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Reachincludes forty first-person accounts from well-known men like
the Rev. Al Sharpton, John Legend, Isiah Thomas, Bill T. Jones,
Louis Gossett, Jr., and Talib Kweli, alongside influential
community organizers, businessmen, religious leaders,
philanthropists, and educators. These remarkable individuals are
living proof that black men are as committed as ever to ensuring a
better world for themselves and for others. Powerful and
indispensable to our ongoing cultural dialogue, Reachexplodes myths
about black men by providing rare, candid, and deeply personal
insights into their lives. It's a blueprint for better community
engagement. It's an essential resource for communities everywhere.
Proceeds from the sale of Reachwill go to BMe Community, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to building caring and prosperous
communities inspired by black men. Reachis also a Project of the
Kapor Center for Social Impact, one of the founding supporters of
President Obama's My Brother's Keeper initiative.
Russell Simmons, the original and eternal hip-hop mogul, is one of the most innovative and influential figures in modern American business and culture. When no one outside of inner-city New York had even heard of hip-hop, Simmons saw the seeds of a global force that would change the way people talk, dress, listen to music, and choose the heroes they hang on their walls. Today, he oversees a sprawling, multimillion-dollar empire of culture-defining businesses in everything from music to fashion, advertising to film, and media to visual art. At the same time he’s broadened his interests and influence and pushed hip-hop to new plateaus of power and relevance. Life and Def is a one-of-a-kind tale that interweaves the remarkable journey of Russell Simmons with the story of the culture he’s transformed and been transformed by.
In his own brash, compelling voice, Simmons chronicles his numerous business successes and occasional failures. He tells the story of the founding of the legendary Def Jam Records, whose roster stretches from original rap icons like L.L. Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys to today’s top stars, including Jay-Z and DMX. He traces the launching of Def Comedy Jam, the long-running hit television series that introduced a new generation of black comedic stars to America, from Martin Lawrence and Bill Bellamy to Bernie Mac and Chris Rock. He spins hilarious tales of his adventures in Hollywood, where he’s produced hit movies like Eddie Murphy’s The Nutty Professor and worked with quirky geniuses like Abel Ferrara. He also tells the story of Phat Farm, the wildly successful pioneering urban clothing label whose origins lay in Russell’s longtime fascination with fashion (and fashion models).
Simmons’s story is also one of personal transformation, from the driven man who in the heady days of early success indulged himself with drugs, sex, and world-class decadence to the husband and father he is today, a man who has found meaning in activism, philanthropy, and spiritual practice while never losing his passion for the social, political, artistic, and commercial potential of hip-hop.
Through it all he relates telling anecdotes about the characters he’s dealt with: models and gangsters, street poets and gurus, and major players like Donald Trump, Sean Combs, Jon Peters, and Tupac Shakur. Full of advice, opinions, and behind-the-scenes scoop, Life and Def is the story of the quintessential hip-hop life.
From the Hardcover edition.
'The Art Album' is an illustrated book celebrating the
long-standing relationship between the visual arts and hip-hop
music, and is the result of a collaboration between two giants of
the American music scene. Dawud Knuckles is a veteran of the record
industry in America. In the 1990s, his friends founded the hip-hop
record label Ruff Ryders, with whom he worked for many years as a
videographer. He has subsequently worked with many recording
artists on interviews, special projects, tours, and documentaries
for Ruff Ryders. Through his career in the music industry, Dawud
has made many influential contacts, including Russell and Danny
Simmons, who contributes to the book. The Simmons insightfully
explores the themes of a selection of songs and how the subculture
of hip-hop relates to, and has influenced contemporary art. Each
chapter of the book will have a theme- for example, the theme of
one chapter will be New York, and the title of the chapter will be
'Empire State of Mind'- Jay-Z's epic single which peaked within the
top in 10 in 10 countries in 2009. Lyrics from the song will be
presented beside contemporary art inspired by New York, an
exclusive commentary from Russell and Danny Simmons (celebrated
artist and philanthropist), and a contextualizing text from
legendary writer and activist Nikki Giovanni, as well as other
academics. This concept of presenting songs, art, and interviews
alongside each other will offer an incomparable insight into the
influence that hip-hop has on contemporary culture, and the
unrivaled significance that this subculture has risen to. This
collaboration between so many big names in music, art and academia
is a unique project.
This upbeat, one-of-a-kind collection brings the Def poets -- as
featured in the Tony Award-winning Broadway show and popular HBO
television program -- to life on the page. Among them: Suheir
Hammad, Beau Sia, Steve Colman, Stacyann Chin, Mayda del Valle,
Georgia Me, Poetri, and other well-established and up-and-coming
Slam artists who have forever changed the face of poetry and offer
a fresh, exuberant, insightful, and comedic look at who we are as
Americans today.
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