STAN SHEPPARD

Dubcnn Article Nov 2008 by Nima Etminan

Dubcnn linked up with industry veteran Stan Sheppard, who most of you should recognize as DJ Quik's former manager with his Sheppard Lane label. However, there might be a lot you don't know about Stan Sheppard yet! He tells us about his 35 years in the music industry, starting off with the Jackson Family and Motown and later making the transition over to Rap Music, through DJ Battlecat and DJ Quik. He tells us about his time with Quik, what went wrong, and where he would have liked to take Quik's career if things had worked out.

Throughout the years, Stan Sheppard has collected over 10 Platinum and Gold plaques and is still hungry for more. He's formed a new label called Peaceful/ Tonestruck Ent and is currently working on two big projects: "Bangin': Pain, Pride & Destruction", which will raise funds for the Unity One foundation, and the "Dr. Martin Luther King Duets Album", for which he got the legendary Sly Stone to come out of retirement and record a new song with Snoop Dogg. Stan Sheppard is also putting out Battlecat's upcoming album, as well as 'Cat's artist Glocc Sinatra.

Dubcnn: We're right here with Stan Sheppard, a true veteran in the music industry. To start it off, give us a quick introduction of who you are and what you're about.

I'm origionally from the South Side of Chicago. My father, Bunky Sheppard, was a major figure with the first Black Music label in America, called Vee Jay Records. He helped launch the label and was in control of all radio promotion and marketing across the country. He eventually branched out on his own, and formed his own label, where he discovered and produced several hit records such as "The Duke Of Earl" by Gene Chandler, "Get On Up" by The Esquires, & "Raindrops" by Dee Clark.

He also launched the careers of The Chi-Lites, The Dells, Barry White, Carl Carlton, Leon Haywood, Stephanie Mills, The Commodores & The Love Unlimited Orchestra, just to name a few. I was lucky enough to be at his side when all this was taking place and he taught me how to get a hit record and what it would cost to do so. I took that information, soaked it up, and applied it to my own career.

I actually started out in the music industry as a performer. I was in a singing group back in Chicago, and was on several talent shows during this time period in my life. While doing these talent shows, I met a group of guys who were competing against my group and they won all the shows we were in. These guys turned out to be the world famous Jackson Family! When they got discovered and had a hit record, they moved out to Los Angeles and I followed right behind them. Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and I became inseperable from one another and eventually I moved in with them while their careers took off. We are all still very close and we eventually started working together many years later. I will explain more about that later in this interview.

My passion for music grew from year to year, and in 1985, I wrote and produced music on a new group out of Boston called By All Means. In 1986, I was blessed enough to land my first major label recording contract with Island Records for this group, and we went on to write and produce Island Records' first black music #1 record! We would go on to produce three gold records for the label and this obviously launched my career in a big way.

Shortly after that, I was contacted by Motown President, Jheryl Busby, and he offered me a beautiful deal at Motown where they would fund my company, make me a staff producer, and give me an A&R position as well. While at Motown, I went on to produce two Number One Singles on Gerald Alston called Slow Motion and Special on The Temptations. I also produced eight other top ten R&B singles during my time at Motown, and my two number one songs are contained on two "Motown Greatest Hits" packages.

In 1995, I was contacted by the Jackson Family and they asked me to leave Motown to join them in their family's new business venture called Jackson Communications. I was offered the Co-President position at the company working side by side with Jermaine Jackson. We would go on to produce two hit productions during my time there, which were the Jackson Family Honors television show and The Jackson Family Mini-Series. Both of these productions were on NBC Television.

Dubcnn: So how did you go from that to getting into the rap industry?

I transfered over to Rap Music in 1996 when I was introduced to DJ Battlecat and DJ Quik. I had always loved Rap Music and after I met Battlecat and Quik, from there my involvement grew into a total career change. I then branched out into working with a young group out of Watts called The Watts Carr who I tried to put out through Motown Records at the time, but their music was "too hard" for the label. From there, I went on to develop one of the guys from that group who was just in his teens, who recorded under the name Filthy Frank, and we landed a deal for him at a new company called Zoo Entertainment. Unfortunately, right when we were about to release the album, the company, which specialized in Rock music, decided that Filthy Frank's music and lyrics were "too radical for the label to promote at radio". It was a shame because he is a great artist. To this day I would love to have him on my label, but he is doing his own thing company-wise and I am involved with him launching that entity.

