“I love New Orleans, born and raised, but this place is so impactful,” said Bryant, a Jackson State University Mass Communication graduate. “You often hear people talk about southern hospitality, and Jackson is the perfect example of what that is. Folks take care of each other.”

The special southern care rubbed off on many of Bryant’s friends and clients, including Aubrey Drake Graham, known mononymously as Drake, a Canadian rapper, singer, actor, and entrepreneur, so much so that he performed downtown for free in 2019.

“He was reminiscing about all of the places I took him to before he was big,” Bryant said. “[Drake] was like, “I want to throw a party in Jackson. He came. He had a home-cooked Sunday meal, and we went to the club. He loved it.”

Bryant is a music label owner and publisher best known for Young Money Entertainment. He currently works with world-renowned artists, including Ice Spice, Jill Scott, and The Roots, to name a few. The music industry has kept him busy for 20 years and counting, and Jackson has been his sanctuary each year for homecoming to escape the intensity the entertainment world can bring.

He regularly gives back to the city and JSU. Still, this year, he stepped up his visits from a long weekend and a football game to being a partial resident to teach courses in Careers in Music and Introduction to the Music Industry at his alma mater.

“I want to give my time to build bridges to make sure the students know that they too have this pathway, and I’m going to pave the walkway for them to be in the music business,” Bryant said. “That’s what this city means to me.”

Bryant is giving his students the blueprint of the industry and the variety of opportunities it offers outside of being singers, rappers, or managers. Surprisingly, he wasn’t planning to be any of those things in college. With internships at WJTV and a public broadcasting station under his belt, he had already nailed an entry-level editor position at CNN in Atlanta, which was scheduled to begin immediately after graduation.

All that changed for Bryant after he received one phone call from his best friend, Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., also known as Lil Wayne. In 2003, Lil Wayne was a young artist who had never had a manager or team of his own.

Bryant started as Lil Wayne’s music manager and became an entertainment powerhouse. From that decision on, Bryant spent every weekend on the road touring until his graduation in 2004. He credits JSU for giving him everything he needed to aid in the making of the five-time Grammy award-winning multi-platinum rap icon Lil Wayne and more.

“I learned how corporate brands looked at their customers,” said Bryant. “Being in the Boom taught me leadership, moving in discipline, and work ethic. That’s literally been the foundation and blueprint of how I built my artists. They became these superstars, from Wayne to Drake and Nicki Minaj to everybody I’ve worked with.”