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Tunji Balogun
Photo Credit: Ro.Lexx

RCA Enters Keep Cool Joint Venture With Label Executive Tunji Balogun

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY. Source: Instagram

Keep Cool co-founder Tunji Balogun enters joint venture with RCA and announces Fifth Harmony's Normani as label's first signee.

Tunji Balogun and RCA Records have established a joint venture with Keep Cool, a new label founded by Balogun, Courtney StewartJon Tanners and Jared Sherman. While RCA has also promoted Balogun  to executive vice president of A&R.

Balogun, RCA’s former senior vp, A&R and new Senior VP of A&R, will continue to sign and develop artists, announcing Fifth Harmony member Normani as the label's first signee.

“RCA is a company that prioritizes artistry, creativity and long-term vision,” Balogun told Billboard. “I’m honored to be able to continue that legacy with the launch of Keep Cool. My passion is discovering and working with artists that are slightly left-of-center, and finding meaningful ways to organically build culture around them. Keep Cool will be a safe-haven for artists and creatives who want to do things differently."

Balogun has been with RCA since 2015 and has been instrumental in the signing and development of some of the label's most prominent artists, such as Childish Gambino,  Wizkid, KhalidBrockhampton, Bryson Tiller, GoldLink, and H.E.R. He also aided in the label’s partnership with Top Dawg Entertainment and SZA.

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"Tunji has an innate ability to identify an artist’s musical genius and understands the potential of their cultural impact," RCA chairman/CEO Peter Edge told Billboard, adding that the Keep Cool joint venture and promotion “a natural progression for Tunji, whose passion for music and dedication to his artists has led him to become a force and a leader in the music world."

Before his tenure at RCA, Balogun launched his music career as a marketing intern at Warner Bros. Records, and went on to  hold A&R positions at Interscope. There, he collaborated with Kendrick LamarScHoolboy QThe Game, Keyshia ColeOneRepublic, and artists signed through Interscope’s partnerships with Bad Boy Entertainment and Shady Records. He also signed Atlanta rapper K Camp and brought Los Angeles rapper Cozz to J. Cole’s Dreamville joint venture with Interscope.

Source: Billboard