As one of many founding architects behind LVRN’s genre-shaping rise, Justice Baiden has helped flip the Atlanta-based label and artistic company into an important nerve middle for contemporary Black music. From Summer time Walker’s emotionally resonant ballads to breakout signings like nation newcomer Tanner Adell, Afropop star to look at Odeal, and Afrobeats celebrity 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 strategy goes far past music—it’s about constructing legacy and making area for a brand new era of visionaries who look and suppose like him.
“Good folks have had horrible branding for a very long time,” Baiden instructed EBONY. “And those which are good which have good presentation simply by no means care to specific it. For me, I wish to specific it. I wish to create a temper board, an icon particularly for my 13-year-old self to lookup and be like, ‘Oh wait, that’s any person. 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 folks such as you? You’d be stunned what number of don’t know,” he mentioned. “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 artistic growth with cultural fluency and world ambition.
Now, with a rising portfolio of govt wins and an evolving private model that blends trend, 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 mentioned. “However extra in order an entrepreneur and as any person that wishes to imply one thing to the youthful era—and truly have an actual legacy.”
EBONY: How are you typically feeling concerning the state of music proper now?
Justice Baiden: I feel total, we’re in a transition stage. It was each 10 years, however with time and expertise changing into extra intertwined, it appears 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 facet, it’s going to indicate who’s good at their job and who isn’t. Like Kat Williams mentioned, we’re within the age the place it’s simply concerning the reality. Both you’re passionate and good at what you do, otherwise you’re going to get washed out. You may’t disguise behind issues anymore.
LVRN operates in several sectors throughout the recorded label, the artistic company and administration. Because the Head of A&R, you’re employed carefully with artists and assist develop their sound—however do you additionally faucet into the administration and artistic company facet?
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 subject as a chessboard. It wasn’t sectioned off just like the era earlier than us, which was very division heavy.
We needed to be multi-hyphenated. My specialty is my specialty, however I nonetheless know how you can shoot a 3, rating a layup and play protection. Particularly if you’re trying on the panorama of an artist—even in the event you’re A&R-ing a mission—you’re primarily 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 trade. In the case of A&R, how has it modified your strategy find producers or determining what’s subsequent? How do you steadiness information with intuition and inspiration?
That is simply my idea, however what expertise has finished—past music—is influence life. Particularly for music, it eradicated the concept 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 comply with 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 contemplate artists startups. Know-how lets you check the product, get suggestions in actual time, and construct a group based mostly on that suggestions. Nobody is aware of what tune will randomly catch on TikTok or YouTube, however the fundamentals keep the identical.
LVRN has had this regular but fast rise with a sturdy roster throughout administration, artistic company and the label, how do you work together with legacy music firms whereas remaining agency in your imaginative and prescient?
The very best recommendation I ever acquired 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 may have a fantastic backyard if the soil is nice. That’s all the time been our focus, internally and externally. We keep completely different by being sincere. We’re sincere in our strategy, 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 based mostly solely on revenue and loss statements—’what can we get by the door that can 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 the earth.
Tanner Adell is one in every of LVRN’s newer signees. She has a powerful country-pop aesthetic and story—what has that working relationship been like with Tanner, understanding 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 patron anymore. The buyer likes what they like. I can take a look at Tanner’s backend and see somebody listened to her after which listened to Gucci Mane. The query is: how will we get it in entrance of individuals? We deal with relatability, connectivity and the honesty in her story. Her identification as a rustic artist is necessary, however for me—I wouldn’t even say I’m the most important nation fan—but after 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 folks such as you? You’d be stunned 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 mission and nonetheless be genuine as a result of that evolution is sensible for who they’re. With Summer time, she connects by 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 seemingly closest to them in the course of the artistic course of, how do you assist artists after they’re going by issues unrelated to music however nonetheless affecting the work?
I all the time say I’m the worst particular person 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 very best particular person to cry to.” That honesty meets them the place they’re. Profitable artists dwell in a world that bends to them. There’s no normalcy. After they speak to me, I give them perspective. I share tales, I remind them this isn’t new. Others have gone by it, and that is how they dealt with it. Typically, the medium doesn’t should be music. Possibly it’s a podcast, possibly it’s portray. Creativity might be expressed nonetheless they need. It’s my job to assist prepare their mind to see that.
How did you pivot from learning engineering in faculty towards music? What made you’re 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 bought them. I understood music in a method my friends didn’t. Coming into faculty, which is if you determine what to pursue, I already knew I wished to be in music. I simply didn’t know the way. There’s no blueprint, particularly in the event you don’t know anybody within the trade. I spent most of my time connecting, constructing and sharpening my abilities. I labored with artists I beloved, A&R-ed tasks and got here up with advertising methods. By sophomore 12 months, we had our first artist join, and that was the start of changing into knowledgeable music govt.
You’ve spoken about your identification as an govt, but additionally your private model and aesthetic. Do you intend on leaning extra into that?
Yeah, completely. It’s a part of my “why.” Type and trend 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 needs to be sizzling.
God bless his soul, however Virgil [Abloh] was a buddy of mine. I used to ask him, “How do you do 10,000 issues in in the future?” And he all the time mentioned: it’s about creating techniques. That’s been part of my journey too—creating techniques that permit me to unfold my wings and do greater than I’ve already finished.
What recommendation would you supply 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 very best 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 pondering. It’s not one thing you turn on or off. I don’t depart an interview and cease speaking about tradition. I dwell it.
Be seen. Visibility is essential. I had a rule: if the precise particular person noticed me three or 4 occasions, we had been at the very least on good day phrases. You simply should be seen. So these are my 5 factors:
Perceive the cultural local weather.
Be sincere with your self.
Know your distinctive worth.
Create your personal alternatives.
Be seen.
