‘People don’t just want hits. They want honesty.’

Trailblazers is an MBW interview series that turns the spotlight on music entrepreneurs with the potential to become the global business power players of tomorrow. This time, we meet Tunde Balogun, CEO of LVRN (Love Renaissance). Trailblazers is supported by TuneCore.

Tunde Balogun was in a hotel room in Lagos when he got the call.

It was December 26, 2021, and on the other end was Matt Pincus, the veteran music executive whose investment firm MUSIC was looking for its next bet.

Balogun’s company, Atlanta’s LVRN (Love Renaissance), wasn’t actively looking for a backer, he tells us, noting that Pincus had sought him out. But by the time their two-hour conversation ended, the groundwork for an investment deal valuing LVRN at over $100 million had been laid.

“He was very impressed with what we’d built with no outside money,” Balogun recalls. “He was like, ‘I really like the talent you guys signed, but you are very special, and you are going to go far, and I would love to support you in your journey.'”

That deal, completed in 2022, marked a turning point for LVRN, the influential Atlanta-based indie label, management, and services company Balogun co-founded with Sean Famoso McNichol, Justice Baiden, Junia Abaidoo, and Carlon Ramong. The company’s flagship roster, including Summer Walker and 6lack, has amassed over 30 billion streams and multiple platinum certifications.

LVRN has since exited a joint venture with Interscope Records, though the two remain partners on Summer Walker and 6lack, and signed a distribution deal with Sony Music-owned powerhouse The Orchard.

But it’s where the company is heading that explains why Balogun – the son of Nigerian immigrants who grew up on Fela Kuti and King Sunny Adé – was in Lagos in the first place.

“We’d had an amazing run with Interscope, and we were ready to try it out on our own.”

LVRN now has three full-time team members in Africa, had the biggest song in South Africa last year, with Isaka (6am) by Ciza, and is building a roster Balogun believes can compete with the majors. “I’d say they are competing with LVRN,” he corrects us.

It’s a far cry from LVRN’s origins as a party-promoting outfit in early-2010s Atlanta, when Balogun and McNichol were rival college promoters throwing events for students across Georgia State, Morehouse, and Spelman.

“We had fake beef,” Balogun laughs. “When we got to college, we were like, ‘Let’s just link up and throw a party together.'”

What followed was a promotion company called Team Millionaires, a stint at Ludacris’s DTP label (which Balogun calls “DTP University”), and eventually the formation of LVRN, a company built on R&B that has since expanded its ambitions far beyond it.

“The future of music isn’t about sounding bigger, it’s about meaning more,” says Balogun, on his thoughts on what comes next in the music business.

“We’ve reached a point where people don’t just want hits. They want honesty. They want to hear themselves in the music.”

Here, Balogun discusses LVRN’s origin story, the company’s Africa strategy, partnership with The Orchard — and why he believes the music industry is entering its most exciting era yet…

How did you get your start in music?

Growing up in Atlanta in the late 1990s, early 2000s, you had So So Def, you had DTP, you had LaFace. Music was also a big staple in my Nigerian household — Fela Kuti, King Sunny Adé, my parents’ favorite music from back home. I was surrounded by my older cousins playing southern hip-hop, and then seeing it grow in front of me really put an early image into my mind.

In middle school and high school, I started heading downtown, interning for Real Street Promotions by Tyrell Lewis. I was passing out CDs from Young Jeezy and folks like that. I started DJing and throwing parties.

“I threw my first party in my mom’s basement, and my mom actually helped me with it — she was at the door helping me collect money, and I was DJing, and my friends were selling Capri Suns and sodas.”

I threw my first party in my mom’s basement, and my mom actually helped me with it — she was at the door helping me collect money, and I was DJing, and my friends were selling Capri Suns and sodas.

The only thing was, my parents said, finish school, and then you can go do whatever you need to do.

In my early 20s, I got an opportunity to intern at DTP with Ludacris, Chaka Zulu, and Jeff Dixon. From there, that pretty much officially started my career in music.

What was that experience like?

It was phenomenal. I would call it DTP University. Anybody who was a part of that run knows that was a school — you learned so much. I was able to work on everything from the LudaDay Weekend to touring and marketing plans. They really had us in every meeting possible.

I was able to be exposed early on to people I usually wouldn’t run into or have access to. They felt it was important to pass down everything they’d learned to the younger generation. It was a huge stepping stone.

My other co-founder, Sean, and I ran the publishing company [at DTP] for about two years, learned about music publishing, signed a bunch of producers and songwriters, and then went on to do our own thing with LVRN shortly thereafter.

How did you meet your other co-founders?

Sean and I met in high school. We went to opposing high schools, and because we were both party promoters, we had fake beef. We were rivals. Then, when we got to college, we were like, ‘Let’s just link up and throw a party together.’

So we started a promotion company called Team Millionaires. We threw parties for all of the college students in downtown Atlanta — Georgia State, the AUC, Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, and Spelman. We became really popular doing that. I was still DJing.

We booked a lot of artists, so we knew each other, but we didn’t know each other in the form of them wanting to work in music.

