BROOKLYN, NY (CelebrityAccess) – One year ago, All Flowers Group was officially launched as an extension of the Secretly ecosystem, and with it came back the record label concept. Sharing the “same soil, water and sun” approach that has fostered the longtime success of its sister company, Secretly Group – All Flowers united labels Ghostly International with the newly launched drink sum wtr and together the company has grown nearly twofold with a commitment to artist development and legacy-building.
All Flowers Group has expanded to an increasingly imaginative group of leaders across streaming, vinyl, sync licensing, publishing and more. Led by the founding executive team of Sam Valenti IV (Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer (CCO), Nigil Mack (Co-Founder/A&R/CEO of drink sum wtr), Chris Swanson (Co-Founder), Alexandra Berenson (Senior Director of A&R), Kate Ebeling (Marketing Director), Kraegan Graves (Vice President (VP) of Operations, Americas) and Chloé van Bergen (VP of Operations, Europe), the staff has expanded to include Jeremy Daly (Director, Creative Licensing), Yasmin Leung (EU/UK Label Manager), Jeff Owens, who was just promoted from Label Director at Ghostly International to All Flowers Group’s new Director of Projects, North America, as well as new digital marketing and project managers. Molly Smith will now serve as Senior Art Director at All Flowers Group, following a Grammy-nominated stint as Ghostly International’s Art Director.
The company has remained committed to its goal of swimming against the current in an algorithm-saturated and trend-driven landscape – taking chances during early career stages and bringing creativity to commerce with freedom of expression. Focused on breaking unique new forces of hip-hop, R&B and adjacent sounds, drink sum wtr is a true culture label celebrating its inaugural anniversary this month.
drink sum wtr’s roster has exponentially grown from its first new addition – rising Queens, NY rapper deem spencer – to a genre-less community that encompasses recent releases from Aundrey Guillaume, Single Series entries from Heath240, Kayla Steen, Shelley fka DRAM, Sol Galeano, and Wahid, and top-line artist partnerships such as poet aja monet, rapper Kari Faux and singer Gareth Donkin, all of whom have new albums coming out this spring and summer.
“I’m grateful for the support and enthusiasm that drink sum wtr has shown for my album adultSW!M,” says deem spencer. “They understood my vision for the project and worked with my team to develop a solid plan.”
“It’s been a year, and we have accomplished so much here at drink sum wtr. Building an amazing staff, building campaigns around artists that aren’t rushed or cliché, with very curated rollouts to match each of their aesthetic and vibe,” explains CEO Mack, formerly A&R at Motown Records and Republic Records, whose work with drink sum wtr has further carved out an alternative lane of art-forward, commercial acts. “It feels great to be able to really 1000% focus on artist development and watch artists grow into their full potential. Taking notes from labels in the past when a label was not only focused on selling records but building artists to be legacy artists that will span for generations, that’s the drink sum wtr approach now, and going into our second year. We are a genreless label, rooted in hip-hop and R&B, which is reflected in our current roster.”
“This first year of growth for All Flowers Group has been unwaveringly mission-driven,” adds Berenson, Senior Director of A&R, who has been with the company from its inception after years spent as Head of A&R at Vinyl Me, Please. “By taking a bespoke approach to each campaign and working with the best possible partners across a wide range of musical and aesthetic styles. From surrealist blues poetry [aja monet] to southern rap [Kari Faux] to yacht rock-tinged R&B/soul [Gareth Donkin], one thing our artists have in common is their commitment to their craft and their willingness to open the door to their fans to invite them into their world of sound.”
To complement All Flowers Group and drink sum wtr, Ghostly International has maintained a prolific release schedule that is perpetually defined by quality, integrity and individuality. In addition to welcoming singer and songwriter Julie Byrne to its roster, whose highly-anticipated new album The Greater Wings is out July 7, Ghostly has amplified the success and profile of new artist partners like Kate Bollinger, Hana Vu, quickly, quickly and Brijean over the past year, while also rebooting its house and techno imprint Spectral Sound, with dreamcastmoe, gum.mp3 and new partnerships to come.
Secretly is a group of affiliated music and culture companies that include Secretly Group (Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Saddest Factory Records, Secretly Canadian), The Numero Group, Secretly Distribution, Secretly Publishing and All Flowers Group (drink sum wtr, Ghostly International).
