Recently, ONE Music Fest hosted its annual honors dinner to recognize prominent individuals in music, media, film, production, and more. This year Kevin “Coach K” Lee, Pierre “P” Thomas, and Will Packer were all honored for their contributions to the culture.
The 2022 ONE Music Fest is taking place this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. ONE Music Fest started back in 2010 when founder, J. Carter, decided to create a festival that catered more to the urban audience. Twelve years later, the festival is expected to have about 50,000+ people come out from all over the country. The urban artists that will be featured are Pharrell, Outkast, Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Erykah Badu, Jazzmine Sullivan and more.
Rolling out caught up with J. Carter to hear his thoughts on the honorees and what is next for ONE Music Fest.
What is it like having Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas honored tonight on behalf of ONE Music Fest?
I think it’s important to celebrate those pioneers that are paving the way. Understanding their story and where they’ve come from, I’ve known Coach K for close to 20 years so I’ve seen his growth and his development. Far too often we don’t stop to clap and applaud each other for our accomplishments and our strides. Having a platform that allows me to celebrate those individuals means a lot. So, salute to Coach and salute to P and I look forward to seeing you all on stage at ONE Music Fest celebrating this weekend.
What do you think QC is doing differently from other music labels right now?
I think their approach is different. It’s also very independent. I think Ray Daniels said it earlier when you look at Cash Money and some of those smaller independent labels, you can’t overlook what they are doing over at QC. I think they are doing an incredible job of A&R, which is kind of like a loss of talent in the music industry right now. Cultivating talent, but also looking at talent as a platform and also as a brand. How they look at their artists isn’t just about getting the Number one album, it’s bigger than that. How do we impact culture? When you look at what Lil Baby did when we are at the height of all the protests, he was the last artist you thought would come out with a single that became an anthem of encouragement for the community. What they are doing is phenomenal, they need to be fully celebrated.
What’s next for you?
The crazy thing is ONE Music Fest is probably twenty percent of what we do, it’s just one of our biggest platforms. We are currently expanding and looking at digital distribution. There will be two ONE Music Fests come next year. We will be in Atlanta and we will be in another region as well, so look for that.
