Andre Harrell, executive founder of Uptown Records and former head of Motown Records has died at age 59.
DJ D-Nice, a DJ popular for his Club Quarantine series revealed the news on his Instagram Live, in the early hours of Saturday 9th May 2020.
Several US media houses have confirmed his passing away. However, the cause of his death is still unknown.
Raised in the Bronx, New York, Harrell started a career in music as part of the early 80s hip-hop duo; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The pair had a handful of minor hits on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart, the biggest being the “Genius Rap” in 1982.
Harrell soon found other career aspirations, particularly after meeting Def Jam records founder Russell Simmons In 1983.
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He quickly worked his way up to the vice president and general manager of the label, before he went on to establish Uptown Records, the label that discovered Sean Combs popularly known as P Diddy.
P. Diddy started off as an intern at Harrell’s and eventually worked there full-time as a talent director. There, he helped develop ’90s R&B megastars like Mary J. Blige and Jodeci, even producing the popular remix of the latter’s 1992 hit “Come and Talk to Me.”
Harrell fired him from Uptown in 1993, leading to Combs starting the Bad Boy label with The Notorious B.I.G. as his marquee artist, but the relationship remained amicable.
In 1995, Harrell moved on to Motown Records where he became CEO, working with acts like Boyz II Men and Jodeci.
He also served as the Vice-Chairman of Revolt, Diddy’s multi-platform music network. in 2013.
At Revolt, Harrell was responsible for the creation of the REVOLT Music Conference, which began in 2014 and lasted for a half-decade before being rebranded the REVOLT Hip-Hop Summit.
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