Universal Music Thailand has announced an expanded partnership with Hype Train Group, a hot music label. The move is pitched as a springboard for Thai artists to export their creativity to music lovers around the world.
Hype Train launched in late 2020, with Universal Music Thailand as its exclusive distributor. Since then, it has launched a couple of new artists to significant success with UMG providing global reach.
Under the new arrangement, hip-hop producer and Hype Train CEO, Nino (real name Krerg Chankwang) will head the label and be fully responsible for all of its signings and creative output. UMG will provide label support, including servicing the digital partners, new business, and global marketing and development for Hype Train projects.
Hype Train Group now has two sub-labels: Hype Train, which includes seven artists, Sprite, Guygeegee, Don Kids, Iceace, Seedaa The Villain, OG Bobby and Eskiimo, most sourced from the hip hop competition show “Show Me The Money 2”; and New Wav.Entertainment. The latter has just two artists, Minymynx and Tamp.
Hype Train Group is managed by Nino, rapper and CFO Mona V, and rapper and GM Ben Bizzy.
“Partnering with UMG over the past two years has been a great success, and now that the label is home to 13 artists, it’s time for further growth,” said Nino. “Hype Train Group’s expansion is not just good for business, but will also provide opportunities for a new generation of Thai artists. This is an important milestone to elevate the collaboration with Universal Music beyond being just a distribution partner,into a broader partnership deal that will benefit the entire Thai music community and beyond.”
Hype Train launched its first star Seedaa The Villain with the hit single “Seedaa,” which has gained almost 30 million views on YouTube, and more than 100,000 creations on TikTok. The success turned Seedaa The Villain into one of Thailand’s ten most followed TikTok accounts in 2020.
The company followed that with rapper Sprite who signed onto the label after appearing on “Show Me the Money Season 2.” His first single “Baby,” which launched in November 2020, now has 67 million views on YouTube. Sprite then appeared on “Trust Again,” a track on the original soundtrack of Disney’s Southeast Asian-flavored animation “Raya and the Last Dragon”
Sprite had bigger success with groundbreaking hit, “Ton,” which now has 340 million YouTube views and was named as YouTube’s most viewed music video of 2021. “Ton” also charted on the Billboard Global chart at No.89 and appeared on the Spotify daily viral chart in many countries across Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
