James Guss, born in Pomona California began his career as a recording artist in high school as a former member of the rap group D.E.A (Dope In Every Aspect). Growing up in Pomona, James saw his neighborhood friends “Above The Law” and “Kokane” sign recording contracts with Ruthless Record. James knew he wanted a piece of the business. He went on to explore behind the scenes aspirations when he landed a job at Motown Records. He collaborated on several catalog boxsets and compilation LPs while there. James continued his career in entertainment by focusing and expanding his opportunities in different fields of the music business. James went on to hold 2 executive positions at Tracey Edmonds and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds companies, Yab Yum Records and Edmonds Music Publishing. At Yab Yum, James held the position as Director of A&R and assisted with the success of Jon B’s “Cool Relax” LP, the ‘Hav Plenty” Soundtrack and “Light it up” Soundtrack. All gaining platinum success.
With a well rounded understanding of the music business, James went on to work with several record labels and publishing companies – Capitol Records, Universal Music Group and CAK Music Entertainment (Charles Koppleman and David Fritz). With his knowledge of curating new talent and great songs, he made a move into music supervision. His first swing was a homerun, with the box office smash “Save The Last Dance”, winning “Best Soundtrack” at the American Music Awards. From there James co-music supervised Walt Disney’s “Bringing Down the House” starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, which again gained notoriety for its music collaborations. He also Music Supervised MTV hit “Master of The Mix”.
With his network and industry experience, James partnered with Walt Taylor and founded FairviewMBA, a music administration company focused on helping creatives and executives navigate the complicated world of music rights and royalties. FairviewMBA have cleared samples and provided administrative services to the likes of Anderson.paak, Erykah Badu, and Aaliyah to name a few. James and his partner have set their sites on the tech space and have launched a music administrative platform
DILLIYO.com.
James now serves as Music Supervisor for the Tyler Perry Studios hit tv series “All The Queen’s Men” on BET.