Meet Jacob Waddy Gayton of Dope Year Recordings/Culture CTRL Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Waddy Gayton.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When my mother was pregnant with me, she was on the board of the Seattle Symphony and Jazz Alley. Prior to that she wrote poetry and was in theater herself. So, I came out a lil music rat haha. She says when I was four years old, I jumped on stage at the symphony hall during a performance and started swinging my arms around like conductor! Around age eight my mother put me in my elementary school choir (Leschi Elementary), directed by Debbie Cavet. We toured and sang for former South African President, Nelson Mandela, fighter Muhammad Ali, and background for Gospel artist Kirk Franklin. As I grew closer to my teenage years, I began to fall in love with writing my own stuff and rapping! At the time I attended the Rotary Boys & Girls Club where I met a producer by the name of Amos Miller who operated a recording studio out of his basement. At ten years old My mother paid for my 1st recording session, and this is where the story begins

She was sick with lupus and was no longer able to find sustainable work in Seattle Washington. She moved us to Dekalb, County Georgia December 2005 to be closer to her family on the east coast and for easier living. I was about 12 maybe 13. Atlanta was the scene for Hip Hop! It was meant to be. I met a few kids in school that had the same dreams and we built our own lil recording studios. 1st in my mama’s study. Then in my boy Carlton’s bedroom, and of course in my boy Tyron (Buddah Bless) mama’s basement. We recorded and put out music, pretty good for little kids in middle school and high school, but we had a lot of growing to do. It was training for the playoffs, today.

Towards the end of high school, I picked up an internship with mainstream recording studio Patchwerk Studios in Atlanta Georgia. A pretty well known A-List studio. I met a lot of people, producers, and learned a lot about marketing and putting together showcases for indie artists. Not too long after, my nephew, Kam put me on as a volunteer at A3C. There I worked my ass off and assisted with an event that was in conjunction with BET Music Matters. A Production Coordinator named Micah Maryland noticed me and asked did I want to be a Production Assistant on Kirk Franklin’s Sunday Best Television show. Shit, sign me up! So as I assisted on set, I grew a background that leads to other opportunities like working on set with TylerPerry doing the same thing and eventually placed a position as a Coordinator on VH1’s Atlanta Exe’s.

Right after my father passed in 2014, I was asked to come on as a Production Manager for Motion Family doing a lot of Music Videos for mainstream Hip Hop Artists like Ludacris, 2chainz, Young Thug, Future, and more. Isaiah Moses, the brother who brought me into Motion Family to PM; eventually asked me to come on as a nonexclusive partner with a company he started called Culture CTRL. I had more control and was bringing in jobs and hands-on producing the ones brought to us. Most recently we flew out to California and produced a video with Director SupaDope for A list rapper Rich The Kid.

In the midst of all this, I have released four hip hop projects; 2 of which under my old name Jay Prime (I may have been age 17-19 then) and two under Jacob Waddy (22-Present.). In April of 2015, I came into partnership with Marcus Sharpe, a friend who had a recording studio unit inside of Vision Studios on Peachtree Industrial. Thought it would be a decent way to earn money and benefit from free studio time. I began to grow myself as an audio engineer/music producer, THAT is when I really began to find my sound as an artist. Finally! We recently relocated the studio to a more client-friendly facility, have expanded our partnership with my boy Anthony Jones. We made upgrades and continue to every week. Dope Year Recordings.

In July 2018, I released a project Produced by Multi-Platinum Producer and childhood friend, Buddah Bless. We called it EclectaTrap. Its eclectic trap music. The beats are heavy 808 bass filled production with melodic music. I put my lyrical trapped out story on the beats and so far have done 101,000 youtube streams on our single/music video “Dekalb,” 30,000 on “Introuble” and 13..2k streams on the project itself on among platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, SoundCloud, etc. No marketing campaigns, No bots, no fake streams, just genuine word of mouth, email blasts, and driving traffic through bigger youtube channels. Today I am working with different playlist curators and expanding my network to create a strategy that will grow my audience and fanbase, using new key players and a knowledge of what I’ve learned doing film production and audio production. New Music coming soon.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nah, hasn’t been a smooth road at all. From my mom having lupus, bipolar, and depression, to watching my father pass away. I mean we all have our struggles. And there is always someone that wishes they had your life. That would trade their problems for yours. You’re living somebodies goals and dreams. Someone out there just wants to move to America and have a house and a car. So, I try to focus on what I have and where I’m going and not let anything else throw me off my course. But I’m human, and I’m 27. Doing music for 17 years and not being a millionaire gets discouraging. I’ve had meetings with labels that told me to get my streaming numbers up, and I thought I was doing well. Had the analytics to prove the engagement is there just need more money. A lot of doors slammed in my face probably just as much, if not more than successful opportunities. That’s why at the beginning and end of the day, you HAVE to LOVE this shit. I love music. Would do it broke, rich, or moderate.

I was about four years old when my father had his business downfall. Before that, he was one of Seattle Washington’s 1st black millionaires. Philip Gayton. He was a developer. Owner nursing homes and developed buildings in Seattle. He said, “Jacob, you will get to the top of the mountain; keep climbing. But understand, 70% of life is pain and disappointment. Life never turns out exactly the way you plan or expect it to, but if you keep going, in it can turn out even better. Also understand when you get to the top and have money, people will love you for all the wrong reasons and hate you for no reason. I’m happier than what I was when I had all that money.” One of many of our last conversations. I hold those words close on my journey but if you keep going it can turn out better.

Please tell us about Dope Year Recordings/Culture CTRL Productions.
With Dope Year Recordings I feel we pride ourselves in really producing the records artists come in and record with us as opposed to just pressing record or making the beat. We develop and give direction. Love to see new artists grow and grow with them. A lot of studios don’t have time for that. Though we are a smaller studio at the moment, that is a value I forever want to hold onto as we grow.

Culture CTRL is owned by my boy Isaiah Moses. We both agree after every contract, to reflect and strengthen our weaknesses. No matter how big the artist or company we successfully produce, there is always room for improvement. Ultimately we want to give the Client AND Crew an exceptional experience. I’m currently starting a new production company that will implement these same standards. I’ve learned a lot. Stay tuned!

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Take even more risks! Release more music., and start my businesses even earlier. I’ve spent a lot of time shadowing and building other people’s companies but never really started developing my own until later. I wouldn’t have fucked up my credit the way I did when I was 22-23 either hahaha.

Pricing:

• Recording Studio Pricing: $50/hr (engineer + rough mix included)
• Audio Mixing/Mastering $100.00 per track
• Jacob Waddy Features $500.00 Mix/Master Included
• Music Videos/Commercials $3,000 (Treatment, Director, Producer, DP, Camera Op Grip, Gaffer, Editor, Colorist)

Contact Info:

• Website: Jacobwaddy.com
• Phone: 404 879 8442
• Email: FILM Jacob@CultureCTRL.com – MUSIC JacobWaddy92@gmail.com
• Instagram: @JacobWaddyG @DopeYearRecordings
• Facebook: Jacob Waddy G
• Twitter: twitter.com/JacobWaddyG

Image Credit:
Iris Faction Media/Angelique Lynch, Simone A., Z0A, SupaDope

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