Apple Music's Head Of Hip Hop Programming Carl Chery Leaving For Spotify: Report

Carl Chery's reportedly parting ways with Apple Music for Spotify.

BYAron A.
Link Copied to Clipboard!
1.7K Views
Jerritt Clark/Getty Images

Apple Music's curated playlists for hip hop has helped introduce new artists to the masses. The person largely responsible for that is their head of hip hop programming, Carl Chery. Chery's played a pivotal role at Apple Music over the years for their A-List: Hip Hip and A-List: R&B playlists. However, it looks like he'll be taking his talents over to a competing streaming service.

Carl Chery's reportedly leaving his position at Apple Music, Variety reports. The man who helped curate some of the biggest hip hop playlists at Apple Music will reportedly be taking his talents to Spotify. It comes at an interesting time as Apple Music recently announced the new lead for Apple Music as Oliver Schusser. In addition, this comes after Spotify revealed that RapCaviar's curator, Tuma Bass, left the company for YouTube last month after three years. 

Chery had a major hand in helping break artists out including Post Malone, Khalid, 6lack, Cardi B, Bryson Tiller and more. He was also a notable journalist who's written for the likes of XXL, BET and SOHH. He joined Apple Music in 2014 after they bought out Beats By Dre and Beats Music.

While he may be leaving Apple Music at the midst of its massive growth, Spotify recently went public on the stock market at the beginning of the month and now holds a value of $25.5B.


  • Link Copied to Clipboard!
About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.