Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Phoenix.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Daniel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started in 2005 managing a hip-hop band called “Gone Mad” from Lynwood, CA. Throughout the following five years, I met every Hip Hop promoter and most national acts that would frequent the Los Angeles concert circuit. After five years, my good friend and co-creator of Hip Hop Craft, Greg Lazcano quit the band and enrolled in Los Angeles Film School. Once he graduated, he approached me to start a production company that would create music videos and promotional content for corporate companies. After years of working with artists, we developed a lot of friendships with them. However satisfying that was, three years ago, Greg and I decided to start creating original content.
I knew that I wanted to create something different than what the market was providing, and although I wanted the content to be hip-hop related, I knew I wanted to incorporate craft beer. Soon after creating some (craft beer) content that was well received on Instagram, we decided to venture into craft beer events, also known as our bottle shares. We hosted them in our home, Uncle Henry’s Deli in Downey, California.
Our first events were a true testament of how strong both the hip-hop and craft beer community really are. The reason why we chose Uncle Henry’s is because the establishment has been around over 60 years, and most recently are offering 100 beers on tap. We knew it was the perfect location to draw in craft beer connoisseurs. I have also had a family-like relationship with George Gaul Junior and Senior, the owners of Uncle Henry’s, so they definitely gave us an opportunity to shoot original content at their location, which helped put us on the map with the craft beer community. The second part of this was to incorporate hip-hop DJs such as House Shoes. House Shoes is a hip-hop legend from Detroit who’s been in LA now for the past 14 years and has contributed so much to the hip-hop industry. He’s been gracious enough to headline all of our bottle share events.
As our presence grew in the craft beer community and thanks to the power of social media, I came across Beer Thuglife, better known as Edger Preciado. He and I both coincidentally grew up in Compton, but never crossed paths. Our friendship grew and so did our collaborations in both our brands to create original products, such as Beer Tape. Beer Tape is an innovative product that combines a beer and an album that’s downloadable via a QR code that’s printed directly on either a beer can or bottle label.
This now brings us to our latest partnership with a new up and coming brown owned brand, Cervezeria Mundial owned by Julio Trejo. We (Hip Hop Craft, Beer Thuglife, and Cerverzeria Mundial) are currently in production of our second commercial release.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The struggle as a minority is trying to be represented in an industry that’s predominantly white. For years we have also been forced to accept low quality, big beer agenda products because it is inexpensive and that’s what’s been available to us. However, we are trying to change all of that by incorporating hip-hop within our releases, becoming one of the few minorities in the craft beer industry and also, re-educating our people via our content.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Hip Hop Craft story. Tell us more about the business.
There are many components to Hip Hop Craft. Originally starting as a means of producing dope hip-hop creative content while featuring various craft beers, has become something greater. We are not only producing content via social media, but also gaining more and more recognition in the craft beer and hip-hop community with our bottle share events and beer releases. Most recently, Beer Thuglife and I are creating Beer Tape releases, offering a unique and elevated experience utilizing a printed QR code (located on a can or bottle label) in which consumers also have access to an album by renowned hip-hop artists, such as our latest release ‘Miles,’ which features West Coasts artists Blu and Exile. The Beer Tape release was on July 24th and can be found at over 30 locations throughout the West Coast.
With our craft beer releases occurring just about every month, we’re able to produce about 5,000 commercial beers distributed throughout the west coast. We’re hoping to see these numbers double by the next few months. We have several craft beer collaborations we’ll be dropping this year, so stay tuned.
Pricing:
- Nuestra Ciudad is being sold at 23 locations in Los Angeles and Indie Brewing ranging from $18 – $20 a four pack.
- Miles is currently being sold at 33 locations in Los Angeles and Indie Brewing ranging from $22 – $25 a four pack.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hiphopcraft.com/
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Horizontal Image + Nuestra Ciudad shot with Beer Thuglife was taken by Oscar Rodriguez
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