A quick chat with Entertainment One Music president Alan Grunblatt is almost like speaking with a louder, more profane version of Yoda. He’s equally crass and honest. Then again, he’s earned that right. Since the early 90s, Grunblatt has watched Hip Hop grow significantly from an executive point-of-view. Evolving the same formula used in marketing greats such KRS-One, Eazy-E and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has worked well for him. This year alone, Entertainment One Music had a grand year in terms of Hip Hop. Two spectacular albums from The Game through The Documentary 2and The Documentary 2.5, Joe Budden’s All Love Lost and even Chinx’s postmortem debut all found distribution through the indie label. As major labels scramble to find their footing in the new music scape, Entertainment One Music moves along without much effort from the looks of things. Speaking with DX, Grunblatt explains assisting artists as they do their own thing.
Grunblatt Talks Not Superimposing Opinion On Artist
DX: There was a huge amount of buzz for The Documentary 2 and The Documentary 2.5 as well as Joe Budden’s All Love Lost albums this year.
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Alan Grunblatt: Amazing right? The good thing about us is that we let our artists lead the way. We have a support structure and we stay in our lane. Game and his manager Cash Jones are incredible marketers. They really know their audience and it’s fantastic.
DX: How exactly do you take someone coming from a major label situation like Game and ensure he has that same push?
Alan Grunblatt: First of all, the whole thing with major labels, I’ve been doing this for 30 years. When I started, there weren’t any major labels for Hip Hop. All these major labels cared about was R&B. You didn’t have major labels enter into the rap world until like the mid-90s. From around 86 – 96, it was purely independent. These guys on here are brilliant. It’s a great relationship and a great flow. We couldn’t be happier.
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DX: Is it a different game capitalizing on an artist’s fanbase?
Alan Grunblatt: Basically, it’s been the same for me. Wasn’t any different when I had Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Eazy-E, 8Ball & MJG and Cam’ron. It’s really all the same when you’re dealing with talented people. You don’t really superimpose your opinion on them which can be really crazy. I’ll never forget. It’s like we when we did The Diplomats deal. I sat down with Cam and he said, “You do what you do and we’ll do what we do.” That’s the truth right? I don’t tell these guys what to do.
DX: Interesting you mention Cam’ron because one of my favorite albums on Entertainment One Music before The Game was probably Crime Pays.
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Alan Grunblatt: We’ve had so many crazy projects. To me, on slept on record that we put out was Fat Joe’s The Darkside Vol.1. That was a great record where every track stands the test of time. It was hard because he had crossed over so much, it was a little bit of a struggle. What a great record he did though. Another artist I think about a lot is Soulja Slim. He was fantastic before he was murdered.
Grunblatt Calls Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “E.1999 Eternal” His Greatest Roll-Out
DX: Being an independent artist has become such an overused buzzword nowadays. However, there was a time where that was a stigma major label artists going indie. I remember when 50 had called Koch an artist graveyard.
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Alan Grunblatt: You know what? Who gives a fuck what people think? I don’t give a fuck. I started my label and I’m still in business. It’s like some idiot with an opinion. And, it’s disrespectful to my artists. When I started my business in 2001, the first artist I signed was KRS-One. KRS-One didn’t have to defend himself. He’s KRS-One and one of the most influential emcees of all time. I had RZA, right? It’s just jealousy and stupidity. People don’t understand. It’s a business. You have to stay profitable and have revenue. It’s not like my competitors were excited to see me walk into their world. It was a fight and eventually I started a label, stopped dealing with Suge and we started having hit after hit. All these muthafuckas were jealous. We’ve had over 20 gold and platinum records here.
DX: Considering your time working with Eazy-E at Ruthless, what’s been the greatest album roll-out you’ve been a part of?
Alan Grunblatt: The biggest roll-out I was on was Bone Thugs’ E.1999 Eternal.
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DX: Crazy you mention that as that album turns 25 this year.
Alan Grunblatt: Yeah and that was my first number one album. We had “First Of The Month” and “Crossroads” which was after Eric had passed. Tamika put together a remix of “Crossroads” where we shipped it on the album without telling anybody. We ended up selling seven million albums. That was the biggest thing, but there was a lot of great stuff. It was an amazing experience with Eazy and Jerry Heller putting out 187um Killabecause it was at the middle of the Ruthless vs. Death Row feud. When I did the Death Row deal with Suge Knight in 2001, I told him that they were number one to our number two.
DX: Did you ever get a chance to see Straight Outta Compton?
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Alan Grunblatt: No, because you know why? I was so close to Eric and Jerry that it was just weird to me. I didn’t want to see friends of mine being played by actors. I haven’t seen it yet but, I’ll see it on TV.
Grunblatt Dubs Hip Hop Entertainment One Music’s Biggest Genre & Explains Recruitment Process
DX: Once the film came out, sales of albums from N.W.A. and Eazy all charted. How does it feel for their work to be embraced decades later?
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Alan Grunblatt: You always have to reinvent yourself right. People always count you out. It’s like a crazy thing. Every dog has its day.
DX: How do you guys go about recruiting artists on Entertainment One Music?
Alan Grunblatt: Basically for me, I was on the major labels and I did marketing for RCA. I was in charge of the Hip Hop artists on Jive. I marketed these records and did it on the fly. All of a sudden, I’m product managing Kool Moe D, Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince and KRS-One. For me, it was my Hip Hop college. I joined Relativity and the first deal was with Chris Lighty for Violator. So, the first artists we signed were Fat Joe and The Beatnuts. That put me on the map and then we did the deal with Eazy-E and Jerry. That put things on a whole nother level. When it comes to recruiting, I’m just one person on the team. Certain deals are my deals just because of relationships. I’m very good friends with Cash Jones who is The Game’s manager. He wanted to do the deal so we did the deal. Signing contemporary artists, I rely on my team. We have Gabby Peluso here who use to work at Def Jam. I really rely on her and a host of others.
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DX: Where does Hip Hop rank within the walls of Entertainment One Music compared to other genres?
Alan Grunblatt: It’s the biggest. Hip Hop is number one then Metal, Gospel and R&B.
DX: What’s the future for you guys in terms of rap?
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Alan Grunblatt: Listen, every day, Gabby and I go over who we are looking to sign. Normally, we have ten or so deals on the field with our lawyer. The tragedy here is that we all felt that Chinx was going to be a real superstar. His murder was a huge blow to everybody, but you have to move on and we’re always looking for who is free and clear. There are always artists looking for deals.
DX: Considering his trajectory, how did Chinx’s death affect you guys there?
Alan Grunblatt: It was devastating. This was a guy we all met with and knew. It wasn’t the first time for me. I dealt with it when Eazy died and when Soulja Slim was murdered. Chinx had a wife and kids so it was a very painful experience.
