Mixed and Mastered

Louise West read Missy Elliott’s first contract line by line. She taught Missy and Timbaland the business, shopped Roc-A-Fella’s label deal, and became the lawyer down the hall for Drake’s right hand, 40. The entertainment attorney and BESLA co-founder sits down with Jeffrey Sledge to talk John Lewis, Donald Byrd, Al Bell, the Sony offer Roc-A-Fella walked away from, and why your catalog should ou...

Merlin Bobb went from bagging groceries in Murray Hill to running A&R at Atlantic, co-founding EastWest, and steering Elektra through Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, and En Vogue. He tells Jeffrey Sledge about the $15,000 brownstone the bank wouldn't finance, working the door at Zanzibar, the night the LAPD put Eazy-E and Dr. Dre on the ground, and why the next Atlantic should be Black-owned...

Steve Rifkind invented the modern street team, built Loud Records into the home of Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, and Big Pun, then broke Akon at SRC. He tells Jeffrey Sledge how his dad strong-armed him into starting a label, why he signed Pun without hearing a bar, the Sony deal he'd take back, and the day Heavy D pulled him out of bed. This is Mixed and Mastered Steve Rifkind Mixed and Mastered...

Jonathan Shecter cofounded The Source out of a Harvard dorm room with a mailing list and about $200. He joins Jeffrey Sledge to talk growing up on Philly radio, borrowing Lady B's station drops to launch Street Beat, the covers and ratings that made The Source hip hop's bible, his years at the poker table, and how he went from booking DJs in Las Vegas to programming the music inside Wynn...

Bryan-Michael Cox wrote the soundtrack to a generation. Jagged Edge, Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige. He joins Jeffrey Sledge to talk about cutting his first demos on Beyoncé, getting put on by Jermaine Dupri, the leak that changed Usher's Confessions, and how a frustrated phone call from Jimmy Iovine turned into Be Without You. Bun B pulls up to close it out on why the club tells the trut...

Tracey Waples heard Wu-Tang on a tour bus and was in RZA's basement the same day. The Def Jam A&R who signed Method Man sits down with Jeffrey Sledge to talk Andre Harrell driving her home at 15, Russell Simmons telling her "you have a job, go to work," working Redman, LL Cool J and Mariah Carey, and why the studio will always be a buried treasure cave.  This is Mixed and Master...

Chris Atlas has worked every side of the record. Promotion, A&R, marketing, distribution. Tommy Boy, Cornerstone, Def Jam, Warner, and now Fat Beats. He sits down with his friend of thirty years, Jeffrey Sledge, to talk Kanye before the world heard him, the L.A. Reid meeting that was just the movie Gladiator, and why anyone saying hip hop is dead is telling "the biggest lie."  This i...

Mike Ross co-founded Delicious Vinyl with a business card from a sandwich shop and found his first artist by cold calling a stranger's cousin. That cousin was Tone Loc. Wild Thing went to the top of the country off a video that cost $500. On this episode of Mixed and Mastered, Mike tells Jeffrey Sledge how two white DJs in a Black record pool in LA built a label that put out Tone Loc, Young M...

Matty C put Biggie, DMX, Mobb Deep, and Common in The Source's Unsigned Hype column before the world caught on, then ran A&R at Loud Records. He joins Jeffrey Sledge to talk discovering a generation, the real Wu-Tang chronology, the Purple Tape sessions, and the finance pivot nobody saw coming. This is Mixed and Mastered with Matty C. Mixed and Mastered is hosted by Jeffrey Sledge and produced...

Jeffrey Sledge sits down with William "Fuzzy" West, the West Coast connector who went from Compton sound booths to Power 106 mornings to the front office at the new Death Row. Snoop, Big Boy, Dr. Dre, and the day he sat with Michael Jackson in Vegas. This is Mixed and Mastered with Fuzzy West. Unglossy is hosted by Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, and Tom Frank. The show is produced and distributed by Merri...

Music executive Adrian Miller takes us from St. Louis's Pruitt-Igoe to Tulsa radio, building the rap chart at Hits, Wu-Tang's first 12-inch at SRC, the Immortal run with Cypress Hill, working with Prince at Warner, and building Anderson .Paak's independent career. A behind-the-scenes strategist who's spent his life positioning people and protecting the art. This is Mixed and Mastered with Adrian M...

Part 2 of 2. Jacob York returns to break down the real story behind Lil' Kim's verse on Biggie's "Another," discovering Gucci Mane at Strokers, the Deb Antney and Jimmy Henchman power play that nearly cost him Big Cat Records, and his work with Buju Banton. Jacob also pulls back the curtain on how he invented the influencer business years before Instagram and OnlyFans through Buffy the Body, Digit...

