SoundCloud has announced a partnership with Solid Foundation, the management and creative services division of QC Media Holdings, which is owned and run by music industry veterans Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas. SoundCloud, the world’s largest A&R resource, and Solid Foundation, a full-service artist management firm, have partnered to uncover fresh talent and reinvent artist partnerships by providing bespoke resources, tools, and access to creatives.
QC Media invested in SoundCloud as part of the joint venture, and as a result, Lee, Thomas, and their Atlanta-based Solid Foundation artist management team will collaborate with the company to identify, invest in, and promote the careers of SoundCloud musicians. This groundbreaking agreement will bring together significant industry knowledge, proprietary data & insights, and resources to create custom A&R programs for selected artists that include development, distribution, marketing, and artist services.
“Coach K and P are two of the most influential voices in music, having identified, developed and grown some of the most successful hip-hop acts of our time,” said Eliah Seton, President of SoundCloud. “With this deal, we’re bringing together SoundCloud, the largest A&R source on the planet, with the creative genius of Coach and P. We are excited to partner with them in this innovative way as together we amplify the voices of who’s next in music.”
Lee and Thomas have molded the careers of some of today’s most popular singers, including Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane, before founding Quality Control Music, where they nurtured chart-topping artists like Migos, Lil Yachty, Lil Baby, City Girls, and others.
“With our years of ear-to-the-street skills coupled with SoundCloud’s endless stream of talent and powerful data pointing to what is authentically bubbling up in the scene I can’t think of a better merging of passion, intel and skill sets to create countless new paths for emerging artists. We are beyond excited for this partnership.”
Pierre “P” Thomas
“There is nothing more important to our process than discovering new artists, so partnering with SoundCloud, one of the most important hotbeds of talent, is incredibly exciting to us. Their data merging with our time-tested way of cultivating and building artists will be a blend to be reckoned with!”
– Kevin “Coach K” Lee
SoundCloud’s dedication to curating artist partnerships that allow flexibility to both artists and industry partners, with tailored and collaborative agreements focused at empowering artists to own and manage their rights and creative process, is demonstrated by this agreement. This news follows agreements with multi-platinum rapper Lil Pump and award-winning singer Tekno, which were previously announced.
The hip-hop community is mourning another loss. Wavy Navy Pooh, who had been signed to the label Quality Control, which also features City Girls, Lil Baby, Migos, and more, was shot and killed during a drive-by shooting in South Miami. According to WSVN, police officers say that the 28-year-old rapper, born Shandler Beaubien, was behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry at an intersection when another vehicle pulled up beside it and fired 15 shots into the driver’s side door. Beaubien was hit multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.
Law enforcement says that the rapper was accompanied by a female passenger and his two children — a five-year-old and an infant — during the shooting. They also said that the other occupants in the vehicle were not injured. “An unknown subject in a four-door Lexus, a gray Lexus, approached him from the driver’s side, opened fire and then fled westbound on 152nd Street,” Miami-Dade Police detective Alvaro Zabaleta told WSVN. “On the front seat, there was a one-year-old child in a car seat that easily could have been struck by gunfire and taken his life.”
Quality Control issued a statement about Beaubien’s death, which they shared on Instagram. “It is with great sadness we announce the loss of one of our beloved artist, Wavy Navy Pooh,” they wrote. “Wavy put his heart and soul into his music. He believed in giving back to his community as well as sharing his hardships through his music. Wavy, your Quality Control family loves you and will forever miss you. Your Life was a blessing and will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
OG Parker is the producer you can count on. He knows how to create a song that the people will love and he’s done it numerous times for the likes of Migos, PartyNextDoor, and Chris Brown. His latest achievement has been his work on XXL Freshman DDG’s project Die 4 Respect and their TikTok hit “Impatient” with Coi Leray.
The talented multi-instrumentalist (Parker plays the clarinet, piano, and drums) attended Georgia State University in Atlanta to study music and in 2017 decided to put everything into being a producer. From Migos’ Culture hit “Walk It Talk It” featuring Drake to Megan Thee Stallion’s latest single “Thot Shit” and DDG’s “Impatient,” OG Parker has kept up with his own momentum with consistency. The 27-year-old Quality Control beat maker’s next move is to put together his own project, with the release of “Rain” featuring Chris Brown, Layton Greene, Latto, and PnB Rock.
Uproxx got the chance to catch up OG Parker to talk about the year he’s having in music and how he’s able to constantly create hits.
Let’s talk about “Rain” and how you got PnB Rock, Chris Brown, Latto and Layton Greene on that one track.
It was a song that I had already did with Chris. Chris was already on it and PnB was already on it. I had it for about a year and a half now and I knew it was a song that I wanted to do as my single. I had been trying to figure out the right artists I wanted to put on it. I knew I wanted females on it. I went and I got Latto and I got Layton Greene on it and it just took a minute to get it all together, get the mix right, get everything together.
What was the most difficult part about putting the song together?
I think just trying to make it perfect. I’m an overthinker. So I’ve been trying to figure out the order of the artists. I didn’t know who I wanted to go first and everything.
Does that happen often or is that your normal work process of you rearranging things multiple times? Reminds me of Kanye West, how we got all those Life Of Pablo edits in real-time.
Exactly. Usually, I’m not as hands-on because it’s not always my song. Usually, the artist gets to control that more. This is one of the first times where I really get to make the final decision.
So the project as a whole, is it done? When is it coming out? What’s the status?
It’s about 70% to 80% done, I would say and we’re looking for it to come out a little bit after summer.
