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As a prominent figure in the entertainment industry and a successful entrepreneur, what role do you think the choice of drink plays in networking and building relationships in the business world?
Polo: The entertainment world is a space where everybody has their guard up at first. It can be a secretive environment, a secretive industry. Drinking, obviously with discipline, has always been something in society where people basically take an edge off, and get comfortable enough to put their guards down a little bit to be able to actually communicate better. For me, the brand of the drink goes with the mood. I’ll be honest, I don’t think you have to have an expensive brand. I like Captain and Coke. Captain Morgan is not an expensive liquor, you know, not a top shelf alcohol but if it’s a casual, more mellow occasion, if I’m hanging out, it’s a more daytime thing and I’m with some friends then my go-to is Captain and Coke. If I’m doing something that’s more formal, more upscale, that’s when I go to the higher top shelf stuff. I’m very, very picky with my alcohol and liquor and my top shelf drinks. I really like Louis VIII, I really like Blue Label and I also like to have a Cuban cigar when I’m drinking it. So it’s all about the mood and who you’re bonding with. I take smoking cigars seriously, it’s a gentleman’s thing. When I’m smoking a cigar with someone it’s because I’m bonding with them and I’m taking time for ourselves.
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With the rise of virtual events and digital networking platforms, how do you think the tradition of sharing a drink with colleagues or partners has evolved, and do you see it continuing to be relevant in the future?
Polo: It’s very relevant. During Covid we’ve had think tank sessions where we’ve sent a certain kind of drink and we’ve had a mixologist in our Zoom calls. We would send everyone a certain type of alcohol with mixers and directions on, drink number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the mixologist would show everyone how to make their drinks, so everybody would be drinking at the same time. That was something that we did during lockdown, during Covid, with some friends from an agency called Chiat Day, where they wanted to get different types of people from different walks of life and put them all into a Zoom and do something that everyone would talk about. And it was people you didn’t know, so it was like an actor, and a director, and an agent, a manager, it was people in entertainment from different walks of life, even attorneys were there, and everyone got to hear each other’s perspectives. And it was fun because we were getting buzzed, you got to remember we were all locked down, so we were all getting buzzed, we were talking about these topics, it was fun! Everyone was laughing, and it was such a good time that I was like man, we gotta do that more! And it was fun because that morning of the call you got a package, and in the package was everything you needed to prepare your drinks, and also little snacks that the mixologist would tell you, “ok so with this, you snack on this”. It was cool, it was educational as far as what you mix, what you don’t mix, and then the topics that we were discussing were also cool, you know.
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You’ve had a remarkable career spanning music management, production, tech investment, and philanthropy. What initially drew you to the entertainment industry, and how did you navigate your path through its various sectors?
Polo: What initially planted the seed for me to get into entertainment was when we were kids, really, really young, like 9th grade in high school, my parents would go out of town and we’d throw parties in our backyards. And our parties got really good. So we were entertaining people right then. We’d throw a DJ in the back of someone’s backyard and we’d charge people to come to our parties. So we were making money throwing parties in backyards in high school, and that evolved into throwing hall parties, and then hall parties evolved to throwing nightclubs, and then nightclubs evolved to throwing concerts, and concerts evolved from a 15-seater concert to a 500-seater concert to a 5000-seater concert all the way up to a stadium. So you know that’s kind of like how it started for me. I started as a party promoter and evolved to a concert promoter, and that’s when I started to get together with artists and managers and that’s when I realised I would thrive being a manager.
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Throughout your career, you’ve collaborated with various high-profile artists and brands. Have you ever encountered situations where the choice of drink has played a significant role in negotiations or deal-making processes?
Polo: No but I’ve had some really nice dinners with really nice chefs sponsored by Louis VIII. I have a really great relationship with Louis VIII. And of course, if we’re going to sign someone and we want to make it a thing, we’ll pop a bottle of Dom P and sign right there in the physical.
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Your involvement in Grassroots Music and the formation of The Black Eyed Peas is legendary. Can you share any memorable moments or challenges from those early days that shaped your approach to artist management and collaboration?
Polo: It’s always been important, right from the start of my career, that I worked in a way that put the artists first, no matter what. If you deal with artists in a fair way that shows a long term game plan and not a short term vision. It must be working because it’s been over twenty years that I’ve been managing the Black Eyed Peas and we continue going from strength to strength. I always structure the deal so that it’s in the artist’s favour, and I’m always transparent and fair. A lot of management companies, because the artists aren’t educated on how the business works, keep the upper hand – they don’t believe it’s in their interests to empower the artist. I don’t operate that way because I’ve seen what that does in success, artists don’t like that. So I always operate fairly from the beginning to the end. I’m always transparent and I’m always fair to the point where the deal always favours the artist and not the management.
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Working in the entertainment industry can be demanding. What are your personal strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance while leading such a diverse and successful company?
Polo: Firstly just always staying healthy both mentally and physically, and then always having a balance. I meditate every morning when I’m running or swimming, I meditate and pray. I think that helps me stay grounded and I’ve been doing it for a long time. And also always being in front of what’s to come from the artist depending on where they’re at in their cycle, where they’re at in their career. From the beginning to the end, always being in front of what’s coming next, not taking no for an answer for the artist, making things happen, and always having results for them.
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Philanthropy seems to be a cornerstone of your career, particularly through initiatives like the i.am.angel foundation. What inspired you to prioritize giving back, and how do you see the intersection between philanthropy and the entertainment/tech sectors?
Polo: Doing philanthropy for us has always been a thing. I remember when the Black Eyed Peas were starting and we were still playing small clubs, I remember Will coming to me one Thanksgiving and telling me “Hey, let’s do a food drive for the homeless, let’s tell people to bring canned goods and food for the homeless and we’ll take it to Skid Row”. So that’s where it started from. You know Will and I are really close friends, I consider him one of my very best friends, and since the beginning philanthropy has always been a part of our cloth. Even when we were small artists we always did things to give back. Like, “hey let’s do a toy drive!”, or “hey let’s do a food drive!”. It started like that and evolved to us doing so much philanthropy in that space that we even went to Soweto, Nelson Mandela’s town where he grew up in South Africa and opened a music program there. It got so big, and we were at the top of Table Top Mountain in South Africa, and I remember having a conversation with Will saying, “Wow we’re doing so much philanthropy all around the world now, we need to focus on the hoods we come from, the inner cities we come from.”
