NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Global Grind) - Global Grind (www.globalgrind.com), today announced Russell Simmons will serve as its Editor in Chief. Global Grind is the premier social media platform developed by and for the Hip Hop community. Philanthropist and cultural entrepreneur Simmons, an early investor in the site, served as guest blogger on the site, alongside Reverend Run's widely anticipated Daily Words of Wisdom, and political commentary by Dr.
Benjamin Chavis. The strong response to their blogs led to the creation of the site's new "Celebrity Blogger" section. A mix of celebrities and influencers within the Hip-Hop Community will blog on a variety of topics including music, lifestyle, culture, politics and sports. The Global Grind Celebrity Blogger initiative allows celebrities to stay in tune with their fan base through a media platform that is linked to media, artist and social networking sites, while allowing users to get fresh content from their favorite celebrities/personalities and opinion leaders.
Global Grind will expand its blogging initiative to include a diverse array of bloggers including leading and emerging artists, thought leaders, celebrities, actors, models, DJ's, politicians and activists.
Early blogging partners include: Akon, Angela Simmons, Benny Boom, Bow Wow, Brandi Garcia, Brett Ratner, Damon Dash, DJ Cassidy, DJ D-Nice, DJ Khaled, DJ Whoo Kid, Free, Ed Lover, World Famous G-Mack, Gorilla Zoe, Jim Jones, John Legend, JoJo Simmons, Justine Simmons, Kevin Liles, LL Cool J, Militainment Crazy Raw Radio, Little X, Nas, Nelly, Ne-Yo, Nia Long, Rev Run, Sanaa Lathan, Toccara, T-Pain, Trey The Choklit Jok, Big Boy, Noemie Lenoir, LeToya Luckett, Mickey Factz, Vanessa Simmons
The exclusive content will appear on custom created profile pages that are the artist/celebrity's direct connection to Global Grind users. These profile pages will be featured alongside the currently more than 40 and growing celebrity "Global Coverage" content aggregation pages that include the most up-to-date web content about the celebrity on one page. Content on both the profile and Global Coverage pages is promoted and commented on by Global Grind's users as well as on third party social networks. The celebrity Global Coverage pages include icons and opinion leaders ranging from President Obama to Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Steve Harvey, Kim Kardashian, Michael Moore and many others.
Navarrow Wright, CEO of Global Grind, states, "Global Grind is proud to announce Russell Simmons as its Editor in Chief, as it's been a natural progression over the past year with his extensive involvement from the site as an early investor and popular blogger on the site. Global Grind has always been about connecting people: first connecting our audience to the content they want, then connecting leading and emerging sites to users and advertisers through our Grind Network, and now connecting bloggers big and small directly to the new American mainstream, while syndicating their content to key networks like Facebook. I look forward to working alongside Russell to develop this unique global platform in 2009."
Russell Simmons, new Editor in Chief of Global Grind, states, "Ever since my early days in music, through my work in fashion, comedy, film, TV and philanthropy, I have worked as a facilitator of communication, and a promoter of creativity, entrepreneurship, giving, and political engagement. Global Grind is the ultimate connector for the HipHop community and like-minded creative entrepreneurs and activists."
Simmons added, "Whether you're a celebrity, a politician, an artist, a comedian or an emerging blogger, Global Grind gives the community a powerful platform to speak to each other, the media and the world."
Lead venture investor Jim Breyer of Accel Partners noted, "We are very excited to be part of such a fundamental long-term internet opportunity and being partners with an outstanding group of team members and contributors." Breyer has invested in over 30 companies that have completed IPO's or successful mergers, and is also a board member of leading companies such as Wal-Mart, Marvel Entertainment, Facebook, and Etsy.
About Global Grind
Global Grind is a leading edge technology platform that enables users to discover the most current and broadest array of content of interest to them from all the leading sources on the web. It incorporates cutting- edge tools for search, discussion, rating, and sharing that enables celebrity bloggers to dramatically increase their connection to the more than 40 million global hip hop fans. The capabilities include state-of-the-art integration with artist sites, media platforms and social network sites including MySpace and Facebook. Moreover, via Global Grind's Facebook Connect partnership, celebrity content and activity is automatically syndicated to the 150 million-strong Facebook network.
Launched in Jan 2008, Global Grind has partnered with more than 35 publisher sites, and reaches more than 1 million monthly unique visitors. It has established itself as a unique promoter of "The World According To Hip Hop" by working collaboratively with other leading and emerging sites of interest to the trend-breaking hip hop community. The company is headquartered in New York City and is privately held, with backing from Russell Simmons, private investors, and Accel Partners of Palo Alto, California. For more information, please visit www.globalgrind.com.
