That and the fact that my brother, Floyd Dixon, played for the Falcons.

Okay we hear a lot about how so many people come up off the street and make it in the music business, but both you and Master P went to college, did you learn anything about the business in college?

I learn the business blowing money.  Trying this and trying that, seeing what worked and what didn’t.  But to be honest I learned more when I got to Houston than I did when I was in Atlanta.  I was blessed with Fat Pat’s album for it to be very successful as an independent.

Was Fat Pat your first album on Wreckshop?

Yeah, that was my first release as Wreckshop Records.  And I was really blessed to have learned a whole lot during that project.  Right now, for me to do that project and make that kind of money off of it, I would have to spend a lot of money.  And we had to over-promote it because we didn’t have an artist.  Fat Pat was dead at the time of the record’s release so we had to do a lot of extra promotions and marketing.

What year was that released?

Fat Pat’s Ghetto Dreams came out in 98.  We started working on it in late 97.   The record sold over 200,000 units.  It sold about a 100,000 units the first year it came out.  That record has always been a real strong seller for me.  Big Moe’s record City of Syrup is the only other record that we released that sold that many, that fast.

What was your second release?

Our second release was called Fat Pat and the Wreckshop Family presents Throwed in the Game.  It sold about a 100,000 units.  It came out in 98 about six or seven months after the first one.

Unfortunately fat pat was killed just as his career and your label was beginning to take off, how did that affect you and your label?

Losing Fat Pat was a major blow to me both personally and professionally.  I didnt just lose an artist, I lost a friend.

How did you two meet?

I met Pat through a friend.  One of my friends had done a concert with the Screwed Up Click in Beaumont and we just clicked from then on.  Before I had met him I already had a little game plan mapped out and when I met him, I saw an opportunity for me to make my plan work.  Fat Pat had already popularized himself on DJ Screw’s tapes.   And I had learned from my experience that if you were going to put out a record, you’ve got to be able to put a budget behind somebody.  I also learned that if you’re going to put a budget behind somebody, it was best to put it behind someone who already had a fan base instead of trying to get somebody new and push their record.   I looked at that as an opportunity because I knew how popular the Screw tapes were.   Pat had been rapping on them Screw tapes for a while.  He had a fan base. He was popular.  Once I found out that he wasn’t attached to no label, plus I was a fan myself, it was a way to enter into a successful situation instead of trying to create a successful situation that wasn’t there.

What happened to you after Pat passing?

After Pat passed we decided that we needed to get another artist that already had a fan base and get them out there.  That’s when we signed ESG and dropped Shinin’ & Grindin’.  It came out in 1999 and sold 50,000.  The next record we dropped was Pimp Tyte’s album.  They were a new group who we put out and they sold about 20,000 units.  Although they didn’t sell like our previous records, we looked at their sell as a success considering they were a new group with virtually no fan base.  We followed that up with ESG’s sophomore album, City Under Siege, which sold about 100,000 units.

At this point you guys were getting real popular around the South….

Yeah, at this point we were doing well.  People in the industry were noticing us.   Alot of Houston area rappers were getting deals back then.  Big Pokey got a deal, Yungstar got a deal, Lil Troy, DMD had got their deal.  Everybody was getting deals but us.  We felt like we were losing the war.  We had to do something.   So we came up with the movie and soundtrack The Dirty Third

Okay, why do a movie instead of just dropping another album?

I knew if that movie was successful that it would raise the value of our label and our artists.

And it worked for you all too.  That movie did well.

The movie sold about 20,000 units and the soundtrack did 45,000 copies.  Plus we got the movie on pay-per-view.  We cross-promoted so the sale of one item, lead to the sale of the other.  We did real well with that project.

Okay after the movie then what did you all do?

The next project we did Big Moe’s City of Syrup.

How did you find Big Moe

I already knew Moe, he performed on Fat Pat’s Ghetto Dreams.

Moe already was a legend in Houston because he was also on the original Screw Tapes, Lil Keke’s debut album and Fat Pat’s classic album, so he had a fan base.   That, plus the fact that we were friends, made it a perfect match.

At the time Big Moe was known as a singer and not a rapper.  Most independent labels tend to shy away from R & B because it is too expensive to promote, what made you see potential in Big Moe?

I looked at Moe like he was one of the last of the original Screw Up Click.  Alot of labels shied away from him because he was mostly a singer.  Most labels are afraid to mess with singers because r & b is hard to break on an independent level.  But somewhere along the way he and I had developed a relationship and he came in and did an album with us.  I had no ideal that the record was going to be that big.

Yeah Moe blew up with that Maan single…..

Yeah, Maan, was the song that ignited the fire.  It was kind of a gimmicky thing, but the Barre Baby was the record that kinda got the record started as far as radio was concerned and stuff.

I imagine after that every record label and their mama was trying to get at you?

Oh yeah, after that record we had all kinds of labels coming at us with deals, but I held out for about a year because I didn’t like the type of deals that I was being offered.  I knew what I wanted out of a deal and nobody was really offering that to me.  I was making money so it wasn’t really no need to rush.  In fact we were making so much money that a lot of times people were offering us deals where we were making about as much or, in some cases, more than what the majors were offering.  If you’re selling 200,000 independent, you’re going to gross some cash.  So somebody offering me 300,000 up front with less on the backend, hell, I can make 300,000 with virtually no recoupment to worry about.  Why should I sell my company to you for less than what it worth to me now?

Unquestionably, you all have seen a tremendous amount of success as an independent label, what’s you're secret?

The secret to our success was that we had put us a little machine together and for the most part it was pretty successful.  But the machine required major money and support in order for us to take our company to the next level.  It was costing us a lot of money, but it was making us more effective.

You see the major problem with most small independent labels is that they are limited in their funds and ability to work different areas at a time.  So what they do is they work one area and when it gets worked they move on to the next area and work it.   What we were able to do was to create a machine that worked several major key markets in our region all at the same time.  So when we had a record being released on one date the posters for that release went up in Houston on the same day they went up in say Monroe, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi on the same day.  The same goes for radio. We would have everything hit our target markets all at once so that our impact at the retail level would be strong and saddened instead of gradually trickling in over a long period of time.

You all recently signed a deal with Priority Records how did that come about?

The reason why we decided to go with Priority/Capital is because they saw the vision that we had and they shared it.  They were used to dealing with independents.  They knew that we know what we’re doing and they trust us to do it.

We plan to be Capital’s first urban music success story since they’ve been re-established.  And we will be Priority’s first new successful project since going through the merger.

In their eyes we’re the next No Limit.  At least that’s the way I’m looking at it.  I just got to handle my business and do what we do in the South.   Make sure that I handle my key markets in the South and go back and solidify these relationships in key markets with people who have helped us and make sure that we’re all on the same level.

We understand that the major sales lie in the South.  That’s where our major momentum lies.  We’ve done a lot of the work already because the South is calling for us to come back with new product.  We just need help with video and press.  We need the major hype.

This deal with Priority/Capital is nothing but another challenge to us, at least that’s how we look at it.  Our success on an independent level thus far has been nothing but a challenge and God has blessed us to overcome those challenges and I know that this is the way he meant for it to be so that’s where we’re going to have success at it.

by: Charlie Braxton © Down-South.com