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At the artist lounge area at Atlantic Records, current Executive Vice President of the Warner Music Group Kevin Liles keeps in step with the mantra of his new book, Make It Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation Guide to Success (Atria; $24.00). The first-time author, who is most known for his work ethic and acumen (he became the President of Def Jam Records in nine years after starting out as an intern), as well as his personal and business relationships with mentors Russell Simmons and the head of WMG, Lyor Cohen, is very fluid as he conducts his interview. While speaking about his endeavors, Liles takes calls from the likes of comedienne Mo’nique, filmmaker and President of Programming
for BET, Reginald Hudlin, Irv “Gotti” Lorenzo, CEO of The Inc. Records, and his boss, Cohen. For Liles, it’s all in a day’s work.
Liles confesses that he doesn’t really do interviews, but he has a book to promote and a message to get across to hip-hop heads: create and fulfill your destiny. And while on that path, you must dress the part as well. SMOOTH caught up with the 37-year-old Baltimore, Maryland native as he gave us his insights on his book, personal success and recommended wears.
Did it ever occur to you that you would be
an
author?
Nah, I never thought I would write a book. The reality is, I’m a hard worker. Whether it was being an
intern, head of promotions, or general manager, I just know how to make it happen. How this book happened was that Samantha Marshall, who is a business writer for Crain’s, was interviewing me for this section called “40 Under 40.” She herself was unsure how the interview would go, being that she probably never dealt with anyone in hip-hop before. She said our interview would be 15 minutes, but we ended up talking for over two hours. She called afterwards and said that I was one of the greatest interviews she ever had and that I put her at ease. I was like, “Well, what did you expect?” She commented on the stereotyping of hip-hop and how I threw all that out the window. She was like, “Kevin, you’ve got to tell the world about yourself...
Continued in Issue #24 - GET IT NOW!
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