Chris Atlas knows the hip-hop landscape like the back of his hand. A native of The Bronx and savvy music industry vet, he currently holds the position as president of Fat Beats, which is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary. On this episode of XXL’s Inside Track podcast, Atlas speaks on his nearly 30 years in the music industry, marketing experience, the importance of artist development, the progression of artists like Earl Sweatshirt, IDK and Tyler, The Creator, and more.
Atlas started as an intern at Tommy Boy Records in 1995 while attending City College in New York before being tasked with heading Tommy Boy Black Label three years later. In 2000, worked at Cornerstone Agency, the parent company of The Fader, before moving on to Executive Vice President of Marketing at Def Jam in 2008 where he worked with artists like Ye, Rick Ross, Jeezy, Ludacris and Rihanna. From 2017-2023 he was the Executive Vice President, East Coast Operations & Urban Music at Warner before taking on his current role at Fat Beats where he uses his skills for developing artists in the new era.
“You can’t short the artist development part of building an artist and creating a brand,” Atlas explains in the video below. “To me, the artists that can actually break through understand, ‘OK, I need to have my digital footprint. I need to manage my socials, but I need to get on the road. I need to see people. I need to perfect my craft.'”
Atlas names a few artists he believes exemplify these standards.
“I feel like IDK is an artist that’s doing that,” Atlas continues. “That is committed to pushing art,” Atlas notes. “To me, Earl Sweatshirt is an incredible artist. Having seen Earl…and his trajectory in terms of his dedication and commitment to the music, but now where he’s going as far as media and doing shows, he’s another great example. I’m a huge Tyler, The Creator fan. Again, Tyler has been around. But I’m a fan of the progression of his art.”
“To me, some of the best artists I’ve worked with have had a vision for themselves,” Atlas adds. “They have an understanding for themselves and how they want to portray themselves and put themselves out there. It’s my job to enhance that, add on to it and execute it.”
XXL is back with another episode of Inside Track, a biweekly podcast that spends time with some of hip-hop’s most influential industry executives, entrepreneurs and more. Hosted by XXL Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Satten and music executive Courtney “Courtney CL” Lowery, each episode will continue to explore hip-hop through the eyes of people who have lived and breathed the culture.
Watch or listen to the episode of XXL’s Inside Track podcast below. The podcast can be found on xxlmag.com, XXL’s YouTube page and on most podcast platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and XXL Live.
