THE STORY
BEHIND
THE MUSIC
FROM THE STREETS
OF NASHVILLE
In 1991, a young producer named Sonny Paradise founded Street Flavor Records in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, Nashville was synonymous with country music — but Sonny saw something different. He saw a city with raw talent, untapped energy, and a hunger for something new. Street Flavor Records became the vehicle for that vision.
The early years were defined by hustle and authenticity. Street Flavor's first release, Pistol's debut album "Hitting Like a Bullet," earned a co-label deal with Ruthless Records in 1993. The following year, a joint deal with Relativity Records signaled that Nashville's independent hip-hop scene was ready for the national stage.
The late 1990s brought a defining moment: Haystak's "Mak Million" in 1998. That record didn't just sell — it created an entire subgenre of Southern hip-hop and opened doors for Nashville's biggest independent artists. Street Flavor had proven that the South had something to say, and the world was listening.
Then came Jelly Roll. His debut album, "The Hate Goes On," was released on Street Flavor Records in 2006. Nearly two decades later, Jelly Roll is one of the most successful artists in America — and the foundation of that career was built right here, on an independent label in Nashville, Tennessee.
FROM LABEL TO
TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
In 2022, SPNDAT INC. was formed as the parent holding company, acquiring Street Flavor Records and beginning the transformation from a music label into a full-stack entertainment and technology enterprise. The founders recognized that the music industry was at an inflection point — and that the same independent spirit that built Street Flavor Records could be applied to building the infrastructure the industry desperately needed.
The Legacy (1991–2021)
Street Flavor Records builds Nashville's independent hip-hop scene. Three decades of gold records, platinum mixes, and artist development. The foundation is laid.
The Pivot (2022–2024)
SPNDAT INC. is formed. The SPNDAT App launches, offering artists $0.07 per stream — 7x the industry standard. The platform vision takes shape.
The Infrastructure (2025–Present)
SPNDAT Distro launches as the first AI-powered music distributor. SPNDAT Coin deploys on Ethereum. The full ecosystem is now operational.
VALUE OVER
EVERYTHING
Artist First
Every product we build starts with the same question: does this give artists more power, more money, and more freedom? If the answer is no, we don't build it.
Radical Transparency
From on-chain royalty distribution to real-time analytics, we believe artists and investors deserve to see exactly where every dollar flows.
Community Ownership
The communities that create cultural value should participate in the financial value they generate. This is the core principle behind the SPNDAT Protocol.
Earned Authority
We don't claim expertise — we've lived it. 35 years of music industry experience isn't a credential; it's the foundation everything else is built on.
THE TEAM
Sonny Paradise
CEO & Co-Founder
AKA Lorenzo Formato III
Lorenzo Formato III, known professionally as Sonny Paradise, is an entertainment executive who has operated primarily out of Nashville, Tennessee for 35 years. His career spans every dimension of the music industry — from A&R and production to label management and technology entrepreneurship.
As the founder of Street Flavor Records in 1991, Sonny built one of Nashville's most important independent labels from the ground up, signing and developing artists who would go on to reshape Southern hip-hop. His work as VP of A&R at Dv8/A&M Records in New York gave him a front-row seat to how major labels operate — and a clear vision of how the independent model could do it better.
A platinum mix engineer with three Gold Records to his name, Sonny has produced and written for Jelly Roll and sold over one million independent records. Today, as CEO of SPNDAT INC., he is applying 35 years of hard-won industry knowledge to building the technology infrastructure that artists have always deserved.
Lorenzo Cole
President & Co-Founder
AKA Lorenzo Formato IV
Lorenzo Formato IV, known as Lorenzo Cole, is a producer and artist from Nashville, Tennessee whose roots in rock and Southern hip-hop have shaped a unique creative vision that bridges genres and generations. As the son of Sonny Paradise, he grew up inside the music industry — and chose to build it differently.
Before co-founding SPNDAT INC., Cole ran Street Flavor Records full-time, developing artists and building the operational foundation that would become the backbone of the parent company. His work alongside Jelly Roll, Leroy Biggs, and other Nashville artists gave him deep experience in artist development, production, and the economics of independent music.
With a catalog totaling over 21 million streams and credits on multiple gold records, Cole brings both creative credibility and operational expertise to his role as President. His vision for SPNDAT — particularly the platform's artist-first economics — reflects a conviction that the music industry's next chapter will be written by the artists themselves.