Part 1 of 2. Jacob York, Founder of Electric Republic, joins Jeffrey Sledge to break down his journey from Bushwick to becoming one of the music industry's most influential dealmakers. Jacob shares stories from his unconventional Brooklyn upbringing, the legendary NYC nightlife era with Jessica Rosenblum, and the inside truth of the Undeas years—signing Cam'ron, the making of Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s C...

Dr. Denise J. Brown joins Jeffrey Sledge on Mixed and Mastered to share her journey from classically trained pianist in Buffalo to entertainment attorney and dealmaker. Denise reflects on working alongside Reginald Lewis on Wall Street, being mentored by Kendall Minter, running the Black Music division at Warner Bros., and a memorable night riding through London with Prince. She also opens up abou...

Today's guest is Scoop Jackson — writer, cultural critic, and one of the most distinctive voices at the intersection of hip-hop, basketball, and Black identity. From the South Side of Chicago to Howard University, Scoop turned his academic study of hip-hop into a career that reshaped sports and culture journalism — as a founding voice at Slam Magazine, a key architect of XXL, and a national column...

Today’s guest is Mike B — a stylist, designer, and cultural force who helped define the look of one of hip-hop’s most iconic eras. From Westchester to Bad Boy Entertainment, Mike B was in the room as the culture evolved—working alongside Groovy Lou and Puff to shape the style of artists like Biggie, Faith Evans, Mase, and Black Rob. From standout moments like “Special Delivery” to influencing the...

Today on Mixed and Mastered, we sit down with Byron Kirkland — entrepreneur, marketer, and founder of Stealth Worldwide Group, a force behind some of the biggest names in music. From growing up in Brooklyn to landing a high school internship at Arista and Uptown Records, Byron learned early how to turn access into opportunity. That mindset carried him through fashion at Sean John, into artist mana...

Before the South ran hip-hop, Julia Beverly was documenting it. In this episode of Mixed and Mastered, Julia Beverly, founder of Ozone Magazine, shares how she helped amplify a region the industry once overlooked. From building Ozone into the definitive voice of Southern rap to breaking artists before the mainstream caught on, Julia played a key role in shifting the culture’s center of gravity. Sh...

This week on Mixed and Mastered, Jeffrey Sledge sits down with Wendy Day — a legendary music industry advocate, dealmaker, and founder of the Rap Coalition who helped shape the blueprint for independent success in hip-hop. From pulling artists out of bad contracts to helping structure groundbreaking deals for Cash Money, No Limit, and more, Wendy has spent decades fighting for artist ownership, le...

This week on Mixed and Mastered, Jeffrey Sledge sits down with veteran music executive Rodney Shealey — a Brooklyn-born industry leader whose career spans the rise of modern hip-hop and R&B and includes shaping records for some of the biggest artists in the world. From growing up in East Flatbush and getting his start on the road during hip-hop’s earliest touring era, to rising through the ran...

This week on Mixed and Mastered, Jeffrey Sledge sits down with Grammy-winning music executive, producer, and A&R Max Gousse — a Brooklyn-born music industry powerhouse whose career runs through some of the biggest moments in modern R&B and hip-hop. From learning the business at The Box in Miami to being mentored by legends like Cassandra Mills, Sylvia Rhone, David Renzer, and L.A. Reid, Ma...

Ian Burke — known throughout hip-hop and R&B as the DreamWeaver — is one of the quiet architects behind Atlanta’s rise as a global music capital. Born in Mount Vernon, New York and “made” in Atlanta, Ian’s 30+ year journey runs through the rooms where culture actually gets built — from loading equipment as a roadie to living inside The Dungeon during the Organized Noize era, to shaping early d...

Send us a text This week on Mixed and Mastered, Jeffrey Sledge sits down with April Walker — fashion pioneer, cultural architect, and the founder of Walker Wear, one of the brands that helped define modern streetwear before it had a name. April traces her journey from Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill to the clubs, studios, and streets of ’80s New York, where hip-hop, style, and entrepreneurship collided....

Send us a text This week on Mixed and Mastered, Jeffrey Sledge sits down with Steve Carless, a senior creative executive whose 20+ year career spans Def Jam, Atlantic Records, and the front lines of modern artist development. From studying liner notes as a kid in New Jersey to shaping careers for artists like YG, Jeezy, Pusha T, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Nipsey Hussle, Steve breaks down how relation...

Send us a text Jeffrey Sledge sits down with James McMillan, Esq. — entertainment attorney, label executive, and CEO of Art @ War Records (in partnership with Warner Records) — for a real conversation about power, ownership, and how leverage actually works in music. James breaks down the mindset behind creative dealmaking, why chasing fees isn’t the same as building equity, and how his path evolve...