Tag Archives: Russel Simmons

Happy 64th Birthday To Hip Hop Pioneer Russell Simmons!

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Today we celebrate the 64th birthday of Hip Hop pioneer Russell Simmons!

Since the founding of Def Jam Recordings in 1983, Russell Simmons has been an instrumental part in the advancement of Hip Hop culture. Over his illustrious career, Russell has launched the careers of multi-platinum artists (LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy, to name a few), co-founded top-selling clothing lines Baby Phat and Phat Farm, created financial institutions with the Rush Card, and award-winning television shows Def Poetry Jam and Run’s House. It is nearly impossible to say what the state of rap music and Hip Hop culture would be today with the Russell Simmons influence.

Lately, Uncle Rush has even begun taking giant strides outside of the entertainment and financial industries, becoming Hip Hop’s new-age spiritual guru. Since 2010, Simmons has released self-help books sharing his views on religion, spirituality, and health. Through his Hindu and vegan lifestyles, Uncle Rush has assumed the mentor to a vast majority of today’s top recording artists.

Over the years, Hip Hop empires have risen to power and fallen from the mountaintop. Russell Simmons, however, was always been able to brave the tide and stand firm as one of the most impregnable forces of marketing and branding expertise.

In 2020, Russell Simmons beat a sexual assault lawsuit against him. Jane Doe filed a $10 million lawsuit in March 2018 alleging the music mogul raped her and inflicted emotional distress. Simmons denied the claims and called it a “vile” extortion attempt. L.A. Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein made a judgment in favor of Simmons because Doe’s claims stem from an alleged incident from 1988.

Since his first project, Run D.M.C., it has been evident that no one truly understands Hip Hop the way Russell Simmons does. His Midas touch continues to transform the culture into something new (and more profitable) with every idea he brings to fruition. He is genuinely a rap genius.

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Russell Simmons Suing Ex-Wife Kimora Lee Simmons Over Celsius Energy Drink Stock

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According to areport from The Blast, Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons is suing his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons and her new husband, Tim Leissner, for using Simmons’ shares of his Celsius Energy Drink company to pay for attorney fees for Leissner. The Def Jam pioneer claims that his shares are being used as collateral to pay a bond in connection with criminal charges filed against Kimora’s new hubby by federal authorities.

In the suit filed by Simmons, he claims that he. Kimora and her husband Tim invested millions of dollars into Celsius Energy Drink, but allege that the Baby Phat head honcho and her new beau “conspired with each other, aided and abetted each other and together engaged in fraud by causing an unlawful conversion and fraudulent transfer” the Celsius shares to themselves without his knowledge or consent.

Russell says that he sent a letter to his ex-wife on May 5, pleading with her to do the right thing in order to avoid a lawsuit. In the letter, he wrote, “to get the important family matter of the Celsius shares to a close so that we can put it behind us and carry on as the loving united front we have always been.”

Simmons is asking a judge for damages against Kimora and Leissner and believes he should be awarded restitution for interest and equal value for the ill-gotten shares.

Kimora’s husband pleads guilty to criminal conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering in November 2018. Simmons claims he knew Leissner would need millions of dollars, $44 million according to his lawsuit, to stay out of jail which prompted the illegal transfer of the shares.

Simmons closed his letter to his ex-wife, saying, “I am shocked and saddened to see how your side has behaved in response to my repeated attempts to get an agreement from you to rightfully and legally reaffirm my 50% of the Celsius shares..which have been locked up with the government after being used for your husband’s bail money.”

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Today In Hip Hop History: LL Cool J Dropped His Debut Album ‘Radio’ 33 Years Ago

On this date in 1985, James Todd Smith better known as LL Cool J, dropped his first full length LP on Def Jam Records. Primarily produced by Rick Rubin besides “I Need A Beat”, which was produced by DJ Jazzy Jay, Radio was a pivotal LP for not only LL and Def Jam, but for an evolving Hip Hop landscape that had just seen the rapid decline of b-boying and jams in the park. This was also the era in which the crack epidemic hit the streets and all of the major players used LL Cool J as the prototype image of how a hustler is supposed to look.

Songs like “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” and “Rock The Bells” dominated airwaves as well as influenced other artists of that time period with his braggadocios content and virtually forceful delivery. The song that actually got Cool J the deal with Def Jam, “I Need A Beat”, was written and recorded when LL was only 15 years old, making him not only Def Jam’s first solo artist, but also their youngest.

Salute to Cool J, Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons, Jazzy Jay and everyone at Def Jam from that era that help put together this timeless classic!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: LL Cool J Dropped His Debut Album ‘Radio’ 33 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

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