Photo: Chris Shonting
“I want this article to be called ‘Why Is This Man So Happy?” says Lyor Cohen, the vice chairman of Warner Music Group and chairman/CEO of Recorded Music Americas and the U.K., at the start of the conversation, jauntily trotting out of his famous New York-inflected Israeli accent. “Because I’m extremely happy right now—despite it all.” That vague appending—“it all”–could mean a number of things to the 49-year-old Cohen: a painful divorce, the uncertain flux of the music industry or a difficult 2004 departure from Def Jam, the now 25-year-old hip-hop label he had helped nurture since its infancy. So, why is this man so happy? Probably because he never works.
GIANT: How did you stay excited about your industry in the face of historic hardship?
I’ve desensitized myself form how people characterize things on such a huge, macro level. I understand how important the macro is, but the micro is not to be lost. The fact of the matter is that I’ve avoided work my entire life, because I don’t consider what I do to be work. I wake up every morning thinking, “maybe today is the day that’ll bump into someone who will take me on a journey and change my life.” The search for the magnificent is exciting.”
How did you go about taking Def Jam from minor management company to legendary hip-hop label?
The key was surviving the cold. It’s so easy when you’re hot, but walk through the cold to see what you’re made out of. We went through three periods where it was freezing, but every time we got through, we were extremely feared and even more dangerous.
Why did you decide to leave Def Jam?
We’d gone from last place to first place and had the most dynamic roster in the business: Kanye, the Killers, Jay-Z, Mariah, Jon Bon Jovi—it went on and on and on. They were insanely equipped to run that company without me. I was also very frustrated that old men were making decisions that I didn’t agree with. I wanted to get to a position where I could help navigate and restore this industry.
-Cord Jefferson
