YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollections  RUSSELL SIMMONS : His
Midnight Hour  Q & A  July 04, 1993|CHRIS WILLMAN | Chris
Willman is a regular contributor to TV Times and Calendar
Described as "the Berry Gordy of rap," New York-based Russell
Simmons is an entrepreneur who's expanded his original record
company, Def Jam, into a management company, a clothing line and
a TV/movies development branch. Significantly, he's even become
a brand name. Comic actor Martin Lawrence may be the host of
HBO's smash Friday night comedy series, but the show is called
"Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam."  And just as Simmons, 35,
brought inner-city rap to untold millions of suburban white
kids, "Def Comedy Jam" is having a similar impact, for better or
worse. Non-African-Americans may get lost during the innumerable
hip-hop-specific gags, but the constant stream of profanity that
most of the show's stand-ups use cuts across all racial
boundaries, and the series is reportedly top-rated in its
midnight time slot among HBO-equipped homes