Risin' to the top: these professionals are among the cream of the crop of new talent in the entertainment industry

Black Enterprise, Dec, 1995 by Cassandra Hayes, Fonda Marie Lloyd, Marcus Reeves, Matthew S. Scott, Debbie-Ann McGann

Last year, when Elliot realized that the major networks weren't going to air his rap music award show, he syndicated it. Employing Baruch/BET to seek willing independent stations, Elliot sold the show to 75 independent affiliates across the country. "Our show offers advertisers unparalleled access to the driving force of popular culture--young people" says the 28-year-old executive.

Born in Philadelphia, Elliot gained his guerrilla tactics for getting syndication when he launched his hometown-based Krush Raps, a weekly television rap show, in 1989. After six months, Krush Raps was syndicated in 21 markets. In two years the show generated $450,000--a lot of money for a teenager who two years before was homeless.

Aside from the $800,000 in advertisement sales The Source Awards has generated this year, Elliot anticipates the show will gross $2 million in 1997. Elliott also plans to transplant The Source Awards from New York, hip-hop's birthplace, to Los Angeles.

QADREE EL-AMIN An unspoken promise to a friend has been the motivation behind Qadree El-Amin's success. That promise was to dedicate himself to making Boyz II Men an R&B phenomenon. "It's spiritual for me because I'm trying to deliver for my partner," says 36-year-old El-Amin of his childhood friend and Boyz II Men's first road manager, the late Khalil Roundtree.

Roundtree was shot and killed in 1992 during a hotel scuffle while Boyz II Men toured with M.C. Hammer. El-Amin was assistant road manager for the group then. "We dreamed about being with the biggest group in the world," he recalls.

Last year, El-Amin and John Dukakis formed Southpaw, the Los Angeles-based management company that represents Boyz II Men. Together the duo negotiates multimillion dollar deals that include international tours, endorsements and recording contracts.

El-Amin's interest in the entertainment industry started at 16 when he threw basement parties and charged 25 cents a head. Later, as a business administration student at Rutgers University, the New Jersey native promoted on-campus concerts.

Today, Southpaw also managers the group Brownstone. El-Amin says he hopes the female R&B group will duplicate Boyz II Men's success. Since El-Amin took over, Boyz II Men has grossed $31 million. Should their careers wane, he adds, "people will never say they're broke."

BILL HAMMOND What person wouldn't love to have Bill Hammond's telephone book? It reads like a Who's Who of the entertainment industry, chock-full of high-powered individuals who get invited to the special events that his company, R&B Live Productions Inc., orchestrates.

Four years ago, Hammond approached his good friend Ramon Hervey II with the idea of bringing live entertainment into black nightclubs. "I thought a club was too shallow unless it had something else to offer," says the 37-year-old Hammond, who launched R&B Live Productions in Los Angeles with financial backing from Hervey.

Live club acts bringing all-star musicians together on stage with major record label artists such as Prince, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and Vanessa Williams was Hammond's goal, but not his limit. Over the last years, he has moved into packaging concert tours, television shows and special events like the after party for the Tyson-vs.-McNeely bout in August, which featured R&B groups Jodeci and Naughty-by-Nature.