
Belly Inspires Students at Berklees 15th Business of Hip-Hop Music Symposium The Roc Nation/XO recording artist and his team discussed his rise to success and shared business advice for working in the music industry.
By
Colette Greenstein
October 13, 2021
Left to right: Tonya Butler, chair of the Music Business/Management Department; artist and producer Belly; songwriter and producer DaHeala; and Lola Plaku, Bellys manager and founder and CEO of Lola Media Group
Image courtesy of the artist
Berklees Music Business/Management Department presented its 15th annual Business of Hip-Hop Music Symposium on Thursday, October 7, with special guest Roc Nation/XO recording artist Belly.
The Palestinian-born and Canadian-raised Belly is an award-winning singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer who has accumulated more than seven billion streams across his catalogue. After writing Love Me Harder for Ariana Grande and the Weeknd in 2014, he cowrote six tracks on the Weeknd's four-times platinum album Beauty Behind the Madness, including Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Bellys latest album, See You Next Wednesday, was released to critical acclaim, accumulating over 100 million streams and featuring artists such as Nas, the Weeknd, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Moneybagg Yo, and more.
Hosted by Tonya Butler, chair of the Music Business/Management Department, the symposium provided an opportunity for students to hear firsthand about Belly's music industry experiences, from being an independent artist and landing a deal with a major label to the importance of owning your intellectual property and maintaining your creative freedom.
Belly's journey resonated with all of us on a very personal level, said Butler. When I asked Belly about his brand and how he wanted to be seen, and he replied that he'd rather the world hear him, rather than see him, I almost dropped my mic. I was already impressed by his artistry and business savvy, but I had no idea about the depths of his wisdom and his ability to inspire our students.
Joining Belly on the panel was his longtime marketing and strategy consultant, Lola Plaku, and one of his frequent collaborators, Canadian songwriter and producer DaHeala. During the event, Belly and DaHeala reminisced about how they got their start making and selling mixtapes, and Plaku talked about joining the team nearly 15 years ago when she was a journalist in Canada. She had interviewed Belly and later ended up writing biographies for him and his record label. They liked what she wrote, and the rest is history.
DaHeala rose to prominence after his extensive work alongside the Weeknd and other artists including Halsey, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Gesaffelstein, French Montana, and Nav. He coproduced the majority of the Weeknd's debut album, Kiss Land, and was an executive producer on Beauty Behind the Madness, which debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and earned a Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
Plaku is now the founder and CEO of the Toronto- and New York-based agency Lola Media Group (LMG), which specializes in artist marketing and brand development. Since its launch in 2017, LMG has worked closely with SALXCO and XO Records, consulting on projects including French Montana's Jungle Rules; Nav's Bad Habits and Good Intentions-both of which debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200-and Belly's Mumble Rap, Immigrant, and See You Next Wednesday.
Belly, DaHeala and Lola were three of the most generous and gracious guests we've ever had, said Butler. They are all honorary members of the Berklee family, and I look forward to their continued success.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Contemporary Music Is Our History: A Sonic Timeline Listen to 75 songs that made Berklee what it is today.
Latest
Left to right: Berklee Provost Larry Simpson, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo, Berklee NYC Executive Director Stephen Webber, Berklee trustee Pete Muller, and Berklee President Erica Muhl
Image by Ryan Nava
Berklee NYC Reopens the Legendary Power Station Recording Studio with Star-Studded Kickoff The event featured remarks from Cyndi Lauper, Nona Hendryx, and Berklee President Erica Muhl, among others.
Duke Ellington, Berklees first honorary doctorate recipient, performs for guests at the colleges 1971 commencement ceremony.
Image courtesy of the Berklee archives
Berklee Legacy Award Concert Honors African American Trailblazers in Music and Dance Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Joseph Douglass, and Carmen de Lavallade will be celebrated for their contributions.
Left to right: Tonya Butler, chair of the Music Business/Management Department; artist and producer Belly; songwriter and producer DaHeala; and Lola Plaku, Bellys manager and founder and CEO of Lola Media Group
Image courtesy of the artist
Belly Inspires Students at Berklees 15th Business of Hip-Hop Music Symposium The Roc Nation/XO recording artist and his team discussed his rise to success and shared business advice for working in the music industry.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
03/04/2026
Live Vertical Video automatically track the action on the court via AI technology and delivers a fully optimized, 9 16 live feed for viewers...
03/04/2026
As the Illini make their first trip to college basketball's biggest stage si...
03/04/2026
After last summer's Softball National Championship victory and last week'...
03/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
03/04/2026
Eight games across four tournaments will be played in three venues; accommodatio...
03/04/2026
The Ottawa Senators and Bell Media have announced a long-term rights extension for regional Ottawa Senators games on TSN and RDS. TSN Radio 1200 remains the exc...
03/04/2026
Massive production in Phoenix is run out of Game Creek Video Flagship mobile uni...
03/04/2026
Iconic guitar pedals now available in plug-in form
Guitar effects experts Electro-Harmonix have teamed up with MixWave to turn a collection of their most pr...
03/04/2026
New multi-band AUv3 plug-in announced
Fred Anton Corvest (FAC) offer an extensive range of AUv3 plug-ins and iOS/iPadOS Apps, and their multiband effects pr...
03/04/2026
Just 84 units to be released in the US
Experimental synthesizer and sound-machine extraordinaires SOMA Laboratory have revealed an upcoming special-edition ...
03/04/2026
Emulates the input section of an Ampex 350
One of the latest arrivals to the Iconic Instruments range delivers a new tube preamp plug-in inspired by the cir...
03/04/2026
New York April 2, 2026 TelevisaUnivision, the world's leading Spanish-la...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, today announces the launch of its new German operation and the formati...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) today announces the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer, strengthening its leadership as the company conti...
03/04/2026
Net Insight introduces programmable Trust Boundaries that make live media interconnection predictable as traffic moves between facilities, networks and cloud en...