The Unsung Ones...

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ROBERT BULLOCK

Hit-music producer, Robert Bullock, (Big Pun, DJ Khaled, David Dunn) isn't a novice in this music biz; Silently instrumental for years helping beef-up up-and-coming talent's resume's & watching them succeed. His art has received the nod of approval of some of the music industry's finest including RIAA Certified Diamond Music Producer - Keith Clizark, Multi-millionaire & founder of CD Baby - Derek Sivers & many others. The creative mind behind the DJ Khaled certified Gold single, 'No New Friends' that peaked at #9 on US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard), created the original work/version of the track which significantly boosted Drake's musical career. On DJ Khaled's , 'Suffering From Success', which debuted at #7 on the US Billboard 200 in 2013, Robert was privileged to co-produce on the project with hit-makers Boi-1da, Cool & Dre , Noah "40" Shebib, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, J. Cole , Timbaland, Young Chop & Vinylz.

YOUNG MONEY ENTERTAINMENT

Robert's reminiscing on a series of conference calls with Michael Blackman a.k.a. Michael Blackwell (Music Supervisor at the time for Drake, Li'l Wayne & others at Young Money Entertainment) & ponders....if no work turned the head of Drake & his manager, then would the world have never heard of their then up-and-coming artist, except for on Degrassi & a few album-filler emotional songs? Which begs the question: would he have ever pursued a distribution deal to link with the indie label off the strength of such minimal success? Not hardly. So, no call between Robert & Michael means he never gets to put his Canadian colleagues on, so there wouldn't have been a reason to leave Young Money. DJ Khaled would've never received the single, 'No New Friends'. So then no spins by Funkmaster Flex for him, no extra RIAA certified-gold plaque, extra interviews, concerts, tours, no awards, etc. In accordance with this particular turn of events, he wouldn't be the same man today - Wow. Written-out, this can be easily mistaken as envy when this article is actually one of enlightenment & a warning to the wise; Facts, not speculation.

HIS MANAGER & MICHAEL

Michael suddenly gets hushed by his employers, though he'd already told Robert he'd been given the green-light to draft an “out-of-house" producer contract as they'd previously discussed, assuring him by vaunting that he "knew how to draw-up a contract". Robert developed a good rapport with Michael & Michael would refer to him as, "Brotha". Now, Michael claimed that none of Robert's work had "hit-potential" but managed to offer to shoot his work to his east & west coast connects though for a nominal fee. Robert declines & Michael says he'd be in touch. After weeks of waiting, Robert calls Michael while at the local library. Michael states that Drake & his manager had to sit down together (supposedly) & take a listen. So it happened: He calls Robert back, notifying him id it, & 3 of Robert's tracks drew immediate attention but one really stood out - Yes, THAT one - Michael stalls Robert , saying paperwork needed to be drawn-up for Robert being an "out-the-house producer", & to trust him because he'd done this plenty of times before & that it may take a little while. Meanwhile, Michael & Young Money have Robert's work, DJ Khaled takes over the handling of it all and takes what he calls, the "skeleton", of the final work to the studio, where allegedly he didn't know Drake already is, the other 2 artists (plus Future, originally) were supposedly contacted (not present) to record, a rush is put on 'finishing' it (upgrading/changing the sounds', Robert is sent no contract & before Robert could say 'demand letter" or "cease-&-desist', he turns on the radio one day, just in time, for a very familiar-sounding derivative of his work - the 'No New Friends' track - a pillar of Drake's MAJOR 'success'. There it was....original content, but different sounds...time-stretched, complete with copied bass-line modulation in the same key & chords played out instead of hit simultaneously for a slightly more-modern feel. Anyway, the new plan seemed to be to stall Robert out until the tune hit the air. Is this is good & fair business? Around the same time, it's said his ex sues him for using her voice on a track without permission. Coincidence? Anyway, his company ignored all & any correspondence from Robert.

