Kink B always had an entrepreneurial spirit. As a teenager, he decided to leave his street hustle behind and use his skills to start a record label with his childhood friend, Young Jeezy. The two started Young Gunz Entertainment and Young Jeezy was eventually able to build buzz with the release of the Trap or Die mixtape in 2003. Several platinum albums later, Young Jeezy and Kink B were certified as legit power brokers in hip-hop.
As the CEO of CTE and H.U.S.H Management, Kink B continues to make strides as a successful entrepreneur in the music industry. –amir shaw
How did you get connected with Young Jeezy?
Jeezy and I met in 1995. The way it happened was odd. Jeezy wasn’t a rapper, he was a businessman. We had other artists we were working with and trying to develop. He would get in there and help them with their rhymes. He never got in the booth, but he used to dibble and dabble in it. Showing them what they needed to do, but he wasn’t a rapper. But he went into the recording booth one day and it just happened. I still wonder how this all happened, because it was unexpected.
When did you first get involved with the entertainment business and how did it come about for you?
I started my own label at the age of 19 back in the Master P days. This was before Cash Money hit big. I was encouraged by listening to those guys, [because] they were young black entrepreneurs.
What was it like running a record label for the first couple of years?
Honestly, back then we didn’t know what we were doing. We were just young and having fun. It was a hobby, but we loved music and we just stuck with it. We were putting our records out, doing our own promotions by getting a van and riding around.
How did you grow as an entrepreneur?
Basically I just learned through trial and error. … You have to apply yourself and put yourself around the right people to help educate yourself. You have to get with experienced people to help guide you. I don’t know everything now, but I’m still learning as I go because this music business is changing every day.
What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own business in music?
I’m not going to knock any black man trying to create his own destiny, but nowadays that’s why the business is where it’s at right now. It’s in turmoil due to the fact that everybody that comes in this business wants to be a CEO. That’s why we have lack of record sales, that’s why we don’t have any artists anymore. Back in the ’90s, we had artists … but now everybody wants to come in and be bosses and they don’t understand the business. … You have to be a student of the game before you can be a master of the game.
