Joe Robinson
“People who can hustle really well, we think everything is easy, we don't get scared.” - Joe Robinson
Joe Robinson grew up fearless on Detroit's Eastside. In high school he spent time in after school activities and engineering programs. When he wasn’t in extra curricular activities Robinson was skateboarding through the streets of the city and collecting iconic sneakers.
After graduating high school in 2009 he started at Wayne State studying physics. Little did Robinson know his life was about to take a musical turn. A year later while working at Spectacles a clothing store in downtown Detroit, he met a rapper named Earl, on the street. It just so happened that the owner of Spectacles wanted to start having live events inside the store. Robinson invited Earl to perform at the event and he did. Afterwards Earl asked him to be his manager. Robinson was 18 at the time and he says, “I didn’t know nothing about nothing, I didn’t know nothing about the music business. I knew I liked music and that's it.”
Although Robinson was diving into something new he has “always been optimistic.” His learning process was simple. He says, “I wasn’t much of a manager, my job was to assist and learn.” He found himself spending more and more time at the studio.
He took the time to “identify who I wanted to be and where I wanted to go.” Mike Brinkley, manager of Big Sean and former manager of Nas, became a mentor to Robinson. They called him Brinks truck. Kevin Liles was another legendary manager that inspired Robinson in the music game.
During this time he says, “I tired the school thing on and off.” After he stopped attending Wayne State and Macomb Community College he tried out an aviation school, learning how to fly planes. He didn't have a bunch of bills and he was still living at home. He stopped working at the clothing store and began selling his collection of sneakers to make extra cash.
In 2013, Robinson spent two years in New York. There he spent his time “getting dirty, making connections and learning all types of shit. I was getting inspired.”
While Earl was on tour in 2014 he made a stop in New York, he connected with Robinson and asked him to manage him again and to finish out the rest of the tour. When they got back to Detroit Robinson started his managing company APX. As the company grew he brought on interns. When it comes to team members Robinson says, “I let the work speak for itself.”
Throughout the years Robinson has kept his hands in many business cookie jars. He says, “I always was doing things outside of music and management. But music was the thing that made me popular because I was always in and around the spotlight.” Robinson has had a clothing store, real estate projects, and more.
“My most recent thing was my most successful thing.”
The idea was four years in the making. It started with two young black entrepreneurs. Robinson teamed up with Lance Woods and created We Run 313. We Run 313 is a social run club geared to connect like minded people to build a healthier black community.
“I love running, I love the people involved. Lance and I get together, free flowing ideas and we create an experience.”
“People who can hustle really well, we think everything is easy, we don’t get scared, opening up a grocery store doesn’t scare me, you just follow the steps and don’t quit.
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Robinson is a devoted Father he says, “family should be a part of your family. Your business should be something that you should be able to share with your family.” He brings his children with him to his races, he has an office at home and that's where he works.
Right now Robinson is not actively managing but consulting and executive producing. He recently executive produced Detroit artist Lana Ladonna's last two projects. APX Management will be looking for more talent soon. Robinson is working on integrating live events with We Run 313 and also getting a building for the members.
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Connect with We Run 313 on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Connect with APX Management.