So we met up and were like, ‘Oh, wow, there’s so much synergy here. Let’s be partners.’ It was so weird how fast it happened. They had already had an artist they were developing, Raury. We hopped in and became partners with them. That was around 2013, and the five of us have been together since.

My current partners, Justice, Junior, and Carlon, actually already had LVRN as a company. Me and Sean had something else — we were further along in our careers, we had some producers and songwriters, we [were working with] an artist who was already signed to Atlantic Records.

One of our mutual friends was like, ‘Yo, Sean, Tunde, you guys need to meet Carlon, Junior, and Justice.’ We already had great relationships with a bunch of different people.

Atlanta is so central to LVRN’s identity. Your headquarters is there. Would you ever consider moving to LA or New York?

Here’s a little secret: I was actually stationed in LA — well, part-time LA, part-time Atlanta — from about 2017 until COVID. That was a year after we did our JV with Interscope, and we knew we needed to be close to our JV partner because we were still pretty new in the industry. We went and did some real time in Los Angeles. It was great. The company grew substantially. We made some great strides.

We bought a building in LA mid-COVID because we were going to open a Los Angeles office. But then I took a trip back to Atlanta and was like, ‘Man, Atlanta has something I’ve been missing. I miss home.’ And I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. We were at dinner and somebody said, ‘Man, I really enjoy just being home.’ I said, ‘Me too. By the way, guys, I’m moving back.’ And they were all like, ‘So are we.’

“Being in Atlanta makes us very, very special. This is where we grew up. We know the way music and culture flow here.”

About six months after that, we tasked our real estate agent with finding us a building in Atlanta. We found our dream building and decided not to open the LA office. That building [in LA] is still sitting there empty, because we’re focusing here in Atlanta.

Being in Atlanta makes us very, very special. This is where we grew up. We know the way music and culture flow here. And because we’re so internationally focused now, Delta Airlines, being one of the biggest airlines in the world, with direct flights to anywhere in the world from Atlanta, makes everything a lot easier. Time-zone-wise, we’re able to communicate with the rest of the world a lot easier than if we were in Los Angeles.

When did Africa become such a serious strategic priority for LVRN?

Probably right after COVID. I’m Nigerian. All of us are first-generation. I’m Nigerian, Junior and Justice are Ghanaian, Carlon is Trini, Sean is Jamaican. We’ve always had an international mindset.

But we first started off in R&B, and I was always trying to figure out how we were going to tap in internationally through culture. It had to be intentional — it couldn’t just be us trying to catch a break or a check.

During COVID, I discovered amapiano, and I was like, ‘Wow, what is this?’ I’ve always been into house music, but this was something different. I did my research and saw the history behind it.

“I am a huge investor in African dance, African electronic, black dance music — anything from the continent that has that tone and tempo.”

I saw it as an exciting entry point for us, because South Africa was a newer market compared to Nigeria. It was a full culture shock for me, really getting down there and understanding that SA is pretty much the home of dance music for Africa.

At the same time, we also got our investment from Matt Pincus, and it was important for us to diversify. We were really heavily in R&B. We do best at things that resonate with us, and [African dance music] resonated with me and the rest of the team.

I am a huge investor in African dance, African electronic, black dance music — anything from the continent that has that tone and tempo. I’m investing heavily in DJs and producers on the continent. I see a huge future for them. Right now, you see so many South African DJs, East African, West African, getting booked in Europe and America.

Do you have full-time team members in Africa?

Yeah, we have three people who cover the continent. I’m in South Africa pretty much every six weeks myself. We’re very hands-on on the ground. Everybody knows us.

The first year we spent there, we didn’t really do much business. We were trying to gain trust. A lot of music companies go places and just start to spend money. But having the trust of the people to actually do business with you will take you a lot further.

Tell me about the Matt Pincus investment. How did that conversation come about?

Matt approached us. We actually weren’t seeking investment; that wasn’t even at the top of mind. He sought us out via an attorney, Jordan Bromley, with whom we’d done some business in the past.

Jordan always spoke very highly of us. Matt asked him, ‘Who are some investable companies?’ He was like, ‘I think you should check out this company LVRN.’

He came and visited our office that January to meet the rest of the partners and me. He was very impressed with what we’d built with no outside investment. The only money we ever had was the money we reinvested from our JV with Interscope, because we owned our company 100%.

The timing was right. We’d had an amazing run with Interscope, and we were ready to try it out on our own. We’re still partners with them on Summer Walker and on 6lack, but everything else, we are fully independent now with Matt’s investment.

What made The Orchard an appealing distribution partner?

When we first went independent, we were working with different distributors, and my team came to me and said, ‘Tunde, this is not going to work.’ We were having to deal with five different teams every week. Our focus was growth, not doing a bunch of deals with different distributors.

I’d seen what [The Orchard] did with Rimas and Bad Bunny and was like, ‘Wow, an independent distributor did this.’ I met Brad [Navin, CEO of The Orchard], met Colleen [Theis, President and COO], met the whole staff, and I was like, ‘Oh, you guys actually like music.’

As funny as that may seem, a lot of the people I’ve seen in the industry, especially at the majors, it’s kind of just a job to them.

