User:Sifthaus/Paul Stewart (music supervisor)

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Paul Stewart is an American music supervisor, producer, and entrepreneur associated primarily with hip-hop and urban contemporary genres. He has also held a number of pioneering A&R, development, and management positions in the entertainment industry.

Music industry

Stewart holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from Sonoma State University. Having grown up in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Stewart gravitated to the Los Angeles hip-hop scene. He managed marketing and promotion for Ice Cube's record label, Street Knowledge, then distributed by Time/Warner. Stewart founded and ran PMP, a promotions company and record label associated with Island/ Def Jam and, later, Loud Records. Through PMP, Stewart developed and managed numerous musical artists including Coolio, The Pharcyde, Warren G, House of Pain, Montell Jordan and Delinquent Habits. In 2008 he became Director of Music Marketing for Puma North America.

Music supervision

Stewart's tenure with Ice Cube coincided with the development of the feature film Friday (released 1995), which helped Stewart earn his break into film music. John Singleton recruited him to be music supervisor (credited as "Music Consultant") for Poetic Justice (1993). Since then, Stewart, through his Los Angeles-based consulting company Next Thing, has supervised music on 16 films, as well as two seasons of the VH1 reality television series, Gotti's Way. Major feature credits include: Men of Honor (2000); Barbershop (2002); 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003); Barbershop 2 (2004); Four Brothers (2005); Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club (2008); Down For Life (2009); and Next Day Air (2009). Stewart also curated music for the Darfur Now Tour, which paired live hip-hop concerts with screenings of the consciousness-raising documentary Darfur Now.

Stewart's work on Hustle & Flow is cited as a breakthrough for mainstream acceptance of hip-hop music -- and an example of how "music supervision" has expanded well beyond the selection and licensing of tracks. In this case, given a script in which music and rapping are integral to the story and characterizations, Stewart was closely involved in the conception and execution of original songs, and helped starring actor Terrence Howard prepare for his role as an aspiring rapper. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, for Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp".

Media production

Stewart produced numerous music videos for Def Jam and Loud in the '90s, often hiring beginning directorial talents who would go on to significant careers, such as Dave Meyers and F. Gary Gray. He launched the popular Sony DVD series Latin Dimes. More recently, he has produced documentaries and films like Down For Life.