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10 Questions with ... Wilt Wallace
February 18, 2014
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
- Interned for Orlando McGhee at Lil Jon's indie label BME Recordings 2002-2004
- Did Street Team Promotions in ATL 2004-2005
- Mixshow Promotions Intern at Warner Bros Records Feb 2006 - Mar 2006 (Reported to Brannon Scales, Cynthia Johnson, Renee Burdine & Franco Iemmello)
- Mixshow Promotions Assistant at Warner Bros Records Mar 2006 - Jan 2007 (Reported to Brannon Scales & Franco Iemmello)
- Southeast Mixshow Mgr at Warner Bros Records Jan 2007 - Dec 2007 (Reported to Savalas Holloway & Franco Iemmello)
- Worked Indie Dec 2007 - Dec 2008
- Southeast Mixshow Promotions Mgr Warner Bros Records Dec 2008 - May 2013 (Reported to J Grand, Lee L'Heureux, Nicole Sellers, Juliette Jones & Mar Brown)
- Sr. Director, National Rhythm/Crossover Promotions at Warner Bros Records May 2013 - current (Report to Lee L'Heureux & Peter Gray)
1. What was your first gig in the music business all about?
I was in college at Morehouse in Atlanta and my friend Orlando McGhee (Who currently Manages the artist Future) knew I wanted to be in the music business, so he used to let me go to studios and night clubs with him to learn the business. At the time Orlando was working for Rico Wade and Organized Noise. Eventually, Orlando got a job doing marketing and promotions for Lil Jon's BME Recordings and I came in as his intern. We were promotiing Lil Scrappy, Trillville and Crime Mob which were all apart of BME's joint venture with Warner Bros. Records. Orlando used to give me old DJ lists and emails and I would reach out to DJs via phone and 2way pager from 10a to 8p M-F (when I didn't have class). At night I would go out to the regular clubs and strip clubs in Atlanta to build relationships with the DJs in the clubs. I would also ship out vinyl and CDS to the mixshow DJs and record pools that Warner wasn't servicing. I did that for free for 2 years until I made enough name for myself in Atlanta to get people to hire me to promote their records in the streets of ATL.
After I graduated college I moved out to LA and linked up with Brannon Scales at Warner Bros Records, he allowed me to intern for him. After about 2-3 weeks of proving to him that I had good relationships with DJs and good clerical skills in the office, he brought me to Franco Iemmello who approved Brannon to hire me as his assistant.
2. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a sportscaster.
3. What originally got you to Atlanta?
My dad moved to Atlanta in 1995, so I used to come down here a lot when I was in high school. In 1999, I moved here permanently to attend Morehouse College. After working for Warner in LA 2006-2007 and working indie based in LA for most of 2008, I came back to Warner for a job doing mixshow promotions based in ATL in Dec 2008 and have been here ever since.
4. This has been a wicked winter in Atlanta. How are you and your family coping?
We have been good. We took heed to the forecast and stayed inside during the days it snowed. I think my wife and daughter have a severe case of cabin fever, but otherwise it hasn't affected us much. My wife and I were snowed in together for four days in ATL back in 2011, so when they called for snow and ice this year, we knew what to expect.
5. What would probably surprise most people about Atlanta?
That it's not hard to find true love here. Although my wife is from LA and I lived there for three years, we met here and couldn't be happier. There is a real cool scene in ATL and lots of great people that you would be surprised to meet, especially if you judge/stereotype the city solely off of the popular rap music and reality shows.
6. What's the toughest part of being on the road, working?
Missing my wife and daughter. My daughter will be two in May and sometimes when I'm gone for five or more days in a row, I come back and she seems like a completely new person. It's scary how fast they grow. I get jealous that my wife see's everything and I miss a lot of firsts.
7. If you weren't in music, what do you think you'd be doing professionally?
Either working in sports or working in the financial industry. Sports and music are my passions, but in college many of my professors pushed me towards a career in the financial industry.
8. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Watch Sports. I'm a huge Washington Redskins and Duke Blue Devils Basketball fan. I also love to eat out and go bowling with my friends.
9. If you could be on any TV reality show or game show, which would you want to be on?
The $25,000 Pyramid. My mom loves that show and watches the old re-runs on Game Show Network to this day. I think could've done well on there and my mom would've loved it! lol
10. Hypothetical situation: You are in a karaoke bar with Lee L'Heureux. What's most likely to be Lee's first song choice? What would be yours?
Lee would probably pick whatever song we are working at the time. lol That dude is a promotion guru and the hardest worker I've ever been around in my life.
I would probably pick something by Biggie because I would know all the lyrics.
Bonus Questions
If you had to eat one type of meal everyday for a month, what would it be?
Chinese food from Hsu's in Atlanta. I could eat their fried rice every single day.
Your "go to" romantic spot in Atlanta?
The Sun Dial Restaurant at the top of the Westin in ATL, great view of the city. Or Piedmont Park, that's where my wife and I went on our first date, so it holds sentimental value for us.
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