When Casey Atherton started her freshman year at San Diego State University, she did not know she would be working as an assistant on the management team for a new, local San Diego rapper named Take45.

Atherton originally entered SDSU as an undeclared undergraduate and switched to communication as her major in her sophomore year. During her junior year, she started to find her calling in with music management. 

“I’ve always been really interested in anything related to the music industry,” Atherton said. 

Atherton, a senior, first heard of Take45 in July and inquired about possibly gaining a position with the rapper’s management team in August. Fortunately for her, the team’s assistant position had been vacant and they were looking for a replacement.

As an assistant to Take45 and his manager, Atherton has utilized many skills from her major, including her interpersonal expertise. 

“It has given me hands-on experience of going into studio sessions, rehearsals, shows and everything behind the scenes that I would be doing when I do artist management,” Atherton said. “Even though I’m not exactly his manager, I’ve been shadowing his manager essentially and seeing how they operate.”

Take45, whose real name is Ej Louis, grew up in Poway, San Diego. He began his music career two years ago on the app GarageBand from home. He initially gained attention on TikTok for his production talents and creation of his own beats, but he truly took off after realizing the best way to gain an audience was by including his own vocals. 

Take45’s growing popularity on social media platforms drew the attention of Tik Tok users like Atherton. 

“I found out about him because I thought his music was super cool,” Atherton said. 

Louis was not just talented from a production aspect. According to Atherton, he was practically meant for the industry.

“He was an even better performer than I had thought,” she said. “I definitely feel like after seeing him perform, I’m so behind him. He’s gonna take off in the industry and he has already.”

“His beats are very upbeat and have a sort of house music or EDM (electronic dance music) vibe — but then when he raps, it’s like hip-hop,” Atherton said.

Louis has released two albums during his career: “Boy On Mars (2020)” and “Boy On Mars 2 (2022),” as well as numerous singles and two EPs. He was also recently featured in the Spotify playlist, “Internet People,” which has over 1,200,000 likes and includes other notable artists such as “Yung Gravy,” “Baby Keem” and “Lil Yachty.”

During her time working on his team and alongside the rapper, Atherton and Take45 have developed a close bond.

“Casey (Atherton) is funny. She is less of a coworker, and more of a friend now. She’s sweet, fun to be around, and she’s a great help to the team,” Take45 said. 

“She helps me with ideas, even if she knows I won’t want to do them. I take more initiative with her help, and since her ideas end up working, I listen to her more.”

While Atherton has only been involved with Take45 for a few months, she has shown a true passion for the industry she joined. Due to her background and devotion to the music industry, Atherton aspires to a promising future.

“[This job] is basically showing me exactly what I’m going to be doing in the future,” Atherton said. “There’s not really a limit to what I can do.”