Def Jam is Leaderless Again

FORMER DEF JAM PRESIDENT JOIE MANDA

Since Jay Z stepped down as President/CEO of Def Jam, no one after him has held on to the position for long. Its as if the office is cursed. Former Murder Inc boss Irv Gotti campaigned for the spot, even enlisting Def Jam founder Russell Simmons to submit letters on his behalf to the powers that be at Island Def Jam, but Gotti was passed over for Joie Manda who resigned last week and is now back in Los Angeles as President of Urban Music at Interscope. So now that the legendary once dominant hip hop label is without a leader again, all eyes are on Island Def Jam boss Barry Weiss who is expected to name a new President in the coming weeks. The question is, who will be Def Jam's new President? No immediate plans were mentioned in the news release as far as a replacement goes, but there are good picks out there if Barry takes the time to choose the right person. Here now is our short list of candidates who would be good picks to run Def Jam in no particular order.

Irving (Irv Gotti) Lorenzo - As the former head of The Inc, Irv has seen the inner workings at Def Jam. He knows the history and the culture of the company and would no doubt build on the current hot streak the label is experiencing right now. And like we mentioned above, he's been after the job for years now. Perhaps now is the time to give him a shot at the title. Then again, he is rumored to be tied up with former Warner Music Group boss Lyor Cohen in a new music venture. Would he walk away from going into business with Lyor Cohen for his dream job running Def Jam?


Mike Kyser (President black music at Atlantic Records) - A long time protege of Lyor Cohen, MikeKyser would be a good fit for the Def Jam brand. With a career built on urban music, Mike would bring a fresh approach to the Def Jam label. He would also still have people like Lyor Cohen, Julie Greenwald and Jay Z as an unofficial advisory board.




Yandy Smith - Many people are not informed about Yandy Smith's background. She is a power broker in the music business. She's had her hands in the careers of artists like LL Cool J, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Jim Jones and many others. She's consulted for major labels and currently runs businesses in digital media, publishing and eCommerce. Yandy would be a fresh but seasoned face at the top of Def Jam who has some of the most top level resources at her disposal. It would also break the mostly male dominated leadership at the storied label.


Damon Dash - Do we really need to tell you who Damon Dash is? This is our dark horse candidate. Sure he squandered his rep, money and alliances in the music business, but everyone should get a second chance and we wouldn't mind seeing Damon dash land at the top of the label he is known for fighting with during his days running Rocafella. It was rumored about 2 yrs ago that he was relaunching the Rocafella label during the time L.A Reid was running Island Def Jam, but that never came to life.  Dame is hungry to get back in the mix but his history with the company will no doubt be an issue.



Christopher "Tricky" Stewart - As President of A&R at Epic Records, Tricky Stewart is the man charged with finding hits for the now L.A Reid lead record label. He's young, keeps his ear to the streets and is hungry to run his own shop or the shop of someone else. He would shake Def Jam up by pushing the label back into artist development, something many labels aren't doing today.