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Kareem “Biggs” Burke co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records in 1995 alongside Damon Dash and Jay-Z. Burke signed and managed artists such as Camron, Memphis Bleek, and Beanie Sigel during his time with the label. In addition, he served as executive producer of several Jay-Z albums. Burke, a Music Industry Essentials expert, spoke with Yellowbrick about his tenure in the music industry and his career as a music industry manager.
Watch the full video to learn about:
- The daily responsibilities of a manager
- Being an advocate for artists
- The necessity of persistence to succeed
“In a manager role, you become the day-to-day; you become the team; and the label. You’re interfacing with the label and every department, whether it’s music education, promotion, marketing, sales, or the PR company. Then you’re dealing with the artist, the tours, the music, the producers, the merch,” says Burke.
“You handle every aspect of the artist’s life. It’s your job to help them focus on creating and bringing these opportunities to themselves. You can make the artist’s job a lot easier and help them grow their brand,” Burke continues. “Managers have daily and weekly calls with the label, or interface with PR and different aspects of the artist’s business.”
Burke touched on dealing with the label and being a buffer for artists. “You have to talk to the label often because a lot of times, people get relaxed. Sometimes, they sign an artist who they think is the biggest artist. Then over time, they don’t believe in them anymore. So it’s your job to go to the label and speak to every department to make sure that the energy stays up. You want to get your artist to where they want to be or where you see them going. Never, ever, ever get relaxed. Make sure you’re on the job every day.”
If you’d like to learn more about a career in artist management and from other experts like Kareem “Biggs” Burke, download Yellowbrick’s Ultimate Music Career Guide.
