Maybe it's me, but Russell Simmons, The Vegan Who Sells Leather Goods, is evil. I respect what the man has done for Hip-Hop Culture, but Russell always seems to have a hidden agenda. This guy beats out KRS-One and Nas combined for being contradictory.
Walk wit' me...
Now, if you don't understand the term, "The Vegan Who Sells Leather Goods", then what you are about to read will probably go way over your head. So do some research and come back.
THE A SIDE
Russell Simmons Plans Financial Improvement Tour. Wow! Russell wants you to get your paper straight. He even brings money expert Suze Orman on the case. Sounds good, right?
THE B SIDE
Russell Simmons' Diamond Studded PSP Jacket. Now, the same Russell Simmons who wants to help you get your paper straight wants you to put out $35,000 for a 14-karat gold, diamond-studded PSP jacket.
Is he here to help us or put us in debt?
Your arguement might be if you can't afford it, don't buy it. But, here's a question for you, WHO IS THIS PRODUCT DESIGNED FOR? This product is for that group of people who buy spinning rims and own teeth that shine.
THE BONUS SIDE
Have you read about Def Jam Mobile? Have you seen Def Jam Mobile? [Go have a look...] It's nothing but a ghetto-fied cellphone service. Instead of username and password, they have stage-name and ghetto pass.
You can call it creative; I call it niggerish.
Def Jam Mobile also offers a Celo game - the street smart multi-player dice game where you play against the bosses, amass cash and bling while you ascend from the alley to the board room.
See, this is what happens when AG Interactive aka American Greetings wants to JUMP head first into the urban market. You get yourself a ghetto pass named Russell Simmons.
Hey, how much longer do we have to wait before we see 'DEF JAM PAY DAY CA$H ADVANCE $HOP$' in Best Buy?
to truly excel as a businessman, there are going to be contradictions and two-sided agendas. But if you are foolish enough to buy a 35,000 dollar PSP, then you are the fool and Russell is using that to his advantage. He looks at it like this, if the White Man makes products and sells it a high outragous price, why can't I as a Black Man.
PEACE
Preach!!! I couldn't have said it better myself. That is so true.
the financial empowerment thing is not actually even a different side of the coin. Debt consolidation and life improvement seminars are big business
Though I was the only 1 who felt like this abouth ol' Russ...the biggest flake in the public eye! These niggas be nominatin' they selves as the voice of the black community. Not my heros! Did u see dude on cribs? 2 show his opprutunistic ways, he worships every diety his money starved mind can concieve...then he threated to have blacks boycott KFC based on "how they were treating his friends at PETA"
Nigga please!
I can't even believe that def jam mobile crap! I can't believe these triflin negroes use "stagename and ghetto-pass" in place of "username and password." You've GOT to be kidding me!
I mean damn Russell... you think that little of your people that you would reduce us to this bullshit?
And you wonder what type of African sold his people to the white slave traders? NIGGAS LIKE RUSSELL 200 YEARS AGO!
Go ahead and rap that big squid, the world is ours Russell u jakass fool, 35,000 i mean just strap a bitch and blow her brains out. Wat u say to peeps like russell is suck dick and die slow!? 4sho
Russell is doing the same thing that White People has been doing when it comes to marketing and products. Because we scream and cuss and yell foul play that the White Man has these expensive products and getting all the money and we are not welthy and rich. Well Russell is wealthy and he has high-end products that cost money, but what products does not cost money.
NIKE, Louie Vutton, Gucci, Prada, D&C, none of these products are Black owned and operated, so why cannot we do the same thing, don't like the high dollar product, don't buy it. Do you want to be rich and wealthy and not broke and on welfare, I do. So why are be bitching now, i say go ahead russell. niggas with money are going to buy the shit as well as white people. Russell is just appealing to the rich niggas taste, we are the ones that take stuff to a whole new level. So don't blame Russell, he's not putting a gun to your forehead and saying "BUY MY SHIT BITCHES", don't like it, don't buy it just a waste of money
PEACE
Thank You brotha! I have been saying that same exact thing for years! This fools yaps about hip hop culture, but you and that wanna be down "i'll beat a b*$ches a**" (check the old feature article in Vanity Fair featuring Kimora for an interview that makes Whitney look like a class act at her lowest) are on MTV bragging about how you own a dead white designers furniture! There is nothing real about him! To me, he just comes off as an old O.G. with a crazy sewer rat wife who says whatever to whoever just to stay relevant.Uggg
He now has political aspirations so now he's trying to jump on the Park Avenue bandwagon, so we get the PETA crap. He is sick, someone who really, truly believes his own hype, and that's sad. He's always talking about people in the hood and repping, but who can really afford that Baby Phat mess? Does it even fit you? Where is his so called energy drink? Never made it out to the West. Yes, when white people pimp us, it's tragic. But when a "brotha" plays his street cred to enhance his bougie portfolio, it's even more tragic.
