HULK Entertainment‘s primary vision is to provide a sound business structure in management, marketing and independent label services to talented artists and musicians in search of a career opportunity.

For over a decade, principal owners of HULKent have secured millions of dollars in endorsement deals and product placement for clients. They are also the owners and executive producers of two of the South’s premier entertainment outlets, FLAVA TV and the Texas Summer Music Conference.

Currently in its 18th year, FLAVA TV has grown to dominate the DFW television market. FLAVA TV is a celebrity-driven, one-hour video show that airs every Saturday night at 11pm on CW33. Through music videos and lifestyle interviews, all of today’s hottest stars can be found on FLAVA TV.

For the past 10 years, the Texas Summer Music Conference has played a major role in launching careers and networking opportunities for both unsigned and major artists. Past attendees include: Chris Brown, Erykah Badu, G-Unit, Paul Wall and the Grammy Academy, to name a few.

In coming months, HULKent will continue to develop their current roster of talent with national tours, international music releases and special marketing endeavors.

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

E-Leven and Continental T, collectively known as ME, didn’t grow up together or in the same neighborhood. Amazingly enough, they met from across the sea – one being from Lyon, France; the other Houston, Texas. They met randomly via the internet, and now bring us the fruit of their collaboration; which despite the geographical distance, is an inventive combination of their individual stories. They bring to you a cool and sleek take on Hip Hop, which came about down the phone lines across the Atlantic.

ME released their mixtape This Is ME in November 2011, which will be followed by a full-length album in Spring 2012, both via the France-based Atmosphériques label. Their story is quite compelling, as E-Leven was discovered by world-renowned tastemaker Ryan Leslie, and the rest is history! Read on…

In my room
It was only a question of time for E-Leven, growing up amidst his father’s record collection and attending shows from a very young age, the Lyon-born young man was destined to live a musical life. With his albums of Stevie Wonder, Supertramp and Kanye West as sole teachers, he started to play the piano, then went on to bass, guitar and then drums.

With the only wish to become a producer, he began recording himself on the hard drive of his Neko workstation. Meticulous and unpretentious, he developed his sound behind the scenes, mixing acoustic and electronic parts, live recording and digital tweaks.

Moving to the Paris region to study sound engineering, he unknowingly embarked on a life of new experiences. One evening, he signed up for a contest by Talent House, a music competition initiated by American producer Ryan Leslie (Mary J. Blige, Rick Ross, Booba…). He was in the final three, and although he didn’t win, he still came out on top.

You’ve got mail
Across the pond, in the US, Continental T was already living the dream as a young writer/producer with a career on the verge of taking off. At the ripe old age of 20, he knew everyone in the business and was living between Houston and Los Angeles. He had his music featured on mixtapes by Game’s Black Wallstreet DJ crew and had been part of one of the biggest leaks in internet history with the Lil Wayne and Drake record “I’m Goin In.”

One evening in 2010, as he was browsing through the Talent House list of finalists, E-Leven the French producer blew Continental T‘s mind. After exchanging mails then tracks online and spending several evenings chatting on Skype, the beginning of an artistic union was about to begin, and T was soon on a plane to Paris.

Visions
Something happened on the information highway. There was a connection and sparks flew. In the space of a single week, the duo sketched out a dozen tracks, some of which they played at their first concert, swiftly organized at Le China Club in July of 2010. That night, ME’s destiny was set in stone. It was also on that night that label Atmosphérique spotted this innovative duo comprising a French composer/producer and an American writer/producer, separated by an ocean but united by a vision.

This is ME
They had obvious chemistry, especially in the studio: E-Leven composed and played, Continental T thought of beat ideas, hummed and made his mark. Together they defined with a few chords the sound of ME. That’s how track “SBS” came into being, a perfect synthesis of the duo’s style: a glossy production mixing organic and electronic elements, the warmth of rounded bass lines and the groove of massive beats.

One foot in rap, the other in an alien musical territory inhabited by the ghosts of soul, rock and electro: the two artists settled on a coherent yet broad identity. It consists in subtle guitar lines and unabashed piano parts, The Neptunes’ modern take on production and The Roots’ digital forays; few notes and soaring arrangements.

