Crib Notes

Since KRS-One lives in Atlanta these days (I believe), he’s fair game for this blog’s criticism. In any case, his recent comments about Def Jam deserve a dissection.

“Def Jam is the dopest label in hip-hop, in the culture of hip-hop,” he said. “There really would be no hip-hop as we know it today if it wasn’t for Def Jam. But you don’t get that respect without also being the label that single-handedly destroyed hip-hop.”

Not surprisingly, he goes on to blame that great hip-hop boogeyman of commercialization for ruining things, as if that’s something that can or should be controlled. (If hip-hop weren’t commercial he would be out of a job and — his worst nightmare — no one would be listening to him.)

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Big Boi’s forthcoming solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty has been blogged/talked about for so long it feels like old news. Turns out the main reason it remains unheard is because Jive Ass Records refused to release it.

So Big Boi’s seeking a contractual release from the label so he can join his former boss L.A. Reid at Def Jam, according to Eye Weekly:

“The lawyers just have to finish their lawyering,” Big explained, and added that he was happy to be working with LaFace co-founder and current Island Def Jam Chairman and CEO LA Reid again, since “he’s been with us since the beginning.”

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Morehouse grad and long-time Atlanta music scene mover and shaker Shakir Stewart was recently promoted to executive VP at Def Jam Recordings.

Though their titles differ, Billboard reports that Stewart is succeeding Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, who served as President of Def Jam for three years before leaving the label when his contract expired in Dec. ’07.

Before his current position, Stewart served as VP, then executive VP, of A&R at Island Def Jam during which time he was credited with bringing Young Jeezy and Rick Ross to the label. His working relationship with IDJ Chairman/CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid goes back nearly a decade when Reid hired the proven industry upstart as creative director of his Hitco Music Publishing. Since then, he’s played a stake in the careers of artists ranging from Beyonce to Ciara.

From the looks of the head shot that accompanied the Def Jam press release, Stewart is more than ready to head the venerable hip-hop label. Check him out looking oh so gangsta.

And you thought the rappers on the label were hardcore. Ha.

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