TY BAISDEN JAYNE ANDREW
IN 2014, BRENT FAIYAZ was a sandwich maker in Charlotte, N.C., before he met his future manager and partner, Ty Baisden. Seven years later, Faiyaz is now an R&B powerhouse who went head-to-head with Bad Bunny on the Billboard 200 in July. Though Faiyaz’s debut album, Wasteland, finished at No. 2 with 88,000 albumequivalent units in the United States in a closely contested battle with the Latin heavyweight, his and Baisden’s decision to spurn major labels for the independent route has proved successful.
“People are seeing how to develop their business from an independent perspective,” says Baisden. “The goal is to have the option to do whatever you want while still maintaining ownership of your art. That’s really the goal, if we’re being honest.”
Released on Faiyaz’s Lost Kids label with distribution through indies Stem and Venice, Wasteland includes features from Drake, Alicia Keys and Tyler, The Creator. Packed with star power, the 18-track set debuted at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and logged 15 tracks on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. “All Mine” was Faiyaz’s crown jewel, reaching No. 4 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
Faiyaz’s rapid leap to stardom was a strategic one. After his 2020 EP, Fuck the World, debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, Baisden and Colture co-owner Jayne Andrew forecast a big album debut for their burgeoning artist. They started with a string of Hot 100 singles in 2021: The Neptunes-produced hit “Wasting Time” featuring Drake, “Gravity” with Tyler, The Creator and the solo songs “Mercedes” and “Price of Fame.”
In 2022, Baisden closely monitored release dates for upcoming albums and sought to avoid possible conflicts. After talk of a potential Beyoncé release came to Baisden’s attention, the Colture team settled on July 8, three weeks before Beyoncé’s Renaissance came out. Though Faiyaz didn’t quite topple Bad Bunny, whose album Un Verano Sin Ti topped the Billboard 200 for 13 nonconsecutive weeks, Baisden was proud that Faiyaz was able to “compete against a mammoth” like the Latin superstar.
“We’re creating more producers and songwriters that are getting rich off art because of how our infrastructure is,” says Baisden of Colture, an acronym for Can Our Leverage Teach Us Real Equity. “You start to see other people adopt that infrastructure through Stem, direct payments and breaking bread with producers in a real way. Being able to really do things that even major-label artists haven’t been able to accomplish from an independent perspective is important.”
Adds Andrew: “Colture is for the alternative thinker. It’s founded on humility and understanding the unquestionable right to ownership of our ideas and work. We don’t do things the normal way because we aren’t normal, and we like that.”
Ty Baisden Jayne Andrew CO-FOUNDERS, COLTURE
See story, page 76.
Fee Banks
CEO, GOOD MONEY GLOBAL
“A long time ago, I realized that I have an ear for music. I applied that ear in picking YoungBoy [Never Broke Again’s] very first platinum record, ‘Untouchable,’ ” Banks told Billboard in a 2020 interview that marked the success of Top when that album by his management client became the artist’s third No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In October, YoungBoy’s Ma’ I Got a Family became the prolific rapper’s 12th top 10-charting release and his fifth top 10 in 2022 — the most of any act this year. In all, he has charted 25 titles on the Billboard 200 since 2017.
Gordan Dillard Camille Delaney Ryan Ramsey Dina Sahim
ARTIST MANAGERS, SALXCO
“The streak of achievements, growth and excitement here at SALXCO has been remarkable this past year,” says Ramsey, citing highlights for the management firm like the continued chart success of Doja Cat’s Planet Her and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” becoming Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 Song of All Time, as well as his After Hours
Til Dawn stadium tour grossing over
$131 million. (SALXCO co-manages Doja Cat with Josh Kaplan at 10Q Management.) Meanwhile, Brandy signed a deal with Motown Records, Nancy Ajram and Marshmellow’s Arabic-language “Sah Sah” broke onto Billboard’s Dance/ Electronic chart, and French Montana’s “Unforgettable” made him the first African-born artist to achieve RIAA diamond status. In September, Capitol Music Group named Dillard its new executive vp of A&R and artist development, but he will continue in his role as Doja Cat’s co-manager at SALXCO.
