02 | Sophia Chang

Back To Reading Credits

For our second episode, Wes Jackson sat down with Sophia Chang live, onstage at BRIC House in Downtown Brooklyn as part of BRIC’s Hip-Hop Weekend in February. Sophia is a public speaker, mentor, screenwriter, and author of “The Baddest Bitch in the Room: A Memoir”. Sophia calls herself a “matriarchitect”. Over the course of her career in the music business, she managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest. Together, she and Wes discussed mentorship, aging, and the physical and spiritual practice of Kung Fu. • Back to Reading Credits is hosted by Wes Jackson and produced by Khyriel Palmer, Emily Boghossian, Raynita Vaughn, Chris Torres, Gabrielle Davenport, and Antoine Hardy, with help from Michael Carroll, Morgan Smith, Leslie Hayes, Jose Astorga, Antonio Rosario, KerriAnn Eng, Raeshon Roberson, Morgan Hammel, Wayne Hassell, Kevin Tinsley, Naim Vann, Harris Awan, Elyse Rodriguez Aleman, Charlie Hoxie, and Kuye Youngblood.

• Thank you to everyone who participated in our person-on-the-street interviews at BRIC’s Hip-Hop Weekend in February.

• BIOS & LINKS:

Sophia Chang is a public speaker, life/career guide, screenwriter and author who is developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series based on her Audible memoir “The Baddest Bitch In The Room.” She founded Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides free mentorship for women of color which brags such mentors as Pamela Adlon, Sarah Harden/CEO of Hello Sunshine, Jim Jarmusch, Michael Mann, and several CEOs. She is the Executive Director of ImpactMENtorship, a program that provides free mentorship for men of color founded by actor, hip hop artist, and philanthropist Joey Bada$$. As the first Asian woman in hip hop, the music business matriarchitect managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard (RIP), RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. Her work at record labels included marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Administration and Operations at Universal Music Group, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA’s Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era Records. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced major runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," was an account executive at a digital agency, and did business development at a cannabis company. Sophia appeared in Showtime’s documentary “Wu-Tang: Of Mics and Men,” Netflix documentary series “Hip Hop Evolution,” and was the subject of an episode of Hulu’s “Defining Moments.” Follow @SophChangNYC for more!

Join Sophia and Unlock Her Potential for their second annual sUPosium on April 6th, 2024. Get your tickets here.

• TRANSCRIPT: https://rb.gy/fzeqdc

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