Episode 28: Nolan Baynes

Nolan Baynes remembers playing in the lush greenery of his native Guyana. He also remembers being surrounded by family and friends who felt like family. Nolan also remembers not always having access to television. Ironically, the thing he lacked at that time would end up impacting his life the most.

At age 9 Nolan was moved to the bustling streets of Brooklyn. To him, Brooklyn was a whole new world and he was ready to absorb everything the New York borough had to offer him. His teen years saw him hanging out in basements and make shift studios within the surrounding neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that were teeming with households filled with the scents of curries, stews and baked goodies from every country within the Caribbean archipelago. Like many before him, Nolan was no longer just Guyanese. He was now West Indian American. And just like many West Indian Americans before him, Nolan would eventually go on to greatness.

His love of music allowed him to collide with the likes of Red Fox, Busta Rhymes and Jay Z in their pre fame years. In his words “Everybody in the neighborhood was an artist.” In the years that would follow, Nolan would himself get signed to a label, leave and start his own label to work with then unknown artists named Shaggy and Capleton (Yes, that Shaggy and that Capleton). He would eventually land at MTV where he would rise through the ranks. After MTV, Nolan spent time at Music Choice as a marketing executive negotiating deals with some of entertainment and media’s top brass.

Today, Nolan is once again embracing visual media as Senior Content Strategist at 300 Entertainment, home to Megan Thee Stallion, Fetty Wap and Young Thug. Nolan is part of a senior team that is poised to revolutionize the way we consume music and receive new artists.

That little boy from Guyana who hardly saw television in his early days, grew up and is now one of the innovators behind millions of screens around the world. But Nolan has more plans.

This is the story… thus far… of Nolan Baynes