Local rap group inks deal with Roc Nation

BELLAIRE -- Local hip-hop group The Council 2432 has signed a record deal with Jay-Z’s record label, Roc Nation.

Recently, the seven-member group traveled to New York City to meet with Roc Nation representatives, which led to the group signing a recording contract.

Bob P (Bobby Parrish), Manny Devine (Manuel Miller Jr.), Billy Blaize (Bill Schmitt Jr.), Porchgang (Matthew Cooper), Jag Da Apostol (Manuel Miller Sr.) and Mall Black (Jahmal Darby) are among the members of the group.

Billy Blaize serves as the group’s manager while also serving on Bellaire Village Council and owning the local business Holistic Cloud. Schmitt said the group signed a distribution deal with Dominion Hill Records LLC and Roc Nation Distribution last year, which put the group on Roc Nation’s radar.

“Over the last year, they’ve helped us get our music out there and really help us monetize what we do,” Schmitt said. “Over the past year we’ve had a lot of those guys inside of Roc Nation really paying attention to our music and seeing how we’re doing and really got to see the motion that we have, the shows that we’re doing, and we’re staying engaged.”

He added that the group released a seven-track EP, “A Dose in Reality,” last year through Dominion Hill Records LLC and Roc Nation Distribution.

Schmitt said having the EP distributed through a major platform helped the group reach a national and international audience.

“They [Roc Nation] watched us build our fan base, they’ve watched multiple videos of us having the crowd engaged so much by wearing the weed suits, and the gold dip nugs that we have on our neck. We throw out cannabis and money at events and pull up in the cloud Escalade,” Schmitt said.

Schmitt’s Cadillac Escalade is wrapped with the Holistic Cloud logo, and members of the group wear necklaces featuring marijuana dipped in gold. Schmitt and Cooper also wear matching suits covered in marijuana leaves.

“When it comes to music, there’s a lot of talent out there. There’s a lot of people who are very good at what they do. But in the music world, to break it, you have to do something different than anybody else is doing. And nobody is rocking the weed suits, nobody’s rocking gold dipped weed nugs. Nobody’s throwing money and cannabis into the crowd,” Schmitt said. “That’s something that sets us apart from all the other people that’s kind of in our field.”

He said the group’s unique image helps make it memorable.

“You simply have to make people remember you from something that you’re doing. So even if they don’t like our music, they can be like, okay, the suits were cool. If they don’t like the weed suit or the music, they could be like, hey, that gold dip nug, I ain’t never seen nothing like that before that’s cool. Or I’m going to follow them because they’re good people giving away a lot of merch and money at their shows,” Schmitt said.

The group formed in 2024 as an offshoot of another local rap group.

Schmitt said he had been longtime friends with the other members and believed he could help them reach the next level through connections he had developed in the cannabis community across the country.

He added the idea came from a conversation with Darby, when Schmitt told the group he believed he could help expand its reach.

“I told them, ‘I can put you guys at cannabis festivals. I know a lot of people in the music world, and can really help you guys.’ So they ended up coming over with me,” Schmitt said. “We got a lot of super big stuff about to start coming out. We’re working with people also, um, from, um, Mayweather’s The Money Team, we really got some people in our corner right now that’s going to help us blow the top off of this. Ohio Valley stay tuned, because we’re about to switch gears and level up real quick.”

The Council 2432 is available on all major streaming services and social media platforms.

Schmitt said the group is just getting started, with several shows and festivals already booked across the country.