What the f*** are y'all being all bitchy about... It's the nature of business in America - it's capitalism at its finest. U can't blame Russell Simmons for trying to make a dollar by anyway he knows how - He has an acute business sense, the trademark of a savy entrepreneur. And like every entrepreneur while some of his business decisions might succeed, others may tank (as i'm sure this def jam mobile will). The fact remains that, there is currently a market out there for anything and everything hip-hop and he is trying to capitalize on it before someone else does. Smart business men know not to let any external factors interfere with their business decisions and this is exactly what he does. We should be glad that we at least get quality products from him and his cohorts instead of sub-standard, second hand materials... cus then he will cease to be a businessman but become nothing but a common street hustla. And why do you single out Russell Simmons, haven't you noticed the exorbitant amounts products from Roc-A-Fella and Sean John often go for? All this blog has succeeded in doing is purpoting Mr. Irreverent's personal vendetta against Mr. Simmons. NIgggah please... If you can't afford an iced out PSP then don't buy it...U gotta be stupid to even insunuate that this product was intended for anyone except the rich...like an everyday American let alone Black man will put down half his annual salary for a PSP...give me a break!
Dont hate the player hate the game baby because Russell has been doing shit like this for a long time.He didn"t get to where he is today by being no fool.The whiteman has been doing shit like shit this longer then Russell so lets just stop all that HATEN!!!!!and GET OVER IT
I love this down with whitey theme we got going lets ralley brothers
I'm feeling you on the whole vegan contradiction, but these guys are self proclaim HUSTLER 1. an enterprising person determined to succeed : So if you gonna talk bad about Russell, you have to add alot more names...So watch your mouth about the man who put..Public Enemy , L.L. , Run-d.m.c ,Def Jam Comedy ,Def Jam Poetry on the map !!! R E S P E C T
fuck russell !!
coming from
From Hollis Queens
I am curious to know how many of yall would be say what yall are saying if this was a White or Asian or Arab doing what Russell is doing?
I remember a few year ago we/blacks were saying we need to own our on shit. We said since we are buying the product we should own the company. Isn't that what's going on right now. Instead of buying over priced goods from whites were buying from blacks. Instead of a white man benefitting and blackman is! I thought we wanted black own and operated business and successful black people in all areanas of the financial world.
Not for or against Russ but it just seems like we as African American build our people up so we can tair them down. We are the first to find fault in them and dawg'em every chance we get. I personally appreciate the contributions of Russell Simmons. I especially appreciate the fact that he is trying to encourage us to be more financially responsible. FYI...blacks are not the only people buying products from Russ...Asian, white and Latinos are buying a large share of his products so don't think he is just targeting black with his product.
Give the man some credit at least he trying to improve or empower African Americans even if he makes a dime or two while doing it! Crabs in the bucket syndrome is in effect!
Russel Simmons is a fraud. He has nothing to offer the world of the black man but an unrelenting desire to fill his pockets with money. He is a bitch posing as a great man. He wants nothing but money. Look at his wife. A total whore who treats everybody like garbage. Why? Because she is garbage. And why did he marry her? Because he is garbage! I once sat near him in a cafe'. I don't think I've ever seen such an arrogant little wanna be pimp. He is nothing when he's not surrounded by his wall of muscle. A truly great African American would move amongst the people with no fear. Because a truly great African American would have his mind set on giving instead of taking. He could take half of his net worth and put 20,000 poor black brothers and sisters through college.
He won't do that. Why? because he's nothing but a phony ass Jeferson.
Aint it a damn shame how a promenient black entreprenuer like Russell Simmons has to use the 'ghetto' angle to promote products?
You dont see Sony with ninjas all over their televisions do you?
I was born inteligent but education ruined me....
I think that our approach to the situation is wrong. Instead of targeting the people selling the "niggerish" products, we should spend a lot of this energy educating the very people that buy the product. The more people that are educated and begin to realize that their true worth is not in material things, the less these type of products will sell. As the masses are educated, less money will be put into these products. No market, no product. It's just like cigarettes. The tobacco company wouldn't have so much money and power if everyone was so concerned about their health. I don't blame the businessman, I blame the consumer.
Russel is just doing business. Believe me when I say he doesnt see his business as white or black, but as green. The fact is Russel can talk black and act like he gives a damn, but you go to his neighborhood and he is the only black face there. The only difference is the other people in that neighborhood dont go on tv and show of their "cribs" or buy Versacci toilets. That is a perfect example of "old money" and "new money", and the simple fact that no matter how much money a person has..it cant buy you taste.
Good point ray. The modern society that we live in is a consumer based society, and it doesnt matter who runs the show, marketing is what sells. I think that Americans make their own choices as to what they buy and when they buy it. If white kids want to buy rap albums and wear baggy clothing, so be it. But it is a phase, too modern for us to have seen quite yet, but watch and see. Those same kids listening to fifty and wearing sean john will grow out of it. And on to polos and gap khakis they go. On to further education and real estate purchases. And where do the blacks in this country go? If statistics mean anything, 10 percent of black males between 23 and 28 go to prison. And what a shame that is. With the affirmative action laws now in place, everyone has a chance to make it. We just cant get our shit together. I do not blame white people, or the business owners, or the american society. I blame the ignorant mother fuckers who have held us down since the day we got here.