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Andre Harrell

Andre Harrell Obituary: Uptown Records founder who discovered ... How much is Andre Harrell Worth? in › Andre Harrell Net Worth:$50 MillionAndre Harrell net worth: Andre Harrell was an American record and film producer who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of his death in 2020. He was notable for being the founder of Uptown Records which helped launch many careers of artists and executives. At Uptown, Andre discovered Sean "Diddy" Combs who rose from unpaid intern to Vice President within a few short years. Unfortunately, Andre died on May 8, 2020 at the age of 59.

Early Life: Andre Harrell was born in Harlem, New York in September 1960. Harrell formed the hip hop duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with his high school friend Quadie Campbell. The group had three hit singles: "Genius Rap", "Fast Life", and "AM/PM". He went to Lehman College to become a newscaster but dropped out. After dropping out he went to work at a radio station as an account executive. In 1983 Andre met Russell Simmons who had just founded Def Jam Records and offered him a job. His starting salary was $200 a week which he ultimately decided to split with in order to get him to come on board. Andre rose the ranks and worked for Simmons' company Rush Communications eventually becoming a Vice President and general manager.

Uptown Records: Andre left Rush Communications in 1986 to launch his own label which he called Uptown Records. In 1990 Uptown hired an eager unpaid intern named . Sean, who would later be known as Puff Daddy and then Diddy, would famously travel back and forth between New York City and Howard University in Washington D.C. where he was a business major. He dropped out after his sophomore year to pursue music full-time at Uptown. Combs soon rose to the position of talent director and A&R rep at Uptown. In this position Combs developed acts such as Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. Within two years at the company, Diddy was a Vice President. He was just 22 years old. Diddy was fired from Uptown in 1991 after a charity basketball game ended in tragedy with nine deaths and dozens of injuries. Diddy would soon launch Bad Boy Records which would go on to have enormous success with many artists.

In the meantime, in 1992 Harrell was offered a multi-media deal by MCA and his company became Uptown Entertainment. Through Uptown Entertainment Harrell produced several television shows and movies. One of his biggest TV hits was the series New York Undercover which ran from 1994 to 1998. He soon renamed the label again, this time to Uptown Enterprises. He produced the films Strictly Business and Honey.

Harrell became the CEO of Motown Records in 1995. Two decades after firing him, Andre Harrell was hired by Diddy to serve as Vice Chairman of Revolt, Diddy's multi-platform entertainment network.

Andre Harrell Net Worth:$50 MillionDate of Birth:Sep 26, 1960 - May 8, 2020 (59 years old)Gender:MaleProfession:Entrepreneur, Businessperson, Rapper, Music executiveNationality:United States of AmericaLast Updated:2020You May LikeUndo All net worths are calculated through the combination of a robust methodology and a proprietary algorithm. The results are fact checked and confirmed by a team of editors and industry insiders. We work diligently to ensure that our numbers are the most accurate celebrity net worth data you will find anywhere on the internet.Did we make a mistake?Submit a correction suggestion and help us fix it! Discussion Related Articles [https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1471602713096627&ev=NoScript] image [//b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=7516694&cv=2.0&cj=1] Influential Music Mogul Andre Harrell Dead at 59 | Pitchfork [https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=6035310&c3=&c4=&c5=&c6=&c15=&cv=2.0&cj=1]Click to Skip AdClosing in... By

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More Stories By May 9, 2020 9:07am3CommentsRead more .Shutterstock, whose is considered one of the key bridges between hip-hop and R&B, died of heart failure Thursday night at his West Hollywood home. He was 59 and his death was confirmed by his former wife.

Harrell was a key to the careers of Sean Combs, Mary J. Blige, Heavy D & The Boyz, and Jodeci, among many others. His label, Uptown Records, is remembered as one of the R&B giants of the 1990s, finding a niche as a home for artists who were sophisticated and smooth, yet retaining its street edge.

Andre O’Neal Harrell was born in the Bronx on Sep. 26, 1960. He graduated from Charles Evans Hughes High School in 1978, and attended Baruch College and Lehman College.

Harrell’s career started on the performing side. He was Dr. Jeckyll, half of the rap duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, with high school friend Alonzo Brown. They had several hits, including Genius Rap in 1981 and A.M./P.M. in 1984. Foreshadowing his later influence, the duo wore suits and ties.

After the act ended, Harrell worked for Rush Management, run by Def Jam’s Russell Simmons. Harrell rose to vice president and general manager, working with Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Whodini.

In 1986, he sent on his own to found Uptown Records. He targeted an upscale audience that would appeal to the hip-hop street and the upwardly mobile young adults. The result was a label that rode the rising tide of hip-hop and managed to carve out a lucrative niche. It partnered with industry giant MCA in 1988 and became a bedrock of success in the golden age of CDs.

Harrell hired Sean Combs as an intern in the early 1990s, bringing aboard another ambitious young man with an ear for talent. Although Combs was a hard worker, the two Alpha males clashed, and Harrell fired him in 1993. That inspired Combs to found Bad Boy Records, signing The Notorious B.I.G. as one of his first acts. The two later reconciled, and Harrell became a vice chairman of Combs’s Revolt.Harrell became chief executive officer of Motown in 1995, and remained there for two years. He also became a film producer, with Strictly Business and Honey on his resume. He was also an executive producer of the television police drama New York Undercover.

