Episode 41: Blk on the Scene with Joi Brown
Episode Details
We are over-the-moon to welcome the founder of Culture Creators - Joi Brown! Cuzzin Joi as DeDe likes to call her, is a music and entertainment industry OG. Throughout her career she has been an executive at Atlantic Records and ICM, PLUS has worked with major music talent like Lil Kim, Cardi B, Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae, Brandy, Gucci Mane, Lizzo, Missy Elliott and Wiz Khalifa to just name a few, and brands like Beats By Dre, Jack Daniels L’oreal, MasterCard, LVMH and Microsoft.
We deep dive with Joi who shares that she grew up in a family where music was integral to family gatherings and tapping into that childhood love and “joy” (pun intended) led her to party promoting at Howard University to developing relationships in the industry to accomplishing the goal of breaking into the NYC music industry – by any means necessary. That drive and a bit of serendipity paid off when she landed a coveted role as Heavy D’s assistant at Uptown Records and then after seeing a need for Black artists was going unmet eventually pivoted into marketing partnerships.
Joi hustled hard to rise through the ranks to give underrepresented artists the marketing partnerships that proved mutually beneficial to the label, brand AND artists. And, after the encouragement of her boss, industry vet and then president of Atlanta Records, Julie Greenwald, Joi learned a valuable lesson about prioritizing her personal life too and went on to become a wife and mother to twin girls. After years in corporate, Joi took that passion for representation, culture and partnerships to launch Culture Creators, who’s “mission is to ensure substantive influence and growth by spotlighting and amplifying the contributions of individuals who have shaped the global view of Black culture.” Therefore, it is our honor to spotlight Joi for all that she has done and continues to do for the culture! We know you will leave this episode just as lit up and inspired as we did!
Thanks for listening to Blk on the Scene. We hope that you will tune in for more exciting guests and conversations from this season. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review and rating.
Episode Mentions:
Joi Brown - https://www.instagram.com/iamjoibrown/?hl=en
Culture Creators - https://culturecreators.com/
Howard University - https://howard.edu/
Atlantic Records - https://www.atlanticrecords.com/
Julie Greenwald - https://variety.com/2022/music/news/julie-greenwald-ceo-atlantic-music-group-1235400605/
Uptown Records - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Records
Heavy D - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNEgUPKxk7A
Music Will - https://musicwill.org/
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated - https://www.deltasigmatheta.org/
