New VP of Def Jam, Abou Thiam, on His Brother Akon, Haters and What He Saw in T-Pain

Abou Thiam was inspired to pursue a career in music after growing up listening to his father play drums. Bu’s older brother was determined to break into the industry as an artist, and Bu followed suit. His older brother would realize his dreams and take the music industry by storm as multiplatinum singer-songwriter-producer Akon. Bu initially hoped for success as an artist and even became a hype-man for rapper Lil Zane, but he soon realized his destiny lay on a different path.

“I realized that I wanted to be my own boss and have my own company and have my own group. I decided to do that as opposed to be being an artist,” he says. “I wanted to be an artist as well, but…ain’t no money in that [laughs].”

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