In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good. Though those superiors may not think a look on our site is such a good look.
Alaysia Sierra
Head of R&B, Spotify
Prior to their tenure at Spotify, Sierra played a role in big career moments for artists like
GIVĒON,
Tems and
Summer Walker. Today, they're helping advance the fortunes of
Victoria Monét and
FLO via Spotify’s R&B First Nights and presenting the former’s first headlining show and the latter’s first in North America. They're also pumped to be working on the rebranding of the flagship “Are & Be” playlist and new “R&B Rising Singles.” Sierra was a drumline kid.
We’re still trying to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Ethan Curtis
Founder/CEO, PushPlay
Partner/Head of Artist Projects, Plush Mgmt
President, Plush Studios
Curtis is delighted to report that his client
JVKE has amassed 1b+ streams and 20b+ plays on social media without having spent a single dollar in marketing over the last year. In addition to co-managing JVKE with
Aton Ben Horin, Curtis oversees the
TikTok marketing agency PushPlay, which he founded. The squad of viral-content ninjas has produced wins for
Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” and
Joji’s “Glimpse of Us.” In matters more personal, Curtis says, “I’m single and looking for the one. DM me.” We’re usually left on “read.”
Kaiya Sarkis
Label Management, SALXCO/Universal Arabic Music
For Sarkis, a native of Lebanon, nothing has topped seeing her client
Elyanna become the first artist to perform in Arabic at
Coachella. She’s thankful for the opportunity to serve as a pioneer of Arabic music crossover, led by collabs from
Marshmello &
Nancy Ajram,
Hiba Tawaji &
Luis Fonsi,
Nicki Minaj,
Maluma &
Myriam Fares and
Future,
Mohamed Ramadan &
Massari. A diehard
Madonna fan, Sarkis is also a ballet dancer, which allows her to gracefully grand jeté away from us when necessary.
Justin Hill
Agent, UTA
Hill will be forever grateful to have assembled
Lupe Fiasco’s tour marking the 15th anniversary of
The Cool, an album the live-music pro played nonstop in college. More recently, he launched
Derek Hough’s
Symphony of Dance Tour, following the dancer-choreographer-actor-singer’s 20-week Las Vegas residency. Also in the works is an outing to feature
Busta Rhymes, his first proper world tour in years. “One day I might disappear to the beach and open up a sandwich shop,” Hill confides. He just hopes he’ll never have to feed
us (a messy proposition).
Natalie Ho
Director, Digital Marketing, RCA Records
Considering the impact
Steve Lacy’s work has had on Ho, who says, “His music has gotten me through some hard times,” she was thrilled to help expand his audience, including identifying rising internet trends like “Ho Said She Like Steve Lacy,” which became a viral meme, and issuing a sped-up version of “Bad Habit” (51m+ streams). She’s likewise excited to see Lacy and
Fousheé during their
Re:SET tour and looking forward to new music by
Saucy Santana,
Eyedress,
Kenny Mason and more. Ho’s also a DJ.
We can barely do our one job.
Ethan Udell
Marketing Manager,
Arista
From overseeing
Tai Verdes’ debut campaign to watching the artist earn 1b+ streams in the space of a year with hits like the double-platinum “AOK” and gold “DRUGS” and “Stuck in the Middle,” Udell’s been busy. He’s now focused on
BUNT.’s global tour of pop-up shows, the
Grammy-nominated
Måneskin’s
RUSH! World Tour and
Weston Estate’s sold-out
Don’t Kill the Messenger headlining U.S. tour. He’s also propelling new projects by
Thomas Day,
Jonah Kagen,
Zach Hood and
Jade LeMac. Udell is a black belt. We will consider ourselves warned.
Graciela Lopez
Label Manager, Latin Music, Ingrooves
Lopez worked with
DEL Records on “Ella Baila Sola,” the first musica Mexicana track to reach #1 on
Spotify’s global chart. Among other career highlights, she sat with
Eslabon Armado during the Spotify listening sessions for their Top 10 albums
NOSTALGIA and
DESVELADO and sang
Yahritza y Su Esencia’s “Soy El Unico” standing next to Yahritza. She’s currently working on
Steve Aoki collabs with
Angela Aguilar and
Danna Paola and albums by
Grupo Marca Registrada and
NEON16. Lopez initially planned to practice public interest law.
We’re just uninteresting.
Charlie Perl
A&R Coordinator, The Revels Group & Coup D’Etat Music
Perl wrangles a roster that’s seen recent placements for
Rodney Jerkins (
SZA’s platinum “Shirt”),
Julia Lewis (
Arcángel &
Bad Bunny’s “La Jumpa”),
Teezio (
Coi Leray’s “Players”),
Tommy Parker and
Ben10k (
Creed III). He also helped deliver
Dounia’s forthcoming self-titled
ADA/
Warner album. Perl was delighted to attend the 2023
Grammys and help build the
Recording Academy’s first
Grammy House (in partnership with TRG and Coup D’Etat Music). Perl tries to start every morning with yoga. He should see
our corpse pose.
