Paul Rosenberg | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Paul D. Rosenberg |
Born | August 1, 1971 |
Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) |
|
Years active | 1997–present |
Labels | |
Spouse(s) | Pablo de Morale (2024-present) |
Paul D. Rosenberg (born August 1, 1971) is an American music manager and former entertainment attorney.
He is currently the founder and CEO of Goliath Records, a spinoff of his management firm, Goliath Artists. He is also the co-founder and former president of Shady Records, a subsidiary of Interscope Records, which housed many prominent acts that include co-founder Eminem, as well as Obie Trice, 50 Cent, D12, Yelawolf, Westside Boogie, Griselda and Nestor JDR. In January 2018, he became the chairman and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, but only for two years, departing from the label in early 2020.
Rosenberg is not only known for his management of Eminem, but is also notable for his associations with the Knux, DJ AM, Action Bronson, Danny Brown and band Blink-182. [1] [2]
Paul D. Rosenberg, Esq., was born on August 1, 1971, to a Jewish family in Detroit, Michigan.
In 1996, he formed Goliath Artists, a talent management company. It was also how he met Eminem the following year, agreeing to not only be his manager, but also his lawyer. Their friendship began during the development of his 1997 extended play, the Slim Shady EP. [3]
Since 1999's Slim Shady LP, he had voiced over skits eponymously titled after him. He did not voice over skits through Curtain Call: The Hits (2005), Recovery (2010), The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), Revival (2017), Music to Be Murdered By (2020) nor Curtain Call 2 (2022). Eminem and Rosenberg also co-wrote all skits on 2009's Relapse . [4] He also voiced over his "Paul" skit for Xzibit's album, Man vs. Machine (2002). The skits portray Rosenberg fictionally as a character concerned with the particular record, advising his client on steps to take and often ordering him to either "tone down" the lyrics or scrap the album completely. [5] [6] [7]
The success of the Slim Shady LP granted Eminem his own record label, which he called Shady Records, founded in late-August 1999. [3] He recruited Rosenberg to be the label's co-founder which he accepted. Shady's first artist signing was in 2000, when it signed Eminem's group, D12. [8] Through the help of group members Bizarre and Proof, Rosenberg agreed to sign Obie Trice to the label after he appeared on a Devil's Night freestyle skit named after him. After being affiliated throughout 2000, Trice joined Shady in late 2001.
After D12 and Obie Trice, Rosenberg acquired a mixtape from Violator Management co-founder Chris Lighty and Eminem's attorney, Theo Sedlmayr, which apparently would end up being Guess Who's Back? (2002), a mixtape compiled of unreleased tracks, newly recorded content and past radio freestyles recorded by 50 Cent. Rosenberg, Eminem and Dr. Dre agreed to sign 50 Cent to a five-album joint venture deal with Shady, Aftermath Entertainment, G-Unit Records and Interscope Records. [9] His February 6, 2003, debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin' , went to sell over 20 million copies worldwide and become the highest performing album of that year. [10]
In 2010, after losing rapper Stat Quo from its roster, Rosenberg signed Yelawolf and rap group Slaughterhouse (consisting of Royce da 5'9", KXNG Crooked, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz) to the Shady imprint; [11] the signing of Slaughterhouse also reunited member Royce da 5'9" with Eminem after a ten-year dispute between the two which involved D12 and furthermore recruited their rap duo, Bad Meets Evil. [12]
Since his assignment to Def Jam Recordings as its chairman and CEO in 2018, Rosenberg was mostly inactive in his involvement with Shady Records during and after his Def Jam tenure.[ citation needed ]
Rosenberg was also instrumental in co-executively producing the Shady compilations, Eminem Presents: The Re-Up (2006), the fifteenth anniversary compilation Shady XV (2014), and the label's two soundtracks to the 2002 film, 8 Mile, which included Eminem's Oscar-winning theme song, "Lose Yourself", and the 2015 boxing drama, Southpaw, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal; both films, along with 2005's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and 2017's Bodied , were all produced by Rosenberg.
