I wanted to make sure, as a young guy, he would respect me,” he said. If a 50-year-old jazz guy came in, I wanted to make sure I knew what was hot. I’m always gonna find a way to learn a culture. “I was always big into the credits because I knew those names would one day ring bells,” said Taylor.Īs he slowly started to build his reputation as a music aficionado, customers would frequently test his knowledge. Scouring through records of all genres and reading the credits on vinyl records, Taylor started building a curiosity of the business behind the music. Arnold Taylor, founder of South Coast Music Group. Everyone who came into the city came into the record store,” Taylor said. I started really seeing the power of music. It started from working in the record store. “For me the music stuff started during high school, but not really the business, just the love of music. Shazada Records was Charlotte’s first Black-owned record store– owned by Taylor’s godfather– and his introduction to the diverse universe of music. Taylor, who grew up on the south side of the city on Archdale Road, went to Olympic High and got his start in music working at a record store in the early ‘90s. Sitting in his Uptown South Coast Music Group office, we overlook the city on a rainy Gotham-like day coincidentally listening to several songs from DaBaby on the local radio station throughout our two-hour conversation. Arnold Taylor and DaBaby celebrate platinum plaque for “Suge.” Photo: Taylor is a music executive who has paid his dues in the industry, and he’s about as Charlotte as you can get. As we watch the rise of young rappers who often help build an identity for younger generations in an ascending city like Charlotte, we often overlook the business and marketing minds behind the personas. He was also recently nominated for two Grammy Awards for his song “Suge,” from the project Baby on Baby released in March. Over the last year, Charlotte rapper Jonathan Kirk, aka DaBaby, has skyrocketed straight to the top of the music industry with several songs currently on the Billboard charts including his album Kirk, which reached Number 1 on the Billboard 200 shortly after its release in September. The city of Charlotte has long yearned for a breakout musical artist.
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