Walter RANDALL
But God had other plans
I was supposed to be an NFL star, but I guess God had other plans. After my third reconstructive knee surgery playing college ball, I realized my destiny was in my other passion—music.
I came to NYC on my 23rd birthday in 2002 with just $50 and moved into a room in a house on 224th and White Plains Rd. in the Bronx. The house was owned by a 90+ year-old woman named Mother White. The room cost $150 a week, and she treated me like her son.
I got a job at Spofford Juvenile Facility, a position I’d applied for online while in Cleveland (my hometown), planning how I would take over the music industry. I worked there and saved every penny I made—no movies, no dates, no shopping.
By early 2003, I had saved enough to get a commercial space and build a studio. I hired a broker because I didn’t know much about NYC. All I knew was that Midtown was too expensive, and no one would take the studio seriously if it wasn’t in Manhattan. The broker found a spot on 125th Street in Harlem, which I thought was perfect. Everyone was talking about Harlem being the place to be, especially since the Clintons had bought a house there.
I was so happy to get the space, but God had other plans. Due to a mix-up about the building’s 24-hour accessibility policy, I had to give it up. Lo and behold, God had a place in Midtown waiting for me—out of my price range, of course—but it was exactly where I needed to be. That’s how I ended up on 39th and 8th.
I started building Brown Sugar Recording Studio in April 2003, and it didn’t open until May 2004. I sweat, bled, cried, and lost 30 pounds building that space. All I had was a Home Depot DIY book and some cheap tools from an Odd Jobs store on the corner of 39th Street.
Those were hard times. I gave up my room in the Bronx because I couldn’t afford it while paying studio rent and buying materials to construct the facility. I was homeless, mostly sleeping in my 1990 Isuzu Rodeo under the 7 train in Queens. Why not sleep in the studio? Parking in the city cost more than my old room in the Bronx, and I was still working 8-16 hour shifts at Spofford. I didn’t have the time to commute back and forth between Queens and Manhattan. I was barely getting enough sleep as it was.
Fast forward through a lot of struggles and unbelievable stories, and by 2005 I was running a successful studio in NYC. I was still homeless and behind on rent, but I hadn’t been evicted. That’s success, right?
By 2007, Quad Studios tried to buy me out (I refused), and we were so busy that we had to turn down some of the biggest names in the music industry. I knew it was time to expand. A suite the same size as Brown Sugar became available next door, but God had other plans.
When I told the building owner—whom I was good friends with by then—that I wanted the space, he said no. He didn’t think I was ready to take on more. Since he was a friend, I bit my tongue. A year later, a space three times the size—with a wall of windows overlooking Times Square—became available. Look at God. When I approached him about this bigger, more expensive space, he didn’t even flinch. He gave me his blessing, and I got back into DIY construction mode. This time, I built two studios and named them Ebony and Ivory.
By 2012, things were popping! I had three fully operational studios in Midtown Manhattan. In 2013, Atlantic Records approached me about taking over two of my rooms. At the time, I was in talks with Beyoncé’s team for the same opportunity. Of course, God had a say. After turning down Atlantic, the Beyoncé deal fell through because the building couldn’t accommodate their request for a private bathroom. Shortly after, Atlantic came back—this time with even more money—and I said yes.
When I met Craig Kallman, the CEO of Atlantic Records, he insisted that I be included in the deal as an A&R/talent scout. I agreed, and three years later, I had built another studio—bringing the total to four—and learned more about the music industry in that time than I had in the previous decade combined.
Now, I have a bigger vision, and I’m just waiting for God to swat it down and show me something even greater.