The Bay Area is celebrating its history with the inaugural SF Music Week that will feature a keynote speech from a local industry leader who recently celebrated a monumental moment.

In a high-rise overlooking downtown San Francisco, Empire, the largest independent distributor, publisher, and record label in the U.S., is thriving.

The music label's founder Ghazi Shami, who records and produces under his first name, recently graced the cover of Billboard magazine. The Bay Area native and music executive, producer and artist, whose father is a refugee, is the first Palestinian American from the region to achieve such a distinction.

"It's very surreal because these are magazines we used to look at growing up as kids," Ghazi said. "We used to read them in the stores because we didn't want to pay for them. And then, now you're on the cover. It's crazy."

But it appears Ghazi and his team have only just scratched the surface. Empire, which has contributed to the careers of stars like Kendrick Lamar and Cardi B, recently made headlines by purchasing the One Montgomery building for $24.5 million — a full-circle moment for Shami.

"We're standing on a marble floor, in a building that I could only dream about when I was a child, that will become our future headquarters. Hopefully in the next two years after the construction is done," Ghazi said. "But this used to be Crocker Bank. When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to Crocker Bank to do deposits. So to fast forward many years later, to be standing in a building that I used to fill out pieces of paper and run around in as a child is very surreal and very special."

As San Francisco Music Week -- an event put on in partnership with the Noise Pop Music Festival, SF Live and the SF Office of Economic and Workforce Development -- unfolds this week, Ghazi, who has a background in technology, took center stage as the keynote speaker.

"You have every genre, music that touches the four corners of the earth, that all started here in San Francisco," Ghazi said. "In a city that has always been known for cultural diversity, inclusion, and has always pushed the envelope on being progressive."

This progress, he added, is what drives him each day — a passion to build a legacy for his team, community, and city.

"I'll do whatever it takes. I'll put the city on my back in any way, shape, or form possible," he said.

It's this kind of creative passion that continues to fuel Empire's ascent, keeping both the label and San Francisco on the rise.