In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
The octet also appears in our magazine, the pages of which we understand make for decent sweat rags, so handy during this heat wave.
NyAsia Burris
R&B Manager, Artist Partnerships, Spotify
Among Burris’ career highlights is a stint working for
Solange’s
Saint Heron, where she got to support the artist on
SNL and
Fallon, among other duties. Last spring she helped launch Spotify’s live series R&B First Nights (with
Victoria Monét in L.A. and
FLO in Atlanta) and steered the Spot into fashion with designers
Latoia Fitzgerald and
Christopher John Rogers, respectively supported by the “Feelin’ Myself” and “Fashion Forward” playlists. A Baltimore native, Burris has been learning how to play the bass. She might be better off learning how to avoid
us.
Walter Thomas
Senior Director of Artist Development, Capitol Christian Music Group
Thomas, who was CEO of
Agency 22 Entertainment before CCMG created his current role, is proud to have been part of
Maverick City Music’s 2022
Kingdom Tour with
Kirk Franklin, one of the highest-grossing inspirational road shows ever—which sold out 15,000-seaters in multiple cities, and the marketing of
Anthony Brown and Group Therapy’s 2019 #1 gold single, “Worth.” In total, he’s helped secure 20 #1 singles, eight #1 albums and eight
Grammys (five for MCM). In other news, Thomas says he’s “great at grilling and horrible at golf.”
We’re horrible at both!
Coley Hunt
Director, Marketing, Sony Music Nashville
The marketing campaign for
Nate Smith’s self-titled debut album stands out as a peak career experience for Hunt, who calls watching Smith’s audience grow as the plan evolved “exciting, challenging and undeniably rewarding.” She’s presently crafting new-music strategy for rising star
Mitchell Tenpenny and building artists like
David J,
Restless Road and
Tyler Booth from the ground up. In her free time, Hunt, a soccer enthusiast nearly all her life, enjoys playing in the adult leagues. We need our inhaler just
thinking about all that running and kicking.
Nick Pacelli
Head of Brands, SALXCO/XO Records; Founder, Kindly Agency
In a single week, Pacelli once taught brand marketing at
Berklee, accompanied
French Montana to the premiere of the rapper’s documentary at the
Tribeca Film Festival and presented his award-winning
Doja Cat x
Taco Bell campaign at
Cannes Lions. Next: Doja’s album, tour and first shoe line and the first Kindly Agency tour with
Ice Spice. Pacelli’s
IG handle (@popepacelli) is a nod to his connection to a 19th century pontiff.
We’re all that is
unholy.
Nancy Stolze
Project Manager,
ONErpm
Stolze will long cherish the time she spent as day-to-day-manager for British American singer-songwriter
Bishop Briggs, who in May performed her double-platinum alt-rock hit “River” on Season 9 of
The Masked Singer, which she won. At the moment, Stolze has her hands full with projects by ONErpm artists
Taylor Acorn,
Good Kid,
Against the Current,
DeathbyRomy and
Vwillz, among others. An organizational wizard, she’s kept a spreadsheet of every show she’s ever been to so she can revisit and reminisce. Mere Word docs make
us curl up in the fetal position.
Chris Kai Williams
Director, Marketing, Def Jam
As a project manager at
Columbia, Williams has lent a hand to platinum campaigns for
Chlöe x Halle (“Do It”) and
Chlöe (“Have Mercy”), as well as
Lil Nas X (the sextuple-platinum “Industry Baby”) and
The Kid LAROI (the diamond “Stay”). At Def Jam he’s advanced the work of
Armani White (
Road to CASABLANCO.) and is implementing initiatives for
Fridayy (
Fridayy) and
Sid Sriram (
Sidharth). Williams moved from New Orleans to NYC within days of cold-calling
Z100 and
Power 105.1 to get his foot in the industry door. After this
HITS look, he may be searching for the exit.
Audrey Pine Wright
Artist Manager, APW; Casting Producer, American Idol
Wright was thrilled to join
American Idol as a producer after many years of being “hit up” by the show for her roster. Her friends now call her the “idol maker.” On the management side, Wright’s artist
maryjo, whom she handles with partner
Kelly King, was signed to
Atlantic and released her debut track in February. Client
Ava Maybee just wrapped a 15-city tour supporting
lovelytheband. Back in the day, Wright helped launch
Brandy and
Jewel's careers with tours of high schools and lent her skills to L.A. radio stations
KIIS FM and
Power 106. We’ve been banned from those stations since the ’90s.
Jon Briks
Agent, UTA
For Briks, few things top seeing
Denzel Curry rise from a tour of 300-capacity venues to headlining festivals like
Hopscotch and
Capitol Hill Block Party and
Kevin Gates go from selling a few hundred tickets per city to selling out arenas. This year, he’s booked sold-out tours for
Young Nudy,
LUCKI,
redveil and
Masego—who will headline
Red Rocks for the first time—and is working on plans for Gates,
Flo Milli and
Kenny Mason. During the pandemic, Briks learned how to make guitars, pedals and amps using a soldering iron, which could fend
us off if need be.
