stage blocking, the precise staging of actors in order to
facilitate the performance of play, ballet, film or opera
on a professional stage. Kevin graduated earning a
Bachelor’s Degree in Musical Theatre being the only
student there to direct on the main stage. The manager
of the tour hired Kevin to go out with them and this lead
to rising star earning the opportunity to attend Jack the
Rapper Convention where he met Carl Washington who
at the time was working at Capitol Records.
Washington brought Shine along with him to A&M
Records where he became the exec’s intern and street
promoter. Kevin got to meet so many stars and learned
a lot of things about the music business.
This was the start of Shine’s journey in the
music/entertainment industry. Kevin’s first position
was somewhat of an A&R taking his brothers’
Pantomime group turning them into a real group taking
them to The Appollo Theater in New York. Shine later
brought in Feloney Davis (formerly of Public
Announcement) as lead singer of the group. The
group’s named changed and Shine started getting them
booked at the Cotton Club in Chicago where Bernie Mac
would host. The group became popular throughout the
city. Kevin was instrumental in getting them an
independent deal with distribution through Jive
Records without having real knowledge of the business.
He finds out that the owners of this independent label
were just street dudes with money and a label which
had a negative impact on the group. Kevin regrouped
and attempted to find another direction when one day
he was reading this magazine and read an article about
this music exec that had launched so many careers and
turning struggling labels into formidable music
powerhouses. The guy was Ernie Singleton, former A&R
executive of MCA Records who launched the careers of
Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, New Edition, and Teddy Riley, and
others. After reading the article, the up and coming
music exec was determined to find this guy.
to her boss and it’s none other than Ernie Singleton. He
recalls being dumbfounded not knowing what to say but
Singleton thanked him for playing his record.
Surprisingly, Singleton already knew who Kevin was
telling him he had heard nothing but good things about
him and invited Kevin to eat lunch with him. This gave
Shine the opportunity to meet other industry execs.
Singleton believed in the young exec in training. From
that point, they stayed in contact and Ernie would tell
him when people would say bad things about him
letting him know his mistakes and how to do better
going forward.
Ernie always had Kevin’s back.
Singleton also encouraged Shine to take the knowledge
and guidance he had given him to give back to otheres.
[This is all before graduating Columbia College].
Kevin winded up going back to Columbia but as a
teacher and faculty advisor heading up CUMA
(Columbia’s Urban Music Association) which lead him to
further building his name and brand leaving Columbia
College with a 70% success ratio for helping students
find jobs and internships in the music industry including
Kanye West.
A friend of Shine’s out of New York, a publicist asked
him to bring up a new upstart A&R from a new label to
Chicago to one of their conferences that they did for the
students which got really popular. He had asked Kanye
to attend and brought in an intern named Big Jon Platt
(former DJ and current CEO/Chairman of Warner
Chappell Music) and No I.D. (music producer, current VP
or A&R of Def Jam, and Kanye West mentor). The friend
Kevin was referring to was Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua, a
former A&R exec of Roc-A-Fella Records. Shine became
a successful consultant using his knowledge from Ernie
Singleton and success at Columbia College which
ADVERTISEMENT
Around this time Kevin was appointed planner and
show coordinator of the Midwest Radio Music
Conference in Chicago. Record labels’ “big wigs” came
from all over showcasing their new talent for the radio
and industry people. During a luncheon, a lady came
up to him asking him to play a record fo