VP, A&R - Def Jam Recordings

27 year-old Bu Thiam is the Vice President of A&R for Def Jam Recordings, and the youngest executive to take that position. Born in Senegal and growing up in New Jersey, the son of legendary drummer and percussionist Mor Thiam, traveled the world with his father, developing his love of music from an early age. Cutting his teeth on tour with Lil Zane as hypeman & road manager, Bu also worked with Bad Boy recording artist Loon before setting his sights on developing his keen sense for identifying musical wonders. His first big break was when he A&R'd Akon’s first album, Trouble, which was also the first release from Konvict Music/Konvict Entertainment. The album did incredibly well and he went on to handle the A&R position on all of Akon’s albums. In 2005, Bu, through Konvict Music, discovered and signed platinum selling and Grammy winning artist T-Pain. In 2006, Bu and Akon made another bold move and became co-CEOs of Kon Live Distribution, a new label via Interscope, which issued Lady Gaga's breakthrough debut album The Fame in 2008, and Bu also discovered and signed Def Jam's 2009 breakthrough artist of the year, Jeremih. As the VP of Def Jam, Bu has played a very instrumental role as an A&R on a few of the company’s top projects: Kanye West and Jay Z's Watch The Throne, Rihanna's Loud, Talk That Talk, and Unapologetic, among many others. He has also recently taken on the prestigious role of Manager to International pop star Chris Brown and is working on his next album. Through his love of music, uncovering and nurturing talent, and his tireless will to succeed, Bu has become one of the industry's youngest and most forward-thinking power players.