Neil Jacobson CEO, HALLWOOD MEDIA Cory Litwin
EXECUTIVE VP, HALLWOOD MEDIA Brennen Bryant MANAGER OF A&R, HALLWOOD MEDIA
Over the last year, Hallwood’s leaders have stayed true to their goal of supporting clients on a mission to make moneymaking music. Focusing on audio engineers, Hallwood has signed Jason “Cheese” Goldberg (YoungBoy Never Broke Again), Angie Randisi (Lil Baby), Nickie Jon Pabón (Jack Harlow) and Miyagi (Drake, Ty Dolla $ign, Jeremih), among others, with the aim of securing fair, sizable deals atypical for engineers. Their signees have garnered multiple
No. 1 Hot 100 hits, including Polo G’s “Rapstar” and Harlow’s “First Class,” as well as a number of Grammy nominations. Other clients have been supported in their evolution toward becoming artists and entrepreneurs through endeavors like Murda Beatz releasing his own music, performing at his first Las Vegas residency and DJ’ing on the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Josh Kaplan FOUNDER/MANAGER, 10Q MANAGEMENT
Kaplan has helped grow the career of one of the decade’s biggest stars in either hip-hop or pop: Doja Cat, who transitioned from viral rapper to global sensation with the blockbuster success of her Planet Her album. (10Q co-manages Doja Cat with SALXCO.) Since its June 2021 release, Planet
Her has spawned five top five hits on the Pop Airplay chart — and Doja has since added two more with her Elvis soundtrack contribution, “Vegas,” and a feature on Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song).” “As a company, we are only as strong as our artists,” Kaplan says. “Luckily, we get to work with some extremely powerful artists like Doja Cat.”
Adam Leber CEO, REBEL
Leber says the highlight of his year has been working with his management client Lil Nas X to launch his first-ever sold-out world tour. “It has been incredible to get out on the road and finally meet his fans,” Leber says of the faceto-face opportunities afforded by the Long Live Montero Tour. Leber launched his management and media company, Rebel (his last name spelled backward), less than two years ago in partnership with Live Nation.
Dre London
FOUNDER/CEO, LONDON ENTERTAINMENT
London’s client Post Malone continued his pop reign in June, when he released his fourth album, Twelve Carat Toothache. The 14-track set produced two top 10 Hot 100 hits, including his star-powered collaborations with The Weeknd (“One Right Now”) and Doja
Cat (“I Like You [A Happier Song]”). Earlier this year, London launched his premium tequila brand, Don Londrés, which has been the drink of choice at Post’s afterparties.
Paul Rosenberg
PRESIDENT/CEO, GOLIATH ARTISTS; PRESIDENT/CEO, SHADY RECORDS; PRESIDENT/CEO, GOLIATH RECORDS This past year was a highlight reel of firsts for Rosenberg’s longtime client Eminem: He performed at the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar; scored his first No. 1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart for his feature on DJ Khaled’s “Use This Gospel (Remix)” with Kanye West; and in March became the top-awarded singles artist in RIAA history. But the zenith arrived in November, when Eminem became the latest rapper inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Chris Thomas
MANAGING PARTNER, RANGE MEDIA PARTNERS Thomas cites Jack Harlow’s success as one of Range Media Partners’ biggest achievements this year. The rapper earned his first solo Hot 100 No. 1 with “First Class,” released a new album, co-hosted MTV’s Video Music Awards and performed at the Grammys and
BET Awards. “My personal favorite achievement of this year is the sold-out, 30-date arena tour that Jack just completed,” Thomas says. “Seeing him live his dream, and the euphoric expressions on his fans’ faces as they watched him perform, was a great reminder of how important live music is and how excited the world is to have it back.”
Pierre “P” Thomas
CEO, QUALITY CONTROL Kevin “Coach K” Lee
COO, QUALITY CONTROL Simone Mitchell
PRESIDENT, QUALITY CONTROL MUSIC/SOLID FOUNDATION MANAGEMENT
Brandra Ringo
EXECUTIVE VP/CO-HEAD OF A&R, QUALITY CONTROL MUSIC
Wayno Clark
EXECUTIVE VP OF A&R, QUALITY CONTROL MUSIC “Size” was the operative word for Quality Control in 2022, with growth across the company’s film and TV divisions through the Lil Baby documentary Untrapped on Amazon Prime and an executive producer credit on Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t on HBO Max. Quality Control also launched the reality series Impact ATL and added a basketball division to QC Sports. Clients Lil Yachty, Quavo & Takeoff and Yung Miami’s podcast (Caresha Please) clocked hits and awards, while the Atlanta-based company also expanded with new hires and more office space.
“Embarking on building out our flagship HQ to open in 2023 feels appropriate with all the expansion of the past yearand-a-half,” says Mitchell.
Ebonie Ward
PARTNER, EMAGEN ENTERTAINMENT GROUP Emagen’s past year has been largely defined by two superstar management clients. In January, Gunna scored his second No. 1 solo album on the Billboard 200 with DS4Ever, while Future dominated the spring with his charttopping I Never Liked You. The project spawned the Hot 100 No. 1 “Wait for U” featuring Drake and Tems. Ward also points to rising clients like Flo Milli, the Alabama rapper who is headlining her biggest tour to date. “These achievements are not only impacting and shifting culture but are opening doors to new ways of creating moments.” (For more on Future, see page 54.)
