The NBA and Hip Hop love affair continues as Amare Stoudemire reveals to The Fusion Magazine launch a new record label “Hypocalypto” and perps first artist Juice new album which will be a joint deal with rapper Game’s Black Wall Street label, check it out:
There are two sides to every coin, two sides to every story, at least two paths to every fork in the road, and two choices to every decision made. But what happens when two dreams pull equally at your heart strings? Do you give up one? Or go balls to the wall in an effort to achieve greatness, twice over?
Amar’e Stoudemire didn’t start playing basketball until he was 14, but his passion for music has been lifelong. The teen prodigy played two years of high school ball, then declared for the NBA. He was drafted 9th in the 02 Draft, was 03’s Rookie of the Year, is a 5 time NBA All Star, and Olympic Bronze Medal winner.
So what could be left? Besides the ever elusive NBA championship ring? Why not a Record Label, maybe even a Grammy, by way of his Hypocalypto Artist: Juice.
How did you make the transition from the basketball court to the hip hop side of the industry and what prompted it?
I have a huge passion for music. I wanted an opportunity to explore that side of it, so I started the record label to see if I could be successful at it. There are a lot of quality artists out there who just don’t get the opportunity to prosper, so I started it as a way to help, for one, and secondly to fill my passion for hip hop music.
How did you come across Juice and how did that develop into the business relationship that you have now?
I knew Juice before we actually signed him. The situation he was in prior to me wasn’t working out well for him so I invited him over to Hypocalypto. We sat down and came up with an idea together of what we wanted to do with him as a project. Now he’s Hypocalypto and we go from there.
What role do you play in his career? How much do you have to do with what he does on a daily basis?
Right now, with Juice, he’s self-motivated. A lot of the things he does, he pretty much does on his own. He’s always in LA. He’s always hanging out with Game and Black Wall Street. Even though he’s signed with us, he still hangs out with them. He has his own type of plan in mind, so he grinds on his end, and on our end we make sure everything is legit from a corporate as far as shows, and just trying to keep his career lined up.
At the beginning of last year, there was a huge buzz about you, Hypocalypto, TI, and Grand Hustle coming together to work on artist and athlete management. What’s going on with that situation?
The thing about myself and Grand Hustle is, we have a friendship first of all, and that grew into a business venture. Me and TI became good friends, so we decided to come together and help each other out in our individual fields. Unfortunately, TI had to go away for a little while so that was put on pause, but I still work with Grand Hustle and we still collaborate. We currently have Baby Boy, a R & B singer down in Atlanta that we are both currently working with right now.
What is the meaning behind the name of the label?
Hypocalypto is a name that I actually came up with. I was sitting back thinking about a positive movement because a lot of times in hip hop you need something positive, so I took the words Hypothesis and Appocolypto and came up with the name, which means an educated guess about a new beginning.
Melo has a label, Artest has a label; Shaq, Kobe, AI all tried their hand at rapping. Do you think it’s becoming a trend for ball players to cross over (no pun intended) into hip hop?
I think, for one, rappers and basketball players have a certain swag about themselves. It’s a similar swag. Rappers love to play basketball and vice versa. I think with that being said we just have a passion for music and try to get involved.
Any other business ventures?
I have a lot of other stuff I’m taking on, but right now from an urban standpoint, the label is what we’re focusing on. As well as Baby Boy in ATL, and Juice, we also have Judge out here in Phoenix. We’re focusing on getting our artists out there, and in the right direction with their careers.
