Ghazi Shami is a Palestinian-American music technologist, record producer, audio engineer, entrepreneur, CEO and founder of

Empire Distribution EMPIRE Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (marketed as EMPIRE) is an American distribution company and record label founded in by Ghazi Shami with offices in New York City, London, Nashville, and Atlanta. It has released albums in vario ...

. Empire Distribution was founded in 2010 in San Francisco, California. Empire Distribution has offices in New York, Nashville, the UK and the Middle East.

Early life

Shami graduated from the College of San Mateo with an associate degree in music technology. He has a bachelor's degree in radio and television from San Francisco State University.

Career

In 1995, he worked as an audio engineer for 3rd Eye Studios. Shami's music label has produced music for

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Benny the Butcher Jeremie Damon Pennick (born November 27, 1984), known professionally as Benny the Butcher or simply Benny, is an American rapper. He is part of the hip hop collective Griselda with frequent collaborators and first-cousins Westside Gunn and Conw ...

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft (born April 3, 1991) is an American singer, dancer and actress. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films including ''Scooby-Doo (film series), Scooby-Doo!'' film series (2009–2010), ''Lemonade Mouth ...

Nef the Pharaoh Tonee Hayes (born January 11, 1995), better known by his stage name Nef the Pharaoh, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. In 2014 he was selected by fans as the "Bay Area Freshman of the Year" in a yearly contest held by Thizzler.com. ...

The Foreign Exchange The Foreign Exchange is an R&B/electronica/ hip hop duo consisting of the American rapper/singer Phonte and the Dutch record producer Nicolay. Musical career The pair initially made contact via message boards on Okayplayer.com and soon be ...

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Keak Da Sneak Charles Kente Williams (Birth name, né Bowens; born October 21, 1977), better known by his stage name Keak da Sneak, is an American rapper from Oakland, California, Oakland, California, known for his scratchy, gruff voice and for coining the ter ...

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, and others. In 2000, he worked as a creative media manager for Audiohighway.com. Shami has jump started careers for

Migos Migos () is an American hip hop trio from Lawrenceville, Georgia, founded in 2008. The group was originally composed of Southern rappers Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia; Offset and Takeoff were born and raised in Law ...

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

, and

Anderson .Paak Brandon Paak Anderson (born February 8, 1986), better known by his stage name Anderson .Paak (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and drummer. He released his debut mixtape, ''O.B.E. Vol. 1,'' in 2012 and went on to rel ...

. In 2010, Ghazi started Empire Distribution. In February 2021, Ghazi opened up a US division in the U.S. focussing on marketing in West Asia, North Africa, and the African Diaspora. In 2022, Ghazi partnered with

Claude Vonstroke Barclay Macbride Crenshaw (born July 7, 1971), who is known by the stage name Claude VonStroke, is an American house producer based in Los Angeles. He owns Dirtybird Records based in San Francisco. In July 2006 he released his debut album, ''Bew ...

to expand Empire's business into dance culture. Vonstroke is the CEO and founder of independent electronic music label

Dirtybird Records Dirtybird Records is an independent electronic music record label based in San Francisco, California. The label was founded in January 2005 by Claude VonStroke (aka Barclay Crenshaw) and specializes in a brand of house music he describes as "tech ...

. Vonstroke also releases music via his legal name, Barclay Crenshaw. Dirtybird was acquired by Empire in 2022. In 2022, Ghazi started Empire in Africa.

References

External links

Ghazi Shami: On shaking up the music distribution industry

Ghazi Shami - Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shami, Ghazi 21st-century American businesspeople American hip hop record producers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)