Zach Randolph’s music career began at an East Memphis car dealership in 2015.
Randolph wasn’t exactly eager to get involved in a music side hustle. He was still in the middle of a very successful playing career for the Grit-and-Grind Grizzlies. And he’d seen friends of his in the NBA lose money trying to start endeavors such as record labels with the next hot young artist. But he was being pushed hard by his longtime friend, Marcus “Head” Howell, who at the time worked at the car dealership he started in his own city.
On Thanksgiving Day 2015, at the urging of a DJ who was imploring him to start a record label, Howell went to check out a local rapper who would be opening for Young Jeezy at a Memphis nightclub. The DJ had even brought the local rapper over to Howell’s office before the concert. “This kid is special,” the DJ told Howell. “You gotta check him out.”
