What is the origin of your name AON The Artist?
It means All Or Nothing. I came up with it by observing my natural patterns. Everything I do, every single little thing, I either do it with my full ability, with my full heart or I choose not to do it at all. That’s a great thing but it can also be a crutch, people either get all of me or they get nothing at all so that’s where all or nothing comes from.
Explain to our audience what you do outside of music?
I’m a manager so I manage TikTokers. I also run music campaigns for labels so I do Spotify campaigns, Apple music, stuff like that.
You quit a stable job to pursue your passion. What inspired you to take that leap of faith?
In 2020 I was working a job. It was a good job. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the executive assistant. I answered directly to the CEO. I was in charge of a lot of enterprise and I learned a lot, but the problem was that I made my boss $1 million over the course of six months and was only getting paid regular wages. So I realized there was a ceiling where I worked. After that realization, I decided to do my own thing using my knowledge and skills of the music industry to create a system where there’s no ceiling at all. Ever since then it’s been motivating and inspiring to do what I do because I know there’s no limit to it.
How did you get into making music?
I first started recording music in 2017. I was a regular artist and I ended up getting a record deal from a label I’d rather not say their name I don’t want to throw him under the bus basically they were trying to make me be someone who I wasn’t so I got out of the deal and started helping other artist with the knowledge of the industry that I had. That’s how I got started in all of this.
So your love of music came first before you got into managing?
Music always came first. Ever since I was five years old I’ve been doing music. My mom was a music teacher, so she had me in all kinds of lessons. She forced me to play the piano as a kid. I hated every single second of it, but looking back on it it gave me the skills as an artist where I can create melodies. I produce too so it’s almost effortless just because of my upbringing. Hard Work beats talent but you gotta put in the hard work even with an upbringing of talent.
Was your mom supportive of your music career starting off?
She’s always been really supportive. My dad passed away when I was five so my mom invested in me. She felt like she needed to. She invested everything she had in her son. She had me in sports, music, just general training for a child. So she was definitely supportive because of all the training she put in. She wanted to see fruit, she wanted to see crops from the seeds she planted. My family, not so much. They believe in the standard go to college get a 9 - 5 ideology, which is great but it just wasn’t for me. But my mom was always supportive and support is needed for any artist.
What are the benefits of being both an artist and a manager?
I know exactly what other artists are thinking. In any process, anything they’re struggling with I know exactly what they’re going through, therefore I know how to talk to them. Some industries can’t communicate with each other, for instance, the tech industry can’t communicate with the consumer, but I’m the type of person who can bridge the gap between both industries. That's what my team is doing. We’re bridging the gap between creators and technology, services, everything.
What are some struggles up and coming artists face today?
The biggest struggle right now is Instagram, a lot of artists have no idea of how to grow on Instagram. Instagram has limited engagement, they’ve really limited things. I’m on the tech side of things so I understand the algorithm, I know how to beat it. So I help artists with that. I also help artists get verified on different platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok. I basically know the secrets that these labels have been doing for years, and I’m helping independent artists because that’s my passion. I still work with labels but my passion is working with independent artists.
Who were some of your artistic influences?
When I first wanted to do music the very first artist I ever heard was Kid Cudi. I heard him doing this type of singing rap and I didn’t know that was possible until I heard him do it. And there was this one song in particular, called Man on the Moon and I heard him doing the singing rapping thing and I was like OK that’s possible to do, so I started exploring that. After that one of my biggest inspirations was A Boogie wit da Hoodie because of the way he flows. It's such a melodic flow and he’s very repetitive, he repeats phrases all the time and I try to be repetitive too. It's catchy. It gets stuck in people’s heads. I had a rough life growing up so I relate to him a lot. He puts this singing, poppy sauce into it but at the same time he’s from the hood…it has a raw element but it's still melodic and a happy sound at times.
First album you bought?
