Meet Pop Smoke’s Manager, Haitian-American Universal Music Group Executive Steven Victor

Photo Credit: Cole Wilson for The New York Times

Steven William Victor was born in New York City.

He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and Psychology.

Victor’s background includes running G.O.O.D. Music, the imprint founded by Kanye West and distributed through Def Jam (where he later served as a senior A&R exec), and representing clients include Pusha T, The-Dream and the late Pop Smoke.

The Haitian-American record executive, artist manager, music publisher, and A&R representative works closely with other notable artists, he’s managed Desiigner, Tyga, CashMoneyAP, 16yrold, among others.

Victor was named Def Jam’s executive VP of A&R in October of 2017 and left the company in 2019 to shift to a senior VP of A&R role at Universal Music Group, Def Jam’s parent company, and work on his joint venture with UMG, Victor Victor Worldwide.

He is the founder and current CEO of Victor Victor Worldwide, COO of GOOD Music, and SVP of A&R at Universal Music Group. The company has eight employees in New York and Los Angeles and divisions including a label, publishing, and management.

Victor Victor management clients include Pusha T and The-Dream, and publishing clients include YoungKio, a producer of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”

In June, the Universal Music Group executive announced the launch of his philanthropic venture called the Victor Victor Foundation. And he’s already pledged a hefty sum to help kick off its mission.

“I’m committing $1,000,000 to the foundation — it’s a starting point and I know it’s going to take much more than that to affect real change,” he said in an exclusive statement to Variety.

Victor Victor Foundation aims to combat the injustices that have hurt the black community for generations, with the goal of creating a better world for the youth. The foundation will do this in a number of ways, such as encouraging voter turnout, implementing mentorship programs, and making monetary donations to public schools.

Victor who is still mourning the loss of his friend and client Pop Smoke debuted his album ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’ earlier today.

After a previously shared Virgil Abloh album cover sparked controversy, the posthumous new Pop Smoke album arrives today with a new cover and a tracklist packed with features. Quavo, Lil’ Baby, DaBaby, Future, Rowdy Rebel, Roddy Ricch, 50 Cent are among the guests on the album.

Pop Smoke was shot and killed at a Los Angeles residence earlier this year. Weeks before his death, the rapper released Meet the Woo 2, which debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

In early March, 50 Cent announced plans to executive produce and finish Smoke’s album. During an episode of the Rap Life on Apple music, Victor recalled how 50 pushed him to release the project.

“50 was like, ‘You can’t be depressed and stop the legacy that he was building. How do you expect everyone around him, in terms of his family, to benefit from all the work that he put in? It would almost be like everything happened in vain if you don’t put the album out,’” Victor said.