The hip-hop music industry has many talented women stepping into big roles in the male-dominated industry. Ethiopia Habtemariam is the president of Motown Records. Republic Records named Atlanta’s very own Amina Diop the senior vice-president of A&R. Capitol Music Group hired Amber Grimes as the SVP of Global Creative.
Another fierce woman stepping into a well-deserved title is Joy Young. She’s the southeast regional promotions director for Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation.
11Alive’s Neima Abdulahi sat down with Young for the ATL Culture series. She recently spoke at a sold-out event called ‘Culture Capital’ which took place at the Google Atlanta headquarters.
Neima Abdulahi asked Young about everything from music to being a mogul.
First up music. Joy said her favorite Jay Z song is ‘Excuse Me Miss,' which was was released in 2002 with Pharrell.
“Thinking back on that moment that you were listening to that song, could you have imagined that you’d be affiliated with [Jay-Z] to the point where you’re part of his brand, and part of his company?”
“Absolutely not,” she responded. “But then there are moments where it does hit me. And when those moments happen, I just take it. I take it in and I just appreciate it.”
Young said her status does not exempt her from hardships women face in the industry.
“As a young woman, the first challenge that you encounter is someone taking you seriously [and] just honing in that respect level. You have to prove yourself in the very beginning so someone can look at you and say “cool, I can trust her.’”
Young said there’s one piece of advice that has helped her the most in her career.
“I was always fearless in the pursuit of what I was trying to do and not allowing anybody to tell me that I couldn’t do something,” she said.
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