Lil Drummaboy Recordings: A Holistic Experience

Samori Coles of Lil Drummaboy Recordings | Photo by Rachel Del Sordo | racheldelsordophotography.com

Amid the chaos and curiosity shops on South Street, nestled beneath a Rastafarian Culture shop, lies Lil Drummaboy Recordings. Owner and founder Samori Coles has transformed the onetime label office into a fully functioning recording studio and school, and has dedicated it to recording Philly artists for the past two decades.

Coles grew up in Omaha, Nebraska where he was surrounded by music by the likes of Nat King Cole, Stevie Wonder, The Bee Gees, rakim, Run DMC, and The Last Poets. Classic Hip-Hop and soul, paired with his involvement in the church choir, sparked an intense passion in Coles and led to him creating his own music. “I was that kid who sat in front of the record player listening to music, reading liner notes, and tapping out the beats on every percussive toy and dish that I could find”, says Coles. He graduated from banging on household items to flexing his skills on drumsets. During this time, Coles began to develop his style as an emcee and created the Lil Drummaboy record label. After graduating from Creighton University in 1995, Coles began to split his time between his financial analyst position at Union Pacific Railroad and making music with his friends. “As rudimentary as our recording gear and musical abilities were, I felt like I had found nirvana when creating new music,” he remembers. “It was intoxicating, and fulfilled me like my day job could not.”

Eventually, three of Coles’ songs landed in rotation on local Omaha radio. The glimpse of fame got Coles wondering if he should quit his job as a financial analyst and work on music full-time – and at the same time, Coles also got accepted to the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. With his music career taking off, he found himself conflicted with choices: “I left my day job, and still kind of had the opportunity to continue on the corporate track via Wharton,” he says. “However, I was at a crossroads. And, I knew which direction I would go.”

Six months after quitting his full time gig, Coles hopped on a Greyhound with a duffle bag of clothes and a bunch of his sound gear and headed for the East coast – Wharton was not the destination. “I did not go to Wharton. I just decided that I knew what my future was going to be,” he explained. “It was a difficult time because my family and friends did not understand what I was doing. But, sometimes you just know. Even when no one else can see your vision. You just know.”

Times were tight and without the support system that he had back in Omaha, Coles put his Bachelor’s Degree to use and began working for Coca-Cola until he could save up enough money to purchase more sound and recording equipment. He started attending the Kajem Recording Arts program at Sigma Sound Studios, where he was able to refine his music recording skills. In 2000, Coles released his first full length CD, The Streets Of Babylon – this was when Lil Drummaboy Recordings was incorporated. Coles began to offer studio time and and production services out of his apartment. His clientele quickly grew: “I would make simple flyers and post them up all across the city. They would have the Lil’ Drummaboy Recordings logo, the services I offered and my phone number. I was able to generate a few clients and I continued to make my own music with a couple of different crews.”

From the two bedroom apartment in Germantown, Lil Drummaboy made its way to the Clef Club of Philadelphia on Broad and Fitzwater in South Philadelphia. Coles began as a piano student at the legendary jazz venue, but two months in, he was asked to teach a class to help Jazz musicians learn about the growing importance of technology in music. During this time, Clef Club president Don Gardner requested that Coles transfer his old vinyl recordings to CD’s. Gardner was so impressed with the digital remastering of his work that he offered to let Coles run Lil Drummboy Studios out of the Clef Club. In 2007 Lil Drummaboy Studios moved to the space on South Street, which it now calls home. “It was in this move that the company has slowly transitioned from being a record label into a full-service recording studio,” explains Coles.

Today, Lil Drummaboy Recordings is a full service recording studio that offers tracking, editing, mixing, mastering and more. While most studios stop at recording services, leaving artist alone and helpless when it comes to navigating the music industry, Lil Drummaboy Studios goes the extra mile, offering offers independent artists services such as CD duplication. digital music distribution, as well as copyright and publishing administration.

One thing that really makes Lil Drummaboy Reordings really stand apart from other recording studios in Philadelphia is the fact that Coles offers music education classes. He explains: “Our audio engineering school and music production program has trained hundreds of emerging audio engineers and music producers in their respective crafts. Our aim is musical, artistic and technical preservation. We want to make available, to those that seek it, the self-sufficiency and independence that we have realized in our music industry. Because the truth is, it’s Ours. There is a belief that one must get signed or move to LA or New York to attain success. But, the industry is ours. We just have to claim it.”

For over a decade Coles has been developing a curriculum for audio engineering and music production that would be easily picked up by both youth and adult learners. After teaching music classes at the Clef Club, he became a rostered artist through The Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, which allowed him to teach music in public schools. “Teaching is very rewarding to me,” he says. “For more than a decade I have been developing curriculum for audio engineering and music production in a way that is accessible for youth and adults of all ages. I love it when folks who have always had a dream to write songs, produce music, open studios [and] record their own artists…finally begin to understand and learn the building blocks and science behind their visions.”

Lil Drummaboy Recordings is not just a sound studio, but a hub for independent musicians who are looking for more than just a place to record. Samori Coles is more than just a business owner and recording specialist, but an artist who cares about the future of music. Coles wants to ensure that Lil Drummaboy Recording is a place where people from all ages and walks of life can come in and learn how to make great sounding music or record a new track. The resources that are provided at the studio are endless. Clients don’t just leave with music, they leave with a life experience.