The future seemed bright in 2013 when Russell Simmons launched his hip-hop, comedy and culture media company, All Def Digital. It was, after all, one of the biggest Black-owned digital sites on the internet.
But scandal and a toxic workplace environment led to the new venture being shut down. Now, a year after the company’s assets were acquired by startup Culture Genesis, All Def Digital is being revamped and relaunched.
In 2019, after the company ceased operations, All Def Digital’s assets — including intellectual property, content library and social-media channels — were acquired by Culture Genesis.
A digital studio and tech startup, Culture Genesis focuses on “remixing technology for authentic urban culture and entertainment.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Culture Genesis was founded in 2018 by former Apple business development executive Cedric Rogers and Shaun Newsum, an alum of Vevo and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). Investors include hip hop artists and entrepreneurs T.I. and Killer Mike; Jason Geter, founder of Grand Hustle Records (T.I. ‘s label); NBA All-Star Baron Davis and venture-capital firms Betaworks and Mucker Capital, Variety reported.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 61: Cedric J. Rogers Part 1: Jamarlin talks to Cedric Rogers and Shaun Newsum, co-founders of Culture Genesis, a digital studio focused on remixing technology for underserved audiences.
The revived All Def Digital is ready for a new rollout and it will be different from the original concept.
All Def is moving beyond the original platform’s tight digital focus on hip hop, comedy, and slam poetry to a broader offering that includes more genres and distribution approaches.
It’s also expanding relationships and programming ventures with traditional media companies. It’s working with WarnerMedia-owned Fullscreen and Comcast-backed production company Jupiter Entertainment to increase its programming, creator networks, brand relationships and several new initiatives, Forbes reported.
All Def Digital launched as a YouTube network in 2013 in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation’s AwesomenessTV. It soon started to develop original programming for distributors such as HBO and Facebook, and raised around $18 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and WPP Ventures, Rolling Stone reported. In 2017, the company signed a high-profile Spotify partnership with Traffic Jams, a popular Carpool Karaoke-like series.
When Simmons, facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, stepped away from the company in 2017, All Def Digital fell apart. In 2019, funding and business relationships dried up, leading All Def Digital into bankruptcy.
Culture Genesis acquired All Def Digital’s assets including a library of more than 4,700 digital show episodes.
“You have to give them credit,” Rogers said, “for (having been founded in 2013, (All Def Digital executives) were looking at digital and trying to take what they saw from Def Comedy Jam and move it forward to digital, and really put a focus on the up-and-coming platform. And we have taken that and really just doubled down on it.”
While it plans to expand its channels, All Def Digital will keep its focus on Black creators, audiences, and programming.
The company also has new partnerships with tech giants YouTube and Facebook, which are both trying to expand programming for Black audiences. All Def Digital has been promoting its content across most major social media platforms.
The push is paying off, Forbes reported. The company says visits across all of its social media platforms have doubled to 600 million views a month since 2019. Monthly hours of watch time now top 40 million. Its main All Def site claims to have 4.5 million subscribers.
“We look at, as a good model for where we are headed, Barstool Sports,” Rogers said. “They did a great job of being omnichannel. So we are focusing definitely with Instagram, and with Twitter and TikTok, we definitely have strong presence there.”
The company is also creating apps for various streaming platforms, including Roku, iOS, Android, and Apple TV.
