Chris Anokute

Last updated

Chris Anokute is an American Music Executive, specialized in Artist Development and Executive Music Production. He was born from Nigerian parents, grew up in New Jersey, and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. [1] His first stint in artist development was when he was hired at Virgin/Capitol Records in 2006 as their Senior Director of A&R at the age of 23 years old. While at Virgin/Capitol Records, Chris oversaw the A&R/Development for Katy Perry and Joss Stone. He later held senior vice-president of A&R roles at Universal Music Group and Epic Records between the years of 2011 and 2018.

Contents

Career

Anokute's entry point into the music industry came when at the age of 17, he approached John Houston, father of Whitney, and asked to be part of his management team. Houston soon became a mentor to Anokute. [2]

At the same time he secured an internship in A&R administration at Def Jam Records, working under A&R executive Rob Mitchell. Once promoted to A&R Administration assistant, he worked on projects including Sum 41, Ashanti, Foxy Brown and Jay-Z's The Blueprint. [2]

Anokute discovered the songwriter Alisha Brooks, and later introduced her to Vada Nobles. Nobles provided a selection of instrumentals to write to, and from one track, Brooks created Pon de Replay . [2] Soon afterwards, Chris secured an opportunity for the song to be recorded by the then unknown Rihanna. Pon De Replay was the song that landed the 16-year-old a deal with Def Jam Universal, becoming her debut single as a major label recording artist.

Anokute was soon hired by Jason Flom as the senior director A&R for Virgin/Capitol Records, where his first A&R work project was Joss Stone's Introducing Joss Stone (stylised as Introducing... Joss Stone) (2007). Shortly after, Chris and Jason signed Katy Perry through an introduction from Katy's long time publicist, Angelica Cob-Baehler. He went on to successfully A&R Katy's first two multi-platinum Capitol albums, One Of The Boys (2008) and Teenage Dream (2010), yielding 11 #1 singles and over 50 million albums and singles sold collectively. [3] As an independent hire, Chris also worked A&R on Katy's Smile album (2020), that achieved RIAA gold status, and featured the RIAA platinum, 1 billion plus streaming hit, Never Really Over.

In 2011, Anokute left Capitol to take a job at Universal Motown as their senior vice president, A&R. There, he worked closely with Motown President Sylvia Rhone, assisting her on Kelly Rowland's first album for the label, Here I Am , which included the #1 single Motivation (featuring Lil’ Wayne).

In 2012, Chris made a lateral move to Island Def Jam Music Group, where he served as the company's senior vice-president of A&R. While at Island Def Jam Music Group, Chris signed Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, and worked A&R on her debut album The New Classic . The album featured the 3 multi-platinum singles: Work, Fancy, and Black Widow. [4] [5]

In 2014, Chris launched the entertainment firm, Young Forever Inc. Young Forever is an artist development production company specializing in recording, artist management and executive production. Young Forever's first management/artist development signing was a fairly unknown Bebe Rexha. Young Forever helped develop her initial demos, and later negotiated her major recording and publishing deals with Warner Bros. Records and BMG Music Publishing. They saw some early success together with Bebe's songwriting and vocal collaborations on breakthrough hits such as: "The Monster", by Eminem & Rihanna, "Hey Mama" w/ David Guetta & Nicki Minaj, and "Me, Myself and I" w/ G-Eazy. Young Forever Inc. and Bebe ended their business relationship in early 2016. In that same year, Chris was hired as the SVP of A&R for Epic Records after consulting them for a year. At Epic, Chris handled A&R on Fifth Harmony's breakthrough album 7/27 , which delivered their biggest hit to date, "Work from Home" featuring Ty Dolla Sign (5× platinum). He also oversaw A&R on their 3rd studio album, Fifth Harmony . In addition to Fifth Harmony, Chris handled A&R on Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson's debut album, So Good , which was the first debut album from a female to reach one billion streams on Spotify.