I was probably like 10 or 12 but the first album I remember listening to was Green Day. I don’t even like rock music but my brother bought it and gave it to me. The album was Dookie, one of Green Day’s most popular albums. That was the very first one and I probably listened to that a thousand times.
What is your writing process like?
It literally just flows. If you put on a beat I’ll just start humming you know speaking gibberish, just nonsense. I’ll listen back to it and I’ll just fill it in kind of like a coloring book. You create a picture and then you color it in later. I’ll pull the beat up on my phone and then I’ll pull up my Voice Memos and just record it and later on I’ll listen to it. I might listen to it when I drive because when you drive your mind sort of spaces out and that allows you to tap into your creativity. It has to be solitude though, because my brain has to sort of space out. I’ve definitely rubbed some artists the wrong way, they want me to come through for a writing session or something and I have to tell them that's not how I create.
Your music seems to be very upbeat, is that intentional?
I’ve always liked songs that make me feel good and feel happy. That’s just been my style. A lot of people categorize my music as summertime music and when you think about summertime music you think of music that makes you happy. I make the music that I like to listen to. I’ve had people reach out to me and tell me that they were struggling with depression, a couple of people even said they were thinking of committing suicide but my music helped then get through it. I don’t even think it’s the lyrics as much as it is the energy I put into it, the positive melodies and the flow of it all, you know? I believe music is healing and I feel like my music can heal.
What is your ultimate goal with music, entrepreneurship, talent management and everything else that you do?
I’d say the ultimate goal is impacting lives. 200 years from now, 300 years from now, 1000 years from now, no one is gonna remember any of this. Life is like smoke, it's like a vapor. I’m a big believer in God and God’s greatest commandment is love one another. So I just want to do that to be honest. I want to make a lot of money just so that I can give it away. I don’t want to sit on 10 ferraris and 5 mansions, I really want to make a lot of money so that I can bless people with it. I do music not really for anyone else I do music just because I love it. It's always been love. But one of the things that comes from that is that people get inspired from it. So yeah, I just want to use my platform to give, just give as much as I can.
It means All Or Nothing. I came up with it by observing my natural patterns. Everything I do, every single little thing, I either do it with my full ability, with my full heart or I choose not to do it at all. That’s a great thing but it can also be a crutch, people either get all of me or they get nothing at all so that’s where all or nothing comes from.
Explain to our audience what you do outside of music?
I’m a manager so I manage TikTokers. I also run music campaigns for labels so I do Spotify campaigns, Apple music, stuff like that.
You quit a stable job to pursue your passion. What inspired you to take that leap of faith?
In 2020 I was working a job. It was a good job. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the executive assistant. I answered directly to the CEO. I was in charge of a lot of enterprise and I learned a lot, but the problem was that I made my boss $1 million over the course of six months and was only getting paid regular wages. So I realized there was a ceiling where I worked. After that realization, I decided to do my own thing using my knowledge and skills of the music industry to create a system where there’s no ceiling at all. Ever since then it’s been motivating and inspiring to do what I do because I know there’s no limit to it.
How did you get into making music?
I first started recording music in 2017. I was a regular artist and I ended up getting a record deal from a label I’d rather not say their name I don’t want to throw him under the bus basically they were trying to make me be someone who I wasn’t so I got out of the deal and started helping other artist with the knowledge of the industry that I had. That’s how I got started in all of this.
So your love of music came first before you got into managing?
Music always came first. Ever since I was five years old I’ve been doing music. My mom was a music teacher, so she had me in all kinds of lessons. She forced me to play the piano as a kid. I hated every single second of it, but looking back on it it gave me the skills as an artist where I can create melodies. I produce too so it’s almost effortless just because of my upbringing. Hard Work beats talent but you gotta put in the hard work even with an upbringing of talent.
Was your mom supportive of your music career starting off?
