A Different Beat
With his roots in Lebanon, today Wassim “Sal” Slaiby—CEO of record company XO and CEO and founder of management company SALXCO—manages headline-hitting international stars, including The Weeknd. His goal now is to elevate Arabic music on a global stage through a new Arab-focused deal with Universal Music Group.
With his roots in Lebanon, today Wassim “Sal” Slaiby—CEO of record company XO and CEO and founder of management company SALXCO— manages headline-hitting international stars, including The Weeknd. His goal now is to elevate Arabic music on a global stage through a new Arabfocused deal with Universal Music Group.
In a dazzling display that was part medley, part cinematic fever dream, pop superstar The Weeknd wowed a global audience during the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2021. The on-field performance in Florida marked another career-high for The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, following a year that saw him dominate music charts worldwide. Looking on during the spectacle was Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, Tesfaye's close friend and business partner. Slaiby, who manages The Weeknd, helped orchestrate the Canadian artist's meteoric rise from obscurity to global stardom. His own journey is also impressive. Slaiby grew up in Lebanon during the civil war, later immigrating to Canada as a teenager, where he became a selfmade music mogul. Today, he serves as CEO of The Weeknd's record label XO and his own talent management company SALXCO. Partnered with Live Nation, SALXCO's roster features prominent artists such as French Montana, Bebe Rexha, Swedish House Mafia, and M.I.A., to name a few, alongside producers, songwriters, and popular up-andcoming artists such as Ali Gatie and Doja Cat. Notably, many of Slaiby's clients come from diverse backgrounds, including several with roots in MENA.
That ties in with his most recent project with Universal Music Group. The world's largest music company, which reported revenues of $8.5 billion in 2019 and had a valuation of approximately $35 billion in March 2020, has entrusted Slaiby with running a new department dedicated entirely to breaking Arabic music globally. Called Universal Arabic Music, the department was officially created last year, but Slaiby has spent the last two years developing the project with support from Universal's chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge and Republic Records CEO Monte Lipman. His goal is to select artists he feels can crossover and find success inside and outside the Middle East while motivating global brands to see value in Arabic music and culture. “I want to see Arabic music win on a global level,” says the 41-year-old CEO.
Arabic music, says Slaiby, needs to grow with new faces, and he aims to find them wherever they are. Alongside eying MENA, Universal Arabic Music will have dedicated teams everywhere from the U.S. to Germany, Brazil, and beyond. Crucially, its team members will speak Arabic, something Slaiby finds isn't always the case among industry executives and people handling Arab musicians.
This venture could change the game for Arab artists. “Sal's clear vision and blueprint for Universal Arabic Music will become a catalyst for Arabic music in the marketplace,” says Republic's Lipman. “The cultural importance of MENA region music crossing boundaries and reaching all corners of the world is long overdue.” MENA has produced plenty of popular stars, but global success remains elusive for most. However, crossover potential exists. “An Arabic artist like Nancy Ajram can come to America and do 5,000 to 10,000 seaters in the big cities,” says Slaiby.
A key artist Slaiby is focused on right now is the teenage Jordanian singer Issam Alnajjar. His song “Hadal Ahbek” went viral on Tik Tok in 2020 while amassing over 57 million YouTube views. Universal Arabic Music/Republic Records released the single in February 2021 and they're now working on remixes and planning new material. Slaiby is talking with other artists too. There's a project with Swizz Beatz and Saudi rapper $kinny, while Egyptian star Mohamed Ramadan is working with the producer RedOne. Slaiby is also working with MC Abdul, a 12-year-old Gazan rapper who recently went viral, as well as rising Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna.
Slaiby has enlisted Lebanese-Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer Massari to head A&R. “It has always been a dream of mine to showcase and highlight the beauty of both cultures through music and entertainment,” says Massari. “I believe this is an evolutionary step towards creating a new genre of music that the world has been waiting for.”
Overall, Universal Arabic Music brings together a powerful label and an industry insider with a personal stake in seeing Arab musicians succeed globally. It's also just the
latest example of Slaiby using his platform to boost Arab artists.
Since 2017, he's served as head of international partnerships with Anghami, the Middle East's homegrown music streaming player. In his role, Slaiby has helped arrange collaborations with Marshmello, Amr Diab, French Montana, Maya Diab, and Massari, while also bringing global stars to perform in MENA, including The Weeknd, Shakira, and Kygo.
Outside of the day job, Slaiby credits his wife Rima Fakih Slaiby, a former Miss USA winner whose family also hails from Lebanon, for keeping him in tune with his roots. “She's so connected with the culture and what's going on in Lebanon on a daily basis,” says Slaiby. “She keeps Arabic music blasting in our home.” They both remain committed to Lebanon, even stepping up to rally support for the country in times of need.
Following the tragic Beirut port explosion in August 2020, they sprang into action, organizing an international fundraising campaign called Global Aid For Lebanon alongside Global Citizen. The effort raised over $1.3 million from donors worldwide in less than 10 days. Funds went to organizations on the ground, including the Lebanese Red Cross, the UN World Food Program, and the Children Cancer Center, which was damaged by the explosion.
Those funds helped provide basic assistance to 10,000 of the most vulnerable families, including supplying $300 monthly payments for families, says Nabih Jabr, under-secretary general for the Lebanese Red Cross. And there's an ongoing need for support. “There are 50,000 families affected, of which at least 70% have some degree of vulnerability due to the combined effects of the financial collapse, the Beirut blast, and the COVID crisis,” says Jabr.
