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Russell Simmons Speaks on Marketing Hip-Hop & Economics at Wireless 2004 Convention
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
By: brooklyniteOne
 Russell Simmons wears so many hats at times its easy to forget many of the important ventures he is involved in. Chairman & CEO of Rush Communications Russell Simmons is one of Hip-Hops biggest advocates to the mainstream and big business. He is one of the founders of the hip-hop movement and spends much time speaking on the importance, viability and strength of the hip-hop market. We caught up with Russel at the CTIA Wireless 2004 convention where he spoke on Hip-Hop and Academia, and Marketing and the Economics of Hip-Hop. The largest wireless event in the World. CTIA is the largest telecommunications event in the country, and the most significant technology event in America. It is most comprehensive show in the wireless industry and the premier venue to exchange ideas, create partnerships and collaborate to bring wireless telecommunications to new heights. With communications now understanding the purchasing power of the hip-hop generation, and companies like Nokia teaming up with Jay-Z theres no question that we should expect to see more deals like the Nokia Black Phone , teaming up mobile wireless technology and hip-hop superstars.
Russell Simmons is a master visionary who has long shaped the cutting edge of hip-hop: America’s most compelling cultural explosion of the latter 20th century. Over the course of the last twenty-five years, Simmons brought hip-hop to every facet of media and pop culture. He has done so in music with the successful Def Jam Recordings; in television with HBO’s The Def Comedy Jam and Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry; on Broadway with the critically-acclaimed stage production “Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway;” in the fashion industry with the red-hot Phat Farm and Baby Phat clothing lines; in magazine publishing with One World Magazine ; and in the community with Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.
Simmons is a native New Yorker who came of age as hip-hop was being born in the city’s African-American neighborhoods. As a student at CCNY he saw his first rap show in 1977. He immediately understood that hip-hop represented a creative explosion on par with earlier African-American artforms such as jazz, swing, gospel, blues, rock ’n’ roll, soul, and funk. He soon began promoting his own shows, managing artists and producing records. By the early Eighties the roster of his Rush Artist Management included hit-making rappers such as Whodini, Kurtis Blow, and Run-DMC. In 1984 Simmons co-founded Def Jam Recordings, which, in the early years, represented talent such as LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. Today, Def Jam is the leading label in the market, with artists such as Jay-Z, DMX, and Method Man.
In 1991 Simmons began producing Def Comedy Jam for HBO. The show, which ran for seven years, helped revolutionize the American comedy industry. Some of today’s hottest comedians, including Martin Lawrence , Chris Tucker , Jamie Foxx and Bill Bellamy got their starts on the show.
A year later, Simmons founded Phat Farm , a men's sportswear brand that began as a passion to convey the All-American lifestyle, and has evolved into the standard for sportswear worldwide. Phat Farm has since paved the way for a sexy women's collection, Baby Phat , which is under the creative direction of wife, Kimora Lee Simmons. Due to the success of the men's and women's collection, the company introduced kids' wear, Phat Farm Boys and Baby Phat Girlz.
Simmons’ interests extend far beyond the business world, as he spends a great deal of his time and considerable energy working for social, political and philanthropic causes. In 1995 he, along with his brothers Danny and Joseph, founded Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. Later, in 2001, Simmons organized the historic Hip-Hop Summit, and founded the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) . HSAN is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of hip hop artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents and youth leaders united in the belief that hip-hop is an enormously influential agent for social change, which must be utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice. Russell also played an active part in the protest of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ’s proposed $1 billion education cut.
Simmons cherishes his role as one of the most credible and effective leaders of this generation. He believes that he has reached a position where he is not only responsible for himself, but for all those who look up to him. He goes to work each day with the intention of making people’s lives better, and so far he is on the right track.
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