EP 25: Royal Bayyan on Record Production and a Lifetime in the Music Business

“Stay true to yourself, and stay true to the game. If you give music your all, and be honest with yourself, you will be rewarded.”In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews  Royal Bayyan. Royal is a Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Music Supervisor, Personal Manager, Executive Brand Consultant. He played with and was a founding member of Kool & the Gang. He established several Production Companies such as Bayyan Internationale’, “The Forecast”, America’s Best Entertainment, Spook Productions Inc.& Urban Media Sound. He is the CEO of Raven Entertainment Group Distribution, partnered with Nile Rogers’ & Andy Uteroni, worked as a consultant for National R&B Music Society, Good Tree Media, Mos Def Mgmt, RUFF RYDERS Entertainment, and others. Royal, individually or collectively with his family, has discovered, managed, developed, or produced artists such as: Freddy Jackson, Gloria Gayner, Latoya Jackson, Ray, Goodman & Brown, The Main Ingredient, Mos-Def, Teddy Riley, Pink, The TUPAC Poetry Project, Color Me Badd, and many others. He was the New York Entertainment Coordinator at Harlem World Promotions, and the A&R Director of Black Music @ The Sound of New York Records with Gene Griffin. Between 1988 & 1989 Royal & Kool Bell sponsored and promoted the “Def Jam in the Motherland Tours” in Africa with  EPMD, Eric B and Rakim, and  LL Cool J. On top of that, he's an accomplished jazz guitarist, instrumentalist, and songwriter. The topics of the interview include Royal's beginnings as an early member of Kool and the Gang, the problems and pitfalls of the music business, the art of record production, Bringing live hip hop concerts to Africa, the evolution of music production, surviving in the music business, an alternative perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the music business, and the spiritual aspects of life as a professional musician and as a Muslim.Visit Royal Bayyan at www.royalbayyan.comThe following music is featured in this episode:Opening track: "Love & Understanding" by Kool & the GangMiddle track: "All I Wanna Do” by Royal BayyanEnding track: "Corona Blues” by Royal Bayyan(All tracks composed by Royal Bayyan) CreditsProducer and host:  Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi aka SoSaLaPublisher: Musicians For Musicians (MFM), Inc.Technical support: Adam Reifsteck (MFM Board)https://musiciansformusicians.org