December 16, 2022 (Memphis, TN) – Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME), a full-service entertainment group that includes 4U Recording, Beatroot Music, Heavy Hitters Music, and MIME Publishing, has had a banner year in both company triumphs and industry recognition in 2022.
Since the company’s founding in 2015, MIME has from its outset put diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the forefront of its mission as it shapes the next generation of music executives. This commitment was rewarded in May, when the company won the inaugural Agent of Change Award at the first-ever Bizzy Awards, part of the Music Biz 2022 conference in Nashville.
Following that award, MIME Co-Founder, President, and Managing Director Tony D. Alexander encapsulated the company’s DEI message with a guest essay featured in the Commercial Appeal: “Aspiring to have a diverse workplace? Start with your hiring practices.” In this piece, Alexander shared his best practices for putting DEI strategies to work throughout MIME and explained how other companies can do the same.
MIME’s focus on diversity extends beyond just its hiring practices to its executive development and the artists they sign. The company’s independent music publishing arm, MIME Publishing, recently signed writers Brooklynn Johnson and Cat Clarke, continued to provide mentoring to its young music executives who will be working day to day with its roster, and continued publishing partnerships like the ones established with N-Less Entertainment and Bread Gang. This approach was recognized when producer/songwriter Christopher “YC” Pearson won the BMI Songwriter of the Year award at the 2022 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards for several songs administered by MIME, with current MIME Publishing client Jorres “Real Red” Nelson also winning two Most-Performed Song of the Year BMI awards for contributing to Moneybagg Yo’s “Time Today” and “Wockesha.” MIME and Beatroot Publishing had a record year of collections from The MLC for N-Less and Warner Chappell Music.
In July, MIME expanded their partnership with Power Entertainment’s Founder and CEO Kadeem Phillips, who is also the manager of YC and Real Red. MIME signed two new deals with Power Entertainment, including exclusive rights for MIME Publishing to administer all compositions for the next three years for Power Entertainment, including writers Nick Drake, Joshua Blair, and Michael Carr, and a Beatroot distribution agreement for artist Yours Truly, Jai alongside a one-project deal for artist Raemi.
Phillips also manages Hittkidd, a frequent recording client of MIME who recently recorded the now viral track “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with GloRilla at 4U Recording Memphis, engineered by 4U’s Kyle Javello. The track’s music video has racked up over 52 million YouTube plays to date, topping Billboard’s U.S. Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and the Viral 50 music chart on YouTube, garnering nominations for Best Rap Performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards and Song of the Year at the 2022 BET Hip-Hop Awards, and inspiring countless recreations of the music video by fans across the U.S.
“F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” was far from the only standout moment for MIME’s 4U Recording in 2022, who welcomed more than 300 recording clients over the course of the year. MIME Co-Founder and CEO David Porter, the legendary Stax Records songwriter and producer responsible for massive hits like Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Coming,” released Chapter 1…Back in the Day on September 23rd, his first album under his own name in 50 years. The album launched via an exclusive partnership with Vinyl Me, Please and is now available on all streaming services. Chapter 1…Back in the Day was produced by Porter and recorded and mixed at the 4U Recording Studios in Memphis and Atlanta by 4U engineers Tyler Battles and Anthony Smith.
4U Recording Memphis also recorded the Duke Deuce track “DEUCIFER (featuring Opera Memphis)” off his newly released album, Memphis Massacre III. The Memphis-based rapper came to MIME through his partnership with the Quality Control label. Other label clients of 4U Memphis this year include Biz Fizzle (Atlantic Records), Gloss Up (Quality Control), Big 30 and CMG (Interscope), C Money (Sony), and Hitkidd (song publishing).
The 4U Memphis team also stayed involved in their local community throughout the year, with 2022 partnerships including Stax Music Academy, Gender Amplified, the Memphis Chapter of Knowledge Quest (Teen Tech Center), and Young Content Creators of Hillcrest High School. MIME also hosted quarterly Days of Service for all of its employees, often in partnership with these organizations.