I then started to work with DJ Battlecat and during this time he was producing a new artist named Domino and he got his first number one single and Platinum album under his wings. His career was off to a great start and then he helped me to develop my first ever Rap Music label called G-Vine Entertainment. We recorded a new artist for the label, which was distributed by Capitol Records, and then, one month into promoting the new project, Capitol Records folded their Black Music Division. Right after that happened, I was introduced to a young man who grew up in the same neighborhood in Compton with DJ Quik, who wanted to learn the in's and out's of the recording industry and at the same time, he asked me to meet with Quik to help him get his career back on track and to try to get him out of a "terrible contract he had signed with a small label out of New York". That label was Profile Records.

DJ Quik and I met and we hit it off great right from the start. Shortly thereafter, I consented to direct Quik's career. That was in late 1996. At that point, I contacted the President of Profile Records, entered negotiations with him and after approximately one year of back and forth legal moves, I got Quik released. It was a true nightmare situation. After we got the release, I entered negotiations with Mr. Clive Davis, who was the President of Arista Records back then, and we structured a new deal that would bring Quik to the label. This deal made musical history, because Arista Records had never signed a West Coast rap artist before. During our time there, I directed Quik's marketing and promotional campaigns, and as you know, we had some real big records at Arista.

Dubcnn: What made you and Quik part ways?

While I was directing Quik's production schedule and artist career, I started my second Rap Music label called Sheppard Lane Records. I worked with Quik's friend from his neighborhood who introduced us, and for over six years, everything was going along fine. Then, he and I started to have different views on life, the direction of West Coast Music, and the direction of Quik's career in general. These disagreements eventually became serious problems, and I was not backing down from my views one bit. I had over 10 Platinum & Gold albums to my credit and I was not entertaining the thought of changing the way I did business for anyone.

Obviously, it became evident in time that we should go our seperate ways. Which we did. I then became Public Enemy #1 as far as my ex-business partner was concerned and the negative stories started to fly. I was accused of stealing money, the moon, the sun, and all the tea in China. This situation really put Quik in a weird place as far as our relationship was concerned. Up until that point, we were cool, but when me and his buddy from the neighborhood fell out, we went seperate ways. I understood that and accepted it. I was from Chicago and his friend was from his neighborhood. Case closed.

Quik and I never to this day have had any type of argument or harsh words for one another. I am a 56 year old man whose life is directed by God and it is not in my inner soul to wish negatives on anyone. I think he is one of the most talented producers in this industry and I wish him nothing but the best in life. Quik knows in his heart that for six years I did nothing but further his career and put major dollars in his pockets. The streets and the music industry know that too. That's why, to this day, I have more support than I've ever had before in the streets. I also wish nothing but the best for my ex-partner.

Dubcnn: As DJ Quik's former manager, what do you think were the reasons that DJ Quik never managed to break through on a global level the way Dr. Dre or other producers have?

When you record for a major record company like Arista Records, they have a certain way they like to do business and it is very hard for them to listen to outside input from artist's managers. Such was the case with Quik. As an artist, Arista Records simply didn't want to spend the cash to break Quik as an artist across the country. They felt he was a regional artist, just like they view music from every West Coast artist. They have the opinion that cities "outside the Western Region" don't want to hear West Coast artists. Therefore, their check books stay closed as far as promotional budgets are concerned. Period. And they won't put up the money to change that outlook. It's stupid in my opinion, but I'm not writing the checks. I had heated discussions with Arista Records concerning this issue, and they just listened politely, then went back to doing what they always did. Nothing.

As far as Quik's productions were concerned, well that's another issue. Major record companies will take a hit record from anyone who can deliver one. So, Quik is not limited in that way. That is precisely one of the reasons why I got into disagreements with my ex-partner on Quik's productions. I wanted Quik to spend just as much time producing R&B stars as he did producing rap stars. My ex-partner felt that this approach would be bad for Quik's image and was not feeling my suggestions. You see, I'm all about the money and I did not feel that it would harm Quik's image by producing R&B artists. It wouldn't make him "soft", it would have made his bank account THICK!!! He could have been as hard as he wanted to be on his own projects, but in my opinion once again, Quik is not some kind of thugged out gangsta, so we just simply disagreed on this issue. That R&B money is proper and when you get an R&B hit, your money will continue to come in from publishing long after your rapping career is over.

Dubcnn: If things would have worked out with DJ Quik, where would you have taken his career?

