KEYNOTE INTERVIEW - The Creator Economy and Brand Partnerships

Keynote Speaker:

Amaechi Uzoigwe - Artist Manager & Entrepreneur, Run The Jewels & Portfolio Africa

Amaechi Uzoigwe is an award-winning creative executive, entrepreneur & innovator with a history of building celebrated careers, brands & ventures. His work has been the recipient of 1x Emmy, 2x Cannes Lions, 7x CLIO’s, & 12x Libera Music Awards, and is the only 3x winner of it’s coveted Marketing Genius trophy.

Amaechi has had the distinct pleasure of working with some of culture’s most critically-acclaimed & celebrated talent, including Outkast, Danger Mouse, Zack de la Rocha, Spike Lee, Idris Elba, Seal, Rick Rubin, Davido, Angelique Kidjo, Jack White, WizKid, Trent Reznor, Lorde, Mos Def, A-Trak, Black Thought, Young Thug, DJ Shadow, Saul Williams, Afel Boucoum, TV on the Radio, Just Blaze, Erykah Badu, Dizzee Rascal, J Dilla, Kool Keith, Matthew Shipp, and China Forbes (Pink Martini), plus visual artists Banksy, PHASE 2, Virgil Bloh, Vulcan, Alfonso Cuaron, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, AG Rojas, Jermaine Rogers, Titmouse (Rick & Morty), Beeple, Mike Giant & more.

Currently, as co-manager & business partner of multi-Grammy-winning & Gold Certified artists Killer Mike & EL-P of Run the Jewels, he oversees music, publishing, creative marketing, visual media, technology, e-com, apparel, touring, licensing & philanthropy. He’s also the co-founder of Juice Runners and BaRTJ.club, creators & purveyors of award-winning craft beverages. As an artist manager, he has deep experience in all aspects of the industry and has developed an extensive network with premier ecosystem partners & brands. An early adopter & innovator in the tech space, he launched his first website in 1994, first desktop app in 2003, a digital download store in 2005, a music tech start up in 2008, and with Run the Jewels, jumped head first into the worlds of VR, AR, 3D, gaming, blockchain & more to create world-class, award-winning content.

Most recently, Amaechi launched Portfolio Africa & Studio A.I. (Studio of African Intelligence), focusing on representing talent from African & the diaspora, plus IP investment & development, technology, media, events & social impact. Clientele includes The Cavemen, DJ Tunez, Melvitto, Songhoy Blues, Mwanje, Rowlene, Fat Tony & DAP the Contract. Additionally, he’s an executive producer at GRAiNEY Pictures in Los Angeles, an award-winning documentary & branded content production company whose most recent film, Unzipped, was short-listed for the 2024 Academy Awards.

Institutionally, he joined the faculty at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute as an adjunct instructor in 2021; in 2006 was elected founding Chairman of A2IM, which represents the multi-billion dollar U.S. independent music sector, and was instrumental in establishing global digital rights organization, M.E.R.L.I.N. He also serves as an advisor to creative companies, brands & hedge funds, sits on the boards of the non-profits NYCxDESIGN & iVoted.org, the world’s largest digital music festival, and was recently named Jury Chair for the 2025 Clio Music Awards. Via his philanthropic efforts, he’s helped raise $1M+ over the past 5 years to support victims of police violence, legal support for peaceful protesters plus causes empowering women, children, LGBTQ+ & immigrant communities.

Public Speaking invitations include: Harvard Law School, Cannes Lions, SXSW, NY Times, Grammys/NARAS, San Francisco MusicTech, NYU, Parsons School of Design, Cardozo Law School, Brooklyn Law School, Drexel University, Ohio University, Berklee School of Music, MIDEM, Music Manager’s Forum, American Bar Assoc., NY:LON Conference, RapCon, CLIO Cannabis Awards, MDL BST.

A graduate of the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science & the Arts, Amaechi resides in Harlem, NY with his 2 daughters. He is represented by the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Interviewed By:

Jesse Kirshbaum - CEO of Nue Agency & Beats+Bytes

Jesse Kirshbaum is an American entrepreneur, talent agent, author, executive producer and dealmaker. The multi-hyphenate creative businessman has made his career focused on the epicenter of entertainment, technology and brand marketing. He started his career finding and developing talent and from there has extensive experience securing talent for concerts, tours and endorsement deals for his various clients and brand partners internationally. As an agent, he represented: Pusha T & The Clipse, Wale, Mike Posner, Logic, Asher Roth, White Panda which spawned Gryffn, J. Cole, Big Sean, Action Bronson, Meek Mill and many more.

In the same way he is known for helping to break artists, he now focuses on building robust strategies and campaigns for big & emerging brands that wish to break into the mainstream zeitgeist. He is known as one of the top deal makers and thought leaders in the music, tech and brand intersection. He writes and curates Beats & Bytes, one of the most influential newsletters in entertainment and the biggest music newsletter on LinkedIn. His writing is published all across the web and Jesse has regular featured appearances on platforms such as Cheddar, Yahoo Finance, NASDAQ and a regular guest on the podcast circuit.

In 2021, Kirshbaum was hired as the CMO of Dreamstage, a revolutionary music live streaming company which sold this year to the French company Deezer. He currently resides in Miami and is back as the CEO of Nue Agency as well as teaching a class at American University’s Business School on The Streaming Revolution.