Today we’d like to introduce you to Maurice ‘Moetown’ Lee
Hi Maurice, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started DJ’ing at a young age and through DJ’ing I started working with an artist named Paperboy. We went on tour, and I ended up DJ’ing for him and Tupac. After that, I got a job at a record label called Priority Records. While I was in LA working at Priority Records, they wanted me to cover something in Atlanta. I came to Atlanta and after two weeks they asked me if I wanted to stay. I ended up moving here, staying in Atlanta, and working at Priority Records. From there, I worked at a company called J-Core where I was doing marketing and radio promotions. I met 8Ball and MJG and transitioned from working at the label to managing them. I managed 8Ball and MJG’s two Platinum albums alongside my business partners at the time, Dwayne Martin and James McMillan. We did a Bad Boy deal and I continued to have my consultant company where I worked with artists like Gucci Mane, Lloyd, and a few others. After that, I went to work for Interscope, where I stayed for 10 years. During that process, my close friends and I started the early stages of ONE Musicfest.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, the struggles came from us learning on the job. At the time, it was me, founder, J. Carter, Steve Canal, Oronike Odeleye, and Rasta Root who are all a part of the core team today. J was in marketing, Steve was in marketing and brands and I came from the entertainment industry. None of us had ever done a festival before. We were all good at what we did in our related fields, but it wasn’t festivals. That was tough, learning the ins and outs of the festival world and navigating the finances while also getting people to believe in it. I’m confident in saying that we were the people who introduced Black people to festival culture. Before that, our people didn’t typically attend festivals or events with multiple stages, no assigned seating, etc. Going through those growing pains and, again, finances were probably some of our biggest struggles.
As you know, we’re big fans of ONE Musicfest. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I’m most known for connecting the dots, and making things happen that aren’t there. And that’s solely through building relationships from over 30 years of being in the entertainment industry. Everybody’s just a phone call away. Being able to make those phone calls when we need to create moments like the Dungeon Family reunion, Three 6 Mafia reunion, and things like that after so many years, I’m proud of that. I’m proud that at ONE Musicfest we’re able to create these cultural memories where we’re able to bring these people together.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I want to thank everyone for supporting our Black-owned and operated business for the past 15 years. Everybody who has come out and supported us, you all are the reason ONE Musicfest is what it is today. I’m happy to be creating and building a business with my family. J, Steve, Troy, Tres, Oronike, Ravi, Josh, the entire family, and the Live Nation urban crew. I’m thankful that people continue to come out and support ONE Musicfest. As we expand OMF and One Venture Group into other things, hopefully, people will continue to support us and continue to hold us accountable as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://onemusicfest.com
- Instagram: @onemusicfest / @moetownlee
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/onemusicfest
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ONEMusicfest
Image Credits
Photo Credits: Quality Lenz & Parallel Agency
