25-year-old Christian Berishaj is not a “new” artist by any stretch of the imagination. You may know him by his previous monikers – Snowhite of Atlantic Records pop band Love Arcade or Universal Motown “When She Turns 18” artist Christian TV. But what you may have seen and heard from Berishaj in his teenage years is absolutely nothing like the artist that stands before you today. Fed up with being in the music industry, Berishaj retreated and peeled his major-label manufactured layers from his flesh until there was nothing left but JMSN. No longer would he be subjected to being shaped and molded to fit in, JMSN would go his own route and dig into the darkest and most honest parts of his soul to pull out an artistry that may have not been accepted by the mainstream. Gone was the tame pop-rock image and in came an artist’s artist. One who stirs with emotion and wallows in damp basslines and haunting vocals. Celebrity be damned, JMSN wants you to feel his emotion through his music. The January release of †Priscilla† (available now on iTunes) revealed JMSN’s soul and has led to a cult following that is touched by his artistry. But his musical footprint left fans inquisitive as to who Priscilla was and what has led to such a mysterious artist creating beautiful music. Life+Times sat down with JMSN for an exclusive interview that sheds some light on his life changing transformation and why he decided to set out on his own.

Life+Times: You’ve been signed before. What was that experience like for you and why have you decided to go the indie route?
JMSN: I wanted to take all of the information that we know about the music business and give people something that’s real without anything holding me back. The best way to do that is to take out the business and not worry about hit singles. Then it comes down to the bare essentials of music.

L+T: There was a shift artistically for you to a much darker sound. What prompted the change?
JMSN: I stopped listening to everybody else and just started listening to myself. What labels do is try to make you think that you have to chase radio. But don’t worry about radio; make it come to you. Radio is the last thing I want to worry about. I know what I want and I had to believe that I’m good enough to do what’s in my heart. When I was at a major label I would come to them with ideas and they were always on the darker side. They told me they couldn’t put it anywhere. I’ve always been into the dark visuals that contradict the music. With a video you can take a song to a whole different dimension. Why would you want to confine a video to what the lyrics say? Let’s be creative and make it and a metaphor. That’s what is great about music; it can mean so many things to so many people. Darkness is a part of life that people don’t want to talk about as much. But that’s what I want to talk about the most.

L+T: Some of the best albums are written out of pain and broken relationships. Did †Priscilla† have to do with a real life situation or person?
JMSN: Yes. She was the key to Pandora’s Box and opened up all of the shit going on in my life. It’s essentially about a girl but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about my life, what’s wrong with it and me trying to figure it all out. My life in the past six months was that record.

L+T: Many artists fabricate reality but you seem to embrace the dark side with your music. Was there any concern that people would not connect to your artistry?
JMSN: There’s always some concern, but one of my favorite artists, Eminem, put his heart out there and held nothing back. Artist that bare their souls always stuck out to me. As long as you don’t bullshit, they will get that. Even if it’s something they don’t like musically, they’re going to respect it as long as you’re putting your heart out there.

L+T: There’s a certain aesthetic in your music that has been compared to the likes of The Weeknd and Bon Iver. Comparisons usually suck but that’s not too bad company that you’re in.
JMSN: It’s only natural when something comes out that you don’t understand, you have to compare it to something that you like. When Coldplay came out, I thought it was a knockoff of Radiohead. When you think about that today they are two completely different bands. It’s just how the mind works.

L+T: You took your time with this project, released a few videos over the course of a few months and then released the album retail instead of for free; which is a complete departure from what other artists are doing today. Why?
JMSN: It was just us believing in what we had. There are no throwaway songs on this album. It’s exactly what was going on in my life and what still is going on in my life. I believe it’s going to be a long-standing record. I’m going to make a video for every song. I didn’t want to devalue this project or make it a mixtape. I’m not interested in being an overnight celebrity. I want to have real fans, not some motherfuckers that like it because everybody else likes it. I want to create something real because nowadays it’s so easy to steal. I want people to feel like they own it.

