S. Samuel
Def Jam's newly appointed Executive Vice President, revered hip-hop producer No I.D., has responded to recent remarks made by former Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti about the label and his aim to become its president.
Remaining politically correct, No I.D. simply said Gotti was purely making statements based purely from his own opinion.
“I know here he’s coming from. Everybody got an opinion about it. I’m just there to do my job, to be honest,” No I.D. said in an interview. “He’s just strongly stating his opinion, and there are some facts in it and there are other parts to this business that have to do with how things be the way they are…I can’t say [if he’s the man for the job]. That’s what I mean by I won’t get into whether he can or can’t because who’s to say who can and can’t? It would be cool to have somebody in that position, but me, I’ma just stay in my position and do the best that I can do for music in general.” (WGCI)
This week, Roc Nation’s Jay Electronica said he would vouch for Gotti’s presidency bid.
“#IrvGottiForDefJamPresident,” he tweeted October 12th.
“If Irv Gotti is on Twitter, Im down to help you campaign to achieve your spoken goal of becoming the def jam president” (Jay Electronica’s Twitter)
Last week, Gotti revealed his aim and motivation to become Def Jam president.
“I wanted to speak on this because I love the hip-hop culture with a deep, deep passion,” Gotti said in an interview. “Def Jam is the light of that culture; Def Jam personifies the hip-hop culture. There is no other hip-hop label like Def Jam…If you don’t want to hire me — the best man for the job, the man who will die for it –cool, I understand. You think I’m Suge Knight, you think the feds may come in here again if you hire me, cool…Put somebody in there, because you not giving any sign or any indication that you care about my culture.” (RapFix)
In late August, No I.D. officially became appointed Def Jam’s executive vice president.
“I’m (now) executive VP of Def Jam,” the producer announced. “I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing and take it to another level. No I.D. has worked with heavyweights such Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rihanna and said that he hopes to keep finding talent and making music. “Def Jam is a cultural staple,” No I.D. said. “It’s not just a label, it’s part of the culture that I came up in and that I’ve been involved with for 20 years. It’s very important that the next generation of executives grab it by the horns and keep it on track as it grows.” (Billboard Biz)
