Enjoy a yoga session with Russell Simmons in Los Angeles.
Russell Simmons began promoting New York City musicians including Kurtis Blow and Run-D.M.C, in his early twenties. In 1984, he and partner Rick Rubin founded Def Jam Recordings, creating the foundation for the cultural revolution known as hip hop. Def Jam signed the forerunners of the hip hop movement, including the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C.
An ambitious entrepreneur, Russell Simmons saw Def Jam as just part of his hip hop empire. His Rush Communications firm also included Phat Farm clothing company, television shows, a management company, a magazine and an advertising agency. His movie production house has produced such films as Krush Groove and The Nutty Professor. In 1999, he sold his stake in Def Jam Records to Universal Music Group for $100 million. In 2004, he sold Phat Farm for $140 million.
A strict vegan and yoga enthusiast, Simmons is also an active philanthropist. He helped found the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, the Rush Philanthropic Organization and the Diamond Empowerment Fund. He actively supports PETA and was named a Goodwill Ambassador to fight war, poverty and HIV/AIDS. He is the author of Do You! 12 Laws To Access The Power In You To Achieve Happiness And Success and The Happy Vegan, on shelves now.
Simmons' All Def Digital, the fastest growing platform in hip hop and urban youth culture and Emmy award winning producers Stephen David Entertainment announced on March 13, 2017 a partnership with GroupM Entertainment, a global content investment and rights management company, to develop and produce The Definitive History of Hip Hop, a sweeping documentary series that tells the exhaustive story of hip hop, from its seminal, underground roots to its now most iconic, global artists. Stephen David will Executive Produce the series, along with GME's Richard Foster and Simmons himself. The project is in development and slated to begin production this year.
"Hip hop began in the Bronx and Queens, and was fueled by pioneering new artists with an incredible hunger to express themselves in unimaginably bold new ways," said Simmons. "The Definitive History of Hip Hop is the untold story of the birth of this art form – the series gets behind the scenes of what drove the beats, the rhymes, the ideas -- and the people -- that so powerfully hit a chord with all of youth culture in America and around the world."