DEF CON II POISED TO ATTACK RADIO

The Island Def Jam Music Group has formed Def Con II, a specialized team within the promotion department. The announcement was made Wednesday by Island President/IDJ COO Steve Bartels and Def Jam President/COO Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.

The Def Con II team, which will be headed up by SVP Promotion Rick Sackheim and VP Promotion Shawn "Pecas" Costner, will have its own full field staff. Sackheim and Costner will report directly to Bartels.

Def Con II’s promotion will work records from the label group’s joint ventures. These include Disturbing Tha Peace; Russell Simmons Music Group; Corporate Thugz and Slip-n-Slide Records. The new department will interact with Urban, Crossover and Rhythm radio on selected album and single projects.

One of the first projects assigned to Def Con II is “Need a Boss (Disturbing Tha Peace)" from Shareefa (last name: Cooper), a 22-year old Ludacris protégé from Charlotte, NC. First heard on the track “I’ll Be Around,” from last year’s Ludacris Presents...Disturbing Tha Peace, Shareefa made her national TV debut on the recent VibeAwards show, joining Ludacris and Field Mob in their performance of “Georgia.”

Other promotion campaigns on Def Con II’s schedule are the lead singles from the upcoming albums from Ludacris and Bobby V.