For the most part, when you retrieve of Atlanta'southward creative scene, the music industry is the first thing that comes to mind. For decades, Atlanta has been known as a hub for artists, producers, and industry executives. However, when it comes to other creative industries such every bit media, fashion, and marketing, Atlanta is typically an reconsideration. Half dozen Degrees, an Atlanta-based full-service artistic marketing bureau, is gear up to change that narrative.

For the last 2 years, Half dozen Degrees has been putting their artistic stamp on artist experiences, make campaigns, and experiential activations in Atlanta and beyond. From hosting Gunna'south Drip or Drown 2 album-listening experience at the Georgia Aquarium to creating a pop-up 'Hotlanta's' chicken fly restaurant to promote Future and Drake's chart-topping single, "Life is Adept," founders Desmond "Dez" Attmore and Brian "BWright" Wright have been on a quest to challenge the condition quo in artistic marketing.

The two began their careers as brand managers and marketing executives for Mike Volition Fabricated-Information technology's Ear Drummer label imprint, developing artists such as Rae Sremmurd and treatment the label's promotional endeavors. In 2018, they branched out on their own, fueled by the desire to build a artistic agency from the ground up.

In just two years, the 29-year-olds accept worked with major brands such as YouTube Music, Google, Red Bull, Puma, Soundcloud, A24, Hendrick'southward Gin, and more than. But their expertise goes far beyond producing immersive experiences; they also specialize in branding, production blueprint, influencer marketing, and content product. By relying on their expansive music industry Rolodex and maintaining strong ties to the creative community, Dez and BWright have established Six Degrees as a one-terminate-store for global brands and artists.

Perhaps even more compelling than their piece of work is their story: They're ii Black Morehouse graduates transplanted from New York Metropolis that bet on themselves and forced their way into an industry that's historically lacked equal representation. It's only plumbing fixtures that the duo accept built their foundation in Atlanta, a city with a rich history of innovation and success for Black Americans. And while the journey to building a globally-recognized brand may be long and arduous, information technology's where all the celebrity is. Dez and BWright are embracing the journey.

Hotlanta's chicken pop-up for Future and Drake

Hotlanta's chicken wing popular-upwards

For those who aren't familiar with your agency or what you guys exercise, how would you describe it in layman's terms?

Dez: Six Degrees is a full-service creative agency founded by me and BWright. I recall what it is, is that we've taken everything that we've learned from the past 10 years of our lives and all of our creative experiences and put them together to build this agency. And then we focus a lot on branding and designing, which is something that BWright is actually potent at, experiential activations, which means working with different brands and different artists to bring them closer to their consumers and doing it in a refreshing and unique mode. I remember nosotros are also extremely strong in terms of content creation and just strategizing, whether that's like an anthology rollout or just like a product drop, whatever that may be.

Where did the inspiration for the business come from?

Dez: Years ago when we were interning, nosotros thought it would be absurd to one solar day start our own creative agency, but we got busy with music management and music marketing. When we got to the tail stop of that, we had conversations about going dorsum to creating our ain, what nosotros were always good at. We were talking, then we put our notice in, that we were going to focus on ourselves. Six Degrees was originally supposed to exist a photo projection for our client, Gunner Stahl, that was going to be turned into a zine. It was based on the "vi degrees of separation," where we'd wrap cameras and give them to unlike people in the manufacture, like Postal service Malone's manager. We would get sectional content dorsum from them and dump it all into a photograph mag, showing how we're all connected. But instead, we flipped the branding and used information technology for our business.

"We've always been the ones that connect people and bring everyone together or know the correct person to reach out to to go things done."

Brian "BWright" Wright

What does the phrase 'six degrees of separation' mean to yous?

BWright: It's the theory that through six or more connections to other people, we're all connected. I call back the proper noun really embodies all of our experiences and everything we've done professionally. We've e'er been the ones that connect people and bring everyone together or know the right person to reach out to to get things done. Nosotros don't do everything, but we've been able to wrap upwardly a whole network of creatives and influencers and give a different perspective for marketing and selling products.

Many classic streetwear enthusiasts are familiar with the article of clothing line the two of you operated in the early 2010s, Kreemo. They may not know that you two were behind it, only that was a very influential brand that some big names were wearing at the time. Can you talk about how that make kickstarted your creative careers?

BWright: I started Kreemo when nosotros were nevertheless living in New York, then came down here for college. I met Dez during the first week of schoolhouse, and he had his own clothing brand. We decided to blow Kreemo upwardly downwardly hither, and just locked in. Came up with marketing strategies, sales processes, design, content. Pretty much all of the things we practice for businesses now. Nosotros received a lot of exposure in a bunch of different markets overseas—Japan, Due south Africa, Denmark, different places. The recognition from different celebrities and artists made information technology a stepping stone into a lot of hereafter piece of work.

What connected the two of you when you first moved here and started at Morehouse?

Dez: Our first time connecting, I don't even recall we spoke. We stayed on the aforementioned floor in our dorm, only I call up seeing BWright would take on BAPE shirts and watches and figured he was from New York. I just think beingness from New York you lot have that become-getter mentality and [yous] concenter that, then nosotros were quickly able to realize we had the same interests and decided to bring it together and create something.

Then that'due south what kicked down the door for you to get going, but how did that transition into yous both working with Mike Will Fabricated-It?

