“I may not be able to offer the craziest thing out there,” admits Captivate Marketing Director Paul A. Kennedy. “But if you combine everything that I can do, it is the craziest thing out there.”

Known to his friends as PK and to the rap-fiends as Pakman, Kennedy is a man of many talents. A manager, musician, magician and promoter, he has a half-decade of professional experience in the music industry and is studying a double major undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology at Carleton University.

Over the past four years, Kennedy has served as street soldier for Kapacity Entertainment, Ottawa’s leading hip-hop promotion company. In that time he has worked with artists ranging from K-OS and Classified to Nas and Obie Trice, establishing himself as one of the capital city’s premier promotional players.

“Promotion is one of those fields that you can’t ease your way into,” the modest 23-year-old Libra reflects. “You gotta just jump into it. And when you jump in, you either get used to how cold the water is, or you get right out.”

As Marketing Director for Captivate Creative Studios, Kennedy’s responsibilities range from the banal to the extraordinary, a professional mandate that fits well with his personal mantra. Kennedy tends to transportation, bookings and riders, is lead liaison and oversees the production and progress of company projects.

He is also in charge of the marketing, advertising and promotion of Captivate products and services.  Through online networking and viral distribution, he ensures the company provides its clients continuous cutting edge creative solutions.

“Over the years I’ve gained a lot of relevant information and insight into the industry,” he says. “What I bring to the table is experience, an interpretation of how the industry works, and an idea of how to adapt to it using the services we offer at Captivate.”

A hip-hop head with a lust for fat chains, fly cars and fast cash, Kennedy, who moved to Ottawa from Halifax at 18, spits with a Scotian swagger and speaks with a tongue sharp as any politician on Parliament Hill.

Two words, feedback and knowledge, sum up Kennedy’s motivations. He views his work with Captivate as art, and sees every project as another opportunity to get a message out to the masses, regardless of the response.

“I really like recognition for a contribution. Whether the feedback’s negative or positive, it’s still constructive. Everything you do in life is a learning experience. There’s no such thing as a mistake, only lessons.”