Def Jam Exec. Vice President Shakir Stewart Dead at 34

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Def Jam Executive Vice President Shakir Stewart reportedly committed suicide this weekend in his Atlanta home. He was 34. Stewart was tabbed to replace Jay-Z's role at Def Jam after the rapper left after signing a deal with Live Nation. Prior to filling the EVP position, Stewart signed multi-platinum artists like Young Jeezy and Rick Ross. According to reports, Stewart was found in his Atlanta home, a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. In a statement, Stewart's fiancée Michelle Rivers said "Over the past several weeks, Shakir's behavior was inconsistent with the man we all know and love. As much as we all tried to help him, Shakir was in deep pain and largely suffering in silence." Island Def Jam also issued a statement, saying, "Shakir was an amazing man, in every sense of the word. A truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people who had the privilege of counting him as a friend. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family at this very difficult time."

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Song Stories

“The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie”

The Joy Formidable | 2011

The opener off the Welsh group’s The Big Roar album was an epic one, but the band was worried that track had polarized fans. “The first song is eight minutes long,” Rhydian Dafydd, the Joy Formidable bassist, said. “If you did that in the Seventies people would be, ‘Whatever.’ You do it now, people think, ‘Holy s---!’ Some people think it’s the f---ing greatest track on the entire album, and some people think it’s f---ing boring. It’s that element of needing to challenge people.” The band concluded through the song’s lyrics that love was the “everchanging spectrum of a lie.”

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