Tunji Balogun, Nigerian A&R music executive to join Def Jam as CEO
Tunji Balogun, executive vice president of A&R at RCA, has left the music label to join Def Jam Records as CEO.
Tunji Balogun, executive vice president of A&R at RCA, has left the music label to join Def Jam Records as CEO.
According to Variety, Balogun was hired by Def Jam after the music giant named Nicki Farag, a promotion veteran, as its executive VP and general manager.
Tunji Balogun’s exit from RCA comes on the heels of the appointment of Columbia Records’ Imran Majid and Justin Eshak as co-CEOs of UMG’s Island Records in a deal to take effect from January 2022.
RCA hosts musicians of global repute like Wizkid and Chris Brown while Def Jam boasts of hitmakers such as BTS, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Kanye West.
More so, Balogun joined RCA in 2015 following seven-and-a-half years at Interscope, the A&R exec was involved in signing Khalid, Brockhampton, Normani (via Syco) and Bryson Tiller.
In 2018, Balogun co-founded the label Keep Cool, a joint venture with RCA, alongside Courtney Stewart, Jon Tanners and Jared Sherman. He was elevated to EVP that same year.
Def Jam’s previous CEO was Paul Rosenberg, Eminem’s longtime manager, who joined the label in Jan. 2018 and left two years later. Rosenberg maintains his role as President of Shady Records, Eminem’s joint venture with UMG’s Interscope Geffen A&M.