I wanted Quik to produce more R&B artists. I felt his sound was very compatible to a lot of the R&B artists that are on the charts today. Obviously we would have continued to produce rap artists that would want his sound. I just felt that I wanted him to go more into films, as an actor and for scoring. I didn't really want to have his music always tied to certain rap artists on the streets that may have been doing more hardcore music. I felt Quik's sound was international. Only thing that was holding him back from branching out was that he didn't get with the artists that I wanted him to get with. That's really where I wanted to take him. It's not from a fact of selling out, because Quik can do anything musically. So obviously, I felt like he could ping pong back and forth.

Quik is not a gangster and he never portrayed that. I felt that his music could lend itself to different ears. That's where there was a disagreement with my former busienss partner. Me, I'm very opinionated as to how my business is run and it's difficult for me to work with another person when I've been in the business for 35 years. Not that I don't take outside input from people, but I felt at that time that I knew a better direction.

Dubcnn: I remember at some point, when the movie "Training Day" came out, Dr. Dre and DJ Quik were supposed to do some work together. However, only one song, "Put It On Me" came out from that collaboration. Why do you think they never made more music together ?

I know Quik and Dre always had a good relationship. There were never any trips between them. All I can say is for the six years I managed Quik, there was never any friction. They both had hectic schedules, and that was the ONLY REASON they never did more work together.

Dubcnn: I have to say that this is hard to believe for the fans. So Quik and Dre just simply never found time to work together? That's it?

On the real, that's basically it. It was never a money issue or a respect issue. I know that sounds dull, but it's the truth!

Dubcnn: So after you parted ways with Quik, what happened?

After Quik and I split up,I wanted to sit back for a while because I was very disappointed with the West Coast music scene. The industry changed so much and the Black Music executives were scared to work with West Coast artist's and West Coast based labels because of the gang connections they felt were involved. They ran from that. The "street aspects" of West Coast music never bothered me one bit. I was born and raised on 79th Street on the South Side of Chicago and that life style was all I knew growing up. So when I came to L.A. and had to deal with gang members, it was like Chicago all over again. Nothing new here.

It is true, I trust men from the streets more than I trust music executives. Most of the music executives I have met during my three decades in the business specialize in telling lies and half-truth's, and on many occasions, I would confront them on that. I would tell them over and over to "stop lying to these guys", tell them the truth... They can handle that. If you don't like the music, say so! Don't lead them on with false promises and outright lies. Nobody wants that!

They're playing with peoples lives and emotions and you can get hurt doing that. All the real shot callers I know from both sides just want to make money. They don't want drama. They want to cash checks. People were saying that West Coast artists were through for years. But that's just not true. The people love the music and will buy it if it is offered. It's the record executives who are stopping the flow of the money and the music from the West Coast.

I came back and started this brand new venture because I was focused as to what I wanted to do in Rap Music. I still wanted to put out hard-edged music, but from a creative standpoint, I am not going to launch new product that talks about "Pimpin', Pushin' Keys, or Gang bangin'". Miss me with that. That shit ain't movin' units in 2009! You better come with some realism and some up-lifting music or basic party music like the South does, or you will be through! Noboby wants to hear about you gettin' high or movin' weight. Nobody wants to hear about you pimpin' young girls who are lost in life or can't spell the word cat, even if you tell them the first two letters are a "C" and "A". And you wonder why Rap music sales are down?

I wanted artists to spit intelligent hard lyrics. What I felt that was lacking on the West Coast was that. I go back and forth from Chicago and I see a different culture altogether. When you're here in Chicago, they play no West Coast music here. You may hear an occasional cut from Snoop Dogg or Ice Cube, but you'll hear nothing of West Coast music East of the Mississippi. I wanted to stop that. I wanted to talk with the different artists and tell them what is stopping them of having major sales outside of the West Coast and develop a sound and a direction like that. So I sat back for two years, surveyed the industry as a whole and that's why i came back a couple years ago and formed the label Peaceful/Tonestruck Entertainment.

That's why I am looking to do my part to change all of that. I just finished a new Rap compilation album that will raise funds for the national anti-gang organization called The Unity One Foundation, which was started by my late friend Bo Taylor. Each song on the project is hard, but it speaks of Black unity, and Black and Latino unity. The album features new music from Lil Wayne, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Kurupt, DJ Battlecat, Filthy Frank, Kay9ine, Big Unc, Glocc Sinatra, Hot Box, Seven, Tha Sire, TQ, Tha Candyhouze Fam and G-Sleep. The album is entitled: "Bangin'... Pain, Pride & Destruction". It is being distributed nationally by the Warner Music Group.

