As one of many rap recreation’s most well-known A&Rs, Steven “Steve-O” Carless, President of A&R, Related Labels, Black Music at Warner Information and Founding father of Defiant Information, Inc., has labored with among the rap’s greatest artists. On this episode of XXL’s Inside Observe podcast, Steve-O displays on working with Nipsey Hussle, discusses the state of rap and speaks on who he sees changing into the following huge celebrity.
A veteran A&R government, Steven oversaw the careers of lots of hip-hop’s most illustrious figureheads together with Nipsey Hussle, Jeezy, YG, Dave East and extra. As a former A&R government for Republic Information, Senior Vice President of A&R and Artist Relations for Common Music Group, and Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings, Steve-O utilized his skills on Nipsey’s debut album, Victory Lap, incomes Steve-O his first Grammy nomination for Album of the Yr.
“What [Nipsey] was studying as he was growing not solely as a artistic artist but additionally as a enterprise entrepreneur on the opposite aspect made a singular dynamic that…was positively an innovation in that new technology,” Steve-) says of Nipsey’s work ethic. “Everybody was making an attempt to get on the radio and we was making an attempt to promote CDs.”
In 2021, Steve-O earned a Finest Music Video Grammy award for “Brown Pores and skin Woman” after he additionally co-A&R’d Beyoncé’s 2019 The Lion King: The Present album. The identical 12 months, he was appointed the President of A&R at Warner Information and launched his personal label Defiant Information in partnership with Warner in 2023. With all of those accolades serving because the wind at his again, the reality of his success story is that he at this time’s artists to simply as excessive an ordinary as he does himself.
“Are you able to do the work? Are you gonna go to rehearsals on daily basis seven days per week?” Steve-O asks. “Are you gonna present up on time? Are you organized? Are you prepared to deal with your physique? Are you prepared to deal with your voice? It isn’t about simply going to the studio and giving me a music video. Are you actually ready? Do you will have the drive?”
XXL is again with one other episode of Inside Observe, a biweekly podcast that spends time with some of hip-hop’s most influential business executives, entrepreneurs and extra. Hosted by XXL Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Satten and music government Courtney “Courtney CL” Lowery, every episode will proceed to discover hip-hop via the eyes of people that have lived and breathed the tradition.
Watch or hearken to the second episode of XXL’s Inside Observe podcast under. The podcast could be discovered on xxlmag.com, XXL’s YouTube web page and on most podcast platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and XXL Dwell.