In November 2017, as Def Jam Recordings fended off from their involvement with co-founder Russell Simmons due to sexual misconduct accusations against him, [13] [14] the label announced Rosenberg as its chairman and CEO, thus replacing Steve Bartels, who had been a part of Def Jam solely, following the April Fools' Day 2014 separation of the Island Def Jam Music Group. [15] [16] [17] [18]
On New Year's Day 2018, he was officially appointed the dual position. After two years and one month, Rosenberg announced, on February 21, 2020, that he had stepped down from his dual position at Def Jam and negotiated with Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Def Jam, Shady and Interscope's parent company, the Universal Music Group, to work on a creation of a new record label in a 50-50 joint venture with Universal. [19] [20] [21] [22]
Since 1996 (as mentioned above), Rosenberg is the founder and CEO of Goliath Artists. Besides Eminem, he also managed other breakout or underground acts that include DJ AM, the Knux, Action Bronson, [23] Blink-182, Xzibit, Spark Master Tape, [24] The Alchemist and as of 2013, Danny Brown. [25]
In 2020, after departing from Def Jam, [26] Rosenberg reunited with Universal Music and created a joint venture limited partnership called Goliath Records. [2] The label division is also used a spinoff division of the management firm. Its first official label signing was in February 2021, when it signed rapper Vince Ash to the label in conjunction with Interscope Records. [27] The deal wasn't made public until the re-release of Ash's mixtape, VITO, on April 16. [28]
Rosenberg was a co-producer for Eminem's hip-hop radio station Shade 45, which airs on Sirius XM. [29] Through Shade 45, he (since December 2021) hosts a weekly podcast called the Paul Pod, which airs one episode per week. [30] From August 1 to September 14, in promotion for Eminem's second greatest hits album, Curtain Call 2, Paul Pod aired a seven-episode edition. [31]
Rosenberg was affiliated with Lawrence Vavra, having been the co-owner of his company, DECKSTAR, since its foundation in 2006. [32] The company merged with British business management company James Grant Group through a $12 million agreement in 2017. [33] [34]
He was also the general manager of Steve Aoki's label, Dim Mak Records, throughout 2012. [35]
Rosenberg was the executive producer and creative director of the Slim Shady Show (internet 2000; DVD 2001). [36] He also made cameo voice roles on certain episodes. [37] He later produced Eminem's autobiographical film, 8 Mile (2002). This was followed up by the production of two DVD-exclusive concert films, Eminem: All Access Europe (2002) and Eminem Presents: The Anger Management Tour (2005).
In 2003, Rosenberg and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine were the executive producers of the Showtime reality competition docu-series, The Next Episode. He then (along with Iovine, Chris Lighty and director Jim Sheridan) produced 50 Cent's acting debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005). Other executive productions from Rosenberg include the television series, Gone Too Far, which premiered on MTV October 8, 2009, less than two months after the death of his client and the show's host, DJ AM. [38] [39] It adds up to A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus (Fuse 2010-12), [40] [41] Detroit Rubber (YouTube 2013), [42] Road to Total Slaughter (2014), [43] the Jake Gyllenhaal boxing drama Southpaw (2015; produced in association with Bob and Harvey Weinstein of the Weinstein Company). [44] [45] With the co-founding by Rosenberg and Eminem of Shady Films, a film production division of Shady Records, the first Shady filming production under the label was Total Slaughter, a rap battle pay-per-view event, which premiered on July 12, 2014. [46] [47] The decline of pay-per-view caused by premium media streaming caused the event to be cancelled in 2018, around the same time media speculation surfaced of Eminem building a rap league inspired by Total Slaughter. [48] A documentary in relation was also premiered at film festivals in August 2015. After the failure of the event, Shady Films produced the record label documentary, Not Afraid: The Shady Records Story (2015). [49] [50]
In 2016, he produced the biopic, Nina, centering on jazz singer and pianist Nina Simone, controversially portrayed by Zoe Saldana. Since then, Saldana has expressed regret for portraying Simone in the film. [51] [52] Also in 2016, he and his former client, Action Bronson, in partnership with Vice Media created the TV series, Fuck, That's Delicious , for which Rosenberg acts as the executive producer. [53] The show first premiered on Vice (then known as Viceland) on March 3. Viceland's renaming to Vice and the COVID-19 pandemic caused the series to be cancelled on July 20, 2020, before moving to YouTube on March 17, 2021. [54]
