Andre Harrell

Andre Harrell
Born
Andre O’Neal Harrell

(1960-09-26)September 26, 1960
New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 7, 2020(2020-05-07) (aged 59)
West Hollywood, California, U.S.
Other namesDr. Jeckyll[1]
EducationLehman College
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • record executive
  • media proprietor
Years active1980–2020
Children1[2]
Musical career
GenresHip hop
Labels
Formerly of

Andre O’Neal Harrell (September 26, 1960 – May 7, 2020) was an American record executive, media proprietor, and former rapper.[3] He formed the short-lived East Coast hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde with Alonzo Brown in 1980; they signed with Profile Records the following year. After disbanding in 1986, he founded the record label Uptown Records that same year, which saw commercial success in contemporary R&B, new jack swing, and hip hop music releases into the coming decade. The label entered a distribution deal with MCA Records and signed artists including Jodeci, Heavy D & the Boyz, Mary J. Blige, Guy, and Al B. Sure, as well as then-unknowns the Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy, among others.[4] He is credited with discovering and giving the latter his start in the industry in 1990.[5] Harrell was later appointed as CEO of Motown from 1995 to 1997.[4]

Following years of sustained medical issues, Harrell died of heart failure in May 2020.[6]

  1. ^ "Dr. Jeckyll Discography | Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Janine McAdams, "Uptown, MCA seal multimedia deal: Harrell looks to 'synergize' music, film, TV", Billboard, 1992 Jun 20;104(25):8,89. For a briefer take, see Dimitri Ehrlich, "Andre the giant", New York, 1992 Sep 21;25(37):26.
  4. ^ a b Kiki Mason, "Pop goes the ghetto", New York, 1995 Oct 23;28(42):37–43, whereby p 38 offers a Harrell portrait prioritizing the recent, p 40 covers Harrell's early life and segues into his start in the music business, p 41 includes his own successes in it, p 42 introduces Sean "Puffy" Combs, and p 43 returns to Harrell in the present, 1995, including recent multimedia ventures.
  5. ^ Natasha S Alford, interviewer, "Andre Harrell dishes on how he helped take Diddy from shirtless ‘bad boy’ to music mogul", TheGrio.com, TheGrio, 20 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Andre Harrell, music executive who founded Uptown Records and discovered Diddy, has died at 59 - CBS News". CBS News. 9 May 2020.