Synergy and "total market experience": Londell McMillan's Source brings concert to Barclays Center, expo to Brooklyn Cultural District

It's another sign hip-hop has come of age, or maybe just another confirmation this once-outsider strain of culture is very much part of the cultural and business world.

And it's very much a sign that one Atlantic Yards investor is reaping some synergies.

As noted by SOURCE360, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary:

The Northstar Group–home to The Source Magazine and Jones Magazine–is thrilled to announce the first annual SOURCE360 Concert, taking place this year on September 20th at The Cushman & Wakefield Theater at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City.
The official concert line-up features some of the most prominent members of Hip-Hop culture, ranging from some of the best groups Hip-Hop has had to offer over the past two decades, to leaders of the current wave of independent and young, fresh artists.
The concert is a part of a three-day total market expo, conference, and festival dubbed SOURCE360 being held in the Brooklyn Cultural District. The event celebrates the proliferation of hip-hop in every aspect of popular culture.

Performers include the Wu-Tang Clan, The Diplomats, and Lil’ Kim

The SOURCE360 Music, Art & Culture Expo,  according to a press release, will include trade shows, concerts and panels, centered around the digital, tech, gaming, sports, art, music and fashion worlds:

Events will take place at Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Barclays Center, Long Island University, and throughout the Brooklyn Cultural District. Industry and community leaders such as Run DMC, Wu Tang Clan, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Common, Spike Lee, Danny Simmons, MC Lyte, Brandon Martinez, Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, and more are expected to participate and be in attendance. 

“This is an exciting and unprecedented opportunity to showcase how innovative and diverse Hip Hop is locally and globally," said L. Londell McMillan, Esq, owner of The Source and founder of SOURCE360. "We are honored to bring this total market experience to the community and hope that it will inspire and embolden people to innovate, network, unite and create more positive contributions to the world.”


Londell McMillan's AY backstory?

Raised in Bed-Stuy, McMillan, who owns a piece of the team and may be best known as the lawyer who liberated Prince from an unfair contract,. has played a key role in connecting some performing artists to the project and relating to the new generation of the black elite in Brooklyn.

At the 1/23/04 press conference held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music announcing the sale of the Nets to an ownership team led by Bruce Ratner, Green presented a statement linking the news to the legacy of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wherein "the historic alliance between Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson served as a catalyst for progressive change."

He stated, under the rubric of "Breaking the Color Barrier within the suites and back offices":

Those of us, who are the historical heirs to Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, must be assured that this project stands on the shoulders of the progressive legacy that they established. In this spirit, my office will be working with Mr. Ratner to ensure that just as Branch Rickey opened the color barrier so that Jackie could display his genius on the playing field, we must create opportunities for Jackie's descendants to demonstrate their gifts within the suites and the back offices of this multibillion dollar industry. Mr. Ratner has assured me that this development will create opportunities for those African Americans, Latinos, women, and other traditionally bypassed constituencies to be investors, partners, owners, and co-developers of this project. To this end, I would like to recognize attorney and businessman Londell McMillan who will be representing the interest of these constituencies.

I'm not sure what "representing the interests" really meant.

In a 2/26/04 column, the Daily News reported that McMillan was part of the deal:

RATNER'S PLAYA Prince's lawyer is teaming up with real estate mogul Bruce Ratner. L. Londell McMillan, the prominent African American show biz lawyer best known for emancipating Prince from record giant Warner Music, is investing in Ratner's sprawling Brooklyn arena development project, sources said. McMillan's entertainment company, NorthStar Business Enterprises, will "be involved in the retail, commercial and office development," a source said. McMillan and Ratner declined to comment. McMillan is the latest big shot to throw his support behind Ratner, who's assembling a team aimed at battling the Brooklyn residents and businesses opposed to his plans. The aggressive media lawyer, whose clients include Stevie Wonder, Lil' Kim and Spike Lee, grew up in Brooklyn's Tompkins Projects, across the street from rap superstar Jay-Z, who's also putting money into Ratner's project.

A 2008 profile in Super Lawyers headlined The Lawyer Who Freed Prince, reported:

McMillan is his own best advertisement. In addition to his personal real estate investments, he has partnered with Bruce Ratner, a real estate developer whose handiwork-the MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, for example-McMillan has esteemed since boyhood. "I admired his ability to develop big projects and interface in urban areas that many developers were less excited about investing in," says McMillan, who became one of several investors in Ratner's newest project, the Atlantic Yards, a $4.5 billion residential, retail and commercial development that will include co-ownership of the New Jersey Nets. As early as 2009, the team will move to Brooklyn and call the Yards' sports arena its new home. "It feels surreal to be part of a group that has its own team," says the former athlete. "It's gratifying to have equity in something I'd support as a fan."

Teaser vid

Note the the teaser video for SOURCE360: