MKExpanded Launches Record Label

by

MKExpanded recently launched a record label as their next venture in promoting Milwaukee’s burgeoning hip hop and R&B scenes. The artist development, marketing and events company is invested in giving artists the tools to become business professionals, expand their digital presence, find their brand and book shows. MKExpanded’s starting roster consists of MoCity, Genesis Renji and KGZ Japan.

Mocha Harris launched MKExpanded in 2018. Since then, she has thrown dozens of emerging artist showcases at venues like Company Brewing and Cactus Club. Through MKExpanded she has offered programs for Music Consultation, Flow Development, Stage Development, Songwriting Skills, Music Video & Photo Shoot Coordination and much more. The company is so named for Harris’ aspirations to bring it to a national scale while never losing sight of hometown love.

Eventually having a record label has always been the goal, as Harris explains. “I had to find a way to market to the community. When I came back to Milwaukee after being in Atlanta for college, I saw that there weren’t enough showcase platforms for hip hop and R&B here, so events and artist development became my ways of building MKExpanded to a point where I could open this label.”

Full Creative Control

Harris is shifting her primary focus within MKExpanded to the record label. Artists retain full creative control over their music and production as part of MKExpanded; the label handles bookings, marketing and strategic planning for releases. 

Promoter Jordan Kellogg has been named the new director of MKExpanded, where he will be in charge of events and communications. Kellogg, who previously co-founded East Side DIY space J3 Studios and hosted the Milwaukee music podcast Wi Proud Entertainment, has long been a proponent of Harris’ vision with the company. 

“I was able to connect with Mocha after she saw clips of my show back in late 2019-early 2020,” he recalls. “She asked if I wanted to work with MKExpanded, and that was such a big opportunity for me because it meant that I could be part of something that was an already solidified name. People knew that brand in the scene, so I felt honored to work with them.”

Friends of the Shepherd

Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly magazine.

LEARN MORE

He was excited to work with artists he was already a fan of, initially taking on the role of A&R. “I put in a lot of work and eventually got asked to do more things,” Kellogg continues. “I’ve definitely been learning a lot about the industry through these roles.”

“I trust Jordan because he does things as if this is his own company,” Harris adds. “He brings his own ideas to the table and I haven’t had anybody on the team who is really loyal to the brand like he is.”

Rebranding 414

Harris is also the owner of Milwaukee’s holiday 414 Day, having inherited the LLC from original co-founders Andy Silverman and Brent Gohde. Bringing in Kellogg helps take some of the weight off her shoulders, elaborating, “I’m putting traction into our artists but I’m in the process of rebranding 414 Day as well, and even though that’s only one day a year it’s still a big project, so I just haven’t had the time to be putting on shows. I have faith that Jordan will put together a team of people who will make MKExpanded way bigger than it’s ever been.”

All three artists on the record label are already established figures in Milwaukee’s scene, but MKExpanded plans to bring their momentum to new levels over the next five years. Harris wanted to start with artists that she knew personally and had worked with previously. That said, there is plenty of room for more on the roster.

“We’re always looking to bring on new talent, whether it’s performers but also DJs and hosts,” Kellogg maintains. “Building a community is what we do well and I’m excited about it.”

KGZ Japan’s last album “GZ Need Love” dropped in 2021 although he’s released a myriad of singles and freestyles since, the most recent of which being “ABC” from August. He is Harris’ blood brother. “I got him booked at a showcase in Atlanta at a school that he wasn’t even a student at,” Harris mentions. “He’s been rapping since he was like eight and he’s very business-minded when he writes music. We come from a musical family and our momma is the reason he got into the music industry.”

MoCity is part of the Camp Shuttlesworth crew. He is currently gearing up to release a new album that follows up his critically acclaimed 2020 album “Benchwarmers.” Harris shares about MoCity, “I’ve known him since we were 14 and he’s my best friend. Blood could make us no closer. We entered the Milwaukee music scene together and I used to manage him so we’ve worked together for a while. But now he can do so much himself at this point where he doesn’t even need me for a lot, so I’m just his marketing person now.”

Prolific Output

Genesis Renji is known for his own record label, House of Renji. He has had a prolific output since 2014 with his most recent EP “E.D.E.N” dropped in 2021 and he has returned in 2023 with four singles thus far. Harris cites Renji as the first established Milwaukee artist who gave her a chance, saying, “He’s got to be the most connected hip hop artist in the city. He allowed me to be his marketing manager for his “Keefe” project and he really loved how that went. Content was not his thing but now he’s a content king; I don’t have to tell him to do anything (laughs).”

“I could talk about all three of them for a long time,” Kellogg remarked about the artists. “They’re getting plenty of love in Milwaukee but we want to help them infiltrate different markets like Atlanta or LA.”

MKExpanded is gearing up to announce a few shows this fall and winter, including ones at venues they have not worked with before. With these upcoming events, Kellogg wants to emphasize bringing MKExpanded back to its roots. “Let’s keep the party aspect of it,” he asserts. “Everyone should be having a good time seeing new music and enjoying themselves. When I would see the highlight reels after MKExpanded shows, it always seemed like a party. But we also want to have different styles of events too, like ones with R&B and spoken word artists where it’s more of an intimate feel.”

Harris will be working with the label artists on their marketing strategies in order to ascertain where they are succeeding as well as where there is room to grow. “I want them to know the business side of things in and out,” she concludes. “We need them to understand it so that they won’t get into bad contracts and that they show up where they need to show up. Just because you’re talented or getting money doesn’t mean you get to treat people a certain way; you might get booked once somewhere and not get booked again if you don’t act professional. At the end of the day, you’re still doing business.”

They plan to return to SXSW in March as well, having attended twice in the past, complete with a Milwaukee showcase one year.

Visit MKExpanded’s website at www.mkexpanded.com or follow them on Instagram @mkexpanded for updates or to get in touch. Follow @kgzjapan, @mocitysw and @genesisrenji on Instagram as well.