One of the original hip hop labels laid off 20 employees last week, including industry executives Jonathan McHugh and Chris Hicks. Last month Island Def CEO Barry Weis refuted a piece by The Wrap, which said the label was on hard times.
However, Def Jam was quick with replacements, according to AllHipHop.com:
Today (August 16th) Island Def Jam and Universal Republic announced they were expanding “their creative teams” with the addition of Brandon Creed, who will act as an A&R consultant for both record labels.
Creed is responsible for managing the career of Bruno Mars and songwriting collective The Smeezingtons, who have crafted hits for groups like Sugababes, B.o.B, Brandy Norwood, Flo Rida, Chad Hugo, Lil Eddie, Brave New World, Bad Meets Evil and Cee Lo Green.
Def Jam has talent — Nas, Redman, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, The Roots, Jay-Z, Kanye — which makes it hard to believe the label is struggling but considering the way people buy (or download) their music, I guess it makes sense.
Sean
The Author
