Hard Work Pays off!!!

Insight By: B. Brown of BREG

When I go speak to young people as a inspirational & motivational speaker, I often include hard work, paying dues & interning in my message to emphasize the importance of starting at one level and moving up to a higher level. It's a message of progress. It's a message of success! Now, don't get me wrong. In all journeys, there will be some valleys and peaks, but the key is continuing to move forward on the journey.

That brings me to Michael Kyser, the 1st ever president of Black Music at Atlantic Records Group! You see, Michael started his career at Def Jam and worked his way to his current position. It took hard work, it took listening and learning; and it took relationships being built. It also took treating people a certain way. Treating people with respect, basically treating people as you would like to be treated --- The Golden Rule!

Read Michael's feature in Ebony Magazine by Keven Chappell(June 2011; pg. 69)

Star Maker - Michael Kyser brings culture & attitude to the corporate music world!

It's safe to say that when Michael Kyser began his career at Def Jam Records some 20 years ago, he didn't know what the heck he was doing. Barely out of school, he found himself working and touring with such artists as Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Method Man, Redman, Foxy Brown and Warren G.

Hip-Hop was steamrolling the music scene, and Kyser was along for the ride.

"We just had a good time," Kyser tells Ebony. "We did everything from A to Z. When I first started in the music business, we did everything for our artists from picking them up taking them to the airport to going to weddings. We always superserved our artists. Def Jam was such a culture-driven company. We lived like we worked. We would stay out late. We didn't have titles back then; there was no head of this or head of that. We just got the job done."

A little odler and a lot wiser, Kyser was recently name the first-ever president of Black Music for the Atlantic Records Group. In the position, he manages the careers of 18 artists, including Trey Songz, Flo Rida, B.O.B. and Janell Monae.

Kyser's unique management style, which mixes hard work with equally hard play, can be directly traced back to his days at Def Jam. In fact, he says that when he came to Atlantic, one of the first things he did was to instill a more relaxed culture and a streetwise attitude. "It was corporate around here," he says. "So I had to work to get people to loosen up a bit. We did our best to instill that culture at Atlantic; so far, so good. It's a fun place now."

Kyser and his staff of about 40 in the marketing, artist development, promotion and special ops departments manage some of the most successful artists in the music business. Insiders say that he has been so effective because he knows intuitively how to break down cultural barriers and bring music to the widest possible audience.

"I have watched him learn the business from the ground up: working the streets; hitting radio, TV and the clubs; going on the road with the bands and doing whatever it took to break artists, get their music heard and build brands," said Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music---Americas and the U.K. Lyor Cohen. "He doesn't just do his job; he lives his job and since those early days a Def Jam, I've seen him evolve into one of the most admired and accomplished members of the urban-music community."

Just as he did at Def Jam, Kyser immerses himself in the music and the culture, creating opportunities for his artists and building long careers. He prides himself on developing invaluable relationships with his artists, whether as a mentor, a big brother or simply a road dog. "Artist relations is probably the most important thing to me. When the kids are born, I'm there. When they get married. I'm there. When they go through their breakups, I'm there. I'm like extended family. It's a unique situation, but it's a respectful situation. They respect what I do, I respect their talent. It's a partnership, and sometimes we're going to disagree. But real partnerships are built on that."

When it's all said and done, for Kyser, it's about selling music and having a good time doing it. "Anybody who knows me, knows that I'm a fun guy," he says. "I like to have a good time. We're in the music business; we sell music. We're not curing cancer, we're selling music. People have different management styles. My style is a little more laid back. I get my point across. And I make sure that we get the job done."