About Me
HARDTOP of Hardtop Entertainment was born and raised as Darnell Lashley in Queens, New York. He spent the earlier part of his youth growing up in Far Rockaway, Queens and spent the remainder of his teenage years in Saint Albans. Throughout his adolescence, he watched and admired the birth of many musical talents, especially those that walked the same streets of Queens, New York. After graduating from St. John's University and pursuing a Masters Degree from Hofstra University, Hardtop could no longer deny his urge to be an entrepreneur and decided to start a business. In 2004, in the wake of an economic boom in discount stores, Hardtop opened 99 Cents Master in Harlem, NY. After only a couple of years, he unwillingly closed the business vowing to never give up on his entrepreneurial dreams. After an unfortunate experience in the real estate market, Hardtop decided to obtain his real estate license and founded his second business, Lashley Investment Properties, in January 2006. By turning his obstacles into opportunities, his company has successfully maintained its sole purpose of strategically investing in the real estate industry. With the success of Lashley Investment Properties, Hardtop recently made expansions to the interests of the company thereby changing the name to Lashley Investment Group in order to invest in other areas outside of the real estate industry. Despite his success in other arenas, Hardtop could not deny his sincere love for hip-hop. As such, Hardtop made the decision to combine his entrepreneurial drive with his longtime love for hip-hop and founded Hardtop Entertainment in 2007 with his brother Hostile, born Lee Vargas in Brooklyn, NY. The company was founded with the purpose and aspiration to find, grow and materialize upcoming musical talent. In addition to providing their artists with financial support and backing, Hardtop Entertainment takes it a step further by providing their artists with the means to be as successful as possible in the music industry and beyond. Hardtop Entertainment artists are provided opportunities to work with hit-making producers, video directors, and marketing/pr experts. Their first and foremost artist, Shawty Raw, who hails from North Carolina, has proven Hardtop Entertainment to be a successful management company. Since their partnership, Shawty Raw has appeared on several mixtape DVDs such as "Hood"; "Real Talk," "The Bigger Picture," and "Hard Body TV" and is finally preparing the release of his long awaited debut "King of the Carolinas." With the success of Shawty Raw, Hardtop Entertainment has become one of the leading entertainment companies for the undiscovered artist who aims to make a name for his or herself in an industry where very few artists survive.
