When the demise of Death Row Records became official in 2007, many pondered who if anyone would fill the void of the rap label that propelled the careers of Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre. After all, at its height under Suge Knight, Death Row Records was signature West Coast sound with rap artists spewing out one hit after another. Unfortunately, the murder of Shakur and the legal woes of Knight ultimately spelled doom for the label and its rap stars that remained.

Snoop Dogg has since continued to flourish as a multi-platinum international artist and Dr. Dre has become arguably the most sought after producer in the industry. However, there still remained a void for leadership, one who would develop and continue to hone the skills of rappers in South Central Los Angeles, Watts, Compton and surrounding regions.

Michael McCant aka Billionaire Catt has been contemplating securing and reviving the region after first successfully reinventing his own life after his release from prison in the early 1990s. Parlaying his success as a concert promoter and multi-million dollar real estate entrepreneur, McCant is the president and CEO of the rising Billionaire Catt Entertainment empire.

He has been defined as the one to watch on the music scene. A mogul in the making, Catt is very discipline oriented and does not smoke, drink or indulge in any type of drugs. What makes Catt as he is called by many friends and business associates so unique is that he isn’t one dimensional and has a vision for the East Coast, West Coast and Southern Regions.

When asked about music and who he sees becoming the next mega stars in the industry, Catt paused and sat upright before saying, "the hottest independent artists and producers I see controlling the industry in years to come are rappers Clap Cognac out of the Bronx for the East Coast and I-Rocc and Trenseta out of San Diego and Los Angeles (respectively) in the West and A-3 out of Houston, Texas in the South; as for producers, Hartman from San Diego and definitely Soleeternity from Atlanta."

When asked recently about what was wrong with the dwindling music industry and its "shaky at best" artists, Catt replied, "the majors are going wrong in so many aspects, but one issue they desperately need to reverse is getting back in control of their material and making sure their artist eat first off their music instead of internet downloading companies capitalizing financially more than the artists themselves."

Elaborating further, Catt stated, "I also believe that in the initial stages of signing artists, major labels tend to give enormous signing bonuses which make artists lazy and takes them out of the grind mentality that made urban music what it was during its most successful times."

Casually dressed sitting comfortably on a sofa in the suite of one his favorite hotels with VS diamondssparkling from his necklace, huge bracelets and several rings; Catt spoke openly and candid about his aspirations.

"Instead of investing a million dollars in an artist with a huge signing bonus, it would make better business sense if that money was invested in artist marketing and promotion to increase the chances of producing a platinum album. Make $10 million and then reward the artist with about $2.5 million on the back end," Catt explains. "Anyone with above average intelligence and financial common sense would be willing to accept those terms," Catt added. "In other words stop babying and pampering these artists and get them back to their grind. YOU DON’T GIVE ARTIST ADVANCES… YOU GIVE THEM CHANCES." It’s not that Catt is opposed to giving artists signing bonuses…he has awarded each of his artists signed to his label with such bonuses. However, Catt reaffirms, "that HUGE advances and the lack of focus on marketing can be more detrimental than beneficial."

Catt explained, "When I walk by a salon and see an artist getting manicures and pedicures instead of being at the mall or the high schools grinding with their mix tapes, it proves that the industry is getting soft; especially when these artists are men in the salons." Catt quipped, "They might as well get a bikini wax while they are there."

Catt says other issues affecting many of today’s artists are the lack of discipline. "If you call your artist at 3 p.m. and your artist is still asleep that person is wasting your time and money."

When Urban Network asked Catt how did he established his financial dynasty, he replied, "real estate initially, concert promotions, then treasury bills, notes, CDs, Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury direct are the sources."

With his increasing popularity and growing demand on his time, Catt plans to deviate from his hectic schedule to go on a public speaking tour to urban communities to provide financial knowledge to African Americans.
As for what Catt wishes to ultimately accomplish in life; his answer was soft spoken and direct, 'I love God, so to be seen favorably in God eyes would be the ultimate accomplishment."

Anything else, "Yes, Happy Birthday to my mother Florence Rucker on April 26."