I've been following Russell Simmons' political ambitions for over a year now, and it seems like his self-promotion campaign has kicked into high gear in the last few weeks. Either he's trying to take Rush Communications public or he's planning to formally enter politics in the next few months.
The latest evidence of the Rush Awareness Campaign is the twin magazine covers at last week's BusinessWeek issue and the November issue of Fast Company. Though there have been glowing profiles of the man popping up for years now, the amazing consistency of the stories is striking. The same hat topping virtually the same outfit on the cover shots, prominent Phat Farm logos,and the insistent message that "traditional" executives have a lot to learn from his success.
Even the stories read as if they came from the same press agent's stamp, full of anecdotes that are only revelatory if you've been completely obivious to the existence of hip hop culture in the two decades since it became a major cultural force. Aside from those unsurprising staples ("He's a hands-off manager! Even rich white people like him!") the stories resonate with me because we've never had anyone from hip hop culture be seen as anything other than a novelty entrepreneur.
The question now, of course, is "What Next?" This sort of press campaign doesn't happen by accident, and the appeal of someone with unimpeachable credentials in the rap world who's also a nominal Buddhist and has the ear of everyone from Hillary Clinton to Ludacris is undeniable. The options seem to be politics or commerce, and I'm fascinated to see which he chooses.
Yes, it will be nice to see where he takes everything.
No doubt about it: commerce is king for him.
Nothing against Mr. Simmons, but what exactly did happen with his ghetto fabulous pre-paid cell phone scam thingy?
As far as I know, it's still going, the same way his pre-paid credit card scam thingy is going.
vice president! like chris rock sez :D
Anil = I noticed this "coincidental" press coverage or over-coverage of RS too. Glad you wrote about it. H
Was his first foray into politics his attempt to convince Gov. Pataki and the legislature in Albany to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws? It'll be interesting to see what lessons he learned from that failure...
This bothers me. Simmons is the ultimate merchant of the bling-bling culture that has set black Americans back several decades. It's the ultimate triumph of image over substance and I get the feeling that Simmons' political power is a lame attempt by (mostly) white politicans to get "street" without looking at the real problems. Simmons appears to be selling an uptown version of the same sorry "thug" lifestyle. I tend to believe black America intensely limits itself by latching on to music for its cultural identity when there's so much more.
What's most interesting about this, to me, is that he was notably shy about self-promotion in the past.
Even back in the 80's, he had an actor stand in, opposite Rick Rubin, for the filming of Krush Groove. (He did make a cameo appearance.)
Can you see rap "moguls" Puff Daddy, Master P and Jermaine Dupri showing that discretion?
Simmons isn't in videos, never mind albums released on his own label.
I agree with your hunch, Anil -- something's coming down the pike.
I think at least some of the credit for politicizing him goes to Davey D.
He's pro "reparations" but anti education vouchers.
http://www.blackelectorate.com/print_article.asp?ID=791
Hoser.
There are moments I miss the life and busy travel I knew as a professional in NYC and reading your site reminds me. Having tried many lifestyles from penthouse to streets and retired a few times and now one of the working poor, I wonder if I should unretire again. Reading your words might be helpful or a pain, we shall see.
Somehow a coworker was sent one of Simmons' smart card/pseudo credit cards, which actually isn't a smart card because it has a standard magnetic strip and not a memory chip. Seems like a fine idea for those people who don't have credit cards, but for anybody with half a credit rating, it's of no value.
Every time I read about Russel I think back to his interview on Charlie Rose. Poor Charlie...he looked so frustrated with Russell, who couldn't answer a question without bolting off on an unrelated tangent and thus take the interview way off course. Charlie would try to take hold of it, ask a pointed question, and once again get a bunch of nonsense.
Is this how Russel handled his behind-the-scenes meetings in Albany?
I think we should be giving praise to Russell Simmons for his prepaid debit and cell phone ventures. These are not for everyone. They are for the disenfranchised who cannot get bank accounts/cell phones and must pay ridiculous check cashing fees on a regular basis to the corner store ez cash or large deposits to the major carriers making them (disenfranchised) that much poorer.