Brad said, ‘Our business model is we sign labels. We really don’t want to sign artists. We want to support labels.’ I said, ‘Oh, wow, so you’re in the LVRN business then.’

It’s a flat organization — if you’re with The Orchard, you’re with The Orchard worldwide. When I was in Brazil, I was tapped in with the Brazil team. If I need something from Australia, I’m texting Blake [Rayner, GM of The Orchard in Australia and New Zealand].

I know all the heads of the territories. Being able to have that type of network when you’re quote-unquote an independent company puts you on the same playing field as the majors, or even higher.

We’re seeing a lot of M&A activity — majors and big independents acquiring catalogs and labels. Does that consolidation concern you?

It’s the nature of the business. Those people have built great businesses, and for the businesses that acquire them, it’s in their interest to consolidate. I think this is probably the best time in the music industry. It’s so hard right now to break through as an artist that the people who break through deserve it.

I think it only becomes a cause for concern when larger companies use these acquisitions to block the independents, which has been part of history for a long time. But it’s 2026 — technology makes it so hard to block anything now. If we keep betting on talent, nothing can be stopped.

What defines an LVRN artist? What are you looking for?

Authenticity is the most important thing. People have to believe you — that’s the only way it’s going to work. The future of music isn’t about sounding bigger. It’s about meaning more.

Every artist we sign now, we want to make sure they are important and popular locally, but they have to be able to scale globally — because that’s the vision for every artist on our label. Be authentic and scalable globally.

You’ve made investments in Jerk x Jollof, SymphonyOS, and other platforms. How big a part of LVRN’s trajectory is the investment landscape?

Aside from signing artists, I’m looking for entrepreneurs and artists to invest in, too. One of the strategies we’ve really put into motion is: there’s no LVRN Africa, no LVRN Nigeria, no LVRN South Africa. It’s LVRN. I don’t believe in localizing our company.

“My main mission is to empower the people who are there locally. I’d rather help you build your own version of LVRN and then be partners with you on that.”

My main mission is to empower the people who are there locally. I’d rather help you build your own version of LVRN and then be partners with you on that.

Something like Jerk x Jollof was strategic for the simple fact that with us investing so much in DJs and artists, it was very important to have a platform to showcase those people. I didn’t want to have to beg promoters to believe in something I already knew was great. I’d rather just have our own platform to put them on, and then from there, everybody else will see what we saw.

If you could change one thing about how the music industry operates today, what would it be?

I would love to change the relationship of artist to fan. I wish fans could just enjoy the music, and artists could put out music and promote to their fans thoroughly, without being scrutinized as much as they are.

I think it’s okay for people to have an opinion, but we’re in a space now where it’s almost like people are in it to tear people down instead of actually enjoying the music. I think we are slowly but surely losing some of our great talent because they don’t know how to take that pressure.

There’s a lot of talk about superfans. How do you feel about this conversation around monetizing that relationship?

I love it. Superfans are the ones that care about you, the ones that give you an actual chance, the ones that invest in you long-term, the ones that will go out of their way to buy the ticket.

Streaming isn’t paying everybody the amount they need to have a livable wage. It’s the top, top tier that really gets the most. If you’re a smaller artist, but you have 1,000 consistent fans who will buy your merch or buy your CDs, and that grows to 5,000, 10,000 — you can have a great career.

What’s the biggest challenge facing the business today?

Cutting through the noise. It’s very, very difficult. Music is competing with every single thing else out there — from potential wars to the news to new TV shows to things we haven’t even seen yet that might pop up on your release day. It’s an attention economy now.

“Music is competing with every single thing else out there — from potential wars to the news to new TV shows to things we haven’t even seen yet that might pop up on your release day. It’s an attention economy now.”

That’s why it’s really important for us to have our artists put out great music consistently. When you put out great music consistently, it compounds. People share it, and it starts to stay in people’s minds, to the point where you then go on to become important in their daily conversations.

I know there’s this sentiment of ‘some artists put out too much music and it’s fast food.’ But I think we’re gonna get the biggest artists of our time soon — artists who can put out music consistently at a high level.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs looking to start an independent music company?

You only fail when you quit. It’s a very selfless business. Do it because you want to do it and because you have a love for it, not for the money.

I’d rather my artist put out great music consistently and get attention that way [rather than rely on] gimmicks.

Which artists are you most excited about for 2026?

Odeal is gonna have a breakout year. We’ve been developing him so, so well. Belly Gang Kushington is another one; he’s destroying on YouTube right now.

Ciza, who had the number one song in South Africa last year; I feel like he’s gonna be the new face of Afro house. Young, hip, cool, just gonna really bring a new, fresh, young energy to the Afro house space. TxC are our female DJ duo — they’re going to do immensely well.

This is probably my 16th year in the industry, and I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I’m also working hard, but I’m genuinely having the time of my life right now, because everything’s so new. There are no rules. I’m independent — I can partner with whomever I want.

And overall, I’m very, very excited about the future of R&B. I think we’re going to get some amazing music over the next few years. With our beginnings and our heart and soul being in R&B, I really feel like we’re going to make some history really, really soon.

 Music Business Worldwide