(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Rap agent Jeremiah “Ice” Younossi has launched the A List Agency, where he will be working closely with 50-Cent’s G-Unit Records and label president Michael “Sha Money” Clervoix in pursuing touring and live concert opportunities for acts such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, Mobb Deep, G-Unit and others.
Sha Money also operates Money Management Group, which oversees the careers of Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo.
“It’s a unique situation where you’ll find a very successful record label, a management company and an agency all in one house,” Younossi told Billboard. “We have three separate entities, but there will be a constant circulation of information with the idea that we’re better developing these artist’s careers by all being in the same building.”
Younossi plans for A List to partner artists with film and touring agencies, and said his brand of hands-on representation is often a better fit for many hip-hop artists than a large agency.
“Rap tradition has a certain model that works for their talent,” Younossi told Billboard. “You’re sort of caught between words where the artist is selling millions of records but they’re from the streets. You don’t want to abandon their core audience but at the same time if they’re marketable you want to provide bigger opportunities [to] put them in front of mainstream American audiences. It’s a balance.”
Younossi recently left Emmel Communications, the booking division of Violator Management, where he was involved in tours and international concerts for artists such as 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott and G-Unit.
Younossi serves as CEO of A List, and is in the process of putting together a full team. The first major project for the company is a large club tour for Mobb Deep, whose new album “Blood Money” will be in stores in early April on the G-Unit/Interscope label. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
