Tunji Balogun is a
Nigerian American
Nigerian Americans ( ig, Ṇ́dị́ Naìjíríyà n'Emerịkà;
ha, Yan Najeriyar asalin Amurka;
yo, Àwọn ọmọ Nàìjíríà Amẹ́ríkà) are an ethnic group of Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigran ...
record label executive. He was a co-founder of
Keep Cool, and is the CEO of Def Jam Recordings.
Career
Balogun began his career as a marketing intern at
Warner Brothers Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
and was hired as an assistant at the label after he graduated from
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...
in 2004. He later held a position in A&R at
Interscope, where he worked with artists signed through
Bad Boy Entertainment
Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including ...
and
Shady Records
Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999).
Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful ...
, in addition to
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...
,
ScHoolboy Q
Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...
,
Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Myeshia Cole Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Cole began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer. After signing with A&M Records ...
,
OneRepublic
OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...
, and others. He joined RCA in 2015 as senior vice president of A&R, and was promoted to executive vice president in 2018. At the time of his promotion, RCA announced that it had entered into a joint venture with Balogun,
Courtney Stewart
Courtney Stewart is the founder of Right Hand Music Group and Right Hand Foundation and co-founder of Keep Cool Records. He is an artist manager known for his work with multi-platinum global superstar Khalid, and is a record label executive, tech ...
, Jon Tanners, and Jared Sherman to establish Keep Cool. The first artist signed to Keep Cool was
Normani
Normani Kordei Hamilton ( ; born May 31, 1996) is an American singer and dancer. She auditioned as a solo act for the American television series ''The X Factor'' in 2012, after which she became a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which wen ...
.
A co-founder of
Keep Cool, he was the executive vice president of
A&R for
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
. Balogun signed or participated in the signing of artists including
Brockhampton Brockhampton may refer to:
*Brockhampton (band), an American self-described "boy band" and music collective
*Brockhampton, Gloucestershire, Cotswold, England
* Brockhampton, Tewkesbury, a location
In geography, location or place are used to deno ...
,
Childish Gambino
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...
,
Goldlink
D'Anthony William Carlos (born May 17, 1993), better known by his stage name GoldLink, is an American rapper and singer. In 2014, he released his debut mixtape, ''The God Complex'', which received critical acclaim. In June 2015, GoldLink was cho ...
,
H.E.R.
Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actress.
She has received several awards includin ...
,
Khalid
Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname. ,
SZA,
Bryson Tiller
Bryson Djuan Tiller (born January 2, 1993) is an American singer and rapper. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began his career in 2011 with a mixtape entitled ''Killer Instinct Vol. 1''. Tiller initially gained mainstream success in 2015 follo ...
, and
Cozz
Cody Rashad Osagie, (born October 1, 1994), better known by his stage name Cozz, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is signed to J. Cole's label Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. His debut studio album ''Cozz & Effe ...
.
He was named CEO of Def Jam in August 2021, and assumed the position in January 2022.
References
External links
Keep CoolDef Jam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balogun, Tunji
Living people
American music industry executives
American people of Nigerian descent
Pomona College alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)