{"id":165789,"date":"2025-06-10T12:14:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/06\/10\/uicideboy-manager-dana-biondi-shares-secrets-of-rap-sensations-success-and-if-theyd-play-the-grammys\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T12:14:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:14:49","slug":"uicideboy-manager-dana-biondi-shares-secrets-of-rap-sensations-success-and-if-theyd-play-the-grammys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/06\/10\/uicideboy-manager-dana-biondi-shares-secrets-of-rap-sensations-success-and-if-theyd-play-the-grammys\/","title":{"rendered":"$uicideboy$ Manager Dana Biondi Shares Secrets Of Rap Sensation\u2019s Success \u2014 And If They\u2019d Play The\u00a0Grammys"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tIn 2015, Dana Biondi was looking for the future.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe frat-rap and weed-rap crazes in the early 2010s catapulted artists like Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y to fame, but by the middle of the decade, Biondi \u2014 who had promoted shows at New Haven, Conn., club Toad\u2019s Place and had some rap management experience \u2014 sensed a different energy on hip-hop\u2019s horizon. \u201cI had really seen a lot of the fans sit at shows and just kind of bob their head,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI knew that the industry was pushing toward a new movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBiondi found that future in $uicideboy$<\/a>. At the dawn of what would come to be known as the SoundCloud rap era, the New Orleans hip-hop duo, consisting of cousins $crim and Ruby da\u00a0Cherry, had quickly attracted a passionate cult following with their strikingly personal lyrics, rock-influenced sonics and attitude, and, particularly, their riotous live shows. \u201cThe first show that I went to to see them was at the Roxy [in Los Angeles] \u2014 and it was chaos like I had never seen before,\u201d says Biondi, now 36. \u201cBetween the mosh pits and the fandom and the overall show just being\u2026 chaotically beautiful, in a way. I [knew] that they were really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Suicideboys<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tIndie Power Players 2025 List\u00a0Revealed\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tHe started managing the Boy$ shortly after \u2014 along with longtime friend Kyle Leunissen, who introduced him to the duo \u2014 while also serving as music manager for G59 Records, the cousins\u2019 own label. Distributed by The Orchard, G59 now boasts a battalion of similarly minded artists like Shakewell, Germ and Night Lovell who have since cultivated their own fan bases. But the empire all revolves around $uicideboy$, who have not only hit the top\u00a010 of the Billboard\u00a0200<\/a> with each of their four official studio albums but also become a popular arena act with their annual Grey Day Tour (which in 2024 grossed $50.7\u00a0million, according to Billboard Boxscore) and a dominant brand in artist merchandise. (Biondi cites merch sales of over $30\u00a0million in 2024 alone.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBiondi initially endeared himself to $uicideboy$ and proved his capabilities by helping organize their early merch operations. But his versatility is what made him indispensable; now a G*59 label partner, he finds himself \u201cjumping from a marketing call to a merchandising call to a call directly with the artist, to a call with the artist\u2019s family, to a call with a major label, to a call with a lawyer,\u201d wearing many different hats for both artist and label. (In a more literal hat-wearing sense, during his Zoom call with Billboard<\/em>, Biondi reps the brand with a GREY59 skull-and-crossbones cap that complements a G59 RECS hoodie.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd as Biondi has helped the duo build its empire, they\u2019ve mostly avoided traditional pathways to mainstream success: The pair, which has no real conventional hits and only reached the Billboard Hot\u00a0100<\/a> for the first time in 2024 (with \u201cUs\u00a0vs. Them,\u201d which peaked at No.\u00a096), has minimal radio promotion and does few media appearances. But Biondi is proud of what he has achieved with the Boy$ \u2014 who\u2019ve already surpassed 1\u00a0billion on-demand U.S. streams in 2025 alone, according to Luminate \u2014 largely outside of the broader industry machine, and he believes it will only get easier for artists like them to blaze their own trails.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you\u2019re a phenomenal artist and you\u2019re very creative and you wrap the right team around you, the world\u2019s yours,\u201d he says. \u201cI think that the future is indie.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dana<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tDana Biondi photographed May 20, 2025 in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew Salacuse<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tWhen you saw $uicideboy$ the first time, could you see parallels between them and any other artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAt the time, the fandom is what caught me. I saw how the crowd was chanting \u201cG59.\u201d I saw how mesmerized these fans were. There was only, what, 300 or 400 at the show? Maybe even less than that. But they were so engaged \u2014 and I just recognized early on the brand [strength]. And to me, that\u2019s the most important thing: creating a brand and creating the stickiness of a brand with fans. That\u2019s what will keep you around forever.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs far as comparing them [to other artists], I saw a combination of a hard-rock audience that was wearing black \u2014 and that was like skaters and more alternative \u2014 but then, obviously, they\u2019re rappers, so I was able to hear the hip-hop influence of Three\u00a06 Mafia and Bone [Thugs-N-Harmony]. It was kind of the perfect mesh of both genres, and that was really appealing to me because I had grown up listening to a lot of Bone Thugs and a lot of different alternative music.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey\u2019re obviously much bigger now. When was the first moment that you went, \u201cOK, this isn\u2019t just something that can happen \u2014 this is something that is currently happening\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen we started working full-on together, one of the first things I did was I brought them overseas and had them play proper club rooms. That was kind of a defining point \u2014 I was in the middle of Europe and the fandom was insane. I was like, \u201cMan, this is going to work on a very big level, both here and domestically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA large part of our early success was doing a proper tour with proper routing overseas, in Australia and in Europe, and kind of showing the U.S. fans that this was a cultural movement and it was worldwide\u2026 and they were pulling the same amount, if not more, of people overseas than they were pulling in the U.S. The U.S. had to play a little bit of catch-up.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s pretty unconventional for mainstream acts to do an annual outing like the Grey Day Tour, as opposed to touring in conjunction with an album or a promotional cycle. What made you confident that this was the best touring strategy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tGrowing up, I had always loved the concept of Warped Tour and how they went to so many different cities and brought so many different people around. It really created a yearly concert that each fan, no matter what, just signed up for. They were like, \u201cWe trust the Warped team to give us a great bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe year that we started Grey Day [2019] \u2014 the year before was the last year of Warped. I saw a void in the marketplace, and that\u2019s where Grey Day came from. Our lane was emerging, and it was very similar to that hard-rock, Warped lane \u2014 but it was obviously much more focused on hip-hop.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo I said, \u201cLet\u2019s just create our own yearly [tour], and let\u2019s always look at some new artists that are up-and-coming \u2014 some friends that we just like to work with and like to tour with \u2014 and continue to keep it fresh and new and give the fans what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dana<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tDana Biondi photographed May 20, 2025 in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew Salacuse<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tEarlier this year, Billboard<\/em> reported<\/a> that you guys were shopping the catalog. Why did you think now\u2019s the time for that, and has anything come of it yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s something that we are doing, and we just felt like it was a good time to try and gauge interests, really, and see where the market was for it. The guys have put out a lot of great music, and we plan on putting out a lot more albums and a lot of other great music. We look at the new music, starting this year, as the next phase of $uicideboy$. We\u2019re just interested in the reach of the old music and looking for a partner to possibly consider for that.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut nothing firm there yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe have something firm, but it\u2019s not done yet. So I can\u2019t really speak on that.<\/p>\n

