As one of many founding architects behind LVRN’s genre-shaping rise, Justice Baiden has helped flip the Atlanta-based label and inventive company into an important nerve heart for contemporary Black music. From Summer season Walker’s emotionally resonant ballads to breakout signings like nation newcomer Tanner Adell, Afropop star to observe Odeal, and Afrobeats famous person Davido, LVRN’s roster displays a wide-ranging, world imaginative and prescient—one which Baiden continues to form as Head of A&R. However his method goes far past music—it’s about constructing legacy and making house for a brand new technology of visionaries who look and suppose like him.
“Sensible individuals have had horrible branding for a very long time,” Baiden informed EBONY. “And those which can be good which have good presentation simply by no means care to specific it. For me, I wish to categorical it. I wish to create a temper board, an icon particularly for my 13-year-old self to search for and be like, ‘Oh wait, that’s anyone. That’s good and funky.’”
As LVRN’s Head of A&R, Baiden’s instincts are rooted in understanding the larger image. “After I’m courting an artist, I ask: why do individuals such as you? You’d be shocked what number of don’t know,” he stated. “However that’s the important thing. What connects an artist to their viewers—or what doesn’t—issues.” It’s that very same readability of imaginative and prescient that’s made LVRN a powerhouse in music and administration, bridging inventive improvement with cultural fluency and world ambition.
Now, with a rising portfolio of govt wins and an evolving private model that blends style, storytelling and entrepreneurial grit, Baiden sees the following chapter as an opportunity to stretch even additional. “That is the following a part of my evolution as an govt,” he stated. “However extra in order an entrepreneur and as anyone that desires to imply one thing to the youthful technology—and really have an actual legacy.”
EBONY: How are you usually feeling in regards to the state of music proper now?
Justice Baiden: I feel general, we’re in a transition stage. It was each 10 years, however with time and expertise changing into extra intertwined, it seems like [a transition] each three and a half, 4 years. We’re onto a brand new frontier, and it’s going to be a mix of all these genres that create whoever the following frontier is. It’s thrilling, however from a enterprise or govt aspect, it’s going to indicate who’s good at their job and who isn’t. Like Kat Williams stated, we’re within the age the place it’s simply in regards to the fact. Both you’re passionate and good at what you do, otherwise you’re going to get washed out. You possibly can’t disguise behind issues anymore
LVRN operates in numerous sectors throughout the recorded label, the inventive company and administration. Because the lead of A&R, you’re employed intently with recorded artists and assist develop their A&R and sound—however do you additionally faucet into the administration and inventive company aspect?
It leans into your first query and my response, which is that the standard sense of how the music enterprise used to work is gone. I don’t suppose you’ll be able to survive in leisure or entrepreneurship with out being a Swiss Military knife or seeing the entire taking part in discipline as a chessboard. It wasn’t sectioned off just like the technology earlier than us, which was very division heavy.
We needed to be multi-hyphenated. My specialty is my specialty, however I nonetheless know learn how to shoot a 3, rating a layup and play protection. Particularly once you’re trying on the panorama of an artist—even when you’re A&R-ing a venture—you’re basically constructing a model, telling a narrative and connecting dots, which technically a supervisor is meant to do. To sum it up, we’re doing all the pieces.
You already touched on how expertise has impacted the business. In terms of A&R, how has it modified your method to find producers or determining what’s subsequent? How do you steadiness knowledge with intuition and inspiration?
That is simply my idea, however what expertise has performed—past music—is affect life. Particularly for music, it eradicated the thought of gatekeepers. Lots of people critique that, particularly the gatekeepers who not drive what’s working. Nevertheless it doesn’t change the basics. A automotive nonetheless wants 4 tires. That’s simply the legislation of gravity. If we would like one thing to work, it has to observe sure guidelines.
The primary half is exercising and training my style. My religion in that style is essential. The second half is treating it like a startup. I take into account artists startups. Expertise lets you check the product, get suggestions in actual time, and construct a group primarily based on that suggestions. Nobody is aware of what track will randomly catch on TikTok or YouTube, however the fundamentals keep the identical.
LVRN has had this regular but speedy rise with a sturdy roster throughout administration, inventive company and the label, how do you work together with legacy music firms whereas remaining agency in your imaginative and prescient?
The perfect recommendation I ever received was to focus in your soil. In case your soil is wealthy, then the artist—the plant or the tree—can develop and thrive. You possibly can have a stupendous backyard if the soil is sweet. That’s all the time been our focus, internally and externally. We keep completely different by being sincere. We’re sincere in our method, sincere in the kind of artists we signal. We’re not chasing traits. We’re targeted on what we like and what we consider in. Folks resonate with that.
