Entrepreneur: A CEO on the Rise (by Jhantu Randall)

Over the past few weeks I’ve taken you through every person I managed to get interviews with at the

Bubba Sparks show in Spanaway. While there were a few that I wasn’t able to get, I assure you that they will be highlighted at some point in the future because the one thing that ties all these artists together is their drive and hunger for more!

Through getting to know all the acts, my brain started wondering, who was the person that managed to bring this whole thing altogether?

And it was with that question that I was able to meet the man behind the curtain. The CEO of 03 Entertainment, Lazerrick Holiday. Thanks to George Kush who through his connections, put this interview together, I was able to meet with Lazerick at the Y Sports Bar at 7 o’clock on a rather light Thursday evening. When I first met him, he actually matched the image in my mind of what a CEO is. Quiet, unassuming, humble to a degree, and most importantly, always aware of whats going on in the background. We sat down and I turned on my recorder as we both lit cigarettes and began to talk about his story. The smoke only seemed to add to the mystery of the man behind it all.

As soon as we started, the first words out of his mouth were, “I’m a father, artist, entrepreneur, student of the game and most importantly, a hard worker.” It was from that first statement that I knew I was dealing with someone who was truly building a foundation and preparing for a long run in this business as opposed to those who only seem to be drawn to the flashier side of things.

I asked Lazerrick how he started this company and he immediately started by telling me about his other company, K-os records which he runs with his brother, Joshua Clark. Starting as artists originally, he decided to build his own company because of a practice known as “Paying to Play” meaning the artist pays for his spot on the bill and in turn is also responsible for selling a certain percentage of tickets. After paying anything ranging from $500-1000 just to perform for one night and not knowing if you were going to get paid for it can definitely motivate someone to take more control over their career. This choice is precisely the test that separates the wolves from the sheep. After making the decision around 2016 to create his own platform from the resources he already had, he booked his first show at a small venue down in Parkland, Washington on October 1, 2016. “It was a small venue, maybe only 100 people. I put on a show called Finesse and packed it out.”

In the beginning of the 03 brand, one of his hardships was finding sponsors, “We were doing this on

our own, that’s why we named the company 03, On Our Own Entertainment.”

He paused for a second and then said, “We’re building this from the grassroots, with K-os I got lucky and struck gold because I had found an investor. With this one I’m building a new brand.”

He made it clear that those past business relationships are still there, but to build something from the ground up takes some time before investors seriously start giving it a much earned hard look.

Lazerrick Holiday was born in Chicago, where he lived for the first 12 years of his life before he and his family relocated to Tacoma, Washington. He had his aunt and other family already here, so with he blended his Chicago vision with his homegrown tacoma sense to begin making his mark. He visits Chicago to visit family quite often, in fact at the time we conducted this interview he was getting ready to head back for a bit. I asked him what the difference between the 2 city’s were when it came to music and more specifically the hip hop scene.

“Tacoma is definitely more laid back, very lyrical, like my guy George Kush. He’s my GM and my artist on 03. A lot of those guys who were in the Bubba Sparks show were from 03. I have personal relationships with them.” He sat back and told me that he was definitely signing another act real soon but he’s always got his eye on who’s making noise out there. Lazerrick has put on 20-30 event since Finesse which was rapper Roddy Mac’s first headlining show. By creating and maintaining personal relationships with all his acts, Lazerrick gives his people the freedom to express who they are on stage without trying to dictate their direction. From others I have spoken to at his shows, a common thing said about Lazerrick is how he pushes you to be who you are at all costs. With the promise of

sweat labor, by putting in the work, his ability to find avenues and doorways for the caliber of talent he draws is definitely a sight to see.

The biggest opportunity so far is upon Lazerrick and 03 entertainment. With his grind time mentality and proven fortitude to make every show go on as smoothly as possible, he has drawn Underground legend, Tech N9ne and Strange Music to Tacoma for the first time on October 19th. So with a hustlers ambition and a strong business intuition, Lazerrick Holiday will do everything to make 03 Entertainment shine as he himself is a CEO on the rise.