By: Condido Verona

Established director/content producer Condido Verona, has impacted the careers of some of music and media’s biggest stars. His unique formula for storytelling and capturing the raw essence of a person, has afforded him the opportunity to work with the likes of P. Diddy, Chris Brown, Kevin Hart, Netflix and Sony Music Entertainment to name a few. Growing up in a poverty stricken community, Verona refused to let his environment determine his future. As a result he is the proud founder of Cornerstone Multimedia Group, in which he is able to change lives on his own terms everyday.

I caught up with Condido for a candid interview to discuss his journey toward success. As he openly discusses escaping poverty, finding his calling and being apart of K. Michelle’s creative process as of lately, it is easy to determine that his raw talent is undeniable.

Check it out below!

Condido Verona Interview 

RESPECT: Who is Condido Verona?

Condido: I am really a fan of art, creativity, entrepreneurship and authentic growth amongst other things. I guess as a man I am a product of those interests.

RESPECT: What sparked your interest to pursue a career in production/creative directing?

Condido: My interest in production was revealed to me over time. It kept showing up in my life in different ways and I payed attention to that. I remember being about 7 and watching a show on TV, and something in my young mind wouldn’t let me enjoy it. Something said “this is fake” these people are acting and I lost interest. When I was in high school I created PowerPoint presentations with transitions, sound and video elements to support my assignments.

The first time I did it my teacher bought it for $5 to use as an example in other classes. I just felt like writing a paper was boring. Years later I picked up a camera and started recording my friends with musical talent. That decision lead me down the rabbit whole of learning about the process of digital media. I spent hours in bookstores getting information about how it is done then I would go practice it. After much trial and error, I created a product of all of the raw moments I had captured and that was the start of me making a business of the art.

RESPECT: When did you catch your big break?

Condido: My perspective is a bit different, I see every opportunity as big. I feel success is cumulative so the “big things” are a result of consistently doing the small things well. I have had many milestone moments like.. starting a business and getting a label check in that business name and creating content for fun that ends up going viral and leading to a deal with Kevin Hart and Lionsgate. Both significant and provided more insight and access but I never hit the lottery so my wins are justified by me really putting the work in and always striving to deliver at my highest level.

RESPECT: How important is it to you to be living out your dream while owning your own business?

Condido: I grew up with little access to resources in a really depressed and impoverished place. I could not ask anyone for anything because no one had anything to spare. You know the ghetto drug abuse, mental illness, alcoholism etc. This is what I seen as a kid and I couldn’t get comfortable with that. I looked at who was doing well in my community and seen mostly drug dealers. I wasn’t comfortable with that either but I had to make money somehow.

So I sold candy and got a paper route. I saved and bought school clothes and bike. I used to go to this store that sold music and clothes it was a lot of dope shit in there and it was owned by a black man. That sparked something in me that I couldn’t shake. I had a lot of questions after that and I’ve been on a journey finding the answers. In the process I’ve become that black man business owner that didn’t compromise.

RESPECT: Who are some of the people and brands that your work has afforded you the opportunity to work with?

Condido: I have worked with Kevin Hart, Jillian Michaels, Sean Combs, Chris Brown, Timbaland, Marsha Ambrosius, Jidenna, Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Records, AmericanHeartAssociation, Epic Records, Netflix, Lionsgate Entertainment, RevoltTV, HeartBeatProductions, L.L. Bean, LaughOutLoud, AquaHydrate, Studio71, Essentia, Essence, UniversalMusicGroup, DefJam Recordings, AllDefDigital and many others.

RESPECT: How do you use your gift to overcome adversity that may occur in your life?

Condido: Well the fact that I can get paid from it helps a lot lol being broke is a huge adversity. Seriously, my biggest adversity is becoming successful without compromising authenticity or integrity. I admire the Dave Chapelle(s) and Ermias Asghedom(s) of the world. In short, I strive to only commit to projects that are right for me. You know.. working on things you believe in.. This ensures I’m able to share my authentic perspective in my work and move the needle through the influence of my clients.

RESPECT: Can you elaborate on the importance of getting credited for your work as a creative in the entertainment business?

Condido: I think it’s important to be recognized and highlighted for your creative contributions. It’s social currency and adds value to your brand in various ways. However, I’m often indifferent about it because I’m not looking for followers or anything like that. I’ve been more interested in doing my best work, the people you want to find you will in my opinion.

RESPECT: What has it been like documenting K. Michelle’s creative process as she is preparing for her fifth studio album?

Condido: As you know, K is a powerful woman with many layers. She’s pure energy and I love that. My role on the visual side is fairly simple as a result. When doing documentary style content with her I don’t capture every moment, but I allow the energy to dictate. K is very entertaining overall, often times it’s something provocative or controversial.

However, I’m not interested in that. I’m looking for the moments that clearly express truth and add value to her brand. The moments I can see her passion, intention and pain. Those are what I appreciate the most and I think she gets that I get that. The music is phenomenal, her energy is great and I’m excited to be a part of this process.

RESPECT: What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the year?

Condido: I just want to grow.