It is a futuristic, impetuous kind of soul that changes just as you think you’ve grasped it, as seen in the electronic turbulence agitating the piano on “SBS“, the rock drumbreaks on “The Fsaud“, the tempest brewing beneath the calm surface of “My life is a Friday” and the pop warmth of “Subliminal“.

Continental T’s verses also reveal a more personal, more private dimension to someone who is not just a technical genius. As much at ease in forging pop anthems (Mister T) as he is in exercising his inner demons through arrogant rap styles, he never shies away from self-scrutiny, sharing the complexities of a life he doesn’t dwell on nor shut out completely. He brings bitterness and silence, impudence and anger to E-leven’s dark compositions, providing them with spirituality and subtle shading that make them sound like nothing ever heard before.

Behind the tranquil gaze of the two brothers lies a volcano of creativity, fueled by a desire to play around with a wide range of influences, resulting in music with high emotional impact that is greater than the sum of its parts. Apart from the record, the gigs and the friendship that has developed from this chance encounter, ME also tells the story of a genre that emerged in the streets of New York, digested 30 years later by two artists on either side of the Atlantic. Something has lived on, and that something is ME.

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

Memphis-born rapper Zed Zilla is looking to collect on all the hard work he’s put in over the years with the release of his new street album Rent’s Due. The young entertainer has been laying the foundation for his nationwide debut under the tutelage of his mentor Yo Gotti, and represents the first official release on Gotti’s Cocaine Muzik Group (CMG) imprint.

In October 2011, Zed released his Rent’s Due mixtape, hosted by Bigga Rankin and featuring Yo Gotti, 2Chains and R&B crooner Pleasure P. In January 2012, he will release his follow up mixtape project hosted by DJ Drama.

“I’m blessed to be working with Yo Gotti,” Zed Zilla explains. “He has been down the road I’m headed, and he holds no punches. We came together with a plan, and watching the plan put into effect and to be working is all I could ask for. With the Rent’s Due project, I was given complete control over what songs and features I wanted. I worked mostly with my in-house production team Quantum Sounds, and I was in my comfort zone. I’m ready to show the world who Zed Zilla is.”

Zed Zilla has been creating music since he was just 15-years-old, and his stage name was bestowed upon him by a friend who felt his rhyme style flowed fierce like Godzilla, the fire-breathing monster who lit up everything in its path.

Rent’s Due was Zed Zilla’s first label release, although he did have four critically acclaimed independent CDs under his belt and dozens of cameos to his credit. The clever wordsmith also appeared on all six installations of Yo Gotti’s popular Cocaine Muzik mixtape series.

In 2011 alone, Zed Zilla completed a 20-city tour, hitting major markets like St. Louis, Atlanta, Richmond, and New York for sold out venues. He is continuing with more performances throughout the U.S. as the new year arrives, and has sincere appreciation for the energy fans bring at live shows.

When he isn’t on tour, Zed lives in the studio, gracing hot tracks with his lyrical mastery. Who can forget the way he ripped it with Yo Gotti on the club hit “Bang Bang”? He left no doubt who he was on “I’m Da Boss,” and explained exactly how he did it on “No Chorus.” Zed Zilla guarantees there is much more where that came from.

“My music has a lot of variety – you’ll find soulful tracks as well as club bangers. I put a lot of different emotions in my music. You can ride to it, drink to it, club to it, some of it may even make you cry.”

Confident, yet modest, Zed Zilla has a mic in one hand with the other outstretched ready to take his cut. It’s been a long time coming, but true talent can’t be denied. The landlord has arrived and the Rent’s Due!

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

Who are your top 10 female rappers? If you can even name 10 you’d put in a list of favorites, then you’ve got a great ear, and a great memory. Fact is, today’s Hip Hop ‘femcee’ movement is all but lost in a world of larger than life pop imagery and cross-over hits. Some of today’s best women on the m-i-c have taken up forms of attention-getting that don’t involve the same songwriting or lyrical skills that once made their voices so powerful in Hip Hop.

