Le'Greg O. Harrison

Le’Greg O. Harrison
Background information
Birth name	Le’Greg O. Harrison
Also known as	Greg, G, Gee
Born	(1984-06-29) June 29, 1984
Genres	Hip Hop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, Chief Executive Officer
Years active	2005–present
Labels	The Board Administration, Roc Nation
Associated acts	Wale, Black Cobain, Tiara Thomas

Le'Greg O. Harrison (born June 29, 1984) is an American marketing executive and the co-founder and chief executive officer of The Board Administration alongside Roc Nation and Maybach Music Group recording artist Wale Folarin. He previously did work for Apple Bottoms, Live Mechanics, and Nuvo.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Early life

Greg was born and raised in the District of Columbia. An only child, Greg was academically and athletically inclined, landing him academic and basketball scholarships to play competitively at Coastal Christian Academy and Virginia State University.^[6][7][8] Greg ranked high among the top 100 basketball players world wide and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Virginia State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sports Management and Marketing in 2006.^[9][10][11]

Career

Fashion

Greg attended Virginia State University where he showed a penchant for marketing and gained a reputation as an innovator, savvy dresser, astute business man, and taste maker. Upon graduation, he landed a position in New York with Apple Bottoms as a Marketing and Product Placement Coordinator. From there he transitioned to Live Mechanics and eventually transitioned from the clothing industry to test his marketing ability with Spirits as a Marketing Manager for Nuvo.^[12][13]

Spirits

Greg excelled in the liquor industry and was a part of a team that catapulted Nuvo as the number one sparkling liqueur in the Northeast Region, The District of Columbia, and the continental US. His success and notoriety in the club circuit from liquor promotions led him to promote events and music events in the metropolitan DC Area after establishing The Board Administration in 2009.^[14]

Music

In 2009 The Board Administration launched inaugural monthly events entitled, DC Unplugged to showcase local talent in live venues in celebration of Go Go and Live Music both long time traditions in DC Music.^[15] During this time, Greg linked with Wale Folarin, developed a strategic business plan for The Board Administration and formally founded the company.^[16]

After formation of The Board Administration Greg transitioned from the liquor industry into the role of Wale's Tour Manager and demonstrated his marketing savvy through installation of More About Nothing and increased volume and sales of freshman effort Attention Deficit despite low first week numbers.^[17] During this same time, Greg added the accolade of Director under his professional repertoire and aided Rik Cordero in production of the Wale and UCB video Pat Your Weave.^[18]

On August 3, 2010 More about Nothing took the internet and social media by storm with 100,000 plus downloads in less than 90 minutes, crashing the servers of popular file-sharing site, Hulkshare.^[19][20] Following the widespread success of More about Nothing The Board Administration introduced affiliated artists Black Cobain, Fat Trel, Tiara Thomas, Mz. Sasha, Slutty Boys, and Fatz Da Big Fella through various Wale assisted freestyles and mixtapes. During this time, Greg's Directorial efforts were further demonstrated through the installation of The Board Films, a production entity that showcased Wale via V Logs, A Day In the Life Series, and No Days Off Series. Greg also directed videos for More About Nothing songs The Work, Number Won, and The Cloud.^[21]

In 2011 Greg transitioned into the role of Business Manager for Wale and continued to work alongside the management team at Roc Nation. Anticipation for Wale's second album, Ambition was incited through the release and heavy viral promotion of mixtape, The Eleven One Eleven Theory done under The Board Administration. The Eleven One Eleven Theory debuted August 17, 2011 on Life and Times in honor of Wale's Twitter milestone of reaching one million followers and was purposefully made with the intent to build widespread anticipation for the November 1, 2011 scheduled release date of Ambition.^[22][23]

The Eleven One Eleven Theory and Ambition Marketing Strategies were the brainchild of Le’Greg O. Harrison and were executed through savvy social media integration, resulting in the first official shut down of renowned file sharing site Hulkshare within the first 4 seconds of posting the link. Wale is the first mainstream artist to officially crash Hulkshare.^[24]

The Board Administration launched a robust social media campaign integrating never-seen-before social media strategy and savvy to virally promote Ambition. The promotional campaign included a five-part "making of" documentary, a Twitter campaign centered on a hashtag blitz–aptly named #Ambition, daily new music and video releases from Wale, and promotional materials for purchase through Warner Music Group and Maybach Music Group such as Ambition wristbands and graphic tees. These efforts were also supported by televised "making of" episodes through networks such as MTV that hosted Sucker Free Road to Release. The never-seen-before element of Wale’s Ambition promo blitz included a partnership formed between the current most popular file sharing site Hulkshare and The Board Administration. Greater than 3 million people frequent Hulkshare daily, and through this collaboration could view banner ads on practically every Hulkshare download page flanked with Wale’s profile and a clock counting down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the album released.^[25]

Greg and the Executive Members of BOA currently manage Wale, Tiara Thomas, Black Cobain, Tone P, Ms. Sasha, and Fatz Da Big Fella while Greg has dual capacity as the Chief Executive Officer. He is referenced by alias G in Wale's 2011 Ambition Anthem DC or Nothing and is featured in The Making of Ambition Part II discussing the importance of the track with Rick Ross and Wale.^[26][27]

Community

Greg has a strong foundation in community and is fully invested in the notion of giving back because of his childhood in the often cruel streets of inner city DC. After founding The Board Administration Greg established a philanthropic division, The Jr Board Inc (2010) a non profit entity with a mission to provide significantly at-risk youth (age 11–25) resources unavailable in their communities so they rise above factors of poverty, recognize their leadership ability, and emerge as leaders. Since its establishment The Jr Board Inc has provided after-school services, resources, and programs to significantly at-risk communities during the times when they are most at risk. Each year, the organization hosts annual holiday turkey drives and various activities to provide meals and sustenance to over 250 highly deserving and needing families.^{[28][29][30][31][32]}

References