NOISEMAKERS:
A SWEET BUNCH
In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
This week's entrants will also find their faces in our latest mag—a mortifying experience they can lament over kombucha and Halloween candy.
Kristin Turner
Director, Brand Partnerships, SB Projects
This brand-partnership veteran vividly remembers seeing her efforts come to fruition when Canadian duo and Drake associates dvsn appeared on the seatbacks of Delta aircraft as part of an artist-spotlight campaign—talk about a captive audience. She’s lately been working on J Balvin’s “Es Jose Time” collaboration with Miller Lite (the J stands for Jose). Insisting “I am not a runner,” Turner nonetheless once competed in a half marathon in Berlin on only two weeks’ notice. We wonder how far she’d run to avoid being associated with this unfortunate rag.
Brian White
VP of A&R/Manager, The Revels Group
White played a role in breaking two Spotify records when Ambezza landed co-production on Drake & Lil Baby’s “Girls Like Girls” from the former’s #1 album Certified Lover Boy. He’s likewise stoked about writing/production credits for Frankie Bash (Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar’s “family ties”) and Sam Barsh (Kanye West, Lil Baby & The Weeknd’s chart-topping “Hurricane”). In a previous life, White was a (multiplatinum) engineer/producer/studio owner—he recorded Lamar and ScHoolboy Q and he boasts credits on material by Machine Gun Kelly and Trey Songz. We are due no credit whatsoever.
Vivian Ramirez
Senior Manager, Entertainment Marketing & Partnerships, Puma
In 2016 Ramirez had the pleasure of taking part in the debut of Fenty Puma by Rihanna at New York Fashion Week. Nowadays she’s focused on partnership strategy for Grammy nominee Cordae, helping him integrate Puma moments into his own brand expression and highlighting his HBCU outreach and involvement in community give-back programs. Ramirez is also mounting Latinx Heritage Month promotions for Puma. A tomboy at heart who loves sports, she’s worked with boxing champ Miguel Cotto and hobnobbed with famed trainer Freddie Roach. Consider us down for the count.
Andre Rodriguez
Director, Production, 10K Projects
Rodriguez feels privileged to have worked on Linkin Park’s 2017 album One More Light, their last with lead singer Chester Bennington, who died that year—Rodriguez has a Linkin Park tattoo on his right forearm. He’s recently been supporting the Universal Music Latin debut of Venezuelan artist Nani, “the best-kept secret in Latin America.” A heavy-metal fanatic, Rodriguez has been to so many Metallica shows that he’s collected more Metallica guitar picks than he can count. We couldn’t count them either as we have yet to master that skill.
Ina Ubaite
Executive Director, Park Avenue Artists
Ubaite has proven invaluable to advancing the careers of Best Traditional R&B Performance Grammy winner Yebba—securing a Sofar Sounds appearance, a Tiny Desk Concert, an Ed Sheeran video, support from Zane Lowe on Apple Music and a feature on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy—and the eclectic string trio Time for Three, coordinating their score for Robin Wright’s directorial debut, Land, a hospital tour and more. A native of Lithuania, she learned English by listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Say, we could use some help with our English…
Brendan Laezza
Director, Digital Marketing & Strategy, Cinematic Music Group
Laezza once singlehandedly ran an album-release livestream (before that was a thing) from Atlanta’s Means Street Studio, filming with a cell phone while surrounded by the likes of Snoop Dogg, DJ Drama and Uzi, an experience he describes as “chaotic but insanely fun.” He’s now driving all things digital for, and contributing creative to, emerging artists Big Yavo, Eryn Martin and Prentiss, helping them develop filters, content and storytelling chops on social media to build their online communities. Laezza also happens to be a multi-instrumentalist. We’re not even single instrumentalists.
Rachel Jackson
Manager, Artist Relations, YouTube Music
Having played a role in securing global promotional support for Lil Baby and Moneybagg Yo, Jackson found it deeply rewarding when they hit #1 with “No Sucker.” Today, this graduate of Clark Atlanta University—who began interning at age 15—is working on Future Insiders, a program that allows young adults to explore the intersection of tech and music while networking with music-industry execs. In February, Rachel appeared on the cover of Hip Hop United, which called her “the culture’s most wanted.” We’ve been called the culture’s least wanted.
Loren Cheri Shokes
Associate, Skadden, Arps / Professor, Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment
In 2017 Harvard Law grad Shokes worked on the Super Bowl halftime show with Lady Gaga. Thereafter she helped facilitate TikTok’s $850m merger into ByteDance; The Carlyle Group’s investments in Ithaca Holdings, including its acquisition of BMLG; and Sony Music Entertainment’s acquisition of Alamo Records. A percussionist, she is the youngest professor at the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment. She is also a figure skater and was captain of her high school’s varsity golf team. Is there anything Shokes can’t do? Is there anything we can?