Over the course of 2022, its first full year in operation, the 4U Recording Atlanta studio also welcomed several notable clients, including CeeLo Green, DJ Scream, Eric Bellinger, French Montana, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, Lyrica Anderson, Nardo Wick, Rudy Currence, Saucy Santana, Young Dro, and Zaytoven. The Atlanta studio also hosted events including the DJ Power Summit, two Breaking Sound Showcase shows, Hitman Holla’s Bags and Bodies Rap Battle event, and podcast recordings from Vince Carter and Funny Marco.
Beatroot Music continued to break its own records this year, distributing nearly 700 releases and 1,800 tracks across 33 different genres. Fifty Beatroot artists exceeded 1 million units in 2022, and Beatroot as a whole received over half a billion combined plays, streams, and views this year. In addition, the team achieved nearly 100 DSP-controlled playlist placements for Beatroot artists. Following on that success, Aric Kim, Manager of Operations & DSP Relations at Beatroot, published a guest essay on RAIN News, “Chasing Playlists: What’s the Secret?” sharing some of his tips and tricks for implementing a successful playlisting strategy.
Heavy Hitters Music also achieved several notable television syncs in 2022, leading to a record year collecting international revenues. Some of its top placements include “Workin’ It Out” by Today Kid in a BlueCross BlueShield ad, “Grimey” by Porcelan in P-Valley, “New Love” by Porcelan in Selling Sunset, “Time Today” and “Shottas” by Moneybagg Yo in Rap Sh!t, and “So Wild & High” by Jeff Smith in Young Sheldon. Heavy Hitters also began to represent Porter’s split on the iconic Same & Dave song “Hold On, I’m Coming,” clearing it for renewal in an ad for Oreo.
“The Senior Advisors that we have engaged to coach and develop the MIME team have also been great magnets of new business. Our team is maturing, and our culture is a primary value driver,” said Alexander. “I am very optimistic about the future because we have a solid team across our operating businesses, some extraordinary partners, and a strategic infrastructure footprint that we will leverage going forward. With the pending artist and writer signings, brand partnerships, and strategic alliances in our pipeline, 2023 is shaping up to be a stellar year.”
“The gratitude I have for being connected with Tony Alexander in birthing MIME was certainly magnified in 2022,” said Porter. “Beatroot Distribution, Heavy Hitters Music, MIME Records, MIME and ROBOSAC Music Publishing entities, our Memphis and Atlanta 4U Recording studios, and other impactful company components have all been making major strides towards our goals in 2022. Having the honor as CEO to lead the company, as well as to record an album of never-released material from my ROBOSAC Music catalog and work with such amazing in-house talent like Tyler Battles and so many others on the team made my gratitude grow even higher. The goal in starting this company was to be an entry point for the next generation of industry leadership and to let them grow in an environment of opportunity. MIME in its diverse industry components with its hard working, talented, ambitious team members can look ahead to 2023 with a feeling of joy in the continued growth of the company. I couldn’t be any happier in saying thank you to our team members, who are working even harder going into 2023 for MIME’s onward and upward march.”
About Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME)
Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME) is a Black-owned full-service entertainment group with global reach, but with its heart in the hometown of modern American music. Founded in 2015 by original Stax Records songwriter/producer and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee David Porter (CEO) and 20+ year business and legal veteran Tony D. Alexander (President and Managing Director), MIME is dedicated to re-establishing Memphis as a key music industry hub while expanding its influence around the world, all while developing and promoting diverse talent on both the creative and business sides of the industry.
MIME’s family of companies includes MIME Publishing, an independent music publishing company that handles Porter’s legendary post-Stax songwriting catalog and other copyrights of some of the most sought-after young producers in hip-hop and R&B; Heavy Hitters Music, a film, TV, and ad sync company with an all-female creative team and Emmy-winning music catalog; Beatroot Music, a leading independent music distributor, as well as its subsidiary Beatroot Africa; and 4U Recording, a state-of the-art recording studio brand with locations in Memphis and Atlanta. For more information, visit mimecorp.com.