They Call Him 'Hustle Simmons', but is Hotep Really the Next Hip-Hop Mogul or Simply a Kindergarten Teacher?

NEW YORK (www.skinnymen.com ) - At the rate Hotep aka "Hustle Simmons" is working it won't be long before we'll see his face in the dictionary next to the word "multifaceted." says RollingOut Weekly in a recent spotlight article. Indeed. Since1997, Hotep has been responsible for 9 hip-hop and spoken word albums, 3 music videos, a series of educational cd-roms, a Northeastern tour and numerous events for the entertainment industry. www.skinnymen.com

This year he will release his first full length film (a documentary entitled "Independent, Doin' Major Things") and plans to finish a book about relationships. When asked why he undertakes so many media projects Hotep explains, "Media is the most powerful educational tool we have. If you control what people see, hear and read, then you control the way they think and therefore the way they behave. This is my way of improving problems in the Hip-Hop and African-American communities, by educating through entertainment and mass media."

If being recognized as a gifted musician, speaker, businessman and visionary weren't enough, Hotep (a Morehouse college grad), is also a nine year veteran educator in the Dekalb county school system in Georgia. In fact, he is currently teaching kindergarten, tutors after school and mentors young men in the community. One of these young men (whom he taught in fifth grade) will be releasing a poetry book and cd through Hotep's Manifest Destiny Project. The Manifest Destiny Project is a series of workshops designed to educate and empower youth by showing how they can ALL become successful in life simply by exploring, identifying and developing their own natural talents and then applying these skills in the areas of business and entertainment.

To merge both his gifts as an educator and experience in the entertainment industry, Hotep transitioned Skinnymen Productions into Atlanta's first EDU-tainment company. Today, he uses his talents, knowledge and products to tour as a motivational speaker. Hotep's mission: to lead the "underground" to the light of independence and inspire all, to Manifest their own Destiny!