Liberian siblings make Billboard’s Women in Music list

According to the industry publication, the pair is among “six emerging executives whose achievements and innovation are shaping music’s future”. The section is a segment taken from the respected magazine’s larger annual Women in Music feature, which includes the main Executives of the Year list.

Also included on the list of emerging executives are Edith Bo, who co-founded the management and A&R consulting firm Arketek, Alicia Karlin, who curates festivals, Dawn Olejear, executive vice-president of Verve Label Group, and Brittany Schaffer, head of artist and label marketing at Spotify.

Massah David and Miatta David Johnson, aged 38 and 42 respectively, are at the helm of MVD Inc, an establishment that organises events for some of the music industry’s biggest names such as Mary J Blige, Kanye West, and Common.

Both were born in Liberia but a 1980 coup saw President William R Tolbert, their great uncle, executed. Other members of their family were killed and the coup plotters imprisoned their father who at the time of the upheaval was mayor of Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city.

Four years later, the sisters moved to Maryland in the US. But as a result of the turmoil, their relationship was altered.

"I saw myself as [Massah’s] second mom, so I’ve always been very, very protective of her," Miatta told Coveteur earlier in the year. At first, their father sold shoes in the US. Later, he got a job with the government of Washington, DC, and was able to start a business.

Miatta studied journalism and African studies and worked for some time with the Wall Street Journal. The younger sibling got a diploma at Howard University and thereafter sought to break into the music industry. Miatta's company struggled initially but that changed when she asked her family for help.

"I turned to my family for a small loan and that got us by." Massah later joined the thriving business, which has earned the siblings several features across media platforms, culminating in Billboard's honour.

"Our strong point – and what people know us for – is helping build their brands," Miatta said, "whether it’s through the event space, PR, or experiential marketing." And yet, it wasn’t until Miatta’s husband tapped into a childhood connection with Kanye West – he was the rapper's first manager – that MVD Inc got its big break. The company organised an event for West in 2006 and has since organised other high-profile events.

"We look at each event as an opportunity to take people on a journey," Massah told Billboard.