GRIP MAGAZINE
“Agency Empire on the Rise”
November/December 2005
By Lakia Arrington
For Shante Bacon and Saptosa Foster, success is destined to happen. The combined art of marketing and publicity lays out the blueprint for two trailblazing women making moves in the entertainment industry. Shante Bacon, Harlem native and former Director of Marketing at Def Jam Records, where she marketed high-profile artists like Kanye West, Ludacris to Method Man & Redman, decided after serving eight years under the direction of Kevin Liles, to put her acquired expertise to use for herself. “I wanted an outlet; something that I could do where I felt like I was in control of it and I did it for fun; kind of like marketing for fun.”
In April 2002, Bacon launched the 135 th Street Agency (named after a block in Harlem, NY) and recruited her long lost counterpart-turned business partner, Saptosa Foster. Both Foster and Bacon interned at Pendulum Records, the label that housed then-rap icons Heavy D, Digable Planets, and Lords of the Underground. After going their separate ways, (Saptosa relocated to Atlanta where she freelanced for urban entertainment publications such as Vibe & XXL), fate linked the two back together again. “I had read the editor-in-chief column of XXL Magazine biggin’ Saptosa up for all of her amazing writing and how she’s like one of the illest writers they have,” Bacon explained. Soon after, Bacon contacted Saptosa who held a print media background, fusing in the publicity service to make the agency a three-fold firm covering marketing, advertising and publicity.
Since fate met destiny, Bacon and Foster have been etching their name in the industry. “We have been out there hustling like savages; we’re at every conference, every meeting…we network like crazy and we try to get the word out there about the company.” Though 135 th Street Agency is entertainment-driven, music is not the only area the duo specializes in. “We’re definitely not just married to the music business…we are very much tied into the urban youth market,” Foster explains. “Whether it’s an artist or a Fortune 500 company [we show them] how to market themselves to expose their product and services to that urban youth demographic.”
Being a new business has its obstacles; but for two women in a male-dominated industry, the opposition can be worse. “During this venture where we don’t have a name like Def Jam yet, that is a challenge…out of all the challenges three are top: being a female in a male-dominated industry on any level…[encountering] time-wasters…[and] finding good help,” Bacon explains.
The same tenacity that propelled Foster and Bacon (both under age 30) to birth the vision of the 135 th Street Agency is the same energy that will be used to predict their future. “One of our main priorities for 2006 is securing flagship clients for different sectors of business; like a flagship sports client whether it’s an NFL player, NBA player, hockey player, tennis player,” Bacon declares. “We want to be working on a very hot, urgent, relevant project that is really going to allow us to have our creative juices put to use for exposure,” Foster adds.
