Kevin "Coach K" Lee Wiki & Bio - COO - Everipedia

Kevin "Coach K" Lee is the COO of Quality Control Music. He is based in Atlanta.

Kevin "Coach K" Lee grew up in a singe-parent household in Indianapolis. [1] His mother worked at an RCA record pressing plant and would bring home music fresh from the factory. Lee grew up in a household listening to mostly Rhythm and blues and Jazz, but when his mother bought him a copy of the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight", he was hooked and began a lifelong obsession with hip-hop. [1] He would go on to spend money buying records and playing them on his friend's two turntables in his youth as well as with his cousin who was a DJ at the time.

Lee would attend Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina on a basketball scholarship.

After graduating with a degree in Economics, Kevin would return to Indianapolis to start a record label with his friends called Universal Stars. [1] It was there where Lee got his first taste of the music industry, learning the ins and outs of A&R and Management. [1] When the label folded, Lee moved to Atlanta in 1997 looking for a new start.

Lee's chilldhood friend, Atlanta Hawks forward Al Henderson, was starting a record label and wanted him to run the A&R department. He would go on start managing Pastor Troy and established himself as the premeire tastemaker who could take regional artists and repackage them for a wider audience. [1]

In the 2000s, Lee would manage two of hip hop's biggest acts, Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane. Under his watch Young Jeezy earned two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 (2006's The Inspiration and 2008's The Recession), and Gucci Mane peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Rap Albums chart with 2011's The Return of Mr. Zone 6. [1]

In 2013 alongside his partner Pierre "Pee" Thomas, they formed Quality Control Music and had a deal with 300 Entertainment. Through Quality Control, Lee has been able to guide the careers of acts such as Migos and Lil Yachty.

When Migos’ 2015 debut album, Yung Rich Nation, was released, Offset was in jail for violating the probation he had received for burglary and theft convictions. Months later, Thomas and Lee spent a half-million dollars over 18 months of litigation wresting the act from a 2014 marketing/distribution deal with 300 Entertainment that had soured. Later, they reached an agreement, and days later leaked Bad and Boujee. [25]

Later, they devided to develop a talent of Lil Baby, a longtime friend of Thomas’ who attended Migos’ earliest club gigs, and who didn't start rapping until two months before releasing his debut mixtape, Perfect Timing, in 2017.[25]

In 2015, they forged a co-venture with Motown.[25]