The Chances of Success Are Slim: A Genuine West Side Story

“This is New Charlotte. …I wish I had a whole bunch of money in Old Charlotte back when the land was cheap. Before the other man came in.”

Michael “Slim Hood” Warlick emerges from around the back of a building that once was home to a seemingly impossible dream.

One drive around The Queen and you see it. The new construction. The renovations. The homelessness. The traffic.

If you weave up South Boulevard, through condo-riddled Southend and bust a left on West Boulevard, you will eventually pull up to one of the most iconic intersections on the Westside of Charlotte, a stone’s throw from Bank of America Stadium. 

The four corners of West Boulevard and Remount Road remain dutifully untouched by the gentrification mob. The Golden Wok and Mr. Jim’s Pizza across from The BP. The Strip Mall across from the old Jack in the Box, and Shop 1541—Home of Platinum Plus Recordings.

But, that may be coming to a swift end. 

It’s moving day.

Wood palettes and shelving line the back wall. Boxes and studio gear riddle the hallways. Friends stopping by to assist in removing wiring, fencing and trash. But the mood is light, with jokes abound and a feeling that with all the good put in up until this point, there simply has to be something better on the horizon.

“This is legendary. It’s never been done before,” Slim began, as we stood in the parking lot beside his branded SUV. “It took balls to do. Shout out to my pops. I grew up around here, my mom grew up over here. I was on the Eastside, and they were tearing down that location—which they still haven’t tore down yet, two years after I moved. But [pops] was like, ‘Why don’t you just put the studio right here?’ and I was like I don’t know about The Boulevard. Like, you know … that’s The Boulevard,” Slim told The Block.

It seems like no side of town is immune to the shiny new brewery. The “bodega” (I still don’t understand how bodegas were whitewashed). The co-working space or the doggie daycare. No land is sacred anymore. It’s all for sale. This, in turn, has an adverse effect on homeowners and small business owners who were born and raised here. 

For those that have relocated to Charlotte, one must understand how much of a shift the place native Charlotteans call home has undergone over the last 15-plus years. The economic and real estate boom experienced recently does not coincide with native income, resulting in the displacement and disenfranchisement of entire neighborhoods and homegrown businesses.

On so many occasions in Charlotte, long-time landlords are presented with incredible sums of money by outside developers who immediately terminate leases, renovate and raise the rent. This increases the property values (remember when they doubled for some?) and subsequently raises property taxes. These tax bills then pile up on other long-time homeowners in the neighborhood. If those bills get out of control, then liens get issued, possible bankruptcy, foreclosure and in most cases, the owners sell for way below the property value. The same rules apply to commercial real estate, allowing big-time real estate investors like WeWork to run it up to astronomical numbers at the expense of the little guy—and nobody bats an eye.

Slim Hood is one of the few most recent business owners to not only see this coming, but also one of the few to accept the simple reality that we can’t defeat it without the community coming together. A reality that seems shattered with recent government decisions.

Last month, the strip mall to the left of Shop 1541 was declared an open-air drug market by Federal prosecutors. Describing it as “a chronic and brazen threat to public safety at one of the Westside’s most prominent intersections,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Johnson issued a forfeiture claim that puts the targeted businesses on notice: either cooperate with authorities or risk losing the property altogether.

“The Westside always been the Westside so, that’s why I say this is legendary. At the end of the day it takes a certain mindset, a certain type of respect from the community and the business owner to even make something like this happen.

“I’ll always have respect for and thank the community because without the community, you wouldn’t even be a business owner.”

“It’s a thin line, so that’s how I have to look at it. Because at the end of the day, I could be one of those dudes out there. I was one of them dudes standing out there at one point in time. So, I can never turn the other cheek on them dudes. [I just try to tell them] ‘Look man, you doing a lil bit of hot shit bruh. I understand, but try it this way.”

So while Platinum Plus and Shop 1541 are in a separate structure from the Federal-claimed “open-air drug market,” according to Warlick (who has never had an incident in his establishment and is a respected, tax-paying citizen in his community) his business is considered a part of the problem. Despite recent attempts to negotiate the purchase of the property, with 250,000 cars passing through that intersection per day—there has long been a notion that gentrification was on the horizon. Combine that with a release from Federal prison seven years ago, it can be suspected that those same authorities demanding cooperation also had Slim Hood on a short leash.

“I went to Federal prison, so I already know how these people play. I already know their mindset. To me, I’ve always been on their radar, and it’s like they not really ‘worried’ about me—but they watching. I’m not really worried because I know I’m doing the right thing. So it’s really just to see if I hang myself. ‘Let’s see what he’s involved in; let’s see who he’s involved with.’” Slim asserted.

