Issa Rae’s Raedio Signs Grammy-Nominated Producer ThankGod4Cody, Jae Stephens, GAWD (Exclusive)

Issa Rae’s Raedio record label has signed Grammy-nominated producer ThankGod4Cody as well as emerging acts Jae Stephens and GAWD.

ThankGod4Cody worked on seven tracks from SZA’s SOS, including “I Hate U,” “Love Language” and “Seek & Destroy.” This month he was nominated for album of the year at the Grammys alongside the best-selling singer, who won three honors including best progressive R&B album. ThankGod4Cody also worked on four songs from SZA’s 2017 debut Ctrl, including the multi-platinum hits “The Weekend,” “Love Galore” and “Broken Clocks.”

Jae Stephens is a rising R&B singer and one of the winners of Raedio’s Creators Program with Google in 2022. Her latest project is the 2022 EP Hi My Name Is and she performed on Saturday Night Live with R&B-pop star Khalid in 2019.

GAWD is a LA-based female duo of Alana and Alayna, who have toured with Harry Styles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anderson. Paak, Steve Lacy and Duckwrth. 

“We are thrilled to welcome ThankGod4Cody, Jae Stephens and GAWD to Raedio,” Xtina Prince, Raedio’s general manager, said in a statement. “Their talent and artistry represent some of the best in the industry and we look forward to amplifying their voices.”

Raedio is in a partnership with Def Jam Records. Its roster includes TeaMarrr, NCognita and Josh Levi, who has a current TikTok hit with the R&B groove “Birthday Dance.” Levi also voiced the character of Aaron Z in the fictional boy band 4*Town in the Pixar-animated film Turning Red, and the group’s song “Nobody Like U” — written by Billie Eilish and Finneas — earned the sibling songwriting team a Grammy nomination for best song written for visual media. 

Raedio, which has been described as an “audio everywhere company,” also focuses on music publishing, music supervision, music library, podcasts, digital content and events.

Rae recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to predict winners of the 2024 Grammy Awards, where several of the nominees were artists who got boosts from her TV shows Insecure and the just-canceled Rap Sh!t — including SZA, Victoria Monét, Leon Thomas, 6lack, SiR, Alex Isley and more.

“It’s an honor that Insecure has been able to feature so many artists, given them their first syncs. We’ve done the same on Rap Sh!t, and to see them be awarded and acknowledged at the Grammys, I feel proud of them, and I feel proud of our collective taste in our ears. We’re obviously fans first — that’s why they make it onto the soundtracks. So, we’ll continue to be fans and root for them forever,” she told THR.

“Music elevates the storytelling of everything. I write to music, [and] you can have a scene that plays out great but music will add that little bit of tension, or that spark, or that feeling. It will cement a scene in your brain,” she also said. “There are so many songs that I associate with specific scenes that have also, in turn, affected my life and my memories, and it just adds an extra feeling to that song. So, they really work hand-in-hand beautifully.”