How many songs are on it so far and what’s the vibe like?
We got a lot of songs, but I wanted it to be around five to eight. I want it to be like an EP. I don’t want it to be too long because I’m just trying to introduce myself right now. I want it to be everything. I want it to be awesome. I want to have a dance hall song on there, a trap joint going on there, and an R&B joint on there.
Can you say who else you’ve collaborated with on this project?
I can’t say who’s going to make the final cut because we have a lot of records, but I’ve been working with Kehlani, PartyNextDoor, Tyga, a lot of people.
Tell us about working on “Thot Shit” for Megan Thee Stallion.
We actually have a whole bunch of songs, we’ve been going crazy, but the first song I made with her was “Thot Shit.” I’m actually really cool with her engineer. So he hit me up like, “Yo. I’m in the studio with Meg, send me some beats.” I sent a couple of beats over and then he was like, “Yo, I’m about to FaceTime you.” He FaceTimed me and Meg took the phone and she was like, “Yo, all these beats you just sent me are mine. I love them all.” Ever since then I just been sending her beats and we just been going crazy. We got in the studio a couple of weeks ago and we were just working on the album.
I also want to talk about your production. I feel it’s really distinct and I’m just curious to know where do you draw your production ideas from to make a hit?
I would say, I don’t think I’m a super-emotional person, but I think that I draw a lot of my beats from the emotions that I’m feeling at the moment. So if I’m sad, I’m probably going to go to the studio and make some R&B beats and if I’m turned up, if I’ve been drinking with the homies and stuff, I’m going to make some turnt trap stuff or a club hit because that’s the vibe I’m feeling.
What would you say is a song that maybe you were very passionate about something and that’s the beat that got created when you pulled from that place?
I would say “Thot Shit.” I actually produced that with Lil Ju who did Body and all those songs for her. When we cooked up that day, I think that we were cooking up for her, we knew she was working on the album. I think that we were mainly focused on making up-tempo club stuff. I think that was the time that we kind of went in with a set plan and then it worked out.
So you guys made this beat together in person?
He actually lives in LA and he came to Atlanta for a couple of days and he hit me up. He was like, “Yo, what you want?” I was like, “Yo, come to my house.” We made like seven beats that night and “Thot Shit “was one of them.
You also worked with DDG who is going crazy this year as well. What made you want to work with him?
So originally it was actually a session that my manager set up. I actually was on his last tape. I had two songs on there and it was a cool vibe. I would say about eight months later, I was like, “Yo, I want to lock back in with DDG.” So I flew to LA and we just started working and then I was like, “Yo, we should just do a whole tape.” We just kept growing and working and then getting features. It was just a crazy vibe. That was kind of my first time ever, just EP-ing somebody’s whole project and it was a great experience and I feel the people are receiving it very well.
I also want to just talk about your influence in Atlanta as a whole. Tell me a little bit about you coming up in Atlanta and the style of music that you make and your influence.
Growing up, you had your Shawty Redd’s and your Zaytoven’s and things like that. The trap drums and stuff I feel is embedded into Atlanta producer’s DNA because we grew up hearing those Gucci songs at every club we went to. It was the trap drums and stuff like that came to me naturally. Then being somebody who plays instruments and having a grandfather that was a professional pianist, I feel that gave me a different melodic edge to my production. My stuff is kind of melodic mixed with the trap stuff.
Once this project comes out, what can everyone expect?
I think that’s going to definitely take my career to the next level. I think it’s something that I’m going to continue to tap into. This definitely wouldn’t be my last project, I would want to keep working and drop a full-length project after this one. Then also just keep working with all the artists that I’ve been working with.
You’ve accomplished quite a bit. How do you want to impact your fans or listeners at the end of the day?
I would say definitely for the producer community, I would want to be looked at as somebody who can make all the genres at a high level for your favorite artists. The goal is to break new artists. I feel that’s something that I heard Timbaland say in an interview. He said that he’s remembered for breaking Aaliyah more than just getting with an artist that’s already famous to give them a hit song because that’s easier than breaking a new artist. That’s something that I definitely want to do.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Quality Control Records artist Metro Marrs left his high school graduation with a police escort — and not for any good reason. The teenage rapper was ushered out of the ceremony still wearing his cap and gown after he threw money in the air. Metro Marrs In Trouble For Making It Rain We’ve all seen […]
Quality Control has solidified its dominance over the rap game over the past three years thanks to the success of acts like City Girls, Duke Deuce, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, and Migos, but the Atlanta-based label isn’t satisfied with just being hip-hop’s most successful label. Now, Coach and P have their sights set on Hollywood and won’t stop until they’ve tapped into every possible genre and form.
Not only do Lil Yachty and Migos have multiple projects coming down the pike, including Yachty’s heist comedy based on Uno and Quavo’s turn as a drug kingpin alongside Robert De Niro, but the label is also jumping into the horror genre soon, according to Deadline. The industry trade magazine reports Quality Control has partnered with Trioscope Studios in a co-production deal developing a TV series based on a graphic novel about the horrors of being Black in America.
Trioscope Studios is best known for its Netflix series The Liberator, a World War II drama using hybrid animation that blends CGI with live-action actors. The technique will be applied to QC’s upcoming series. The report doesn’t note exactly which horror comic will be adapted, but there’s no shortage of stories they could have chosen from, including The Ballad of Black Tom and The Box of Bones, while shows like HBO’s Lovecraft Country have proven that there’s certainly an appetite for more Black-focused horror-style work.
