Subject: [NEXTEL-1] CTIA Keynote Sessions - Russell Simmons, Chairman & CEO, Rush Communications

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 12:26:19 -0500

Keynote Sessions

Day Two
March 23, 2004, 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Location: Thomas Murphy Ballroom

Russell Simmons, Chairman & CEO, Rush Communications
Co-founder & Chairman, Def Jam Records
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.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

Life and Def: A Conversation with Russell Simmons
Hip-Hop and Academia: A Dialogue
Marketing and the Economics of Hip-Hop

http://www.ctiawireless2004.com/keynotes/keynote.cfm?calID=278

http://www.ctiawireless2004.com/index.cfm
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