The veteran label executive and manager on D’Angelo, data and C-suite shakeups
FEW THINGS MAKE A RECORD executive happier than kicking off a new year by landing the No. 1 single in the country. Doubling up with a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as Migos did with their lead single “Bad and Boujee” and sophomore release Culture already in 2017, was welcome vindication for 300 Entertainment cofounder/CEO Kevin Liles.
The one-two punch couldn’t have come at a better time for the 3-year old independent company, founded in November 2013 by Liles, Lyor Cohen, Todd Moscowitz and Roger Gold as a forward-thinking, data-driven music company. Born in Baltimore, the 49-year old Liles joined Def Jam as an intern in 1991, rose to president in 1998 and, alongside Cohen and Moscowitz, built the label into a global powerhouse with stars like Jay Z, DMX and Ja Rule. In 2004, all three left for Warner Music Group, where Liles served as executive vp until 2009, when he left to form KWL Management, representing such artists as D’Angelo, Trey Songz and Mariah Carey.
The launch of 300 served as a reunion for the trio, and by 2015, the company was on a run of success with rappers like Fetty Wap and Young Thug and rock band Highly Suspect. But last September, Cohen abruptly announced he was leaving the company, in which he remains the largest individual investor, to become the global head of music at YouTube; six weeks later, Moscowitz followed him out the door to launch his own label, Alamo Records, in a joint venture with Universal Music Group.
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The Three Amigos
A rowdy trio raised together in North Atlanta, Migos cut a singularly now path to pop stardom: STEP 1 Launch a dance craze. STEP 2 Score a No. 1 with the help of a meme. STEP 3 Spend Grammy night partying with superfans Chance the Rapper and Chris Brown — as Billboard tags along. “I try not to be cocky,” says Takeoff, “but hey, we the shit, man”
California's Hero Of Cannabis Legalization
Lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom has rock star friends, his own clubs and a progressive agenda that got his state’s landmark Proposition 64 legislation passed — and the music industry rallying behind him
The Green Album
As vinyl sales hit a nearly 30-year high, Slightly Stoopid’s managers create a novelty that music-loving potheads could only dream of: an LP made entirely of hash
Simon Cowell, the Svengali's Second Act
From 1D to Fifth Harmony, the TV and music mogul owns pop culture. Now 56, he’s going in front of the camera again as he heads to America’s Got Talent, talks Harry Styles solo, plays with his 2-year-old son and reveals a certain sentimentality about American Idol: ‘I like to torture myself’
Twenty One Pilots on Their Musical Bromance and Fleeting Fame
Twenty One Pilots have blown up at top 40 radio, sold out massive arenas and even drawn the ire of millennial-bashing columnists with an unapologetic mashup of suburban angst, rap and reggae. But to Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, all that matters is their bond - with each other and their (millennial) fans. “It probably seems like two good-looking guys making pop music. But really it’s just the opposite.”
Gone Girl
Camila Cabello Kicked Off Her Solo Career and Her Band Sisters in Fifth Harmony Unexpectedly Denounced Her for It. Now She’s Got a Top Five Single, a Much-anticipated Album Coming and Zero Second Thoughts: “you Have to Honor That Inner Voice”
The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Nicky Jam
Born in the USA, catapulted to teen fame in Puerto Rico and practically washed up by his 20s, Nicky Jam went to Medellín, Colombia — a city haunted by its drug kingpin past — to find sobriety, love and greater-than-ever success. Billboard spends 48 hours with the reggaetón superstar in his adopted home as he prepares for his wedding — and, oh yeah, scores a No. 1 Latin album
Fifth Harmony: Pretty Little Fighters
Girl groups were supposed to have been kaput when The X Factor threw together five ambitious teens with hard-knock childhoods. But as Fifth Harmony finally attains the upper reaches of the Hot 100, the tight-knit group finds itself “traumatized” by the strain of prepackaged fame, isolated from family and struggling to stay balanced. Now, they’re eager to assert their opinions on the industry, politics and Kanye West: “We finally have a damn voice.”
Jennifer Nettles: A Star Goes Back To Her Roots
Four years after Sugarland’s split, Jennifer Nettles is supporting Hillary and advocating for female artists (bro country be damned): “It’s in my blood”
Life's Been Good To Niall (So Far)
A year-and-a-half ago, Niall Horan was basking in the shrieks of One Direction superfans. Now, with the group in limbo and his mates making moves in everything from R&B to acting, “the cute one” is painstakingly crafting an album as a California rocker — and hanging with astronauts, Selena Gomez and (yes) the Eagles. All while staying truly hashtag-humble: “I’m a simple old soul, me”
