March 18, 2021 - Music Observer

Katalxst: Jamie Smith’s Journey From the Basketball Court to the Entrepreneurial Space

Music Observer Staff on March 18, 2021

It is not an uncommon occurrence for athletes to branch away from sports and delve into other ventures. Established athletes become investors, celebrities, or even entrepreneurs once they believe it is time for them to retire or decide they want to try something new. Jamie Smith is no different. Following her basketball career, she delved into entertainment and business, eventually creating many business fronts under her brand Katalxst.

Jamie Smith hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There she grew up and established herself as one of the most exciting prospects in women’s basketball. Jamie was highly sought-after and highly recruited as twenty Division 1 scholarship offers poured in from Miami, West Virginia, Alabama, Texas, Georgetown, Illinois, and more. She was also recognized as one of Adidas’ national Top 20.

Eventually, Jamie settled for St. Peter’s University, thriving as a critical contributor in the division before stumbling into a roadblock. She tore her ACL in her freshman year and opted to move to Morgan State University. There Jamie carried out her career, playing three years as the point guard and captain and helping them to their first-ever postseason play in history. Her success led to offers to play professionally overseas. As tempting as the opportunities were, Jamie declined, citing her injury as a factor.

Following graduation, Jamie Smith moved to Atlanta, where she decided to delve into the entertainment industry. The venture proved to be a wake-up call as Jamie discovered her natural talent in networking. She managed several talents and quickly established her name in the entertainment and music industry. Jamie became one of those people who always had key connections for what others were looking for. She also negotiated deals for athletes, stylists, companies, brand partnerships, and more.

While she was highly successful in her career, Jamie decided to move to New York and pursue a Master’s Degree in business Administration in 2016. Even as she studied, Jamie worked by assisting the women’s basketball program, bringing in talent. Her work caught the attention of a Division 1 university who offered her a full-time position as director of operations and assistant coach. For three years, Jamie coached Division 1 basketball and brought recruits whose arrivals made an immediate impact. Simultaneously, she continued to manage her artists.

Jamie Smith would later exercise her Master’s Degree by creating Katalxst in 2019, a brand that allowed her to provide various services that complement and display her all-around talents in business, from consultation to growing & scaling to management. Jamie extended her brand to include services beyond business and entertainment. Knowing that her company could do more, Katalxst was expanded and created a lifestyle clothing brand, real estate business, and a barbershop in Jamie’s hometown in early 2020.

By then, Jamie’s ventures were met with the onset of the pandemic, setting up another roadblock in her career. It was a difficult start as most businesses were forced to close shop. However, against all odds, Katalxst House of Styles saw great success, continuing to grow each month while complying with the new state regulations.

Within a short period, Katalxst Lifestyle Clothing Brand overtook Jamie’s most successful business, even beating out her music brand. She plans to continue building on her success as she recently purchased land in San Bernardino, California. Jamie Smith is set on returning to her roots and using the land to build a creative studio and athletic & training facility with 2023 as its opening year.

Learn more about Jamie Smith and Katalxst by visiting their official website. You can also follow Katalxst on Instagram.

DGdidit Giving Florida Some Musical Bragging Rights

Music Observer Staff on March 18, 2021

Every town or city has something it’s known for, be it notable locations, events, or persons. Straight out of Madison, Florida, David Fletcher, popularly known as DGdidit, is on his way to stardom. He moved to Tampa, where he got a solid hold on his music and began to put his materials out to the public. He began to upload music instrumentals to YouTube, which caught the attention of many music lovers and musicians like Dave East, Jim Jones, and Johnny Cino, among others. DGdidit continued to post his beats until Trinidad James picked up one of his beats and used it to make a song. This gave David Fletcher even more confidence that he was doing something right.

DGdidit began to rap on his beats before uploading them, and he got endorsements and encouragement from artists like Waka Flocka, Downtown Dion, and Gio Dee. It took other people recognizing his talents for him to break out of his shell. Once he realized his abilities, DGdidit decided to be more than a producer by showing the world the beauty of his musical talent.

Since DGdidit had already gained traction on YouTube before going mainstream, many of his audience already formed opinions about his sound, style, and artistic representation. Veteran rapper Waka Flocka once called him the “Next Pharrell,” which was a major confidence boost for him as a person and an artist. He stopped putting limitations on his abilities and decided to go full-fledged by showcasing his talents to the world. As an independent artist, DGdidit understands the amount of work he has to do to become a superstar, and right now, that’s all he’s focused on.

DGdidit’s motivation comes from the growth he has experienced over the years as a musician. “I never thought much about music professionally or as the only thing I wanted to do. I started producing beats because I enjoyed it, but now, it has become so much more for me,” he says. He sees his music career becoming big so that it can help him give back to the community. David Fletcher has focused on growing as an artist and a brand to improve his life and others’ lives.

Building a music career from scratch and then catching the attention of many people, including some musical greats, are some of the noteworthy things that DGdidit has experienced. Now, as his career seems to be taking off, his goal is to become successful enough to help others achieve success too. Putting Florida on the map for positive reasons is a feat he’s passionate about, and nothing can deter him from making that happen. Despite the cutthroat competition in the music industry today, DGdidit is optimistic that whatever a person wants to do is worth pursuing anyway. “Nobody should give up because it’s the easy thing to do. If there’s anything you want, take the step. Once you do that, you are one step closer to making your dreams happen,” he says.Listen to DGdidit’s music on SoundCloud or follow him on Instagram.