MTV is reporting that Def Jam VP Shakir Stewart committed suicide on Saturday in his Atlanta home. Reports say he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though no further details were available. Stewart was best known as the guy who succeeded Jay-Z after the rapper resigned his post at Def Jam last December. Stewart, an Oakland, California native, took over ...

The executive who succeeded Jay-Z as the head of hip-hop music label Def Jam Recordings died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound near Atlanta, police said Sunday. Executive vice president Shakir Stewart, 34, died on Saturday, his New York-based label said in a statement. Stewart was ...

Shakir Stewart, executive vice president of Def Jam and one of the most powerful figures in hip-hop, died this weekend in an apparent suicide. Police reported that the man who signed Beyoncé was found in his bathroom at around 4pm on Saturday, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to Atlanta's Kennestone Hospital where he ...