AOK

Albert Carter Mayden III a.k.a. AOK, a native of the South Side of Chicago, embraced his calling for music in 1985 when he received his very first instrument the French horn. He continued to play the French horn until his freshman year of high school. It was at this point, that AOK became very intrigued with the radio and broadcast/media aspects of the entertainment industry.
In the summer of “95” AOK and hip-hop became one. Like so many others who were initially inspired by Slick Rick and KRS-One, he began as just another aspiring rapper with a boundless passion for hip-hop, albeit a rapper with a Midas touch when it came to production. In the fall of 1995 he started school at Columbia College majoring in sound engineering, which would later transcend into music business management. By 1997 he had obtained an internship position with a local production company, Foxes and Hounds studios, as a producer/engineer. After paying dues for several years and the completion of his undergrad studies spring 2001, AOK opened his first music production house in which he called “The Cave”. One year later he expand his production venture by opening up his second production house “Last Dragon Enterprise”, which he named after the 1985 cult-classic The Last Dragon. Subsequently, the moral of the movie would hit close to home for AOK, because he had begun to realize that he too embodied the inner strength to achieve anything, as did the main antagonist in the movie, Leroy Green aka Bruce Leroy.
To date, Last Dragon Enterprise has paved the way for AOK to make available opportunities to local talents in numerous ways, such as talent showcase; professional photo shoots and providing a professional recording facility for the local talent at a reasonable price point. In addition to working with the local artists, AOK broadened his name when he signed a contract in 2005 for a production deal with Nike’s own Brand Jordan, to be the sole music/sound producer for all online shoe campaigns. This deal globalized the AOK brand and aligned him with the digital marketing knowledge and the key branding core values it takes to be successful in the entertainment industry.
AOK has provided his Production and Engineering skills to a plethora of labels, some of which include Def Jam, Wu Music Group, Interscope and EA Sports. AOK landed an endorsement deal with Open Labs, IK Multimedia, Cakewalk in 2008 and is in the process of managing a network of producers to continue to expand the AOK brand into new markets. AOK is also the Chicago Brand Representative for www.istandardproducers.com, since Jan 2009 AOK has been the brand point person in Chicago organizing several producer based workshops and events, also the Dragons Room was founded in China Town Chicago, IL, to date is the Headquarters of LDE, where Chicago tastemaker’s arrive record, network and unwind.
Three words that express the approach Brand AOK takes to getting the job done “Right the First Time”
Hard Work/keenness /Vision
Credits:
Nike/Jumpman23.com, Over 30 Music Placements from 2005-2010
LDE/Gallardo Tone aka GT/Music Producer/ Engineer/Manager
DTP/Def Jam, BXC Recording/Mixing/Mastering/Track Placements/Management
LDE/B.B.K, Executive Producer/Manager
GOOD Music/Def Jam Malik Yusef, Recording
Rhyme Fest/ Recording
Twan Gabz/ Engineer
Chambermusik Records/Koch /Fess Taylor /Track Placement
Cont…… References available upon request
C: 708-856-1774 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              708-856-1774      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              708-856-1774      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Brand.AOK.LDE@Gmail.com
Albert AOK Mayden III
CEO/Producer/Engineer/Manager