“Honestly, as a business owner I understand why people like jobs now. They don’t have to worry about sh-t. You not worried about the lights or customers coming in here. It’s so many hats we have to wear. It’s totally different when you can just go to work, put your hours in and go home. That’s a whole vibe, a whole lifestyle.”

That haunting reality has really shaped how the music producer conducts business on the most minor of scales. He doesn’t associate with too many people, limiting friendships and distancing himself from any possible links to any type of criminal activity.

“I deal with you in business, you deal with me in business. I don’t know nothing else! Nobody can say anything and that’s that,” Slim stated with all the anti-6ix9ine vibes.

And those in the know can vouch for Warlick’s initiatives, which have always extended to the neighborhood he’s called home for most of his life. From turkey drives at Thanksgiving and toys and book bag giveaways for the kids, to most recently a MacBook giveaway—it was never about just a recording studio with Slim. It’s about showing his community a better way by example. 

“I always wanted to make platinum records plus more, that’s why it’s Platinum Plus. It wasn’t just about recording. It was the, ‘Yo, I could be you, I was you. If you really don’t want to do this anymore bro, I can show you. But you really gotta be about this,’” he explained.

That’s the crux of the issue in lower income neighborhoods all across the country. The lack of education directly affects the types of jobs available, which directly impacts the quality of life, which leads to a sense of hopelessness and absence of pride. Younger generations come up under poverty, against their will, and attempt to make a better life for themselves when they reach adolescence. But with scarce resources and limited upward mobility, drugs and crime are often the easiest and fastest means towards a perceived comfortable end.

“The community is the key. The education is the key. The mindset is the key. For example, why if I’m on West Boulevard and there’s some trash, nobody picks it up? But if I’m in South Park, somebody will pick it up? If you come from a place that’s built on respect and initiative, you’re going to pick that up. It ain’t no respect out here,” Slim conveyed.

But according to Slim, that initiative should be born out of the fact that life for Black people in this country is largely based on survival.

“I’m not saying going out here killing people, but I’m saying attack your mission. Set your goals high. Conquer them muthaf—s, like, what you out here being timid and stagnant for? But that’s what the other guys want us to be. Because if you’re timid and you say “my hands up,” you still get shot. Bruh … drop your nuts, because they gonna take you out regardless [laughter].”

“How we running around saying we’re Kings and we’re Queens, we got all the knowledge but we still f–d up. And it’s f–d up because we’re scared. I’m totally against the system, because again, they looked at me and said ‘Mr. Warlick, you’re an amazing guy, I don’t want to give you this time,’ but before they gave me the five years the judge told me ‘I’m just doing my job.’ So after that, I said well this C.O. just doing his job, the judge just doing his job. It’s just work!” Hood proclaimed.

And that’s been the mantra ever since. It’s just work.

We can only get to our version of success through putting in the work. Whatever that work is, however that work comes. Individuals that have reached even moderate levels of success are admired by the public without taking in the full context of their hustle. Life is a series of choices, followed by the work to ensure that said choice works to its fullest extent. Like the Good Book says, “Faith without works is dead.”

“Some days I don’t even want to do this. Yeah it’s my dream, but it’s just work at the end of the day. Let’s get it done,” Slim said.

That’s the tough part of business. While it’s pure passion and drive that brings an entrepreneur to working for themselves full-time, those same business owners go through so much to provide quality services to their community—only to be back-doored by members of that same community (R.I.P. Nipsey). There has to be a better synergy between our producers and consumers in order to grow fully and in earnest.

“I hate stupidity, but I don’t like calling my people stupid. If you know better then you do better. But you have to want to do better. I have to take every single problem that comes with this building.”

We all know that we’re fighting an uphill battle just simply trying to exist in this country. There is absolutely no need to compound that issue by exploiting our own champions, especially the ones still living and trying to show us a better way. We must continue to fully support our business owners while simultaneously challenging them to be better. Our collective futures depend on it. 

It has been proven time and time again that the more we learn, the more we know, the better we can be. In this Information Age, a lack of knowledge should not be the reason why we perish. This may be ‘New Charlotte’ but it’s still the same old game, and it’s past time we run the table.

Platinum Plus Recordings has found a temporary home at Montiago Visual Studios located at 1011 Palmer Plaza Lane. Be on the lookout for the permanent, larger location soon. Follow Slim Hood on IG @iamslimhood and both studios @platinumplus704 and @montiagovisualstudios. Visit platinumplusrecording.com to book studio time.