In an unique interview with Amazon Music’s Phylicia Fant, HipHopWired received to speak about her love of music, her profession journey and her motivation.
As Black Music Month is underway, we have now an appreciation of the artists who convey us the music that we bear in mind in addition to those that’ve labored to help these artists of their careers by their very own visionary efforts. Phylicia Fant, who’s at the moment serving as the pinnacle of music business partnerships at Amazon Music, is certainly a type of figures.
Earlier than taking that function the Marietta, Georgia, native solid a sterling profession as the previous head of city music at Columbia Information and the vp of publicity and life-style at Warner Information after rising as a public relations genius working with quite a few artists together with Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse together with her agency, The Purple Company, in 2008. HipHopWired received the chance to talk to Phylicia Fant concerning the significance of music, the connections, and the way it helped her perceive and make the most of “the pivot” on her profession journey.
HipHopWired: What was your first second of true reference to music? And the way did that love direct you to work within the music business by public relations?
Phylicia Fant: I feel true connection all the time comes from—I received’t say all the time, however I feel in case you grew up within the church, you then’re related to music within the church. That’s one thing that I feel when dad and mom are looking for actions so that you can do. My dad is a deacon, and my mother is a deaconess. My great-grandmother on my dad’s aspect was a pastor, which was uncommon for females within the South. So music was all the time type of in your life. Now, I can’t sing in any respect. [Laughs] Okay, I’ll ensure I say that. However you recognize, they’re all the time good to children.
However what you acknowledge in these moments is a sure emotion. Even in case you’re not one of the best singer, there’s nothing like that power the place you stand up, you sing in entrance of the church, they usually help you, proper? It’s that type of dialog. After which when the soloist comes out, they usually convey individuals to tears, you perceive the results of music in that method. That’s the immersive expertise.
My dad performed piano as effectively, so he would have vinyl in my room rising up. After which my first live performance was seeing Michael Jackson with my dad and mom. So I’ve all the time had dad and mom who type of stored me in numerous areas of music and tradition, and I feel between church, between the vinyl that was positioned in my room strategically, which was Marvin Gaye and Stevie Surprise, and the primary Sugar Hill Gang file, these are the varieties of how you’ll uncover music although chances are you’ll not perceive it [then].
View this submit on InstagramA submit shared by Phylicia Fant (@purplephy27)
What I’ve realized over time is the significance of the pivot and what number of instances I’ve pivoted, however on the similar time, inside these pivots, how I nonetheless am true to what I like at my core.
How’s it been up to now in your function at Amazon Music when it comes to increasing all that the platform has to supply? What challenges and successes have you ever confronted?
I all the time get nervous with the phrase challenges, as a result of I feel they’re kind of about challenges than pushing your self into a special thought course of, proper? If you happen to grew up within the label system like I did, then it’s all the time been very a lot artwork as sport, proper? So how do I relate to an artist who has to cope with criticism, has to cope with their very own private schedules, their very own private lives? How do I construct belief with that artist? So the belief issue type of leads me into the Amazon dialog in that, whereas we’re a tech firm, the precept is to verify we’re ensuring the buyer is completely happy.
So, the buyer being the person who’s listening to the music, but additionally the buyer, as I feel we broaden that definition to the artists and to the those who we collaborate with, to have a symbiotic relationship of how information and music can come collectively for the higher good of how we broaden music for individuals. So the good thing about me being on this aspect is, whereas I’m all the time “artist first” and have been, it’s nice for me to know what merchandise are being made to make that have that a lot better. And that’s not one thing I’ve actually thought of till I received right here, proper? You take a look at it as, “Oh, it’s simply streaming.” However you then understand it’s rather more than streaming.
The way you share music, or how you utilize music, what know-how is, is created for you to have the ability to have that most expertise to even take into consideration what it means to really accumulate music and create a playlist. I wasn’t serious about that kind of dialog inside a tech firm. You simply assume these items are there. And since they’re there, if you acknowledge what it takes to get these items off the bottom, there turns into a respect for the kind of collaboration behind the scenes that makes your music expertise seamless.