Enter Snow Tha Product. At just 23-years-old, the versatile, bilingual lyricist is proving that there are no boundaries to her songwriting or performance abilities. She recently released her aptly-titled project Unorthodox via iTunes, preceded by the Unorthodox 0.5 mixtape hosted by DJ Whoo Kid in August 2011.

Filled with original production from the likes of SuperStar O (Jim Jones, Waka Flocka, Wiz Khalifa), Florida beatmaker RedHook Noodles, California duo The Nominees, Texas multi-talent Essay Potna (Chingo Bling), Keise on da Track (Lil Boosie) and more, Unorthodox is laced with Snow’s electrifyingly aggressive verbal acrobatics. She’s a beauty and a beast – looks and lyrical skills on the microphone, respectively.

Born to illegal immigrants, Snow tha Product grew up in San Jose, California, and currently resides in Ft. Worth, Texas. Despite her remarkable talent, Snow sees herself as a ‘normal’ girl who wants to relate to people who hear her music.

In just two years, she became an underground phenomenon and instant YouTube sensation. With no formal promotion, Snow’s video for “Drunk Love” is over 600k hits on YouTube, and is in full power play on the national Mun2 network’s 18 & Over.  Her thematic “Woke Wednesday” is nearing a quarter million views, and her latest viral videos “Beast Mode” and “Holy Sh*t” have caused quite a stir this Summer, racking up over 130k views each thus far.

Since her videos started making waves with fans and peers alike, Snow has received accolades from the music industry at every turn. Teaming with internationally renowned personality DJ Whoo Kid to host the mixtape version of Unorthodox seemed like a natural move, igniting positive energies on both sides of their collaboration.

“I feel honored to have someone like DJ Whoo Kid host my mixtape,” Snow beams. “He’s not just a DJ, he’s someone who has proven he’s hot in everything he does around the world, and he’s a well known factor in Hip Hop.”

As anticipation for the Unorthodox album builds, Snow’s writing has gotten more intense with every new verse. Of all her songs on the project, “Holy Sh*t” and “Starry Eyed” are personal favorites that she feels fans will gravitate to.

“Hannibal Hector from The Nominees produced ‘Holy Sh*t’,” Snow explains. “I just spoke exactly how I felt; about the industry, how my fans and haters are going to feel. I didn’t hold back. ‘Starry Eyed’ was produced by Noodles, and I feel like for the first time I made a track where I’m speaking about my team, the grind we went through to get where I’m at and the obstacles we still face. I feel like I’m representing me without the industry’s go-to strategy of selling sex.”

Snow tha Product’s own lyrical idols include Eminem, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill and the late, great Big Pun. She’s become accustomed being compared to other female rappers and deals with assumptions people make about who she is, but she doesn’t take offense on the norm.

“Obviously nobody likes to be compared, but on the other hand, I understand in this industry if you’re doing something right, they usually compare you to somebody else doing something right. That inspires me,” she says.

With Unorthodox, Snow tha Product hopes that people will come to understand more about her true love for the music, and devotion to her craft.

“Unorthodox is intense, it’s agressive and it’s laid back… it’s just a mix of everything me,” Snow explains. “My style is genuinly Crunk, down South or some cooking type music, which are guy things… yes I’m a girl, but I can get it! All in all, I’m just a normal person doing what I love to do. I don’t do this for any one reason, or to say all Latinos are like me or all girls are like me. I’m not someone you can put in a box, and I want people to accept that.”

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

DJ Whoo Kid is a cornerstone in the American Hip Hop industry. He is a highly sought after DJ, producer, radio host, marketing professional and entrepreneur. As the CEO of Shadyville Entertainment, the official DJ for G‐Unit Records, founder of RadioPlanet.tv and spokesperson for several major brands, Whoo Kid has worked with a plethora of high profile celebrities and business moguls. His keen ear for music and undeniable eye for talent have influenced the entire urban music world.

