This Week's Disruptors 02/16/24

We’re back with our first DISRUPTORS of 2024! As always, this group is out making an impact here in Music City. Get to know them all! - Zak (Founder, Nashville Briefing)

Nikki Boon

Manager / Neon Coast

Bio: Boon moved to Nashville after winning the Dr Pepper tuition throw at the SEC Championship Game. She attended Belmont University and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University. She began an internship with Martha Earls as Earls was launching Big Machine Music with Mike Molinar. After graduation, she began working with Earls and became Kane Brown's tour manager and day-to-day manager. The company has since grown and started a joint venture label with Sony and the production company Demasiado. She continues to work on Brown's team and has signed the alt/pop band Nightly for management, tattoo artist Bubba Irwin, songwriter/producer Rajiv Dhall, and co-manages reggaeton artist/actor Victor Perez.

Proudest moment: I take pride in every instance where I've embraced opportunities that pushed me well beyond my comfort zone. I once attended an event where I saw Martha Earls, whom I had just heard speak in college. I walked up to her and thanked her for her time and she offered me an internship on the spot. Reflecting on that, I realize how different my life would be now if I hadn't taken that small step to simply say “hello” and “thank you.”

JUSTIN CAUSEY-Bullock

Artist Manager / Black City Management

Bio: Causey-Bullock attended Tennessee State University and completed the Music Business Program at the NYU Tisch Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. He has creatively collaborated with businesses such as Nike, FUBU, the Tennessee Titans, Gibson, CMT, and AT&T to help with musical content, creative campaigns, and design. At BlackCity Management, he works with artists who have been featured in Complex, The Fader, NPR, VIBE, and other notable publications. He also hosts his own radio show, The Corner, on 101.5 WXNA and freelances in entertainment production.

Proudest moment: My proudest moment was designing a shoe for Nike in 2019. Nike chose 10 different creatives from the U.S. and let us design a Nike model based on someone or something that inspired us. We were all able to sell our shoe via their website for a limited time. The middle school version of me would never have believed that he made that dream a reality.

Drew de Leon

Co-Founder & Chief Community Officer / The Digilogue

Bio: With over 13 years of experience in the music industry, de Leon is the Co-Founder and Chief Community Officer for the global music and tech community The Digilogue. The Digilogue programs music educational conversations, career resources, and artist discovery content. He is also a partner in the boutique music distribution company MPR Global. He has served as Head of Digital Marketing at Alamo Records and Director of Digital at Def Jam. He has overseen digital campaigns for artists such as Rod Wave, Nas, Teyana Taylor, Pusha T, Danileigh, and Alessia Cara. He started the music agency Blank Label in 2010, developing artists through digital marketing and brand partnerships.

Proudest moment: My proudest moment was producing Digilogue Day in 2022, our first music and tech conference in New York City. It was a massive undertaking since I had never produced one before, but it was so worth it. We had over 500 guests attend.

Chantrel Reynolds

Sr. Marketing Associate / mtheory

Bio: Reynolds received her B.S. in Journalism with a minor in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M.S. in Communications with a concentration in Advertising from Syracuse University. She has almost a decade of experience in the music industry, ranging from live events to labels. As a marketing associate at mtheory, Reynolds is part of the manager services company and serves managers and artists in the Equal Access Development program helping them to create, communicate, and fund their stories and art to effect change within country music.

Proudest moment: Getting the opportunity to work with amazing teams, artists, and art that changes communities, from Kirk Franklin's GRAMMY Award-winning Long Live Love to Jelly Roll's radio chart-topping Ballads of the Broken and every single Equal Access release that radically changes country music!

Temima Shames

CEO/Founder / Next Step Talent and Next Step CRTVS

Bio: At Next Step Talent, Shames and her team work with creators, brands, and artists to help grow their social media presence and scale startups 5-10x. They have secured partnerships with YouTube, Meta, Disney Music Group, Snapchat, BOSS, Neutrogena, HBO, Netflix, Target, Universal Music Group, NYX Cosmetics and many more. Shames and her team have secured clients over 6 Billion YouTube views, a #7 debut Spotify Album, highlights in YouTube’s Black Creator Class of 2023, TikTok’s biggest POV star and more. Shames has worked to promote the non-profit OutRight Action International which supports the LGBTQIA+ community and has worked with Women PowHer Music, encouraging women to start businesses during quarantine. She will soon publicly launch her second company, Next Step CRTVS.

Proudest moment: I don't necessarily have a proudest moment. I love each and every big win that my clients have or my employees have. For me, it is rewarding to watch and help others succeed.

Aaron Spalding

Tour Promoter / Live Nation

Bio: Spalding's first music industry job was as a production assistant at CMA Fest for three consecutive summers while he was in high school. During college, he began working at Live Nation Chicago as a booking assistant to Jason Wright and to the entire Midwest team. He joined the Live Nation Touring division with Brian O'Connell in late 2017 and has been with the company since. Currently, he is working with Morgan Wallen, Darius Rucker, HARDY, Bailey Zimmerman, Maren Morris, and Brooks & Dunn.

Proudest moment: Two nights at Wrigley Field with Morgan Wallen. It's an iconic venue. The weather was perfect, the crowds were insane, and we ate hot dogs for three!

William Tenney

Managing Partner / SunPop

Bio: After graduating from Northeastern University with a degree in Music Industry and Business Administration, Tenney worked at Goldman Sachs and served as Head of Streaming Strategy and Promotion at Crush Music, overseeing campaigns for Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Green Day, and more, all while building the NYC-based label and management company, SunPop. As a managing partner, he looks after artists like Quarters Of Change (Elektra/Warner) and PTS! (Epitaph) and runs label services campaigns for everyone from Def Leppard to Imanbek. Also an artist himself, Tenney has toured North America in various capacities with artists like Lauv, Cash Cash, and Parachute - and currently plays in the rock band Exit.

Proudest moment: Working with Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer on the Hella Mega Stadium tour was pretty cool. Also, giving my parents my first platinum plaque and watching Quarters of Change go from 100 to 1500 cap rooms.