Episode Info: In this episode Durell is joined by artist manager, tech, media entrepreneur and the owner of the Got What U Need Podcast Network LaShon Jones. Lashon and Durell begin the episode talking about how they got connected and Lashon shares with Durell that he actually really helped him re-discover his love for music again when they initially met. Durell and Lashon talk about how difficult the music industry is and the fact that it’s important to have someone along for the journey as you figure out how to navigate your way through trying to build a career in the industry. Lashon shares that he would often pay attention and watch what people do and then he would know what he didn’t want to do when it came to building what we wanted to do. Lashon shares that he was always thinking forward to what not to do in order for them to do things differently than what everyone else was used to doing. Lashon shares that he felt there was more money in trying to get aligned with a brand than just going after a traditional record deal. Durell shares that Lashon shares that even though as a team he and Durell may have dropped the ball in certain areas but at the same time they were the first to do a lot of what’s currently happening in Orlando these days.

Durell shares that there were two iterations of the BFL (Brothers For Life) crew of artists and the only reason Lashon really even took the artists seriously was because he wanted to see Durell win and be successful. He shares that he wasn’t the biggest fan of their music at that time. Durell shares that there is power in relationships. Durell shares that knowing what he knows now what it takes to be successful that neither crew really had what it took to be successful but Lashon shares that really he and Durell are partly to blame because the second iteration of artists weren’t prepared to create opportunities on their own. Lashon shares that K.E.L.L.S. (Killin’ Every Lame Lyric Spoken) could have done some amazing things during that time as well. Too Slim’s work ethic is really what set them apart from the rest. Lashon shares that when he left to go to North Carolina there wasn’t much trust placed in Durell because he was in the background, and if the crew would’ve given Durell a chance they would’ve realized that he was prepared to handle things properly. Lashon also shares that leaving allowed Durell to spread his wings and prepare him for what he’s currently doing today.

Lashon and Durell talk about how expensive it is to build a career in the music industry, but Lashon also says the prices have gone down in comparison to what they used to be before the DIY era. Lashon shares that mixing and mastering costs haven’t changed much because of the specific skill set that is required. The costs for video shoots have gone down but marketing is the area that can get the most expensive because there are no shortcuts. In today’s landscape social media is important and having a strategic plan is key to be successful. LaShon shares that it can cost upwards of at least $60,000 dollars to really get things going or it could cost less if you have a strategic team.

Lashon shares that he streams everything and that he doesn’t buy singles. He will only buy albums from artists that he trusts. He said he doesn’t understand why so many artists put out these 12-15 song projects when they only have 3-4 songs that anyone actually wants to listen to. He often gives advice to artists telling them the most important thing they need to do is build their audience and to do that put as much music out as possible. He shares that artists who think they can do it all themselves are fooling themselves because it’s impossible to be successful trying to do things alone.


Lashon and Durell end the episode talking about the fact that not every artist is going to make millions of dollars and some artists must be okay with being a niche artist. Durell shares that artists need to have perspective when they measure success. Durell also shares that the majority of the artists in the marketplace will never sign a major label deal and that makes him even more valuable in today’s marketplace than ever before. Lashon shares that he agrees with Kanye West in the belief that in today’s ecosystem there is really no need for a label contract to be 15 pages long. Lashon and Durell talk about the fact that black culture are the trendsetters pretty much for every genre but black artists are the ones that get pushed primarily into the predominantly black music genres.

Durell asks Lashon what made him really get into podcasting and he shares that he is a really big fan of talk radio and that’s really the origin of how podcasts started. Lashon really wanted to have another outlet that showed he was more than just music. Lashon shares that his passion for podcasting was also him making waves as he transitioned more into the tech space. He shares that with his Got What U Need Podcast Network he didn’t want to be the only one creating content anymore and felt it was time to introduce some different voices into the podcasting space.

For more information on Lashon you can follow him on his social media handles:

Instagram @tsiswhoiam