Ethiopia Habtemariam

Summary: Holding down dual roles as both President of Motown Records and President of Urban Music/Co-Head of Creative at Universal Publishing Music Group, Ethiopia Habtemariam shares the story of her rapid rise through the Atlanta music scene. She discusses race in America, being a female executive in the music industry, the future of hip hop, and how she develops global strategy for the artists under her wing. 1:00 - Hip hop as the universal language 3:00 - Her name & heritage 6:00 - Moved to Atlanta, Kris Kross in the same class 10:00 - First contact with LaFace Records 11:00 - SouthernPlayalistic Music Fest, Outkast 17:00 - Emmis Music Publishing gig 19:00 - Started working with NSync managing their charity efforts 22:00 - Started at Universal, signed Ludacris, Pussycat Dolls, Kerry Hilson 25:00 - Moved to LA for Motown - signed Ciarra, started doing A&R 33:00 - Racism in the music industry 38:00 - Being a woman in the music business 50:00 - Is Kanye West crazy or intentional 1:05:00 - Q&A with audience at the Music Media Summit in Santa Barbara, CA Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers