As The Royal Chief, Jamel Thompson wants to rule Kansas City.
The rapper, whose moniker invokes two of the city’s beloved sports teams, spent years in Atlanta honing his craft and networking in the music industry. Thompson even helped ghostwrite for Kanye West.
But he returned to Kansas City in 2017 to focus on building up the music industry here.
The relocation was inspired by Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Biggs Burke, Thompson told KCUR’s Up To Date. “He said, if you don't own your own city, you can't take over any other cities,” he said. “And that really resonated with me.”
Kansas City’s music industry has historically lacked the infrastructure of bigger cities like Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles, Thompson says, so it’s hard for artists to make music their career here. Thompson is working to change that through the showcases and events he organizes.
“I try to walk them through how to market a show, how to put a show together, how to … be able to make money off a show,” Thompson said. “How to build relationships with venues.”
As an artist himself, The Royal Chief is all about storytelling that draws from highly personal experience and resonates with listeners.
“As different as we are — as different as we think we are — I think we feel a lot of the same things or go through a lot of the same way,” Thompson said.
- Jamel Thompson, The Royal Chief
