Roc Nation co-presidents Shari Bryant and Omar Grant are doing it real big in honor of their fifth anniversary leading the entertainment empire.
Since Bryant and Grant took the helm in 2019, Roc Nation’s roster has experienced remarkable growth in each artist’s career, adding to a collective boost in the label’s cultural impact. Given their backgrounds, with Bryant previously serving as the GM/Partner of Alamo Records and Grant having undertaken tour manager roles for Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and more, the two industry leaders joined Roc Nation to develop its roster of emerging artists from the ground up.
Beginning with a few promising talents with modest followings, the label has since nurtured these new artists into cultural powerhouses like Maeta, whose 860K global streams in 2019 grew 70x to a shattering 60M global streams in 2023. Ambre’s three million global streams in 2019 saw a 17x increase after rising to 50 million in 2023. Kalan.FrFr, whose recently released album has cultivated the support of musical power players Ty Dolla $ign, Tyga, and G Herbo, among others, has seen his social growth shoot up 840% since both presidents came on the scene.
“I’m confident when I say I truly believe we’ve created some next-generation superstars in the short time we’ve been in this role,” Bryant tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“It’s also worth acknowledging how our internal team has also grown. The artists we work with are deeply supported by a powerful engine of marketers, A&R reps, managers, and more — I’ve seen a lot of growth not only in the volume of team members over the years but as skilled professionals as well. It’s been very cool to collaborate with teams on ideas and see their innovations come to life to drive our talent forward.”
Through Bryant and Grant’s leadership, Roc Nation has forged partnerships with streetwear giants like PUMA for Hip Hop 50, challenged the status quo of NYC’s rap scene through their artists, and leveraged the legendary influence of iconic predecessors like Jadakiss, DJ Guru, and Jay-Z whose footsteps are followed by Roc Nation’s new talent.
It’s a full-circle role for Bryant, who got her start
in the entertainment industry working as an intern at Roc-A-Fella Records at just 16 years old. From there, she spent the last two decades continuing her climb up the industry ladder, working at Def Jam Recordings, Warner Bros, Atlantic Records, and holding the title of GM/Partner of Alamo Records.Now, as co-president at Roc Nation, Bryant oversees the label’s marketing efforts, enhancing artist visibility and leveraging all facets of the Roc family, from sports to fashion, to create comprehensive marketing strategies. The challenges she’s faced in previous roles have prepared her for the tough decision-making in her current leadership position.
“I think there’s always certain challenges women, especially Black women, face in the entertainment industry. I’ve worked hard to get here,” she says. “There’s an old saying we must work twice as hard to get half the credit. That work sometimes meant fighting to get your voice heard, your ideas considered, taken as seriously as some of your peers.”
“Fortunately, those experiences helped me develop a sense of confidence and certainty in myself,” she continued. “It’s easy to be swayed or question yourself –-
especially in an industry where there really is no single formula for success. At Roc, my job requires listening to my intuition often, and every experience I’ve had over the years has helped me do that.”With new artists constantly emerging and taking up space within the popular music scene, both Bryant and Grant remain dedicated to building a legacy, a mission that lies at the core of Roc Nation’s DNA.
“We don’t chase trends. If one kind of sound is popping off on the West Coast, or we see another saturating the East, we don’t necessarily feel the need to mold our artists into that,” Bryant says.
“We’re focused on staying true to each artist’s essence. We’ve been in the game long enough to understand trends change. Many of our artists don’t really fit into a traditional box; some have sounds that blend multiple genres that you can’t quite put your finger on.”
Now at the five-year mark of their Roc Nation careers, both co-presidents have an exciting lineup planned for this summer, including new artist signings, collaborative album releases, and some first-ever initiatives for the label.
“We’re excited for a lot coming down the pipeline at the label,” Bryant teased. “We saw a lot of success doing a compilation project last year and the rapport and inspiration it built among our artists. So we’re eager to see what another iteration of that looks like this year.”
RELATED CONTENT: Roc Nation To Produce Documentary On Legendary NYC Entertainers Basketball Classic League