New York, NY (EVOL RECORDS) – Looking for a diversion from daily routine? Perhaps you relax or recharge with sports, hobbies, travel or other common forms of self-expression. None of that usual stuff will do for Art4Love, Inc. (OTC: ALVN) CEO, Chad Love-Lieberman. To break out and 'chill out' from his daytime career, Lieberman transforms by night into Rapper Chad Love.
Chad Love-Lieberman's company Art4Love, Inc. is well known for its multi-channel approach to selling fine art. The company represents the works of several thousand artists from around the world, selling pieces both online at www.Art4Love.com, and at their New York City Gallery www.a4lgallery.com. The company also licenses artists' fine art digital imagery for commercial use www.art4loveimages.com. On a typical day Love-Lieberman may spend the day meeting with corporate clients, recruiting new artists or striking new business partnerships. At night however, the CEO vanishes and the fun really begins. Love magically transforms, Mr. Hyde-like, into Chad Love hip-house entertainer.
It's midnight as we descend into a subversive hip/house club in the heart of New York City. A mixed crowd of twenty-something's fill the floor, pulsing to the extreme base of the beat, which is bouncing off the walls of the club. The club promoter introduces the next Eminem rapper of New York: 'Put your L's up for Chad Love,' he shouts. From the wings dashes alter-ego rapper Chad Love, a 5'11 29 year-old wearing a black baseball cap, dark sunglasses in a black wife-beater T –shirt and cut open diesel jeans. It is obvious that this performer is equally at home in the Boardroom or on stage playing to a live audience. Love quickly takes command of the heart of the mid-size stage to the roar of the awaiting crowd. The beat starts and Love starts rhyming as the audience smiles with approval and moves with the beat:
'New York City watch your wallets the 'Juestar' is coming for them.
Pump up the music – I can't hear you
Pump up the music all the way to ten and don't stop dancing till I say when
If your bored of sitting home with nothing to do.
Love's got a brand new trip for you.' says Chad Love
Love's music is not the typical rap mix of catchy hook lines that embrace conspicuous consumption or other traditional rap themes. His lyrics tell stories that cover historical topics, like the Holocaust and 9/11 attacks. Chad Love is a sincere chanter of personal and historical stories to a demographic he believes needs to hear his message. You may have already surmised that Love-Lieberman is not your typical CEO. In fact in addition to CEO and rapper, Lieberman is also an accomplished artist, author and music producer.
I catch up with Love after his performance. 'Why rap,' I ask? Love responds, 'Believe it or not, selling fine art and rapping are not all that different from one another. The goal of each is connect and bond with a target audience. Hey, if Tiger Woods can take over golf, why can't this little white boy make his mark on hip hop'? 'Besides that, I'm not just a rapper. I actually call myself a hip-house artist. I mix disco, house and hip-hop into my game plan, which lets me attract more then one type of audience.'
Chad Love-Lieberman is passionate in everything he does; his goal is to bring awareness to his message through his companies and his music. 'I go back to the suburbs to escape the city lifestyle. There I see a lot of young kids acting like they own the world living off their mommy and daddy's money never really knowing what it takes to make an honest dollar in today's world. Kids want to dress and act like celebrities, they spend their allowance or side job money on a 1,000-dollar jacket when millions of kids around the country can't even afford a good meal. So many people in the suburbs think they'll never run out of money and believe that they can live this delusional rock star lifestyle forever. Instead of working and saving for the future, they throw their money away like it's growing out of their pockets. I was lucky to have such a great mother who disciplined and allowed me to find focus on going to college.' ' Says Love-Lieberman.
So what does Love-Lieberman do in his 'spare' time? During his free time he wrote his first published book 'Creative Warriors Walk Alone'. He also likes to spout poetry lyrics while chilling out with bottles and models at NYC clubs. Chad Love recently spent $200,000 establishing Evol Records and recorded his first online music video 'Keep Swinging' and a demo CD called 'Speak No Evol'. 'Its takes a strategic chess game mentality to became a player in any chosen industry. It's just that mine, becoming a rap singer and a corporate CEO, hasn't been pulled off successfully too many times in history,' says Love, as his personal driver opens the door to his Silver S-Class Mercedes onto 20th and Park Avenue. 'Selling fine art is extremely exciting. Just like in rapping, I'm trying to unite with a target audience.' Love takes out his diamond L earring and exchanges his rapper identity for a custom three-piece pinstripe. He steps into his NYC office, sits down at his executive office desk computer, logs onto a video conference server and motivates a dozen independent contractors across the country to sell more artwork to their corporate clients.
Certainly not your usual CEO or rap singer - that's Chad Love-Lieberman, CEO by day – Rapper by night!
Chad Love has spent his life incorporating the concept of Art as a product to behold and enjoy, as well as a business. In addition to being a successful artist, selling over 200 paintings per year, Mr. Lieberman was named director of the Fulcrum Art Gallery in Greenwich Village, New York in 1998. At the Fulcrum Gallery, in addition to his responsibilities as director of marketing, bookkeeping, special events coordination, and planning of weekly dinner events, he sold more than $350,000 worth of art during one four month period. Mr. Lieberman created the position 'resident artist' for several of the largest nightclubs on the east coast. These included The Sound Factory, Life, Limelight, Tunnel, Kit Kat Club, Envy, Tobac, Verago, Exit, Saci, and Cocktails. Mr. Lieberman, and his production team traveled to the various clubs designing, producing and finally creating unique and spectacular performance and environmental works of art. The artworks he created for these clubs were uniquely created for the specific event taking place, whether a theme party, fashion show, theater production or celebrity performance. In addition to his career as an artist, Mr. Lieberman was also a stockbroker and licensed real estate agent.
While working for a large research oriented brokerage house in New York, he created paintings which, when viewed, helped motivate young brokers in their struggle to achieve higher levels of success. During his tenure as one of the top real estate brokers at Citi Habitat Real Estate, Mr. Lieberman always kept a watchful eye on how to help his clients achieve that special ambiance in their new apartments by placing a 'Chad Love' Lieberman original work of art on their walls. Mr. Lieberman's largest project to date is the task of 'bringing art to the everyday world.' He is accomplishing this by engaging young artists with proven talent and limited resources, and pairing them with an audience eager to buy at fair market prices. Mr. Lieberman graduated from the University of Arizona and received a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts with minors in Art Education and Business. He recently received his MBA in Management from Bedford University. He is also the author of the art of business primer "Creative Warriors Walk Alone".
My internal wish is I hope that kids will look at me as a role model, ' Love says, He raps about some of the same things other hip-hop artists do women, his car but it's his individual persona that sets him apart. He doesn't lecture; he considers himself a chanter, half canter and half rapper. He hopes his lyrics about 911 attacks and the Holocaust will attract listeners onto www.chadlove.com or www.myspace.com/evolrecords
'If marketed properly I'm getting a couple of Grammy's in the near future, ' Love sighs. In both his day job and his rap lifestyles, he advocates a longer-term point of view. 'If I partner up with a big league label, I'll become internationally famous, which will spread my love message to a level that can't be obtained as an independent label very easily, ' Love says. Then maybe I can settle down find a nice wife, pop out some beautiful kids and live the rest of my life with content internal bliss of what I created for myself.
