On a sunny, 80-degree afternoon in Lexington, Ky., G-Mack is heading into a meeting on Monday to discuss details about his next party his company Lost Land Ent. will have in his hometown.
"I knew you were gonna call me right before I stepped in here," he said to me as he answered a call on his cell. "Don't you hate it when people call you and wait so long to ask you one question? All that talkin' and they just wanted to know if I wanted to still buy a bedroom suite."
This was the typical G-Mack I knew in high school. Better yet, the "Gerald Mack" I knew was always down for a good laugh or a joke, and pretty clever on his delivery.
I see nothing has changed in that department.
But what has changed is when you mention his name to others locally, throughout the region, and even down south, some major rap and r&b artists not only recognize his laid-back sense of humor, they recognize his talent and his grind in his music.
After winning Kentucky's Breakout Artist of the Year award at the Ozone Awards a few years back, rapper Freeway presented the award to him saying, "Damn! This man is everywhere!" (Both have a mutual friendship and Mack would eventually join Freeway on the road for eight months.)
I even ran up on a random chick in the streets the other day and just out of curiosity, asked her if she knew who G-Mack was. She replied, "Ain't he dat nigga dat got dat 'Get Naked' song wit' Bobby Valentino?"
I grinned and shook my head "yes."
It was only right that I asked a random guy after that the same question.
"His name sounds real familiar," He said. "I know he's from Kentucky, and I seen a couple of YouTube videos of him."
Aside from the few laughs we shared about the good ol’ high school days at Henry Clay, Mack remembers the days when the laugh and jokes were targeted at him for wanting to become a rap artist and owning his own record label. To his peers and others that were already in the music industry, Mack’s goals were far fetched and at a distance that seemed impossible to reach.
"I first started out just wanting to be a business man in the music industry," Mack said, during his college years at Kentucky State University. "The plan was getting some connections to do some internships in New York, but I actually ended up getting a record deal in 2002, a bullshit record deal."
Mack signed with Ideal Records, a record company out of Charlotte, N.C.
"I had a two-album deal, a $50,000 budget, and $5,000 in advance," he said. "Of course this sounds good when you in college and you super broke."
But in the midst of brainstorming and marketing for his debut project to be released, Mack said he realized he was way more involved on the business side than most artist usually are.
"Everything was lookin' good and feelin' right after we got the distribution deal. But as I started recording, I noticed that our distribution deal was bigger than what the record company could handle financially. Money is an important part of pushin' yourself, especially when you have no name at all. No one knew who G-Mack was, even people in my hometown.”
Being stuck in a two-album deal and not having enough money to put out his album, Mack took the $5,000 advance from the record company and threw his first party.
"Nobody was tryin' to play my music, so I thought this was a good business move and a perfect side hustle," he said.
That business move caught the eye of Mack's business partner, Tommy Stewart, who helped him get out of the two-album deal contract with Ideal Records, and eventually starting up their own label. After being released from his contract and no longer having a distribution deal, Mack created Lost Land Ent. He then formed his own street team and sold 3,500 copies of his first album "One Game to Another," out his trunk.
But just as Mack's first record deal took a turn for the worst and gave him a hard reality check, so did his first two-week promotion tour, which turned into one day.
With a van equipped with 5,000 vinyl records and posters, his first trip to Memphis made him turn around and re-think his entire game plan.
"I was at a record pool and DJ gathering," Mack recalled. "After I played my shit, you could hear crickets in the room!"
Finally, a DJ commented.
"No need in being nice, but somebody need to say it, this shit ain't gonna cut it."
After that, Mack said he finally started to get it.
"I listened to my record, then I would listen to a Ludacris record and say to myself, 'You know what, my shit don't sound like that.’ “After that, I took all of my records and posters and threw them in the trash. I had to start from scratch."
From there, the plan was to do everything right.
Whether it was better studios, better beats, Mack described his focus as "extreme" and unmatched by very few.
"I took it as a personal challenge to deliver a project that my city alone had never seen," he said. "I also wanted to be a household name in the region, so I paid a lil' extra money to get a better quality to sound nothing less than what I heard on the radio."
