Tuma Basa, Spotify’s outgoing global programming head of hip-hop, is heading to YouTube, sources tell Billboard.
Spotify announced Thursday (March 1) that Basa, whose RapCaviar playlist has amassed nearly 9 million followers, had decided to leave the company.
Basa couldn’t be reached for comment; YouTube declined to comment.
His move comes as YouTube gears up to launch a new version of its subscription offering, internally dubbed Remix, that would merge its two current paid, ad-free services, YouTube Red and Google Play Music. Since joining YouTube as global head of music in 2016, Lyor Cohen has been in talks with labels to help them better promote new music through the platform, which has historically recommended videos to users based largely on what they’ve already watched, in addition to an array of other data.
Spotify, meanwhile, had announced Basa's exit with new tour dates for its "RapCaviar Live" tour. The company also said it will be expanding the RapCaviar brand globally to include local curators "in an effort to highlight the power of different genres within the hip hop landscape."