One Man's Journey From Hip-Hop Journalist to Creative Chief and Snoop Dogg Partner

Cashmere's Ryan Ford has run the rap gamut

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Whether it was his brief meeting with Tupac at age 16, his experience Iowa’s only hip-hop radio DJ in the early ’90s or his time working on the first televised Brown and Black Presidential Forum for Democratic candidates to address young minority voters’ concerns in 2000, Ryan Ford realized at a young age that he wanted to make his living at the intersection of hip-hop, politics and pop culture.

Now, 25 years later, he leads creative at Cashmere Agency, Los Angeles’ go-to shop for brands looking to reach those core consumers who closely follow every development in the byzantine world of rap music and its expanding subcultures.

Ford’s official entry to that universe came in a traditional way via an internship at The Source, also known as “the bible of hip-hop.”

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This story first appeared in the Jan. 8, 2018, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.