BWright: My homie Byron Wright, who used to work at BMI, he introduced me to Mike at Big KRIT and Curren$y'due south Smoker's Order tour. I had gone to drop off some clothes for Curren$y, and that'south when he introduced usa. I had already heard of him from Rick Ross' "Tupac Dorsum" record, and so he connected us. He needed someone that could make designs, do logos, and wanted to link upwards. I got his info and the rest is history; I got to work making his album covers, taking his photos, creating his logos, working on his videos. I was 20 when I met him, and so I was nevertheless in school. He couldn't really pay me at the fourth dimension, only I nurtured the relationship and made information technology official when he got his label deal from Interscope.

Dez: The first artist that Mike signed was Two-9, so nosotros were doing co-management for that. But then he signed Rae Sremmurd later down the line. They were already established, but they were working on this idea chosen SremmFest, a music festival. They were trying to do a festival, I was trying to practice a festival, so it seemed similar the perfect way to get feel. That was my kickoff project with them. From in that location it evolved to day-to-solar day marketing management, hitting the route, that type of stuff.

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What were the biggest lessons you learned during those times?

Dez: That menstruum taught me a lot about the word "leverage." When BWright started working with Mike Will and posting photos with Miley Cyrus, people saw that type of stuff and started answering our phone calls and emails. When I was controlling brand partnership deals for Sremm and treatment their bout responsibilities, it gave me a chance to leverage other opportunities. I remember for anybody that's looking to do anything, if you can be attached to an official state of affairs on acme of what you're already doing, that's the way for y'all to kickstart where yous want to go. You take to utilise your opportunities as leverage.

BWright: I learned that the most important affair with management and marketing is managing expectations. Have clear expectations with clients, just so you know you're on the same page. You want to make sure that everything yous're doing is impactful, and that people know exactly what you're doing; that creates visibility. People need to know what deliverables that yous worked on, then you can put points on the lath and build up your resume.

Do you have a almost memorable moment from your time working in the music industry?

Dez: For me, it was The Weeknd's Starboy bout. That was the best time I've ever had. I got to link upwardly with Cash, who manages the Weeknd. Traveling urban center to metropolis and watching the shows, watching the production, I learned and then much. Fifty-fifty linking up with some of the top people in XO—whenever they did annihilation, they always involved me. I wasn't tour managing, only they looked at me as a manager.

BWright: I would say the whole procedure of getting Rae Sremmurd established, leading into the release of their first album. It was so absurd to work on the project when nobody knew about it. Nosotros got to the indicate where information technology's done, and and then we push a couple of records out. They explode, and so we go farther and push the album out, and it merely goes upwardly from there. Working on the music videos, the artwork; that was one of the best times for me.

When you decided to transition into the agency world, what was that kickoff year like?

Dez: The first yr was the states trying to understand what we wanted to do. We were fortunate to have some big brothers that brought united states of america some opportunities out of the gate with some large brands. It allowed the states to brand money and allowed us to build awareness and get a buzz. It was the same as information technology is right now; we're trying to effigy out who to piece of work with, who we can call, but figuring out more to do. You have to work and experience more to sympathize where y'all lack.

"Y'all can't sell Blackness culture if you lot don't have Blackness people as a part of the chat when you're curating your project."

Desmond "Dez" Attmore

What exercise you lot feel it is about your perspectives as young Black creatives that makes you unique from other agencies, especially when working on projects such equally experiential activations with Atlanta United or Gunna's album release event?

Dez: We're one of the few agencies that's actually living what we're selling. Others study what they sell. We're still young enough that nosotros're actually experiencing what we're selling. We're not cold emailing influencers to get them on board and work with u.s.a.. We're going to telephone call our friends who are the influencers and getting them to show up and support.

BWright: I experience similar a lot of agencies don't really have a fanbase. Their fanbase is business to business, while we're an agency that brings awareness to the regular consumer that there are agencies really doing the events you similar and selling campaigns for the everyday person. A lot of the time, these agencies are coming upwards with a lot of these cool concepts, only people are looking at the company they're servicing, non knowing the ideas are coming from the agency. But that's the difference—people are finding out the cool things that brands are doing through usa. Nosotros are the culture.

Why is it so important for brands to work with an agency run past Black people?

Dez: You take to take Blackness agencies because everyone is selling Black culture. You can't sell Black culture if you don't take Black people every bit a part of the conversation when you lot're curating your project. That's why you run into these campaigns with major brands get blown out—because they don't have a person in the room that can speak on our behalf and represent us correctly. I also think that as the women'south empowerment movement continues, we don't want to be weeded out. Virtually of the upward-and-coming agencies we run into now are women-owned because women become shit washed. I desire people to too wait at united states of america and say "Wow, those are 2 men that go shit done." There'due south no battle betwixt men and women, only we do want to switch the narrative.

Why is it so necessary to have a artistic bureau headquartered in Atlanta?

Dez: It's important because we're creating a safety space for brands and artists to understand that you don't take to enjoy Atlanta from the outside in. Anybody loves our culture from what they run across on the net, just brands aren't necessarily coming here to spend dollars. We're helping them understand how to navigate this market, tell their stories, and testify up correctly. We're showing them that you don't have to bring in an outside agency to activate in Atlanta.

What's next for y'all guys?

BWright: Just expanding our client base, and locking in central clients that will take u.s.a. to the next level. We want to prove our growth and our bandwidth for the longer term. We want to have a couple of clients that nosotros take on a journey for a year or two, and show some hardcore results through our capabilities.

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