Feb 16th, 2006 – filed by Jacqueline Besseau

It was a cold blustery winter morning in Toronto, Canada. I hurried to meet Suspence, an emerging “alternative hip hop” producer/artist in the local scene. It’s not usually like me to be late for interviews, but as anyone in Toronto knows, winter and the local transit system (otherwise known as the TTC) do not mix. After watching four full streetcars in a row pass me, and then not seeing another one for a half an hour, I walked to Lettieri (a local café ) for my interview.

With a sheepish grin I found Suspence sitting in the back with a stern look on his face. I recognized him from his EPK photos which I had studied before leaving my house. I introduced myself and apologized for my lateness.
“20 minutes late ? Are you serious ? Time doesn’t wait for anyone… I’m outta here.”
I began to apologize profusely, when he broke into a wide grin, “I’m just playin’ ma, let’s chat.”

Instantly I felt better. Suspence has a warm aura surrounding him that makes you feel very comfortable. It didn’t feel like an interview, but more like a conversation between two friends who had not seen each other in a while.

“How’s business ?” I began. “Good, good. I’ve got a lot of projects on the go, working on the album, getting into a bit of producing, scouting new talent. The grind never stops…and so neither can I…” A gentle vibration followed by a percussive drum sound filled the table. He flashed a smile and shut off his cell phone. “Sorry about that, won’t happen again.”

It’s his politeness and down to earth demeanor that first gets you, a refreshing quality not often seen by this interviewer. I asked him about his vision for his music. “Basically, I want my music to make you move and also make you think. Edu-tainment, but with banging beats ! Hot Jewlz Entertainment is about hot music, but the Jewlz is knowledge, the Jewlz is about remembering where you came from… the Earth… Mother Africa.”

“Hot Jewlz is a full service urban entertainment company. We work with international artists, and we want to make music for the world. That’s gonna mean that the music won’t all sound the same. We’ve got fans in different markets, and we’re gonna give ‘em what they want."

I asked him about the website: www.hotjewlz.com, and the page dedicated to Can Hip Hop Live. “Well, that grew out of a How Can I Be Down Conference in Toronto, Canada. The founder Peter Thomas challenged the audience to develop a network that together could change the face of the Canadian Urban Industry. I don’t know what it is, that keeps us from wanting to share resources, but if artists, labels, managers, promoters got together, and started building together…. we’d see the first Canadian Urban Superstar…we’d see a huge buzz in the Canadian urban scene… we’d see artists being able to feed their kids off of their craft… we’d see associated industries like fashion, studio facilities, video productions start popping off, in a way that they’ve not accomplished before. My main thing is… we’ve all been doing this in our individual camps for soooo long…. why not try, just TRY another way ? Can Hip Hop Live is a plea for like-minded labels, artists, and urban professionals to meet up and say… Ok… how we gonna make some major noise, that’s gonna benefit all of us ?”

I asked him about his role models to which he replied, “50 Cent and Bill Gaither.” I half expected him to burst out laughing again, but he continued looking at me with a completely serious expression. “No, I’m serious… but I’m thinking of business role models. I don’t know them two dudes personally, but looking at how they handle their business, I have to respect them. First 50, he’s a brand… he developed it, and then sold it back to us, albums, movies, video games, toys, labels, groups, sub-companies etc. He’s major right now… and second Bill Gaither… Now, you may not know who that man is, but he’s running things in the Christian Music market for the older folk… Like Fiddy, he’s a man who is a brand… Bill Gaither can take any artist, put his seal of approval on them, and put it out as Bill Gaither presents ‘Daniel X for example… and he's gonna do well sales wise, because his visibility will be high… He’s on TV, DVD, CD, Video, direct order, and in ALL Music stores… and he’s a solid brand, you know what I mean ? You know what you get when you buy a Bill Gaither album, same way you know what you get when you buy a 50 Cent product. Those men are geniuses.”

“What are your future goals,” I asked, as we wrapped up the interview. “Definitely I’d like to reach out to more artists, artists with vision and who are willing to take risks…I’d definitely like to work with them. I also would like to see Hot Jewlz grow, continue building our fan base around the world, and to continue making hot music.”