this hip-hop mogul is the brother of a
famous rapper co-founder of one of the
most recognizable record labels in the
world and owns a farm a phat farm that
is welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’ll be learning more about the life
and career of Russell Simmons I don’t
want any black records black film black
television I want black stars I want
black culture
I want herb in society to be American
son what the biggest influence in
American culture to have the biggest
piece of market share periods Russell
Wendell Simmons was born October 4th
1957 in Queens New York he grew up in a
middle-class neighborhood but learned
much of his business sense as a
marijuana dealer on city streets
Simmons started a sociology degree at
City College of New York and in 1978 he
began promoting local hip-hop acts the
next year he teamed up with his friend
Kurtis Blow to write the track Christmas
rappin and a song was a minor success
around when he eventually left school to
focus on his business full-time another
of Simmons earliest musical finds was
his younger brothers rap trio Run DMC
he helped assemble the group and they
immediately became successful Simmons
was already prominent on the hip-hop
scene by 1984 that year he partnered
with Rick Rubin to launch a record label
to release music that was mostly being
ignored by larger labels Simmons was the
business mind of Def Jam Recordings
while Rubin was more creative on the
production end at the same time
Simmons established Rush artist
management to handle many of Def Jam’s
early artists this organization became
the core of his media empire rush
communications in its early days Def Jam
released work by such up-and-coming
artists as the Beastie Boys and LL Cool
J these efforts did well and in 1985
Simmons and Rubin signed a distribution
deal with CBS records 1985 was also the
year simmons produced a movie called
Krush groove that centered on the labels
origin story what kind of record company
do you have what kind you know what type
of music what rap music what is rap
music the film featured many of Def
Jam’s artists and made 20 million
dollars at the box office on a three
million dollar budget while critics
generally hated the project it was the
first time Simmons diversified his
business and promoted his artists
through different media however Simmons
and Def Jam aim to get their music to an
even wider audience in 1986 they teamed
their Stars Run DMC with rockers
Aerosmith’s to perform a remake of the
song Walk This Way
this move single-handedly brought rap to
the mainstream and encouraged pop acts
to incorporate hip-hop elements into
their music Def Jam’s golden era came
with the signing of hardcore hip-hop
group Public Enemy Simmons continued
building his brand and credibility on
the strength of his artists what was
most striking about his promotional
efforts was that the accident door
stayed true to life on the streets in
terms of their lyrical content style of
dress and attitudes in 1992 Simmons
expanded his empire to include a
clothing line fat farm combine preppy
sensibilities with hip hop style and was
another way for Simmons to promote urban
culture that year he also started def
Comedy Jam to give African American
comedians a platform for their work in
1996 his production house had its
greatest film success when it produced
the Nutty Professor starring Eddie
Murphy yeah all I’m trying to say is
that scientific breakthroughs are
current all the time you’re about to
break through the CEO pants in 1998
Simmons married his longtime girlfriend
model Kimora Lee she worked with him at
phat fashions and helped launch the Baby
Phat spin-off brand that same year after
years of success
Simmons sold his share of Def Jam to
Universal Records for over 100 million
dollars in the year 2000 despite this
move
Simmons remained a voice for the urban
music community through a variety of
pursuits like Def Poetry Jam and the TV
show One World Music beat in 2004 he
sold fat farm for 140 million dollars
though his wife stayed on with the
company even after they divorced a few
years later Simmons got back into music
in 2005 when he formed the Russell
Simmons Music Group as a joint venture
with Island Def Jam by 2011 he was worth
an estimated 340 million
aside from his success in business
Simmons has been an active
philanthropist for a variety of causes
Russell Simmons is set to understand
hip-hop culture better than anyone his
skills as a businessman talent scout
from
and marketer have made him a rich men
and have ingrained urban music into the
American Way of life
famous rapper co-founder of one of the
most recognizable record labels in the
world and owns a farm a phat farm that
is welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’ll be learning more about the life
and career of Russell Simmons I don’t
want any black records black film black
television I want black stars I want
black culture
I want herb in society to be American
son what the biggest influence in
American culture to have the biggest
piece of market share periods Russell
Wendell Simmons was born October 4th
1957 in Queens New York he grew up in a
middle-class neighborhood but learned
much of his business sense as a
marijuana dealer on city streets
Simmons started a sociology degree at
City College of New York and in 1978 he
began promoting local hip-hop acts the
next year he teamed up with his friend
Kurtis Blow to write the track Christmas
rappin and a song was a minor success
around when he eventually left school to
focus on his business full-time another
of Simmons earliest musical finds was
his younger brothers rap trio Run DMC
he helped assemble the group and they
immediately became successful Simmons
was already prominent on the hip-hop
scene by 1984 that year he partnered
with Rick Rubin to launch a record label
to release music that was mostly being
ignored by larger labels Simmons was the
business mind of Def Jam Recordings
while Rubin was more creative on the
production end at the same time
Simmons established Rush artist
management to handle many of Def Jam’s
early artists this organization became
the core of his media empire rush
communications in its early days Def Jam
released work by such up-and-coming
artists as the Beastie Boys and LL Cool
J these efforts did well and in 1985
Simmons and Rubin signed a distribution
deal with CBS records 1985 was also the
year simmons produced a movie called
Krush groove that centered on the labels
origin story what kind of record company
do you have what kind you know what type
of music what rap music what is rap
music the film featured many of Def
Jam’s artists and made 20 million
dollars at the box office on a three
million dollar budget while critics
generally hated the project it was the
first time Simmons diversified his
business and promoted his artists
through different media however Simmons
and Def Jam aim to get their music to an
even wider audience in 1986 they teamed
their Stars Run DMC with rockers
Aerosmith’s to perform a remake of the
song Walk This Way
this move single-handedly brought rap to
the mainstream and encouraged pop acts
to incorporate hip-hop elements into
their music Def Jam’s golden era came
with the signing of hardcore hip-hop
group Public Enemy Simmons continued
building his brand and credibility on
the strength of his artists what was
most striking about his promotional
efforts was that the accident door
stayed true to life on the streets in
terms of their lyrical content style of
dress and attitudes in 1992 Simmons
expanded his empire to include a
clothing line fat farm combine preppy
sensibilities with hip hop style and was
another way for Simmons to promote urban
culture that year he also started def
Comedy Jam to give African American
comedians a platform for their work in
1996 his production house had its
greatest film success when it produced
the Nutty Professor starring Eddie
Murphy yeah all I’m trying to say is
that scientific breakthroughs are
current all the time you’re about to
break through the CEO pants in 1998
Simmons married his longtime girlfriend
model Kimora Lee she worked with him at
phat fashions and helped launch the Baby
Phat spin-off brand that same year after
years of success
Simmons sold his share of Def Jam to
Universal Records for over 100 million
dollars in the year 2000 despite this
move
Simmons remained a voice for the urban
music community through a variety of
pursuits like Def Poetry Jam and the TV
show One World Music beat in 2004 he
sold fat farm for 140 million dollars
though his wife stayed on with the
company even after they divorced a few
years later Simmons got back into music
in 2005 when he formed the Russell
Simmons Music Group as a joint venture
with Island Def Jam by 2011 he was worth
an estimated 340 million
aside from his success in business
Simmons has been an active
philanthropist for a variety of causes
Russell Simmons is set to understand
hip-hop culture better than anyone his
skills as a businessman talent scout
from
and marketer have made him a rich men
and have ingrained urban music into the
American Way of life
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