Warner Records Partners With Roger Gengo’s Masked Records 

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Warner Records has entered into a joint venture with Masked Records, a new label formed by Roger Gengo, founder of the Masked Gorilla website and the “Unmasked” concert series. The label’s first signing is breakout artist 2KBABY, who garnered over 2.5 million streams for his debut track, “Old Streets.”

“We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with Roger to launch Masked Records,” said Co-Chairman & CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck. “What he’s done as a young entrepreneur over the past decade has been nothing short of amazing – literally redefining the hip-hop landscape, time and time again identifying groundbreaking artists while they were still way under the radar.”

“For the past 10 years I’ve dedicated my life to discovering and sharing new artists through Masked Gorilla and ‘Unmasked,’” Gengo said. “Over the years I’ve been able to establish incredible relationships with artists by not asking how I could benefit, but instead asking how I could be of service. It’s always been my dream to not only service these artists in a more major way with a record label, but to do it in partnership with a company that has the vision, integrity, and progressive environment to best serve the artists who have trusted us with their music.”

2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Masked Gorilla, established when Gengo was 17 years old. It quickly became a key for introducing new artists. Masked Gorilla produced Mac Miller’s first-ever video interview, alongside early video interviews with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, and Childish Gambino. At the beginning, Gengo singlehandedly filmed, conducted, and edited all the videos. Masked Gorilla eventually amassed over 20,000 articles.