Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty
When is comes to the world of Hip-Hop, fashion, music, and being iconic, Russell Simmons got it all figured out. You can’t use the word mogul and not think of him. Now all of us will be able to get a visual depiction of how the young mogul began his journey in Queens, NY.
Life and Def: Sex Drugs Money + God
“Capture the rebellious rise of rap and hip hop in America, through the prism of the disruptive Simmons and the formation of Def Jam Records. That label started with rap icons like L.L. Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys and grew to include Kanye West, Jay-Z and DMX. It’s a different view of a zeitgeist movement than L.A-set films like Straight Outta Compton or All Eyez On Me. The backdrop here is New York City in the early ’80s, when crime and crack were spreading like wildfire, Gotham City teetered on bankruptcy and MTV was blowing up as disco was dying. Into that vacuum walked Simmons, a young party and record promoter who emerged from hustling on the streets of Hollis Queens to managing young musical artists who were rapping words to a beat instead of singing a melody, with furious passionate lyrics that burned across ethnic, class and geographic lines and spoke to an emerging youth culture.” – TJB
I’ll def be watching and taking notes!
Source: Radio One / Radio One
