Artist Publishing Group has entered into a partnership with Makasound Records, Billboard has learned exclusively. APG CEO Mike Caren and Makasound co-founders Chrishan “Prince Chrishan” Dotson and Christian “Hitmaka” Ward are also announcing two new signees under the partnership: Grammy-nominated producer Rob Holladay (Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Megan Thee Stallion) and Aye YB (French Montana, 2 Chainz, Big Sean).
“Hitmaka and Chrishan maintain a rare balance between talent, entrepreneurism, vision and work ethic,” said Caren in the press announcement. “They will continue to win as top creatives and mentors who can both coach and play. We’re excited to partner on their growing list of endeavors.”
The new partnership follows several years of collaboration between APG and Makasound’s co-founders. The relationship has yielded hits such as “Dangerous” by Meek Mill featuring Jeremih and PnB Rock, “Look Back At It” by A Boogie wit da Hoodie, “No Stylist” by French Montana featuring Drake and “Rule the World” by 2 Chainz featuring Ariana Grande.
“Mike gave me my first publishing deal as a writer and producer,” Hitmaka tells Billboard. “He really believed in me and took me under his wing, which has allowed me to open a bunch of different doors. Mike has since deepened the business relationship with me and Chrishan at Makasound. So this new partnership just made sense because he believes a million percent in what we’re doing. He’s like, ‘You are the guys. Let me get out of your way and support you in keeping the momentum you have going.’ It’s a seamless transition to a partnership I’m super excited about with Mike and Chrishan.”
Adds Dotson, “We’ve built Makasound from the ground up, focusing on the records first: what it takes to make a great song, a great piece of work. We take a boutique approach to artists and repertoire, a department in which a lot of the majors are lacking. Many times, these executives are experienced on the technical side, but not when it comes to record creation, understanding how to stay creative, stay motivated and stay hungry. We want to help guide the next generation of producers, songwriters and artists through what we’ve learned when we were at that point in our careers.”
Dotson and Hitmaka established Makasound Records in 2016. During that time, the pair has written and produced hits for platinum-selling artists such as Drake, French Montana, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla $ign, Meek Mill and Gucci Mane.
Artist Publishing Group, a division of Artist Partner Group, was founded in 2004. It has scored its by writers such as 24k Goldn, Taz Taylor, Don Toliver, Ava Max, Charlie Puth and YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
