Delante "Butta" Murphy

A business man. A visionary. A man with a plan.

Mr. Delante Murphy

CEO D2 MUSIC MGMT. INC

Since the early age of 5, Delante Murphy loved music and dreamed of one day becoming an entertainer. During his childhood years, all those around him knew that he would one day make it big in the entertainment world. He was born in Washington DC, and raised in Oxon Hill, Maryland, by his mother and step father, both of whom were very supportive while he was growing up. As a child, his love of music came from such influences as: Sam Cook, Al Green, Prince, James Brown, and Michael Jackson. "I remember making my little cousins perform hit songs and dance routines for our family, it was all fun back then, but it was those little things that I remember today as I reminisce, that resulted in me actively pursuing my dreams." Mr. Murphy attended Suitland High School, a performing arts school in Forestville, MD, where he was a vocal performance major. While in high school, Mr. Murphy stayed abreast of everything that was going on in the music world and began making a plan that he was sure would land him a seat at a successful record label in the years to come. It was during this time that Mr. Murphy decided that he would attend college and gain the knowledge that he felt was necessary to be successful in the music business.

In 1992, he attended Hampton University in Virginia, where he first majored in music engineering, but when the program was not approved he switched to business management. "I think I made the right move switching majors, the knowledge that I gained in my classes has resulted in me being a sharp business man." It was during Mr. Murphy’s freshman year in college that he became the founder of Hung Lo Productions, which proved to be a huge success. "The purpose of starting Hung Lo was to seek out all of the talent that Hampton University had to offer with hopes that it would have grown into a big record label like Uptown or Def Jam," recalls Murphy, of his early college ventures. "I started throwing parties to bring in additional revenue for the company and that grew into a monster, however, I enjoyed every minute of it and made a lot of money at the same time." Murphy used that money to fund his company as well as to build a state of the art studio in Hampton, Virginia.

Murphy’s company was not just throwing parties and scouting talent, they wrote and produced the wedding song of the year and a smash record for Def Jam artist "Case," called "Happily Ever After;" It made Case a star and gave Murphy’s company some credibility. "Running Hung-Lo as a college student prepared me to do what I’m doing today, at one point I had 20 employees working for me and I was only 20yrs old." While in Virginia, Murphy eventually met Teddy Riley who was living and working in Virginia Beach at the time. After months of politicking as well as interning with Mr. Riley, Murphy became the Director of Marketing and Promotions for Teddy Riley’s Lil Man/Interscope Records, while he was still in college. "I was 22 yrs old flying 1st class all over the country making decisions that resulted in Blackstreet selling 6 million, as well as making Queen Pen "A Party Ain’t A Party" a club/radio hit. "

After college Mr. Murphy moved to New York City in search of a job in the industry. His goal was to simply get his foot in the door and then work his way up to the top. During a time when jobs in the industry were very limited, Delante found himself working as a manager in Foot Locker on 34th Street; he was not giving up though; he had a master plan. He knew everyone in the industry frequented this footlocker, so he figured he would use this as an opportunity to meet all the big shots in the industry. His plan proved to be a success when he met Ron Gillyard of Interscope Records and quickly developed a relationship with him. " I would help him get air force ones and throwback jerseys and eventually began slipping him a CD or 2 of tracks done by his producers." It was because of this, that Delante claims credits for Clive Davis’s new star "Shawn Kane" for which he delivered his 1st single "I Wonder," on J Records.

Today, 28 year old, Delante Murphy is making his mark and getting his feet wet in the business that has been in his line of vision since he was a child. Today, what he has to show for his dreams, are one successful move after the other, which has recently resulted in him being asked to join the A&R department of Interscope Records in New York City. Now if Delante chooses to take the position is another story but he had this statement to say. "There are thousands of people who have the same dreams that I do, but there are only a few seats at the top; I believe I’ve got something different to bring to the table," states Murphy confidently. With such role models as Sean Puffy Combs, Russell Simmons, Ron Gillyard, Barry Gordy, and Clive Davis, Mr. Murphy seems to be on the right track and following closely in their footsteps.

In addition to his offered position at Interscope Records, Murphy runs his own company D2 Music, which manages various producers & artist such as: Troy Taylor who produced B2K’s first & 2nd albums and has also worked with Whitney, Mary J., Ginuwine, Tyrese, Carl Thomas, Aretha Franklin, ATL, Patti Labelle and 3LW to name a few. D2 Music also manages The Slumpmasters, a Dallas based rap group who help created the growing sound of Slump music. The Group recently just did a remix for Nappy Roots lastest single "The Whole World is Country" and also was featured in last years college VIBE tour. The biggest signing yet is a new r&b 18 year old artist Treysongz who closed a deal in Oct. 2003 with Atlantic Records. Treysongz is the future of r&b. He is going to be the biggest thing since R.Kelly.

"Everything in my past has prepared me for now, the difference today is that I walk with God with everything I do, in the past I did not and now things are a whole lot clearer." Delante Murphy has the determination, passion, and, drive, that is necessary to take him to the top; he is a true team player who believes that he can achieve anything that he sets his mind to. "Before it is all said and done I plan to run a successful label and publishing company, and would also like to get into real estate as well as become a leader in the political movement, then all of my dreams will be a reality."

MOTTO: "Learn all you can about whatever business it is you are trying to get into and never take no for an answer."