After successful A&R stints at Interscope and RCA, where he stewarded projects from the likes of Doja Cat, Bryson Tiller, H.E.R., Wizkid and Normani, Tunji Balogun was tapped by UMG poobah Sir Lucian Grainge in late 2021 to lead Def Jam Recordings. The past years for the iconic hip-hop label have been choppy, marked by C-suite turnover, roster attrition and prolonged absences (Kanye West, Rihanna, Justin Bieber) and, most recently, a corporate restructuring. Balogun is tasked with honoring the legacy of Def Jam, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year, while moving the label forward via breakout R&B artists like Muni Long, Coco Jones and Fridayy and global acts such as Elmiene and ODUMODUBLVCK. “That’s the challenge,” he acknowledges. “But also the exciting part, the opportunity to breathe new life into something that I not only care about, but that is culturally important. It’s an institution of Black music.” Let’s start from the beginning. You’re based in L.A. Did you grow up on the West Coast? I grew up in the Bay Area and in Nigeria. My parents moved to the States in 1980. I was born in Sacramento because my dad went to UC Davis, and then we moved back to Nigeria when I was three, then moved back to the East Bay when I was seven or eight. My dad was a voracious music listener. He loved Motown, R&B and soul music and also played a lot of Nigerian music. Then I went to boarding school in Massachusetts, because Nigerian parents love boarding schools. The most important thing in a Nigerian household is education. Boarding school was a culture shock. I was a fish out of water. But it taught me how to network with any type of person, and I met kids who were listening to music that I never would have listened to otherwise. Most of the other Black kids at Deerfield were from New York. When I was in the Bay Area, I was listening to West Coast rap. When I went to Deerfield, I met kids who were listening to Wu-Tang, Nas and JAY-Z. And that was when I really started listening to lyrics. That’s, like, when I put on my backpack and became a nerd. I still am a nerd. I’m a cool-ass nerd [laughs], but I’m definitely a music nerd, especially with Black music. I was also in high school when I started writing lyrics and rapping. What was your first gig in the industry? During college I interned at Warner Bros., but my first paid gig was as a catalog manager at a ringtone company called Def Jam Mobile. It was owned by American Greetings. So when you went into your phone to buy ringtones and got onto the little landing page, I was the one curating that. Who have been some of your mentors along the way? Na’im Ali McNair is one of the first people who believed in me. Top Dawg had time for me and gave me opportunities. Shawn “Tubby” Holiday, who I worked for at Interscope starting in 2010. John Janick, who promoted me to an actual A&R role at Interscope in 2013. And eventually Peter Edge and Keith Naftaly at RCA. How did Peter and Keith figure into your career? They understood the R&B stuff, the left-of-center stuff, the weird hip-hop stuff that I liked. And they just were like, go for it. I got lucky because the first thing I signed was Bryson Tiller, and that immediately blew up. They believed in me, they empowered me. I had a JV label at RCA [Keep Cool] after a while. Peter’s a music guy first. It’s always about the creative for him. What was the interview process like for the Def Jam gig? There wasn’t really an interview process. I’d left Interscope, gone to Sony and went on a run. I was lucky enough to have had tremendous success at RCA. So Lucian was aware of the work. I’d had a couple of meetings with him before the meeting. But I didn’t know that he thought that I could do this job. There were a few other roles at Universal that I thought he might bring up. Joie Manda had just left Interscope, I thought maybe he was going to offer that. So when he brought up the Def Jam job, I was like, “Oh shit, for real? Okay, let me think about it.” It was a tough decision, because I was really loving the work I was doing at RCA. I had my own label, and a ton of artists who were doing really well. But the opportunity to help refresh such an iconic label, such an iconic brand, really speaks to me. It’s the dream job. Still, in recent years, Def Jam has undergone a lot of turnover at the top and an erosion of market share. What do you think went amiss? With all due respect to everyone who sat in the seat and did the job, I come from Interscope under Jimmy and then John, and RCA under Peter. I’m a student of seeing a company that’s led by a creative vision. If I could call out anything that maybe changes the energy, it’s that Def Jam hadn’t been led by a creative for a while, someone who could reach into the artist community and speak to artists on their level. That’s not to say that the people who had the job before me couldn’t do it, but it’s more that I live and breathe that. Also, there aren’t a lot of Black people that get an opportunity like this. And particularly not a lot of young Black people. This is much bigger than just me and my career. Because if this is successful, it changes who gets the next call, right? It’s extremely important that representation is felt at all levels, from the intern to the CEO. And not just in creative roles, but in logistical, functional roles as well. Representation behind the scenes is crucial. Our voices need to be in the room. I want Def Jam to be a reflection of the culture. I want the people whose voices traditionally have the lowest volume to have a loud voice in the room. When you got the gig, did you hear from any of the former CEOs? I already had good relationships with Paul Rosenberg and Jeff Harleston, so I heard from them. Going back to the mentor question, Jeff has been one of my mentors, for sure. I didn’t know Steve Bartels, so I reached out to him, and we had a good conversation. What about the OGs? Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons, Lyor Cohen? Yeah, they all reached out to me. I’ve known Russell since Def Jam Mobile. Same with Kevin Liles. Tell me about the next six to 12 months. What are you excited about? There’s Muni, which I talked about. There’s Fridayy. He’s an amazing example of what I’m trying to do at Def Jam. He’s a Haitian American from Philadelphia. He’s an R&B act at his core, but his music incorporates damn near every element of the patchwork of Black music globally. He’s going to be a superstar. All of the ingredients that I’ve seen in artists I’ve worked with who became superstars are present with Fridayy. There’s a Big Sean album coming, his first in four years. It’s him stepping into the best version of himself. We’ll have new Alessia Cara in the fall. As an A&R, I was excited to work with her when I came in. I’ve been working on it with [Sr. Director of A&R and marketing] Caitlin Harriford on our team. I know I’ve said this a lot, but I think Alessia is sitting on her best album. It’s a step forward.. And we’ll have a Coco Jones album in the fall. Grammy winner, super talent, superwoman. Oh, and we can talk about this, since they already did: We’ll have a new Clipse album this year. (The 2024 edition of Rainmakers will be published this fall.)