Last year, BET announced it was partnering with Mr. Harrell on a mini-series about Uptown Records.

“We are mourning the loss of a cultural icon, Andre Harrell, a chief architect of the modern hip-hop and R&B sound,” said BET President Scott Mills. “Andre was tremendously excited about sharing the origin story of Uptown Records, and its pivotal role in the urban music landscape. With his tragic passing, BET is committed to ensuring that the Uptown limited series event tells both the Uptown story and Andre’s story – that of the incredible music innovator, man and friend to so many.”

Survivors include Harrell’s son, Gianni Credle-Harrell; a brother, Greg; and his father. No memorial service details have been announced.

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Powered byOur Sites Our Sites Close the menuSubjectsArticlesFollow Us Alerts & Newsletters © 2020 Penske Media Corporationad[https://s3.amazonaws.com/heartbeat.pmc.com/track?host=deadline.com&path=%2F2020%2F05%2Fandre-harrell-dies-music-executive-uptown-records-motown-obituary-1202930560%2F&ct=article&lob=deadline&loc=default&env=desktop&post_id=1202930560&comment_count=3][https://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?v=noscript]Quantcast [//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel?a.1=p-0f0nSqEQ_DwA6&a.2=p-31f3D02tYU8zY] Andre Harrell, Executive Who Bridged Hip-Hop and R&B, Dies at 59 ... This article is about the hip hop label. For the jazz record label, see .Uptown RecordsParent companyFounded1986FounderDefunct1999 StatusDefunctDistributor(s)Genre, Country of originU.S.LocationNew York CityUptown Records was an American , founded by in 1986. It went on to become one of the most popular and labels of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Featured on the roster were , , , , , , , and amongst others.

Contents History[] The label was founded in 1986 by one half of rap duo , . After securing distribution deal through the , Uptown Is Kickin' It was released. Among the artists featured on the album were and . By 1987, two debut albums by Heavy D and would be successful for the young label. Heavy D & The Boyz' would be certified while Al B. Sure! distributed Uptown album would have many hit singles, chart number seven on the R&B charts. In 1988, featuring group member and producer released their debut album, . This album continued Uptown's hot streak as the album went number one and continued building upon the bubbling sound created by Riley. Also in that same year, Uptown released the Capitol-distributed album from the Gyrlz Love Me or Leave Me.

Continued success followed the label with the release of Heavy D & The Boyz 1989 second album, , and Guys 1990's . Tragedy would strike as Heavy D & The Boyz member died that summer due to an accidental fall while out on tour. The spiritual third Heavy D album, was dedicated in his honor. By 1990, had started interning at Uptown and started working with newly signed acts , and who had many hit singles on the R&B charts.

In 1992, due to all of Uptown's success, MCA offered Harrell a multimedia deal, which involved film and television productions, which eventually led to the development of 's hit police drama series, (originally named Uptown Undercover), which aired from 1994-1998. Harrell also produced the 1991 comedy film , starring and , and its accompanying . Uptown Records was subsequently renamed to Uptown Enterprises. 1992 also saw changes in the hip-hop and R&B musical landscape, which was changing towards a harder edge sound due to the popularity of . In keeping in step with the changing times, Mary J. Blige released her debut album, , on July 28, 1992. Dubbed the , the success of her debut single, "" and others helped her album be certified three times .

By 1993, Uptown was the leading urban label. In February, Uptown artists Jodeci, , Mary J. Blige, and Heavy D performed an acoustic set on . Taped at in it was called Uptown Unplugged and released as both a home video and CD. Jodeci did a live cover of 's "" at the show and the song was released as single. It charted at both number one on the R&B charts and number four on the . Later that spring they released the to the hip-hop film which featured . Towards the end of 1993, Jodeci released their second album, .

Decline[] In July 1993, Combs's contract was abruptly terminated due to tension between him and Harrell. Within two weeks of that dismissal he established and took The Notorious B.I.G. along with him. Without Combs, Uptown began to suffer. However, he remained involved as executive producer of Mary J. Blige's second album, , which was released in late 1994 and was certified three times platinum. Tension started to exist between Uptown and its key acts Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. The two signed to label head 's "West Coast Management" firm. Knight was able to upgrade their contracts by doubling their royalty rates, secure greater creative control and landed them substantial back payments. Despite these distractions, Uptown continued its success with Heavy D & The Boyz final album, in 1994, which achieved platinum certification. In 1995, , the debut album from was released; as was , the final album by Jodeci for the label.

In late 1995, Harrell left Uptown as a result of being promoted to CEO of . Heavy D., who had been executive vice president of Uptown, ascended to president and CEO. Upon the restructuring, more prominent acts Mary J. Blige and Jodeci transferred to the main MCA Records label. Shortly thereafter, distribution of Uptown switched from MCA to the newly formed . In 1997, Heavy D. vacated his role of CEO, resulting in Uptown being absorbed into Universal in 1999. Today the Uptown Records name and catalog remains the property of , but continues to be in hibernation.

BET miniseries[] In December 2019, television network announced an upcoming miniseries about the history of Uptown Records. Singing and dancing auditions were held at the to cast performers to play some of the label's stars.

Former artists[] References[] External links[] [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1]Retrieved from "":

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