#TheShowMustBePaused: A Live Discussion with the Founders (Virtual Event)

Marketing executive Brianna Agyemang has made it her mission during her tenure in music to move with both purpose and kindness. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Agyemang first started in the music industry through internships at Bad Boy Records and Columbia Records, and worked at local nightclubs and radio stations during her college years at Carnegie Mellon University. Following graduation, she interned at Violator Management under the legendary Chris Lighty, later simultaneously interning at Roc Nation in digital marketing. From there, she went to Roc Nation’s International Marketing Department. Her love of music, coupled with the desire to make it global, became her impetus, as she was the liaison between the United States and the rest of the world for artists including J. Cole, Vic Mensa, Mustard, and Justine Skye, among others. 

By 2015, Agyemang was brought on to work with Meek Mill as his day-to-day manager at Roc Nation at the height of his groundbreaking project Dreams Worth More Than Money. She then formed the Brownies, an in-demand community collective, with fellow industry maven Ayanna P. Wilks, coordinating events and building artist and peer communities. By 2017, she joined Atlantic Records as their senior director of marketing, where her first project was the late Nipsey Hussle’s Grammy Award–winning album Victory Lap, followed by Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer. She also added Nigerian phenomenon Burna Boy to her roster and continued her international momentum working with U.K. artists Stormzy and Mahalia. 

In the spring of 2020, Agyemang joined Apple Music’s multifaceted artist services platform, Platoon, as her expertise in both domestic and international markets gave her the insight to work with artists spanning all corners of the globe. She and Wilks have taken the Brownies virtual, hosting and curating a number of events during the pandemic. A cofounder of #TheShowMustBePaused initiative, Agyemang’s goal through her music career and activism is to remain consistent: “I just want to make sure that whatever I do, I stay true to myself,” she says. 

Jamila Thomas has broken through numerous glass ceilings as a product management and marketing executive, proving that hard work pays off. A native of Bronx, New York, she made a name for herself in Atlanta during her tenure at Clark Atlanta University, where she majored in mass media arts, with a concentration in public relations. In the Atlanta circuit, she worked with local artists while interning for Def Jam at the house that Ludacris built: Disturbing Tha Peace (DTP). She spent her summers in New York City, interning in Def Jam’s midtown office, networking with executives from all departments while waiting tables at night. She became one of the go-to people in NYC for DTP, working with the team for artists like Ludacris, Shawnna, and Bobby Valentino.

After graduating, Thomas interned for Ace of Spades, turning her position into a consulting role, where she helped with groundbreaking product placements like Ne-Yo’s “Champagne Life” video, as well as Kanye West’s endorsement of the champagne during his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy short film “Runaway.” She learned how to translate her label experience into brands, working independently while also holding a position as hip-hop editor at Global Grind. After returning to Def Jam to work in marketing, she was instrumental in the album campaigns for Jhene Aiko’s Sailing Soul(s), Pusha T’s My Name Is My Name, and Big Sean’s Hall of Fame, among others.

Thomas moved over to Cash Money Records, where she worked under industry veteran and mentor Katina Bynum, helping navigate breaking acts like Jacquees while working with Cash Money’s legacy artists like Drake and Nicki Minaj. Her understanding of running an indie within a major label brought her to the position as head of marketing at Asylum Records, where she was responsible for the monumental success of upstart Ugly God, who became one of the top three streaming artists under the Warner umbrella. Thomas is currently the senior director of marketing at Atlantic Records and cofounder of #TheShowMustBePaused. “I hope that I can inspire and show other people that in a day of instant fame and ‘just add water’ recipes, we’re still gonna have to do the work," she says.