As we continue our Black History Month tribute series, it’s only right we acknowledge The Homegirl of the South. Just with the nickname alone, we all know who that is and yes, it’s Shanti Das.
Shanti Das is an accomplished entertainment industry veteran, speaker, author, philanthropist and podcast host. Shanti worked and excelled in the entertainment business for over 25 years. Her music industry career (from intern to Executive Vice President) included promotions & marketing positions at Capitol Records, LaFace Records, Columbia Records, Sony Urban Music and Universal Motown where she worked directly with some of music’s top talent like OutKast, Usher, Prince, TLC, Toni Braxton, Erykah Badu, and many more.
An Atlanta native and Mays High School alumna, Shanti enrolled as a full-time student at Syracuse in the fall of 1989. In 1990 she entered the Syracuse S.I. Newhouse School of Communications, majoring in Television, Radio and Film. That year she also became an on-air disc jockey for the campus radio station, WJPZ. By 1991 she was promoted to WJPZ’s Assistant Promotions Director and programmed a specialty Saturday nighturban/hip-hop show for the station in ‘92.
As a result of Shanti’s extensive community work in the 2000’s, she decided to establish her very own nonprofit, The Hip-Hop Professional Foundation, Inc. The foundation was rebranded under the name Silence the Shame, Inc., a mental health movement that has led the way since 2016. With no surprise, in 2020 Shanti was named an Essence magazine Essential Hero in Mental Health.
Following the sale of the LaFace label to BMG in 2000, Das relocated to New York as Senior Director of Urban Marketing for Arista Records. She again began working with LA Reid, Arista’s new CEO at that time. The city of Atlanta honored her prior to her relocation with a free concert performed by OutKast in her honor, the “Key to the City,” and an official proclamation as June 5, 2000, as “SHANTI DAS DAY.”
Shanti aka “The Homegirl of the South”, we salute you on such an amazing career, the impact you’ve had on the community, the culture, and wish you nothing but the best on as you continue on your journey.
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