Yesterday Russell Simmons proposed a ban on the words Ni**er, H*e and B**h on rap records, but does he really have the power to censor hip hop? I read a very interesting diatribe on my favorite message board about who really runs shit in the music industry.Wanna read it? Here it go...
With the one possible exception of Percy “Master P” Miller there is no such person as a black Hip Hop mogul. Puffy ain’t one, neither is Andre Harrell, nor Rush(Russell Simmons) , nor Andre “Dr Dre” Young, and Marion “Suge” Knight especially was never a mogul. Neither is Shawn “Jay Z” Carter , his ex-sidekick Damon Dash, or Jermaine Dupri or even Bob Johnson. All these folks might be rich, but they sure are no moguls.
Now Jack Warner, he was a mogul. Ahmed Ertegun, that was a (mini) mogul. David Geffen is a mogul.So is there such a thing as a Hip Hop mogul? Of course, there are quite a few of them. Here’s the list: Clive Davis, Rick Rubin, Lyor Cohen, Steve Gottlieb, Jimmy Iovine, Ted Fields, Doug Morris, Mel Lewinter, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Sumner Redstone, Percy Miller. Then there’s the Hip Hop ueber-mogul, attorney Paul Schindler, and his sidekick, business manager Burt Padell.Ok. So what about the black record industry pioneers of Hip Hop. Any there? Well, maybe Sylvia Robinson in the late 1970’s, but that was over in a heartbeat. The real Hip Hop record pioneers?There you have them: William Socolov, Arthur Russell (Sleeping Bag Records), Rick Rubin (Def Jam Recordings), Steve Plotniki and Corey Robbins (Profile Records), Jerry Allen (BDP Records), Tom Silverman (Tommy Boy Records), maybe even Hiroshi Matsuo (Pallas Records). None of them black, one is Japanese. Oh, and let’s not forget Arthur Baker (Fat Boys), and the late Steve Salem.
And no no no. Russell Simmons did not co-found Def Jam. Nor did he ever run Def Jam. Rick Rubin ran Def Jam. Later Lyor Cohen ran Def Jam. Nor did Russell ever sign Def Jam’s big acts. LL Cool J? Rick Rubin. The Beastie Boys? Rick Rubin. Public Enemy? Rick Rubin. Oran “Juice” Jones? Lyor Cohen.So what was Russell’s claim to fame? Simple, Rush is the house that Joey built. Russell is Joey “Run” Simmons’ brother. That Rev. Run (oh, boy "Rev." Now, that's a whole other story) of Run-DMC fame. That’s what made Rick Rubin decide to open the door for Russell.Ah, but Run-DMC. Now that’s a black owned and controlled group!?!? Nope. Produced by: Rick Rubin. Record company: Profile Records, (Cory Robbins and Steve Plotniki). Management: Rush Artist Management run by…Lyor Cohen. Publicist: Bill Adler. Black? Nope, nice guy, but absolutely not black.Ok, their attorneys were black. Right? Nope. Grubman, Indursky and Schindler. Not black. Black business management? Nope Burt Padell. Not black.Then, … ah, but, but, but at least their booking agents were black, right? Naw. Norby Walters (aka Norby Meyers), Cara Lewis, not black. (Cara, being a red head, is definitely not black).Public Enemy, in their heyday? Record Company: Def Jam. Not black. Rush Management, not black, Norby Walters Agency, Pyramid Agency, William Morris Agency, (Cara Lewis) not black. Publicist: Bill Adler.BDP (Scott la Rock, Kris Parker and Scottie Morris), Record Company: BDP Records: Not black. Attorney (Jay Kramer), not black, management (Jay Kramer), not black.
On another note, people forget that Master P REALLY is a master.
First rapper to own 100% of his Masters
First and only rapper/CEO to receive 85% of profits in a major deal
Has sold 75 million records as an independent CEO
First rapper to be worth over $100 million
First rapper to be worth over $300 million
Suffice it to say he is one SMART COOKIE! Neither Jay, Diddy, nor Russell have accomplished those BY THEMSELVES!