She’s always been really supportive. My dad passed away when I was five so my mom invested in me. She felt like she needed to. She invested everything she had in her son. She had me in sports, music, just general training for a child. So she was definitely supportive because of all the training she put in. She wanted to see fruit, she wanted to see crops from the seeds she planted. My family, not so much. They believe in the standard go to college get a 9 - 5 ideology, which is great but it just wasn’t for me. But my mom was always supportive and support is needed for any artist.
What are the benefits of being both an artist and a manager?
I know exactly what other artists are thinking. In any process, anything they’re struggling with I know exactly what they’re going through, therefore I know how to talk to them. Some industries can’t communicate with each other, for instance, the tech industry can’t communicate with the consumer, but I’m the type of person who can bridge the gap between both industries. That's what my team is doing. We’re bridging the gap between creators and technology, services, everything.
What are some struggles up and coming artists face today?
The biggest struggle right now is Instagram, a lot of artists have no idea of how to grow on Instagram. Instagram has limited engagement, they’ve really limited things. I’m on the tech side of things so I understand the algorithm, I know how to beat it. So I help artists with that. I also help artists get verified on different platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok. I basically know the secrets that these labels have been doing for years, and I’m helping independent artists because that’s my passion. I still work with labels but my passion is working with independent artists.
Who were some of your artistic influences?
When I first wanted to do music the very first artist I ever heard was Kid Cudi. I heard him doing this type of singing rap and I didn’t know that was possible until I heard him do it. And there was this one song in particular, called Man on the Moon and I heard him doing the singing rapping thing and I was like OK that’s possible to do, so I started exploring that. After that one of my biggest inspirations was A Boogie wit da Hoodie because of the way he flows. It's such a melodic flow and he’s very repetitive, he repeats phrases all the time and I try to be repetitive too. It's catchy. It gets stuck in people’s heads. I had a rough life growing up so I relate to him a lot. He puts this singing, poppy sauce into it but at the same time he’s from the hood…it has a raw element but it's still melodic and a happy sound at times.
First album you bought?
I was probably like 10 or 12 but the first album I remember listening to was Green Day. I don’t even like rock music but my brother bought it and gave it to me. The album was Dookie, one of Green Day’s most popular albums. That was the very first one and I probably listened to that a thousand times.
What is your writing process like?
It literally just flows. If you put on a beat I’ll just start humming you know speaking gibberish, just nonsense. I’ll listen back to it and I’ll just fill it in kind of like a coloring book. You create a picture and then you color it in later. I’ll pull the beat up on my phone and then I’ll pull up my Voice Memos and just record it and later on I’ll listen to it. I might listen to it when I drive because when you drive your mind sort of spaces out and that allows you to tap into your creativity. It has to be solitude though, because my brain has to sort of space out. I’ve definitely rubbed some artists the wrong way, they want me to come through for a writing session or something and I have to tell them that's not how I create.
Your music seems to be very upbeat, is that intentional?
I’ve always liked songs that make me feel good and feel happy. That’s just been my style. A lot of people categorize my music as summertime music and when you think about summertime music you think of music that makes you happy. I make the music that I like to listen to. I’ve had people reach out to me and tell me that they were struggling with depression, a couple of people even said they were thinking of committing suicide but my music helped then get through it. I don’t even think it’s the lyrics as much as it is the energy I put into it, the positive melodies and the flow of it all, you know? I believe music is healing and I feel like my music can heal.
What is your ultimate goal with music, entrepreneurship, talent management and everything else that you do?
I’d say the ultimate goal is impacting lives. 200 years from now, 300 years from now, 1000 years from now, no one is gonna remember any of this. Life is like smoke, it's like a vapor. I’m a big believer in God and God’s greatest commandment is love one another. So I just want to do that to be honest. I want to make a lot of money just so that I can give it away. I don’t want to sit on 10 ferraris and 5 mansions, I really want to make a lot of money so that I can bless people with it. I do music not really for anyone else I do music just because I love it. It's always been love. But one of the things that comes from that is that people get inspired from it. So yeah, I just want to use my platform to give, just give as much as I can.
Written By: Jonathan miller
STREAM Aon the artist
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