Posted by | Ray Cornelius
The Hip Hop community is still in mourning over the death of manager and CEO of Violator Entertainment, Chris Lighty.
Lighty, 44, was found dead at 11:35 am this past Thursday in his Bronx apartment. According to BET, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead on the scene with authorities calling it a suicide.
Lighty, who got his start working for Russell Simmons, was very instrumental in managing the careers of some of hip hop’s elite including 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool, Outkast, NAS, Missy Elliott, Diddy and CeeLo Green.
Chris was currently divorcing his wife, Veronica and reportedly had a tax debt close to $5 million dollars. However, Lighty’s business partner Michael “Blue” Williams recently told MTV, that Chris’ debt “is probably less important than the pressure that he was under” and that his suicide should not be linked to it.
“What people are missing and what people don’t see and what Chris is an example of is how much, as black men, we carry around and don’t always communicate,” says Williams.
Lighty will most likely be remembered for his pioneering efforts in brokering major deals for many of his artists including commercials, endorsements, fragrances, beverages, clothing lines and the multi-million dollar deal between 50 Cent and Vitamin Water.