"Heartthrob"... ..."Up and coming"...Larry Flick... Billboard Magazine Grammy Board Voting Member....member since 2002 Single, "Passion", #39 AMERICAN IDOL UNDERGROUND R&B Chart! (Week ending April 30, 2006) Chadd: MPowered and On a Mission by Lisa Eatmon Chadd has his eyes on the prize. For this multi-talented entertainer, accomplished musician, artist, and up-and-andcoming entrepreneur the world is full of opportunities just waiting to be realized. Still, much has changed in the years since the Atlanta-native arrived in New York City with little more than a dollar and a dream of parlaying his talents into a career in the music industry. "I was homeless at first," he confides, quickly adding that the experience only deepened his resolve. "I'd ride the train and eat an apple for dinner. I knew it wouldn't last, I had a plan and a purpose. It was just a matter of finding a vehicle." The tide turned soon after Chadd landed his first professional gig in the off-Broadway play, Up on the Block. The leading role, which he secured by showing up for an open casting call in Backstage, only fed his appetite for the business. "I knew that the acting would take me where I needed to be professionally and, most of all, musically. It was a stepping stone for the what I'd planned since I was a kid dreaming of making it in the music industry," he says. Next came a lead role in 3-D World, another off-Broadway play and then the lead in Funk Hole, a smaller New York City production. Getting the music heard. By 1995, his work in theatre allowed Chadd to begin creating the professional network needed to get his music heard. "People I worked with in Up on the Block knew record executives at Capital Records. I had just started making demos of my stuff, which at the time was mostly dance music with a Latin influence," he recalls. He also began modeling-yet another building block toward his ultimate goal of becoming a recording artist. This latest move also brought the up-and-coming talent exposure through billboards in Japan and subsequent work in commercials, film, and television. "I was straight in my head that the funds from the modeling and other professional work would go into doing my music," he explains. And when the money eventually dried up, Chadd took to waiting tables at a Times Square restaurant in between gigs as a model and actor to move forward. "I started putting away money for studio time; I knew that if I just pursued the acting or the modeling it wouldn't be enough," he explains. "Music, that's where my heart is, so I didn't want to get so caught up with the other things and forget why I actually came to New York in the first place." The Birth of MPowered Records. In the months ahead, Chadd went back to writing songs: something he began doing as a teenager. He also rented studio space in the Lower East Side neighborhood that he called home. His ongoing relationship with Capital Records insiders flourished as well until EMI Music Distribution absorbed the company. "I had great working relationships. I was able to walk over the demos, but management changed and I got lost in the shuffle," he says. Undaunted, Chadd continued to send out demos to major record labels until 1995 when he linked up with two partners and began promoting his music through a newly created record label, Mpowered Records. "There are so few people who want to give newcomers a chance. What this whole process has taught me is the more you can contribute and the more you're able to do, the more attractive you are to people in the industry. When I first started the company my partners and I weren't getting anywhere just sending out tapes and hoping someone would sign us. It was a good way for me to learn about the business and make mistakes on my own turf." Chadd's musical break came with the Mpowered Records' release of The One and Live it Up a year later; two underground club hits that received airplay on major New York 'mainstream' stations and accolades in the entertainment press. "After Live it Up, we got the call from Larry Flick with Billboard Magazine saying he was impressed enough to give us an incredible review. The notice, which hailed Chadd as a " heartthrob" prompted a deal with Sony Licensing. "Sony agreed to take the singles and put it out through a new department called Hot Hits, which put out special marketing CDs that get sold to club DJs and juke boxes in record stores and restaurants," Chadd adds. "I had an opening, so the next step was to get more singles ready since Sony was willing to take on the rest of my projects." Make Me Feel, a duet with another artist on the Mpowered label, was a huge MTV hit in 1997. And in 1998, Chadd put out Triple Platinum, a dance track that was hailed by industry critics as well. The success of Chadd's additional releases on his label-To Be or Not, The Tribe, Transformation, and Patience-only solidified his desire to move forward with his own career and development of other artists on the Mpowered label. What's next step for Chadd? The sky is the limit, he asserts, citing his induction last year as a voting member of The Recording Academy's prestigious Grammy board, work as an actor on commercials on MTV's Spring Break, roles on "Sex in the City" He says confidently: "I've always believed if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing and creating that sort of energy, then you attract situations that support that. It's about controlling your own destiny and not sitting around waiting for someone to open doors for you. When times get tough, you've got to have that passion and drive." 917.334.4518 chadddmm@aol.com mpownyc@yahoo.com