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Home , Def Jam Recordings, Kevin Liles, Lyor Cohen

MY TEAM: JULIE [GREENWALD], TODD MOSCOWITZ, MY BRAIN. OR COHEN RK

Running things: , , and JULIE GREENWALD pose at the UJA- Federation of New York's Music Visionary of the Year awards luncheon at the Pierre Hotel on June 18, 2003; below, TODD MOSCOWITZ and RUSSELL SIMMONS attend the Yellow Fever & Clandestine Industries Spring 2007 fashion show during Olympus Fashion Week at New York's Capitale on Sept. 9, 2006. THE EXECUTI VE TEAM

The new joint venture with PolyGram in 1994 ushered in the JULIE GREENWALD: I am a definitive student of the second age of Def Jam, and the coalescing of Cohen's power. Lyor Cohen school of thought. He wanted us to super -serve the artist. He wanted us to make sure that wherever the COHEN: When PolyGram bought half of Def Jam, they im- artists were, the event was hot and sexy. And he was so in it mediately sent me to the London School of Economics with and on top of us, that it was easy to see what was or wasn't 13 other presidents. It was an extremely valuable three -and- working. Once Kevin and I were together in , a- half-week course. In one exercise, they broke us into groups the two of us came to the office early in the morning and and gave us a scenario: We're flying over the Australian des- left late at night -and we were probably making the least ert, the plane sputters, then crash -lands. I became the leader amount of money of anybody. Finally, we put two and two In addition to being one , Mariah of the most sought -after Carey, Soulja Boy and of my group and promptly marched us to our death. I was so together, like, "This is crazy. Why are we killing ourselves ?" producers in the industry, Diggy Simmons. distraught because I'm a paternal leader. I want people to be- And one by one, we started to pick off all the dead weight. Def Jam co- founder RICK lieve that it's not about my getting out, it's about our getting I'd be like, "This one's gotta go," and Kevin would be like, RUBIN is now co- chairman Author, producer and of . gallery owner BILL out. I'm your leader because we are getting out together or "That one's gotta go." And Lyor started letting us bring ADLER is the former dying together. So I stayed after class and asked the teacher in great young hungry people. We were "home -growing" RUSSELL SIMMONS has director of publicity for to help me understand where I went wrong. And we reviewed the staff at Def Jam. They'd start out as my assistant or been a -if not the -major Rush Artist Management force in bringing hip -hop and . the tapes over and over again. Kevin's assistant, and then they'd get promoted to video culture to every facet of The instructor pointed out the moment it all went wrong or to press or whatever. business and media, Former Def Jam president including fashion, KEVIN LILES is now for me. There was a woman in our group who had the clue theater, jewelry, TV, film, president /CEO of Def to everyone's survival. But she was dour and doubting, so I TODD MOSCOWITZ: I was 26 and didn't have a life. I'm books, philanthropy and Jam Enterprises and dismissed her. And the instructor explained to me that if you one year out of law school. I'd never been trained to do busi- the Internet. president /CEO of management firm KWL surround yourself with different types of problem solvers, ness affairs. I worked 14 to 18 hours a day. I had a knot in my Among many other things, Enterprises. not reflections of yourself, you will be a champion. stomach the whole time. It was terrifying. The first thing I LYOR COHEN is chairman/ She's held numerous That's when I flew back home and created my team: Julie, did was to go head to head with [attorney] Paul Marshall on CEO of recorded music. posts at Def Jam - my taste; Kevin, my action; Todd Moscowitz, my brain. My LL Cool J. He was the meanest, toughest, most ornery guy. now JULIE GREENWALD business exploded the moment I put that team together. And But I was very aggressive with him in the negotiations. And Former Def Jam VP BILL is chairman /COO of STEPHNEY is a producer Group. it was all because they problem -solved in different ways and it allowed Lyor not to be the bad guy anymore. The chemistry with Ironbound Film and we came to the right conclusion more times than not. between the two of us was awesome. It was classic good cop Television Studios. TODD MOSCOWITZ, [reconsiders]. It was bad cop, less bad cop. who previously served ... . is as executive VP of KEVIN LILES: When you become the president of an orga- co- founder/CEO of Warner Bros. Records, nization, it just can't be, um, "Run everybody over." You have Def Jam: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Management. is now the label's to have some kind of finesse. That happened for Lyor at (Rizzoli), by Dan with prefaces by Rick Clients include LL Cool J, co- president /CEO. the and Charnas, start of the PolyGram era. Rubin and Russell Simmons, will be published Sept. 20.

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