Music Mogul, Former CIAA Student-Athlete Kevin Lee (Coach K ...

Raleigh, NC – Before he became Chief Operating Officer of ultra-successful Quality Control Music, Kevin Lee (better known as Coach K) was a former Saint Augustine’s University (then Saint Augustine’s College) basketball student-athlete in the early 1990s. On Friday, May 15, 2020, Lee graduated from his alma mater with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Management.

Lee is co-founder of Quality Control Music, which produces hit-making hip hop acts such as platinum-selling artists Migos, Lil Yachty, Lil Baby, and City Girls. Platinum-selling artist Cardi B is signed under a management deal with Quality Control Music.

Below are Lee’s thoughts on earning his degree from SAU.

“It’s crazy. I’ve never started anything that I was into and didn’t finish the job. In 1993, I was wounded by a gunshot that would change my whole direction in life. I’ll give you that whole story in the book but rewind two & half years ago, I went back to my college homecoming at @saufalcons and got inspired, and the truth of the matter is, finishing college always sat in the back of my head, but if my accident wouldn’t have happened where would I be? So I re-entered school 28 years after I was supposed to graduate and enrolled back into HBCU Saint Augustine University, the school I was supposed to graduate in 1993. I’m not going to lie, doing online classes was very hard, especially when you already have a business that’s booming, but I always had visions of walking across that stage and my mother & grandmother smiling ear to ear. Well, I still made them smile ear to ear from my accomplishments, but I can say now that I have my Bachelor Of Science In Business Management from Saint Augustine’s University. There are so many people I wanna thank that helped me through the journey.

“Dr. Everett Ward started the process of me getting online with a hybrid-type of curriculum, then Dr. Gaddis Faulcon guided me and gave me words of encouragement. Ms. Betty Holman, the Director of the Adult Education program, kept me focused. Dr. Anthony Grady and Dr. Orlando Hankins, the Provost, Thank You! and Interim President Dr. Maria Lumpkin. Thank You!!!!!”

About Kevin Lee (Coach K):

Kevin Lee (Coach K) is the COO of Quality Control Music, based in Atlanta. Lee grew up in a single-parent household in Indianapolis. His mother worked at an RCA record pressing plant and would bring home music fresh from the factory. He grew up in a household listening to mostly R&B 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. 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 attended Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina on a basketball scholarship. After college leaving college, Kevin would return to Indianapolis to start a record label with his friends called Universal Stars. It was there where Lee got his first taste of the music industry, learning the ins and outs of A&R and Management. When the label folded, Lee moved to Atlanta in 1997 looking for a new start.

Kevin Lee’s childhood friend, Atlanta Hawks forward Al Henderson, was starting a record label and wanted him to run the A&R department. He went on to start managing Pastor Troy and established himself as the premier tastemaker who could take regional artists and repackage them for a wider audience. In the 2000s, Lee began managing 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.

In 2013 alongside his partner Pierre “Pee” Thomas, they formed Quality Control Music and had a deal with 300 Entertainment. Through Quality Control, Kevin 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 wrestling 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.

In 2015, they forged a co-venture with Motown. There had been a revolution in hip-hop, and the people have spoken: Hip Hop/R&B is now the dominant genre in the U.S. for the very first time. While it’s not surprising that factors like streaming altered the music business, it is also true this genre has a power like never.

And Nielsen saw all that was made, and said: “Let there be Quality Control Records.” And the culture on the streets listened and saw it was good. Yes, at the forefront of this culture is one breakthrough, visionary record label: Quality Control Music. By keeping their ear to the streets rather than merely counting algorithm stats, Quality Control brings back the spirit that first spawned trail-blazing scenes when the fans are heard and the dog is not wagged by the industry tail. Just as punk erupted out of New York City and Motown from Detroit, the new wave of the most successful and acclaimed music comes out of a specific city at a specific moment—this time it’s Atlanta, home to QC. Acting as managers, studio owners, and digital strategists as well as label executives, Coach and Pee, and have created a new blueprint for success at a time when the fans have the biggest voice in the industry. Later, they decided 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.

The results are undeniable. Migos’ Culture was one of only five albums certified platinum in 2017. Between the Teenage Emotions album and the Lil’ Boat and Summer Songs 2 mixtapes, plus his various feature collaborations, Lil’ Yachty had 2.5 billion global streams. Even the dance sensation the dab, as performed by everyone from Cam Newton to Hillary Clinton, was originated by QC’s Skippada Flippa and popularized by Migos’ “Look At My Dab.” Danny Glover even gave a shout out to Atlanta and Migos in particular on the Golden Globes stage, saying “I really wanna thank the Migos, not for being in the show, but for making “Bad and Boujee.” That’s the best song ever.” SOURCES: CIAA, Everipedia, Motown Feature photo: via Instagram

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