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SMKA’s Mike Walbert and Blake German have helped build the brands of local artists.

Deep Cuts

by Biba Adams | Jezebel magazine | February 6, 2012

Remember this phrase: Super Market Knife Attack. No, it’s not the top story on the evening news, but SMKA is definitely making headlines. The Atlanta-based, full-service music production and marketing company has been responsible for the from-the-ground-up promotion and name recognition of some of today’s hottest independent artists. And the tongue-in-cheek moniker, it turns out, was actually inspired by a broadcast news shocker.

Founded in 2008 by three fresh college grads, Mike Walbert, Blake German and Kyle King—who all grew up in Atlanta, attended the creativity-centric Paideia School together and are in their mid 20s today—SMKA has released more than a dozen music projects that have together accumulated half a million downloads to date. King, who travels the world playing guitar for Atlanta rapper B.o.B., is less involved in day-to-day operations.

Over the past four years, the underground outfit has conquered virtually every aspect of the recording industry, from booking and event production to distribution, branding and marketing. “We really try to hit all facets of music, not just recorded music but live as well,” says German, who works chiefly as a music producer and is known in the industry as 808 Blake. “We pride ourselves on breaking new artists, especially in the Atlanta area. We have had a good time putting on local acts we think are really dope and can deliver good shows.”

SMKA’s events have been game changers for some of the industry’s brightest talents. Its first major production, the Atlanta Stargazing Tour in summer 2010, featured six different shows in six different locations over the course of six weeks, providing stages for nearly two dozen emerging artists. In 2011, Through the Rabbit Hole, SMKA’s signature summer event, created even bigger buzz: Over a series of Friday nights at hip Decatur nightclub The Nest, they welcomed dozens of up-and-coming acts and 400-plus fans to gauge their star power. Walbert, who works primarily as SMKA’s business manager (and current artist director for A3C, the largest hip-hop festival in the Southeast), says, “The good thing about the parties that we throw is that everybody checks their ego at the door. They just want to party and have a good time.”

But SMKA’s calling card is its impressive production and promotion of independent artists. B.o.B., Pill, Yelawolf, Aleon Craft, Young Scolla and Jarren Benton have all built their brands with the help of SMKA’s executive production services, which provide artists with three months of conceptualizing, creating and marketing an album. “It was important to establish ourselves in music first,” says Walbert. “We’re talking to a couple of distribution companies right now about partnerships and doing some more albums.”

The future sounds bright for SMKA. German agrees, “We’re going to continue working with Aleon Craft, and we’re also really excited about Jarren Benton,” he says of the Decatur-born rapper. “He has the potential to be really big in Atlanta.” With our city serving as a hub of hip-hop culture, the duo believes it’s tapped into a musical gold mine. “You’ll always have your mainstream artists—the T.I.s, the Jeezys, the Gucci Manes—to run the radio, but there is also an independent scene that we’ve been lucky to be a part of. The Atlanta music landscape is all about collaboration; you meet a lot of artists just down to work, and down to work with each other. We’re not beefing with each other; it’s more about the whole.” With hot beats, great shows and hometown love, SMKA is headed for success—any way you slice it. thesmkaexperience.com