On a mission: Scouting North Carolina for music talent

WE IN ACTION ENTERTAINMENT

Kinston, N.C., native DerriQ J is founder of We In Action Entertainment, a Greensboro-based recording label.

DerriQ J is scouting North Carolina for next big thing.

The music producer is behind We In Action Entertainment, an independent Greensboro-based record label launched in 2020. His mission is to support local rising artists.

“Right now, the industry only focuses on Atlanta, New York, LA and now currently Memphis but my biggest thing is, we have the talent here,” DerriQ, 33, said. “It’s my mission to find talent develop them and then promote them to the world in order to start bringing more insight on music in North Carolina.”

DerriQ has dedicated his life to music. 

In 2014, he graduated North Carolina A&T State University with a degree in music performance while serving in the military from 2009 to 2019. He was part of the school’s Blue and Gold Marching Machine band and pledged Kappa Kappa Psi, a national honorary band fraternity. 

To find the next big thing, J, a Kinston native, travels the state to find those folks wanting to take their music career to the next level.

Charlotte is one of North Carolina’s most developed entertainment markets and has grown by developing more spaces dedicated to music. It’s home to Grammy winner Anthony Hamilton and Fantasia Barrino, one of the state’s best-known singers who gained fame after winning “American Idol” in 2004.

According to the city’s website, Mayor Vi Lyles created the Charlotte City Council’s ad hoc Arts and Culture Committee to develop a policy for arts and culture as an economic development strategy for Charlotte in 2021.

With so much potential and opportunity here, DerriQ is in Charlotte often.

“I come out there doing a talent hunt,” he said. “I go to multiple showcases … so that could be Brooklyn Lounge Charlotte's music industry night that they do biannually at the Charlotte Hornets. Anytime they showcase at local bars, and I may come out just to scout the town.” 

Although J is within proximity to Charlotte as a talent site, Greensboro is a more centralized location for his business interest.

“The way the way of the Internet is, I don’t have to live in the city, but also because I travel a lot in North Carolina,” he said. “Central Greensboro is an hour and a half away from Charlotte, hour and a half away from Raleigh, hour and a half away from Fayetteville and it's also 2 1/2 hours away from my hometown Kinston.

 “If I was to live in Charlotte, they'll put me about two and a half hours to three hours away from Raleigh, four hours away from my hometown and I don’t know how far Fayetteville is from Charlotte, but it's not central and I travel a lot. Everything don't just happen in Charlotte. I'll be in Raleigh. I could be in Raleigh on Tuesday and then turn right back around. I need to be in Charlotte on Wednesday.”

J currently has five artists he works with from all over the state. His goal is to be able to shine a light on local artists.

“Just so when somebody has a dream of being the hardest, they don’t have to try to move to LA and New York,” he said. “They can stay right here and be able to raise their children in the state that they were born in and we start bringing in more money and we can build up our state economy.”

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