by Janee the ball
June 26, 2025
The affair was a celebration of a number of music trade notables
Atlanta’s leisure elite dressed to impress for an unbelievable afternoon at The Gathering Spot to honor legacy, management, and cultural affect on the sixth Annual Black Music Moguls Brunch. Hosted by Liz Smith and Jaleel Thurman, with sounds curated by DJ Jazzy T, the June twenty second affair was a celebration of a number of music trade notables shifting the tradition ahead each behind the boards, in addition to within the boardrooms.
Created by Niya Skyy Hogans, the Black Music Moguls Brunch has change into one of many metropolis’s most inspiring and intentional occasions. “I created this as a result of I wished to offer flowers to folks, not solely the artists, however the folks behind the scenes: the attorneys, the executives, the journalists, the media,” Hogans shared. “To have the ability to hold it going, yr after yr, is superb. I received my begin from folks behind the scenes, like my mentor Cannon Kent Grant, who offered at the moment. She gave me my first job, so to share the stage along with her is superb and I at all times wish to share that love and rejoice folks’s legacy.”
Wearing semi-formal all-black apparel, company loved Gray Goose cocktails and brunch plates piled with shrimp and grits, turkey bacon, fruit, eggs, and rooster sausage. Sponsored by Gray Goose, MNRK Music Group, Crimson Bull, and Pronghorn, the brunch struck the right steadiness of magnificence and empowerment.
This yr’s honorees included a dynamic group of game-changers: Joshua “J1” Raiford, Pandora’s Vice President of Music Programming and Program Director for SiriusXM’s Pandora Now, mixtape pioneer and Technology Now co-founder DJ Drama, producer Zaytoven, and legal professional Bernie Lawrence-Watkins.
Joshua “J1” Raiford, identified for his radio experience and trailblazing work in music programming, was deeply moved by the popularity. “I’ve hosted this occasion the final two years—so being honored is an unbelievable full-circle second,” he mentioned. “I at all times hold God first, work exhausting, and deal with folks with respect, no matter title. The music enterprise is all about relationships—however crucial one is with God.”
Raiford paid tribute to his mom, who was current, and his late father, whose reminiscence fuels his function. “If God provides you a dream or a imaginative and prescient, he gave it to you for a purpose. Have religion he’s made the supply for the imaginative and prescient, simply be versatile with the trail it takes to get there.”
Zaytoven, the legendary producer behind hits from Gucci Mane to Usher, was honored with the Visionary Award. In a touching second, he mirrored on his childhood in Mississippi, the place his musical origin story started in church. “I by no means thought me sitting on the organ 4 or 5 days per week would result in this,” he mentioned. “I thank God for my presents and for giving me a imaginative and prescient, not simply to be a church musician, however additionally to be a Black music mogul.”
He additionally shared how love and partnership helped form his journey, shouting out his spouse of 18 years, who believed in him from his days reducing hair in barber college: “She instructed all people I made beats earlier than anyone knew who I used to be.”
DJ Drama, a pioneer of Southern mixtape tradition and co-founder of Technology Now, accepted the Trendsetter Award. “My journey has at all times been about going towards the grain,” he mentioned. From his early mixtapes with Tip and Jeezy to launching stars like Lil Uzi Vert and Jack Harlow, Drama reminded the viewers that perception in your imaginative and prescient is non-negotiable. “As loopy as your concepts could also be, they’re what you make them. I’m residing proof of that.”
Bernie Lawrence-Watkins, the award-winning leisure legal professional and founding father of B. Lawrence Watkins & Associates, delivered one of the crucial rousing speeches of the afternoon. “In an trade the place creativity is foreign money, authorized energy is safety,” she declared. “Our work is advocacy. It’s empowerment. It’s legacy constructing.”
She devoted her award to each Black regulation scholar questioning their place within the leisure subject. “To those that got here earlier than me, the authorized minds who navigated an trade that didn’t at all times welcome us, you laid the groundwork so we might stroll with confidence. We’re not simply right here to advise. We’re right here to guide.”
The presence of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who appeared through video, additional cemented the occasion’s affect: “Atlanta is a metropolis synonymous with Black excellence. This occasion strengthens our communities, enhances our tradition, and drives financial improvement.”
All through the occasion, applause rang out as honorees spoke from the center. Tears have been shed, toasts have been raised, and pictures have been snapped, however the focus remained on the message that Black excellence is greatest achieved by religion, exhausting work, and neighborhood.
Black Music Moguls Brunch started with Niya Skyy Hogans imaginative and prescient to make it possible for these usually missed are seen, heard, and celebrated. She, and govt producer Emma Jackson, expertly executed that mission with Sunday’s brunch. From producers to program administrators, attorneys to legends, the occasion was a mirrored image of the brilliance that usually occurs behind the scenes.
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