The blast hit home for Slaiby personally too. His sister works in Beirut's financial district adjacent to the port. Fortunately, she hadn't gone to work that day. Meanwhile, his friends and clients quickly backed the campaign. Massari, French Montana, and Ali Gatie all contributed, with a $300,000 donation coming from The Weeknd. Lebanese singers Nancy Ajram and Ragheb Alama also lent their support through campaigns on their substantial social media platforms. “The fight isn't over, but all we can do is support the people in their quest for change,” says Slaiby. As a prominent member of the diaspora, he thinks it's crucial to use his voice to support Lebanon, something he wants to see more peers do on an international level. “You got to be proud of where you come from,” he says. “If you don't know where you come from, you never know who you are.”
Slaiby comes from Ghazir, a town just up the coast from Beirut, where he grew up amidst Lebanon's civil war, which ran from the mid-1970s to the beginning of the 90s. He seems to have inherited his entrepreneurial streak from his father, who started out selling fruit and vegetables from the back of his truck before later forming a business in the construction industry and becoming a successful businessman, despite being unable to read or write in Arabic. He passed away when Slaiby was 10-years-old.
In the mid-1990s, as Lebanon struggled to recover from the aftermath of the 15-year conflict, Slaiby immigrated to Montreal, Canada, at age 16. He traveled
using a visa his father had secured for him before he died, first heading to Cyprus by boat. He eventually arrived in Montreal and later Ottawa, but the transition was tough. He says he lived alone, knew no one, and initially couldn't speak English. But he got into high school, and Canada also delivered a sense of security—even while fending for himself, he slept easy at night. “It was like, ‘oh, wow, there are no bombs here? Oh, I'm good,'” Slaiby remembers.
He wouldn't return to Lebanon for about five years. He vividly remembers meeting his mother at Beirut airport on his first trip back. Both struggled to recognize one another. “We both said each other's name, making sure that it was me and her,” he says. So much had changed.
Back in Canada, he had become friends with a Palestinian-Canadian kid named Ahmad Balshe, also known as rapper Belly, who helped push him into the music business. After finishing high school, Belly convinced Slaiby to start a record label. They co-founded independent hip-hop and R&B label Capital Prophet Records in 2002, with Massari as its first artist. “We were just a couple of street kids with some big dreams,” remembers Belly. “The one thing I always counted on is that Sal would figure it out. I always knew he would make it happen somehow.”
Slaiby worked multiple jobs to fund the business. “I would work and put every penny I made into the music,” he says. To get the label going, they also brought in another friend with Arab roots, Iranian-Canadian Amir “Cash” Esmailian, and Manny Dion (SALXCO's current president), to help with things like street promotions. “All we did at that time is sell mixtapes on the street and promote our songs in the clubs,” says Slaiby.
It wasn't easy for the young music entrepreneurs. It was difficult to secure radio play, and Slaiby remembers stores only ordering five CDs at a time, while their Arab roots also made things harder. Still, they were doing something right from the first CD they released. “We sold out all stores in the first like 24 hours,” recalls Slaiby.
Over the years, Capital Prophet Records (or CP Records) became a successful independent label in Canada. Massari's 2005 self-titled album was certified Gold in Canada, while Belly's 2007 album “The Revolution” won Rap Recording of the Year at the Junos, Canada's equivalent of the Grammys. Slaiby would eventually sell the label to Live Nation, but a turning point in his burgeoning career would come in 2011, the year he founded SALXCO.
By then, Tesfaye had gotten his start as an underground musician in Toronto, posting music to YouTube as The Weeknd. It didn't take long for his brooding yet suave R&B style to strike a chord and generate significant hype. In 2010, a friend sent Esmailian several of The Weeknd's tracks, and he quickly met up with the rising artist. Not long after, Tesfaye met Slaiby for the first time while hanging out at Belly's apartment.
They hit it off. Slaiby soon took over as The Weeknd's manager, with Esmailian as co-manager, and Tesfaye, his friend La Mar Taylor, Slaiby, and Esmailian co-founded the XO record company. By then, The Weeknd was on the cusp of something big, dropping three mixtapes in 2011 and raising the buzz around him considerably.
Industry players caught on, with Republic Records and its parent company Universal Music Group inking a distribution and strategic partnership with XO in 2012. The Weeknd's debut studio album dropped
the following year. From there came hit records, sold-out global tours, and billions of streams. The team that set the ball rolling remains closer than ever. “The relationship I have with Sal transcends business—it's family,” says Tesfaye (The Weeknd). “The trust and support we share is powerful, and we both cherish and respect it immensely.”
With his influence in the music business growing, in 2016 Slaiby partnered SALXCO with Live Nation. That year also saw Slaiby get married to Fakih. They naturally held the ceremony in Lebanon, throwing a big bash in Ghazir. His XO partners came too, with The Weeknd serenading the couple's friends and family.
Slaiby also continued to develop new talents. He says he's always on the lookout, including getting tips from his wife. A recent find was Ali Gatie, a rising Iraqi-Canadian crooner. “I actually reached out to him myself,” says Slaiby. “I found him online.”
That hard work continues paying off. SALXCO and XO loomed larger than ever in 2020. Although the global pandemic brought tours and public appearances to a grinding halt, The Weeknd pushed ahead, releasing the album “After Hours.” It was a good move: the record topped the charts, while lead single “Blinding Lights” was a sensation worldwide. Meanwhile, Doja Cat enjoyed a major breakthrough, fueled by the viral success of her track “Say So” on Tik Tok.
This came as Slaiby was also preparing to launch Universal Arabic Music. Though the project has taken a while to emerge, the idea seems ready now to come to life. “Sal is a great character with boundless energy and a proven ability to execute,” reveals Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group. “I'm excited about what we will accomplish together. I'm counting on him.”
Slaiby is ready to deliver. “We need to open doors for new Arab talent,” he says. “We need to pass the torch.”