Ty Frankel may not be your average hip-hop aficionado. Born in 1997, to American-Israeli parents, he's not what many would associate with the genre. However, to get an insight into his ability, it's worth looking at his track record in the industry. From the age of 13, Ty started writing a blog about his beloved hip-hop music, securing interviews with some of the world's most famous underground rappers. People like Masta Ace and Jon Connor (Featured in Dr Dre's album, Compton, the soundtrack for the NWA movie). But, not content with just writing about the topic, he wanted to dive into actually making music. At the age of 14, he did just that. By the age of 16, he was busy producing music for the likes of G-Herbo and Paul Wall. Such was his success that he decided to build his own music-for-TV label, Shut Down Music. By age 18, Shut Down Music was making music for some of the biggest names in the industry. Ty was fortunate to count Red Bull, the NBA, and Warner Bros – but to mention a few - amongst his client base. He was able to convert this industry recognition into a lucrative deal with Universal music, at the tender age of 21. The massive deal saw Ty earning in excess of $200,000 per year.

A painful personal life
But, despite the business accolades, Ty's personal life was in turmoil. The self-styled entrepreneur readily admits that he was "haunted" by the death of his beloved sister in 2005. Even though he was only seven at the time, he remembers the suffering his sister endured, due to her brain tumour, and the medical malpractice that prematurely took her life. In 2008, Ty lost another family member. This time, his Grandma sadly departed. Still carrying the sting of both losses, Ty's woes were compounded when his parents divorced in 2013.

Business woes
This emotional turbulence was somewhat reflected in Ty's financial ups and downs. In mid-2018, a drop in the cryptocurrency market led to him losing $127,000. Luckily, Shut Down Music was pulling in high six-figure revenues and was able to keep him afloat. However, by 2020, the cracks were beginning to show. Ty began to realize that the company was never going to achieve the growth that he dreamed of. Coupled with some other mini-failures such as Shut Down Sync, and Uncivilized Music, Ty found his business was no longer viable. He did what all right-thinking businessmen would do and wound the business up. He dismantled Shut Down Music and, instead, started Shut Down Emails.

A fresh start
Shut Down Emails was a lead generation service, with Ty and his team booking sales calls on behalf of marketing agencies and software development companies. In essence, he helped book his clients qualified sales calls, in the hope that they could strike mutually beneficial business deals. 
Ty has since refined his techniques, releasing a LinkedIn-based lead-generation software called LeadLink. This is a reflection of the overall advances in communication. Ty explains that "CEOs can get swamped in emails, but LinkedIn messages are more personal." So far, Ty has invested over $30,000 in the software and is working with the Israeli development team behind Skkipper.com. He mentions that he's received "over 1550 sign-ups for the wait-list in 10 days, launching at a conservative $12-15K [revenue] per month."
As well as the software, Ty has also been busy creating two products that he's been promoting via Twitter: 'God Level First Lines' and 'VIP Agency Lounge'. The former product is a course that teaches anyone how to write the opening line to cold emails and LinkedIn outreaches. The latter is a series of pay-per-view webinars hosted by guest speakers - recognized leaders in marketing - who offer advice on how to "scale your business and create a competitive edge." The first series was released on March 13 and promptly sold out. Ty plans to create more content soon. 

Twitter turnabout
By harnessing the power of social media, (Twitter, in this case) Ty has been able to generate $100,000+ in revenue in just 4 months. Where many others would have bowed out of the business, saying that it was impossible to succeed, Ty saw his failure as an opportunity to learn; come back stronger. Arguably, his tenacity embodies the spirit of hip-hop: best summed up in Tupac's legendary lyric, from 'Me against the world':
"No matter how hard it gets, stick your chest out, keep your head up and handle it."