Roc-A-Fella Co-Founder: The Kanye I Know Has a Great Heart
*By Conor White*
Kanye West has shocked people before, but his recent outbursts, including a bizarre TMZ interview in which he said slavery was a choice, have left even his closest friends wondering if he's O.K.
"A lot of it, yes, it is disturbing," said Kareem Burke, the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, adding: "I don't know what the intent is, which is crazy for me because I know his heart, and I know he has a great heart, so I'm hopeful things will change and Kanye will be the old Kanye."
Burke takes credit for giving West his start in music more than 15 years ago, when the rapper first signed to Roc-A-Fella. "I personally launched his career," Burke said in an interview with Cheddar at the Collision Conference in New Orleans.
He is now launching a media empire, including two movies which recently had their premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival: "O.G." and "It's A Hard Truth Ain't It". Jeffrey Wright won Best Actor at Tribeca for his performance in "O.G."
Both films deal with prison life in the United States, something Burke knows about. Before he was a media entrepreneur, he served five years for marijuana trafficking. Burke said he hopes the films help raise awareness of the problems with the country's prison system.
"Hopefully if these stories keep getting out, we're hoping that the dialogue starts, and hopefully change follows that," Burke said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/roc-a-fella-co-founder-misses-the-old-kanye).
This November, Philips Norelco is partnering with Movember® in the United States and Canada to urge men to tackle health issues that are right under their noses. Brett Bardsley, Category Leader, Philips Grooming & Beauty, and Dr. Jake Taylor MD, MPH, Chief Urology Resident at NYU Langone Health, join None of the Above to break down how this partnership is more than just growing & grooming a Mo all month long, what men should know about their own mental and physical well-being, and the impact Philips continues to have as a global health technology company supporting men’s health programming and delivering meaningful innovations.
Learn more about how to get involved at Philips.com/Movember
Food delivery giant DoorDash is acquiring European food delivery company Wolt. The all-stock deal is valued at $8.1 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2022. The companies say they share a mission to build a global delivery platform. Gerber Kawasaki investment advisor Eva Agi joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what the deal means for Doordash, as well as its customers and investors.
Identity verification startup Socure recently raised $450 million dollars in a series E round, bringing the company's valuation to $4.5 billion. Socure says it is now the highest-valued private company in the identity verification space, and that the funds will be used to accelerate its mission to verify 100% of good identities and eliminate identity fraud across all industries. Socure Founder and CEO Johnny Ayers joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Didi Hirsch CEO Jon Goldfinger and actor Sarah Gilman join Cheddar News in support of Didi Hirsch's social media campaign, which aims to bring awareness to its upcoming event, Alive Together: Uniting to Prevent Suicide.
Attorney Michael Burg joined Cheddar's Jill Wagner to give more insight into the legal fallout of Travis Scott's deadly Astroworld festival, where at least eight people died and dozens more were injured.
The Biden Administration has issued a new order aimed at all federal agencies which would order them to patch hundreds of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Chief Evangelist at Intrusion Gary Davis and Chief Security Advisor at SentinelOne Morgan Wright, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
The electric vehicle space is about to see a whole new shift in its market particularly in Taxi Industry. Ride-Hailing apps like Uber and Lyft though could be left behind from this era since they cannot force their drivers to drive specific cars. Executive Analyst from ISeeCars.Com, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
