Peter Kang
Founder, Ill Tongue Management, Inc.
The eldest son of a civil engineer and an art dealer, Peter Kang was
born in Queens, New York, on April 21, 1966. Despite a lifelong passion
for music, Kang attended Stuyvesant, New York’s premier science high
school, then enrolled at SUNY Stony Brook as a psychology major. But in
his junior year, Kang’s life took a life-transforming turn -- a chance
visit to WUSB, Stony Brook University’s radio station, led first to an internship
and then a distinguished three-year tenure as station program director.
Kang came to serve as University Concert Promoter as well, bringing many of
the best international acts to the University, including now-legendary
performers like Sun Ra, The Ramones, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, MC Lyte, A Tribe Called Quest, Fishbone, Albert Collins and Siouxie and the Banshees just to name a few.
After graduation, Kang worked for a year at The William Morris Agency
before accepting a position as tour promotions coordinator at
Relativity Records -- then an indie label with a roster of death metal
and punk acts. While his extraordinary effectiveness as a music
promoter led to his appointment as product manager, Kang became
entranced by the revolutionary sounds of hip-hop groups De La Soul, A
Tribe Called Quest, and Public Enemy, and sought to sign hip-hop acts
to Relativity. Though like many other labels then, Relativity at first
balked, Kang’s persistence eventually led to Relativity’s active
pursuit of hip-hop artists, with Kang at the helm as Director of Urban
A & R. In four years, Kang had discovered Common, signed bestselling
artists The Beatnuts and Fat Joe to Relativity, and executive produced
such classic hip-hop albums as Common’s Resurrection and The Beatnuts’
Intoxicated Demons. In fact, hip-hop proved so successful for the label
that by the mid-90s, it had shed its punk and metal roots entirely to
focus solely on hip-hop. Soon after redefining itself as one of the top
indie hip-hop labels, Relativity was acquired by Sony Records.
After staying on to smooth the label’s transition from indie to major,
Kang left Relativity in 1995 to form his own artist management company,
Ill Tongue Management, with an impressive roster that included Kanye West,
Common,The Beatnuts, Shawnna (Ludicris) and DJ Honda. He discovered and signed hip-hop DJ crew The X-ecutioners, and has since orchestrated the group’s remarkable climb from underground wunderkinds to mainstream icons.
Under Kang’s able direction, The X-ecutioners became the first DJ group
to ever release a solo album and to sign a multiple-record deal with a
major label. The X-ecutioners’ 2002 Built From Scratch, the first of
four albums for Sony Music, debuted at #15 on Billboard’s Top Albums,
and their hit single “It’s Goin’ Down†was a staple on MTV and remained
on Billboard’s Top Modern Rock Singles for eight weeks. As part of a
multi-game deal with Electronic Arts, The X-ecutioners have laid down
tracks for hit games SSX 3, NFL Street, and produced tracks for
NFL Street 2, Sony’s Gran Turismo 4 as well as Old Spice and Pepsi commercials.
In the past two years, Kang’s company has expanded the scope of his
operations to include other musical genres and arts. Ill Tongue
Management currently represents the legendary female emcee, Hurricane G, current reigning Guitar Center National Champion DJ Precision and the multi-talented actress/spoken-word poet/emcee/playwright La Bruja (www.labrujamusic.com) and, along with La Bruja, has launched De La Luz Records.
For more information contact [email protected]
