VIAGRAFORTHE MUSICINDUSTRY
At a time when the music industry is congested, an Afrodisiac clears the way By Carlos Centeno, Jayplay writer
esse Jackson picks up a low budget flyer from his desk and pointing at it says, "I just got this contact from somebody. It's a kid who's supposed to be good." His office is peaceful and hip. Incense burning in the back of the room and the sound of electronic jazz set the mood for Jesse Jackson, CEO of Afrodisiac, a national promotions and artists agency collective run by former KU students and promotion wiz kids.
The company handles artists from New York, Kansas City and other major cities. It books any kind of show —from live presentations of the Rocky Horror Picture Show to Reggae celebrations, from mega-rave parties to hip hop gigs. The beauty of Afrodisiac is that it is not here to solely make money. "You just hope that you have more events where you make money and less where you loose money," Jackson says. "That's the way this business works."
Afrodisiac aims to change the way business works in the music industry which is apparent after chatting for
Jackson on topics like selling your soul to the music industry, civil rights or capitalism. "If artists are honest, if they haven't looked at a bunch of hipster magazines and trained themselves to say the right things and wear the right clothes, then we will talk about a commitment," Jackson says.
The array of artists that members of Afrodisiac have collaborated with is sure to make
orated with is sure to make
any promoter drool. From OutKast to soul-brother number one James Brown, these guys are not joking when they talk business.
It was January 2002 when Lawrence first heard the name Afrodisiac. In May 2003, the company, which was Jackson's idea, was officially registered. Jackson wanted to form a company where artists and promoters worked together in both parties' best interest. At Aphrodisiac, everyone has input and everyone puts forth effort.
Jackson works closely with Kyle Nelson, administrator and artist recruiter, and five other former KU students in a small white house on Tennessee Street.
Afrodisiac is a collective because it works with other promotion companies, artists and investors to bring the best shows to life. It never competes with other companies. The difference is evident in Afrodisiac's flyers. "You'll see that all the promo companies are there. We recognize the collectiveness. We get everyone in the community involved." Jackson savs.
Edwin Morales, the man that brought Project Groove and several other events to Lawrence with his company, Downplay, says Downplay and Afrodisiac work perfectly with each other. "For the Limited Liability Tour we had to work together with DJ P and it was quality all around," he says.
Morales also thinks Afrodisiac is working in a different way. He says he likes its approach to the business, but also recognizes that it's just putting a label on Afrodisiac's business ethics. He says Downplay's business ethics are similar because it has nobody else to rely on when it comes to throwing a local event.
Sometimes being too nice means having an artist show Afrodisiac how naive it is. The company has had legal problems in the past, mostly because artists are used to working in a framework of fierce capitalism. "In this industry people think that you have to do anything to succeed," Nelson says. Jackson does not deal with artists who take this approach. "If I'm the thing you're stepping over to get there, I'm done with you," he says.
Sometimes it's not an artist, but a show that fails. Timing was a problem at the Halloween Extravaganza show, for example, as the show was booked one day before Halloween.
But even in difficulty, the guys at Afrodisiac have a good time. "You don't feel bad when you loose money in a good show," Jackson says. "We do stuff that people wouldn't do because it's risky, but we have the resources."
For local events, Afrodisiac gets most of its resources from an alliance with promoter guru Jeff Fortier. "We could never do the events we do in Lawrence without Jeff," Nelson says. The rest of the money comes from commissions or arrangements with clubs or artists. In addition to investing in the artist, Afrodisiac has to pay for advertising, marketing, flyers, distribution, equipment, sound and lights, insurance and security.
When the good times roll, however, they really roll. Afrodisiac has had very successful shows like the two packed Wailer's concerts at Abe and Jake's and Reggae legend Burning Spear at The Bottleneck, to name a few.Jackson says Afrodisiac loves to do shows in Lawrence because of the rich music culture. "Lawrence is a touring premier spot. Name any artist and the odds are they have played here," Jackson says.
The future could be tough for Afrodisiac as the music industry focuses more and more on the money machine instead of talent. But Jackson said this is what makes the business so sweet for them.
"We want to infect the market with healthy ways of doing business, basic human rights and human treatment," Jackson says.
Carlos Centeno can be reached at ccenteno@kansan.com
Jesse Jackson(above), and Kyle Nelson(left) Contributed art.
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