Music
After eight years at the streaming giant, the executive announced he was “stepping into my next chapter.”
Tuma Basa attends the Music in Action Awards Ceremony hosted by The Black Music Action Coalition at 1 Hotel West Hollywood on September 23, 2021 in West Hollywood, California.
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Longtime YouTube executive Tuma Basa, who most recently served as the company’s director of Black music & culture, has announced his departure after eight years at the streaming giant.
“After eight great years at YouTube, I’m taking a leap of faith and stepping into my next chapter,” Basa wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday (April 2). “Thank you to the Music Team at YouTube, the leadership, the artists, the managers, the labels, the producers, the continents, the city specialists, the uploaders and YouTubeLovers and even the Gen AI haters that made this run.. a great run. Murakoze Cyane, Asante Sana, Siyabonga, Amesegenalew, Gracias, Obrigado, Merci Beaucoup.”
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Basa was born in Zaire (now Congo) to a Rwandan family, but spent his childhood in Iowa after his father entered the graduate studies program at the University of Iowa; he then relocated to Zimbabwe as a teenager. During his tenure at YouTube, which he joined in 2018 as director of urban music, Basa became known for spotlighting African artists, including Nigerian star Burna Boy, and helping fuel their growth in the U.S.
Initially harboring aspirations to start a rap career under the name B.2ma B., Basa eventually pivoted to the executive track and landed music programming roles at BET, MTV and REVOLT. In 2015, he joined Spotify, where he served as global programming head of hip-hop. While at the streaming giant, he rose to prominence in part for curating the service’s popular Rap Caviar playlist.
In a statement shared with Billboard, YouTube said, “Tuma Basa has been a force in shaping YouTube’s musical and cultural landscape over the past eight years. His visionary approach to storytelling and deep-rooted passion for artists have left a lasting impact on our culture. Everything Tuma does comes with unmatched passion and knowledge; we are excited to see his dreams come to life in his next chapter and will be right there cheering him on.”
This story was updated on April 6 at 12:36 p.m. ET with YouTube’s statement on Basa’s departure.
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