Andre O’Neal Harrell was an American music executive and multimedia producer. In 1986, recently a rapper, he formed Uptown Records, into the 1990s a leader in hip hop, R&B, and their fusion, "new jack swing." He gave Sean "Diddy" Combs his 1990 start in the business, and later was CEO of Motown Records.

Harrell's father, Bernie, worked at a produce market in Hunts Point; his mother, Hattie, was a nurse's aide. In 1978, he graduated from the Charles Evans Hughes High School.

As a teenager, Harrell and Alonzo Brown, a friend from high school, formed a rap duo, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde—Harrell and Brown, respectively. The group had the hit songs "Genius Rap" in 1981 and "AM/PM" in 1984.

Otherwise, Harrell studied at Baruch College, then transferred to Lehman College. Intending to become a newscaster, he majored in communications and business management. After three years, he withdrew and began working for a local radio station.

In 1983, Harrell met Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records. He went to work for Def Jam and within two years became vice-president and general manager. After a few years working at Def Jam, Harrell left and founded his own label called Uptown Records.

Harrell is credited with having discovered and signing Sean "Puffy" Combs. In 1988, Mary J. Blige recorded an impromptu cover of Anita Baker's "Caught Up in the Rapture" at a recording booth in a local mall. Her mother's boyfriend at the time later played the cassette for Jeff Redd, a recording artist and A&R runner for Uptown Records. Redd sent it to Harrell, who met with Blige. In 1989, she was signed to the label, and she became the company's youngest and first female solo artist.

In 1988, Harrell was offered a label deal MCA Music Entertainment Group. After he had multiple successful releases, in 1992, MCA offered Harrell a multimedia deal, which involved film and television productions. They developed the feature film Strictly Business and FOX's hit police drama series, New York Undercover, which aired from 1994 until 1998.

Harrell renamed Uptown Records as Uptown Enterprises, and its records were featured in productions for Universal Pictures and Universal Television. In 1994, Harrell had a son with Wendy Credle, a music attorney. They named him Gianni Credle-Harrell.

In 1995, Harrell was appointed CEO of Motown Records and remained there until 1997. He also hosted Champagne & Bubbles on Sunday nights from 6 to 9pm on Emmis Urban AC WRKS (98.7 Kiss FM)/New York. Harrell was the CEO of Harrell Records, which is distributed through Atlantic Records. He partnered with budding Atlanta-based production company L7 Entertainment for the release of their new artists Hamilton Park and Netta Brielle.

Harrell was the Vice Chairman of Revolt, Diddy's multi-platform music network. On October 17, 2014, he was instrumental in launching the Revolt Music Conference in Miami, Florida, at the Fountainbleau Hotel. The event was attended by such entertainment figures as Guy Oseary, Russell Simmons, and L.A. Reid.

Source .