Originally from Raleigh Durham NC, TALUS started an internship in radio in 1996. After
sending tapes out to multiple radio stations, he got an offer to go from part time to full
time by 1997. In 1998, he relocated to Atlanta to work for WHTA and got to work with
musical geniuses such as Lil Jon, Jazze Pha, La La Anthony, and Luda and he
used them as a back door for inspiration. He was exposed to different genres of music
almost constantly.
He has spent 25 years as a programmer in radio in various states but what was once a
passion, became clouded with stress and time away from his family. TALUS feels this
is his transitional year. After having countless discussions about vetting and radio
not having enough field, culture, or insight to make decisions; it was imperative to
change the music scene and how it was consumed.
TALUS then left radio to start his business, Word of Clout, and is currently a playlist
builder and consultant, located in Miami, FL. His company chases all the musical
happenings and mentions from listeners and that helps on their journey to find the
records that are perfect for their playlists. He is building a music community around
playlists and his thought process takes a broad look at the urban space to build playlists
that appeal to core audiences.
He’s tapped into what people are listening to by literally putting his ear to the ground
and wants to open a positive clout trajectory to become more colorful than corporate.
He took himself out of the equation and really listened and observed to read people to
make sound decisions with the research he did on music. TALUS has hooked up with
curators inside and outside of radio that specializes in hip hop, rap, Afro beats,
country, and low-fidelity music, which is the future of music for the Gen Z population.
Coming soon, the brand will be expanding their playlist portfolio to include inclusive
curation collaborations with your favorite artist, producer, or athlete. Also, TALUS is
really interested in the African and Asian music markets, so that’s where listeners will
see a good amount of focus in the future. TALUS will be launching 10 playlists and what
makes them exclusive is the attention to detail, from the decision making and
onboarding of a record, to the song sequencing on the playlist. He also wants to mimic
particular metros that bring about the most traffic while tapping more into indie music as
well as highlight more underrated artists. This project is expected to be released by
Christmas 2022.
More details are on his recently launched website: Wordofcloutplaylisting.com