Anthony “Ant” Wilson
FOUNDER, ANTHONY WILSON MANAGEMENT; FOUNDER, TYCOON MUSIC FESTIVAL
Anthony Wilson Management has expanded its entertainment reach to include executive-producing film, TV (Starz’s BMF) and festivals. As the manager of global superstar Chris Brown, Wilson assisted with the release of the artist’s 10th studio album, Breezy, in June as well as Brown’s tour with Lil Baby. The One of the Ones summer tour sold out 27 cities nationwide. Wilson also founded the Tycoon Music Festival, which debuted in Houston in August. The comedy/music event touted appearances by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Flo Rida and DaBaby, among others. Whitney-Gayle Benta
GLOBAL HEAD OF ARTISTS AND TALENT RELATIONS, SPOTIFY
Sydney Lopes
HEAD OF HIP-HOP AND R&B, ARTISTS AND LABEL PARTNERSHIPS, SPOTIFY
Safiya Lambie-Knight
HEAD OF MUSIC U.K. AND IRELAND, SPOTIFY
Carl Chery
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/HEAD OF URBAN MUSIC, SPOTIFY “We teamed up with Kendrick Lamar to launch [mini-documentary] A Day in Ghana,” says Chery of Spotify’s “incredible year.” The doc, which followed Lamar during his first trip to the West African country, focuses on his album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. The platform also launched the RapCaviar podcast, hosted by Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins, and announced a RapCaviar documentary series featuring Pharrell Williams, Jack Harlow and Tyler, The Creator, among others, for Hulu in 2023. “While the podcast is about settling long-standing debates and sparking new conversations,” says Chery, “the RapCaviar docuseries is a storytelling vehicle to touch on issues happening in hip-hop culture.”
Tim Hinshaw
HEAD OF HIP-HOP AND R&B, AMAZON MUSIC Rochelle Balogun
SENIOR HIP-HOP MUSIC CURATOR, AMAZON MUSIC Sierra Lever
SENIOR HIP-HOP, R&B AND AFROBEATS MUSIC CURATOR, AMAZON MUSIC
Josh Peas
ARTIST RELATIONS MANAGER, AMAZON MUSIC See story, page 62. Larry Jackson
GLOBAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR, APPLE MUSIC
Ebro Darden
HOST/GLOBAL EDITORIAL HEAD OF HIP-HOP AND R&B, APPLE MUSIC
Danielle McDowell
MARKETING LEAD, BLACK MUSIC AND CULTURE,
APPLE MUSIC
Apple Music marked Juneteenth this past year with an expansive and inspiring musical collection. Streaming in Spatial Audio exclusively on Apple Music, Juneteenth 2022: Freedom Songs featured over 16 artists, commissioned by Apple Music’s curators, across genres including R&B, hip-hop, gospel, Latin, jazz and country “to uncover the complexity of the Black experience against the backdrop of the historical touch point of Juneteenth — from joy to pain and hope to rumination,” the company said in a statement. Darden added: “As the awareness and mainstreaming of Juneteenth continues to rise, our team at Apple Music is committed to commemorating the holiday while ensuring that its historical significance is not lost. We continue our annual efforts with a new collection of Black music and stories from artists across an array of genres aimed to amplify the conversation, inspire reflection and celebrate freedom.” To complement the collection, Apple Music partnered with multiple Black visual artists who created original artwork and animations for the project. In September, Jackson confirmed his departure from Apple Music, following a seven-year tenure during which he was key in negotiating Apple Music exclusives with superstars including Drake, Frank Ocean and Kanye West.
Rachel Jackson
ARTIST RELATIONS MANAGER, YOUTUBE Brittany Lewis
ARTIST PARTNERSHIPS LEAD, BLACK MUSIC AND CULTURE, YOUTUBE
Adam McFarland
PROGRAM MANAGER, BLACK MUSIC AND CULTURE, YOUTUBE
Noah Rakoski
HEAD OF WEST COAST LABEL RELATIONS, YOUTUBE YouTube, which paid out $6 billion in global music royalties from July 2021 to June 2022, strives for cultural influence to match its economic impact.
YouTube Avenues, launched in July 2022, aims for equity and relevance in Black communities “that have been historically underrepresented and underserved on our platform,” says Lewis. In addition to educating creators about the platform, YouTube Avenues has hosted four events featuring guest speakers such as Troy Carter, Kevin Liles and Ethiopia Habtemariam, and attendees such as Wale, Armani White and Alex Vaughn.
