If 2008 and 2009 are any indication, the future of Hip-Hop rests in the hands of Gee Roberson, Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua and their GM, Al Branch. While Gee and Hip Hop worked together for seven-and-a-half years as directors of A&R for the entire Roc-A-Fella roster, Al also worked there as general manager. After changing their company name in 2004 to Hip Hop Since 1978, co-CEOs Gee and Hip Hop haven’t stopped working since.
Together, the squad formed management company Rock Da World back in 1998, signing Kanye West as their first artist, followed by Just Blaze. Their powerful roster now includes Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and newcomer Drake. A partial list of accomplishments from last year alone: Jeezy’s Adidas campaign, Kanye’s Glow in the Dark tour, Lil Wayne’s I Am Music tour, the Nike Air Yeezys, the Nike LeBrons, Lil Wayne’s Sixers spot, Lil Wayne’s voiceover work for Gatorade’s “What’s G” campaign and Kanye’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton on a special shoe collection. If that’s not enough, Hip Hop Since 1978 artists led Grammy nominations in ‘07 (Lil Wayne) and ‘08 (Kanye West). On top of that, Gee is also an executive who serves as a president of the Rap division of Atlantic Records. Gee executive produced T.I.’s Paper Trail, which sold two million copies worldwide. Kanye, Gee and Hip Hop executive produced 808s & Heartbreak, which Gee proudly proclaims, “has sold over 10 million worldwide.” And Gee along with Cortez Bryant co-executive produced Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III, which sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. According to the Billboard charts, these were the only albums in Hip-Hop to sell over one million copies in 2008. Do we need to say more? Gentleman welcome to Power 30 and congratulations!
