“Go New York Go” became the No. 1 requested song on New York radio. Every game at Madison Square Garden, fans sang alongside Jesse’s rap song. It became the team’s anthem. Visiting teams wanted in on the action. And fortunately for Jesse, he was the only guy selling this kind of brownie. It was better – different. But Knicks fans had no way of purchasing his song. So Jesse took “Go New York Go” and licensed a few other hot songs played at the games to make a CD. In between songs, he added great moments in the team’s history. The album sold 50,000 units... And his phone started to ring with other professional sports teams, television networks, and national brands wanting his services. The NBA had him write and perform the Emmy-winning “I Love This Game” song. The result, a company he co-founded called Alphabet City, married his loves of sports and music... and it would set him up for his next idea. Cashing Out and Moving Up Jesse was blown away the day he stepped onto a private jet for the first time. He was 28 years old. The day before he and his partner sold Alphabet City to SFX, his bank-account balance was $87. The deal was for cash and stock totaling $6 million... with another $10 million as a possible earn out.
Jesse had found his new, better
brownie. He calls it his $160,000 lesson. It’s the only thing he remembers learning in college – you have to be better.
for a white Jewish kid in a predominately black industry. But reality wasn’t much like an extravagant hip-hop video... Not even close. Money was tight, touring was grueling, and a second album wasn’t offered. The music industry was sending him a message... It was time for a new recipe. Back in New York, he sat across from Nancy Grunfeld in a small conference room. She was the wife of the New York Knicks owner. The meeting had been set up to discuss radio jingles he was working on for her. For Jesse, writing and performing jingles was an easy way to get a small paycheck while he waited to make his next move. “We should do a song for the Knicks,” Jesse said to Nancy as their meeting was wrapping up. “The one now is outdated... We should do something new.” She was intrigued. So he went home and wrote “Go New York Go” on his couch that night. Two days later, they played it for Knicks owner Ernie Grunfeld. He loved it.
American Consequences | 23
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