Jason Kpana
SENIOR VP OF ARTIST AND LABEL RELATIONS, TIDAL Melanie Mercedes
FORMER COMMUNITY AND INSIGHTS LEAD FOR SOCIAL, TIDAL
To celebrate hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th birthday, TIDAL created an opportunity for hip-hop fans “to come together by curating and hosting ‘A Toast to Biggie’ on Twitter Spaces,” says Kpana. Moderated by TIDAL chief content officer Elliott Wilson, the conversation featured surprise appearances by Jay-Z, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Fat Joe, who shared how influential Biggie was to their careers. “A Toast to Biggie” garnered over 8,300 listeners and was replayed over 22,000 times, according to the company. “Not only was this a way for TIDAL to pay tribute to a hip-hop icon, but the company was also able to celebrate his lasting legacy and contributions to music,” adds Kpana. Mercedes was a key member of the TIDAL social media team before recently joining Amazon Music.
Josh “J1” Raiford
VP OF MUSIC PROGRAMMING, PANDORA
Akim Bryant
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC PROGRAMMING, PANDORA
“I’m super proud of our Pandora Playbacks, where we bring an artist in front of an audience — fans, influencers, DJs, college students and more — to share their music and story,” says Raiford. One of his favorites was held during Homecoming Week at Spelman/ Morehouse in Atlanta. Featuring rappersinger Smino, the event attracted over 1,600 students. “This was very special to me because I graduated from Morehouse College and I am a big advocate of [historically Black colleges and universities] and giving back.”
Swizz Beatz Timbaland
“Seeing the euphoric expressions on his fans’ faces as they watched Jack Harlow perform was a great reminder of how important live music is and how excited the world is to have it back.”
—CHRIS THOMAS, RANGE MEDIA PARTNERS
CO-FOUNDERS/CO-OWNERS, VERZUZ Steve Pamon
PRESIDENT, VERZUZ
After Verzuz and Triller announced the appointment of Pamon as president earlier this year, the webcast franchise, co-founded and co-owned by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, continued to push hip-hop and R&B as both “appointment viewing” and “mandatory discussion.” Ranging from battles between Stephanie Mills and Chaka Khan to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Three 6 Mafia to the first Latin pairing with DJ Nelson and Luny Tunes, “no other platform this past year has showcased such a broad scope and diversity,” says Pamon, “with more than 85 million views and more than 40 billion impressions since inception.”
PUBLISHING Evan Bogart
CEO, SEEKER MUSIC
Bogart is a hit-making songwriter for everyone from Beyoncé (“Halo”) to Rihanna (“SOS”), and the company he founded in 2020 has grown to an 11,000-plus catalog of copyrights and master recordings by such acts as Jay-Z, Drake and 2Pac. “We view every catalog as a brand-new artist that we’re trying to break,” says Bogart, who looks at catalogs “that we want to celebrate.” He was “so weak” for classic R&B trio SWV that Seeker worked with the group’s songwriter-producer, Brian Alexander Morgan, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its 1992 multiplatinum debut, It’s About Time. “SWV soundtracked my high school years, so I jumped at the opportunity,” he says. The campaign included an EP of the group’s hits reimagined by current artists, as well as 1990s club takeovers, TikTok cover and performance campaigns, and promo merchandise.
Robert Brown
VP OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND COMMERCIAL STRATEGY, KOBALT MUSIC
Cee Barrett
DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE, KOBALT MUSIC
Thanks to hits like Roddy Ricch’s “High Fashion” (featuring Mustard) and Chris Brown’s “Heat” (featuring Gunna), Kobalt was named BMI’s publisher of the year for R&B and hip-hop in September 2021. The publisher’s team has helped songwriting clients such as Ricch, Gunna, Moneybagg Yo and Yo Gotti “capitalize on their past successes and have proudly expanded the number of business partnerships with them,” Brown says. Barrett adds that the company’s longtime R&B/hip-hop writers, as well as new signings such as Young Thug in late 2021, “have afforded us the privilege to create diverse opportunities for all.”
Ashley Calhoun
PRESIDENT/HEAD OF CREATIVE, PULSE MUSIC GROUP Calhoun says it has been “pedal to the floor” ever since she met and first began working with Brent Faiyaz. In July, the R&B artist both renewed his publishing deal with Pulse and released his debut album, Wasteland, independently on his Lost Kids label through Venice and Stem. The album earned him chart success, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 1 on Top R&B Albums, as well as logging a handful of songs on the Hot 100. “We’ve been involved with Brent since the beginning,” says Calhoun. “Pulse was the first publishing company that Ty Baisden [Faiyaz’s manager] sent Brent’s music to, and as soon as I heard Brent’s voice, I immediately knew that I had to work with him.” Faiyaz is also nominated for favorite male R&B artist at this year’s American Music Awards.
