By Jenna Cavanaugh
At age 16, Benjamin Esakof started
his own entertainment company, Roman’s Rap-Up, from the ground up. “I’ve always
loved music; who doesn’t?” Esakof said, “I’ve always had a passion for music
and am constantly studying the industry and how songs affect different people.”
Esakof
started Roman’s Rap-Up, or RRU, in June 2013. He always had a love for concerts
and began to Google how to get into shows for free due to the hefty price that
comes with a love of concert attendance.
“I
started researching music blogs and got very discouraged. I didn’t like what I
saw at all,” Esakof said. He is referring to the amount of “gossip trash”
websites that focused solely on a musician’s career outside of the actual
music.
“I
don’t give a s*** who is having sex with who, who cheated on who; that is the
artist’s own business, not mine or the public’s,” he said. That’s when he got
the idea for RRU. “I started the Roman’s Rap-Up blog hosted by the free blog
site, Wordpress. There, I posted strictly news from the music industry: new
music, tours, videos…”
Esakof
built off of the gap he found in online music blogs and commentary and filled
it in with information fit for music lovers and not gossip-centric readers. The
name was derived from his DJ name, “ DJ Roman,” he received through years of
DJ-ing dances and parties.
In
December 2013, Esakof decided the website needed a change. He was invited to
his first huge show, Beyoncé’s Mrs. Carter World Tour Show at TD Garden, and
decided the website needed a reboot. He completely redesigned the website from
the ground up. This was a turning and growing point for RRU.
Since
then, Esakof has attended music events such as Jingle Ball and the Billboard
Hot 100 Festival in NYC. “I think my favorite memory so far of running RRU has
been attending the Billboard Hot 100 Festival,” Esakof said, “[It] was just one
of those things where you [had] to sit back and wonder if this is your life. I
was backstage, surround by such talented people. [It] just inspires me and tells
me I’m doing the right thing with my life.”
Esakof
is referring to the huge names in the music industry at the festival such as
Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd, and Justin Bieber. Minaj’s performance at the festival
was one of his favorites to date in addition to Beyoncé’s Mrs. Carter World
Tour Show in Boston mentioned earlier. Until the Billboard Hot 100 Festival, he
was not able to photography Minaj; the chance to shoot her was one that he
happily took full advantage of.
“The
highlight of my day-to-day work is definitely shooting and getting to meet so
many people. To be able to get this kind of access to shows and be able to
improve my photography in such a unique and once-in-a-lifetime kind of setting
is unimaginable,” he said. In addition to shooting music acts and posting those
pictures on his website, he also writes reviews, records interviews, and
creates contests that website viewers can enter to win tickets to huge concerts.
RRU is a multi-faceted media base for music fanatics, particularly pop and
hip-hop lovers.
Earlier
this year, Esakof decided there was again another huge step RRU needed to take.
“I’d always been a critic of how artists are handled and promoted by their
management,” Esakof said, “I did an interview last January with local artist
Ben Mader… after the show, he gave me his number, and we started talking. He
hated his then-manager, and I was looking to get into that realm, so we were a
perfect fit for each other.” This is RRU’s first step into the world of music
talent management.
Esakof has continued to work with Mader and hopes to
build on that base for future clientele. “It can be intimidating being 16 and surrounded by photographers from
the Associated Press, Getty Images, etc, but if I let that intimidation get to
me, idk where I’d be today,” Esakof said, “I also can’t stress enough the need
for kids and teens to get out there and experience things first hand.”
Esakof’s positive mindset strongly
comes across in his suggestions for other youth with dreams as big as his.
“People always need to keep an open mind and explore new things. Never in a
million years would I think I would be doing what I'm doing today.”
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