As he continues to leave his influence on the world, Condido Verona will be a name that will carry on for centuries. To learn more about his journey, creative process and who he has his lens on next, follow him on instagram @condidoverona.

The post Condido Verona: Seeing The Invisible Through An Authentic Lens appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

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Image credit: 300

UPDATE: New video for “Sweet Thangs” added below, which centers around a revenge story following a fatal robbery.

This is the Timbaland I’ve been missing. This week, fans get to check out a new single from Detroit’s Tee Grizzley titled “Sweet Thangs,” a beautifully-dark cut that sees production from the Virginia legend himself. The track is said to appear on Tee’s forthcoming project Scriptures, which is making landfall June 7th.

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Image credit: Interscope Records

Last month, UK singer Jacob Banks — if you don’t know who he is, shame on you — delivered a new single titled “Unknown (To You),” a new release that followed his EP The Boy Who Cried Freedom (released earlier this year). Now, that new single has a crazy new remix that comes courtesy of legendary beatsmith Timbaland. It’s not the signature boom-bap, beat-boxing style that you might be thinking, although the Virginia producer definitely adds to Robin Hannibal‘s operatic production with some harder-hitting percussion (think what he did to OneRepublic‘s “Apologize”).

Check out the Birmingham singer’s latest below. The original version of “Unknown (To You)” (as well as choice cuts like 2013’s The Monologue) can be found here.

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ABC Boy Band host Timbaland. Photo Credit: Variety Magazine

Brooklyn, New York rising pop star Inas X has dropped hits like “No Games,” “Open Letter,” “Stupid” and “Love Is.”

Her “Love Is” track reached #11 on Billboard’s dance club songs charts. Inas X wrote “Love Is” after the Supreme Court ruled that states must allow same sex marriages.

She calls this her true identity song and her message is for others to know that they are all worthy of love no matter their gender or race.

Inas X. Photo Courtesy of Instagram

The track was remixed by Remyboy Monty. Stupid, details a toxic relationship that Inas X couldn’t walk away from, no matter how many times she tried. The track featured  PnB Rock, with the video premiering on MTV.

She’s also worked with Timbaland.

On Scoop B Radio, Inas X chatted with me about what it was like working with him.

“Tim and I aligned a few months ago,” Inas X told me.

 

“I had released a single and I just aligned with his people and it kind of just went from there. I went to Miami and started recording then I flew back and finished up and at first it was just us aligning and seeing where it goes and so when we met we just connected so it was like EP of the EP which is like the biggest honor because he’s my favorite producer so it’s like a blessing for real a huge blessing but yeah I’m excited for the world to hear it, I really am!”

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The post Singer Inas X Tells Scoop B Radio What It Was Like Working With Producer & ABC Boy Band host Timbaland appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Pop singer Inas X and sports and entertainment journalist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Credit: The Scoop B Brand

Singer Inas X hit the blog world last week when she was spotted at the Sherri Hill fashion show and a Us Weekly bash in New York wearing a see-through top and no underwear.

That particular  trend seems to have been made popular by both Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.

Inas X. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Inas X is a rising star who has dropped hits like “No Games,” “Open Letter,” “Stupid” and “Love Is.”

They’ve all buzzed in the last couple of years.

For the record, Love Is reached #11 on Billboard’s dance club songs charts. Inas X wrote “Love Is” after the Supreme Court ruled that states must allow same sex marriages.

She calls this her true identity song and her message is for others to know that they are all worthy of love no matter their gender or race. 

The track was remixed by Remy Boy Monty. Stupid, details a toxic relationship that Inas X couldn’t walk away from, no matter how many times she tried. The track featured  PnB Rock, with the video premiering on MTV.

On Scoop B Radio, Inas X discussed her rise and working in the studio with the likes of Timbaland.

Check Out Inas X and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson chat on Scoop B Radio

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The post Scoop B Selects: Checking In With Rising Pop Star Inas X appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Power 105’s DJ Clue and Scoop B Radio host Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson in New York City. Photo Courtesy of: The Brandon Robinson Brand

Check out DJ Clue and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

The NFL and NBA’s season are literally around the corner. That means one thing: the release of Madden 18, NBA Live 18 and NBA 2K 18 video games are a fast break pass and a 2-minute drill away from releasing.

Over the last ten-plus years, the NBA 2K franchise has established itself as a premier hoops platform. This year, EA Sports has made a comeback with their release of NBA Live 18 and James Harden as the game’s cover athlete. One of the coolest features of the game is a mode that allows you to play with WNBA teams; the first of its kind and according to my buddy Brian Mazique at FORBES Magazine, by way of Chicago the game’s soundtrack is pretty solid!

Speaking of soundtracks, I’m always enamored by the evolution of video game soundtracks. One of the catalysts of that was NBA Live 2003.

The game had Jason Kidd on the cover and the game’s intro, ‘It’s In The Game,’ was performed by Fabolous with DJ Clue producing the track. “You know it’s funny I was just thinking about that today,” DJ Clue told me on Scoop B Radio.

“I was thinking about how,  I think I saw James Harden say he was on the cover of the new Live. So I was thinking: ‘Man it wasn’t too long ago that I produced the intro to Live and it had rap on it.”

