Shakir Stewart (April 12, 1974 – November 1, 2008), a native of

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, was an American record producer and record executive in a number of companies, the latest being

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. At the time of his death he was the Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group and the Executive Vice President of Def Jam.

Biography

After graduating from

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Stewart used the money he had made from throwing parties at college to build a small studio with a couple of friends. The group then signed several young producers in the Atlanta area. Stewart's skills as a talent magnet were recognized by Antonio "L.A." Reid, who at the time was just starting the company Hitco Music Publishing, and saw him as someone with "a finger on the pulse of the next generation of hot producers in the Atlanta music scene". At the time Reid was trying to connect to a wholly different market of producers and songwriters and so offered Stewart his first position as an intern-level creative person. Reid called him his right-hand man. In 2000, he was appointed A&R consultant at

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

signing

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

to the label. He stayed there until 2004. From 2004 he served as vice president and then senior vice president of A&R for Def Jam. He signed Atlanta rapper

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music fo ...

and Miami rapper

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

. Stewart was listed as an executive producer for Young Jeezy's 2005 album, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', which sold over two million copies in America. In June 2008, he was appointed as Executive Vice President of

where he had replaced

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, a position left vacant since December 2007. In addition to discovering new talent Stewart oversaw various projects as Def Jam VP of A&R, including

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

, and Brutha.

Death

On November 1, 2008, Stewart was found in the bathroom of his home in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Def Jam stated that Stewart was "a truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people who had the privilege of counting him as a friend." LA Reid stated "whatever his problems were, he kept them hidden... to this day I miss him...the loss was devastating." In 2014 singer Karina Pasian released a tribute to Stewart, who had been a mentor to her.

References

External links

AP Obituary
in the

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

Interview, HitQuarters Nov 05
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Shakir 1974 births 2008 deaths Record producers from California Businesspeople from Atlanta Businesspeople from Oakland, California Suicides by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American businesspeople Morehouse College alumni