Tyler, the Creator will support his new Columbia album, CHROMAKOPIA, with a 2025 AEG-promoted world tour, beginning 2/4 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lil Yachty and Paris Texas will warm up at various points on the run, the North American portion of which is highlighted by a 2/14, 17, 20 run at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Tyler and friends will also visit Europe, beginning 4/25 in Antwerp, and Australia and New Zealand, starting 8/18 in Auckland. Led by the single "Noid," CHROMAKOPIA arrives 10/28. Before he hits the road, Tyler will host his annual Camp Flog Gnaw festival, 11/16-17 at Dodger Stadium, with a lineup headlined by Playboi Carti, KAYTRANADA, Erykah Badu and André 3000.

Eminem endorsed Kamala Harris at a Detroit rally on 10/22 and introduced former president Barack Obama. The rapper, proudly sporting a Tigers cap, referred to the necessity of being able to voice one's opinions without fear of "retribution," referring to one of many threats issued by Donald Trump, and expressed his faith that a president Harris would safeguard such essential freedoms. After his very brief remarks, Em brought out Obama, who said he "felt some sort of way" about following the rap god—and then delivered a few lines from the smash "Lose Yourself." The crowd, needless to say, was delighted. "I love me some Eminem," Obama added before launching into his prepared remarks. The former Slim Shady, who's been extremely vocal about his disdain for Trump in recent years, joins the growing list of artists endorsing the Democratic ticket, including Lizzo, USHER, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Jon Bon Jovi and Joni Mitchell. Michigan is a swing state in the presidential election. Let's not lose ourselves; vote, get everyone you know to vote and get involved.

The inimitable Travis Scott has had a banner year on his globe-rocking, Live Nation-presented UTOPIA: Circus Maximus Tour, becoming the top hip-hop act on the touring landscape for most of 2024 and breaking a few records in the process; with 1.5m tickets sold, he bests Drake's record for most tickets ever sold on a rap tour. (He’s also crushing with his own record, UTOPIA, on Cactus Jack via Sylvia Rhone’s Epic, which has amassed more than 4.8b global streams on Spotify alone.) The David Stromberg-managed rap giant, who’s repped for live by Cara Lewis in the U.S. and WME's James Rubin in the rest of the world, wraps up the UTOPIA global cycle in Australia next month. It will be the end of a truly incredible chapter. If only Travis didn’t have to appear on the cover of our circus minimus.

