The half-billion-dollar hip-hop empire of Russell Simmons - Cover Story - Biography

Ebony, July, 2003 by Kevin Chappell

Today, the couple is inseparable. Having purchased their multimillion-dollar house two years ago, they promptly proceeded to gut it and remake it into their dream home. The estate has 10 fireplaces, and is furnished with handmade furniture and antique artwork. The dining room table, made of cherry wood and gilded with 24-karat gold, seats two dozen people and is decorated in shades of regal red. A 12,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom guesthouse is situated behind the main estate. He routinely complains to his wife about changes to the home. Like her project to replace the stucco exterior with a type that, he says, is so high-maintenance "it will melt if you breathe on it." But deep down inside he likes his new digs. "It's a nice house," Simmons says. "It's good for entertaining. I have always lived in the city, so it's different."

Simmons calls his wife "an amazing businesswoman and an amazing mother. All of the things she can handle at one time. She doesn't go anywhere without the kids. She will take the girls and fly to Europe to do business. She's never spent a night away from the girls."

She is also, he says, "a creative force." She has worked for every designer. That's why she is such a good designer now. It has everything to do with her credibility and the reason she is in the forefront in her market. She knows what she's doing. She knows high fashion. I'm proud of her."

The selling strategy that runs throughout all the couple's companies is the ideal of American justice, not the crutch of race. Eighty percent of the people who buy Def Jam records are not Black. Neither is a large percentage of the people who buy Phat Farm and Baby Phat clothes. Therefore it infuriates him when people try to pigeonhole him into a particular category. "I'm not running an ethnic company" he says. "I make pink argyle sweaters, for goodness sake."

Russell's brother, Joey Simmons, better known as Reverend Run from the legendary rap group Run D.M.C., is president of Phat Farm Footware, a company Russell hopes will challenge the big sneaker companies.

Using campaigns that matter to the hip-hop community, Simmons travels across the country, spearheading rallies on the latest issues of the day in such unsuspecting places as shoe stores, where he mixes sneaker signings with talk about economic justice and self-awareness. It's his focus on social issues that has made him a force in the world of activism, even in a climate where celebrities are systematically beat down for speaking their mind. Simmons appears to say what he thinks without much thought to the repercussions of his words. He believes it's important for his company to have a voice. "Everybody else is punished for saying things, but what's the worst thing they can do to me?" he asks. "Dissent built this country. I criticize adults and they get mad at me. I'm an adult, and I still think adults are messed up in a lot of ways. Adults many times lack courage. They have old ideas and a lack of vision."

He believes firmly that young people are changing and evolving for the better. It's part of the reason he created Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and on HBO last year. Both the theater and television show highlight the re-emerging poetry scene among young people. "They are much more conscious now than they were five years ago," he says. "I go to schools in the ghetto and ask how many of them like poetry, and all of them stand up and say things from their heart. In their poetry, you hear a connection to the heart versus just the loud music. It's in style now. Rappers and poets are talking about much different subject matter, higher aspirations for themselves and their community. You hear frustration, but now you are hearing solutions, survival techniques"