President of Raedio Tells Us Why It’s the "Summer of Raedio"

Insecure is a show that bleeds for the culture! With the super talented Issa Rae as the star, she makes the show truly what it is. We know Issa has a strong team behind her and that includes the talented and innovative Benoni Tagoe. As the president of Raedio, a platform that is home to a dynamic roster of talent reaching across film and tv projects, commercials, and podcasts, Benoni brings talent, music supervision, and creativity to life on several media platforms. Standing behind his statement “we’re creators first”, his vision transcends into the life of the productions supervised by Raedio and it shows how Raedio is the platform where creatives can thrive.

From a background of music working with the likes of The Jonas Brothers and Mindless Behavior, Benoni shows that as a Black man, the stereotypes don’t have to be against you. In his words, you truly make you who you are, so walk into the room and make your purpose and status known. He is a man of dignity, success, and most of all a Black man for the culture!

Creating platforms for the culture is something that’s imperative these days. With the birth of Raedio, you are creating a space for musically creative individuals to shine. What does leading this organization mean to you?

We’re creators first. I started back in 2011 with Issa when working on the Awkward Black Girl series and we always knew that Issa had the talent and that we had the vision to do things. Unfortunately, we weren't given the opportunity. In that, we had to create those opportunities and get those wins ourselves. Once we were able to do that, we made it a mission to create opportunities for others. When we created Raedio, we aimed to do just that. We already had a stronghold on TV and the Web, but we wanted to focus on creating opportunities for music. I started out working for the Jonas Brothers and Mindless Behavior, so music has always been in my background. With Insecure, we were providing a platform for a lot of artists because we loved their sound and we wanted to get them those looks. With Raedio, we wanted to create a company that would provide those platforms and opportunities for individuals who didn’t know how to take that first step to get into the music industry. We created it because these artists deserved it because of their talent and the work they put in to get to the next level.

What makes this summer, the "Summer of Raedio"?

The reason that this is the "Summer of Raedio" is because the momentum and volume of work that we are attached to are coming out this summer. This summer alone we’ll have artist releases from the label side from our entire roster. We're working on a project with a podcast. We have multiple projects on the music supervision side with TV and film. We also have a couple of brands that we're working with as well. As far as working while not being seen and building muscle, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. We’ve been building on what we stand for, what we’re about, and what we want to start to communicate to the industry. So, this summer is going to be a result of us being in the gym, were working and now we want everyone to see our muscles with these projects were rolling out. I'm extremely excited about the opportunities that we’ve been able to create for creators and we’re ready to showcase it all.

With the new season of Insecure approaching, viewers are excited and anticipating the final season. What creative direction musically was put in place to make this season memorable?

The ending of anything is always memorable. The journey it took to get Insecure on the air from season 1 episode 1 has been a ride! It hasn’t always been easy, but we pushed through. Outside of the great storytelling, character development, and culture, the music has always been a character and provided a storyline that has lasted throughout all the seasons. The characters this season are older and more mature, they’ve learned from their mistakes and the music for this season will reflect that. We've secured amazing talent for this season such as PJ Morton at one of the writing camps mentoring our writers. We also had Bryan Michael Cox, Alex Isely, and so many others to help craft the sound. This season as the final sendoff feels extra special and we’re excited about the music and how it helps tell the story.

Recently Raedio launched its Sync Up competition to allow artists, producers, and songwriters a chance to be featured on Insecure. What was the dynamic of setting up this competition?

Again, were creators first, and this is a legit platform to give creators opportunities. As we were doing the writing camps, we got a lot of questions and inquiries on social media from people wanting to be a part of it. We decided to create a campaign to give them a chance to be on the show. They submitted their music, we went through it and came up with 10 finalists who were invited to the writing camp for their music to be featured on the Insecure show and the soundtrack. We received over 8,000 submissions and it's been very successful.

In terms of putting Raedio on the map, it's been great because we got a chance to expand our community in a good way. The chance for us to pair with great artists and them wanting to even pair with us gave that good, natural halo effect in terms of the communication around our brand. The Sync Up competition did just that for us. In particular for Insecure we specifically hosted the writing camps for the last two seasons. We helped find the music, source the artists and help provide the music for the show, and put out the soundtrack which debuted top ten.

