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Miami Herald

What's the cost of success? For this Miami rapper, it took $28K a year in ads

During a lunch break at his day job earlier this year, Miami native Gregory Owens checked his Instagram and saw a direct message from a well-known music executive. After five years of sacrifice and hard work as an aspiring rapper, Owens was stunned. 'I said, 'Is this time for me to quit?'' Owens, 36, told the Miami Herald. Owens, who has spent 15 years in corporate America in HR and recruiting, tapped into his creative passion during the pandemic, recording dozens of songs under the name King Tetrus and uploading them to streaming services like SoundCloud and Spotify. As an independent musician with no industry connections to fall back on, Owens said he spent as much as $28,000 a year to advertise on Spotify and Instagram before landing his first major break. 'I couldn't imagine doing this without income [from my day job],' he said. While he still works as a human resources professional, betting on himself has started to pay off for Owens, who got the opportunity of a lifetime when he signed a partnership deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation Distribution in March. Owens hopes the deal will help his music reach new audiences. 'The market is way more saturated than it's ever been because the barriers to entry are lower,' Owens told the Herald. Owens grew up in the Morningside neighborhood of Miami. The hip-hop music he came to love, by artists like Nas, often sampled the soulful artists his family gravitated toward, like James Brown. During his time at Christopher Columbus High School, Owens kept New York rappers like the Diplomats and G-Unit in his skip-proof CD player. After graduating in 2006, Owens attended Florida State University, where he played tennis and studied political science and economics before starting a career in talent acquisition and human resources. When the pandemic started in 2020, Owens had just gone through a breakup and suddenly found himself alone for 24 hours a day. To lift his spirits, his mom sent him a vinyl record — and when he heard James Brown's 'Please, Please, Please,' his mind immediately went to work. In the song, Brown talks about heartbreak and pleads with a love interest to return to his life. The song inspired Owens to work hard recording music, which he hadn't done since he was in his 20s. Using a sample of the James Brown song, Owens wrote 'Please Please,' an introspective song that touches on his family and dating life. 'The years on this planet, it's taught me a lot, like frankly who I am, and who I am not,' Owens raps in 'Please, Please.' In 2021, he began going by King Tetrus, a nod to his childhood nickname and reference to the 1980s Nintendo puzzle game Tetris. At a time when many of his friends were starting families, Owens recorded dozens of tracks and focused on uploading his music to streaming platforms and performing at local venues like Lincoln's Beard brewery. Performing in front of small crowds that sometimes only consisted of family and friends was common for Owens but was balanced by hearing his music on local radio stations like 103.5 The Beat. Hoping to find more listeners, he began spending about $500 a month to advertise on various music and social media platforms, which also allowed him to track analytics and target markets like Atlanta and New York City where he noticed his music was getting streamed. In 2022, Owens collaborated with rapper Cashe for the song 'Black Boy Joy' and began working with Cashe's manager Manny Fuentes in 2023. Owens estimates that he and Fuentes now spend $28,000 annually on digital advertising. Over time, King Tetrus' monthly number of listeners on Spotify increased from just 55 to a range of 13,000 to 15,000. Earlier this year, Rel Carter — Jay-Z's nephew and an A&R rep who brings new talent to Roc Nation — reached out to Owens on Instagram after becoming familiar with his music online. Owens and Carter made plans to meet in New York City at the Roc Nation office shortly thereafter. Having worked in corporate America for years, Owens said he's learned how to be reserved in high-stakes settings, and he and Fuentes agreed to visit just to establish a rapport with Carter. During their meeting, Carter said that he enjoyed Owens' music, and Owens secured a deal with Roc Nation Distribution, the distribution arm of Jay-Z's record label and management company. Owens learned that he'd been on Carter's radar for some time. 'One of the first things they said is, 'We've been looking at you for a year to see if you dropped the ball [and] to see if you wouldn't keep going,'' Owens said. Fortunately for Owens, he proved that he could consistently deliver. Fuentes, 47, said at first he was taken aback by Roc Nation's interest but knew it was well-deserved because of his close work with Owens. 'Our motto is to keep working,' Fuentes said. ' … I knew we're at the bottom of the totem pole, but we're at the totem pole.' With Roc Nation's support, Owens will receive support in marketing his music and building his brand as a musician. From their perspective, the data and metrics Owens had already accumulated as an independent artist — things like analytics about his audience demographic — spoke to the level of investment he had in his music career. Even with the recent release of his first single with Roc Nation Distribution, 'Feel Good,' Owens is still exploring the best ways to market his music. In this phase of his career, he is focused on finding ways to connect with the audience he's built. Owens is noticing that his brand now has more credibility to potential collaborators and companies with Roc Nation's backing. He still works his day job, but he's closer than he's ever been to focusing full-time on music, which he bases on his strong work ethic and desire to succeed. 'I've never been the most talented in my life,' he said. 'I'm 5'8' with [Nike] Air Forces. I'm going to catch you and pass you because I'm going to be relentless with my effort.'