Kwame signs with VITA for global management: Exclusive

Kwame has signed-up with Vita Artists for management, TIO can exclusively reveal.

The rising Australian rapper and producer (full name Rich Kwame Amevor) joins the roster at Guven Yilmaz’s Vita Music Group.

Kwame comes to the independent music company with a growing tally of goals scored.

In 2018, the youngster bagged a bunch of breaks with triple j Unearthed Artist of the Year 2018 status and the Unearthed Splendour in the Grass title.

Also, he took out FBi Radio ‘Next Big Thing’ and FBi Radio ‘Song Of The Year’ honours.

Kwame’s talents were spotted by Universal Music Group division Def Jam Australia, which signed him for ‘Please, Get Home Safe,’ his third EP. 

Along the way, his single ‘CLOUDS’ premiered on Apple Music 1 (previously Beats 1) Radio with Zane Lowe, Kwame hit several shows at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and criss-crossed the country for a handful of sold-out tours.

Stream Kwame’s ‘CLOUDS’:

“To be honest, this isn’t really different for both Guven and I,” Kwame explains. “We’ve been on the same wavelength since the moment we first met. He’s family, he sees and understands the vision.”

Vita will manage Kwame’s career for the world. It’s an extension to a relationship that has run across two years on the touring front. 

To have “someone like that in a managerial position for the first time is exhilarating, the shift has been evident,” he enthuses. “We’re just getting started.”

For the immediate future, Kwame will focus his energies on a new EP which he hints will be coming “very soon.”

Based in Melbourne, Vita Music Group is a boutique full-service artist development company with its focus on agency and touring, and newly-launched management division. It boasts the likes of Peking Duk, Chaii and Young Lions on its books.

Its founder and managing director Guven Yilmaz reckons Kwame has a bright future. “I’ve always been drawn to positivity and ambition, and Rich is the embodiment of both,” he tells TIO.

Kwame and the team at Vita will continue to explore his “artistic vision” and “ensure that we’re moving forward with the right teams and support network,” Yilmaz adds.

Guven Yilmaz

“The moment Rich and I spoke about working closer together it made sense,” he says. “Keep your eyes peeled”

Yilmaz and other entrepreneurs playing in the live space have had to pivot hard during the pandemic.

The company’s primary activity is the agency. “So we were first to see the impending avalanche of show cancellations and postponements,” explains Yilmaz.

The lockdown in Melbourne and the suspension of touring has gifted the executive a chance to assess opportunities.

One bright spot will be the launch of the new management venture, which will operate autonomously to the agency.

“Working in a different facet of the industry has further increased my passion and creativity in a time where it feels we’re overloaded with negative information,” he explains.

“We’ll have more positivity to share soon.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.