JoJo Brim, 30-year music industry veteran and now CEO of Virtual Media Ent – is joined by two of his V-Records’ artists, the talented MJ Songstress and son Niko Brim, to discuss their upcoming participation in WhyHunger’s HungerThon virtual concert fundraising event.
JoJo, Can you tell us about your background and VME and V-Records?
So I started in the industry way back in the day during the Mount Vernon Uptown movement in the late 80s and 90s – working with Al B. Sure! under the late-legend Andre Harell. From there, I actually started rapping myself, and got signed to Warner as part of a group called F.S. Effect. After we essentially flopped, I moved away from the mic and into producing – where I quickly found myself acting as an A&R. After connecting with a Mount Vernon artist named Case, he ended up signing to Russell Simmons where I helped put together the record “Touch Me, Tease Me” which really launched my career as an A&R – and is essentially what got me hired by Lyor Cohen and Russel at Def Jam, alongside Irv Gotti.
From there, I went to Atlantic and worked alongside Kevin Liles – before venturing out on our own to form KWL with two rising artists at the time, Estelle and Trey Songz. After helping to bring on artists like Big Sean, Ty Dolla Sign, Nelly, K Michele at KWL, I went to help relaunch Laface Records with L.A. Reid in 2014 – and later Arista Records with David Massey.
Around this time is when I started to form my consulting company, which focused on tech startups working in music and entertainment. Through this, I got more involved in the tech space and using my music industry knowledge to help grow these companies – which landed me a consulting gig with ADX Labs in Minneapolis.
After working together for a bit the founder, Steve Renner, would end up bringing me on as the CEO – at which point I restructured the company and created Virtual Media Ent (VME), a venture-backed tech-based entertainment company with multiple functions including recording, publishing, and artist management, a hardware line of high-end speakers and studio equipment, as well as multiple apps in development. Not to mention V-Records, the record label component of VME, whose roster includes MJ Songstress and my son, Niko. But enough about me!
What is WhyHunger and why is it important for you and your V-Records artists to be partnered with them?
Another piece of my journey has been coaching and personal development. Starting with attending Marianne Williamson workshops back in the 90s (before it was cool) and later on when I joined Momentum Education – where I met MJ – and became a transformation coach. I’ve always been interested in helping others attain their highest potential, which has an interesting overlap with A&R and artist management.
I say that to say, I’ve always been fueled by helping others. And actually over the years, it’s been Niko who has led the charge in terms of giving back and doing community service projects. When we started talking with ADX about issues we’d like to address as part of a giving initiative, food insecurity was at the top of our list.
Did you know that 51 million people are food insecure in the US right now, 19 million more this year than last year due to the pandemic? Stop and ask yourself, what percentage of those people are creative? What percentage are artists?
We’ve known Hillary Zuckerberg from WhyHunger, and we found them to be the perfect partner – a global nonprofit focused on addressing food-insecurity, and also with ties to music being founded by the legendary singer Harry Chapin in the 70s. We are all super excited and honored to be part of WhyHunger’s first virtual fundraising concert on December 1st – which will be coheadlined by Niko And MJ – paired with a contribution from myself and VME.
Turning to Niko, How have you been staying productive during quarantine?
Niko: So with everything going on I’ve been trying to get involved where I can, using my voice to bring light to certain things, giving back, and volunteering my time where I can. One thing I’ve been doing is these Power Hours on IG live – bringing different people on to discuss different black issues, community initiatives, and issues within the music industry. I also got the chance to partner with Ms. Opal Lee to lead a petition to designate Juneteenth a national holiday – which I’m proud to say is among the most popular petitions on Change.org.
I’ve also been doing my best to remain creative, I was already used to being locked in at the studio so I’ve just been staying busy and locking in, working on my new EP (‘B4 The Throne’ – dropping Dec 14th). And I actually have this new single that I made with my longtime partner (Grammy-nominated producer) Tank God, “Bonita” – that I’m really excited to perform at the HungerThon.
Why is it important to you to be a part of the HungerThon?
Niko: I’ve been blessed with not having to experience food-insecurity myself – but there’s 18M kids in this country that are food-insecure… which if you break down is nearly 1 in 4 kids. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I’ve volunteered in soup kitchens, and I’ve even served people that I know. Food being a daily necessity, I’ve always felt like food security has to be one of the first problems tackled, so I am always looking for ways to contribute. I’m blessed to be able to help move the ball forward by taking part in the HungerThon – and looking forward to taking part every year from now on.
Now turning to MJ, Can you tell us a little more about how you got connected with JoJo and V-Records?
MJ: Yes! The short answer is that we met through a program called Momentum Education – which is an experiential learning and self-development workshop that we both are a part of. After a bit of a complicated time in my life, I was referred to Momentum by a friend of mine who had been having a really great experience. Once I got there, I never looked back. I started learning new things about myself, making breakthroughs, and soon started hearing about this cool “executive guy” who was a course instructor. I was intrigued by what I was hearing, and even more intrigued when I took his course. I introduced myself afterwards, told him I’m an artist, and we hit it off. Before long, I was letting him know he was going to be my manager… and we’ve been together ever since! I’m super grateful to have a team in Jojo and V-Records that is so supportive.
Why is it important to you to be a part of Hunger Thon? And I heard there might some new music coming?
MJ: Something that goes hand-in-hand with personal development – I am always asking myself, how can I be of service and contribution while being my authentic self. Whether it’s for women, for men, for children, for people experiencing hunger and food-insecurity – I’m in. The fact that WhyHunger’s HungerThon is an opportunity to use music and be myself in service of such a noble cause makes this a no-brainer.
And yes I’m also very excited to share two new songs – a fun, holiday record called “Falalala” and a latin soul-pop track using a famous sample called “Oye Como Va” that I’m really excited about.
WhyHunger’s HungerThon is happening right now – you can visit WhyHunger.org to Donate, follow Follow @WhyHunger on Twitter and Instagram for more info on how you can get involved. Also be sure to tune in to see Niko Brim and MJ Songstress perform during WhyHunger’s First Annual HungerThon (Volume 1): Everybody Eats
Aidan Werder
