Words by: Brandon Simmons
Recently, R&B singer Blxst participated in a panel at Loyola Marymount University in California. The University offers a marketing course, titled, “The Marathon Continues: Building Brand Through Culture”. The course honors the legacy of Nipsey Hussle as it details his business mindset in and out of the music industry. Throughout the course, Professors David Gross and Mitchell Hamilton make sure self-sustainability and accountability remain the theme. Blxst was a part of the series the course is giving to its students.
Guest speakers have been coming in to speak to students about their entrepreneurial paths. Last week, Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings of the popular financial podcast, Earn Your Leisure spoke to students at LMU. Next week, former NBA champions, Matt Barnes, and Stephen Jackson will be on the panel as well. The “Chosen” singer spoke to students about being an independent artist and at the same time an entrepreneur. He mentioned his team is a major part of his success.
“I got to a point where I got smart enough to know that I’m not smart at all….I’m a student at the end of the day, and I’m willing to learn, so I just surrounded myself with people that I felt like I could benefit just being around [their] presence.”
– BLXST
The people Blxst are referring to are Victor Burnett and Karl Fowlkes. Together, the three started their record label, EVGLE LLC with Burnett being the President and Blxst’s manager. Fowlkes serves as the entertainment lawyer for the label. Throughout the lecture, you can tell Blxst agreed with Nipsey’s mindset. He suggested students build their own businesses and be self-reliable because ownership is very important.
“I want to be self-sustainable…and that’s what I want for my people as well. Ownership is everything.”
EVGLE LLC will also speak at SXSW.
