How Slayyyter, RAYE & Kehlani’s Big Year Won Them New Fans — And Led to Their Biggest Tours to Date

This year, three artists who have been making music and performing for the past decade have enjoyed their most successful years yet. Slayyyter has built momentum from her recent album, WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance Albums chart and has spent 18 weeks on the chart overall, and debuted at No. 22 on the Billboard 200. RAYE’s latest album, This Music May Contain Hope, reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a Billboard Hot 100 top 20 single, “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!”. Kehlani’s single “Folded” marked her first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 last summer, reaching No. 6 and heralding her self-titled album this April, which hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

That chart success has brought these women the biggest audiences of their careers thus far.

Slayyyter has been on the festival circuit this year, most recently performing at Lollapalooza last weekend, where the festival bumped her up to a main stage set following the success of WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA. She kicked off her Chicago dates with an aftershow at The Salt Shed on Thursday (July 30), ahead of her set on the festival’s main stage on Friday (July 31).

RAYE’s recent run, This Tour May Contain New Music, landed in arenas across Europe and theaters in North America, including two nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 15 and 16 and two shows at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on May 12 and 13.

Kehlani, too, has seen a blockbuster year by returning to her roots and becoming her most authentic self. The R&B singer faced show cancellations for her comments on Gaza last spring, with Cornell University and Central Park Summerstage in New York City pulling dates. But on Thursday (Aug. 6), she kicked off The Kehlani World Tour at The Armory in Minneapolis, with amphitheater and arena dates across North America through Oct. 4, when the Bay Area-born singer will wrap up with two shows at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountainview, Calif.

And behind all three artists’ tours is THE•TEAM’s Eli Gelernter, their booking agent, which has earned him the title of Billboard‘s Executive of the Week.

Gelernter spent the last weekend at Lollapalooza, where five of his clients performed: Slayyyter, Wet Leg, Destin Conrad, Asha Banks and SUNSHINE BENZI. Wet Leg first took to The Vic Theatre in Chicago on Wednesday (July 30), then performed at Lolla day one on Thursday. Conrad also held an aftershow on Saturday (Aug. 1) before his Lollapalooza set that Sunday (Aug. 2), while Asha Banks and SUNSHINE BENZI performed at the festival on Thursday.

Here, Gelernter talks Lollapalooza, what it’s like seeing the vision for an artist develop for years before their big break and how he builds up artists’ live audiences.

Slayyyter has been around for almost a decade but really broke out this year with her latest album. How does that translate to your approach to booking her?

Zac Bluestone, Marty Diamond and I take great pride in the strategy we’ve built for Slayyyter over the years. She has always had a deeply committed fanbase, and we knew we needed to service that audience properly throughout every campaign, even prior to WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA.

Her live business has always been a major driver of her career, dating back to her self-titled debut mixtape in 2019. While Slayyyter broke further into the mainstream through the WGIA project, she has always had an incredible live show. We wanted to utilize festivals leading into headline touring like Coachella, Governors Ball and Lollapalooza to give her the opportunity to show the world at large how incredible the performance is alongside the music itself.

You have worked with RAYE from the beginning. How did you first discover her, and what made you want to work with her?

Marty, who is my partner on the project and someone I have worked with for a decade, signed RAYE when she was 17 years old. I worked on RAYE as an admin for years, saw the untapped potential and recognized that she had deep significance within the queer community following her Euphoric Sad Songs campaign. I knew there was a real business for her in the States.

To super-serve her existing audience ahead of My 21st Century Blues, her breakthrough debut album, her first-ever shows in America were a string of Pride dates that positioned her as a marquee act. We have continued to super-serve that audience, which still has an incredibly meaningful presence within her fanbase today.

Everything about RAYE made me want to work with her. Sonically, she can tap into every genre, whether jazz, pop, R&B, electronic or dance. Those were early signs that a RAYE fan could be any type of person and wouldn’t be defined by genre, race, age or any other demographic category. She has an infectious personality and presence, an unparalleled work ethic and vision, and a level of talent that is beyond what words can describe.

Kehlani has also been having a standout year with the release of her self-titled album. How did you prepare for her current tour?

We knew we were going to have an exciting touring campaign this cycle, and we routed it accordingly while also retaining her value and positioning across the major markets. That allows her to maintain strong demand across the global festival circuit next year, extend the album campaign and ensure that Kehlani’s live presence has the same staying power as the album itself.

Last weekend at Lollapalooza, you had your clients Slayyyter, Wet Leg, Destin Conrad, Asha Banks and SUNSHINE BENZI performing. How did you help your clients secure those slots?

I have a strong track record of successful performances from years prior. That batting average gives buyers more confidence in what a project can become, rather than having them focus solely on its value at the time festivals are being booked.

It is a balance of selling buyers on where you believe your client will be a year from now and getting them excited enough to become believers in the same way you are as their agent. On the agency side, I also find it very important to be a pleasure to speak to and be known as someone who is easy to work with. I’m thankful for my relationships with our promoter partners at C3 Presents, who believe in me as an agent.

How do you compare booking festival sets with booking headline tours?

Festivals can serve many different purposes for artists at different points in their careers. For an emerging act, they can provide credibility. For a breakout artist, they can create a massive moment. For an artist who has experienced a major rise in recent months, they can be a statement that cements that artist as a subheadliner or headliner with long-term viability.

A number of your clients have been with you since the earliest stages of their careers. What do you look for in a developing artist, and what does it mean to you to be able to help them develop?

Signing artists early and helping them grow has always been one of the most rewarding parts of being an agent. It requires you to look beyond where an artist’s business is at that exact moment and understand what they could become with the right team, strategy and opportunities around them.

I’ve been fortunate to experience that journey with artists like Tyla, FLO, Elyanna and Natanya. They are all incredibly distinct, but each had a clear sense of identity, undeniable talent and the ambition to build something that could resonate. My role is to believe in that vision early, advocate for it when the wider market may not see it yet and help create a live strategy that grows alongside the artist rather than getting ahead of them.

Natasha Bedingfield is especially meaningful to me as one of my first clients. She believed in me at a pivotal point in my own career, when I was still proving myself as an agent. I will always be grateful for that trust. It taught me the importance of building relationships that go beyond any individual campaign or touring cycle. The best part of this job is growing together, celebrating the breakthroughs and continuing to find new opportunities for artists at every stage of their careers.