Self-styled “outsider” label Bad Habit has re-upped its joint venture deal with Atlantic Records as it expands its management activities and prepares an entry into the live music space.
The growing business has signed Bay Area rapper G-Eazy to its management arm, Billboard has learned, joining a Bad Habit roster that includes The Neighbourhood, Bakar and Dora Jar.
Additionally, Bad Habit is helming The Vigil, a two-day event taking place April 4-5 in Los Angeles at Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and featuring headline performances from Jesse of The Neighbourhood (night one) and G-Eazy (night two). The Vigil bill also includes Yeek, EKKSTACY, Goody Grace, Fade Em All, Sam Austins and DJ Quinn.
Bad Habit was co-founded in 2015 by New Zealand-born industry veteran Kirk Harding and Nigerian-American producer and creative director Matthew “Baus” Adesuyan. “Following two back-to-back sold-out shows at the Hollywood Bowl in 2021,” with The Neighbourhood and Burna Boy, notes Adesuyan, “we felt inspired to create a platform for our artists to showcase their live sets and to kick-off festival season. We’ve started this year setting up some amazing projects on our management side with G-Eazy, Jesse, and Bakar, and we want to celebrate what’s to come.”
The Atlantic Records alliance is an extension of an arrangement initially struck in 2018. Soon after, the label’s frontline artist Burna Boy went on a tear.
The Nigeria-born Afrobeats artist (real name Damini Ogulu) is a superstar in the U.K., where he’s set to become the first African artist to headline a stadium concert, with a June 3 date at the 60,000-capacity London Stadium. He’s bagged nine top 40 hits in the U.K., including a No. 1 for 2019’s “Own It,” with Stormzy and Ed Sheeran. His sixth and latest studio album, Love, Damini, peaked at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Chart in July.
Career highlights include a Grammy Award for 2020’s Twice as Tall (best global music album), a headline show at New York’s Madison Square Garden in April, and sold-out dates at London’s Wembley Arena in November 2019 and at The O2 Arena in August 2021.
“Julie [Greenwald], Craig [Kallman], and the entire Atlantic team have been incredible partners in helping us bring artists to global stages,” comments Harding. “We greatly admire their shared passion for nurturing amazing talent and developing new voices. We look forward to continuing to grow our label roster with Atlantic”.
