New kids on the block: Destiny Rogers, August Wahh, SOS join Careless Music
Careless Music, James Reid's record label and management agency, welcomes three new artists to its family: R&B singer Destiny Rogers, neo-soul musician August Wahh, and alt-rock band SOS.
The artists were welcomed to the label by James and CEO Jeffrey Oh on Nov. 21 during Careless' Home Base press conference. Let's get to know more about the newest additions to the record label.
Destiny Rogers
California-raised R&B singer Destiny Rogers is known for her song Tomboy, Lo Lo, West Like, and Kickin' Pushin' and has written for K-pop artists such as Nayeon, Twice, and La Sserafim.
Growing up, she posted covers of Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran covers on YouTube and got the chance to work with The Stereotypes because of her videos. She has since performed with big names like Tyler, the Creator, H.E.R., and Daniel Caesar.
Destiny met James in L.A. in 2020 while he was recording with the Stereotypes. They talked about collaborating but it was swept under the rug due to the pandemic. The two artists got to work together finally in 2022 for James' lie to me, and she appears in the music video for the track, too.
"2023 moving on, I'm leaning more in the pop waves," Destiny said about what's coming next for her. "I've always considered myself as a pop/R&B artist and sometimes I like to rap. I'm an artist, I don't like to stay in a box."
Destiny also revealed that her first album is coming next year.
August Wahh
Hailing from General Santos City, August Wahh got into music when she was four years old thanks to her dad. It was something she only did for fun until she moved to Manila to study music.
Now, August is known for her dreamy neo-soul music and has worked with the "Queen of Neo Soul" Erykah Badu. After dropping her debut single Sahara with crwn, she released her vibey EP Labyrinth. She dropped singles Elated and Vivid in 2020, and Blurred Lines in 2021.
For the longest time, August has been an indie artist and has worked with Careless before, but she joined the label eventually. "They made me realize they didn't want to control me and they wanted me to do me."
From the Careless family, August said she wants to work with Cebu City-grown Jolianne.
SOS
After signing solo artists for so long, Careless Music finally added Filipino alt-rock band SOS, formerly known as She's Only Sixteen, to the label.
The four-piece band, composed of Roberto Seña, Andrew Panopio, Anjo Silvoza, and King Puentespina, has been independent since they met and got together in high school 15 years ago. They have released three EPs and a studio album, including songs Magic, Favoritism, and Seryoso.
"We've been indie for the longest time so it's cool to work with people who have the same energy as us and push the limits as far as we want to," they said about signing with Careless.
'Artist-friendly'
During the event, Jeffrey stressed how Careless has the most "artist-friendly" contracts.
"In entertainment, we see the most horrendous, abusive contracts that take advantage of artists. I can probably say we have some of best contracts, the most artist-fair, artist-friendly contracts in the Philippines," the CEO said.
"We go above and beyond on our end to create revenue sources outside of just the artist so we can create this environment because we believe that it's movement. As we've grown, we've learned the horrors of these terrible contracts that artists are trapped in or coming out of... That is something we want to bring awareness on and something we want to change," he added.