PULSE, CORDAE LEVEL UP

To commemorate their new JV pub deal with rapper and multimedia personality Cordae, Team Pulse assembled at the company's Silver Lake HQ for this stately photo. Pictured marking the launch of HI-LEVEL Publishing—just before meeting to discuss an artist-branded farm-to-table kale—are (l-r) Pulse Co-CEO Scott Cutler, manager Ace Christian, Pulse President/Head of Creative Ashley Calhoun and Pulse Co-CEO Josh Abraham.

The Grammy-nominated Cordae, as you may have heard, dropped the single “Two Tens” with Anderson .Paak at the top of this year. He has also launched a HI-LEVEL sneaker with Puma, given a Ted Talk and appeared in a Super Bowl spot with Martin Scorsese and Jonah Hill (the actor who made Kanye like Jews again). Cutler and Abraham, in a jointly issued quote, described the artist as “a highly gifted creator with incredible business acumen and the dialed-in instincts of a true entrepreneur.” Calhoun, speaking only for herself, noted that Pulse had signed Cordae to his first and only pub deal, adding, “He's family to us.”

“I chose to do a JV with PULSE Music Group because they operate the same way I do: quality over quantity,” goes Cordae’s statement. “We want to hyperfocus on a few talented producers, songwriters and artists to give them the attention and opportunities they need to flourish.”