I am also in the studio finishing the new DJ Battlecat album and the new Glocc Sinatra project, one of Battlecat's artists, entitled "The History Channel". We are also launching a new Dallas Texas based act called Rick Rooga that is already making noise on the internet. I also am very proud to announce another real special project that I am co-executive producing with the Platinum producer Kirv, who has worked with Dr. Dre for several years. This project is called "The Dr. Martin Luther King Duets Album", and it will be released in January 2009. I'm very excited to say that we have scored a major coup with this, because we were able to convince the one and only Sly Stone to come out of retirement and do his first recording in 20 years. He recorded a song called "Remember" and we just finished recording it in L.A.

It's so weird because today, I have my good friend Snoop Dogg in the studio and he's going to do the song with Sly Stone for this album. We are excited to have this historic recording, Sly did the music and the vocals and Snoop dogg will do his vocal parts. We are ready to make history! Look out for the MLK Duets album to come out in Jaunary, we are rushing to finish it right now. Again, it's so weird because today is a big day. Not only am I doing this interview with you, and Snoop Dogg is doing a song with Sly Stone, but I also have Musiq Soulchild who's doing his song for the project. We also just finshed the song with R&B legend Lenny Williams for the project. It's going to be incredible and it's coming out through Universal Music. This album will raise funds for The Dr. King Foundation. Each song on the album will feature a famous speech by Dr. King, and the artist's involved will perform their parts around those speeches.

Dubcnn: So these were several different projects you just announced, which one will be coming out first?

The "Bangin" compilation is coming first, we just finished all the clearances - which was an absolute nightmare. This is through the Warner Music Group and we got a deal for a series of albums. The three main stars on the projects were from Universal, which is Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and Akon. Obviously, they weren't too excited on doing all the clearances for me, but they found out how commited I was to this and they found out what the album was really about.

As of Friday of last week, we finally got all the clearances done to put this one out. It's gonna be one of those special order albums on TV and they are going to do big promotion behind this. It will raise funds for Unity One, and many big figures such as Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and politicians including the attorney general of New York, who's spearheading this with me and the mayor of Los Angeles.

This is going to be a major album and we are very excited about it. Every cut on the album talks about stopping violence between Blacks and Latinos across the country. Kurupt is on it, he is my spokesman along with Snoop Dogg on it. Kurupt and Snoop have been great doing whatever I ask and I wanna let the world know about their input. I also want the fans to look out for the Glocc Sinatra album. Hopefully, when you hear these releases, you will understand where we are going musically speaking, and what we are trying to accomplish. God willing, we will be successful.

Dubcnn: Sounds like you have a lot on your plate! We will definitely be looking for all of these projects and expect some great music to come out of them. Before we go, I'd like to ask you which West Coast artists do you have alot of respect for musically and personally?

I've been pushing West Coast artist's for over 12 years now, and I have had the opportunity to do business with just about everybody who has a name in the business and many who are on the rise. I must say that Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Daz are true to the game and are men of their words. When I was managing Quik, I had an idea to unite Quik on stage with Snoop to show that people from both sides could get along and work together. Well, Snoop Dogg was doing business with Master P at the time and was out of town doing business at the other end of the country, but when I called him and told him about the idea, he said "Stan, put the show together and I will be there!"

True to his word, he flew in and did his thing in a major way! He didn't have to, but he did ! Also, on every project I have ever been involved with from my upcoming compilation albums that will benefit Unity One, and The Dr. Martin Luther King Foundation, he has been down with me from day one. When I asked him to do a song with the late great Mausberg, he was there for that too. Snoop is just a down Black Man.

Kurupt is also a true man and I love him to death. He's so talented also. Everything he does is fire. Quik, even though we don't work together anymore, is a man I respect a great deal. He has been through a lot and stood tall through it all. Mausberg was a blessing from God as far as I am concerned and I miss him with all my heart. Flithy Frank out of Watts is a true master at the game and is true to the streets and is a man of his word. DJ Battlecat, Kay9ine, Glocc Sinatra, Hot Box, G-Sleep, Seven, Xzibit, Kam, Ice Cube, WC, Damizza, Kokane, Big Unc, Paris, AMG, 40 Glocc and Mack 10.