Within the last decade, Generation Now has emerged as a strong brand within the music space. Most notably, the imprint has elevated the careers of Jack Harlow out of Louisville and Lil’ Uzi Vert from the city of Brotherly Love. Recently, the brand’s brain trust, Leighton “Lake Sheezy” Morrison, Tyree “DJ Drama” Simmons and Don Cannon, spoke to Spotify’s Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins about what drew them to their two most successful artists thus far.
“Thinking about Jack [Harlow] and [Lil’] Uzi [Vert], what’s the thing they came to the table with [that made you say], Oh, we can build off [of] this. Oh, you’ve got this? We can take these things and do x, y and z with them?” Jinx asked during a recent episode of Rap Caviar.
“They were both rappers. I think they both had lyrics. With us being real music fans and real Hip-Hop fans, I think the first thing we were able to gravitate to [was their ability to rap],” Lake Sheezy said succinctly.
“The thing that stuck out about both of them was [their vision]. They both knew where they were going to go. When I first saw Uzi, he was confident as hell. He already knew. Even with Jack, [he knew that he would eventually be a star],” Don Cannon added.
Thus far, DJ Drama, Don Cannon and Lake Sheezy have tied their labels to two stars. Each of Lil’ Uzi Vert’s first two albums has gone platinum. Meanwhile, Jack Harlow has placed at least one single from each of his first two albums in the Billboard Hot 100. Not to mention, he has earned six Grammy nominations in the last three years.
