We recently connected with Capo and have shared our conversation below.
Capo , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The initial mission was of an artist. I started my journey as a rapper and had a smaller objective of just getting heard, being the first Latino out of Nashville to create a buzz and put on for the city. That eventually evolved into an extreme passion for helping other independent artist empower themselves and become self-sufficient. I went from pushing as an artist to taking an opportunity to work at one of the largest urban physical publications in the South, CONCRETE Magazine. As I worked my way from a sells rep to eventually taking over the mag as Editor In Chief and Publisher, my passion for finding dope talent and helping artist take it to the next level never changed. Unfortunately the pandemic hit us hard and ended up shutting the Magazine down. I had to make a drastic transition and find a new way to provide. What better way than to continue fueling my passion to self empower artist. This is how The Small Axe Agency was born.
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
As far as I can remember I have had a passion for all types of music. If I heard something that I liked I would have to find out who it was and then get to know more about the artist and their catalog. I’ve always been a true music lover, and that goes for every aspect of it. From the listeners stand point to creating and even the not so fun stuff the business side of it. I feel that sets me apart from the majority of my industry piers. Most people excel in a specific area of the industry but I have been extremely fortunate to work in many different roles and become knowledgable in those areas. I pushed as an independent artist for several years and know how an artist feels and their approach. I went to SAE and became an audio engineer so I know the technical aspect as well, I worked as a journalist for a magazine interviewing 100’s of artist/celebs, I ran a magazine as the EIC and controlled content and the creative side of marketing strategies, I have secured endorsement deals with national brands, I have and still organize tours, played the booking agent/road managers and even artist management. I have worn many hats, which has given me years of experience and an advantage over most.
I entered this industry simply by being an opportunist. I was pushing my own music career and seeing some success with it. One of my friends who was also pushing as an artist landed a deal with an indie label. They immediately put him on two huge tours and I was offered the position of road manager. I accepted, while on the road I made a lot of connections and also learned a lot about the ins and outs of touring from the promoters to the venues to the runners and the artist. I walked away from the tour with a new understanding of how things work and also that I could be a valuable commodity to not only the artist but the industry as a whole.
This lead me to start organizing several events that are catered towards helping artist. The Urban Music Challenge, The Media Pass and The Industry Insider listening session. I used these events to give artist the opportunity to build awareness amongst industry professionals through our company. The showcases always ends with someone winning a huge prize package that actually gives something tangible that can honestly help them take their career to the next level. From interviews on national platforms, radio play, production, studio time etc. There is a lot of show cases out here and we never want to be put in the same category as most of them who use it as a hustle to get money out of artist. We are here to empower the artist.
While doing these events I established my own promo team and this is where I got the attention of the owner of CONCRETE Magazine. I was offered the position as a Ad exec which I took because I am always looking to get one foot in the door. Which is exactly what happened. In 2008 I started working for the magazine and by 2013 I had taken over as the EIC of the magazine. I was handling all the interviews, approving all content, creating marketing strategies and organizing events for the magazine. This gave me the opportunity to interview and work with some of my favorite industry professionals such as Bun B, Mob Deep, Scarface, Devin The Dude, KRS-One, Young Dolph, Key Glock, DJ Scream, Don Cannon, ScottyATL, Kap G, Drumma Boy, Big Krit, Isaiah Rashad, Jelly Roll, Rittz, DJ Paul and many more. Unfortunately 2020 came about and the pandemic hit us hard. The owner of the magazine decided to pull the plug and end our run as one of the biggest urban publications in the south.
Like the old saying goes when one door closes another one opens and thats exactly what happened. This is where the creation of the Small Axe Agency was birthed. It seemed like all the pieces to the puzzle fell in place organically. We already had all the industry contacts and relationships. We had already been producing quality content, unique marketing campaigns, and organizing events and tours. Why not house all of these services under one roof. It made perfect sense, so that’s what we did combining all the services that were available to us along with our extreme passion for helping to empower the artist and The Small Axe Agency was established.
Since we have launched we have already had some amazing things happen for our small company. To name just a few we are full time managing Toni Delano of Kyro Ink who is hands down one of the greatest graphic artist to ever do it. He has worked with people such as Rihanna, Dr.Dre, Logic, Bone Thugs & Harmony, Scarface, Kevin Hart and the list keeps going. We also connected with professional boxer Ryan Shawtime Shaw who is 5 and 0 in his professional career and we became head of his marketing team, We secured merchandise deals with Curren$y, KRS-One, Devin The Dude and LightSkinKeisha, We threw almost a concert a month over the past year and We also organized and managed LightSkinKeisha’s first tour. 2022 was a huge year for us and we are only getting started.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I honestly believe doing good business and being consistent is what helped me build a great reputation. Doing good business in the sense of always doing what I say I am going to do, being transparent and going above and beyond my clients expectations. I understand how it feels to invest hard earned money into a dream and I understand how serious it is, so I always approach every deal as if I am personally invested in it. I appreciate anyone who believes enough in what we offer to take their hard earned money and spend it with us. I never take that for granted. The thing I hate most is spending money with people who act like you are a burden and don’t appreciate your business. Now when it comes to being consistent there is never down time for me. I am always coming up with the next venture. We establish one aspect of the business, streamline it and move to what’s next. People have seen me go from standing outside gas stations selling cds out of the trunk of my car to running a magazine and working along side some of the biggest artist in the industry. All that comes from me being built extremely resilient and a hunger to always learn more and do more which gives me the ability to continue creating and being a consistent power player in the industry.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
I love this story because it was a long shot that ended with a win! I was working for a label out of NYC owned by a NBA player from the Nets. He had signed an artist by the name of Fooly and wanted me to manage the artists day to day. Long story short me and the artist Fooly had established a strong bond and the label wasn’t approving any of our ideas which was extremely frustrating and made us feel unproductive. We were recording music like crazy while waiting for them to let us know what they wanted to do. Stockpiling song after song so that when they gave us the green light we would be ready to go. Fooly happened to be traveling doing some shows and caught the attention of a rep from Dutch Masters cigars. Fooly flew from Miami to Nashville to get in the studio and record. When he landed he noticed that the rep had been watching all his stories on IG and liking all his posts. I told him we need to make something out of this immediately and strike while the iron is hot. We knew the label wouldn’t approve or help fund what needed to be done so we did it ourselves. I curated a marketing plan to approach Dutch Master for a possible endorsement deal. We recorded three songs and titled them after flavors of Dutch Master cigars, We made it a short 3 song project and titled it 3 pack for the popular Dutch Master pack of 3 cigars. Then we did a photo shoot in a smoke shop using a bunch of DM products in it, We shot a music video using product placement for promo and put together a strategic marketing campaign/rollout for the project. All this without knowing if they would even take time to look at our proposal. We put it all together in a professional pitch deck and sent over the offer with our fingers crossed. It didn’t take long for them to respond back and tell us they loved it, We went through with the entire campaign and they continued rocking with us. Flying Fooly all around the country to open up at Dutch Master events and even sponsoring a listening party. Sometimes you have to roll those dice but also be very strategic when doing so. Make it make sense for the people you are pitching to so you answer all their questions before they have to ask. Make them feel like they would be missing out by not accepting your offer. Once they approve go above and beyond to make sure they get more than what you offered and that will keep the relationship strong and hopefully secure another deal. If we didn’t gamble on ourselves or waited for the label to approve or waited until we had the right song it may have never played out the way it did. We took the initiative and made it happen.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Steven Troutt Tavell Brown (Brown Photography)