L+T: The “Something” video is incredibly dark and stuffed with symbolism and visual metaphors. Where did the inspiration come for this video?
JMSN: The idea started with the octopus. I saw a picture of a girl with an octopus on her hand it was such a strong image. When I started shooting the “Something” video I figured that this would be the perfect song for that visual. Some people can’t handle that intensity. I wanted it to be as intense as possible because I want to evoke emotion out of people.

L+T: You have a deal with MTV where they will be placing your music in their programming. What does that mean to you considering that there is no major label backing you up?
JMSN: It reassures that it’s possible to do what we’re trying to do. If I’m putting out something good it doesn’t matter if we have a label. The label is what you put on something like “This Belongs to Epic Records.” Our label is White Room records. Eventually we want to create something like Shady records where if you’re under Shady records it’s got that authenticity attached to it. People want real music and real artists. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have real artists like Portishead and Radiohead to listen to when I was going growing up. It feels good to know that we can do this without a label.

L+T: Considering that you’ve done everything internally are you interested in collaborating with other artists?
JMSN: It all depends on the situation. I don’t think I’m at the point where I’d let somebody produce for me. I wouldn’t do it because it wouldn’t be a JMSN song; it’s now somebody else’s. Maybe a coproduction if it feels right. I’m not going to say never because maybe I just haven’t met the right person to want to do that with. As far as producing for other artists, I’m open to that. I remember when Kanye West said he kept the best beats for himself and I feel like that too. I would give somebody a beat, but at this point but I’m keeping all of the good ones for JMSN.

L+T: What does the rest of 2012 have in store for you? Will we see a new album this year?
JMSN: I’m trying to ride †Priscilla† out. I need time to make the next one great but I’ve definitely started on it already. I can’t plan that far ahead because I may make something where I feel like we need to put this out immediately. I can’t put a time on it I don’t want to limit myself.

In a recent interview with ABC News, Steve Stoute spoke about his new book, and how the “tanning effect” has influenced pop culture. Check it out above.

It’s been about a decade since Steve Stoute left his position as a music mogul to pursue advertising. In those last ten years, the former President of Urban Music at Interscope Records has permeated many facets of contemporary culture. From founding Translation Advertising to pairing some of entertainment’s most iconic figures with global brands, Stoute’s influence resonates through pop culture. His journey has led him to penning his first book, The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy (Gotham Books), a tome that dissects the cultural nuances that hip-hop culture consists of, and how those same elements have influenced culture on a global scale. Here, Stoute defines the concept of the “tanning,” the effects of social media and how RUN-DMC were early trendsetters.

Life +Times : What is the overall concept behind the “Tanning of America?”
Steve Stoute: The tanning of America is a phenomenon that went beyond music in any genre, and went right into the psyche of young America. It’s blurred demographic and socio-economic lines and has created a transformation for generations to see each other not through color, but through shared values.

L+T: Do you see the culture being “tanned” overnight, or in pieces? Or is this a long-term thing?
SS: It’s going to take a while to affect the masses. There’s definitely a generation – definitively under the age of 20 – that have lived their life with the tanning effect. They consume, operate and live their lives under this pretense. It’s going to take a while before everybody and every brand understands how to get that kid in the door, into the market and sell to that consumer. It’s going to happen or it has to happen just for commerce to keep going forward. Because If you don’t get this kid aligned with your brand values or if this kid’s aren’t aligned with yours, you’re going to find yourself on the other side of consumption.

L+T: Who are the people that you see changing the face of this culture?
SS: I’ve interviewed a bunch of them for this series I’m doing on AOL/Huffington Post. The people that I’ve interviewed, that have really been effective, have been: JAY Z, Puffy, Justin Beiber, Will Smith, Lady Gaga, John Dempsey (CEO of Mac Cosmetics), Mariah Carey, Eminem, and Jennifer Lopez.

