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

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, was a US record executive in a number of companies, the latest being Def Jam. At the time of his death he was the Senior Vice President of

Island Def Jam Music Group The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...

and the Executive Vice President of Def Jam.

Biography

After graduating from Morehouse College in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 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. 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, actress, model and entrepreneur. She released her debut studio album, '' Goodies'' in 2004, which spawned four singles: " Goodies" (featuring Petey Pa ...

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. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

and Miami rapper Rick Ross. In June 2008, he was appointed as Executive Vice President of Def Jam where he had replaced Jay-Z, 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, LL Cool J, 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."

References

External links

AP Obituary
in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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