 Yeah, we don't boss talk one-on-one. Yeah, we gonna talk you got a question Okay, you got on the camera there Okay, let's let's let's let's April April Nicole Okay, okay, and and you just heard the astounding list so what what what? I thought it was a great list to be honest with you man at the choices the people man I like I said, I was definitely into it Get that and man, that's just just a dope look man. So April Nicole, what what do you think? Well, first of all, thank you for coming. Thank you Thank you for having me on the mic this time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah on the mic this time You know, I think it is an awesome list because I do I do hear some improvements And that's super dope However, I Wonder why there's only been one female gatekeeper on the list and this would be the third year And when I think about it because I understand this from a publicist standpoint and for people They don't don't know who I am. I am the CEO of Nicole paradigm LLC in the coal paradigm media I've been publicist to vary a lot of different Individuals that are on this gatekeepers list and I also understand that you know Not trying to have a feminist movement or anything But it's a lot of a lot of gatekeepers on this list that really are who they are because of Who we are who we are to them So there are so many females in the Dallas Metroplex beyond they can pick up the phone They get these calls when these artists come in town and we are really the ones that are making these things happen now Do these gatekeepers say, oh, you know, it's really so-and-so. It's really making them moves. Absolutely not But we're the ones making the moves and I do want to give a shout out to radio Raheem Because I am never satisfied now. So, um And I'm grateful to see that because as humble as he is he's not, you know, he's not loud He's not boisterous and I'm I'm grateful to be, you know representing a brand this like Super dope super humble and super about, you know, promoting artists promoting not just artists We got Lordy B signed, you know, we have other artists from different genres So I'm definitely in a in a great place But you know, I even want to give a shout out to Shamar because Shamar is how I got my start I would not be where I was if it was not for Shamar He looked at me one day many many years ago and he was like, you know, you're a publicist. I'm like I'm doing all this writing, but you know, we have a lot of individuals and the list is really cut You know, I wanna ask though, what is do it? What is the issue with the list just that it doesn't have females on there has not been any bit Much female presence since DJ does I want to give him a chance to speak to that. No, I think that's correct It hasn't been I've done my due diligence Because I didn't want to put a female on here just for the sake of putting one on here I want to be able to put a female on here that when you see A Carl Crawford, you see her name and it evens out I think women in this game is definitely starting to Make their head like shout out to DTX Nova She doing her thing for sure where I definitely considered that Let's see who else It was a few that we considered But like the way that we kind of voted it was just one of those things that like women are Hip-hop for so long has been male dominated women are coming up right now But right now we just didn't see that person that was that female that was literally on that level and we try Like it's a lot of women doing their thing. It's a lot of men that got on this list that got Great women behind them That's no one does anything alone, right? Nobody. It's it's always a team I would say right now is y'all keep doing your thing. I feel like more is coming Um, so you're saying that they need to be more up front. I think so. It's that's what guys do Guys get out there and if you unfortunately win the world if you ain't seen you ain't hurt If you not seen you not hurt and it's unfair Because sometimes that means longest i'm the loudest that means I convince people i'm the best That's not always the case, but that is kind of the game right now um, I try to do my best to and of course Educate me like who did we miss because that's the other great thing about the gatekeeper list Is you see these people on the list, but you see the people in the comments to say Hey, but you forgot about this person and it acts that person and what that does is reveal other people I was about to say do you take that into consideration when you see that? That's how fun about samar samar wasn't on the first list Okay, and I was in the comments spamming him spamming him spamming him because I know his contribution I'm I'm all for Dallas. I'm all for Dallas culture and you know I'm not by any means. I'm not even putting myself on the gatekeeper list Yeah, I'm really trying to change the narrative not necessarily speaking about myself But he said one dtx nova nova is doing her thing like she's doing her thing um And she's probably done more things than you would know about because we have Yeah, you say we got to do our things. We got to be more upfront. We've been doing it Nicole paradigm is a 10. I've been in this game 10 years But guess what I had to do as a woman. I had to leave Dallas I stayed in Dallas. Guess why I had to go get clients la Elena I don't have an og in Dallas my og is in los angeles shouts out to freeway rick rost When I make a call, that's who I make a call to I think about another other people that On that list when I who I call when people come in town Boy, if I need to get in contact with j-print, I pick up the phone. I call larry from real hair That's who I make calls to I have individuals that I make calls to that I have these relationships with And a lot of them are not on the list. I don't even know if you consider the real hair larry I know he's just now getting into the concert game But literally anybody that I want to talk to in the game I'm picking up the phone and I'm calling him if I can't reach them I pick up the phone not costume or if I can't So let me make this clear just because you're not on this list does not make you That doesn't disqualify you or say you're not a gatekeeper that I know people have been Can I use the word traumatized or people have been conditioned that when a list Drops like this is the best and this is the only And so when you see this list this list isn't coming to say This is the best is this is the only the only but in 2022 this is like hey These are the ones we want to be able to recognize and love on and give their roses for the work that they're doing Sure, it's a lot of other people out there. It doesn't mean that they're not gatekeepers I just don't want to make a fucking list. That's 200 people long I just kind of feel like the word gatekeeper you