With rap, he invested deeper than anyone. never looked at music through the eyes of color.
Stoute: He taught me about how to play to the right audience and being honest with who you are and what it takes to be successful in business. What was the most important lesson you learned from him? THR: You worked with Interscope head Jimmy Iovine for many years. Hip-hop wasn’t doing that, it had the beat that made you dance, but it also brought a culture and lifestyle that stayed with you forever. It wasn’t just the music was selling well for the moment… People wanted to avoid the other implications. It was a culture, a lifestyle, the embodiment of the way the next generation would proceed. Stoute: It was convincing them that what I was talking was sustainable as more than just music. THR: What was the biggest obstacle you faced in terms of getting corporate people to believe in the viability of hip-hop? Jay-Z and Linkin Park showed that ethnicity was no longer leading the charge as it related to the next generation and how they looked at each other.
When Run-DMC performed at Madison Square Garden in 1986 and had the whole crowd holding their Adidas’ to the sky, with the Adidas executives in the audience.ĭebbie Harry performing the rap in “Rapture.” It completely re-energized Aerosmith’s career and exposed them a new generation. They took a rock group that was pretty much done, redid their record, and put them in the video. When Run-DMC did “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith. THR: What are the five tipping points in ‘tanning’ history? We have a generation that doesn’t see through color, but rather through shared cultural experiences. It brought a lifestyle with it, one that’s allowed seemingly different groups to see things through a similar lens.
It taught you how to rock your pants, wear your hat, rock your car.
The music was the Trojan horse for the culture. But something was different with hip-hop. It’s common to go against what your parents like. Steve Stoute:It’s a generation that grew up listening to music that wasn’t necessarily the music their parents listened to. The Hollywood Reporter: How would you explain the Tanning of America to someone unfamiliar with the phrase’s meaning? In conversation with THR, Stoute waxes philosophic on the country’s gradual shift towards bronze. His thesis holds that urban music served as a Trojan horse for the culture, one that shattered glass ceilings and even helped President Obama’s presidential bid. Known for bridging the gaps between the streets and corporate suites, Stoute turns to hip-hop for the premise of his first book, The Tanning of America.
Even Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani owe a significant share of their cross-promotional success to the swift-talking exec (Stoute helped broker a deal with MAC cosmetics for Gaga and worked on an endorsement deal for the No Doubt singer with Hewlett Packard). When record sales started slowing, Stoute adopted Madison Avenue digs, founding Translation, the Jay-Z aligned, brand marketing behemoth behind McDonald’s Justin Timberlake-aided “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign,” Samsung’s Beyoncebranded “B” phone, and Lebron James’ recent long-term deal with the Golden Arches. Blige, the Queens-raised Stoute parlayed his industry connections and big-tent approach into urban music presidencies at both Sony and Interscope.
His name never rang bells like LL Cool J, but if LL wanted corporate affiliation and sponsorships for said chimes, Stoute would be the first to call. Consider him the Bruce Barton of boom-bap. If it was a public profile he was going for, Stoute most certainly achieved it, but in the hip-hop world, he’s long been the hidden hand.