Bill Stephney as VP/Promotions, Def Jam Recordings: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Stephney is pictured standing in a dark interior space with a chandelier behind him. He is wearing a black jacket over a light colored button down shirt. The jacket has the name "Bill" embroidered in white on the proper right side and a line drawing of a turntable needle embroidered in white on the proper left side. He also wears a dark colored baseball cap with the brim tilted up. He looks straight at the camera, his proper right hand at his waist with his fingers curled into a loose fist and his other hand down at his side. He stands next to a shoulder-height partition with wood panels. Other individuals are partially visible in the dark background behind him. On the verso is an adhesive label with the Eyejammie.com logo and [Title: Bill Stephney as VP/Promotions, / Def Jam Recordings / Photographer: Harry Allen] printed in black text.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1986
• Photograph by: Harry Allen, American, born 1964
• Subject of: Bill Stephney, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Def Jam Recordings, American, founded 1984
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 10 7/8 × 13 15/16 in. (27.7 × 35.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 8 9/16 × 12 15/16 in. (21.8 × 32.8 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Gesture
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2015.132.23
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Harry Allen Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.