Shakir Stewart Suicide And What Can We Learn From This
Shakir Stewart was the executive VP of the popular Def Jam Records and on or about November 1st 2008 he decided to take his own life. At this point, there aren't too many details, other than he put a bullet to his brain. Back over 20 years ago in the early 1980's, Shakir Stewart made a big name for himself by promoting people like Too Short, Scarface and Nas. He has been in this game a long time and earned his stripes, success in the Music Industry wasn't handed over to him on a silver platter.
We heard that he personally used to visit up to 10 night clubs each night passing out flyers in 20 degree weather. We also know he wasn't behind the curve on current Internet Technologies, and as a visionary saw this medium as a tool to grow Def Jam Records faster and using cutting-edge talent to do so. So this leads us to the question as to why Shakir Stewart decided to take his life. As of this time, we aren't quite sure yet. But if we find out we'll post more about it on our blog.
His promotion to the top Vice President of Def Jam Records came about in June of 2008. Def Jam and the Music Industry in general has depended on Shakir Stewart for vital competitive intelligence since the year 2000. His career plans were unbounded, and he had plans on taking Def Jam Records to the top through his decades of music experience before the Internet, using the Internet as an accelerated catalyst so to speak.
At this time we want to really extend our personal debt of gratitude for this awesome role model, who for some reason took a turn for the worst. And to extend our condolences to his family and friends who I'm sure are in deep mourning right now. The Shakir Stewart Suicide was a serious trajedy, and as sad as this is, I hope many of us can learn something from to prevent something like this from happening in the future.
