Steven Victor

Steven William Victor (born September 6, 1980) is an American record executive, talent manager, music publisher, and A&R representative.

He is chief executive officer (CEO) of Victor Victor Worldwide, a record label and management agency he founded in 2016. The year prior, he was appointed as the chief creative officer (CCO) of Kanye West's GOOD Music, and also in 2016, the senior vice president of A&R at Universal Music Group—through which he reports directly to chairman Sir Lucian Grainge.^[1] The following year, he was named Head of A&R at Def Jam Recordings, although he departed in 2019 to return to Universal.^[2][3]

Victor was born on September 6, 1980, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, where he was also raised.^[3] He grew up in a multi-family home with his parents and older sister, along with his father's brother and sister's families.^[4] He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta from 1998 to 2002, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and Psychology.^[1][5]

Victor began his career in 2003 with an unpaid internship as a publicist at Interscope Records, to which he was later promoted to publicity assistant in 2004, working in public relations for six years.^[1][3][4] During his tenure at Interscope, he met American rapper and record executive Pusha T, which at the time was one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse. He formed a mutual relationship with Pusha, becoming the publicist and manager for Clipse, and later solely for him.^[6]

In late 2015, Pusha T became president of GOOD Music, and appointed Victor as Chief operating officer of the label as his first course of action.^[7] In late 2016, he was appointed SVP of A&R at Universal Music Group, while simultaneously holding his position at GOOD.^[8] He also began managing Tyga, The-Dream, and Desiigner during this time, the latter of whom was signed by Victor to GOOD and Def Jam Recordings.^[1] In November of that year, he founded his own record label and music publishing company, Victor Victor Worldwide as a joint venture with Universal.^[9][10]

In October 2017, he was named EVP & Head of A&R at Def Jam, reporting to then-CEO Paul Rosenberg and replacing his position as SVP of A&R at Universal.^[11][12][13] In August 2019, he left Def Jam and transitioned back to his previous position at Universal, focusing on his label's joint venture with them.^[14]

Victor Victor Worldwide Inc.^[15] (formerly d/b/a as Victor Victor Records^[16] or simply Victor^[17]) is an American record label and music publishing company founded by Victor in New York City on November 3, 2016.^[18] It is a joint venture with Universal Music Group, enabling artists of whom signed with the label to enter recording contracts with any label under the Universal umbrella, although Victor Victor's releases have predominantly been through Republic Records. The label also has a similar joint venture structure with Universal Music Publishing Group for its publishing entity.^[14][19]

Victor Victor is best known for having signed late American rapper Pop Smoke, as well as rappers Ski Mask the Slump God and Pusha T; the former two were signed in conjunction with Republic Records. The label has also signed record producers 16yrold, CashMoneyAP, and YoungKio (with Cash Gang) with UMPG.^[20] Former notable artists signed to the label include American rapper D Savage—who was signed to Victor Victor and Republic in 2017, and later jointly with Capitol Records and Virgin Music before his 2019 departure—as well as rappers Summrs and Autumn.^[21][22][23]

Victor Victor also runs the management firm William Victor Management Group which has managed artists such as Pusha T, The-Dream, CashMoneyAP, and 16yrold, among others.^[11] A majority of the artists signed to the label are managed by the firm itself.^[24]

In June 2020, the label launched the Victor Victor Foundation, a philanthropic initiative which Victor himself has donated US$1 million towards in startup; Victor also donated $25,000 to the "Fund for Public Schools", a nonprofit organization in New York City.^[25][26]