Added DJ Clue:

“I think that sometimes  you get caught in the moment and you don’t realize how big something is that you are doing.”

The track and video was pretty legit!

“They gave me no restrictions on how to be with sound, but they gave me sound effects that they wanted me to actually incorporate into actually beats.The whistle, the feet squeaking, the dunk, they gave me all those sounds. So I was in the studio, I was doing a beat and I came up with the beat and they came up with the rap and I had to go back and put the sound effects in from what he was rapping about.”

That he that DJ Clue is referring to was Fabolous.

Fabolous’ wordplay on the track was insane:

“‘I’m the crowd favorite and I believe the fans love the way I finger roll it with either hand, my handles pull it through presses plus I can play the lane and block shots like bulletproof vestes.’

How the heck did Fab turn the plural of the word ‘vest’ into his own wording? Years later he’d do it again in his song “Breathe,” when he changed the plural of the word ‘mask’ into ‘maskes.’

But I digress!

“It was a cool experience,” Fabolous told me in a recent interview.

“The whole video game, I actually got to visit the EA Sports headquarters and got to see the stuff behind games; the real geeky, techy side, that was even cool. It was really, really, really a cool experience.”

According to DJ Clue, not only did he take part in the producing process of the game, in the NBA Live 2003 game, EA Sports created a creation of the DJ Clue if you put a special code in. “If you typed in the code ‘Mixtape,’ I personally came up in the game as a player you could play with a 96 rating,” said DJ Clue while on Scoop B Radio.

A 96 rating Clue? Don’t let current NBA players hear that!

Apparently EA Sports crafted the Power 105 dj’s likeness after Tracy McGrady, who will be a minted an NBA Hall of Famer in a couple of weeks at the NBA’s Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Make sure to check out DJ Clue’s interview in its entirety by clicking here. Not only did DJ Clue discuss NBA Live 2003, he also discussed his infamous ‘Clueminati’ and William M. Holla Drops before the start of songs.

“I have always heard people talk about the Illuminati,” said DJ Clue.

“But it was, I wanted to try and put my own little twist to it. So I came up with Clueminati, Clue Fargino you know all those names, just to keep it interesting. You know Fidel Cashflow, you know.”

DJ Clue also discussed what it was like working with Mariah Carey on tracks like  “Thank God I Found You Remix,” a track that DJ Clue produced:

“Mariah is a super perfectionist man,” he said. “So she wants to make sure that when she does vocals that it are done right. She definitely is that person that if she wants you to hear her music it has to be right. She isn’t playing around.”

Clue says Working with Tamia on the So Into You Remix with Fabolous challenged Tamia in a good way: “I feel like I pushed her,” he said.

DJ Clue weighed in on why Jay-Z doesn’t write his lyrics down: “I think Jay started doing that because I think it helps him remember songs,” said DJ Clue.

“There have been times when we have been on stage when he first started. He would be on stage and he would forget a line or two. He would tap me and be like: ‘Yo what’s the line?’ I think coming from that he would just sit and be like: ‘yo maybe if I just memorize it better if I just sit and say it to myself over and over again.. He used to get in the car and be like: ‘yo give me a day or two. He would ride around with his driver and make up his lines. He would call me up and be like: ‘Oooh I got a line.’ That is how it would be.”

He also says Puff Daddy has a pretty good routine while in studio:

“I think with Puff working with him; when I would go to Daddy’s House [his old recording studio]  he would have Total in one room working, then you would have BIG working in another and then have Craig Mack working in another room. He would be bouncing from room to room working on songs; it was crazy! Je would say: ‘Ok I’m working with Total in one room and then be back in an hour, he was going for it. He had a movement, he would be there all times of the night, working on songs. Puff’s work ethic was serious!”

DJ Clue also discussed his own business ventures like his DJ Clue Ap, his forthcoming documentary and his no-tie shoelaces that he has called Clue Lace. The partnership that he and business partner, Randy Parker, a fellow DJ who goes by the stage name DJ ESSO is successful so far. “It is definitely the first no-tie shoelace,” DJ Clue told me.

“If you have kids out there, you know how strenuous it is when you get yelled at to tie your shoelaces. You don’t got to do that! These are the no-tie shoelace. They are flexible, they are dope. They are good for kids in sports. You don’t want to stop the game from the moment on the court because their shoelaces are untied, or trip over them. You can set them one time and it will never go loose. They look stylish too.”

 

There are about 12 varieties of his laces available.

As for DJ Clue’s forthcoming documentary he told Scoop B Radio:

“It is going to take you into different phases of my career,” he said. “The start, obviously you have to go into Queens and check out mom’s crib and the place it all started at. Different times when I was producing with different people, my different travel, of course. It is going to have my trials and tribulations and that kind of stuff. It is like any story. You have to make sure you focus on the good and the bad and all the positives and all the negatives. We want to have it well-rounded so that people can really understand the story and know where the grind came from.”

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The post Scoop B: DJ Clue Discusses Working With Fabolous on NBA Live 2003, Clue Lace, Documentary, Producing For Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy & Jay-Z appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.