Hip-Hop Unbound / Women in Hip-Hop

The April 2006 festival at New York University called Fest Forward: Hip-Hop Unbound held a series of panels on the theme, Hip-Hop Retrospectives. This event, from April 10 entitled Executive Decisions: 30 Years of Powerful Women in Hip-Hop, focused on the role of pioneering women in the male-dominated Hip-Hop industry and included discussion with female record label CEOs, presidents, and senior executives. The panel included:



Danyel Smith (Moderator), novelist, editor, critic, and instructor, is a former editor-at-large for Time Inc. and a former editor-in-chief of Vibe. She has written for Elle, Time, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Village Voice, New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Spin, and the New York Times.



Ann Carli served as Senior Vice President of Artist Development for the Jive Records arm of the Zomba Music Group where she was instrumental in the career development of A Tribe Called Quest, The Stone Roses, and DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince, among others.



Lisa Cortes (Producer/SVP Production, Lee Daniels Entertainment) is a member of the original team that founded Def Jam Records and Rush Artists Management. For a decade she served as Vice President of Artist and Repertoire for Mercury Records, where she signed the seminal rap group Black Sheep and produced several Grammy-nominated albums.



Monica Lynch joined Tommy Boy Records in 1981 and went on to become president of the label, where she was instrumental in launching the careers of artists like Queen Latifah, De La Soul, Digital Underground, House of Pain, and Naughty By Nature. She is also a noted DJ and WFMU radio host.



Denise J. Brown is a renowned entertainment attorney. In four years as Senior Vice President at Warner Brothers Records, she recruited, managed, signed and developed award winning artists. She is a member of the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.



Diane Harris, author, and sister of Sylvia Robinson, a principal player in recorded rap music; founder of Sugarhill Records; launched careers of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Sugarhill Gang (Rapper's Delight) and more.

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