Your resume is very extensive. From working with the Jonas Brothers, being the head of Issa Rae Productions, to founding your own business, The Bizz Plan, you’ve created a platform for yourself to grow. How do you feel these experiences have shaped your life?

In a lot of ways, I call myself an A&R for creators. The person that goes out and finds artists, and helps them develop their sound. I've always worked behind incredible Black women. So, when I had The Bizz Plan, it was only Black women as my clients, and at its peak, I had 5 clients at a time all doing different businesses. In this, you have to understand that no two people are the same and you have to approach everyone differently and understand who they are, where they want to go, their strengths, and their weaknesses. You have to be able to adapt your skillset to each person. What you find is the foundation that you have to have to who you are and how you do things. You have to be flexible to apply that foundation to each person. Essentially having a career that has expanded and worked across different sectors has been incredibly helpful in forming the way I think.

According to The Bizz Plan, what does “turning likes into commerce” mean to you?

The thought process behind the Bizz Plan was that a lot of my clients were doing something that was heavily based on social media. So, I would find a way to turn those likes into a legitimate business. If you're a person who posts selfies on Instagram and people love the way you look, that’s great but can we come out with a clothing line or partner with a company to come out with a collection. I managed a woman by the name of Peak Mill who was known as one of the top wig makers in the world. For her, she helped many companies with their hair products and so on. I pitched to her to come out with her own hair care line which became a multimillion-dollar deal at that time. It's essentially taking what people are already doing and creating a business model around it.

Tell me more about the mission behind Camp Raedio and how it helps the culture of Black music today.

With Camp Raedio, it’s an opportunity for creatives to come into one room and create music together. We've done Camp Raedio for P-Valley which is on Starz, of course Insecure, and for a new show coming on HBO Max, Rap Sh*t. It's an opportunity to bring together a community and just have good energy and bring people in rooms to be able to focus on one common goal.

The sounds of Raedio have been featured on several platforms such as TV, Podcasts, Soundtracks and more. How does Raedio juggle music supervision, helping new artists grow, and maintaining the business as a whole?

Early mornings (laughs)! Hence the reason why I am up this early Friday morning doing this interview (laughs). It’s really about having a solid team that brings a lot to the table. Not only just having the team, but allowing that team to exercise their creativity. Whether it’s the person at the highest level in the C-Suite or the intern that just starting their career, it’s allowing them to have their platform to speak and bring their skillset. It's also having a clear mission. I find myself constantly repeating the vision, where we are going, and why we're doing it. It’s to the point where I get annoyed with hearing it (laughs). It's my job to make sure that it’s in the fabric of our day to day of business. If you repeat it enough as a leader, then your team will get it and find themselves saying things in the way you say it. It's all about communicating a clear vision.

What does it mean for you as a Black man to be able to create and establish the connections you’ve made over the years?

To be able to have the success that I've had in my career over the years means everything to me because I don’t take any of it for granted. I understand that things are privileged and that there are some rooms I could not have been in. Some of the creators I've had the chance to work with could've chosen someone else. To be an entrepreneur, a businessman, and to be Black, it feels incredible. There also is a certain level of pressure to make sure I am stepping up to the plate in every way. When I am a part of something I have to make sure my presence is felt in that realm. I'm ultimately contributing and bringing something to the table and not just sitting at it. It's something that I definitely don’t take lightly and I am always working on my craft. I'm in school all the time, I'm reading all the time, and I dedicate my career to being a certain individual when I walk into rooms. It’s a constant building process.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give our Black male readers who are following your footsteps of entrepreneurship in the music industry?

Do what you believe in, have character, have integrity, and go with your gut. That is the best advice I'd give. As your thinking about entrepreneurship and what you want to do, think to yourself why are you the person that should be doing this thing. What's unique about you that makes you right for this thing and the best that it can be. If you can answer that question of why you and not the next person, then you can go wherever you want to go.