In order that takes me to this subsequent query when it comes to your path and being a Black girl who’s carved out such an excellent path within the business. For these which might be developing, what’s crucial factor to you that you simply share with those that inquire about making their very own method?
It’s humorous as a result of I simply received off the cellphone with one in all my mentees, and she or he was speaking about how she loves sports activities and the way she doesn’t know the way to get into sports activities. I mentioned that what I’ve realized over time is the significance of the pivot and what number of instances I’ve pivoted, however on the similar time, inside these pivots, how I nonetheless am true to what I like at my core. On the core, I like music. And what you acknowledge in loving music is that the music extends to completely different locations.
So my profession advanced, as a result of I acknowledge the place music may take me. It wasn’t simply inside the partitions of a live performance, it was now within the partitions of an enviornment, it was Vogue Week, first row. Taking individuals like JoJo and Lindsay Lohan to style week, when town was at its peak and dwelling in New York, you acknowledge alternative ways to make use of it to hold you in numerous areas.
And so when you understand that your core ardour may broaden these doorways, and also you don’t see it as a linear scenario, then the pivot turns into extra fascinating. It doesn’t turn out to be simpler. Nevertheless it turns into fascinating within the sense of, “Oh, I can take this factor that I like, I can open up completely different doorways.” I can perceive music from a seat perspective and see what it’s prefer to have a tune positioned on tv.
As a result of now I perceive how music works in movie. I perceive music works with intelligence. “Oh, I can get this artist’s tune performed within the stadium, like Lil Nas X, and see how individuals react. And see this tune turns into an opportunity for Texas Tech earlier than they get able to play the sport as a result of it pumps them up. I can take a look at who was curating music for style exhibits once I was in New York. So it nonetheless stems from music. However music opened doorways for me to enter all these completely different areas as a result of I acknowledge music is common for a cause.
It’s Black Music Month, and I couldn’t finish this interview with out asking you to your favourite artists that we ought to be checking for if we aren’t already – like what could be in your choose playlist?
It’s such a singular factor as a result of I take into consideration – like, I like Andra Day as a result of I feel she has a richness. I labored with Amy Winehouse and I feel the power to mix jazz and R&B and all these conversations is nice. However I additionally love Tommy Richmond’s new tune “Million Greenback Child” as a result of I like what the HBCUs and the Divine 9’s step groups have accomplished with that tune and how one can take one tune and it turns into a motion and turn out to be additionally a shallowness booster on the similar time. So there’s completely different artists I feel for various causes, completely different moods that I actually like. I gotta take into consideration that.
I feel that individuals don’t know this artist named Q stay on Columbia Information, who’s R&B. I feel Durand [Bernarr], you would possibly know him as a backup vocalist like I do, however his voice is simply wealthy. It’s completely phenomenal. I’m actually pleased with the R&B house, like Muni Lengthy – despite the fact that the tune turned viral on TikTok I like her skill to be daring and type of say what’s on individuals’s minds, which is why I feel I’m enthusiastic about music proper now the place I feel a few years in the past, I used to be pissed off as a result of I do assume we’re searching for our subsequent superstars.
However, you recognize, I’m additionally an old-school woman. By no means gonna not need to hear Marvin Gaye and Prince. They encourage me on a regular basis. These are staples on my playlist in addition to Stevie Surprise. It’s only a place to take me to. I like Mariah Carey, you recognize, I’ll by no means not love her. So I feel it’s that fixed lens of previous, current, and future, which I feel is ironic due to our marketing campaign which known as “Perpetually The Affect.” And if you consider individuals like Uncle Charlie [Wilson], who will pop up on a Don Tolliver file, who I additionally love. So I feel it is going to all the time be a mix of previous, current, and future, and I’m excited concerning the future, however these are the artists which have caught out to me.
View this submit on InstagramA submit shared by Phylicia Fant (@purplephy27)
