Derrick Aroh

Derrick Aroh, vice president at RCA Records, has been on a mission to make “weird” hip-hop mainstream. Aroh’s first artist signing in 2015 was D.C. rapper GoldLink. That year he released the four-times-platinum, Grammy-nominated single “Crew,” and his major label debut album, At What Cost, was named by Rolling Stone, XXL, Complex, and Pigeons & Planes as one of the best rap albums of the year. 

In 2018, the Brooklyn native—alongside Tunji Balogun (RCA’s executive vice president of A&R and founder of the label Keep Cool) and Adonis Sutherlin (senior vice president of A&R)—secured the signings of two of the genre’s buzziest artists: Brockhampton and Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover). Gambino scored his first hot 100 no. 1 with the three-times-platinum, four-time Grammy-winning single, “This Is America.” At the same time, Brockhampton’s major label debut, Iridescence, shot to no. 1 on the Billboard 200 and since has amassed 170 million audio streams in the U.S. The band followed up with 2019's Ginger, which peaked at no. 3 on Billboard. The album features their platinum single “Sugar.” 

In 2020, Aroh signed rising star Mulatto, who is the first solo female rapper from Atlanta to go gold with her singles “Bitch from da Souf” and “Muwop.” He also signed Kaytranada, who is nominated for three Grammys this year, including Best New Artist.