american music executive and multimedia producer andre o'neil harrell was born on september 26 1960
in the bronx new york he got his start in the music business at the age of 15
as a rapper he and his high school friend alonzo brown formed the rap duo dr jekyll and mr hyde
representing andre and alonso respectively the group experienced success with the tracks genius
rap and am pm in the early 80s in 1985 after releasing several songs and their debut album
titled the champagne of rap they also appeared in the cult classic musical comedy drama film
crush groove even at this early stage of the game andre had a keen business sense
and began honing his management skills after high school he attended a couple of different
colleges in the city before eventually dropping out and going to work for a local radio station
in 1983 andre would meet entrepreneur record executive writer and film producer
russell simmons he would later also become the co-founder of record label def jam recordings
andre went to work for him at rush management and played a major role in building the careers
for the likes of run dmc llc and houdini after gaining several years of experience under his belt
andre would leave def jam and start his own label uptown records in 1986. the label would become a
leader in the music industry as the place to go for young up-and-coming artists in the hip-hop
and r b genres as well as a new genre dubbed new jack swing the genre consisting of a mixture of
hip-hop funk dance and pop rhythms with the urban contemporary sound of r b was curated
by andre's collaboration with a musical prodigy by the name of teddy riley heavy d and the boys
albie sher christopher williams guy and jodeci were just a few of the many artists on the label
who would go on to become superstars as well as revolutionize hip-hop and r b
in 1988 after hearing a tape of the golden voice from a female singer from new york andre knew he
had to meet her he made his way to her apartment in yonkers to hear her in person and she blew him
away with her undeniable talent the following year that artist by the name of mary j blige became the
company's youngest and first female solo artist uptown was a brand built on the glamorous life
the mission was to establish a modern day oasis of black excellence if def jam catered to the
streets andre saw uptown as a lifestyle brand that promoted the high life of partying champagne
popping and being ghetto fabulous in a 1993 interview with pop culture magazine vanity fair
andre explained i'm an inner city kid who knows the reality of being poor i'm looking for escapism
fun music good time music andre then signed a 50 million distribution deal
with mca music entertainment group which involved film and television productions a couple of his
best known projects are the 1991 comedy film strictly business as well as the hit fox
police drama series new york undercover and just like that uptown went from being a record label
to being on the road to becoming an entertainment giant unfortunately other film and tv projects in
development featuring heavy d r b group and vogue and hip-hop duo chris cross never came to fruition
the reasons why were simple and typical there was a major disconnect between black xx and the top
level decision makers who didn't look like them or come from where they came from the partnership
was widely viewed as a bust in the industry but those in the know said the fault wasn't with andre
but with mca who wouldn't give him real autonomy or put the support he felt was needed behind his
projects for them to thrive someone else that got his start in the business with uptown was
future rapper record executive record producer and entrepreneur sean puff daddy combs back in the day
puff found out what pizza shop heavy d like to frequent in the city and he would go there and
hang out one day heavy came in and puff pitched the idea of being his manager heavy looked at
this skinny 18 year old kid and immediately said no but he did see something special in puff and
decided to introduce him to andre andre hired him as an intern as the label grew and puff honed his
skills there came a point where he wouldn't listen to anyone and started butting heads with everyone
not surprisingly andre ultimately fired puff however little do people know puff
as well as his artists and staff from his own label that he had just started
called bad boy records still remained on uptown's payroll andre knew puff was going to do big things
and wanted to support him in any way he could another reason behind puffs firing was because
mca didn't want to release the debut album of a new rapper on the scene called the notorious big
that puff had discovered because of its raw and rough subject matter about street life
in a 2014 interview with daily newspaper the wall street journal andre confirmed i didn't
want to sit there and be the one confining puff because the corporation was telling me to do that
i'm not built that way i told puff he needs to go and create his own opportunity you're
red hot right now i'm really letting you go so you can get rich andre experienced a
major high in his personal life in 1994 when he welcomed a son with music attorney wendy credle
the following year an opportunity presented itself that andre felt he just could not pass up
he opted to leave the label he created to take over the ceo position at motown records the stint
would turn out to be brief lasting just two years heavy dee who was the vice president at uptown
took over the president and ceo position after andre left these series of changes would prove
to be uptown's downfall andre would later chalk it up to heavy coming from an artist background
not being comfortable taking on a more managerial point of view when dealing with the other artists
on the label naturally that resulted in everyone going in separate directions and by 1999 uptown
was no more upon leaving motown andre went on to make even more magic with other labels
he lent his wisdom and expertise to long-time friend and colleague puffy by serving as president
of bad boy entertainment he also co-founded label new america with singer songwriter producer
kenneth babyface edmonds and proving he still had the instinct for talent signed a young robin
thicke then in early 2009 andre suffered a major health crisis he had an infection in his blood
that traveled to his heart as a result he had to undergo emergency quadruple heart bypass surgery
even though he already had a lot on his plate andre decided to dabble in the radio world and
began hosting his own radio show called champagne and bubbles on 98.7 kiss fm in new york in 2011.
he also continued to collect more ceo titles when he ran his own venture horrell records in
2013 puff now going by diddy launched revolt a primarily urban contemporary music-oriented
digital cable television network he brought andre on board serving as vice chairman the next
year the brand began hosting the annual revolt music conference it invites artists executives
and cultural leaders to engage in conversations that explore the impact and influence of hip-hop
on may 7 2020 andre harrell died at his home in west hollywood california from heart failure
he was 59 years old according to his ex-wife wendy he'd been suffering from heart problems
in the time leading up to his death the uptown record story a multi-part mini-series on bet
documenting the story of the label has been in the works since 2020. as of the making of this
video no official release date has been confirmed prior to his death andre was previously on board
as an executive producer andre's legacy is well known and respected among industry insiders
and those who were there to bear witness in real time however he was never as big a public figure
as other label heads like russell simmons diddy or suge knight andre had expressed at various points
throughout his career his preference to stay out of the spotlight he realized he'd leverage some
personal brand power by not putting himself in the front but instead putting his energy towards
creating avenues for new talent to shine for both artists and executives no doubt the miniseries
will finally give andre an appropriate spotlight moment by honoring his legacy and contributions
to the world of entertainment thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget to
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