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HIP-HOP IMPRESARIO SHINING SPOTLIGHT ON BAY AREA SCENE
By Marian Liu
Mercury News

If you're an independent rapper in the Bay Area trying to get to the next level, Danny Dee is a good person to know.

Since 2005, he's been coordinating the Bay Area Rap Summit, which aims to prepare local up-and-coming hip-hop artists and producers to play on a national level.

``My whole goal of the summit is to bring the industry to the Bay,'' Danny Dee says. A lot of participants either don't hear about such events, he says, or don't have the resources to attend the bigger ones, which are usually out of town.

The Bay Area event takes place Sunday at Oakland's Wild Card Bar & Grill and will include panels about creating media buzz, distribution and what the Bay Area's hyphy scene should do next.

At the convention, Danny Dee says, participants can meet retailers, distributors, producers, booking agents, promoters and radio DJs. ``They're all in one place for you.''

Born Daniel Aguayo, Danny Dee grew up in Hayward, with life reflecting the music genre he later would work in. At age 16, he did promotions for KYLD-FM (94.9), and at 20, he worked for the now defunct KBTB-FM ``Power 92.7,'' an experimental station that focused on local hip-hop.

There he met Tommy Wheeler, a.k.a. DJ Maniakal, and formed the Dynasty Fam, a business partnership that pulled together a group of Bay Area DJs who threw parties at clubs. At that point in Danny Dee's life, being able to put friends on ``VIP'' and ``guest lists'' was enough to keep him happy.

But his dreams already were being formed years before, when his friends sneaked him into the 2000 Gavin Music Conference -- a music networking event -- in San Francisco. He then realized that hip-hop power players like Jermaine Dupri and Russell Simmons were accessible at such events.

``I always had that in the back of my mind -- that we needed to do that'' on a more local level, Danny Dee says. Over the past few years when ``the whole Bay Area movement started kicking up again . . . I wanted to be a part of this movement . . . and help bring people together.''

In April 2005, he coordinated the first Bay Area Rap Summit in San Jose, patterned -- on a much smaller scale -- after the national hip-hop conferences put on by hip-hop heavyweights such as Simmons. Danny Dee's summit included artists who were well known in the Bay Area, names like: the Federation, Mistah F.A.B., Frontline, B-Legit, Dem Hoodstarz and Sean T.

Later that year, he attended the Power Summit in the Bahamas, which brought together the most influential artists and producers in hip-hop, including Simmons, Kevin Black from Interscope Records, and artists such as Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Busta Rhymes and Pharrell Williams.

``It's crazy, because I work with a lot of them now,'' says Danny Dee, who put on the second Bay Area Rap Summit in November 2005.

Traxxamillion, a San Jose producer behind many of the current hyphy hits, says Danny Dee has been working ``on the grind'' for a while now. ``In my trials coming up, I always heard his name and seen him,'' Traxxamillion says. ``He has been doing positive things for kids, and they can learn from him. When Danny puts together anything, I'm going to support it.''

And he is this weekend, along with rappers Mistah F.A.B., Balance and Dem HoodStarz.

Also, local record label representatives will be present from 30/30 Records / Sick-Wid-It Records and Thizz Entertainment, as well as representatives from labels including Swishahouse, Bad Boy Entertainment, TVT Records and Interscope Records.

``Right now, I've established myself as somebody credible and somebody you have to go through if you're in this independent scene in the Bay Area,'' Danny Dee says. ``I want to make it that way everywhere -- I just really want to be a power player.''

The Bay Area Rap Summit

Where Wild Card Bar & Grill (old Hotel Ibiza), 10 Hegenberger Road, Oakland

When Noon-7 p.m. Sunday

Tickets Presale until Saturday for $50; $60 at door; $100 VIP.

Info http://rapsummit.com // indiemusicsummit.com

 

 

Industry Insider: Danny Dee STASH MAG article

Words: Uno
Photos: Vivian Chen

Educating the Bay Area's up and coming artists about the music industry is Danny Dee's number one priority. As a teenager, Danny Dee started working with Wild 94.9 and Power 92.7 doing street promotions, sales, music research and more. At the young age of 23, Daniel "Danny Dee" Aguayo has been connecting the dots between all aspects of the music industry and relaying that vital information to attendees of his annual Bay Area Rap Summit (BARS Summit). From his extensive traveling to music conferences all over the country, he realized that Bay Area artists needed to be at these functions learning and networking with people in the music industry. Thus, the Bay Area Rap Summit was born; allowing local artists who are serious in making a nationwide impact to teach and learn from major record label affiliates and each other. The BARS Summit offers panels on all aspects of the music industry from networking, promotion, marketing, distribution as well as showcasing up and coming artists.

Why is it important for up and coming artists who are serious about their music to be at these events networking with people in the industry?
Networking is the bloodline of the industry. Who you know, talk to, and maintain a good relationship with. The more people hear about you and the more you stay in people's heads, the more opportunities come your way. It's just really important for you to get out there and network. Building and maintaining relationships with key people allow you to be 10 steps ahead of someone who doesn't have that relationship. There's no secret to it - you don't just create it, the process has been mimicked and duplicated. You have to do all the things the successful people did. And all the successful people in the Bay, including

"THE MORE PEOPLE HEAR ABOUT YOU
AND THE MORE YOU STAY IN
PEOPLE'S HEADS, THE MORE
OPPORTUNITIES COME YOUR WAY"

E-40, Hieroglyphics, Zion-I, etc. left the Bay to expand into other markets. You can only do so many shows in the Bay. Maintaining professionalism with your contacts is also key. A lot of us come from a street background and may take small things too personal like if you call somebody and they don't call you back or when you shook their hand and may not have been taken seriously. It's all business and never personal. You might have to work with these people you don't like in order to take it to the next level. Read a book and learn about the music business before you really go full stream with it. If you knew what you were getting into, there would be less of a chance of getting jerked around."

More about Danny Dee @ www.rapsummit.com