Wharton Junior Eyes Hip-Hop Stardom

Kayvon Asemani, at left, performing. Courtesy photo

For the career Asemani wanted to have, he’d have to make music, but he’d also have to learn how to package it, promote it, distribute it, and so much else. So he decided he’d shoot for the Juilliard of business schools — Wharton.

“Many people were like, ‘Dude, that will never happen. You don’t come from the same background that those kids do.’ But I wanted to shoot for an Ivy League school, arguably the best business school,” he says. “And I thought, I’ll just shoot for that, and let’s see where I end up.”

AT WHARTON, VERY FEW WANT TO BE ARTISTS

And, he says now, it was the right decision. If he had gone to music school he would have been one of many seeking to become an artist, and it would have been tough to stand out. But at Wharton, very few want to follow that path.

“How many people are making music while pursuing a business education? Those guys want to be bankers,” he says. “And that’s great. I find those professions fascinating as well.”

In fact, Asemani says, he might even end up looking for a traditional business job if a music career doesn’t work out. He’s learning more at Wharton that would help him on that journey than he could ever have imagined. “I used to be all words and no numbers, I could talk a good talk. But now my education at Wharton is not only qualitative, but also very much technical,” he says.

PLANS TO DROP SINGLES THROUGH HIS JUNIOR YEAR

Kayvon Music’s future is looking pretty bright. Asemani gained recognition from fellow students right away, and during his just-concluded sophomore year he released a mixtape called U4IC (pronounced “euphoric”). He’s performed a number of live concerts, some of which sold out.

He rode the entire year off that mixtape, he says, but he has different plans for his junior year. “If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn’t have dropped a whole mixtape,” he says. “I would drop singles one at a time.”

He says he can see how many times each song has been played, and he knows that people are listening to the first few songs a lot and not paying much attention to the later parts of the mixtape. So this summer he’s been recording a lot, and he’s going to release singles one by one over the next school year. He hopes this will keep his brand relevant, even as his course load gets heavier.

MUSIC FREE OF CHARGE

The singles will be free, Asemani says. Why would anyone buy his music when there’s so much free stuff available? Anyway, he has learned that the money is not in music sales — it’s in everything else, like shows and merchandise.

“I also think that free music is symbolic of something else that’s great. It’s that idea of access, so no matter where you came from, no matter what situation you’re in now, you can experience Kayvon Music,” he says. “If you don’t have the money, that’s fine. Here’s the music for free. You can have it.”

He’s not making enough yet to fully support himself, but he’s in a good position for the time being. As a college student, he qualifies for financial aid, and while he’s at Wharton, his living expenses are supported. A cut of the money earned by Kayvon Music goes to pay the classmates who help him out, Asemani says, and the rest goes back into the business.

When he graduates in two years, he knows he’ll have to support himself, and he’ll have to start paying people upfront, instead of through his current system. But he’s hopeful.

“I’m 20 years old and I have a lot of pieces that I’m just now starting to put together. I’ve got the product, I’ve got the network, now it’s just a process of growing,” Asemani says. “It’s been a heck of a journey that I’ve really enjoyed.”