At Top 40, Atlantic impacted ROSÉ & Bruno Mars' "APT." with 65 adds as the #1 Most Added track. Warner's Chester & Reich put 49 impact adds on David Guetta x Alphaville x Ava Max's "Forever Young" (Parlophone UK). Republic's Spangler & Lucas have three tracks in the Top 10, with The Weeknd’s "Timeless" f/Playboi Carti (XO/ICLG) grabbing 29 adds, Morgan Wallen's "Love Somebody" (Big Loud/Mercury) picking 23 adds and Sabrina Carpenter's "Bed Chem" (Island) securing 15 adds. Columbia's Team Gray pulls in another 18 adds on Addison Rae's "Diet Pepsi" and RCA's Rothschild squad brings in 13 more adds on LISA's "Moonlit Floor" (Lloud Co.). Atlantic also puts 10 more adds on Charli xcx’s "Apple,” as ICLG's Marella squad closes out the Top 10 Most Added with 10 additional adds on Gracie Abrams' "Close to You" (Interscope). At Rhythm, meanwhile, Dixie and ICLG follow up GloRilla’s recent #1, "TGIF," with "WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME” f/Sexyy Red, which is the Most Added track this week with 37 commitments. Dixie also closes out another eight believers on Toosii’s "I Do" f/Muni Long. B Dot Scales and Warner pull in another three adds on NLE Choppa’s "Or What.” And at Modern Rock, Concord’s Angelo Scrobe scores Most Added honors this week with Offspring’s “Ok, But This Is the Last Time.” ICLG’s Robbie Lloyd had a strong week of adds with The Cure’s “A Fragile Thing” (Capitol), Head and the Heart’s “Arrow” (Verve Forecast) and U2’s “Picture of You (X+W).” Other winners included Virgin’s Marisa DiFrisco with St. Vincent’s “Flea” and Glassnote’s Michael Starr with bby’s “Kinky.”

If you're wondering why such faith-based acts as Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore and Kierra Sheard have recently contributed to music by GloRilla, Rod Wave and Queen Naija, look no further than Insignia Assets-owned Tribl Records. The company placed Moore, Sheard and Maverick City Music on GloRilla's "Rain Down on Me," while Wave's "Last Lap" samples the latter's "Keep Praying." Moore also lends a hand on Queen Naija's "Missing You." Bolstered by Insignia's executive team of Norman Gyamfi, Jonathan Jay, EJ Gaines, Esq., Phil Thornton and Ron Hill, Tribl has also teamed with gamma. (period, yes; label, no) for the release last week of Connor Price's "I Need Help" with MCM, Taylor Hill and Nick Day. “Since assembling our new executive team this summer, we’ve been moving quietly but aggressively to establish Insignia and its various entertainment verticals, from recorded music and publishing to touring and film/TV,” Gyamfi said. “In the coming year, we look forward to making undeniable waves as the #1 partner in our space. Collaboration wins.”

Contests for #1 on the album chart are becoming a regular occurrence as the ability to make moves late in the week by spiking digital D2C offerings with additional tracks, new album artwork and so forth has proven effective in shifting the dynamics at the top of the chart. Many data geeks are hailing REPUBLIC CORPS’ Jim Roppo as one exec who, in an ethical fashion, seems to have this game pretty well dialed.

Lady Gaga can currently be heard on one of the hottest songs in the world, "Die With a Smile" featuring Bruno Mars, but that won't stop her from releasing another new single, "Disease," on Friday (10/25). It's the first official taste of Gaga's forthcoming Interscope album, a title and release date for which have yet to be announced. We're told producer Andrew Watt was involved in the project, as he was with "Die With a Smile." The latter is #2 at both Spotify global and U.S. Through crafty online sleuthing, fans have unlocked a few lyrics from the Watt- and Cirkut-produced "Disease," including: "I could play the doctor/ I can cure your disease/ If you were a sinner/ I could make you believe/ Lay you down like one, two, three/ Eyes roll back in ecstasy." Gaga devotees have enjoyed an embarrassment of riches of late, including her co-starring role in Joker: Folie à Deux and the surprise release of Harlequin, a collection of songs from the film. The new set will be her first proper album since 2020's Chromatica. In related news, HITS' puh-puh-puh poker face still needs work.