Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mike Loco Hoffman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Mike Loco, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

This is a loaded question of sorts as it depends on who you are asking and what they determine as success. For me personally, Success is a mindset. It doesn’t have dollar amounts attached, or level of status. If you set a goal and maintain your vision, drive and ambition to achieve it then that is a success. Is it not? That being said I feel success relies heavily on ones self. We can’t sit and wait for someone else’s actions to determine our own success. Though they may be instrumental, reliance is a weakness in many cases because you’re expecting another to see your vision through. As cliche as it may sound but “If you can see it, then you can achieve it” holds weight and you must ignore the feeling of having to get it done quickly, and focus on the tasks and education needed to hit your goals. Set realistic stepping stone goals as well, otherwise how can one feel any sense of accomplishment if they try to tackle the mountain before training on the hills. I will end it on this…it is ok to fail because that is how we learn. Never give up!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As far as i can remember in life I was always around music and entertainment. I was always drawn and fascinated how much the art affected and impacted people. Being able to see the creative process and then watching the vision come to life and the correlation of people ingesting it. It is truly remarkable to me. My mother was good friends with Jesse from a group named the Force Mds. I was a child and didn’t fully grasp at the time what I was witnessing til years later. They used to sing and work out songs in my living room. Those same songs like Tender Love specifically became a song many couples grew emotional attachment to. It became a wedding song for others. It marked as a significance of a moment or memory in time. We all have memories that we can associate with a song or a song can bring us back in time to a moment. A song can inspire and motivate. A song can uplift. Same can be said with certain scenes in movies. Then combine the two art forms and it is nothing less than amazing how it can be used.

I started soon after writing songs and raps with some friends but realized early I was more drawn to putting things together in the background instead of the person on stage. Same thing happened years later when I started acting and modeling. I interned for free at a casting agency to have first dibs on any opportunities but that quickly turned into me securing more casting opportunities for the agency I was working for and becoming a respected and known talent agent at just 16 years old. My 16th year of life was pivotal and impactful on myself. I met The Real Roxanne and originally she was just looking for guest roles and such in Film and TV. We became friendly fast and she showed me a song she was working on. We started talking with the producer, thought of a treatment for the video, I set up auditions and helped select the dancers. I reached out to multiple clothing brands with cold calls and heard alot of NO’s before Pure Playaz said yes and sponsored with their brand. This was all instinct and determination. I had no education or mentoring and wasn’t even sure I was right haha but I kept at it. Something personal in the artists life came up and ended everything unfortunately. None of this went unnoticed as without me knowing, someone was watching. I was offered a chance to again intern, but this time it was at a major record label. I took it knowing I had reached successful goals in acting and casting. Music just always held a special place in my heart and called to me more. I had no intention of wasting time or grabbing coffees at this new endeavor and took risks that paid off and landed me on the street team and then headed up my own street team. This evolved into working alongside some knowledgeable people and soon becoming a junior A&R. It also taught me a very hard lesson…learn your business as I knew nothing of back end business at that time and was not given points and credits I deserved. As I started to learn, it was too late and it put a sour feeling on things so I left the industry at 18 for a while and became a Father soon after. I was drawn back in not too long and worked behind the scenes once again in an instrumental role of the NY Freestyle scene that boomed with artists like Judy Torres, Lil Suzy, Rockell etc. I got more involved with setting up events and promoting with the clubs and shows but part time only because I also needed to provide and be a staple in my child’s life. All of this lead me to the moment in 2018 and now.

I knew too well what lack of knowledge in this industry can lead to. I saw a need in a time where streaming music and independent artists being told how easy they can put music out but nobody was telling these young artists anything about how to protect and register for their royalties. The back end business of it all. Most artists did not even know what a performing rights organization even was, let alone admin publishing or anything other than they can record a song and upload it everywhere in the palm of their hand quickly and cheaply or free. One of these artists was full circle for me as it was my own son. I am a firm believer in be the change you want to see. So MLM Entertainment was born and the mission is to educate and assist artists to navigate properly. MLM Entertainment signed a partnership with Vydia to create MLM Distro where artists can distribute music and receive admin publishing all in a one stop shop to secure majority of the avenues of royalty registration and collection. MLM Entertainment has artists on our roster and offer services to all artists as well. I personally spread education freely at many events and as a guest speaker. I wear many hats on the independent landscape.

I take pride in helping sculpt these artists into their brands, or assisting them to be heard. Educating and protecting them as best as I can. Artist Development isn’t gone totally, it just isn’t seen in a very saturated market where social media has opened the flood gates.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honesty and being genuine. I live by what I say rather than just repeat keywords and trigger words at people. I approach every conversation uniquely based on the target recipient. I have backed up what I say and practice what I preach. I am approachable. I also look to see how I can add value to the conversation as opposed to just what I can obtain from it. I also know when to listen and learn as we all are still learning day by day.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Firstly I will say I don’t put the same effort as I advise other to do haha. I am much better at helping others formulate a strategy and consistency then I am for myself. I was more used to the unknown background guy until recently. I will say again just be direct and genuine. Be yourself and be consistent. care about you content and put some effort into it. You have to separate your attachment to yourself. Meaning if someone else made the same content or quality as what you created and it wouldn’t catch your attention, do not think that because it is you doing the same thing that it will have a different affect. Do not get discouraged because things do not pick up right away. Keep the consistency going and upgrade the quality as it becomes available to you. There are a lot of free tools and to use but many make excuses of lack of time. We make time for what we want. Do not confuse dependency and laziness with time management.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeloco/
• Other: https://withkoji.com/@MLM_Entertainment

Image Credits
BBX Visuals, Maya Louis, Amanda Martinez