In 2019, Chris decided to run the Young Forever business full time moving forward. That same year, he also served as an Executive Producer for American Idol. Young Forever's clients included, LÉON, Muni Long, Curtis Waters and Bebe Rexha to name a few. Muni Long earned a "Best New Artist" nomination and "Best R&B Performance" win at the 2023 Grammy Awards for her song "Hrs and Hrs". Chris has signed and developed 4 artists from the start of their careers that have been nominated for the highly coveted "Best New Artist" award at the Grammys.

Chris has also been featured in Billboard Magazine's A&R power list, and as "Billboard's 30 under 30" and "40 under 40" honors.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Island Def Jam Music Group</span> American record label group formed in 1998

The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on December 31, 1998 by Universal Music Group. It consisted of labels created under the operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group, leaving IDJMG and its affiliated subsidiaries compelled as separate sister labels.

Lauren Christy is a British songwriter and record producer. Originally a solo artist, she found success as part of the writing production trio the Matrix. The Matrix was nominated for the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Def Jam Recordings</span> American record label

Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No I.D.</span> American music producer

Ernest Dion Wilson, professionally known as No I.D., is an American record producer, DJ and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his early work with Chicago-based rapper Common, as well as his career mentorship of rappers Kanye West, J. Cole and Logic. Wilson first gained success for his role as an in-house producer for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings—leading to largely uncredited work on Dupri's productions "My Boo" by Usher, "Outta My System" and "Let Me Hold You" by Bow Wow—before reaching commercial success with his solo productions. He worked with Jay-Z to produce his singles "Run This Town" and "Holy Grail," West to produce "Heartless," and Drake to produce "Find Your Love" and "Nonstop"; all of which have peaked within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Rob Stevenson is an American music executive and currently Partner at the New York, New York–based 300 Entertainment. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in the development of artists including The Killers, Katy Perry, The Decemberists, Gotye, Post Malone, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Messinger</span> Musical artist

Adam "Messy" Messinger is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian-born record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. He is a producer for Canadian reggae band Magic!, but was initially a producer/songwriter as a member of the production duo The Messengers—both along with Nasri Atweh—earning credits on a multitude of successful singles and albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Messengers (producers)</span>

The Messengers is a Canadian songwriting and production team currently based in Los Angeles. The duo consists of singer and lyricist Nasri Atweh and multi-instrumentalist and arranger Adam Messinger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iggy Azalea</span> Australian rapper (born 1990)

Amethyst Amelia Kelly, known professionally as Iggy Azalea, is an Australian rapper, songwriter, model and businesswoman. Born in Sydney, Australia, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognition after releasing the music videos for her songs "Pussy" and "Two Times" on YouTube. Shortly after releasing those two songs, she released her debut mixtape, Ignorant Art (2011), and subsequently signed a recording contract with American rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Wilhelm</span> German-American music executive

Alex Wilhelm is a German-American music executive, A&R representative, and the owner of 16 Entertainment, a music company dedicated to artist development. To date, 16 Entertainment has generated 5 billion streams by offering an empowering alternative to independent-minded artists. Prior to founding his own company, Wilhelm held senior A&R positions at major record labels including Warner Records, Capitol Records, and Atlantic Records/APG. He has signed multiple multi-platinum selling artists, served on the Grammy Awards Committee, and has been featured on Billboard's "Indie Power Players" and "40 under 40" lists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iggy Azalea discography</span>

Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has released three studio albums, five extended plays (EPs), two mixtapes and seventeen singles. In September 2011, Azalea released her first mixtape, Ignorant Art. Following the release, Azalea signed a recording contract with T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle. In July 2012, she released a free EP entitled Glory, and in October of that year, Azalea released her second mixtape, TrapGold.

<i>The New Classic</i> 2014 album by Iggy Azalea

The New Classic is the debut studio album by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 21 April 2014 by Def Jam Recordings in a joint venture with Grand Hustle Records. Primarily a hip hop album, The New Classic features elements of EDM, dance-pop and trap in its production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bebe Rexha</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1989)

Bleta "Bebe" Rexha is an American singer and songwriter. After signing with Warner Records in 2013, Rexha first achieved success as a songwriter, with credits on Eminem's single "The Monster" as well as other songs for Shinee, Selena Gomez, and Nick Jonas, among others. Rexha released her debut extended play in 2015, I Don't Wanna Grow Up, which saw moderate commercial success with its singles "I Can't Stop Drinking About You" and "I'm Gonna Show You Crazy".

