User:Blackonyx1/Black Onyx TRIO

Bio/Executive Profile

Simone L. Mitchell – President & CEO Black Onyx Entertainment, Inc.

Simone L. Mitchell was born and raised in North Philadelphia in 1971. He attended Roman Catholic High School then continued his studies at The Philadelphia Job Core where he studied Culinary Arts. While at Job Core, Simone won four Gold Medals in the entertainment event in the Hip Hop category and one Gold Medal in the track event. He went on to attend Philadelphia Community College in 1993 and 1994, then, from 1994 through 1998 he attended Penn State University where he studied Criminal Justice.

Growing up in Philadelphia Simone was surrounded by music. He would listen to his father playing the Cello, his brother playing the guitar, and his uncle playing the drums. The three performed in a band with Simone’s good friend Andre’s uncle.

Mr. Mitchell’s first experience in the working world was in 1985 where he was employed at the Philadelphia Zoo where he met Randy James. The two would go on to form a band together and they played shows on a regular basis. He then went on to work in the Security field employed by his brother for one year and with The Pinkerton Security Agency for three years performing various Security related duties. While at Pinkerton, he was nominated as the first young supervisor in Pinkerton history. In 1990 Simone worked with different Security and Investigation Agencies before attending Philadelphia Community College while he continued working in loss prevention in the Security industry. He also worked as a Private Detective and Bounty Hunter. He then moved on to attend Penn State University. After completing his studies at Penn State, he moved to Decatur Georgia where he was named Security director for a small Austell Georgia based Security Firm, A&A Security, where he ran the day to day operations for the company.

In June of 2000 while still residing in the state of Georgia, and with extensive knowledge and experience in the Security and Investigation business under his belt, Mr. Mitchell decided to take the leap into the entrepreneurial world forming his own Security and Investigations firm, State Security & Investigations, Inc. The company which has become extremely successful is based in Clayton, North Carolina, and has branched out regionally securing contracts in Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania where his firm provides uniformed security guards and undercover investigation services for multiple companies.

Although the Security and Investigations business has been a large part of Simone’s adult life he never betrayed the love he had for being an entertainer and performer. Going back to 1986, while working at the Philadelphia Zoo, and after hearing the song “Planet Rock” by Africa Bambaataa and The Sonic Force, he was sold on performing. Smitten by the superior ability that his friend Randy James showed for rapping, he beckoned Randy to teach him the art.

Soon after mastering the art of the rap, Simone, at the time, aka MC Khan and his long time friend Andre Randall formed the act called 3 x 2 aka 3 by 2. The band recorded regularly in their friend Randy James’ studio, where Randy DJ’d, and engineered the sessions. The group featuring Simone and Andre performed at many local and regional venues where they were noticed by many high profile industry players and were offered recording and management contracts. One notable celebrity producer that took interest was famed “Sound Of Philadelphia” superstar Bobby Eli, who was considering signing the act to a production deal.

In mid 2009 the entrepreneurial bug overtook Simone once again. Only this time it was to be an enterprise that would keep him involved with his true passion – Music. While lying in bed one evening he thought about how he could combine his executive skills with the music business and start a company where he could actually make a difference in people’s lives – not just to make money. He quickly text messaged his two long time friends Randy James and Andre Randall with the idea of starting a new record label. Within minutes the pair replied with a consummate YES. Hence, they went on together to form Black Onyx Entertainment, Inc., an Independent Record Label with the goal of working on behalf of all their artists and to remove the cloud of distrust from the music industry with their label.

In March of this year, Mr. Mitchell also received an Honorary Music Award from North Carolina Underground Music Awards.

In July of 2009 with all the paperwork in place and the label structure in place, they began signing artists. Currently working in the Rap and R&B genres, the label has plans to expand into a multiple genre format. They also have plans for new signing in 2010 and beyond.