Karen Civil (born November 8, 1984) also known as "KC", is an Americanmusic executive and digital media marketing strategist.[5] She gained attention for creating and running Weezythanxyou.com,[6][7][8] a website where the rapperLil Wayne published letters to his fans while he was incarcerated atRikers Island.[9][10]
Civil began her media career in college, developing fan sites for actorJ. D. Williams andThe Backstreet Boys;[14] the Backstreet Boys site came in third in a national competition[15] and the Williams site put Civil in touch with the actor after Williams' lawyer sought her out.[16] After graduating from high school, Civil entered community college but left to take an internship at radio stationHot 97 with DJFunkmaster Flex in 2002,[17] where she worked as a staff assistant;[15] she also began working withThe Diplomats to develop e-commerce for the group.[16] Civil later moved toAsylum Records.[14]
In 2008, Civil founded her own website karencivil.com[17] and a marketing agency, Always Civil Enterprise, focused on digital strategy in the hip-hop industry.[18][19][3] She was included in Billboard's Twitter 140.[20] Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to start Always Civil Enterprise, with Lil Wayne as her first client. Her company subsequently went on to work with artists such asMary J. Blige,[21]Young Jeezy,Lee Daniels,Dave East, Ben Baller &James Harden.[22]
In 2010 worked with rapper Lil Wayne to develop Weezythanxyou.com,[6][16][7][8] so that the rapper could publish letters to his fans while he was incarcerated atRikers Island.[9][10] Since beginning her work with Lil Wayne, she has become involved with his company, Young Money, where she became the company’s general manager and executive vice president in August 2022.[23]
Civil has become a public speaker, hosting events at universities, media outlets likeBET,[27][28] and women empowerment conferences and panels.
In 2014, Civil collaborated withNipsey Hussle, Samiel Asghedom, and Steve-O the "Marathon Clothing" smartstore.[29] She was very involved in planning the April 2019 memorial service for Nipsey Hussle[30] and read the letter from former presidentBarack Obama that praised the rapper for his work in the community:
While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets, and despair, Nipsey saw potential.[31][32]
In 2016, Civil became involved in music producing, co-producing aWale song featuring Lil Wayne.[33]
In addition to her role at Young Money, Karen Civil co-founded the Marathon Agency.[34]
In November 2015, Civil self-published a self-help book,[35]Be You & Live Civil: Tools for Unlocking Your Potential & Living Your Purpose.[36] Organized into four chapters called "Understanding Motivation", "Self Motivation", "Positive Attitude" and "Living Civil", Civil describes her approach to her career path.[37]
In 2015 Civil begin building a playground in Haiti,[38][15] and for Christmas in 2015 she worked withLil Wayne andAndre Berto to donate clothes, toys and books to 500 students at her Live Civil School.[39]
In April 2017, Civil opened her Live Civil Computer Lab at the House Of Hope Orphanage in Haiti and donated 20 computers to the children.[40] In August 2017, Civil worked with shoe companyK-Swiss to produce a line of shoes.[41] Civil had, as of December 2017, hosted an event called "Karen Civil Day" three times.[42]
Civil has spoken as a host forHillary Clinton sponsored Democratic rallies.[14] In 2016,BuzzFeed found tweets from 2009 by Civil that used anti-gay and anti-Jewish slurs.[43] The Clinton campaign responded that they had no control over the speech of non-campaign staff.[43]
Civil has been outspoken about women's rights in the workplace and inhip hop. Appearing on the Scoop B Radio podcast in 2017, Civil toldBrandon Scoop B Robinson that she's glad that theMeToo movement was created because it shows that women are not going to take it.[44]
Civil won a 2009 Black Web Award fromEssence magazine.[45][46] In 2010, the staff ofMTV News thanked her for contributions she made to their urban journalism.[47] In 2012, Civil was named to theEbony Power 100 list.[48] On September 15, 2015, Civil was a guest speaker at the White House "Champions of Change" event honoring young women and their contributions to their communities.[49] She has been compared toOprah Winfrey for her influence in the rap industry.[16]Black Enterprise named Civil "social influencer of the year".[50][year missing] In 2014, Civil was honored at both the 2014 BET Awards and the Salute 2014 Dinner.[51]LA Weekly writer Mara Shalhoup wrote an article discussing Civil's various accomplishments, particularly her work with campaigning for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and her social media work.[52] She was awarded the Key to the City from the city of Elizabeth, making her the youngest (and fourth) recipient of that key.[53] In 2017, she was named “Social Influencer of the Year” by Black Enterprise.[54] Civil featured on 2020 LA weekly cover[55] and in 2023, Civil was recognized inBillboard magazine's HipHop/R&B Power players for 2023.[56]
Civil served as an associate producer of the 2016 documentary filmThe Last Ride: A Philadelphia Story[57] about Kyrell "Rell" Tyrel and bike culture.[58]
In May 2018: "Good Looking Out" - Host (Complex Networks) - Karen Civil hosted the series "Good Looking Out" onComplex Networks for two seasons.[59]