L+T: Early on in your book, you speak of RUN-DMC’s adidas-sponsored concert. Were you aware then that you were witnessing a cultural shift in brand allegiance?
SS: No, not at all. Back then when that happened, I don’t think anybody realized, that outside of shell-toed adidas being the shit, that what Run was doing was causing a seismic shift in the way a German company would look at street art – because that’s the way they were looking at it. [Hip-hop] wasn’t being looked at as a sustainable art form. And the way [Run] took that art and got the attention of a German company… I mean adidas wasn’t as big now as it was back then, but it still was a globally recognized brand. They felt that it was important to take a risk and be a part of this street art, this poetry. For adidas to take that risk and see that this new emerging artform was popular enough to do a brand endorsement deal with Run-DMC was a big statement that was heard around the world. The truth of the matter is that it’s not what it meant for me as a 16-year-old. I was already buying the product. I had a pair of shell toes. I was that guy who had that. I’m from Queens, RUN-DMC is from Queens. I’m a fan. But to me, specifically the issue comes into play when you start the discussing the implications that happened beyond Queens. What it meant to the footwear industry. When I speak about tanning, I don’t speak about from the perspective of how African-American culture, hip-hop culture, permeated through the rest of world. I speak about how hip-hop music created a culture that started a generation aligned to it. So what did it say to all those Germans and the German kids who grew up and finally got introduced to RUN-DMC via the sneaker. When I talk about tanning, I refer to sharing.

L+T: It’s been said that music effects the culture. But how have you seen culture influencing the music?
SS: As the culture started to become much more recognized, I think that a lot of the music that came out of it was geared towards those cultural cues. Whether it was champagne in the club or how you rock your car, or how you wear your clothes, I think those things are the cultural cues that are working and sticking – the music started to chase those cues. The truth of the matter is this is the way that the kids were brought up. Music videos were tutorials. It was, “how to videos.” In four minutes, you could learn how to speak to a girl, dance, drive your car, and how to rock your clothes.

L+T: How do you curate the musical connection with a product? For example, how did you know that Justin Timberlake was the right person for the McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign?
SS: I always felt that Justin was the Good Housekeeping seal of tanning. He appealed to African-Americans, he appealed to White kids. He lives in that space. I felt that when McDonald’s was launching that campaign, they needed an ambassador to relevant culture. I felt that “I’m Lovin’ It” – that line – sounded like ebonics. It felt like that to me; a play on slang. I felt that the person who could introduce that slang to world, would be the Good Housekeeping seal of tanning, and I felt that it was him.

L+T: How has social media impacted the tanning of America?
SS: It has sped up the process. It’s allowed people to culturally share much faster. The whole notion of why people don’t see eye-to-eye is really, at its core, about understanding. It’s the idea of, “I don’t understand you.” But how do you get a chance to understand people from afar? You just don’t. It’s unfortunate to fear what you don’t understand or not participate in it. What happened was there was a lack of understanding that led to a segregated point of view and created these boxes. And what the Internet did and what social media has done, is allowed people to share with each other their music, their culture, their food, their mannerisms. What hip-hop music did, and how it became a global phenomomen was that for the first time, there was an art form that spoke to everybody. It spoke about coming from nothing and being celebratory about it. People from around the world, Third World countries, understand what it’s like to not have shit. But before, you were always embarrassed not to have shit. Hip-hop was the first music form that said, “I don’t have shit, but I’m going to get some shit, and fuck that.” And everybody in China, Japan, Thailand, Haiti, South America is like, “Hell yeah!” Most other music that spoke about that was too niche – things that weren’t necessarily activating at the core of what people were talking about. They were either about love songs, or a relationship you were in. No one was talking about what I was like to be poor and what that felt like.

