Legendary Music Mogul Andre Harrell Passes Away at Age 59

Andre Harrell, founder of Uptown Records, legendary music mogul, and one half of this hip-hop duo Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde passed away on Friday, May 8th. He was 59 years old.

While the cause of death is still unknown, DJ D Nice revealed the news during Friday night’s Club Quarantine IG Live shos. The announcement came as a surprise and sources confirmed to AllHipHop that Harrell had died suddenly.

Harrell had begun his career in the music industry as one half of the hip-hop duo, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, dropping hits such as “Genius Rap,” “Fast Life,” and “AM/PM.” In 1983 Harrell met Russell Simmons and within two years of working at Def Jam, Harrell became Vice President and later GM. Harrell would later leave Def Jam and start Uptown Records.

Harrell is credited for signing Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puffy, first as an intern. Combs who would later become an A&R for Uptown and bring Mary J. Blige to the roster, and would later find Christopher Wallace, a.k.a The Notorious B.I.G.

In an interview with The Grio, Harrell said the key for Uptown’s success was their ability to combine hip hop music and the lifestyle. “Like Motown Records, [it] was a lifestyle label, where the artists not only made songs that resonated with the community but they also had fashion and attitude that people wanted to emulate…”

in 1995, Harrell would go on to become the CEO of Motown Records, overseeing a roster of artists such as Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Heavy D and the Boyz and Al B. Sure.

Despite Puffy being fired from Uptown in 1993, he and Harrell remained business partners. Harrell served as Vice Chairman for Puffy’s REVOLT network, and a producer on the REVOLT show, State Of The Culture. Harrell was also instrumental in creating the Revolt Music Conference in 2014.