Four young faces opened their eyes wide as the wooden door fronting the Global Exec Records’ studio office opened with a creak, welcoming them into a Parma Heights office space. The group of youths, ages between 15 and 17, took in the studio’s soundproofing, the Solid State logic mixing board, the ’90s-patterned carpeting, the framed posters of Aaliyah Haughton.
Over the next three hours, a revolving entourage of artists and producers could be heard shuffling through the independent label’s studio over the din of Global Exec CEO Daniel Rutger’s booming voice.
“I’m glad y’all here. I want to make this welcoming and comfortable for y’all,” Rutger told the youths once they were seated around a table in an adjacent conference room. He explained further that he was excited for them to get the opportunity to visit a hip-hop recording company; there weren’t any such labels producing artists in Cleveland when he was coming of age.
“There’s going to be some fun stuff, there might be some boring stuff, but the boring stuff is where the money at. You remember that,” he said.
The four adolescents (who we’re identifying only by their first initial) — a talkative 17-year-old, K; a 15-year-old violinist, N; a more reserved 15-year-old lyricist, D; and an observant 17-year-old, T — all grew more animated as the discussion progressed from introductions into the realities of the music industry. Also surrounding the table were two volunteers with the Spread the Love Foundation (STLF), a nonprofit founded by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper Anthony “Krayzie Bone” Henderson and run with a hand-picked leadership team.
The youth cohort had participated in similar industry talks on previous Saturdays at the Midtown Tech Hive as part of STLF’s Interest 2 Income (I2I) program, and they displayed the insight they’d gathered through the nonprofit’s programming as the talk turned to personal tastes and rap trends.
“All the rappers the same,” explained K, who was seated at the head of the table opposite Rutger. “They all making the same music and saying the same bars in different ways. I catch on, so I know.”
K and the other I2I participants joining him that day typically spent their Saturday afternoons hearing from guest speakers and long-term industry participants at the Tech Hive. There, over the course of 12 weeks, students get hands-on experience in music theory, crafting lyrics, track production, artist development, quality control and networking.
The organization first rolled out I2I in 2021. It was designed for youths between the ages of 13 and 17 who had been involved with the county Justice System’s Juvenile Division, according to Executive Hits Entertainment CEO Jeff Robeson.
In addition to serving as a form of outreach for court-involved youth, Robeson and Rutger both echoed the sentiment that STLF’s work can solve a perceived disconnect between young, impressionable musicians and the difficulties of artistic independence within the streaming model.
“When I was a kid, we weren’t as exposed to as many things as fast as kids are today,” Robeson said on a phone call following this reporter’s visit to the studio. Robeson said he’s spent 40 years in the industry, first drumming at age 10 for his brother’s band, then producing, then signing, then meeting people. “What happens today is kids see a lot, they hear a lot. I think the barrier is… kids need to connect with their past and history more. There’s kind of a disconnect.”
Seated next to each other at one end of the conference table, Rutger and Robeson didn’t seem to notice a disconnect between themselves and their visitors. Rutger posed the question “What’s your favorite artist?” and heard an answer that, he said, fell in line with what previous Spread the Love visitors had said.
“I don’t (have a) favorite artist because once I figured out what they’re actually saying. . . they basically be telling on they self.”
“If y’all saying so much, then why so much. . . of your age group like this BS music?” Rutger asked.
“It hit their body,” K responded. N agreed, as T and D nodded.
“There’s some truth to that. You catch yourself in love with the beat,” Robeson murmured. Rutger placed his hand on the table, turning to address his fellow industry devotee with astonishment.
“We know that. I ain’t never heard them say that!”
“You think Beyoncé drives around to shows?”
Beyond giving the youth a healthy outlet for self-expression in a medium they appreciate, Robeson said I2I attempts to instill a respect for the more business-oriented aspects of the industry in participants by exposing them to a broad swatch of career options.
“We always record with them,” he added. “Once we get to that part. . . there’s kids who don’t participate, but guess what? They’re rapping on the song. They’re helping make the beat. That commonality that Spread the Love builds. . . is a connected factor. We try to teach them the other things they can be within the entertainment industry. You can make a really good living out there. You don’t always have to be the artist.”
Seated around the conference table at the recording studio, the students listened attentively to Rutger’s explanation of his past and the turns his career wound. Outside instructors at I2I’s Tech Hive space have brought lessons spanning production to marketing.
Youths learn how to crank knobs and pump dials over drum beats to tweak beats and instrumentals for production, and they likewise participate in frequent career storytelling between music stalwarts and industry newcomers. The early April visit to Global Exec consisted of both; the kids listening to experiences before setting foot in the studio for some hands-on learning.
“I don’t know where y’all come from, but I’m assuming here, right?” Rutger asked the participants. “It seems like there’s a dark cloud over Cleveland, with a lot of potential. A lot of smart kids, a lot of smart opportunities.”
“But a lot of people make the same dumb moves,” T replied. Rutger agreed and delved into his story.
“So my route. . . I fell in with an artist who signed a major deal when I was 18 because we became friends playing basketball,” Rutger explained. “He sounded like Jay-Z. He never became a big artist, but he was signed. So that relationship got me a relationship with (the record label) at 17, so I was able to sit here at the table like this and just learn.”
