About

Tracii McGregor is a powerhouse media and music executive whose work is deeply woven into the fabric of the entertainment industry. The respected veteran has an extensive and diverse background that spans business, editorial, marketing, publicity and television production. Since 2014, McGregor has become an in-demand media coach, teaching influential recording artists, athletes and execs how to utilize expert storytelling skills to better engage the press. Her boutique agency, Wildseed Collective, also offers content creation, biography and press release writing.

Previously, McGregor served as the President of Gargamel Music. Her rich experience equipped her to run the day-to-day operations for the GRAMMY Award-winning independent label. Over the course of 10 years, McGregor negotiated global distribution deals, worked closely with artists, photographers and graphic designers from inception to delivery of albums, created and controlled budgets, and executed retail, advertising, radio and publicity campaigns. She also produced and serviced music videos, administered artist repertoire licensing in film, TV and video games, collaborated with booking agents in the US and overseas, and secured media, clothing and beverage sponsorships for tours and special events.

Prior to heading Gargamel, McGregor was the Vice President of Content & Communications for The Source Entertainment, where she was the highest-ranking female decision maker on staff, leading a team of writers, producers and editors who created content for the magazine, TV, radio and the award-winning TheSource.com website. She also governed PR for all Source properties. As Co-Executive Producer and Talent Executive for The Source Awards from 2000 – 2004, she helped the broadcast become the highest-rated show among teens and adults ages 18 – 34. She was the Executive Producer and Segment Producer for The Source All Access TV show and EP of the platinum-selling compilation series The Source Hip-Hop Hits.

During her tenure at The Source Magazine, she played a pivotal role in shaping the content for the print publication, then the No. 1 selling music magazine on newsstands in publishing history. As Lifestyle Editor and then Executive Editor, McGregor was charged with making the vital connection between hip-hop music and the culture. She assigned and edited all of the non-music content, including film, TV and books, oversaw the fashion department, pioneered reporting on the international hip-hop scene, and groomed young journalists who now hold coveted roles at the likes of The New Yorker, Glassdoor and Complex.

Before joining The Source, McGregor was the Director of Media Relations for Payday Records/Empire Management/Ultra Records, where she obtained national media coverage for rappers and DJs signed to the top indie hip-hop label and artist management company. She launched the first projects on electronic dance music label Ultra Records, home to some of today’s biggest deejays, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Black Coffee and Steve Aoki.

For 10 years, McGregor handled media relations for South Florida’s long-running Best of the Best Music Fest. From 2007 to 2016, she managed the credential process and publicity, wrangled talent and ran the press tent for the largest multicultural music, art and culinary festival of its kind in North America.

The producers of the Tony award-winning Broadway play Fela! also retained McGregor, a grassroots marketing guru, to attract non-traditional theatergoers and local celebrities to attend the show at The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. Her utilization of street marketing, social media and word-of-mouth resulted in a string of sold out shows and the attendance of several Hollywood luminaries.

As a journalist and content producer, McGregor’s previous stints additionally include top-editing Hip-Hop Weekly, developing and staffing Jamrock, a bi-monthly mag chronicling Caribbean music and culture, serving as the Managing Editor at Urb Magazine as well as the Music Editor for Rap Sheet newspaper. She has written for Vibe, Spin, Bikini, Rap Pages and Ego Trip, among other publications.

McGregor’s film credits include her documentary Joe Gotta Go! that covered the youth activism surrounding Selma, Alabama’s controversial mayor Joseph Smitherman losing his 20-year reign to James Perkins, who became the city’s first Black mayor. The short was screened at the 2001 Urban World Film Festival.

In addition to hosting One Nation, one of the first online hip-hop talk shows, McGregor has made media appearances on E!, MSNBC, Good Day New York, CNN, VH1, MTV and FOX News. She has been quoted in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Essence Magazine, Daily News, New York Post, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post and is featured in the book, Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your [entertainment] Business. McGregor is a voting member of the Recording Academy and has shared her wisdom on panels at Harvard University, Howard University and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Earlier in her career, McGregor explored her talents as an actor and model, appearing in independent films and numerous music videos, including Tupac’s iconic “Dear Mama,” where she portrayed Afeni Shakur, the late rap star’s mother and political activist.

McGregor holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism with a Community Studies Emphasis from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Distinguished professor emerita and political activist Angela Davis advised McGregor on her senior thesis, “Black Men and the Criminal Justice System.”

She currently resides in Los Angeles with her son.