Lyor Cohen
| Lyor Cohen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 3, 1959 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality |
American Israeli |
| Occupation | CEO |
| Organization | 300 Entertainment |
Lyor Cohen (Hebrew: ליאור כהן; born October 3, 1959) is an American music industry executive.
Cohen has been actively involved in hip-hop at various top labels for more than 30 years, as the industry grew from the margins of pop culture to the mainstream. He started by managing highly successful rappers for pioneering firm Rush Productions, then led Def Jam Recordings, the hip-hop genre's top record label at the time, "the most important African-American music company since Motown" according to Newsweek.
After Def Jam, Cohen successively assumed the leadership of one of the music industry's major labels, Warner Music Group, which represent popular musicians of all genres (including rap, rock, and country). In September 2012 Cohen put in his resignation at Warner Music Group and eventually started his own independent label, 300 Entertainment.
Born in New York to Israeli immigrants in 1959, Cohen grew up in Los Angeles. In 1981 he received a degree in global marketing and finance from the University of Miami. Afterwards, he worked briefly in the Beverly Hills office of Bank Leumi.
Late in 1984, after promoting a pair of rock and rap shows at The Mix Club in Hollywood (one featured Run-DMC, the other featured Whodini), Cohen moved to New York to take a job at Simmons's Rush Productions (later called Rush Artist Management). Beginning as Run-DMC's road manager, Cohen quickly began taking on additional responsibilities, working on behalf of an artist roster that included Kurtis Blow, Whodini, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. By 1987, Cohen himself was signing artists to Rush. These acts included Slick Rick, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (the latter better known today as Will Smith), Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, Stetsasonic, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest.
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