Despite this wealth of talent, urban artists have had minimal success until last year, when rapper Petey Pablo scred on the Billboard charts with his hit single, “Raise Up.” Pablo’s success has raised expectations for rappers, singers, producers, and writers across the region.
The Southeast Music and Entertainment Summit (SMES) seeks to capitalize on this new spotlight by bringing together urban culture enthusiasts from the Carolinas and the nation. The Summit will be held at the Marriott Civic Center in Durham on Saturday, July 27, 2002 from 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
The goal of the SMES is to use the common ground of music to build a business and social network that covers the Mid-Atlantic region. The centerpiece of the event is a trade show featuring equipment manufacturers, record labels, fashion designers, music distribution companies, and skateboard manufacturers. The daylong convention also features a soundstage with live performances; a demo clinic where artists can have their work critiqued by industry professionals; several moderated panels; an unsigned artist showcase; and MC and DJ competitions.
The founders of SMES, James Heyward and Tony “Chubbz” Marcus, have strong ties to the Carolinas and the music industry.
While traveling the country attending music industry events and working with record labels and artists, they noticed the importance of regionalism to the music industry. Areas with strong grassroots culture, like the San Francisco Bay, and southern Texas/Louisiana, were able to not only sustain careers for artists and their supporting casts on a regional level, but to use local support to push themselves into a national spotlight.
The SMES is the brainchild of their experiences; the two hope that it becomes an annual event, and serves as a catalyst for year round interaction among attendees.
Heyward and Marcus hope to take Mid-Atlantic music scene to the next level, where the music is only one part of a bigger culture encompassing a total urban lifestyle, and influencing everything from fashion to food to careers. The Southeast Music and Entertainment Summit will offer the Carolinas a taste of the possibilities – the event coordinators hope that taste will leave their attendees hungry for more.
