In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
Making
us look good is above their pay grade.

Katie Kaiser
Digital Marketing Manager, Nice Life Recording Company
Among other career highlights, Kaiser led the
TikTok campaign for
Tinashe’s “Nasty”—the platform’s #2 Song of the Summer in the U.S. and global and #1 in the U.K.—and helped execute
Ru Paul’s Drag Race queens performing as
Lizzo alongside Lizzo herself to premiere music from her 2022 album
Special. On the heels of a video for Tinashe’s “No Broke Boys,” she’s prepping tours from
The Marías and Tinashe, plus a
TisaKorean x
Don Toliver collab. Kaiser once sang for
Steve Harvey and starred in a
Macy’s commercial. We’re still waiting for our big break.

Blain Rhodes
President, Tape Room Music
Rhodes vividly recalls the day when, as a
Luke Bryan merch seller fresh out of college, he met
Ashley Gorley, who later invited him to help build Tape Room Music. Fast forward, and they’re celebrating 50 #1 songs. Now, Rhodes continues to forge creative joint ventures with the likes of
Red Light Management,
Sony Music Publishing,
Warner Chappell,
50 Egg Music,
APG and mostly recently
Runner Music to amplify their writers’ success. Rhodes has a penchant for
Nancy Meyers films—a contrast to his football-watching persona. We’re still trying to tackle our remote.

Crystal Huh
Director of Brands & Ventures, HYBE America
Huh was chuffed to be part of the global launch of
LE SSERAFIM’s “smoky pink” noise-canceling headphones with
Sony. She was also thrilled to see them win their first
MTV VMA, then grant their first wish with the
Make-a-Wish Foundation on the same trip. Lately, she’s been planning collaborations for
SEVENTEEN’s U.S. tour and
KATSEYE following the group’s debut EP while also crafting fan experiences ahead of
BTS’s return. Huh was the head drum major for her high school’s marching band and spent 12 years studying classical piano. We’re dropouts.

Warren Hatch
Director of A&R, Republic Records
Hatch facilitated the collaboration between
ATL Jacob and
Feid in Miami, leading to the global hit “LUNA” from Feid’s album
Ferxxocalipsis. The song soared to #7 on
Spotify’s global chart and secured
RIAA Latin quadruple-platinum certification, amassing 1b+ streams. Now he’s steering
Anitta’s next project, following her
Funk Generation release, and continuing to cultivate hits with ATL Jacob,
Anthony Ramos and more. While Hatch thrives in the music space, he’s also a skilled photographer. We’re still trying to figure out how to do a selfie.

Adelaida Echeverri
General Manager, TITOL™
During the early days of artist-services and merch company TITOL™, Echeverri and team launched
Beyoncé’s D2C strategy for her #1 album
Renaissance. Lately, she’s been busy with
Alex Cooper’s
Unwell Network and her
Call Her Daddy podcast (which just hosted VP
Kamala Harris), as well as
Alix Earle’s podcast
Hot Mess. And in the music world, they’re all in on
Big Sean’s
Better Me Than You and
Future’s
MIXTAPE PLUTO, plus fall tours for
André 3000 and
Yeat. Born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, Echeverri spent the first decade of her life there. We had to surrender our passport.

Toby Oniyitan
CEO/Co-Founder, Stomp Down
Oniyitan cherishes witnessing the diverse success of his artists—a testament to the culture he and company Prez
Ezra Averill crafted at Houston label Stomp Down. Their collective growth from a shared foundation fills him with pride. He’s presently fostering songwriting and producer partnerships, like
Sleeping Bear’s upcoming features, including one on
A$AP Rocky’s upcoming album. Oniyitan’s attended
Camden Military Academy for three years, which instilled in him a broad musical and cultural appreciation. We spent our formative years shoved in lockers.

Julianne Wilson
Senior Director, Creative Sync, Primary Wave
Wilson once got to chat over cocktails with
Talking Heads about the creation of one of her favorite concert films,
Stop Making Sense. More recently, she’s had her hands full with music supervision on
Stealing Pulp Fiction, which will make its world debut at the
Newport Beach Film Festival this month. When Wilson’s not handling music over film and TV, she’s lending her voice to commercials for
Kodak,
Snickers and
Turbo Tax. Most people would pay to avoid hearing
our voices.

Zach Koche
Senior Director, Business Development (Americas), FUGA
Booking then-indie artist
Big Sean for a college gig was Koche’s “I belong in music” moment. Now at B2B distributor FUGA, a
Downtown company, he handles a diverse roster that includes
Insomniac Music Group,
Netflix and more. He’s presently propelling artists like
Th3rd Brain’s
Zerb to massive streaming success, with his track “Mwaki” hitting 100m+ streams in a matter of months—it now has 200m+ streams on
Spotify alone. Koche says he has a strong affinity for diners, drive-ins and dives, both the show and IRL. We’ve avoided both online and in person.