via micro-blogging and social network platforms. Rhone passed up on signing Drake; later he would sign a distribution deal with Universal for one of the largest advances to an unsigned artist in history. Rhone stepped down from being president of the company in 2011. Sony Music Entertainment/Epic and Vested In Culture In 2012, Rhone became CEO of her self-established label Vested In Culture, which was distributed through Epic Records. In 2014, Rhone was named President of Epic Records, where she has overseen the release of projects including Travis Scott's No. 1 album Astroworld; Camila Cabello's #1 debut album Camila and the smash single "Havana," which was recently named the biggest single of 2018 by the IFPI. Since 2017, Rhone has been the head of Epic Records' operations. Rhone was named Chairwoman and CEO of Epic Records in 2019. Under Rhone's leadership, the label has placed three artists simultaneously in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 Albums chart twice, with Travis Scott's album Astroworld debuting at the top spot and returning to No. 1 again at the end of 2018. Rhone has guided multiple artists to the top of the charts at Epic Records, including Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, 21 Savage, Future, DJ Khaled, French Montana, Meghan Trainor and others. She has also been recognized for bringing unprecedented hip hop success to the label and projects from Future, 21 Savage, and others. Honors and awards Rhone was ranked No. 35 on Billboard's Annual Power 100 List in 2019. Rhone picked up the City Of Hope's Spirit Of Life Award in October, 2019, with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder presenting the award to Ms. Rhone. Rhone received the Midem 2019 Hall Of Fame Award, in association with Billboard, at their 53rd annual conference in June, 2019, where Rhone gave the Keynote address. Rhone received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in April, 2019. In 2019 Rhone was profiled in Variety. 2018 Rhone was profiled in Billboard Magazine as "Sony Music's Most powerful African-American Woman." In 2018, Rhone received the Culture Creators Icon Award, where Rhone stated in her acceptance speech "Our one common goal is to protect the culture." Rhone is a member of the Board of Directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. References African-American businesspeople American music industry executives Living people 1952 births American women in business 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women