Jonny Shipes

Template:Template otherTemplate:Wikidata image Jonny Shipes is an American music entrepreneur and producer. Credited with discovering Nipsey Hussle, Joey Bada$$, Sean Kingston, Big K.R.I.T. and Smoke DZA, he is the founder and CEO of Cinematic Music Group, an independent record label, artist management, merchandise and music publishing company.

"Hip hop's most successful pothead", Shipes is also the co-founder of Smokers Club, a cannabis lifestyle brand and semi-annual music festival and tour. He is also a partner in FELT, a streetwear line, and a donut shop in the Hamptons.

Early life and education

Shipes was born and raised in New York City. He heard hip-hop and rap for the first time when he was six, while attending a summer basketball camp, and "fell in love with the genre from the start." His taste extended beyond hip hop and rap, and in addition t o the Geto Boys, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Jay Z, OutKast, Nas, Scarface, and Snoop Dogg he grew up listening to Guns N Roses, Dido, Portishead, and Bjork.

Shipes was expelled from the military high school he attended during his sophomore year and moved to East Hampton (town), New York|East Hampton, where his mother, Linda Shapiro, then lived. A star basketball player, he graduated from East Hampton High in 1998.

Career

DJ, promoter, manager

After he graduated, Shipes -- who had DJed in high school -- supported himself by DJing and cleaning pools. In 2000 he began to promote parties such as "One Shot," a Thursday night event at a club in Wainscott, New York|Wainscott that drew 1000 people every week. At around the same time, he met Sean Combs|Puff Daddy at a pick up basketball game; when the location of a retreat for Combs' Bad Boy Records staff fell through at the last minute, the company's head of marketing, Jameel Spencer, asked Shipes to help find an alternative site. He quickly secured a new location for the retreat, and shortly thereafter Spencer hired Shipes as the first employee of Blue Flame, Combs' marketing company. At the same time, he was an A&R intern for Combs.

Shipes returned to New York City, and in addition to DJing, working his marketing gig at Blue Flame, and interning for Puffy, he produced and engineered sessions at the Cutting Room, Soho Studios, and Quad Studios. He also managed DJs including DJ Felli Fel, DJ Spinbad and DJ Kay Slay, and at 22 became an artist manager, representing Foxy Brown and Nappy Roots, among others. He discovered and signed Smoke DZA in 2002. Over the next several years, Shipes managed artists including T-Pain, Brown, Nappy Roots, Big K.R.I.T., Joey BAdass, Cam’ron, and Sean Kingston.

Cinematic Music Group, Nipsey Hussle, Big K.R.I.T, Joey Bada$$, Flipp Dinero

In 2007, with Smoke DZA, Shipes founded Cinematic Music Group (CMG), named to reflect an artist's ability to convey visuals with music. Shipes said: "If you close your eyes and listen, there's gonna be a picture painted. If it's a hip-hop artist, is it taking me right to their block, painting that picture of what their life is like."

Sean Kingston's platinum debut was among Cinematic's first releases. Released in conjunction with Epic and JR Rotem's Beluga Heights, the album scored four hit singles, including "Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston song)|Beautiful Girls", a #1 hit on the Hot 100.

In 2008, Shipes met Nipsey Hussle, whose music was recommended by Felly Fel, a DJ an Shipes managed at the time. Shipes heard two of Hussle's songs on MySpace, and "instantly fell in love with the rawness, the message and his hard deliveries with sing-song hooks about the life he was living. He was painting pictures with every single word he spoke." Within 24 hours, Shipes was en route to L.A to meet Hussle. After several weeks of negotiations, Shipes signed Hustle to Cinematic. Both a management and recording deal. Shipes worked on Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Vol 1, Vol. 2 and Vol 3, producing "Strapped", "I dont give a fucc" & "Hussle in the House". He remained close to Hussle until his death in March 2019.

Shipes met and signed Big K.R.I.T in 2010, and discovered Joey Bada$$ in 2012. Shipes signed Bada$$ and Pro Era, named for his Brooklyn crew, shortly after they met. Cinematic released his mixtape 1999 in June 2012. Bada$$ released his debut album, B4.Da.$$ in 2015. It entered the Billboard charts at #5.

Shipes signed Flipp Dinero in 2016, and in 2017 Cinematic released his debut tape The Guala Way. In 2018 Dinero had a top 20 Billboard Hot 100 quadruple platinum single, “Leave Me Alone." Luh Kel, Abby Jasmine, Mick Jenkins, Slayter, Yungeen Ace, and Jaydayoungan also signed with Shipes during the latter part of the 2010s. He co-produced Luh Kel's platinum single "Wrong," as well as his gold single "Pull Up."

Smokers Club, FELT, NYC Together, Munchies

In 2009 Shipes, Smoke DZA and Shiest Bubz founded the Smokers Club, a cannabis lifestyle company, and Smokers Club Records. Merging their love for music with their love for cannabis, the first Smokers Club show took place in Austin Texas during SXSW at the Fire Engine House. DZA, Devin the Dude, Big K.R.I.T., Wiz Khalifa, Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar performed. A sold-out success, Shipes, his business partner Steve-O Brown, Smoke DZA and Shiest Bubz launched the Smokers Club Tour in 2010. "Hip-hop's most successful pothead," Shipes personally financed the 2010 tour, which, by 2019, had expanded to over 300 shows in over 50 cities, with hundreds of artists including Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, Mac Miller, ASAP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, Hussle, Currency, Big KRIT, Smoke DZA, Cam’Ron, Flatbush Zombies, and Bada$$. . Shipes is also a partner in FELT, a New York-centric streetwear line.

A "pro stoner and amateur cook," Shipes appears frequently on the Vice series Munchies. He has attempted to make food including donuts, shrimp and grits, and pizza rolls in "Recipe for Disaster" segments, and hosted several episodes of Drunk Eats.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shipes partnered with NYC Together to provide remote learning devices to 20 students in Brooklyn. He also offered a $50,000 singles contract to unsigned artists who submitted music to him via Instagram during the initial quarantine. He charged $20 for each submission, which raised $10,000 for NYC Together. In addition to the learning devices, the funds were used to pay for home tutors for kids who were quarantined.

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