Mona Scott-Young ( Scott; born February 15, 1967) is an American television producer and entrepreneur. She is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the multi-media entertainment company Monami Productions, best known for producing the VH1 reality television franchise ''

Love & Hip Hop ''Love & Hip Hop'' is a media franchise that consists of several reality television series broadcast on VH1. The shows document the personal and professional lives of several hip hop and R&B musicians, performers, managers, and record produc ...

''.

Life and career

Scott was born and raised in New York City to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an parents. In 2005, she married Shawn Young. They have two children.

Violator

While working at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

, Scott-Young was approached by the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

group

TrackMasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

to come on board as their manager. Through them, she met music executive

Chris Lighty Darrel Steven "Chris" Lighty (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012) was an American music industry executive. He co-founded Violator, a record label, management and marketing company, which represented hip hop and R&B artists such as Busta Rhymes, ...

and, in 1996, the two co-founded the management company Violator. Over the course of twenty years, Violator helped launch and revamp the careers of artists such as

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

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, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

, Q-Tip, Foxy Brown,

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American hip hop duo from New York City. The duo consisted of rappers Prodigy and Havoc. They are considered to be among the principal progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hopEdwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Scien ...

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

, who she still manages today.

Television

Scott-Young transitioned into television in 2005, producing ''

The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott ''The Road to Stardom With Missy Elliott'' was a competitive reality television show that aired on the UPN Network in 2005.Staff report (November 21, 2004). Missy's "Road to Stardom" is "Idol" plus. ''The Virginian-Pilot'' The main judge and host wa ...

'' on

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...

and creating her own television production company, Monami Productions. In 2006, Jim Ackerman, a director at VH1 at the time, approached her to help develop a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series which centered on rapper

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

. Inspired by female ensemble-driven shows that were popular at the time, Scott-Young shifted the concept to focus on Jim's girlfriend Chrissy Lampkin and her circle of friends. The series, now known as ''

'', went on to become a huge success,. Scott-Young sees the Love & Hip Hop brand as an opportunity maker. "To have a franchise that represents our culture, our people and to have that kind of staying power and the ability to invent and reinvent as we expand into different cities to me that's probably what I'm proudest of. t'sthe ability to provide the jobs both in front of and behind the scenes... to women and people of color as well.". The show spawned a media franchise that included the spin-offs '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'', '' Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood'', '' Love & Hip Hop: Miami'', '' Chrissy & Mr. Jones'', '' K. Michelle: My Life'', '' Stevie J & Joseline: Go Hollywood'' and '' Leave It to Stevie''. In addition to the ''

'' franchise, Monami Productions has produced '' Donald Trump Presents: The Ultimate Merger'' for TV One, ''Cocaine: History Between the Lines'' for the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

, ''

The Gossip Game ''The Gossip Game'' is an American reality television series on VH1 that debuted on April 1, 2013, and chronicles the lives of seven media personalities who cover the urban entertainment market and reside in New York City. Cast member Vivian Billi ...

'' and ''

This Is Hot 97 ''This Is Hot 97'' is a reality-based docu-comedy television series that debuted on VH1 on March 31, 2014. The series is executive produced by Mona Scott-Young for Monami Entertainment, Toby Barraud, Stefan Springman, Mala Chapple and Ian Gelfand ...

'' for VH1, '' The New Atlanta'' for

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

and ''Money. Power. Respect.'' for

WE tv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Ameri ...

. In addition to television, Scott-Young is part owner and chief marketing officer of the moscato brand MYX Fusions with rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

, and serves on the board of The Haitian Roundtable, The RSQ Foundation and The GrassROOTS Foundation.

Awards and accolades

Scott-Young has been honored at

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

's "Woman Behind the Music" event in 2011. She has been honored with awards from the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music Entertainment, named "Marketer of the Year" by ''

Ad Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...

'', and recognized by the National Congress and Convention of Haitian-Americans. Scott-Young was awarded at the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Movie & TV Awards for "Reality TV Royalty".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Young, Mona 1968 births Living people American women chief executives American chief executives American music industry executives American people of Haitian descent 20th-century Haitian people 21st-century American women