In more ways than even Mack himself could imagine, his drive motivated him into his first taste of success. He dropped the record, "Stunna Fool," which spread from a local to regional buzz.
"I got a response I couldn't ignore," Mack said. "First thing I wanted to do was go back to Memphis."
After playing the his new track for the same DJ that cut his first two-week promotion trip short, he gave Mack the thumbs up.
"G-Mack, that shit's bangin," the DJ said. "Matter of fact, you need to perform this for me in the club."
With 400,000 miles driven on his Expedition from many set-backs and disappointments, Mack hit the road and never looked back.
Off of the success of "Stunna Fool," Mack put out his first mixtape, "Hood Rich Won't Cut It," hosted by Bigga Rankin, President of Hittmen DJs and CEO and founder of the Cool Running DJs.
He went on to release three more mixtapes and release the single, "Get Naked," featuring Bobby Valentino.
"I became a mini record label, me and four people," Mack said. "We was so focused, I was like, 'How could it not work.'"
And with that said, the street team, Hit Squad Promotions, was no exception.
At BET's Spring Bling, they waited until three in the morning to sneak on the set and covered the stage with G-Mack posters.
"When all the artists that were performing came to rehearsal, they was like, 'Who the hell is G-Mack?"
But it's that kind of promotion and drive that has gotten him where he is today.
"What else might drive Mack," you might ask.
Family.
With an older brother and sister, mother, twin boys and a daughter, Mack says his family support has helped him take advantage of his opportunities in the music industry.
But make no mistakes, he enjoys being a father.
"I have custody of my daughter, and I love going to my sons football games and being that cheering parent that yells at the refs," he said. "I want to have two more, people think I'm crazy for saying that."
Mack is currently in the works of relaunching his label with a new system where he can move into a CEO position first, then artist.
"I'ma sign me a young cat and make it a lot easier on them than it was for me," he said.
When asked about his ultimate achievement and goal in the music industry, Mack simply replied, "I made money while havin' fun."
"I have a fun life in everything I do. Since I can remember, all I ever wanted to do was work for myself. Now that I surrounded myself with a team, I'm nowhere near done. It's nothing like doing what you love."
EXTRAS:
On Meeting Freeway:
G-Mack: I opened up for him once. Meeting him took me to another level. My grind was relentless.
On Meeting Bobby Valentino:
G-Mack: I ran into him at a music conference in New York. He sat at a VIP table right next to me. I was with a person who went to college with him that introduced us. I had the song, "Get Naked" on my phone and was about to go to Virginia and put Pleasure P on the record. Trey Songz denied it because it didn't fit his image at that time. So I played the song for him in a club. He listened and said it was alright. But when his manager listened to it, he told Bobby, "Stop paying attention to them girls and really listen to this record." From there, we went back to the studio and made it happen.
Have you experienced negative comments from former friends and others because of your success?
G-Mack: Hell yeah! If they knew how easy it was to talk to me, it would be different. Some people are gonna be intimidated by the raw truth, and some people respect it.
How do people approach you?
G-Mack: Some have said, "Wassup G-Mack, I'm the hardest in the state!".......If you was, you wouldn't have to tell me. A lot of people are more intimidated, but most won't even approach me. And when they do approach me, they are so busy boasting about themselves. When I approach someone, I do my homework. When the O.G.'s was around me, they taught me how to respect game.
How do you go about collaborating with someone?
G-Mack: I won't do a record that has an unrealistic shot. I won't do a song over a Drake beat. And I don't like to do features that I'm never gonna hear myself on again. No if and buts about it.
What advice would you give a young artist coming out of Kentucky who has aspirations of running their own company and remaining relevant as a rap artist?
G-Mack: I seen them come and go. The ones that I can name now, they won't be here next year. But to new artist, be honest with yourself, get a team and surround yourself with mentally and strong people who don't lie themselves. Use every tool that you got around and take it to the next step. Most importantly, focus in on one record, I can't say it enough, catch your brand up with the song.
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