We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ode Broham. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ode below.

Ode, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

Funny enough, my next EP is called ‘I Need A Vacation’. The first single, “Hoodrat Classic” is out now.

For a long time I didn’t take vacations. When I was a kid, I didn’t really see my mom taking many vacations. We didn’t really have it to take vacations. Through college and my early career, I really wasn’t taking vacations still. I always thought I had more work to do or that I’d be wasting too much money and couldn’t afford it. In 2018, I remember going on vacation to South Florida and seeing my boys I hadn’t seen in years. I thought I was keeping up with them through social media the whole time but once I was out there, I saw how much of their lives I had missed out on by not reaching out as much as I should and not visiting. That one trip gave me so much perspective and fueled so much of my creative projects after that it more than made up for itself. Since then, I make sure I take my vacations.

The pandemic was terrible and it really devastated a lot of people. That can’t be stressed enough. While working from home, I found myself alone. That can be a good and a bad thing. I finally had to make my home into a home because I was there all the time but my home also became my office which, despite my efforts, made my home feel like the office even when I wasn’t working. Vacations became necessary and being able to work remotely made them much easier. I’m in Toronto right now visiting family for the summer, actually. I feel refueled and ready to return home.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a rapper and I work in the music industry. I don’t mix the two but they do inform one another. I’ve been performing since the moment I could speak. I was auditioning kids at recess to be in r&b groups with me. Once I realized I couldn’t sing, I started rapping. I’d battle every day at school and eventually hit every open mic and competition until I realized competitions are scams (They give slave auction). I got scammed out of a lot of money early on because that’s what happens when you’re poor and passionate about something people can exploit in the hood.

In college, I knew I wanted to work in the music industry so I looked for industry internships during my last semester. Most music industry internships are unpaid and that was hard to explain to my mom back then because, like I said, we were poor but I made it happen while balancing a job. I even stuck around my internship after I graduated so that I could say I had a years worth of music industry experience under my belt.

My first role was as an Office Manager for Dubset Media Holdings. They were a start up. They said I’d be making $50k a year but when I started, they couldn’t afford it so they literally paid me $500 a month and gave me a metro card. I gritted my teeth there for as long as I could but my mom was going to kick me out unless I started making enough to pay rent so I had to leave Dubset and work at a Call Center until I got a job in the industry that would pay better.

I was determined. I’d commute almost 2 hours to my call center job and after work, I would apply to every single position at all three major labels (Sony, Warner and Universal Music Group). Even if I was completely unqualified, I would apply for the position. Even if I knew I wouldn’t like the job, I’d apply for the position. I would reach out to people in the industry and ask for opportunities to take them out for pizza and pick their brains. I’d schedule all my phone interviews for my lunch break at the Call Center. I just needed my face and name to become memorable enough for someone to think of me when the right position came along.

Eventually I ended up with offers for entry level positions from all three of the major labels. I picked the one I liked the most and worked my way up from there. That’s how I got in the industry.

A big part of what I do is track the way people use artists content online. That’s had a tremendous affect on how I make music in the other part of my life. At the same time, as an artist, I understand what it is to do a release campaign. I’ve had to distribute my own work so that helps inform my day job a lot.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think people who aren’t creative might not always understand having a passion for something that may not serve any purpose other than feeding your soul. Being a creative is self-care. It’s an extreme act of love and affection to yourself and sometimes others. It might not always be for money or even have a clear purpose beyond an internal goal and sometimes that makes creatives look crazy to people who aren’t like us. But to live life and die and never have done something beautiful just because you were driven to do it, is an incomplete life.

Any advice for managing a team?

I manage a team currently and I’d say the biggest thing for me is being passionate about their futures. I was blessed to have managers that seemed to really believe in me, want the best for me and not limit me to whatever position I was in that benefitted them. If you work with me and show me you have good character and work ethic then you know I’m going to sing your praises. List me as a reference if you want me to hype you up lol

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.odedope.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odebroham
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/odebroham
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/odelle-george-perreira-6988a197/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/odebroham
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OdeBroham/join

Image Credits
Mikal George Sekani Broughton Tyree Huey