After many years, some firms begin working primarily based solely on revenue and loss statements—’what can we get by way of the door that may hit our backside line?’ Whereas we additionally run a enterprise and take into consideration these issues, being a boutique permits us to be sincere, not chase and keep genuine to what we love and wish to see blossom on this planet.
Tanner Adell is considered one of LVRN’s newer signees. She has a robust country-pop aesthetic and story—what has that working relationship been like with Tanner, realizing she’s a Black nation artist navigating a style the place advertising typically seems to be completely different for Black artists?
What we’re targeted on proper now could be constructing out the narrative we wish to inform. She has a novel story. Style is only a assemble, and the individuals who care about it typically don’t management the buyer anymore. The patron likes what they like. I can have a look at Tanner’s backend and see somebody listened to her after which listened to Gucci Mane. The query is: how can we get it in entrance of individuals? We concentrate on relatability, connectivity and the honesty in her story. Her id as a rustic artist is vital, however for me—I wouldn’t even say I’m the largest nation fan—but once I heard her, I beloved her.
How do you steadiness feeding an viewers that already helps an artist whereas giving them room to develop and evolve?
That’s the genius in being an govt—understanding who your artist is and what they’ve to supply the world. After I’m courting an artist, I ask: why do individuals such as you? You’d be shocked what number of don’t know. However that’s the important thing. What connects an artist to their viewers—or what doesn’t—issues.
Some artists can depart from their final venture and nonetheless be genuine as a result of that evolution is smart for who they’re. With Summer season, she connects by way of love and emotion. Her tone and songwriting really feel genuine. She’s a storyteller. I all the time joke that she’s a rustic singer disguised in an R&B physique. Her tales come from lived expertise.
As somebody probably closest to them in the course of the inventive course of, how do you assist artists once they’re going by way of issues unrelated to music however nonetheless affecting the work?
I all the time say I’m the worst individual to cry to as a result of I by no means know what to do. In the event that they’re crying, I’ll say, “Hey, I’m not the most effective individual to cry to.” That honesty meets them the place they’re. Profitable artists stay in a world that bends to them. There’s no normalcy. Once they discuss to me, I give them perspective. I share tales, I remind them this isn’t new. Others have gone by way of it, and that is how they dealt with it. Generally, the medium doesn’t must be music. Perhaps it’s a podcast, perhaps it’s portray. Creativity could be expressed nonetheless they need. It’s my job to assist prepare their mind to see that.
How did you pivot from finding out engineering in faculty towards music? What made you are taking that leap?
I all the time knew what I wished to do. Music hit me in another way from a younger age. I made mixtapes in highschool and offered them. I understood music in a manner my friends didn’t. Coming into faculty, which is once you determine what to pursue, I already knew I wished to be in music. I simply didn’t understand how. There’s no blueprint, particularly when you don’t know anybody within the business. I spent most of my time connecting, constructing and sharpening my expertise. I labored with artists I beloved, A&R-ed initiatives and got here up with advertising methods. By sophomore yr, we had our first artist join, and that was the start of changing into knowledgeable music govt.
You’ve spoken about your id as an govt, but in addition your private type and aesthetic. Do you intend on leaning extra into that?
Yeah, completely. It’s a part of my “why.” Type and style are one piece, however for me it’s extra about doubling down on my individuality—what makes me, me. My experiences, how traveled I’m, how I’ve lived—all of it informs how I current myself. And I nonetheless perceive that on the finish of the day, that is leisure. For it to matter, it must be scorching.
God bless his soul, however Virgil [Abloh] was a good friend of mine. I used to ask him, “How do you do 10,000 issues in someday?” And he all the time stated: it’s about creating techniques. That’s been part of my journey too—creating techniques that enable me to unfold my wings and do greater than I’ve already performed.
What recommendation would you provide to somebody who’s simply getting began in constructing a profession as an A&R? What ought to they take note of, and what inner issues ought to they be listening to?
The perfect recommendation I’d give somebody on this path begins with understanding the cultural local weather. Perceive the place we’re—not simply in music, however culturally. What’s the dialog proper now? What’s the zeitgeist saying? That needs to be a part of your on a regular basis considering. It’s not one thing you turn on or off. I don’t depart an interview and cease speaking about tradition. I stay it.
Be seen. Visibility is vital. I had a rule: if the fitting individual noticed me three or 4 instances, we had been at the very least on howdy phrases. You simply must be seen. So these are my 5 factors:
- Perceive the cultural local weather.
- Be sincere with your self.
- Know your distinctive worth.
- Create your individual alternatives.
- Be seen.