Phylicia Fant, Columbia Records’ co-head of urban music for three years, has left the company, a rep confirms to PvNew.
While no reason was given for her departure and the department has enjoyed significant success since she and Shawn Holiday were named co-heads in December of 2018 — particularly with Lil Nas X, Polo G, the Kid Laroi, 24kGoldn, Chloe x Halle and Leon Bridges — Holiday left the company last February to launch a new venture with Irving and Jeffrey Azoff and was not replaced, although he remains a consultant at the label.
Fant, who was on PvNew’s Hitmakers list and our Power of Women/ Los Angeles list last year, joined Columbia from Warner Bros. Records, where she was senior vice president of publicity and special projects. After joining Warner in 2011, she worked closely with Prince, Andra Day, Jason Derulo, Gary Clark Jr., Bebe Rexha, Drake’s OVO Sound and Mac Miller, among others. Raised in Atlanta, she began her professional career at Motown-Universal Records, working with Erykah Badu, India.Arie, Amy Winehouse, JoJo, Q-Tip, Brian McKnight and Kid Cudi.
She has also worked to include activism within her artists’ campaigns, as when Lil Nas X raised funds for the Bail Project through his “Industry Baby” music video. “Music is not a monolith, so we must truly foster allyship across the spectrum in order to yield the best results,” she told PvNew last year.
Fant is founder and CEO of the public relations and lifestyle-marketing firm the Purple Agency. The company has worked with Swizz Beatz, Daniel Caesar and Luis Fonsi as well as Coca-Cola, BET, HBO, Hennessy and Red Bull.
