Source: Liliane Lathan / Getty
Lena Waithe has conquered television and film. Now the Black creative has her sights set on the music industry.
The writer, producer, and actor announced on Instagram her new partnership with Def Jam Records. She is on a mission to “develop the next generation of underrepresented artists” with her new imprint Hillman Grad Productions.
In a statement revealing her latest move, Waithe basically described how her pivot into the music industry should be a seamless one becuase both music and storytelling are closely associated.
“Music and storytelling have always gone hand in hand.” Waithe states. “And I think that’s because musicians are the storytellers we love the most. They can take complex emotions and simplify it in four minutes, the same artist can sing about the revolution and falling in love. Music is a part of us. It’s so often connected to our fondest and sometimes our darkest memories.”
Making the news official, Def Jam shared on its official Instagram account a picture of Hillman Grad’s logo next to its iconic logo writing in the caption:
“Welcome to the family @lenawaithe.”
“Def Jam Recordings is entering into an exclusive joint venture partnership with Emmy Award winning writer, creator, producer and actor Lena Waithe to launch Hillman Grad Records.”
Waithe did the same on her personal account, sharing a photo of her younger self sharing that Hillman Grad Productions fulfills a lifelong dream.
“As a little girl, I’ve always dreamed of having a record label. Today we announce Hillman Grad Records, an exclusive joint venture partnership with Def Jam Recordings.”
“So excited to have @remarkalble + @yungmaqubela at the helm to help develop the next generation of underrepresented artists. Honored to work with such brilliant talent.”
“At @HillmanGradProductions we believe in identifying and amplifying new talent, and we want to continue to do that in the music industry. Thank you @DefJam for making dreams come true!”
“Never give up on the desires that keep you up at night!”
Big congrats go out to Lena Waithe, who recently announced her newest limited-series, THEM, coming exclusively to Amazon Prime Video in April. You can watch the first intriguing trailer about the show the centers around a Black family who moves into an all-white neighborhood and experiences some rather spooky occurrences on top of racism set in the 1950s during The Great Migration below.
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Photo: Liliane Lathan / Getty
