Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke calls out the brains behind Revolt Music Conference.
I'm sick and tired of out-of-town entertainment moguls and executives who attempt to take over Miami. Last month, the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hosted the inaugural Revolt Music Conference, a four-day event organized by Revolt TV chief executive Keith Clinkscales, who owes his job to Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.
For the music conference, Clinkscales brought in industry heavy-hitters such as Def Jam cofounder Russell Simmons and iHeartRadio CEO Bob Pittman, as well as top executives from social media music companies Shazam, Spotify, and SoundCloud. But the conference didn't make room for any local artists or music executives.
Revolt TV didn't even bother to invite Gloria and Emilio Estefan, or Mr. Worldwide Pitbull, who, along with me, put Miami's music industry on the map.
Guys like Clinkscales rub shoulders with local politicians to generate good public relations and make it seem like they're doing something positive for Miami. Recently, Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine gave Clinkscales a key to the city and that Miami commissioners handed him a proclamation. They don't know guys like Clinkscales are not serious about giving back to the community.
While Clinkscales claims he is going to help Miami teens interested in the music industry, he has yet to respond to calls from Nikki Kancey, founder of an inner city youth organization called Teens Exercising Extraordinary Success.
Meanwhile, I'm still wondering when I will get a proclamation. Miami greats such as the late record label owner Henry Stone, rap legend Blowfly, and singer-songwriter Betty Wright haven't been recognized by our hometown either.
We shouldn't cater to these interlopers. We should run them out of town until they recognize and respect the real Miami music industry.
Tune into Luke on the Andy Slater Show every Tuesday from 2 to 5 p.m. on Miami's Sports Animal, 940 AM.
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1 and @unclelukesempir.
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