Angelica Cob-Baehler was a Costa Rican American music industry executive and television producer. The head of music operations at The Firm, and the chief marketing officer for the basketball league Big 3, she previously held senior positions at Columbia Records, EMI and Epic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Widow (Iggy Azalea song)</span> 2014 single Iggy Azalea song featuring Rita Ora

"Black Widow" is a song by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea featuring British singer Rita Ora. Released through Def Jam Recordings, the song impacted on mainstream radio stations in the US on 8 July 2014, as the fifth single from her debut studio album, The New Classic (2014). It was written by Azalea, Katy Perry, Sarah Hudson, Benny Blanco, and duo Stargate, while the latter also produced the song. Lyrically, it addressed revenge after a failed romantic relationship. An accompanying music video for the song was released on 13 August 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Hands on Deck (song)</span> 2015 single by Tinashe

"All Hands on Deck" is a song recorded by American singer Tinashe for her debut studio album, Aquarius (2014). It was written by Tinashe, Bebe Rexha, Stargate, and Cashmere Cat, and produced by the latter two. An uptempo crunk&B and snap song, "All Hands on Deck" contains a prominent pan flute breakdown, a thick bassline and "club-friendly" beat, and has been described as the "sister song" to the album's lead single "2 On." The track's lyrical content comprises a dance instructional and portrays a scenario of retaining confidence, and rebound dating after a break-up, and contain themes of girl power and self empowerment. On February 22, 2015, a remix version of the song premiered online featuring Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, and received a digital-only release on February 24. Serving as the third single from Aquarius, it impacted urban contemporary radio and was released as a digital download in the United States on February 24, 2015.

Tim Devine is an American music executive and entrepreneur. The founder of Webcastr, Devine is best known for his work as an a&r executive.

<i>Survive the Summer</i> 2018 EP by Iggy Azalea

Survive the Summer is the fourth extended play by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. It was released on 3 August 2018 by Island Records. Work began in mid-2017. Survive the Summer contains production by Bedrock, Ronny J, GT and Wallis Lane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Broken Hearts</span> 2016 single by Bebe Rexha

"No Broken Hearts" is a song recorded by American singer Bebe Rexha featuring Nicki Minaj. It was released on March 16, 2016, and was originally intended as the lead single from her second EP All Your Fault: Pt. 1, however it is no longer on the track list of any project. It premiered on the Elvis Duran Show on NYC's Z100. The song was written by Rexha, Minaj, Koko LaRoo, Kgaugelo Nalane and Jacob Kasher Hindlin and produced by The Invisible Men and Saltwives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switch (Iggy Azalea song)</span> 2017 single by Iggy Azalea featuring Anitta

"Switch" is a song recorded by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea featuring Brazilian singer Anitta. It was released on 19 May 2017, by Def Jam. "Switch" was written by Azalea with Anton Hård af Segerstad, Akil King, Christopher Martin, Georgia Ku, Kyle Owens and Maurice "Verse" Simmonds. It was produced by The Family and Eric Weaver. "Switch" is a pop song with a tropical vibe and Latin flavor. Switch is certified platinum in Brazil.

References

  1. ↑ "Interview with Chris Anokute, Senior Vice President of A&R at Island Def Jam Records". Songwriteruniverse.com. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview With Chris Anokute". HitQuarters. 18 Oct 2010. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 25 Oct 2010.
  3. ↑ "Katy Perry: The Billboard Cover Story". Billboard.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Iggy Azalea on chicken franchising, Australian rap, and learning from Beyonce: An EW Q&A". Music-mix.ew.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "Iggy Azalea Signs With Island Def Jam". Hoillywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.