NEW YORK, March 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a global publishing deal with Grammy-winning artist and songwriter Michael Render aka Killer Mike, who is part of the popular hip-hop super duo, Run The Jewels. The deal includes his entire catalog and future works.
The Atlanta-born Mike has released four studio albums alongside his Run The Jewels partner, EL-P. Their most recent, RTJ4, soared to the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and was met with widespread critical acclaim, landing at #1 on NME’s The Best 50 Albums of 2020 list. Named the 2020 Spin Magazine Artist of the Year, Run The Jewels have won eleven Libera Awards, including the 2021 A2IM Humanitarian Award, took home four Clio Awards, including two Gold-winning Music Marketing campaigns, and received a 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song. The duo confirmed a tour with Rage Against The Machine, set for later this year.
Beyond his work with Run The Jewels, Mike has been an active solo artist for over 20 years, releasing studio albums and mixtapes, while also collaborating on projects by some of the biggest names in hip-hop including Outkast, Jay-Z, Big Boi, T.I., Black Thought, and more. Mike secured a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance Duo or Group for his collaboration with Outkast, “The Whole World,” and also featured on “Poppin’ Tags” off Jay-Z’s #1 and triple-Platinum album, The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse.
In addition to his success as a musician, Mike has gained wide recognition beyond the industry. He acted in several films, including Baby Driver, Idlewild, and ATL. He also provided voiceover for the 2021 Netflix film America: The Motion Picture and is the host of multiple series including PBS’ Love & Respect with Killer Mike, Facebook’s Roll’N with Killer Mike, and Netflix’s Trigger Warning with Killer Mike.
Mike is an advocate for the disenfranchised, a business owner, and a frequent public speaker on politics, race, and inequality in many communities. In 2020, Mike’s extensive work as a social justice activist earned him the first-ever Billboard Change Maker Award.
On the deal, Mike said, “A great publisher is a major key to success, and I’m excited to embark on this phase of my career with the dynamic team at Reservoir.”
Faith Newman, Reservoir Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development, added, “Killer Mike has been a fixture of hip-hop for decades now, and both his past successes and upcoming music continue to push boundaries and address deeply meaningful topics. Artists and visionaries of his caliber do not come around often, and we are grateful to be the publishing home for such a trailblazing creator.”
ABOUT RESERVOIR
Reservoir is an independent music company based in New York City and with offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, London, and Abu Dhabi. Reservoir is the first U.S.-based publicly traded independent music company and the first female founded and led publicly traded music company in the U.S. Founded as a family-owned music publisher in 2007, Reservoir has grown to represent over 140,000 copyrights and 36,000 master recordings with titles dating as far back as 1900 and hundreds of #1 releases worldwide. Reservoir holds a regular Top 10 U.S. Market Share according to Billboard’s Publishers Quarterly, was twice named Publisher of the Year by Music Business Worldwide’s The A&R Awards, and won Independent Publisher of the Year at the 2020 Music Week Awards.
Reservoir also represents a multitude of recorded music through Chrysalis Records, Tommy Boy Records, and Philly Groove Records and manages artists through its ventures with Blue Raincoat Music and Big Life Management.
Source: Reservoir Media, Inc.
