- NLess Entertainment co-founders Zach Randolph and Marcus Howell spoke to Insider about the trajectory of their independent record label.
Last month, I spoke to former NBA star Zach "Z-Bo" Randolph and Marcus "Head" Howell about the trajectory of NLess Entertainment, the independent record label they co-founded in 2016.
In a brief Zoom call, Randolph and Howell broke down the platinum rise of Moneybagg Yo, their first signed artist, and the talent they've drawn from the historical music "hotbed" of Memphis, Tennessee.
We also discussed their close connection to hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Yo Gotti and their plans to expand NLess into the world of sports management.
'Staying in the studio'
The success of NLess Entertainment has coincided directly with the ascension of its first signee.
After signing with NLess in 2016, Moneybagg Yo released his debut studio album, "Reset," and steadily built momentum with each subsequent LP. The wave culminated in a series of plaques with his fifth studio release, "A Gangsta's Pain," in 2021, a platinum album backed by two platinum singles, "Wockesha" and "Time Today."
"The key to Bagg's success is just his drive," Randolph said. "All the time he puts in a studio, and he's putting his creative mind together and coming up with songs, albums. It's his worth ethic. He's always in the labs."
The two-time NBA All-Star compared Bagg's effort to the work he put into his own career on the hardwood: "Like me in basketball, I'm always in the gym. That's how I get better. So with this, like I tell a lot of the artists, my artists: Keep on working, keep pushing, keep going for it. Stay in the studio, stay in the lab, work on your sound, work on your delivery. All that plays a part of Bagg long run."
"Man, staying in the studio," Howell reinforced. "Bagg work hard. Actually, he probably in the studio now. We have to drag the man out the studio. Bagg's a guy, he like to work out, he like to take care of his kids, and he like to be in the studio all day. So, working hard, like Zach said, you know, like he be in the gym all day. That's what Bagg do all day. Being in the studio. And you gotta stay in the studio if you wanna get successful. 'Cause that make you good in your craft."
Reflecting on NLess' role in his rise, Bagg sent the following statement via email:
"When I first met Z-Bo and Head, they just came with genuine energy and intentions. There was no doubt they had my best interests in mind and that's why I believed in their vision for NLess and signed. Whether it's the music business or our investment ventures like VIOR, we've always moved as a unit and I'm grateful to have them both on my team."
'A special city'
Connections to Memphis, Tennessee, are the throughline in NLess' signature achievements to date.
Randolph and Howell first met Bagg in 2015 when a local DJ brought the rising artist to the used car dealership they own in Memphis, in an initial attempt to get them to sign him. When Randolph's tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies came to an end in 2017, Z-Bo stayed connected to the city through Howell and the label's progression with Bagg, and NLess would go on to build out an extensive roster of other Memphis artists.
I asked Randolph and Howell what separates Memphis from the rest of the US in their minds.
"It's a special city, man. It's a city where you gotta work for everything," Randolph said. "You know, ain't nothing given to you, ain't nothing soft about the city. You gotta hard work, and it's a lot of real people and blue collar people. But the music, it's the hotbed right now. You see that all the labels is coming into Memphis and trying to sign all the artists up outta there."
"There's a lot of Memphis guys, the music come out they heart," Howell said. "You know, there's a lot of Memphis music. Blues and rock and roll, it comes from Memphis. So, you know, your mom, dad, anybody can be one of the top stars around in the country right now, you won't even know. Like, you got Mr. David Porter, you got, uh, Isaac Hayes. You know, it's a music city. You got Soul Museum. You got so much stuff, music talent there. It's just in the city, it's all over. So it's just in the heart of Memphis."
Notable among NLess' recent signees, Memphis' Big30 was on XXL's coveted 2022 Freshman Class cover, after his debut project, "King of Killbranch," reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 in 2021. NLess also signed Memphis-based multiplatinum producer Turn Me Up YC, who laced hits for Bagg, Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, Roddy Ricch, Yo Gotti, Lil Durk, and others on his way to winning the BMI Songwriter of the Year Award in 2022.
When asked how the label has gone about finding new talent, Howell said it came down to staying true to Memphis, and to his mainly Memphis-based artists.