Cristina Chavez
VP OF A&R, UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP Denzel Baptiste David Biral
MEMBERS, TAKE A DAYTRIP; FOUNDERS, NO IDLE, A JOINT VENTURE PARTNERSHIP WITH UMPG Tommy Brown
FOUNDER, CHAMPAGNE THERAPY MUSIC GROUP, A JOINT VENTURE PARTNERSHIP WITH UMPG
At UMPG, which signed new deals in the past year with Drake and The Weeknd, the R&B/hip-hop team has even more reason to celebrate, from Steve Lacy hitting No. 1 on the Hot 100 to the continued success of joint ventures like Take a Daytrip’s NO IDLE and Tommy Brown’s Champagne Therapy. Chavez says she is focused on building the culture’s future as well as its present. Within the past two years, through its joint ventures, UMPG also added “amazing new writers like Roy Lenzo, 18YOMan, Matt Cohn, Peter Lee
Johnson, Khaled Rohaim and Xavi, and [in December], we have the release of Metro Boomin’s anticipated album to look forward to.”
Sabrina Coghiatti
MUSIC MANAGER, PRIMARY WAVE MUSIC Earlier this year, when Cee Lo Green performed at Brazil’s Rock in Rio, he included a James Brown tribute that he had brainstormed with Coghiatti months earlier. “That moment will always have a special place in my heart, being home doing what I love,” says Coghiatti, who is from São Paulo. “One thing I learned a long time ago is to always listen to the client regardless of what the industry is and/or what the current trend is. Something the entire team at Primary Wave takes seriously is to always support our artists no matter what. Our goals are to be aware and listen to our clients’ wishes.”
Ian Holder
SENIOR VP OF CREATIVE, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Ari Gelaw
VP OF CREATIVE, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Will Skalmoski
Jamin Whatley
DIRECTORS OF CREATIVE, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING With the help of the powerful creative team of Holder, Gelaw, Skalmoski and Whatley, Sony Music Publishing launched some of 2022’s most defining R&B/hip-hop hits, including Jack Harlow’s Hot 100 No. 1, “First Class,” Nicki Minaj’s “Do We Have a Problem” with Lil Baby, Chloe’s “Have Mercy” and Giveon’s “For Tonight.” The team is also proud of its continued partnership with BeatStars Publishing to empower the next generation of songwriters and the inaugural SMP Hip-Hop Conference in Atlanta, which Holder says “symbolizes our dedication to finding new opportunities for the SMP roster. We are energized and excited for what’s to come next.”
Ryan Press
PRESIDENT OF NORTH AMERICA, WARNER
CHAPPELL MUSIC
Rich Christina
SENIOR VP OF A&R AND VENTURE PARTNERS, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC
Wallace Joseph
VP OF A&R, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC
Playing the long game paid off this year for Warner Chappell when talents like Muni Long, whom it signed in 2009, achieved breakthroughs after releasing her No. 1 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay hit “Hrs and Hrs.” Press says, “We’re always focused on signing and developing emerging talent.” Other signees including Summer Walker, Anderson .Paak, Jhené Aiko, Ari Lennox, Fousheé and Chloe x Halle also achieved personal bests. “I’m really proud of our A&R team,” Press adds, “for playing a key role in ensuring our hip-hop and R&B roster remains culturally relevant and represents what Warner Chappell will look and feel like moving forward.”
MEDIA Tolu Ayeni Nicole Johnson
MUSIC ARTIST PARTNERSHIPS, META
The Meta team has used its partnerships in the hip-hop and R&B community to help stars like DJ Khaled and Megan Thee Stallion directly promote recent albums to fans on Facebook and Instagram, as well as give rising artists like Doechii, Cordae and Latto platforms for exclusive content. Johnson has also made a lasting impact with initiatives like the Meta Elevate Mentorship Circles Program, for which she teamed with Ciara to spotlight Black-owned businesses. “It has been exciting working with the hip-hop and R&B community to leverage the full potential of their presence across Meta’s technologies,” says Ayeni. “We’ve done that this year by amplifying the cultural relevance of SZA, Chloe Bailey, Jack Harlow and Kid Cudi by hosting them at our table at the Met Gala” in New York and collaborating with artists from Burna Boy to Beyoncé.