Whoo Kid has been the program director and host of Hollywood Saturday’s for Eminem’s Shade 45 Channel on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio since 2005. This weekly “Hollywood Shuffle” show regularly features interviews with a wide array of movie stars, reality show personalities and music VIPs. Whoo Kid’s dynamic personality and quick wit keep millions tuned in each week, and interviews from the show are posted on popular sites around the world.

Whoo Kid grew up in Queens, New York, and has been immersed in the hip hop scene his whole life. His first foray to fame began with his legendary mixtapes, which now include 200 produced mixtapes, showcasing A‐listers like Snoop Dogg, T.I., Chamillionaire, Lloyd Banks and The Game.

Whoo Kid also played an integral role in 50 Cent’s rise to fame by featuring him on his mixtapes. In return, 50 Cent named him an official member of the G‐Unit team, and Whoo Kid has been 50 Cent’s tour DJ for the past seven years. Whoo Kid is also the DJ for Lloyd Banks, and in the past he DJ’d for the likes of Juvenile and CNN.

In order to capitalize on his musical talents and to hone in on his business instincts, the budding music mogul teamed up with Nana Fujise in 2001 to launch Shadyville Entertainment, named after the neighborhood in Queens where Whoo Kid grew up. Shadyville manages and promotes bookings for several artists including the DJ Coalition featuring 150 of hip hop’s top DJs, with Whoo Kid being the main attraction.

Artists such as 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, The Game, Soulja Boy and Snoop Dogg have all leveraged Shadyville to promote their music. Currently, Whoo Kid spins for over 80 clubs and events around the world each year. Over the years, he has had the honor of performing for notables such as Nelson Mandela, the Prince of Monaco, Shiek of Bahrain and Michael Jackson.

Highly driven and charismatic, Whoo Kid’s ventures also include a remarkable career as a radio personality prior to his career at Sirius Radio. In 1997, Whoo Kid was the assistant DJ and host on the Stretch Armstrong Show on Hot 97. In 2000, he went on to host POW! Radio on Hot 97, which featured new music from top artists.

Regularly featured on MTV, VH1, BET and Fuse, DJ Whoo Kid’s talent and focus to cross musical boundaries has not gone unnoticed. He was named one of the Top 10 DJs by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2005. He has also received five Justo’s Mixtape Awards and numerous MTV Mixtape Mondays notable mentions. Whoo Kid is also sponsored by GUNNAR Optiks, KRSP and XXL Magazine.

Known for his Xbox “Game With Fame” appearances, Whoo Kid has made his mark on the gaming community. As a die‐hard gamer, he has been featured in Grand Theft Auto, Scarface, NBA2K10 and Midnight Ride. In 2010 he and Tony Yayo participated in a hilarious live session with fans for Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption, and 2011 will bring even more fun in the gaming world!

Undeniably, Whoo Kid is a force to be reckoned with. His energy, passion, drive and pure talent have launched him to the top of the American music industry where he will continue to thrive and influence others. POW!

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

From Donald Trump, Russell Simmons and Christopher Walken to LL Cool J, Kool G Rap and Nas, the borough of Queens, New York is the birthplace of many of our era’s greatest pop culture icons. In recent years, a new generation of budding pop stars like Nicki Minaj and Lloyd Banks are making noise from Queens, and the growth of young talent is still progressing.

Enter Zach Elyshevitz , also known as Zach89, also known as 1/3 of the group Team Blackout. A prolific percussionist, songwriter and lyricist, the 22-year-old is pursuing a solo career as his fellow Team Blackout members JoJo Simmons and Reggie Poulard do the same. The group’s popularity grew on MTV’s Run’s House (2005-2009), and the series caught a second wind in Europe in late 2010.

In November 2011, Zach89 released his debut mixtape project RapZhody, which features a variety of ’90s inspired freestyles accented by live percussion by the young talent. He is currently working on his second mixtape, which will be released in March 2012. Zach, a recent graduate of New York’s City College with emphasis on Jazz performance, finds creative balance in showcasing multiple talents on his solo project.

