Jonny Shipes facts for kids

Jonny Shipes is an American entrepreneur and music producer. He is known for discovering many talented artists. These include Nipsey Hussle, Joey Bada$$, Sean Kingston, Big K.R.I.T., Smoke DZA, and Druski. Jonny is the founder and CEO of GoodTalk. This company is an independent record label. It also handles artist management, merchandise, and music publishing. GoodTalk is the company that followed his earlier business, Cinematic Music Group.

Early Life and Music Love

Jonny Shipes was born and grew up in New York City. He first heard hip-hop and rap music when he was six years old. This happened at a summer basketball camp. He immediately loved the music style. Besides hip-hop and rap, he also enjoyed other types of music. He listened to bands like Guns N' Roses, Dido, Portishead, and Bjork.

Jonny was a great basketball player. He finished high school in East Hampton in 1998. His mother, Linda Shapiro, lived there at the time.

Jonny's Career Journey

Starting as a DJ and Manager

After high school, Jonny worked as a DJ. He also cleaned swimming pools to earn money. In 2000, he started promoting parties. One party, called "One Shot," brought in 1,000 people every week. Around this time, he met Puff Daddy. Jonny helped Combs' company, Bad Boy Records, find a new location for a staff meeting. Soon after, he was hired as the first employee for Blue Flame, Combs' marketing company. He also worked as an intern for Combs, helping to find new artists.

Jonny moved back to New York City. He continued DJing and working in marketing. He also produced and engineered recording sessions. He managed several DJs, including DJ Felli Fel and DJ Kay Slay. At 22, he became an artist manager. He worked with artists like Foxy Brown and Nappy Roots. In 2002, he discovered and signed Smoke DZA. Over the years, Jonny managed many artists. These included T-Pain, Big K.R.I.T., Joey Bada$$, Cam’ron, and Sean Kingston.

Cinematic Music Group and Big Artists

In 2007, Jonny Shipes started Cinematic Music Group (CMG) with Smoke DZA. They chose the name to show how artists could create vivid pictures with their music.

One of Cinematic's first big releases was Sean Kingston's first album. It included four hit songs. One of them, "Beautiful Girls", became a number one hit.

In 2008, Jonny met Nipsey Hussle. A DJ he managed suggested Hussle's music. Jonny heard two of Hussle's songs online. He immediately loved the raw honesty and strong messages in the music. Jonny felt Hussle painted clear pictures with his words. A day later, Jonny traveled to Los Angeles to meet Hussle. After some talks, Jonny signed Hussle to Cinematic. He worked on Hussle's albums, including Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Vol 1, Vol. 2, and Vol 3. He also produced the song "Strapped." Jonny worked closely with Hussle for many years.

Jonny met and signed Big K.R.I.T in 2010. He then discovered Joey Bada$$ in 2012. Jonny signed Bada$$ and his group, Pro Era, soon after they met. Cinematic released Bada$$'s mixtape 1999 in June 2012. Bada$$'s first album, B4.Da.$$, came out in 2015. It reached number 5 on the Billboard charts.

Jonny signed Flipp Dinero in 2016. In 2017, Cinematic released Dinero's first tape, The Guala Way. In 2018, Dinero had a multi-platinum song called “Leave Me Alone." Other artists also joined Cinematic in the late 2010s. These included Luh Kel, Abby Jasmine, Mick Jenkins, Slayter, Yungeen Ace, and Jaydayoungan. Jonny helped produce Luh Kel's platinum song "Wrong" and his gold song "Pull Up."

Jonny also connected with comedian Druski early in his career. He started managing Druski in 2020. At that time, Druski had almost one million followers online. Now, he has nearly six million. Jonny and Druski also started a film and TV production company together, called 4Lifers Entertainment.

Other Ventures: Fashion, Food, and Charity

Jonny was a partner in FELT, a streetwear clothing line from New York.

He also enjoys cooking. Jonny has appeared on the Vice TV show Munchies. He tried making different foods like donuts, shrimp and grits, and pizza rolls. In 2020, he invested in Grindstone Coffee and Donuts. This is a popular shop in Sag Harbor, New York.

During a challenging time in 2020, Jonny helped raise money for NYC Together. He offered a music contract to unsigned artists. People paid $20 to submit their music. This money helped buy learning devices and tutors for kids in Brooklyn.

GoodTalk: Jonny's New Company

In summer 2023, Jonny sold the music catalog of Cinematic Music Group. He then started a new company called GoodTalk. This is a full-service entertainment company. It includes talent management, a new record label, clothing, and festivals. It also includes 4Lifers Entertainment, the film and TV company he started with Druski.]