Hip-hop Producer Advocates for the Disadvantaged

I've never thought of a hip-hop music producer as being an advocate for the arts but Russel Simmons, founder of Def Jam records, is doing what he can to promote music to the disdvantaged.

Here's an excerpt from an article on mvwire.com:

"Simmons’ interests extend far beyond the business world, and he spends a great deal of his time and considerable energy working for social, political, and philanthropic causes, pushing hip-hop on to new plateaus of power and relevance. In 1995 he, along with his brothers Danny and Joseph Simmons (Rev. Run of Run-DMC), founded Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. The organization is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts, as well as offering exhibition opportunities to underrepresented artists and artists of color. Following the historic Hip-Hop Summit Russell organized in June 2001, he and Minister Benjamin Muhammad founded the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) to harness the cultural relevance of hip-hop music as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the well being of at-risk youth throughout the United States."