate company for live music venues and entertainment. Currently, we focus on promoting positive content for Hip Hop on our website platform. We strive to deliver all Hip Hop contributors to a positive platform, so their contributions are not tainted by gossip or negative headlines. We will not spread gossip or make negative headlines just to attract more visitors to our website or social media accounts.
We are known to have a very niche following. Everyone who interacts with us daily are people who love all aspects of the Hip Hop culture.
Our platform is like a paradise for Hip Hop, where everything we share is fun. Everyone who visits our website or social media platform are entertained with the best Hip Hop offers. It feels good working every day on something that’s highlighting the good things people are contributing in our culture.
Most Hip Hop websites highlight negative news about Hip Hop contributors. It seems like they never highlight the positive things those same contributors do. I watch tons of interviews and see how Hip Hop contributors complain about the negative media. They express why they do not like speaking to bloggers, interviewers and radio stations.
My mission is to provide them a solution. So I created www.hiphopsden.com, simple.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is a thriving city for young professionals. It is a great city for anyone to start or expand their business too.
Contact Info:
- Email: cedric@hiphopsden.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiphopsden/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hiphopsden/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hiphopsden/
Image Credit:
@niceworkice via Instagram
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