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Lyor Cohen

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Lyor Cohen
Lyor Cohen (Hebrew: ליאור כהן; born October 3, 1959) is an American music industry executive. Cohen has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def Jam. After Def Jam, Cohen took on a leadership role at Warner Music Group. In September 2012, Cohen put in his resignation at Warner and started his own independent label, 300 Entertainment. On September 28, 2016, Cohen was named YouTube's Global Head of Music.
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Born
1959-10-03
Birth Place
New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality
Israelis
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theface.com

Griff, very good popstar, meets Lyor Cohen, boss of YouTube

It’s late morning in Manhattan’s Jungle City Studios. Last night Griff played the first night of her first US tour at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. It was, says the 21-year-old from Hertfordshire, ​“wild. But it’s just quite surreal to be here,” adds a woman whose 2021 touring plans were mostly kiboshed. Last night, though, the thrill was real, on and offstage. ​“It felt like everyone was really living it and wanted to be there, which is wicked.”
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Music Week

Lyor Cohen on the future of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, has spoken to Music Week about the future of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony takes place at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday (October 30). A board member of...
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Music Week

YouTube's Lyor Cohen: The Music Week Interview

From his roots at Def Jam to his current role as global head of music at YouTube, Lyor Cohen has long-since established himself as one of the most famous music executives of all time. Here, he tells Music Week about how the platform’s “twin-engine growth story” has contributed $4 billion to the business, hits back at its critics and details its bid to become music’s number one revenue generator...
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Billboard

Executives Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles Remember DMX & Reveal How He Helped Save Def Jam

This month, Ruff Ryders legend DMX passed away after experiencing a heart attack triggered by a drug overdose. He was 50. Before he morphed into a perennial powerhouse for East Coast rap in the late 1990s, X was a scrappy twenty-something rapper yearning for an opportunity to spar alongside the elites. He was already a proven brawler on the battle circuit after his matchup with a burgeoning MC in Jay-Z. Now X hoped to find a home for his unique skill set. Enter Def Jam Records.
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Nas, Eve, Lyor Cohen react to death of rapper-actor DMX

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Reaction to the death of Grammy-nominated rapper DMX who died Friday at 50. - "Earl Simmons was a wonderful, caring father, and a sensitive, thoughtful man. Unfortunately, Dark Man X took over and ran amok, tormented and struggling to find the light. ... DMX gave me the inspiration to keep going at Def Jam when rap became soft and silly," Lyor Cohen, a former executive at Def Jam, said in a statement.
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Lyor Cohen demands Rock & Roll Hall of Fame stop overlooking LL Cool J

The iconic LL Cool J has been on the ballot to be elected into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame six times, but the “I’m Bad” creator has been constantly overlooked. LL Cool J’s longtime business associate and former Def Jam label executive Lyor Cohen wrote an open letter to Billboard explaining the travesty of the rap star continuously being omitted. Cohen has also been a member of the board of directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for over 10 years, but revealed he only gets one vote.
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