LVRN Records Is On A Mission To Globalize R&B Music | Hip Hop Business Podcast

Meet Tunde Balogun, one of the five co-founders of Love Renaissance (LVRN), the record-breaking label behind Summer Walker, 6LACK, and many other of today’s trend-setting R&B artists. LVRN Records promised to “open the floodgates for the genre” and it did with Walker’s “Still Over It” album, which set Apple Music’s all-time record for album streams in a single day by a female artist.

Balogun joined the Trapital hip hop business podcast to say, despite Walker’s blow-out success, LVRN Studios’ mission to “open the floodgates” isn’t accomplished. Not until the R&B industry gets its fair shake — not only within the United States, but around the world. According to Balogun, the R&B industry at-large is still missing the recognition and investment (both time and financially) it truly deserves.

The Love Renaissance record label has been shaping the R&B genre since its founding in 2012. Balogun teamed up with Junia Abaidoo, Justice Baiden, Sean Famoso McNichol, and Carlon Ramong to form LVRN. The all-black, immigrant group of founders has stayed together despite the label’s explosive growth in less than a decade. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t struggles, which led them to launch a mental-health division within the company.

Approaching ten years in the industry, what’s next for LVRN? All-on on TikTok? NFT’s? Diversifying into Africa? Tunde and I cover all those talking points plus more in this 50-minute conversation. See below for video chapters:

0:00 Summer Walker’s Recent Album Release
0:49 Growing R&B Globally, Not Just In The US
2:26 How LVRN Founders Stayed Close Knit Despite Growth
5:30 Being Nimble When Starting Up
7:40 How Close Were Founders Before LVRN?
10:11 First-Generation American Immigrants
10:39 Why LVRN Began Doing Group Therapy (And What Show Inspired Them To Do It)
13:46 Caring About Artist’s Mental Wellbeing
20:53 Measuring Success As A Music Exec
24:09 How Timeframes Influence Success
24:53 TikTok’s Influence On Music Industry
28:50 LVRN’s Views On NFT’s & Social Tokens
31:01 Understanding Consumers Adoption Level Of New Tech
33:38 How R&B Label Differs From Hip Hop Label
38:55 Summer Walker’s Release Compared to Arianna Grande & Olivia Rodrigo
40:29 Asking Other Music Execs For Help
41:58 Africa As An Emerging Market
47:10 Streaming vs. Downloading In Africa
48:38 “The Best Developing Roster In Music”

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