Jamison Ernest

Jamison Ernest is a Creator and entrepreneur from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He is best known for working within in any medium and throughout his career he has achieved critical acclaim and independent wealth through art, music, fashion, jewelry, film and technology. He founded Yellow Fever Creative, Incubator Studios, fashion label Yellow Fever, jewelry label Love Universe and Brooklyn Beat Records, run under Warner Music Group.^[1][2] Ernest co-founded and currently runs Blue Scorpion Investments along with his business partner Gautam Ahuja.^[3][4]

As a teenager Jamison grew up sanding floors, working at a tuxedo shop after school hand scrubbing the cuffs and armpits of thousands of tuxedo shirts, in an effort to escape Brooklyn he took summer school classes every year so he could gain enough credits to attend school part-time for his senior year. At this time he started working as a coffee boy at famed celebrity hang out Cafe Tabac which was the start of building his social network. During his this time at New Utrecht High School he was educated on the legend of David Geffen who is from the same neighborhood and attended the same high school as a teenager himself. He then had the inspiration for a way to get out of Brooklyn so he co-founded and created the band Burlap To Cashmere with his childhood friends which led to the sale of half a million records. The band was nominated for four awards at the GMA Dove Awards and they took home the award for Album Of The Year. After the band achieved critical acclaim and commercial success the singer of the band, Steven Delopoulos decided to leave the band and to pursue his own solo career.^[5]

After Burlap to Cashmere disbanded, Ernest spent 4 years teaching himself to sing, play guitar, write and produce music. Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers introduced Ernest to Lyor Cohen, the then chairman of Warner Music Group, who ultimately signed Ernest to a label deal and artist contract under Asylum Records/ WMG originally founded by David Geffen. Ernest founded the band Yellow Fever with the album "I Was Here" scheduled to be released in 2016.^[6]

Ernest went on to create the fashion label Yellow Fever after his vocal cords were left damaged when a famous rapper attacked and strangled him. YFC is a high-end fashion label that has attracted celebrity attention with Gerard Butler, Axl Rose, Russell Simmons, Ryan Cabrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Renzo Rosso, Len Blavatnik, Chris Burch, Rosario Dawson, Jason Lewis, Michelle Rodriguez, Heidi Klum, Halle Berry, Chanel Iman, John Stamos, the All American Rejects, Desert Magic, Fall Out Boy, and Ryan Leslie to name a few. Ernest's clothing has been photographed by prestigious photographers such as Richard Prince and Terry Richardson and has been worn by numerous celebrities and featured in magazines such as Vogue, Teen Vogue, GQ, ELLE, Nylon, People Magazine, Vanity Fair, InStyle, WWD, Time Out Magazine, Flaunt Magazine and Art Review. Ernest's debut fashion show in 2004 was styled by Francesa Versace, niece of Donatella Versace.^[5][7]

On November 5, 2003, the art exhibition Incubator was launched by Vito Schnabel and Jamison Ernest.^[8] This was the debut show of then 16 year old Vito Schnabel, son of artist Julian Schnabel. The exhibition attracted a large audience and featured works by artists who frequented Schnabel's family home, such as Vahakn Arslanian, Luigi Ontani, McDermott & McGough, Alejandro Garmendia, Herbie Fletcher, Jorge Galindo, and Schnabel's sister Lola Schnabel. These artists, varying in age, nationality, and approach, reflected Schnabel’s broad yet personal interest in art. Incubator launched Schnabel's successful career and lead to his 2005 solo exhibition with works from the 1970s artist Ron Gorchov in an unfinished warehouse on Hudson Street in Manhattan. Art critics raved and reviews were published in The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, Interview Magazine, The New Yorker and Timeout. In 2011, Ernest teamed up with Schnabel again and the duo released a limited edition commissioned art work by artist Rene Ricard in honor of the 2011 Red Bulls soccer season. 150 limited edition art prints were produced.

In 2006, Ernest organized secret Guns N' Roses concerts in New York and co-hosted with actress Rosario Dawson.^[9] Guns N' Roses later went on to plan further secret concerts in London and South America.^[10][11]

In April 2007, Ernest opened the nightclub Angels & Kings with Pete Wentz, member of the rock band Fall Out Boy.^[12][13][14]

In 2008 Ernest opened the Yellow Fever Clothing Flagship store on Stanton Street in downtown New York City.^[15][16][17]

In 2010, Ernest signed Memphis: A New Musical, a four Tony award winning show's cast recording, with Warner Music Group.

Ernest has appeared in two films, first in 2004 in the film When Will I Be Loved and then in 2010 the film 13, which was a remake of the film 13 Tzameti featuring Mickey Rourke, 50 Cent and Ben Gazzara; which also featured the single "Cigarettes and Gasoline" from his debut album .^[18]

Ernest has been featured in numerous books such as Axl Rose's W.A.R by Mick Wall, Love Always, Petra by Petra Nemcova, Girls by Pamela Hanson and Kiss by Patrick McMullan.

Ernest first solo exhibition Bouncing Cars in 2013 featured a series of paintings inspired by a car accident he witnessed.^[19][20] The exhibition was held at the Ambassador Gallery and showcased vibrant and interactive art. Ernest created a maze and gave away seven custom cut diamonds worth $77.777 on each day of the exhibition.^{[21][22][23][24]} The exhibition was named one of the 'Top 5 Art Shows To Visit This Month' by Wild Magazine and attracted celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper.^[25][26]

Ernest has worked as a creative director for companies such as Warner Music Group, Diesel, Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Red Bull, NY Red Bulls and Lava Records.^[27] Ernest re-branded the Lava Records brand and organized the event Lava Lucky 13, celebrating the 13th Anniversary of the label founded by Jason Flom. Singer Lorde performed at the event with celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Usher, Scooter Braun, Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin attending.^[28]

Ernest sits on the board of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.^[29][30]

Ernest is engaged to supermodel Linda Vojtova.

References