“Being a musician kind of sets me apart from what you hear in Hip Hop these days, because there aren’t that many musicians in the game right now,” explains Zach. “ I blend my jazz training into the music that I do, and I think my fans will relate to RapZhody, because this is someone in their age group, rapping to these classic instrumentals. Also, the interludes on the mixtape contain jazz music, which brings everything full circle. I’m looking to bridge the gap between the new and old school.”

Major influences for Zach include Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye West and The Roots, the latter of which he credits as the group that fueled his desire to pursue music as a career. The young rapper takes his percussion training seriously, and cites a range of influences in live music. “My favorite percussionist is ?uestlove Hip-Hop wise, and I’m feeling Travis Barker now that he’s been doing his own thing. I also listen to a lot of jazz drummers like Elvin Jones and Lewis Nash. “

Since his professional recording debut with Team Blackout in 2008, Zach89 explains that he picked up a lot of behind-the-scenes knowledge in a short time. “I didn’t realize how much work goes into actually promoting an artist and getting them seen. We developed into real artists. We rap well, but we learned how to put songs together.”

Fans around the nation gravitated to Team Blackout’s youthful energy – and it didn’t hurt that JoJo Simmons’ famous father, Rev. Run of Run DMC – was there to mentor the group both on and off camera. At this point, Team Blackout is recording together again, and each member is pursuing solo endeavors as well. Reggie of Team Blackout hosted the RapZhody project, and Zach is excited to keep the energy flowing.

“You don’t see many artists drop a project with another artist hosting, and better yet an artist who’s in the same group as them,” Zach89 says of his approach. “I wanted to capture the same vibe 50 Cent did when he use to drop mixtapes and Tony Yayo would be screaming all over the tracks. They didn’t call Yayo the ‘host’, but he essentially was hosting the mixtapes. It brings a sense of unity having Reggie host RapZhody.”

As a native of Queens, New York, Zach89 takes the legacy of his city and his generation very seriously.

“I feel like this latest generation is bringing the essence of Hip Hop back,” he asserts. “The artists are more lyrical again, and I feel like I’m contributing to that part of the game as well. I’m an observer, so I take a lot of my life’s experiences and what  I see other people going through, I try to put it in my music and my writing and just give people ‘me’. I want to make the music that totally represents me, so when people listen, they’ll really get a good grasp on who I am finally.”

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

There is no denying that Yo Gotti is one of the hottest rappers in the streets, with some of the highest quality music. His street albums make serious noise without a major push, he stays on the road performing paid shows and his fan base has boomed in the past few years. He currently boasts nearly 1.3 million fans on his Facebook page alone.

All of this momentum sets the stage Yo Gotti’s Live From The Kitchen, slated for release in January 2012 via Polo Grounds Music/RCA. This highly anticipated album expands upon the sound made famous with his popular Cocaine Muzik mixtape series. In 2011, Gotti also realized the formal launch of his own Cocaine Muzik Group label, and debuted Zed Zilla‘s Rent’s Due mixtape as the first official release.

Live From the Kitchen has a lot to do with where Yo Gotti came from (a hustler from Memphis’ rugged Ridge Crest Apartments) and where he’s trying to go with his music (to a worldwide audience). “It’s a street term, because the kitchen is where you cook it up and where it starts from before you take it to the streets,” explains Yo Gotti. “We’re relating that to the music and the whole movement of cocaine music. I’ve got the mixtape series Cocaine Muzik, which means that once you put the CD in your music player, you’ll get addicted to it just as you would be with cocaine.”

And Yo Gotti’s sonic product is Grade A. His uncanny ability to translate real life situations and experience into memorable songs makes Yo Gotti so potent. It’s something he developed while listening to the great story raps of Memphis pioneers 8 Ball & MJG. “When I listen to music, I don’t like it if I can’t see it, if I can’t imagine it happening,” he says. “If it’s like that, I can’t mess with it.”

