300 Entertainment’s Kevin Liles Talks $400 Million Warner Deal, Gunna’s No. 1, Mary J. Blige at the Super Bowl and More
variety.comJem Aswad Senior Music EditorKevin Liles is a name that people in the music industry have been hearing for more than 30 years, for an impressive variety of reasons.
He was a top executive at Def Jam and Warner Music, he managed Mariah Carey, D’Angelo and Trey Songz, and he was even a recording artist who had one of his songs covered by Milli Vanilli, of all people, on their multi-multi-platinum 1990 debut album.But he got his biggest look yet in January, when the company he co-founded, 300 Entertainment, was acquired by Warner Music for a reported $400 million.
That company, which releases music by such hip-hop and R&B stars as Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug and Gunna, is now part of Warner Music group, and so is Liles — pictured above with Atlantic co-chairman Julie Greenwald and Warner recorded music chief Max Lousada — who not only remains CEO of 300 but is also CEO of Elektra Music Group, a free-standing label within Warner.
And as if the deal weren’t a big enough flex, just days after it was announced, one of 300’s artists, Gunna, beat out the Weeknd in a photo finish for the No.
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