Booking Wiz Khalifa: Five Questions for Peter Schwartz on Hip Hop Touring

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: The massive motivation of hip hop artists like Wiz Khalifa is only half the story of how they storm the world’s stages: Behind every live touring success is a booking agent that knows their territory.

Wiz Khalifa is on the road again as "Rolling Papers" launches. (photo credit: Darren Ankenman)

Khalifa is about to kick off the Campus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour, running March 31-April 22, followed by the rapper’s first brief European tour from May 16-24. Along the way, he’ll be benefiting from the sage experience of Peter Schwartz, NYC-based VP of international booking specialists The Agency Group: his nearly 20 years of experience have had him plotting out live jaunts for the likes of Jay-Z, Method Man & Redman, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC and Wu Tang Clan, Big Sean and Big Boi.

Khalifa is on a hot streak: his single “Black & Yellow” hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and his new album Rolling Papers drops on March 29th – the same day he’ll grace the Roseland Ballroom stage right here in NYC.

In 2010, 135 of Wiz’ 140 shows sold out: our five questions with Schwartz explains why, and provides sharp touring advice for the next round of hip hop upstarts.

What about being a booking agent gets you out of bed each morning?
I truly enjoy being an agent, so getting going each day is really not that hard. Success is no doubt a driving force, especially when working with clients like Wiz Khalifa with such exciting growth and potential. It really makes the job fun, and I look forward to waking up just to see how well tickets sold overnight or where a client is charting that day.

His upcoming show at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC sold out in 16 minutes – that kind of thing fires me up for sure. Of course, it’s very rewarding to be standing at a sold-out show, watching the crowd go bonkers and seeing all the hard work pay off and come together in the end.

Bonkers is always the objective, we agree. How would you describe Wiz Khalifa’s live show?
Wiz’s live show is amazing: He puts his heart and soul into every performance — usually shirtless and drenched in sweat by the end of the show. His work ethic is unreal. His set is always fun and energetic, with his Taylor Gang team jumping around him to create even more hype. And the fans are always going insane!

We’ve been slowly growing his production with each tour, so his fans should expect to see him develop in that respect as well. They definitely get their money’s worth.

Each tour has a specific objective for the artist: Why is the Campus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour important for Wiz?

Peter Schwartz, VP at The Agency Group's NYC office, is the wizard of Wiz -- booking him live, that is.

The Green Carpet Tour is basically a college tour, which made sense to do for a variety of reasons. It timed well within our plans for the year and the album release, and the college market is one of Wiz’s largest demographics.

The “Campus Consciousness” – environmental — tie-in was really a nice perk. The last “CCT” tour featured Drake and the one prior had Passion Pit headlining, so it seemed like a good brand had been established there.

Our main goal for this tour is pretty much the same as always…sell it all out! Ticket sales look incredible already. We’re going to follow this up with a summer headlining tour to support the new album.

You’ve booked a lot of hip hop tours. What are the differences between booking for hip hop and rock? What makes booking for hip hop and rock the same?
There are some small differences in booking hip hop and rock, but I really approach all my bookings the same way: good old “rock’n’roll style”.

The goal is to build the artist a long-lasting touring career by plotting the right moves and developing them to larger venues and guarantees. Each move should be made for a reason, with the next step already in mind. It is really important to know your fans and be very conscious of picking the right size venue, ticket price and other details like age restriction on the show.

That definitely makes sense – for a lot of business avenues besides just touring! Lastly, What tips do you have for emerging hip hop artists who want to bolster their careers with a live tour?
If an emerging artist has a strong live show, going on tour is a great way to promote themselves and build a fan base.

That’s really the key to success: building a fan base and a faithful following. This can be done through social networking, good press, releasing great music and of course touring is a great vehicle as well. Try and deliver the best performance you can. Keep your set short and sweet in the early stages. Network with any of your fans before or after the show. Connecting with your fans — old or new — is very important. And stay connected too!

Wiz Khalifa plays Roseland Ballroom on Tuesday, March 29th.

— David Weiss

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