Behind-the-scenes music industry profilefrom @_chaseyang

Transcript

French Montana has had one of the biggest resurgences in hip hop this year, but nobody's talking about the woman behind that. The woman helping drive the strategy of this chapter of his career is amazing, Lola Blacku. Lola is the CEO and founder of Lola Media Group and also the founder of Girl Connected. With fifteen years in the industry, she's worked with some of our favorite artists like Drake, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Kehlani, ASAP Rocky. For many years, she's been supporting hometown Toronto artists at EXO Records like Weekend, Belly, Nav. She even cofounded Savage Squad Records with Fredo Santana before he passed away. Rest in peace. Before the star becomes a household name, Lola's helped develop and support these artists early in their careers, and I mean a lot. She even had her own sneaker capsule with Puma called Girl Power and Girl Boss. Recently, her company has worked closely with Grail to produce talent for their new editorial rank cover series with Yee and even Kim Carson. Best until 2025, Lola served as a SVP of marketing at Geffen and Interscope Records, where she led urban marketing for a roster that included Yee, Rob four nine, Mexican Tier, and even Chino Paca. But her history with French goes way back to 2011 where she was the first person to bring them out for a show in No, Starting a collaboration for many years over projects, tours, and even career milestones. They reconnected in 2026 and have built one of the biggest independent runs of the year. Ever since He Left Me with Max B reached number one at Urban Radio, then came the big Bronx remix with Remy Moth bringing together three New York artists during the Knicks playoff run. The hype around was so big, it hit number one on the hip hop iTunes chart day one. The momentum continued. French and Max would go work with ESPN and the New York Knicks. Tier released multiple projects independently with big features like Yes, Ross, Tier All the Sun. Minx in Miami with Rose climbed climbed the number one at Urban Radio. BET nominated them as best group and they also got to perform Minx in Miami at the award show. Without the machine of a major label, what we're seeing on this independent run, the strategy, positioning, and overall campaigns, Lola has her fingerprints on it. Lola is also the founder of Girl Connected, which is a nonprofit organization helping young women build careers in the music and creative industry. With over a 100 women graduating from the program, securing jobs, or even internships after completing it, Lola has featured many great mentors and speakers like Tina Davis, Lenny s, Bianca Edwards, all to help these young women. She built Girl Connected to give back and also due to her experience navigating the music industry. From Toronto to executive offices, management, entrepreneurship, and now most notably this independent run with French Montana, Lola has spent fifteen years building careers and creating opportunities. She might not be the person you always see in front of the camera, but chances are you've seen her work and she is building. Let me know how you feel about this in the comments. And as always, tag and share somebody you're building