Andre Harrell

Andre Harrell (born 1962 in Harlem, New York) is an American entrepreneur and founder of the now defunct record label, Uptown Records. Harrell also served as president/CEO of Motown Records. He was also half of the hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde.

Biography

Harrell grew up in Bronx, New York. When he was a teenager, Harrell and Alonzo Brown, his high school friend, formed a rap/ hip-hop duo named "Dr. Jekyll (Harrell) and Mr. Hyde (Brown)". The group achieved success with three major hit songs "Genius Rap," "Fast Life," and "AM/FM." Despite this early success in the music industry, Harrell had other career intentions and he continued to pursue his study by attending in Lehman College in Bronx. There he majored in communications and business management, as he wanted to become a newscaster. After three years, he dropped out of college and went to work for a local radio station.

In 1983, Harrell met Russell Simmons, the founder of Rush Communications. He came to work for Rush and within his two years became vice-president and general manager. After a few years working at Rush, Harrell left Rush Management and founded Uptown Records, where he was responsible for discoving and hiring Sean "P-Diddy" Combs as an intern. In 1988, he was offered a label deal MCA Music Entertainment Group, and after multiple successful releases, in 1992, MCA offered Harrell a multimedia deal, which involved film and television productions. Uptown Records was subsequently renamed to Uptown Entertainment, and its records were featured in productions for Universal Pictures and Universal Television. In 1995, Harrell was appointed CEO of Motown Records.

ources

* [http://www.njs4ever.com/uptown.html Profile of Andre Harrell and Uptown Records]
* [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000059/Andre-Harrell.html Andre Harrell Biography] from Musician Guide