Growing up in Memphis, Yo Gotti quickly learned about recognizing reality. When he was in the third grade, Federal Agents raided his family’s residence. His mother and his aunts were indicted and sent to serve 10 to 15 years because they refused to snitch. No wonder he feels as though he was virtually born into street life. “That’s the bloodline I come from,” he boasts. “I’ve got women that are realer than the dudes out here.”

Yo Gotti soon started running with kids five or six years older than him. They called him Yo (short for his given name, Mario) and added the Gotti surname later because of his affinity for doing things kids his age typically didn’t do — shoot dice, watch out for the police and recruit his own crew of kids that followed him. Funny thing is, Yo Gotti had no idea about the Gotti crime family at the time. He was just that thorough.

Rather than feel as though his opportunities were limited, Yo Gotti chose to focus on becoming successful. “Coming from Memphis, it makes you strong and it makes you grind more,” he says. “Out here, nothing is given to you. Nobody helps you do anything. So if you’re going to get it, you’ve got to go get it. Literally. I think that’s why you don’t hear about that many rappers from Memphis like you do from other cities. But it helped me because I’m not the type of guy that complains. From where I come from, you could be dead or in jail. So I wasn’t expecting anyone to do anything for me.”

Thus, Yo Gotti would take advantage of any and every opportunity. Through his brother, Yo Gotti got to interact with and study the business savvy (and lack thereof) of several prominent Memphis rappers. He then used the work of N.W.A, 8 Ball & MJG and Cash Money as a blueprint for his own reality-based raps. As he refined his own music, Yo Gotti took different things from Memphis’ two most successful rap outfits. His goal was to rap about real subject matter like 8Ball & MJG with the energy and intensity of Three 6 Mafia.

Yo Gotti’s self-created buzz in Memphis lead to a deal with TVT Records, home then to Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull and others. But when the imprint went bankrupt in 2008, he was given three days to come up with $500,000 to buy his contract and gain his independence. Ever the businessman, Yo Gotti paid for his contract himself – only to quickly sign a lucrative deal for himself and his Inevitable Entertainment with Polo Grounds Music/J Records (now RCA).

Despite other offers with more up-front money, Yo Gotti chose to sign with Polo Grounds Music because of the relationship he had with the company’s owner, Bryan Leach, who had initially signed Yo Gotti to TVT.

“I saw the work Yo Gotti was putting in in the streets of Memphis when I worked with TVT,” Leach says. “I knew that his grind and the high quality of his music made him someone I wanted to continue to do business with. He’s a street artist with the potential for massive mainstream success, and he’s relentless. That’s why I signed him twice.”

With a string of hugely successful major classic mixtapes and street albums — from 2000’s From Da Dope Game 2 Da Rap Game to 2009’s CM2 – Yo Gotti has been able to thrive during a period when many artists are seeing their popularity wane.

“I think what we’ve done in the last few years is living proof that if you hustle, you can survive regardless,” he says. “I’ve only been putting out mixtapes the last few years and now I’m the hottest I’ve ever been and have grossed the most money without putting a studio album out. If you’ve got good music and you’ve got a grind, you make a demand for yourself.”

The proof is Live From The Kitchen.

For interviews and press information, contact dove@tygereye.net

Darkness. We’ve developed hundreds of solutions to combat it. However, high end powers are vulnerable to outages and even the brightest bulbs are liable to burn out. Sometimes the smaller, simpler solutions are best. With a careful combination of natural resource and creative chemistry, the darkness is banished. Illumination is produced with the potential to grow both in intensity and volume…

Whether your goal be a small, controlled artistic flame…
Whether your goal be a competitive imagination bonfire…
Whether your goal be an ever-propagating creative inferno…

Simply light a match.

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LIGHT A MATCH is a small graphic design studio based in Ottawa, Canada. Founded and launched in Spring of 2002 LIGHTAMATCH.COM’s purpose then, and still remains today, is to utilize the web as an outlet to showcase and promote — focusing on visuals, illustrations, and of course graphic design. Plugged into contemporary culture, fashion, music and trends, LAM connects to its target market with stylish visual metaphors that are relevant to its audience.

Visit lightamatch.com for more info.