Migos, Rich the Kid, OG Maco, and, most recently, Lil Yachty are some of the most celebrated artists to come out of Atlanta’s constantly refreshing young hip-hop industry in the past three years. All of those acts are linked by Quality Control, the label started in 2013 by Kevin Lee, better known as Coach K, QC is an independent label, but thanks to its nimble approach to marketing and distribution, in these times it basically punches in the same weight class as the majors.

Kevin Lee Coach K serves as the label’s A&R mastermind, and while he’s overseen the rise of plenty of successful recent acts, he made his name managing artists including Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, and Pastor Troy. But Coach’s roots go even deeper that, he’s been around since the beginning. Given the flash in the pan realities of hip-hop, Coach’s track record for consistently finding and cultivating new talent remains a remarkable achievement. This is especially the case in Atlanta, a city known for a rap scene that’s mostly dominated by the tastes of teenagers, while Coach K is currently a fortysomething.