"I'm still staying in the street, connected to the street, standing by, with the street, with the players, with the artists," Howell said. "Being at the studios, flying around with 'em. I go everywhere with Bagg, state to state, and you gotta touch the people hand, and be right there where they head at, and understand 'em. Other new artists, they come to the studio, and you listen to their music. Next thing you know, we find a new artist by coming in, trying to get a verse from a guy like Bagg or a guy like Big30, or anybody. I got artists like Dee Mula and Turn Me Up YC, one of our top producers, and we just try to put all of 'em in one room and work together."
'One big family'
In recounting how NLess was able to hit the ground running in its initial years of operation, Howell spoke to the mentorship he had received prior to it from another fellow Memphian, Collective Music Group label head Yo Gotti.
"Me and Gotti family," Howell said. "Gotti was the first guy came in, showed me the game, on how to do the label stuff. Put me on his side, running for him for the last couple years, taking me to in and outta every office, every meeting, making me understand the game. Actually he taught me, sit around and understand the game, learn the game first, and then come in and execute the game. So that's what I'm trying to do now."
Look at the credits on Bagg's studio albums and you'll see no fewer than four record labels listed in partnership: NLess Entertainment, Gotti's CMG, Interscope, and Bagg's own label, Bread Gang.
I asked the NLess co-founders how that confluence has been able to work out from a business standpoint.
"'Cause we all family," Randolph said. "We've been had relationships a long time, so it was easy. When we started the label, me and Marcus, it was easy to come to Yo Gotti, to talk to the guys around the city, 'cause we already had relationships with these guys for a long time."
"We all get in the lab and we help each other," Howell said. "We all have our own independent deals. I'm an independent company. I got a partnership with [Gotti] with Moneybagg, me and Zach with NLess, with Interscope, just with Money Bagg. And we got a partnership with Big30, just with Interscope, with me and Bagg. So we all try to keep everything together. We signed artists together. We keeping in house, we signed producers together. We try to keep everything in team, like with CMG, Bread Gang, NLess: All us, we like one big family. So when one us doing something, we all get in the studio. We help each other out. So that's what we've been doing. We all try to each help each team out before we can grow. It's not just no one team."
'The league is different'
Citing the Roc Nation Sports wing of Jay-Z's Roc Nation as a "motivation," Randolph and Howell are set to bring a sports management division to NLess Entertainment in the near future.
Randolph, whose jersey number (50) became the first number retired by the Grizzlies franchise, spoke to the game he can give rising athletes with his 18 years of NBA playing experience.
"All my connections and everything with the league and just being around it, and not only that, just being respected," he said. "You know, a guy that's gonna be straight up and down, ain't gonna be talking behind your back. Gon' be real with you in your face. And I want the best for the players. I've been through a lot and I can tell players, talk to the young guys, like I talk on the Grizzlies, about things I went through, and how to get that billion dollars and stay outta trouble. 'Cause the league is different now. It's a lot of opportunities than it was when I played. The salary has tripled, doubled. So it's a lot to it, man.
"You know, I came in the league at 18, like a lot of guys, I was young, so I learned a lot," he continued. "I bumped my head a few times. So just things like that, you know, staying outta trouble, and not bumping your head, and taking care of your business. Keep your name outta media. 'Cause the first time something happen, it's a stigma. You have a stigma. That's how the league is. So you gotta make sure you keep that clean."
"A lot of guys, they love Z-Bo," Howell said. "We been around. He been at League since he was 18 years old, and we've been around a lot of rappers before they started their careers actually, when Gotti first started his career. So we been around the music business so long. And the sports and music always combined together. You know, like athletes all wanna be rappers, and rappers seem like they all wanna be athletes. So we all put it together. We've been together over 20 years now."
NLess isn't limiting its reach to sports and music, though. As the call ended, Howell relayed that Bagg and Randolph and his daughter were set to shoot a commercial the next day for VIOR Water, now branded the "Official Water of Moneybagg Yo" through an investment from Bagg and NLess.
"We trying to go to TV and film. We trying to make this thing pop," Howell said. "We trying to go all over. We trying to do a little everything."