gave the definition and you said these are individuals that artists um They're able to have a power platform connection or influence And it's a lot of people that have it a lot of people have they don't have to that's theirs to use or not So they have the platform yet. They may not be using it But they qualify as a gatekeeper what I'm saying is the people on the list are using it now This is what you have to say is this though because this is the problem. This is when subjectivity comes into play I may say they're doing a great job Your ideal of a great job. Maybe they're doing a terrible job And so I it's hard for me to say i'm gonna create something as objective That everyone is going to agree with it's it's not it's impossible Even if me and you sat down and we vetted every person to the team and tried to come up with the most perfect list Somebody's going to tell us this list is bullshit Because it's subjective of what help is when somebody's like, oh, they're not helping But how do you help and then I hear your definition to help I hear this artist definition to help everybody got different Ideas of what help is and so therefore on this list is just like hey To not be on this list is not to say you don't qualify on this right now It's just like let's give a chance to get these people their roses. Why they hear for what they're doing Anybody else that's not on this list Drop the comments or who should be on this list still love on these people because what people want to do is then try To discredit these people so that these people down here can fit. Let's get at it. You don't have to do that It's enough room for everyone Because the goal of the list is that for artists to know what's in they backyards So if even when you see this list, you don't see who you rock with on this list I don't know everybody. Texas is what the second largest state in the country. How the fuck i'm gonna know everybody It's impossible That's why it's important for them to to put in the comments And that's why the list is important because it creates a dialogue that you and I are having What about this person? What about this person if there's no list then people just float Right like it. Like you love it. Love the answer. Um april nicole man. I I hope that uh Hey man, uh, I hope big d the mogul gave you the answers that you needed. Um, I mean, uh, definitely the list is going to be coming out annually and uh Every year every year and and it's gonna go down man. Just like this every time and I love the I love the Friction and the the the way that it brings you need the negative Yeah, yeah What what I mean by negative is this you gotta have both that's all he's saying negative not about bad or wrong It's just about you need The both sides to create in a narrative and the narrative is energy You know what I'm saying? That's it. That's all I'm saying. I do want to say this I do want to commend you because by you starting easily this list There have been many other lists created by bloggers. You know, um, shots out to realtune shots out to You know All of the guys I'm just you know off the top of my head. I want to give a shout out to these individuals because um during the pandemic Most of these blocks started during the pandemic. Nothing wrong with that. It's a great thing. Um, a lot of them capitalized off of depth You know, but it's a narrative. It's a narrative. I don't have any negative thing to say about that But what I do have to say is that I'm apron the cold. I'm a Dallas native. I've been in this game for a while I am definitely going to be the forefront of pushing the feminine narrative in 2022 Because and I love I mean, I love black men. I'm definitely not a bad shirt I'm definitely not a feminist But what I am here for is to make sure that we get our flowers It has been a long time. We have supported a lot and we could you know We could go um and a lot of these women that I've been speaking with Yeah, we could go in the direction of like a super head and do a tell-all, but we don't want to do that all we are saying is When when people roll in town Our phones ring too for sure. No, you know, we are so making sure artists are taken care of down to They need IV strips. They need Diabetic we we do a lot for sure and when our runners a lot of us are bosses because I'm definitely a boss Not a worker, but a boss. I'm a servant as well But what I do is I take care of everyone that's attached to me and I make sure that the individuals That are my clients that I'm working with whoever they bring in town They are going to be taken care of and that's one of the reasons they want to continue Um, they want to start a relationship All right, but I want to I just want to I want everyone to know April Nicole those that don't know me I should But I have been in the background on some occasions definitely, but I'm definitely going to be in the forefront I'm definitely going to be coming for the list You know, I like him You're coming to be on the list. I'm what I'm saying you come appreciate his effort I would never down what he's doing. Um, it's not it's not about my opinion on the list Shots out. I'm I'm really excited that radio. Raheem is on the list because I was getting ready to you know Ah That what this all about. Absolutely not. Okay Like I said, there's so many people on that list that I've worked with. You know what I'm saying All three of the list I just wanted I just want Dallas to understand we need a culture and that culture is going to be built on Male energy and female energy and togetherness. We have artists We have a list how many of these lists how many of these individuals have a signed artist Shouts after Shamar. He got suji cash signed with kodak black I'm and I'm not getting ready to shout everybody out But we're talking about gatekeepers and I want to see these these next lists with these artists Who's signing them? Who's getting them deals? We need a record label in Dallas. We got to come together. It's time Man, thank you so much, man. Thank you for having me. Appreciate you. Did you want to say something before she left? Just to get out of here I still got to talk to you some more. Okay. I just want to say this um The gatekeeper listen to my opinion. It ain't about just breaking the artist Because the only person only people that can break the artist is the fans I don't care if you get signed in kodak black. I don't care if you signed a drape If the people won't gravitate to the music it doesn't matter who you attach yourself to And so when you look at these gatekeepers, don't go to them as far as them breaking you as an artist Approach the gatekeepers understand what their superpower is Uh and use that to your leverage to get you in front of more people because it is the people Who break the artist man? That's it