Raphael Saadiq has signed with Forward Artist Management, Billboard has learned exclusively. The new agreement with the Los Angeles-based firm follows in the wake of the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-producer’s latest success: co-writing and co-producing Beyoncé’s first Hot 100 No. 1 country single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Forward Artist Management head Tyler Childs tells Billboard, “Raphael is one-of-one. He’s been making history, creating some of the biggest musical moments of the last 30 years. He continues to write and rewrite the playbook on what an elite artist, producer, songwriter and creative is. The entire FAM team is thrilled to support him and excited to get to work.”
In addition to “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Saadiq co-wrote and co-produced Beyoncé’s concurrently released country single “16 Carriages.” He also won the best R&B song Grammy last year for Beyoncé’s “Cuff It,” which he co-wrote and produced for her most recent album Renaissance. A founding member of seminal R&B trio Tony! Toni! Toné! — which reunited in 2023 for a sold-out national theater tour, its first in 25 years — Saadiq has worked with a diverse slate of superstar artists during his lengthy career. That roster includes Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Usher, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige and Solange.
His latest project as a solo artist was 2019’s Jimmy Lee. He also co-wrote the Academy Award-nominated song “Mighty River,” from the film Mudbound, with Blige and Tara Stinson. Saadiq is represented by Tim Mandelbaum of Fox Rothschild.
Forward Artists’ Childs also manages RZA and The Wu-Tang Clan, who launched the first-ever hip-hop residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas last month with two more dates scheduled for March 22-23. Additional Forward Artist clients include Benjamin Booker (managed by Jacob Greene), Tyler Cole and Sarah Cothran.
Prior to Forward Artist Management, Childs served as vp of A&R/creative at Sony ATV Music Publishing. While there, he worked with artists and songwriters such as Ilsey Juber (Panic at the Disco’s “High Hopes,” Shawn Mendes’ “Mercy” and Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus’ “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart”), Walk the Moon (“Shut Up and Dance”), Imagine Dragons (“Whatever it Takes”) and Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo (“Time of Our Lives”). Other artists that Childs collaborated with include Clairo, James Blake and Tegan and Sara.
