In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
At the very least, we’re told copies of our mag make for decent paper plates, which could come in handy for all those Super Bowl leftovers.
Tyshawn “Fly Ty” Johnson
A&R, Epic Records; CEO, Against Da Grain Entertainment
Atlanta stalwart Johnson is understandably pumped to see
Jnr Choi’s “TO THE MOON” rocketing skyward—the
TikTok-assisted track, which samples
Bruno Mars’ “Talking to the Moon,” has been pulling in 2.5m+ streams a day, has topped
Spotify’s Viral chart and was added to
Today’s Top Hits. Johnson’s also working
Philmon Lee’s “Baby Don’t Cry” f/
Young Thug and
Jamie Ray’s “Sticks,” both due later this month. During his spare time, this avid bowler aims for no spares. We make sure to pack a bowl (and strike a match) before
we hit the lanes.
Talya Elitzer
Co-Founder, godmode
Elitzer kicked off her career at
WME looking after artists like
Britney Spears and
M.I.A. In 2013 she moved from NYC to L.A. to do A&R for
Capitol, collaborating with
Katy Perry,
Beck and
Sky Ferreira before co-founding godmode, where she’s helped break
JPEGMAFIA and develop
Yaeji. Elitzer’s currently working toward finishing Compton rapper/singer/producer
Channel Tres’ debut full-length. She once delivered a briefcase full of cash to
Grace Jones. A briefcase full of cash was once delivered to
us, but we spent it all on gum and candy.
Jacob Passick
Specialist, Digital Marketing & Strategy, Roc Nation
Passick’s work with
A$AP Ferg is notable for, among other things, his getting a credit on the video for
Ferg’s “Green Juice” f/
Pharrell &
The Neptunes and the time
Jay-Z showed up to a meeting Ferg was attending with Passick in tow. At present, the digital dynamo is overseeing the Harlem rapper’s headlining slot at the
X-Games and promoting new music by
Bobby Shmurda. Fun Fact: Passick passed on an offer from
Mark Cuban to buy his
Real NBA Memes and ended up making five times that figure. We’d tout our own business acumen if we knew what acumen meant.
Alexa Shouneyia
Associate Director, Digital, Columbia Records
For Detroiter Shouneyia, who holds an M.A. in music business from
NYU, it doesn’t get much better than collaborating on the campaigns for
BTS’s “Dynamite” and “Butter” (though accompanying
King Princess to
SNL might be a close second). She’s lately been formulating digital strategy on behalf of
Labrinth’s music for
Euphoria—including the tracks “Yeh I Fuckin’ Did It” and “I’m Tired”—and
Grimes’ upcoming
BOOK 1. In 2020, when we were baking special brownies and bingeing
Tiger King, Shouneyia self-published a book of poetry, the appropriately titled
timelapse.
Lola Plaku
CEO, Lola Media Group; Founder, Girl Connected
In 2020 Plaku launched the
Girl Connected mentorship program for women in the biz; it’s the only such group based in Canada—Plaku’s a Toronto native—with a seat on
Spotify’s EQUAL Board, a network of organizations empowering women globally. Lola Media Group, meanwhile, recently executive produced a set of performances by Canadian artists for
YouTube’s
COLORS (6m subscribers). “When I plan family vacations, I route everything as if it’s a tour,” says Plaku, whose husband has been known to call her “Lola Logistics.” You don’t want to know what he calls
us.
Fabian “FABO” Traylor
A&R, Cinematic Music Group
Traylor’s been busy with
Big Yavo’s
Like Yay, the follow-up to last year’s
On God II, home to “Rich”—a 500,000-video
TikTok dance sensation adopted by no less than
Charli D’Amelio and
Addison Rae. The A&R hitter is also developing 16-year-old rapper
Nuski2Squad, who in 2021 dropped
2 Broken 2 Heal with
Yungeen Ace. Formerly a record-setting track star, Traylor has been known to step into the boxing ring, about which he says, “I could’ve gone pro.” We, too, coulda been a contender. We could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what we are.
Julia McLeod
Associate Director, Artist Marketing, ONErpm
Having risen from intern to Associate Director in a mere four years, McLeod is grateful for the opportunity to grow at the digital-distribution/fan-engagement platform, which counts
Tame Impala and
Ozomatli among its 15,000 artists. She’s focused at the moment on the brand-new record by indie-pop duo
Sports, Get a Good Look, and helping ONErpm streamline its marketing campaigns and make them more scalable. Asked what she does to wind down, Nashville-based McLeod reveals, “I like to sew and repair clothes for myself and my friends.” Us? We failed home ec.
Sam Hysell
Co-Founder/COO, nft now; Co-Founder, NOX Media
With Hysell handling his digital marketing, South African DJ/producer
Black Coffee has gone from unknown-in-the-U.S. to sold-out shows at New York’s
Brooklyn Mirage (capacity: 6,000) to investing in nft now, which delivers the latest in NFT news, analysis, interviews, drops and videos and the best in crypto art, music and culture. “It feels like we’re ushering in a new age of prosperity for artists,” Hysell, himself a DJ/producer, says of the venture. As we, too, could use a new age of prosperity, we’re wondering how to turn this blurb into an NFT.
