The Kartel Family stands for K.nowledge A.nd R.espect T.hrough E.veryday L.ife.
A lot of people see the word "cartel" and they automatically associate the word with drug kingpins and negativity. For that reason we decided to use the letter "K"..for Knowledge..you gotta have knowledge of self to know where you’re going. The Kartel Family was first started by Big Skilly who had a vision and wanted to start a movement in hip hop music. When Hip-Hop was created/or born Big Skilly fell in-love with it. Skilly had a public access show (L.E.S. lIVE) 2 radio shows (WSTR & WBAI) and 2 internet shows all in 1996 which were all hip hop related. This was before the internet became popular.
Big Skilly started producing music and recording tracks for several artists in his inner circle. He began to accumulate a collection of songs and started a team called “The Kartel Family". We produced our own music using internet access which was the best tool to get music out independently. Skilly realized if this was going to work he had to get the right people on his team. Skilly recruited one of his loyal and most trustworthy childhood friends D-Dinero who grew up in Harlem and was majoring in business & accounting. Together they formed "The Kartel Family" productions. Co. Skilly handled all the production work, while D-Dinero took care of the business side of the operations. Building a studio at Big Skilly's apartment was genius. Not only did “The Kartel Family” have access to a studio now; but they were also able to put out their music right away. Our first project was “Triple Threats Mixtape”. “Triple Threat was our marquee artist and his first mixtape was recorded at “The Kartel Family” studios. Triple Threat’s mixtape received good reviews from the internet as well as the streets.
Big Skilly started to venture more into video making and editing (Big Skilly Films) and quickly started to lose interest in the production aspect of the music. Skilly started looking for someone he could trust to join the team. Mec-one who Skilly knew from his graffiti days was also an upcoming producer (Mec-One Productions) was also looking for a strong team to hold him down. Big Skilly realizing how dope of a producer Mec was and decided to ask him to join "The Kartel Family”. Mec agreed and joined the team. Once joining the “The Kartel Family” Mec-one Immediately produced music for Dipsets own J.R. Writer and G-units Lloyd banks (Hate On Me). The partnership between Big Skilly, D-Dinero & Mec-one blossomed into the movement now known as "The Kartel Family" venturing out we incorporated Big Skilly Films, Mec-One Productions & Dinero Management Ltd.
Mec-one is the main producer, Big Skilly handling all the videos and episodes, and D-Dinero handles the artist development/management along with his younger brother Shawn Butters (he's smooth like butter). All mixtapes, Cd covers, videos, and episodes are all done by us. With our strong foundation of artists Triple Threat, Easy, & Mo'Barz handling the mc'ing aspect there is no way we can lose. We treat everyone with respect and we demand respect. Our Movement is more than just music, we’re a family and we treat each other as we want to be treated. We stay true to ourselves by representing that real hip hop music.
