Country rapper’s controversial sales tactics target rural America
JOPLIN, Mo.– Country rap artist Mikel Knight is using unconventional methods to sell his records across rural America that occasionally get him in trouble with communities and law enforcement. That’s what happened this week in southwest Missouri, when the rapper ran afoul of local police for not having a license to sell his albums on the street.
Mikel Knight’s street team, Maverick Dirt Road Street Team under his production company 1203 Entertainment, tours the country in more than a dozen vans with 60 people. Targeting rural America in 42 states, they’ve sold 30,000 albums a month in less than 30 months, according to Thomas Hairston, senior vice president of 1203 Entertainment.
Allegations of team members harassing potential clients and Knight subjecting those team members to poor conditions have surfaced online from a public awareness page. Knight and his crew have responded to those allegations in a variety of ways, from filing lawsuits to releasing public statements about former employees. His “Set the Record Straight” tour plays on telling his side of those stories.
Knight and his sales teams have been in Joplin, Missouri, hawking the artist’s albums and tickets to a concert scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday. More than a dozen team members in decorated vans, trucks and buses held flyers and posters outside the hall Thursday advertising the concert.
Police Sgt. Trevor Duncan in Joplin, Missouri said that the department has been inundated with calls about Mikel Knight and his unorthodox method of selling his albums — using street teams that tour the country and sell face-to-face, instead of going through normal retailers.
“We were made aware that they were here, and officers contacted them,” said Duncan. “They didn’t have the proper business license, so we informed them of city ordinances. They went and got one, and since then, to our knowledge, they’ve been following the rules.”
Reaction to the allegations about Knight encouraged the creation of Facebook groups targeting Knight, Hairston said.
“There are a lot of lies everywhere we go,” said Hairston.
As for the album sales tactics, Hairston said they are more assertive than aggressive. Team members are trained to stop selling after hearing three “no” answers, and to always approach from the front with an extended hand.
“Let’s look at this logically,” Hairston said. “The last thing we want to do is to be aggressive and scare customers. We speak to people five steps away, and never from behind.”
The negative publicity forces Hairston to book concerts on short notice, he said. Hairston said future concerts are planned in Omaha, Nebraska, and Lynchburg, Virginia.
The Joplin concert was booked Wednesday — parks director Scott Garrie said the label paid rental fees and a deposit, showed liability insurance and a Joplin business license. Like other promoters who host large gatherings at the hall, the label will also be asked to pay for the cost of police presence, Garrie said.
Knight performs a mix of country beats with rap-inspired lyrics and vocals, similar to performers such as Bubba Sparxxx and Cowboy Troy. Hairston said that because of his distribution method, he has not scored a place on national country charts from Billboard or Nielsen.