By Tai Saint Louis
Renowned producer Sha Money XL has inked a multi-million
dollar music and film distribution deal for his Dream Big Ventures imprint,
which will allow him and his team to “nurture talent that has the passion to ‘dream
big,’” he announced today (November 11).
“Sha Money’s reputation and track record of success speaks
for itself,” said Michael Bull, General Manager of The Orchard, Dream Big’s new
distribution home. “All of us at The Orchard are thrilled to be in a position
to work with Sha, building and developing his new label. We see Dream Big as
America’s next great urban independent.”
The former G-Unit Records president comes The Orchard – the world’s
leading digital distributor of music – with a roster of three artists, each at
a different stage of their careers.
Dream Big Ventures also comes to The Orchard with a
completed first project: former Shady/Aftermath recording artist Stat Quo’s
long-delayed debut album Statlanta.
Also signed to the new imprint are DJ Whoo Kid and former Young Money associate
Kidd Kidd.
“The first three projects coming out of Dream Big are very
realistic reflections of the three stages an artist can find themselves in:
established and successful, in-between labels or ready to take your career to
the next level,” Sha Money told AllHipHop.com in a statement.
Originally scheduled for a 2003 release, Statlanta now boasts production credits
by Che Vicious, Hi-Tek, Key Kat Productions and Sha Money XL himself, who says
he wanted to work with Stat from the first time he heard him.
“The anticipation for his debut album is still high,” he
added. “I am pleased to be releasing it through my new venture.”
Along with the announcement of its new partnership, Dream
Big released Stat Quo’s latest single “Freaky Girl” and Kidd Kidd’s “New Kidd
On The Block” mixtape, hosted by DJ Whoo Kid and DJ Scream.
In addition to operating his new venture as a traditional
label, Sha Money XL has launched a new website, DreamBigVentures.Net, which he
hopes can serve as an interactive advertising and promotion tools for
up-and-coming talent and music-related service providers, ie web and graphic
designers, producers, and videographers. Sha’s hope is that the site will also
encourage established industry executives to seek out those kinds of talent the
world over.
“Dream Big is about me fulfilling my dreams and my visions,”
Sha Moneys explained. “Imagine if Dr. Dre had never moved on from NWA or Death
Row? You have to have wisdom to accept that a change has to take place, but not
be careless with your future.”
In addition to his continued expansion of the One Stop Shop,
which, in three years, has become the premier annual networking event for
producers, Sha Money XL is currently co-managing Hi-Tek and Talib Kewli as
Reflection Eternal. Revolutions Per
Minute, the duo’s highly anticipated follow-up to 2000’s Train of Thought, is due out in 2010.
Sha Money also recently served as the Associate Producer on
50 Cent’s fourth studio album, Before I
Self-Destruct, which is set to hit stores Tuesday (November 16).