L+T: Where do you see this all going? Is there a point where there’s no longer a divide between a niche market minority-focused ad agency and a typical Madison Avenue “general market” firm?
SS: I don’t think there is going to be any more of that. I think you have to communicate with the consumers in culture and you have to speak to them in their cultural code. Trying to figure out, “Is it a general market agency, versus is it an African-American agency, versus a digital agency versus a young adult agency?” [is over]. All of those things have to come down to one thing: How effective are your tactics at speaking to the next generation of consumers? My end game is to get Madison Avenue, advertisers and brands to see that they have to speak to consumers going forward on a common values basis, not an “ethnic-friendly” basis. So, for example, I think it’s critical that we go to the Wal-Marts and CVS’s of the world and tell them to remove their ethnic beauty aisle. There’s no reason that Rihanna could be on the cover of Vogue magazine, and if a girl wants to use the product that [Rihanna] uses in her hair, she has to go to the ethnic beauty aisle. Women that are White, Spanish and Black, all look at her as beautiful. It’s not defined by ethnicity. She may have specific type of hair, but it’s not defined by ethnicity. (Tanning of America)

The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy is in on sale now.

Even though he holds the title of CEO, Ralph Gilles isn’t afraid to get some dirt on his hands, or in this case, motor oil. As the CEO of Dodge and the head of design for the Chrysler group, Gilles, 40, is responsible for the design studios of the the Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler and Ram brands. Gilles became an auto industry star when he conceived the regal body of the Chrysler 300C, first introduced as a concept car in 2003. As CEO, he’s ushered in a new era for the reconceived Dodge brand. He’s part of a team that has worked around the clock to reinvent Chrysler’s strategy over the last two years. When he’s not at work, 40-year-old Gilles trains for marathons, races cars and squeezes in some occasional lap time in Gran Turismo 5.

Life + Times: Can you define what your role is in the company?
Ralph Gilles: The CEO to the outside world is an impressive title, but it means something very different inside. Sergio Marchionne is our real CEO, but because he is such a big believer in brand management and equity of brand, there’s a watchdog for each brand. Dodge and I fit well together. I want to take the brand to a place that I think it needs to be. I’m trying to make the brand younger, more current, to get more technology into the brand, refine it better, but yet not forget who we’ve always been. The brand was founded by the Dodge brothers, who walked away from the status quo and wanted to do their own thing. I think that still lives in us. I’m a big believer of individualism and holding on to what we believe in. That’s what I bring to the party, my passion for cars. I’m a car guy; at least I think I am. I do live it. I tinker with cars still until this day, as I can find time. I still race; I read car magazines all the time. I really eat, breathe and sleep cars. Hence the Dodge brand fits.

L+T: Everyone wants to reach the younger buyer.
RG: Design is one thing. The product itself has to appeal to people. What it may mean to you may not mean the same thing to us, to them. That’s a bit tricky. Part of it’s solving problems [younger customers] have. How can you get a highly contented vehicle at a price a young professional can afford if this is their first car? You have to make conscious decisions to make sure the car has the content of the things that will appeal to them, not just things you think will work. You can’t design a car for a 50 year-age spread. You’re going to have to sub divide your cars and make them really succinctly packaged for an entire generation. More importantly is marketing to them. It’s probably the toughest generation ever to market to. The 18 – 35 year old is extremely spastic in the way they consume media. Whether it’s music, digital media, TV, everything is so at their service. They can delay the consumption of something. I can do it myself. I can record a show and don’t watch it for a month. If you have a television offer, it’s already gone. Part of it’s getting a young staff. We have a relatively young staff at Dodge now to reflect our market. I may feel young inside, but I’m not getting any younger myself so I needed to surround myself with young people. I get a lot of that through the people I hire in the design office, exposing myself to the cultures. We do a lot of work with focus groups and young people to kind of get that input. We’re always reinventing ourselves, to change how we speak to our customer. Our marketing commercials are much more edgy now. Our graphics are more contemporary. Our language is a little more current.