\n\tAre there specific goals that they or you and the team have for the next few years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019ve hit so many different home runs in terms of touring and ticket sales and merchandise sales and streaming numbers. It would be nice to finally get some notoriety on the awards side of things, just because we feel like we are one of the biggest artists in music and our numbers and all of our credits show it.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then, other than that, just continuing to make the Grey Day Tour bigger and continuing to get more eyes and views on the music. There\u2019s still so many times where somebody will ask me what I do and I\u2019ll tell them, and they\u2019ll say, \u201cOh, I\u2019ve never heard of those guys.\u201d Which means that there\u2019s more fans for us to attract. It\u2019s always something that I enjoy hearing and shows that we still have some more work to do.<\/p>\n

\n\tWould $uicideboy$ play the Grammys?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t(Laughs<\/em>.) I think so. They would definitely do it their own way because that\u2019s how we do it. But I think they would. I think they would rock the house, and I think the rest of the world would view that performance as something really different and something that they might enjoy themselves. A lot of people would discover the $uicideboy$ on a stage like that.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dana<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tDana Biondi photographed May 20, 2025 in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew Salacuse<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAs $uicideboy$ become $uicidemen, have you had a conversation with them about what the next 10 or 20 years look like? So much of what they\u2019ve done so far is centered on youth culture and around their fans discovering them at a formative time in their lives. And I\u2019m sure that\u2019ll continue. But as the guys enter their 30s and 40s, have you talked about how to keep the brand vital?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe like to focus on about a year or two at a time. It just helps us stay more on the pulse. I mean, nobody knows how or where music is sonically going \u2013 and they don\u2019t focus too much on the overall sound of everything. But I think our focus is always about a year or two out, and we kind of plan our moves accordingly. Like I said, they\u2019re going to be around forever. What that looks like in five to 10 years? I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\n\tTime will tell. We\u2019ve worked at a really fast pace to this point between doing 50-, 60-, 70-plus shows a year and traveling the world and putting out two to three albums a year. Their pace has been phenomenal. At a certain point, it\u2019s got to let up. But for now, we have a lot of great releases and a lot of really good plans in the future for the next couple of years.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat advice would you give young artists or labels that are just starting to catch their footing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tPicking the right people around you and formulating a team is the most important thing for me. Having everything from an agent to a lawyer to a marketing guy\u2026 It\u2019s not just a one-man show \u2014 it\u2019s a whole team, and everybody has responsibilities on that team to move the ball downfield. I would also say concentrating on your fans and continuing to develop your brand.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere has been a lot of discourse about the lack of developed hip-hop superstars in the past five years \u2014 but it seems like when people have those conversations, they\u2019re mostly talking about the top-level crossover hit-makers of the last 30 years. Do you think cult stars like $uicideboy$ are the future of hip-hop stardom? Is the future of hip-hop independent?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think so. Fans are now just focused on what they want to listen to. We did so many years of going on a playlist, like a RapCaviar, and finding out about songs. And now I think word of mouth is back and hearing about songs \u2014 whether it\u2019s through quick videos like Instagram or TikTok or friends that are listening and hearing about new sounds \u2014 I think it\u2019s back to the streets, even though the streets are in a different form these days.<\/p>\n

\n\tDigital streets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tYeah, the digital streets \u2014 and I think that\u2019s the key to the future. People will take notice over time. It might not happen immediately \u2014 or it might happen immediately \u2014 but people will take notice. It\u2019s all about developing that brand and creating something that has stickiness and has power.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story appears in the June 7, 2025, issue of <\/em>Billboard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2015, Dana Biondi was looking for the future. The frat-rap and weed-rap crazes in the early 2010s catapulted artists like Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y to fame, but by the middle of the decade, Biondi \u2014 who had promoted shows at New Haven, Conn., club Toad\u2019s Place and had some rap management experience \u2014 sensed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}