Executive Bio
70/7 Media Group Chairman, Kenneth Goldwire McLendon, II, is a true renaissance man with an intense passion for every aspect of the business he loves. Kenneth has spent his last 17 years working alongside some of the entertainment industry's most well-known and respected figures.
Kenneth began his foray into the music business as a recording artist. At the age of 16 Kenneth along with his family, The McLendon's, won the 1993 McDonald's Gospel-fest in New York. The family immediately began working on a debut album with multi-Grammy award winning songwriter/producer Keith Diamond. Keith was well known for having produced and penned the classic R&B songs "Suddenly" and "Caribbean Queen" in the 1980's. Keith also happened to be a distant relative of Kenneth. Taking full advantage of this, Ken began to learn the music production trade from his "uncle" Keith. In 1994 Ken felt the need to spread his creative wings and leave the nest. He formed a band of his own, called MidNite Harmonee. In 1995 the band won a national competition for an opportunity to be cast in Paul Simon's musical, "The Capeman". The band was immediately thrust into the national spotlight with articles in TIME Magazine, The New York Times, USA Today, and multiple TV and radio appearances. In that same year Ken and the band came under the wing of entertainment manager, Cherrie Shepherd. Ms. Shepherd had successfully managed the careers of The Boogie Boys, R&B crooner Tony Terry, and multi-platinum girl group Sweet Sensations in the 1980's. In that time Ken began to hone his skills as a writer, producer, and recording artist. He was dubbed the next Babyface by his peers. In 1998, due to personal reasons, the boys of MidNite Harmonee went their separate ways. Kenneth thrust himself even further into the music business. He took on a leadership role in Ms. Shepherds new record label, CasaSoul. Kenneth was selected as executive writer for multi-platinum recording artist Betty Dee's solo album. It was to be Betty's first solo effort since leaving the group Sweet Sensations. Unfortunately the album was scrapped due to publishing issues. Kenneth continued to earn high praise as a writer/producer, and in 2000 started a new venture with producer Timar Rousse. The company was named Nucleus Entertainment. Mr. Rousse was a well respected producer who also served as Music Director for many high profile music acts in the 90's. The two were frequent collaborators while with CasaSoul. Nucleus specialized in artist development and production. While at Nucleus Entertainment Kenneth developed the careers of many of New York's elite indie artists. He also added collaborations with Daddy-O of the rap group Stetsosonic, and Maxi Priest to his resume.
In 2001 Kenneth resigned from his creative duties at Nucleus and moved to Lynden Washington to marry his longtime girlfriend. For the next 6 years Ken took a break from the music industry to focus on raising a family. In that time Kenneth spent 2 years at the University of Phoenix and maintained a 3.8 GPA while working towards his degree in Business Administration.
In 2006 the industry came calling again. Kenneth moved his family back to New York to start BlackGold Productions with his cousins Thomas and Tai Niblack. It didn't take long for BlackGold to make a name for themselves in the New York music scene. They performed at the Manhattan City Center as the band, "Mountain Street". That performance led to them signing a publishing deal with MSI of Korea. Signing with MSI prompted Kenneth and his cousins move to Los Angeles in May of 2007. As they did in New York, the team quickly made their way into the inner circles of LA's elite music industry personnel. It took only a month of LA exposure for the guys to be offered a publishing contract with Universal Music. Within months the guys began working with Haute Monde Ent., and Grammy Nominated Producer Scott "Shavoni" Parker. Mr. Parker was one half of Buster & Shavoni who'd gained international fame for their work on Dream Works Pictures, The Prince of Egypt soundtrack. In a relative short period of time Kenneth earned Shavoni's trust and respect. Kenneth was named Director of Business Administration for Shavoni's newly formed Its R Media. This position allowed Kenneth to use his entire range of skills and music industry knowledge. While at Its R Media Kenneth was lead producer and writer. He also assisted in brokering deals for international recording artists such as Agnes Monica, as well a joint venture with Parteneri Holdings of Japan. The move to LA also allowed Kenneth to further pursue a career as a singer. Kenneth lent his vocal talents to such acts as Marilyn Mccoo, Musiq Soulchild, Natasha Bedingfield, and Natalie Cole among others.
In June of 2007, an unexpected encounter led Kenneth and his cousins to the doorstep of gospel music legend Andrae Crouch. The guys formed a quick bond with Andrae, and became his background vocalists. Over the next two years they collaborated with Andrae on over 100 songs. Kenneth enjoyed much success with Andrae, touring Scandinavia in 2008 and penning what was to be the title track of Andrae's next album. The song was called Lay Your Hands on Me, and was considered by many to be one of the greatest in Andrae's long and illustrious career. Always looking to increase his knowledge of the music industry, Kenneth took a position as Finance Coordinator for Warner Bros. Records. While at WBR Kenneth was responsible for budget forecasting, costs analysis, and was the POC for all departments. Kenneth was also the assistant for both the VP of Finance, and CFO. In June of 2009, after his stint at WBR Kenneth and his wife Johanna started 70/7 Media Group, LLC . The company specializes in entertainment consulting, artist management/development, music production, and creative analysis. Kenneth and 70/7 Media Group is a current consultant for Kosaido Akatsuki Corporation of Japan, Parteneri-Whitehouse Alliance Japan. Kenneth's work with PWAJ is already paying incredible dividends for the company. PWAJ debuted their collection of never before heard jazz recordings at #9 on the Billboard charts in July of 2010. The recordings include performances by such artists as Nat “King” Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., Pat Boone, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Connie Francis, Ray Charles, James Brown, B.B. King, Tom Jones,The Supremes and Chubby Checker, among many others. Kenneth is currently negotiating artist contracts for the company, and was recently offered a position as Executive Creative Director.
