Tags and topics realted to this article include Russell Simmons.

MotherJones.com redently had an interview with Russell Simmons. Here is an excerpt from that interview. Click the source tab to read the entire interview.

A devout yoga practitioner, ruthless entrepreneur, dedicated philanthropist, and burgeoning political player, Simmons is most famous as the co-founder of Def Jam Records, the label that launched Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys, and along the way propelled hip hop out of the ghetto and into the Mall of America. Simmons sold Def Jam to Universal in 1999 for $100 million, which he has since parlayed into a creative and merchandising empire that includes a hit Broadway show (Def Poetry Jam), two HBO programs, Phat Farm apparel, One World magazine, UniRush financial services, and on and on. This summer, Simmons received both a Tony Award and a Peabody -- completing his implausible rise from Queens marijuana peddler to high-culture laureate.

MOTHER JONES: What could have happened to you if you'd been busted under New York's Rockefeller drug laws for selling pot?

Russell Simmons: I'd still be in jail. Yeah. Drug offenders sometimes go to jail for longer than rapists and murderers for small amounts of drugs. And addicts who could be treated for $5,000 sometimes cost the city and state government as much as a million dollars. Then they come home after 15 years in jail, and we find out that they're criminals. When they went away, they were just users of drugs.....

MJ: Who were your role models?

RS: Oh, God. In my 20s and 30s, I wasn't so involved in social political issues. When I was growing up, I liked Louis Farrakhan. I still like Louis Farrakhan. When I was young, I never realized there was anything anti-Semitic in his message, because that was never a part of what we learned as young people. I mean, there was only Black Muslims and heroin addicts on my corner. I should mention, because some people don't get it, I am also the secretary of the board of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding; I work with Rabbi Marc Schneier.

Find out more about Russell Simmons. Other items you may find on Russell Simmons include updates, news, multimedia, chat, links and more. Click here...

MotherJones.com