Event Producer extraordinaire Devin Cobbs is gearing up for the second year of his successful 90’s R&B party. Set to launch Memorial Day weekend in LA, Cobbs and his team will be making their rounds to 8 cities this year, including new cities like Miami and Dallas. For a glimpse of what’s to come check oout our interview with the mogul in the making below.
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- 4 Lovers Only is back are you excited?
We back, we back again! We’ll be announcing soon.
- So you’ll be kicking things off in LA?
Yes. It’s LA, New York, Dallas, Miami and that’s phase one. I can’t talk about phase two yet; but those are the cities we’ll be hitting to kick things off.
- Are you guys partnering with any brands, influencers, artists?
As far as brands we have Swisher and Avion Tequila. In terms of influencers and artists we have Tone Smith. He’s an amazing R&B artist. He’s a young dude from Jersey; but he’s based out in LA now. The other artists I don’t want to reveal just yet. Those are the 90’s R&B acts and we’ll release them closer to the day of each event.
Every city has an artist this year. Last year it was only two cities that had performances from artists. I wanted to make it as special as possible. We put in a lot of work to make sure we were able to get the artists that we wanted.
We have a bunch of Soulection DJ’s. Andrew Power and Austin in New York along with Mecca from 2DopeBoyz. We have Sasha Marie also from Soulection she’s DJing out in LA. Norma and Silent Addy for Miami. There are so many different people. Each city that we’re going to we partnered with the most, not necessarily the most popular; but the one’s we felt were really really good. That goes for the artists as well.
- Besides having an artist in each city and partnering with local DJ’s, is there anything you guys are doing differently this go-around?
I want people to kind of find out once the RSVP’s open up and we go live with each city. We changed the website up a lot so that experience is different. The way you RSVP is a bit different than last year. The open bar structure is different. Last year was just 1 HR; but this time it’s an hour in the beginning and another hour from 12 AM – 1 AM. Some of the cities are different too. We didn’t go to Miami or Dallas last year. We’re trying something new in those cities. The second phase new cities too. The biggest change I’d say this time is we really wanted to find out where the people wanted us to go. Although a lot of the tour was planned we locked in the remaining cities after putting up a post asking for feedback. We listened to the people.
- What do you want everyone to know about this year’s tour?
I want people to know that each year we do this it’s going to be different so definitely don’t expect the same experience as last year. We’ll have giveaways while you’re waiting in line, we’re literally giving everything away. I want people to know that their really in for a different party experience. Most of the time when you go out you have to keep reaching in your pocket and taking money out. This is more like keep your wallet at home, and just come for good time. It’s like therapy almost and that’s exactly how we’re treating it. It’s a big therapy session with R&B music, and that Avion flowing. I want people to be ready because it’s definitely going to be unforgettable.
- How did you guys connect with Avion Tequila?
Avion Tequila just ended up being the right partner for it. They fit the demographic [of our audience] and with the type of event that we want to do. Plus tequila is just consumed more than cognac. We have a 70:30 female to male ratio and women prefer tequila over cognac. So we wanted to provide an open bar that catered more to our crowd, and Avion was definitely it.
- Besides giveaways are there any installations?
For sure. There will be art installations, and photo booths. There’s a lot for people to do. I don’t want to give anything away because I really just want people to come out and experience it. It’s not just going to be you show up to just drink and party, even though that’s a big aspect of it; but there’s more to the experience.
- How are you feeling about 4 Lovers Only now versus when you initially launched it last year?
I’m still equally nervous. When I put the pre-announcement post up, it did better than the announcement for the previous year. Seeing the feedback this year, I know people are ready for it. I haven’t been as active on social media for that reason, just to stay focused. I know it’ll go well and we’ll get the numbers we need to hit; but I just want to finally get it out there and have people experience all the work we’ve put into it. That’s what means the most to me. I’m nervous, but last year I was nervous with no real assurance of whether it was going to work or not. This year I know it’s going to work, so it [the nervousness] is more from putting it out there.
- This time around have you brought in anyone and establish a team to help execute your vision better?
We have the same team. I think it’s important to do that, keep the same people around you. Honestly the only major difference is that the team at Swisher is a little bit different. They are more involved, which is an experience in itself in a good way. They help keep things organized. That’s really the biggest difference and just tying up a few loose ends. The team is pretty much the same; but we are a lot more organized this time around.
- Any advice or insight for anyone who wants to launch their own event?
Just to test the market first. Don’t just jump on an idea. You have to make sure it’s something people actually want. Get out there and see what’s actually missing. Take your hat off and put the world’s hat on and look at what’s going on. Take the time to see if you’re filling a void or just doing something that’s already been done. If it’s the latter then see if you can make it better or do something different; but if you step into it doing the same thing you kind of already lost.
- Besides organization is there anything you learned from the first tour that you applied this time?
Traveling with less people. Learning just the difference between have this huge team versus how much can get done with a small team of focused people and to just trust our gut. We have an idea that companies will pay millions of dollars to execute. To bring 1,000 people out in a city, that’s no small feat so to trust the vision, stay focused and being as organized as possible.
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4 Lovers Only: A 90’s R&B Experience 2018 Tour Dates
May 25th: Los Angeles
June 22nd: New York City
July 28th: Dallas
Aug. 10th: Miami
For details and to RSVP visit: www.4LoversOnly.us