New Music: Oswin Benjamin “Summer Nights”
Hiphopdx Premiere
Legendary Music Executive, Sway In The Morning Show Member Launches Project Highlighting The Next Wave Of Talent
Rich Nice & Sway Calloway’s “The A&R Room” Will Be Released On 8-26-2016
If you aren’t familiar with the name Oswin Benjamin yet, you soon will be. The rising NYC emcee/singer has been ascending up the ladder due to his work with Black Milk (“The Soul Pt. 2”), Nick Grant and Chris Rivers among others and his appearances on Sway In The Morning. Now, Oswin has been tapped for the first leak, “Summer Knights,” (which was exclusively premiered today by Hiphopdx) from Rich Nice’s forthcoming compilation The A&R Room (which is Co-Executive produced by Sway Calloway).
To say that Rich Nice has enjoyed a storied career in the music industry would be an understatement. Outside of being the first rapper signed to Motown, Rich helped create Track Masters Entertainment with Poke & Tone, wearing multiple hats as Vice President of A&R for Track Masters/Columbia Records, where he was responsible for over 50 artists on the labels roster and worked closely with the President of Urban music Tommy Mottola. Aside from creating music and shaping projects, Rich Nice also headed up the labels lifestyle branding events, listening sessions and strategic marketing for the label and its affiliated artists which included; Nas, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, LL Cool J, Foxy Brown, 2Pac, Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Maxwell, The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Jermaine Durpi, Destiny’s Child, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Will Smith and Michael Jackson among others. As an A&R Consultant/Executive Producer, Rich has worked with Multi-Platinum artist Ludacris and his Disturbing Tha Peace label (DTP/Def Jam), The Fast & Furious Soundtrack, Pitbull, 2Chainz, Chingy, Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude, Too Short, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Just Blaze, Marsha Ambrosius, Bilal, Saigon, KRS-One, Rakim, Kool Herc (the Father of Hip Hop), Kanye West, DJ Premier, Rick Rubin and A-Trak.
Consistently working at the highest levels of the music industry, the foresight to be innovative and creative still pumps thru Rich’s veins as his latest endeavor, The A&R Room, is one that is near and dear to his heart; a platform to discover new talent.
With his celebrated career as an A&R executive and his current stint as a member of Sway’s “Sway In The Morning” (which boasts 30 million Sirius XM subscribers) team no one is more equipped to find and develop talent then Rich Nice. How many talented artists feel they are one song and or break away from realizing their dreams? That is the concept and goal of The A&R Room.
The A&R Room is the culmination of Rich’s stint on Sway In The Morning (some of the tracks included on the project are from artists who submitted music to Sway’s show); "This concept is a display of great emerging artists that go unnoticed until the right ears and eyes spotlight the obvious. Rich Nice has continued to put together cohesive quality projects and The A&R Room is a continuation. I’m proud to be Executive Producer” Sway commented to Hiphopdx.
“As an A&R the grind to find new talent never ends” Rich Nice stated to Hiphopdx. “I am in the clubs, I am in the streets, I’m on campus and they will tell you what is moving people. However, my capacity on Sway’s show affords me additional and invaluable platforms to discover that talent as well. The A&R Room is for artists that have been grinding, working and hustling to get their music heard, but have been unable to get that one break they need, that one song to get over the hump. Whether it is something that stands out on a demo, or a live performance, an A&R’s job is to help sharpen and artist’s individual strengths and skill-sets and translate them into realizing their sound to make a great record; a blueprint. I am utilizing resources to get those artists heard by the masses and getting them on fans radar and galvanizing all of that under one roof. The A&R Room is designed as a filter, it’s A&R on a radio level.”
Rich Nice’s The A&R Room features appearances by Sir Michael Rocks, Tuki Carter, 3D Na’Tee, Famsquad, Megan Rochell and many others and will be released on 8-26-2016 courtesy of Boutique Beats/Penalty Records.
Checkout the Hiphopdx Premiere: here
Pre-order Rich Nice’s The A&R Room and receive 5 insta-grat tracks with pre-order purchase: here