Ex Pat Files: Kirk Harding: EVP of SRC in NYC
Author: Emma Philpott
Too many to mention, but nothing ever exceeds the thrill of breaking an artist to me, so it was a definite major highlight when dead prez, The X-ecutioners and Xzibit all broke from the underground and sold unexpected amounts of records.
dead prez's debut release sold 300,000 and their next album is poised to break them through the gold or platinum stratosphere. Xzibit's third album 'Restless' sold 1.5 million – he hadn't scanned over 200,000 on his earlier two albums. The X-ecutioners scanned close to 400,000 albums which is phenomenal for a turntablist group, no one ever imagined that we would sell as many X-ecutioners albums as we did.
Loud was a great platform to come into this market and meet people on ground level. I've had a fun time over the last three and a half years. It was also incredible to learn from one of urban music's leading marketing geniuses, Steve Rifkind, who took me from where Morrie Smith left off and elevated me to another level.
So why did Loud 'fold' – what was the actual ownership structure at the time?
We didn't hit the sales figures that were expected from us over the three year period, which gave Columbia the right to take the company and whatever artists it desired. It wasn't a great deal, but the three owners of Loud knew that going into the deal and were somewhat forced into it due to outside forces. So they got their money upfront and did the best that they could under the circumstances. Sony should never have expected Loud to become the new Def Jam. Loud started in the streets and made a mistake when Sony forced us away from the streets and into conference rooms.
Was SRC a result of Loud folding, or was the team planning a new label before Loud went west?
SRC existed as a marketing company before Loud, actually SRC birthed Loud. Steve Rifkind invented the name 'street team' when he started SRC in 1990 and quickly became one of the leading independent street marketing companies in the world. We still have SRC Marketing offices based in LA and Europe and when Loud folded Steven decided to put all companies together under the one name and approach Universal with the new label idea.
With a number of the same guys at the new label is there any point of difference between Loud and SRC?
Yes – money. We aren't trying to spend crazy loot on recording albums. We have at least halved our recording budgets and cut our video budgets drastically.
The industry has changed, we are taking it back to the streets – similar to how Loud was in the first few years. Loud got overbloated. We are a small staff all focused on bringing in hits and bringing albums in on budget.
What release you are working on at the moment?
David Banner's 'Mississippi: The Album' is dropping on May 20th and then we have unscheduled releases from Grandaddy Souf and Akon. All new artists to most ears.
You've seen a few NZ artists in New York recently – did you get up to anything with P-Money when he was over there?
Hell yeah, I saw P. He stayed on my couch for a week before I kicked his ass out onto the mean streets of Brooklyn! Naaah, he stayed at my crib until we connected him with my people in the New York hip hop production world, and he flew from there. He just needed a couple of good connects and he was off. He's really ready, people are really feeling P's beats over here.
I've actually caught up with mad people here lately. Sir Vere and Ali were here for my wedding last November, YDNA from Dawn Raid and Mareko are here right now with Brotha D flying in next week. I only just connected Paul McLaney (aka Gramsci) with a NY producer last weekend. I also have constant contact with Zane Lowe who is based in London of course, and is working on his new Breaks Co-op record right now.
You mentioned Mareko from Dawn Raid is currently over there. Is your company involved with his debut album?
I'm helping Dawn Raid and Mareko to put together the 'White Sunday' album. I hooked them up with a local A&R and they are recording tracks with the cream of New York's underground producers and mcs. It sounds really tight so far, I'm really excited. He is on some next level shit as an mc and people are really feeling Duke over here. People are surprised with his delivery and how quickly he lays down a track in the studio. He's a monster! Dawn Raid are also doing their thing, meeting with people at various distribution companies and making contacts with a cast of thousands.
How much do you hear about what's happening back in NZ?
Sir Vere and YDNA keep me updated with all recent hip hop happenings and music almost monthly. I also talk to Stinky Jim a lot and a lot of my friends and family are in the NZ music industry there, so I seem to catch most news. My man, Zane Lowe keeps me on point with any new rock, he put me onto The D4 and Datsuns a long time ago.
It seems that international success is a more achievable goal for many Kiwi groups at the moment. Do you think that there is a chance NZ hip hop can break through the US market?
I think that it is tough for any international mc to get accepted here, the local dialects, lyrical subject matter and accents all make it hard for international mcs. There are very few international mcs who have ever successfully cracked the US market and even mcs from the South and Mid West took years to get love in the West and East Coast markets. It took Cash Money, No Limit, Nelly and Eminem to break those doors down. Having said that, I think it is a lot easier for producers to come over here and make it happen, they need to move here and meet the right people and it's on. That's what P Money did and he could now feasibly survive over here comfortably on his production alone.
Finally, what keeps you in New York?
My work, its proximity to Europe and South America and the lifestyle. The lifestyle in this city is like no other.