WIKIPEDIA

So, it's January 7th & Robert's inquiring online & noticed one of the first entries when searching 'No New Friends' was a Wiki page. Upon seeing misinformation, including the release date of the song, Robert immediately contacts Wikipedia. Turns out even Wikipedia couldn't get correspondence from Young Money either to "correct" an entry which stated, according to info given by their publicists that claimed Boi 1-Da & Noah '40' Shebib solely "produced" & were "author" of Robert's remixed work (formerly entitled, 'Track 13', now entitled, 'No New Friends'). After a while, the list went from 2 (other than Robert,) to 4. Wow; Four producers to remake a beat created in like 2003? Flattering. After a good while of back-and-forth, Wikipedia eventually agreed that Robert was indeed the original author of the track. Songwriter & ASCAP Award-winner, Allen Ritter, had his name just suddenly appear as a co-producer before daybreak of January 8th, but only after Robert's initial complaint to Wiki; Allen, who was indeed a co-writer, was initially given Robert's credit as a producer for the song without citations, which is inaccurate. And Allen never received an ASCAP award until this happened. Even music producer & Boi 1-Da protege, “Vinylz”, also was suddenly & mysteriously cited as another co-producer on the same page & received recognition before daybreak after Robert's complaint. Though Vinylz has produced for many heavy-hitters since 2008, a publishing deal with Sony/ATV never came about until the connection with Boi 1-Da in 2013 from their alleged collaboration on 'No New Friends'....either way, it was Robert's work given to them to reproduce. Also, the Wikipedia info concerning Funkmaster Flex (R.I.P.), was simply a diversion to keep the inquisitive guessing as to the true owners of the work and its date of true origin. The 'remix' was also an attempt to cause the same confusion. There are still alleged on-going publishing issues, supposedly delaying any affiliated artists from getting paid. As for Robert, there was never any correspondence to any of his attempts to reach-out to any affiliate.

THE PEOPLE

In conclusion, know the business, period. The music industry is cut-throat, period. Even with your paperwork & team in place in case of any discrepancies, there are still moccasins lurking in that water. And SO many creative people, especially producers these days are getting less and less credit for their work. But shout-out to all the unsung ones: the behind-the-scenes workers, engineers, writers, etc. that actually make it all happen everyday because everyone that people count as being "successful" all started somewhere and with assistance from everyday people. On Twitter, there was a screenshot of a DJ Khaled Instagram entry boasting: "WE did it!". YES, together with Robert & others like him, it got done. Regardless to the obvious over-emotional undertone in the song title pointing to a shallow, "us-four-and-no-more" type of mindset ["no new friends"] that the tune seems to denote, when onviously every connection was once a "new" connection. Are repetitive, unfair business practices & throw-off's based on emotions any reason for people to continue to get behind this behavior & sow into it just because of the caliber of who it is? Should the folk behind the scenes who make it all happen be done this way & just be "flattered"? Like how his affiliate & friend Boi-1Da said around that same time in that interview about Kanye - that if someone uses your sound, you should just be "flattered". But Kanye, Robert Bullock (Smashin' Adams), Bangladesh, Future, Diddy, Kendrick Lamar, Joe Budden, XXXTentacion & dozens of others weren't too "flattered" but for years have noticed a malicious pattern that needs to stop....but this list goes on. All references are below.

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References:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-blackwell-32281112b/

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/473860/drakes-ovo-label-inks-deal-with-warner-bros-report

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/drake-girlfriend-marvins-room-lawsuit-28691

http://aplus.com/a/drake-most-popular-artist-billboard-charts?no_monetization=true

https://youtu.be/dS1hC52D-Y4

http://www.eurweb.com/2012/03/bangladesh-settles-a-milli-lawsuit-against-lil-wayne-cash-money/

http://www.tmz.com/2014/12/09/diddy-punched-drake-fight-song-feud/

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/history-of-the-kendrick-and-drake-beef-2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_New_Friends

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinylz

http://www.vibe.com/2017/03/xxxtentacion-released-jail-disses-drake

http://www.rap-up.com/2016/08/13/joe-budden-discusses-drake-beef-walks-out-of-hot-97-interview/

"...I note that you are a legitimate producer and do have a claim to some credit for the original music...I hope you get the credit you deserve..." - Donner60 [Wikipedia] (talk) 23:38, 7 January (UTC)

"I removed Allen Ritter as a producer for No New Friends because he apparently was one of the writers but not one of the producers." - Donner60 [Wikipedia] (talk) 08:52, 8 January (UTC)

https://about.me/rbullock

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