Egomeli Hormeku – an experienced and innovative brand and content strategist – has been appointed Senior Vice President & Creative Director, Def Jam Recordings, it was announced today by Rich Isaacson, Executive Vice President/General Manager. In his new role, Mr. Hormeku will provide creative oversight in content creation, digital and social strategies, and brand identity and partnerships. Based in New York, he will report directly to Mr. Isaacson.
“A successful mover and shaker in the ultra-competitive New York City branding community for the past decade, Ego has built a portfolio and network that are second to none,” said Mr. Isaacson. “As Def Jam continues its fourth decade as the world’s number one destination for hip-hop culture, Ego will have a broad palette with which to work his magic. We’re excited to welcome him aboard.”
“There’s no better time than now,” said Mr. Hormeku, “to redefine what Def Jam means to music, cement what the label means to black culture, and ultimately swell the brand’s influence on a global scale. It’s simple. I’m at Def Jam because I owe Def Jam. It raised me. Not only is it the soundtrack to years that have molded my life and love for music, but its impact is the foundation for my creativity throughout my career.
“It’s an exciting time at the label, and with new leadership from Jeff Harleston and Rich Isaacson, there’s a renewed sense of creativity, tenacity, strategy and responsibility,” he continues. “This is why Def Jam is so important. If there was a duty to uphold the integrity of black culture, the label is uniquely positioned to do so. You know what else is important? Breonna Taylor’s killers have still not been arrested.”
Mr. Hormeku comes to Def Jam after serving as CEO of the company he founded in 2015, Magic Creative Agency, which designed and executed the creation and strategic planning of brands and celebrities from a digital and physical lens. Overlapping with the first two years of Magic, he was Digital Strategist/Lead Social Community Manager for Nike, where he led digital strategy and social community management for Nike East (New York, Boston, DC, Atlanta, Miami) while spearheading individual category digital strategies. He later spent a year as Senior Producer, Content Development at Columbia Records, bridging strategic and creative needs by developing digital storytelling content, and liaising cross-functionally with the Digital team, Business and Legal Affairs, Marketing, Video Production, A&R, and so on to help drive a project home and deliver a finished product.
Prior to these ventures, he founded The Hormeku Group, which functioned as an umbrella for the Nothing Nice New York clothing line, the original Steel Rosé wine brand, the luxury Vida chocolate cigar line. The Group also handled a self-help book, Hope this Helps, that was a spin-off of The Nerdy McFly Manifesto, a book he wrote with friends that contained 101 rules for young men on how to create a balance between smart and cool.
Mr. Hormeku was raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 2008, with a Political Science and Physiological Sciences double major in Africana Studies and English Minor, while a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Between studies, he honed his craft as a DJ at campus parties. Mr. Hormeku is also a graduate of the Cornell Business Strategy Exec Program.
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