The Flywire

Taking Care of Show Business FROM MOTOWN TO HOMETOWN By Nikia Wainwright Vaughn Photo: Paul A. Greene In the Hip Hop/R&B music and entertainment industry, one would usually define a BOSS with the likes of P-Diddy, Russell Simmons and TI. Even in 2013, it is still hard to picture a woman in charge in this male dominated business. However, with the new genre of reality television such as Love and Hip Hop,Tiny and Toya and R&B Divas, viewers got a chance to get a peep behind the scenes. We see women like Yandy Smith, Toya Wright, Tiny Harris and Faith Evans are also bosses. And in Baltimore, we celebrate the legacy of our very own Tracye Stafford, who has dominated the hip hop concert and event production scene for years. Tracye Stafford, a Columbia, Maryland native and Hampton Institute graduate (now known as Hampton University,) has always loved music. Tracye's musical roots began singing gospel in the group "The King David Singers" at First Methodist Church where her mother officiates. While attending college, Tracye was an intern at Motown Records one of the greatest record labels of all time. She worked for Motown in Los Angeles, California. "It was exciting to be in the same building with the best musical artists in the world such as Janet Jackson, Stevie wonder and the Debarge. Imagine working in the same building with a music mogul like Berry Gordy?" said Tracye. Tracye successfully completed her internship and was hired by Motown after graduation. Eventually, MCA Records would buy Motown and Tracye pursued other opportunities. Tracye had the opportunity to work at WDAS Radio in Philadelphia as well as CBS Sports. Tracye was living her dream in the entertainment industry and had no intentions of ever returning to Baltimore. However, someone needed her by their side and she had to come home. Tracye's father had become ill, and she came home to be with him before he passed away. Tracye's Baltimore business ventures began with producing celebrity parties. Her first big successful party was a cast party for the highly acclaimed HBO series, The Wire hosted by Hassan Johnson aka "Wee-Bey". The party created a buzz for Tracye and artists started to call her. Tracye loved producing celebrity parties, but her love for music and especially Hip-Hop and R&B music is what she had a passion for. In 2004, Tracye decided it was her time to indulge her passions and booked her first concert at Sonar headlining the girl duo Floetry. The show was a hit and Tracey's name became all the buzz for concert promotion too. That same year marked the greatest moment in her career. Rapper Lil Wayne's album "Tha Carter" had just dropped. Lil Wayne aka Weezy had the streets on fire and yes, Tracye booked him. Tracye not only brought the hottest artist of the year to Charm City but formed a very valuable relationship with Cash Money Records. Originally, Tracye worked through booking agencies to get artists. However, after forming great relationships with artists and management, she eliminated booking agencies. She created a brand associated with professionalism, class and business savviness. Tracye's dream was taking off and was booking shows that brought out thousands of fans to the Baltimore Arena. Her artists included Gucci Mane, Gotti, Lil Wayne and Baby. She was proud to be able to book artists that "Batimore fans loved!" Eventually, Tracye was able to save up enough money to establish her own venue to book artists such as Jeezy, Rick Ross, TI and Nicki Minaj. Tracye became co-owner of The Velvet Rope. She worked with the nation's top promoters.The club's celebrity roster included the most popular Urban stars including Nene Leakes, Drake, 2 Chainz, Meek Mill, Lil Kim, Trey Songz and more. Tracye had built such a solid reputation, that The Velvet Rope became the hottest spot in Baltimore for R&B and Hip Hop artists to perform. The Velvet Rope would eventually change its name to Dubai, but the venue and platform stayed the same. The building was sold and Dubai closed its doors on New Year's Day 2013. Tracye, the only female concert promoter in Baltimore, is here to stay. Right now, there are a lot of things in the work. While she is mum on what's in store, Tracye is confident that it will be another successful venture. When asked to define success, Tracye says that having family, love, God, Jesus or whatever higher being you believe is what is important. "To have love, the Lord and blessed with a career without feeling like you are working. That is what music has done for me," shared Tracye. Tracye resides in Maryland and is the proud mother of her 21 year old son Corry. So to be clear when in search of the definition of a boss, Tracye Stafford is a true Boss.

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