By: Dove
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Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean sat down with Fox Business News this week, to discuss his “Producer in Residence” teaching job at NYU, his self-branding tactics, and participation in wife Alicia Keys‘ Keep a Child Alive charity.
His concern for youth involvement in arts and education was first and foremost in his decision to take on the NYU position:
“When I’m in my class at NYU, I have so many different experiences with the students, from financial problems and different problems, but the music makes all those things go away. Just a little bit of advice changes their whole world, and I’m just like ‘wow, music is really the cure for people to be happy,’ and I love being in that business.”
With regard to his outreach on branding with shoe and clothing lines for the likes of Christian Louboutin and Reebok, and his recent auto endeavor with Aston Martin, Swizz proclaimed that marketing himself was somewhat of an adventure in personal growth as he “graduated” his brand.
“It’s very important for people to know when you change as a person, and I felt in 2010 my whole life changed as a person… so I laid out these different forums, so people can see Professor Dean, and not just this person who worked with Jay-Z and all these rap artists, and just expanding the brand. I think it’s important for you to put your brand on a level that’s respected worldwide.”
Swizz Beatz‘ participation in the Digital Life Sacrifice event to raise money for Keep a Child Alive means that he will forego all communication on Twitter and Facebook until $1,000,000 million is raised in honor of World Aids Day.
Other participating celebrities include Kim Kardashian, Usher, Katie Holmes, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, Jay Sean, Khloe Kardashian, Elijah Wood and Serena Williams.
Log on to BuyLife.org to donate! Watch the Fox Business interview, Swizz Beatz “Last Tweet and Testament” and the Digital Death promo videos below!
