How an Unconventional Path Got Nabil Ayers to President of One of the Most Influential Music Label Groups

Nabil Ayers is the president of Beggars Group USA, which has released albums by many world-famous artists and Grammy winners. He has also written about music and race for major publications including The New You Times and Rolling Stone. From musician to entrepreneur to president and now writer, Nabil Ayer has always chosen a path different than most, which as revealed in his memoir has been much more connected to his absentee father than he would have known.

I have been friends with Nabil for 10-15 years now and have also had him previously on my show where we spoke about his career journey from musician and record store owner to General Manager of Beggars Group 4AD. He has since then become president of Beggars Group and has now written a memoir of his life and journey. Our conversation during this show focuses on his book being released this week: My Life in the Sunshine; Searching for My Father and Discovering My Family.

Enjoy!

Highlights from the Show:

[00:00] Intro

[06:06] The Early Days

[09:25] Evolution of the Path

[15:00] The Dissonance of Choosing a Different Path

[21:10] Working With a Label

[22:56] Becoming President of Beggars Group

[29:24] Parallels of Being Both on the Inside and the Outside

[34:20] Hacking the System

[37:01] The Role of My Father

[43:49] From New York to Salt Lake City to Seattle and Racism

[50:01] The Creative Process

[55:26] Writing

[57:01] Trauma and the Therapy of Writing

[1:01:00] Book "My Life in the Sunshine"

[1:02:02] Where to follow Nabil

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