Txldian The Destroyer on the Smoke and Mirrors of the Music Business

🎧 Listen: Unscripted Small Business Podcast  |  📺 Watch: YouTube

This week on the Unscripted Small Business Podcast, host Jeremy Rivera sits down with Txldian The Destroyer — also known as Sham Beasy and Frank Petrelli — an independent musician and content creator out of Central PA (717) running his own label, Hotel Forever Entertainment. It’s a candid look at music as a business: the disappointments, the “smoke and mirrors,” the decision to walk away from a Sony deal, and what it takes to do an independent rollout the right way.

From the Church Choir to the Stage

Music was always central. His mom was deep into church and gospel, and he sang in the choir from ages five to seven — a “really prolific experience” that pushed him toward sound. Raised on the Temptations, Michael Jackson, the Four Tops, Diana Ross, and Tina Turner, he started out as a Michael Jackson impersonation dancer. The way Jackson inspired him is exactly what he now wants to do for others. His first project, Night of the Living Nerd Part One, dropped April 20, 2010 — his first time recording professionally and stepping fully into his own voice.

Music Is a Business

Asked whether he’s a creative who tolerates business or a business that happens to make art, he doesn’t hedge: he’s a business. He has a newborn son, Jackson, plus other kids and step-kids, and a wedding to plan. That reality sits in tension with the artist who is “so deeply rooted in the love, hip hop and music” and would happily do it for free — but the bills are real, and so is the business.

“There’s two things that this game is made up of: disappointments and smoke and mirrors. So you have to, A, be prepared to be disappointed a lot.” — Txldian The Destroyer

Going Fully Independent

He was signed to a Roughhouse/Sony deal for a couple of years and left it right before this album to go independent under his own LLC, Hotel Forever Entertainment. He calls this the best rollout he’s ever had — including his time signed — “the quintessential how-to-be-an-artist guide, independently.” His framing is patient: this album may simply be the step to the next one. The new record, Shan, is built on real loss — over six years he got divorced, weathered serious betrayal, and lost both parents. He points listeners to “Letter to Mama” as the song that explains who he really is.

AI, Authenticity, and “The Real Rises to the Top”

He’s pro-AI for the visual and graphics side of building a brand, but skeptical of tools like Suno for the music itself, calling AI audio “nowhere near real artistry.” His north star is craftsmanship over volume — one good rhyme a week beats one mediocre rhyme a day — and a belief that authenticity wins out: “the real will always rise to the top. Cream always rises to the top.”

“A lot of people are worried about what’s coming and what’s on the other side of the door, but I don’t worry about knocking — because nine times out of ten I’m the one who knocks.” — Txldian The Destroyer

The Pro Wrestler Who Wants the Mic

He almost forgot to mention it: he’s also a pro wrestler. A lifelong fan of 32 years, he started wrestling last August with Valor Pro Wrestling and has done backstage commentary. His dream is a managerial role — on the mic, where he says he does his best work: “Talking is what I do best.”

Connect with Txldian The Destroyer

Txldian The Destroyer builds his multi-genre brand under Hotel Forever Entertainment. His album Shan is out worldwide on all platforms, with an all-R&B project, Still Raining, on the way. Search “Txldian The Destroyer” on your platform of choice.

🎧 Listen to the full episode  |  📺 Watch on YouTube