Rutger then hit the high schoolers with a Gucci Mane anecdote before introducing their hands-on activity.
“The reason I went independent is because they were making me do stuff I didn’t want to do,” he continued. “There’s certain artists, we had to square up. This artist, he had about 30 people in the studio. And as A&R (Artist & Repertoire), I had to get all 30 of them out of there.
“So that was the situation with Gucci. This was in ’07. They were in Atlanta, they got 30 people in the studio. Now, as A&R, you have to say ‘This is what we have for you to get this album done. You’ve got a certain amount of time to do it.’ So, if you’re bringing 30 people to the studio, that means you in there drinking, smoking, having fun.”
A&R reps working with larger artists and record companies may act more as budgetary managers, bouncers and timekeepers; but those in the department who work in more independent contexts, like Global Exec, also sometimes provide creative input.
The day’s session, Rutger explained, would involve a focus group activity in which he played an artist’s music video, though the I2I visitors would not be analyzing the music itself.
“I’m going to play something for y’all and have y’all critique this artist,” Rutger said. “Critique how their image is to you, how their sound is to you. You’re going to give us that feedback from how we do things in the record business.”
Still spreading
Spread the Love has managed to establish its foothold in the rocky post-pandemic nonprofit landscape in part via grants from the Cleveland Neighborhood Safety Fund, as well as private donations. The justice-affected youth program is set to expand this fall into a 200-level course that, according to STLF Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer D. Lorand, will allow students to explore their desired areas of focus in greater detail.
“Kids grow up and they want to be part of the entertainment industry, and the only thing they know is to be a singer or a rapper because that’s all they see on television,” Lorand explained over the phone. “Before rappers get on stage, there’s a whole team of publicists (who promote them) and graphing designers who design their album covers.”
After participants in the 100-level course experience a general tour of production and management, graduates will have the option to spend more focused time working with professionals, be that at the mixing board, the meeting table, or communicating with artists or promoters directly, with some of the organizations who partner unofficially with STLF.
Past field trips, Lorand said, have seen STLF volunteers accompany I2I participants to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the studio of FM 95.9 station WOVU in Kinsman, and Studio Zero Media’s “flex space” in the Central neighborhood. Those who continue with the 200-level course can expect to get further hands-on experience in their area of interest with similar creative studios and similar entities.
Beyond I2I, STLF works to advocate for hip-hop’s importance and significance as a greater cultural force in Cleveland, with future designs to “revitalize the Glenville/Hough neighborhoods of Cleveland” in part through a planned Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Urban Arts Academy & Ohio Hip-Hop Museum in Glenville. The community center will narrow I2I’s generalized pathways into more professionalized training opportunities for those aged 18 to 26.
Spread the Love Foundation’s board of directors is composed of several names that Founding President and CEO Ossie Mae Neal called “industry hard hitters” who have helped grow the nonprofit’s outreach efforts over its six-year existence.
“(In 2023), we were presented with the opportunity to visit the Juvenile Justice Center,” Neal stated. “We now work with probation youth as well, we have a contract with the juvenile courts… We are also in the process of eventually (working with) the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.”
Henderson selected each board member because they had experience in multiple roles across the music, nonprofit and local government landscapes. Neal herself has previously held various creative, A&R, promotions and marketing roles; she first rapped in high school, as Cheerio, briefly before performing in an out-of-school contest. She won, but the prize wasn’t what she hoped for.
“That’s when I realized there was not money in rapping.” A career switch-up sent her into private event promotion, from there working as a public servant and marketer leading various projects for the City of Cleveland under a slew of mayors, starting with Mayor Michael White in his final term.
The Buckeye/Woodland native has since flipped between the entertainment industry and public service, including working with Chris Brown on a tour in 2005. She first met Krayzie Bone in 1997 and became a natural pick to head STLF when the musician started selecting the board in 2019.
According to Neal, STLF wouldn’t exist without names like Lorand. She described Cynthia Sullivan, a member of the STLF Volunteers Committee that assists in food drives, as well as instructing and chaperoning I2I participants, as another necessity to the organization. Former broadcast producer Danielle Banks brings her knowledge and connections as a member of several local directorates to STLF’s own board.
It all works and functions like the network that would support a label’s musicians and artists, bolstered by outside partners like Rutger and Global Exec’s cadre of signed artists, as well as floating liaisons like Robeson, who works with multiple local creative entities. Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Neal combines the wordliness of her own creative and political network with Lorand’s marketing experience to help grow the program in a way that makes sense for STLF while taking lessons, lived experience, and earned professionalism from companies like Global Exec Records.
Readers interested in learning more about Spread the Love Foundation can attend the nonprofit’s next event in its “You Must Learn” speaking series with author Omar Tyree, taking place at 6 p.m. on July 21 at the Cleveland Public Library Main Library. STLF posts updates about new programming and events to its Facebook page.
The entire Global Exec Records artist lineup and their output can be accessed digitally via the independent label’s website, with options to purchase physical music or submit demos via a contact form.
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