Written by | Ray Cornelius
My girl Monica Coleman from M320 Consulting teamed up with Pepsi last night to present an intimate screening of Empire. The evening took place at Atlanta’s iconic Park Tavern at Piedmont and featured a celebrity panel discussion along with southern dining and specialty drinks courtesy of Pepsi. Your truly, RC was honored to partner with both brands to promote the event through a social media contest and website promotions.
Rico Wade and Shanti Das
Music industry veterans like Shanti Das, Rico Wade, R&B group Silk and everyone’s favorite “mama” from Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, Deb Antney led a lively discussion about their experiences in the music industry. Both Das and Wade dished about working with industry giants like L.A. Reid and Sylvia Rhone while Antney talked about working with her rapper son, Waka Flaka and other artists she’s managed. Silk also talked about their challenges and gave some much needed advice to those pursuing a career as talent and those who want to manage them. The conversation was moderated by V-103’s Ramona DeBreaux.
Silk
After the 30-minute discussion, we all enjoyed Empire which featured a story line where Jamal (Jussie Smollett) brought his feuding parents, Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) together to create a song for a new Pepsi endorsement deal. The result was pure magic and Pepsi offered Jamal the opportunity to become the face of its new brand campaign.
Side Note: That was genius marketing on behalf of Pepsi to create an event that was centered around a story line on TV’s most popular show. Brilliant!!
Check out more photos from the evening below and a preview of next week’s episode featuring Vivica A. Fox and Alicia Keys.
Shanti Das and Ramona DeBreaux
Miss Deb Antney was open about the challenges shes faced in the music industry
Attendees could take pics at the Pepsi Photo Booth
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
Attendees having fun at the Pepsi Photo Booth
Pepsi provided specialized cocktails for all attendees
Shanti Das discussing her time with LaFace Records
Lil G from Silk talking about his group’s experience as young artists
Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com