Written in Partnership with Amir Bakian
Music remains all – consuming for The SALXCO Artist Manager Ryan Ramsey. During his formative years in Carson, CA, the Los Angeles native bought new albums like clockwork every release day. Moreover, he acted as his high school’s own de facto A & R guru, turning classmates on to everyone from Jay – Z and Fugees to Nas and Usher and circulating mixtapes among friends long before the days of Datpiff and blogs. ” My whole allowance went to CDs, ” he recalls. ” If it was between getting a burger or picking up a new CD, I’d go hungry -but at least I had something to listen to. I’d walk around the house with my Discman all day. That helped me develop an ear. I loved music so much I was always incredibly passionate about it. ” Between studying hip – hop and R & B, he learned how to play piano. After two years at West Hills College, he landed an internship at Atlantic Records, which lasted two weeks before he became tour manager for older cousin and multiplatinum superstar Ray J. Following four years on the road, he assumed full – time management duties for Ray J. He went on to co-manage Brandy alongside Jay Brown for a year before spending four years as her sole manager. 2014 saw him join The Blueprint Group team as day – to – day point person for Nicki Minaj until 2017. At that time, he advanced to Artist Manager at Maverick, taking over management for the recently signed Rich the Kid. Ramsey activated and accelerated the artist’s rise from buzzing online upstart to multiplatinum trendsetter. He built a global profile for Rich the Kid by landing him his first international tour with Future. He aligned the rapper with Adidas as well as Mr. Completely and Pac – Sun in addition to securing a show stopping fashion week performance for Phillip Plein. Simultaneously, he shepherded the campaign for the artist’s 2018 debut, The World Is Yours, which bowed at # 2 on the Billboard Top 200 and yielded the triple – platinum ” Plug Walk ” and platinum ” New Freezer ” [ feat. Kendrick Lamar]. Along the way, he facilitated the star – making BRIT Awards performance of ” New Freezer ” with Lamar and architected an infrastructure for superstar success. Additionally, he now oversees the career of musician and actress Brandy along with rising Kentucky superstar Vory who stands on the verge of a breakout 2022 powered by hits like ” Do Not Disturb ” [ feat. Nav and Bleu]. Along with Metro Boomin, Wallis Lane, and BJRNCK. The continued growth of his clients can be directly traced to a personal approach. ” I’m not just in the music business; I’m in the people business, ” explains Ramsey. ” I love looking out for artists in life in addition to in their careers. I care so much that I want you to flourish across the board. I’m like a big brother in that respect. ” Ramsey is based in the Los Angeles office.
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