City Walk Concert Event
For those who did not get the memo, there is a massive event taking place late-March/early-April called “City Walk Concert Event”. This affair, hosted by Naheem (NamiNiko@IMVU) and his company llMusic, is a one-of-a-kind IMVU music festival. If you haven’t heard of him, his company, or this monumental event, you’re in luck! VXM had the opportunity to sit and chat with Naheem about his rising business, music, and the much-anticipated “City Walk Concert Event”.
First allow me to say, thank you for taking the time out to speak with me and telling the readers of Verve X Magazine about this amazing up and coming event you’ve organized.
It’s no problem at all and thank you so much for having me.
So, let’s get down to business, shall we? Let’s start with who you are and what your company does.
Well, most people see the name and assume that IIMusic is solely a music label, however, IIMusic is also a Production Business that handles many different things. It was established in the Summer of 2016 and we had a lot of ideas in the works for the company and still do. However, we believe in taking our time to blossom, instead of rushing into the fast lanes seeking attention. So, we took our time and ran a few tests like the City Walk Concert Event to see how things worked out. We decided that whatever the results and feedback were from there, we would use it to perfect our brand. Then maybe in a year or so from now, we will become a little more in the public’s eye.
You stated that IIMusic does other things outside of the music label aspect, what else do you all do?
Well, we’re currently also working on an LGTBQ series called “The High Road”. We advertised about it in January.
That is the show that was written by music artist Khalil, correct?
Correct! Khalil is such an amazing writer and we had to get in on writing for shows on IIMusic. Along with myself and Khalil, we have two other writers on our team for our up and coming shows. The entire process is quite time-consuming, but our goal is set for April 20th as the release date for “The High Road”. We do have some other things in the works, but I can’t say too much about those at the moment.
So, besides the show, you have another huge project coming up soon that you are a currently promoting everywhere, “City Walk Concert Event”. Can you explain what this event is about and the process of getting such a huge event off the ground?
City Walk is something extremely new to IMVU. Some people have attempted things similar to this event, but nothing compared to this one. The Production Team at IIMusic wanted to try and bring something fresh to the IMVU Music and Production Scene. So, I did my research and decided to make this event into a musical festival, which is something that we are all super excited to pull off. As for production, there is a lot of different things going on behind the scenes. There is tons of advertising, especially throughout the month of March since that is when this event will start. There is also stage set ups, getting Artists lined up, creating the guest invitations, and tickets. Since we plan to make this an annual music festival, we are going all out with this event.
Will you being doing multiple stages, locations, multiple shows going at once, or something like that to pull this off?
While it would be amazing if we could do nine shows, we are only actually doing two. In the advertisement, the “&” kind of looks like a “- “and that is what is causing people to think we are doing nine shows. Which is another reason I am glad to be doing this interview to set the record straight. I do greatly apologize for the confusion. But, nine shows would be amazing to do, I’d just be bald by the end of it. The official dates are March 31st and April 7th. As for how the venues and shows will be done. Our plan is to have 10 entertainers per show with great stage presence. We also will be looking at people who are truly interesting in making this event one to remember. Meaning, we will not deal with people who make this event a “maybe”. It’s an either you are, or you aren’t, period. We are on a move and time is constantly ticking, so serious entertainers only.
Does that mean that you will be scouting the talent out yourself, selecting specific people, or is this a first come first serve thing?
We will be looking deeper into what each entertainer has to offer and what they have done. We aren’t just planning to use artists who have made names for themselves already, we will also be looking at new faces as well. Our main goal is to find people who have their own identity and sound. We know this process will be harder of course, but again, we aren’t giving up and understand that this is a timely process that we will have to do to make our event flow perfectly.
Do you have any artists in mind already that you know for sure that you will be having or want to be a part of this event? If so, have you extended the branch out to them just yet?
All of that information will be coming out closer towards the middle of the month. Our goal is to open the doors back to the music industry and, with all the craziness that is going on, it’s kind of hard to figure out who is who. We are doing this event to remind those that music lives on and this is what we do. This is who we are; and if coming together will bring back that sound of amazing music, then let’s do it together, new and old artists. This is IIMusic’s entire goal with this event. Our motto is and will always be “Standing Together.”
Understandable. Now, we all know how planned events tend to go, sometimes. They don’t always go perfect step by step, so tell us what your goals are for this event to be a true success? For instance, do you plan to kick it off with a Red Carpet Event then performance? Or are you planning to just dive right in? How do you have this event planned out in your mind?
We will be doing the Red-Carpet. I feel like diving right in will cause more minor issues with set up. Plus, everyone loves a good quality Red Carpet Event, especially if it’s a new brand. It gives them a moment to socialize, meet new people, see the who’s who, and what not. So, yes there will definitely be a Red Carpet room present. That part of the event is scheduled to last an hour before all the concerts are set to start. On top of that, it is a great way to pump people up before the big show and make them feel special.
Tell us how people can purchase tickets to this event and is there a limited number of seats available?
We will be giving away 15 Passes per show to the show and that doesn’t include their guest, if they have any. So, we are looking at anywhere between 25 to 35 people per show. We know they all have been there when it comes to having a large amount of guests at a single show, crash central totally.
Are these tickets free or is there a certain place people must go to purchase them?
These tickets are completely free. We are doing this show for the support of great music. Once those 15 Passes are gone, it will be our goal to keep a reminder posted to those who receive the tickets to see if they wish to keep their spots before we pass the tickets to the next people in line.
Is there any other detail that you would like the Verve X Magazine readers to know about IIMusic or the City Walk Concert Event?
I would like to say that it’s time to bring back a lot of the IMVU community. Not solely the music industry, but the fashion, productions, businesses and ownerships, as well as the modeling agencies, and not just the ones for competition. It’s 2018, so now is the time for better changes and to bring back the fun and creativity in IMVU. We all need to do our part to bring it back.
Well, Naheem makes it very clear what the motive is: let’s bring creativity back to IMVU! VXM will be at the City Walk Concert Event with a VIP badge, hoping to see all of you there!
For more information of Naheem a.k.a NamiNiko, his company, IIMusic, and the “City Walk Event” you can follow him on IG @iinahmi or add him on IMVU at NamiNiko. You can also find out more about IIMusic, and the “City Walk Event”, on their IG page @iimusicent.vu.
Disclaimer: the personal views and opinions written in this post are from the writer and do not always express the professional opinion and views of Verve X Magazine.
Interviewer: Kaileighn
Copy Editor: Chiq
Photos: @mualphaxi.vu
