A. Haqq Islam is an American music executive and businessman. He is founder and former CEO of University Music Entertainment and University Records, which is home to award-winning, multi-platinum-selling artists,

Dru Hill Dru Hill is an American R&B boy band, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 by Tamir "Nokio the N-Tity" Ruffin, and as of 2023, is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven top 40 ...

, Sisqo, and

Mýa Mya Marie Harrison (; born October 10, 1979), known professionally as Mýa, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and actress. She was born in Washington D.C. and studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Her ca ...

Music career

As the company's CEO, Islam negotiated multi-million dollar deals with Fortune 500 companies. He steered the careers of a roster of talent that included artists, producers and songwriters, accounting for over $50 million record sales worldwide, while producing ten number one songs. Islam began his career learning the fundamentals of R&B music, artist development and the music business in recording studios of New York City. First starting as a show promoter in Washington, DC, Islam subsequently formed his own label – University Records, and landed signings of soon to become platinum artists Dru Hill, Mya and Sisqo. Through joint venture deals with

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

and

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

, University Records went on to produce ten Number 1 singles and twenty Top Ten singles. University Records artists have been nominated for and have won every major music award, including: The

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

Billboard Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

Soul Train Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony which honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the production company of '' Soul Train'', the program from which it takes its name, and ...

and

The Grammys ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. In 2019, Islam founded CONTRA WORLDWIDE RECORDINGS. CONTRA produced music for a series of films broadcast on the

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

network including

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...

's "Sistas" in December 2019 and has been nominated for a 2020 NAACP Award. CONTRA’s first artist is Casey808, a Hip Hop artist out of Hawaii. Islam has taught Entertainment Business Education at the

Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...

in Washington, DC where he created the Business of Music Visiting Lecture Series to train students about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the entertainment business. The lecture series also traveled to several colleges and universities, featured guests included Rockafella Records co-founder

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke in 1994, and co-founded the fashion retailer Rocawear with the former in 1999. Early life ...

, Legendary R&B Group

Earth Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling b ...

, R&B artist, Ledesi, Film Producer; Lisa Cortez, Legendary Music Producer

Kenny Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as P ...

of Gamble and Huff.

Other ventures

Islam is co-founder and CEO of The Rucker Park Prep summer basketball league for young men 8–16 years of age which take place in the historic Holcomb

Rucker Park Greg Marius Court at Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court at the border of Harlem and the Coogan's Bluff section of Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just east of the forme ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, NY. He is still working in entertainment with current film and television projects in development with his company Jegna Filmworks. Islam is also a

Real Estate Developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

with several projects underway in Newark, NJ. As a partner in the Davidson, Abraham & Associates Company (DAA), Islam works as a liaison between city governments to move projects forward.

Personal life

A native of

Queens, NY Queens is the largest by area of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn and by Nassau County to ...

, Islam is a graduate of

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

with a BA in Political Science and completed coursework at Howard towards a Master’s Degree in International Relations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam, A. Haqq Living people American music industry executives Year of birth missing (living people)