Today we’d like to introduce you to R-Mean.
Thanks for sharing your story with us R-Mean. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born in LA but raised in Amsterdam, The Netherlands for the first 18 years of my life. After graduating high school, I decided to move back to LA to pursue music while I enrolled in college as well. I started doing music and quickly became known locally as the first Hip Hop artist of Armenian background to do it at this level. Sway Calloway called me “One of the illest lyricists to ever spit on Shade45” after one of my many freestyles on his morning radio show and nicknamed me “The Armenian Assassin”.
Staying consistent and building the right team around me allowed me to be embraced by the Hip Hop industry as a whole. I’ve done records with heavy weights like The Game, Wu-Tang Clan and more recently Scott Storch and Offset of the Migos.
I graduated from UCLA with my bachelors and went on to get my doctorate of Pharmacy degree but decided a few years ago to quit working as a pharmacist and focus full-time on my music. I always say I rather heal people with music than through medication”. I like to use my platform to inspire and shed light on issues close to my heart. So my team and I started a non-profit called “Open Wounds” named after my song dedicated to the Armenian Genocide and crimes against humanity.
Realizing the importance of branding as an independent artist we starting our own merch and clothing line and opened up our creative space and store called The Pentagon LA in Glendale, CA at the end of 2017. Earlier this year we opened up our second location in North Hollywood.
Currently, I am working on what we believe will be my biggest album to date. We have some legendary names involved so stay tuned!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. I believe the road to success never is. Finding partners and building a team, finding my voice as an artist and finding my lane were some of the initial challenges. Coming in as an artist from sort of a non-traditional background in Hip Hop was something that I believe the industry had to adjust to. The doors wouldn’t open as easy at first but believing in yourself no matter what and staying consistent year after year have been the keys to getting through any of the setbacks and disappointments.
Please tell us about Pentagon Records, The Pentagon LA.
I think I bring a different aspect to the Hip Hop industry being that I come from a background that we haven’t seen in mainstream Hip Hop yet. Specially being an artist from LA. But at the end of the day my story in addition to the quality of the music and skill as an emcee will be what set me apart.
I’m proud of the fact that I never gave up. Instead, I kept going harder every year and with my forward-thinking and business minded partners we have been able to accomplish a lot in the last several years.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
We father passed away when I was one my brother was three. My mother raised us by herself and never remarried in The Netherlands even though her entire family including six siblings all lived in LA. My uncles and aunts used to send us flight tickets to visit LA in the summer times when we were real young. Those trips are def my fav memories and made me realize early on that I need to move to LA. My future wasn’t in Amsterdam.
Another important memory for me was when I was about 9-10 years old when an older family friend who was in his twenties noticed my passion for music and specially rap music but also realized I didn’t really know much about it. He sat me down and started explaining what “real Hip Hop” was and how the culture was originated. Then he introduced me to Gangstarr’s Hard to Earn album, followed by Nas Illmatic, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Midnight Marauders”, and Wu-Tang 36 chambers. His influence and my introduction to these classics really laid the foundation for a lot of my not only career but my life.
Contact Info:
- Email: Tina Chuldzh at [email protected]
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