Rosenberg and Eminem produced the comedy-drama, Bodied, starring Calum Worthy. The film premiered in 2017 via YouTube Premium. [55] He also produced the Danny Brown concert documentary, Danny Brown: Live at the Majestic (2018). [56] [57] His first production in virtual reality was in early 2019 with the premiere of the Sundance exclusive, Marshall from Detroit, another Eminem documentary film; hosted by Sway Calloway. [58] [59] Rosenberg, Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind and Music Box executive producer Bill Simmons jointly produced the DMX HBO Max documentary, Don't Try to Understand, which premiered on November 25, 2021, two days after its premiere at Doc NYC and seven months after DMX's death. [60] [61] [62] He then became the executive producer and creative director of the Metaverse special performance of Eminem and Snoop Dogg's single, "From the D 2 the LBC", as shown at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. [63] [64] As recent as November 2022, Rosenberg has executively produced the Def Jam documentary film, Mixtape, directed by Omar Acosta. [65]
In 2002, contrary to Jay-Z and Damon Dash's Rocawear, Rosenberg and Eminem co-formed their fashion line after being inspired, called Shady Limited. [66] The brand was discontinued in 2006 due to the impact of Eminem's prescription drug addiction.[ citation needed ]
In 2004, Rosenberg appeared at Eminem's Shady National Convention along with Dr. Dre, 50 Cent and future U.S. president Donald Trump, which premiered that September on MTV. [67] He also made a cameo appearance of the music video for Eminem's single, "Berzerk" (2013). [68] Then, he appeared on the HBO documentary miniseries, The Defiant Ones, which centers around the partnership between Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine; the documentary premiered in mid-July 2017. [69] [70]
He also made a surprise appearance through social media, supporting 50 Cent's January 30, 2020, star induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [71] He also made an appearance for Dr. Dre's induction on March 19, 2024.
Rosenberg is Jewish. [72] He formerly resided in New York City in the mid-1990s.[ citation needed ] Since 2006, Rosenberg has been a resident of Alpine, New Jersey. [73]
The Slim Shady LP is the second studio album by the American rapper Eminem, and his first on a major record label. It was released on February 23, 1999, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Recorded in Ferndale, Michigan following Eminem's recruitment by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the album features production from Dr. Dre, the Bass Brothers, and Eminem himself.
Slim Shady EP is the only extended play by American rapper Eminem, released on December 10, 1997, through the Detroit-based record label Web Entertainment. Unlike his debut album Infinite, Slim Shady EP helped Eminem gain the interest of CEO Jimmy Iovine and West Coast hip-hop rapper and producer Dr. Dre, who subsequently signed Eminem to his Aftermath Entertainment record label, and served as executive producer on his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP (1999).
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Music Group and Interscope Communications, it differed from most record labels by letting A&R staff control decisions and allowing artists and producers full creative control. Interscope's first hit records arrived in under a year, and it achieved profitability in 1993. Chair and CEO until May 2014, Iovine was succeeded by John Janick.
Obie Trice III is an American rapper. He signed with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem's Shady Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2000 to release his first two albums, Cheers (2003) and Second Round's on Me (2006). Both peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, while the former was supported by the singles "Got Some Teeth" and the Dr. Dre-produced "The Set Up". Upon leaving the label, Trice formed his own record label, Black Market Entertainment to release his following albums, Bottoms Up (2012), The Hangover (2015) and The Fifth (2019).
James Iovine is an American entrepreneur, former record executive, and media proprietor. He is best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. He became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, an umbrella music unit formed by Universal Music Group in 1999.
Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre in 1996. It operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed through Interscope Records.
Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999, following the commercially successful release of The Slim Shady LP that same year.
Devil's Night is the debut studio album by American hip-hop supergroup D12. It was released on June 19, 2001, by Shady Records and Interscope Records. It was also the first album to be released on Shady Records, although the label had been active since 1999. Production was primarily handled by Eminem and Dr. Dre, with contributions by Mr. Porter, DJ Head, and Jeff Bass. The album features guest appearances by Obie Trice, Truth Hurts, and Dina Rae.
Stanley Bernard Benton, better known by his stage name Stat Quo, is an American rapper and record producer. Benton worked his way to college and attended University of Florida, where he majored in economics and international business in 2000. He was contemplating law school, until veteran Southern rapper Scarface encouraged him to rap professionally. In February 2003, Stat Quo released his first installment of the Underground Atlanta Mixtapes and caught the attention of Aftermath Entertainment associate Mel-Man. When Stat Quo was in L.A. performing at Encore, Mel-Man invited him to Record One Studios where he met Dr. Dre. That night at Record One, Stat Quo recorded the song "The Future" with Dr. Dre and released it on the second volume of his Underground Atlanta mixtape in 2004. The tape made its way by a different route to Eminem and led to Stat Quo's record deal with Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment. Stat Quo is currently managing Lil Xan and Young Aspect.
8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture is the official soundtrack album to the 2002 film of the same name. The album, performed by various artists, was released by Universal Pictures' then subsidiary Universal Music, through Interscope and Shady/Aftermath. It spawned the hit single "Lose Yourself" by Eminem, who also stars in the semi-autobiographical movie.
Denaun Montez Porter, also known by the stage names Mr. Porter, Kon Artis, or Denaun, is an American rapper and record producer. He was a member of Detroit hip hop group D12 until its disbandment in 2018.
"Encore" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. It was written by the artists alongside Chris Pope, Mike Elizondo, and Mark Batson, the latter of which produced it with Dr. Dre. The title track from the Eminem album of the same name, it was released on November 9, 2004 as the third single on vinyl in the U.S. and is the final track from the album.
Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
Blood in My Eye is the fifth studio album by American rapper Ja Rule, released on November 4, 2003, by Murder Inc. and Island Def Jam Music Group. The album was originally planned to be released as a mixtape. The release took place during the feud with Shady/Aftermath rappers 50 Cent, G-Unit, Eminem, D12, Dr. Dre, Obie Trice, along with artists including DMX and Busta Rhymes and was entirely dedicated to dissing them. The album was named after George Jackson's radical book of the same name. Hussein Fatal of Outlawz, Cadillac Tah, James Gotti, Sizzla, Black Child, Young Merc, D.O. Cannon, Shadow, and Sekou 720 are listed as guest appearances on this album. Reviews for the record were mixed, with critics skeptical of Ja's lyrical skills as a hardcore rapper. Blood in My Eye debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 140,000 copies in the United States.
Goliath Artists is an American management company and record label founded by Shady Records president and co-founder Paul Rosenberg, based in New York City, New York and Detroit, Michigan.
Kevin Bell, professionally known as DJ Head, is a hip-hop producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. He's best known for producing and co-producing songs for Eminem, Xzibit, Jay-Z, D12, Valid, Obie Trice, Bizarre, and as Eminem's original touring deejay from 1997 to 2002.
Luis Edgardo Resto is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and keyboardist who has worked closely with rapper Eminem since his third major-label album The Eminem Show. He is of Puerto Rican descent and was raised in Garden City, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in Middle America and is widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His global success is considered to have broken racial barriers to the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as an influence by and upon many artists working in various genres.
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records and Geffen Records.
Relapse is the sixth studio album by the American rapper Eminem. It was released on May 19, 2009, through Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records, and Interscope Records. The album serves as Eminem's return to original material since Encore (2004), following a four-year hiatus from recording due to his writer's block and an addiction to prescription sleeping medication from 2005 and 2007. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2008 and 2009 at several recording studios, and Dr. Dre, Mark Batson, and Eminem handled production.
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