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Chuck Creekmur    

Co-Founder of AllHipHop.com

AllHipHop.com co-founder and co-CEO Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur has combined his outstanding journalism skills, artistic talents, and ability to envision the future to establish himself as a trendsetter and trailblazer creating a unique path in Internet content and technology. As a cultural critic and pundit, he's been featured in VIBE, The Source, Complex, GIANT and has been featured on National Public Radio (NPR), BET, TVOne, VH1, The E! Channel, MTV, The O'Reilly Factor, USA Today, The New York Times, New York's Hot 97 FM and numerous other outlets.

For the past decade he has directed the leading source of urban culture news and information on the Net, “The CNN of Hip-Hop,” according to the legendary Chuck D. of Public Enemy. Creekmur has won accolades from Yahoo! (2009), BET (2009) and Black Enterprise magazine's Rising Star honor (2006), among other distinctions.

Creekmur developed a fascination for hip-hop and journalism growing up in Newark, Delaware and launched his own online editorial site, Tantrum Magazine. After restarting an alternative African-American newspaper at the University of Delaware, he moved to New York City where he served as a music news producer for BET.com, as well as freelance writing for several publications including VIBE, The Source, and Complex.

After meeting and his business partner Greg “Grouchy” Watkins in Glasgow High School in Delaware, they united to make history with the first Black owned source for Hip-Hop news and culture on the Internet. “I knew the 'Net was my forum to promote my writing, art work and creative talents to the world,” he recalls, “So we eventually put the two companies together.”

AllHipHop.com established a precedent with daily content updates and wireless distribution, and now 11 years later the business has expanded beyond music into a dynamic lifestyle platform.

Creekmur remembers his childhood love of comic books fostered a thirst for reading, writing and graphic arts. Today drawing remains a passionate hobby (as well as his love of boxing), and in addition to his editorial leadership at AllHipHop.com, he also designs logos and the overall visual presentation of the site.

“Jigsaw” takes pride as a visionary who is constantly head of the curve, understanding trends and foreseeing “what will happen before it happens.” As a student he received his nickname because he says, “People felt I was like a puzzle, difficult to understand. I call it my saving grace because I've always thought outside the box and was willing to experiment and try new concepts.”

An example of his innovative concepts was displayed last year when AllHipHop.com completed a very successful relaunch with groundbreaking features and several new strategic business partnerships.

“We continue to reinvent ourselves and expand the genre. The latest version serves as a vessel to carry the company into the next stage of the Internet, allowing us to navigate through advances in technology,” he says. “We have successfully built a brand that has transcended the changes in several industries while allowing us to strengthen our base with our customer.”

As the web destination continues its unprecedented growth, Creekmur remains humble and always amazed by its reverence among the elite of the entertainment hierarchy.

“I will never forget LL Cool shouting us out at a concert, and I was most shocked when I heard that Jay-Z was a regular visitor to our site,” Creekmur says.

He continues, “Once people like Russell Simmons started contacting us, I started to see it as a big deal.”

Simmons hails the website as “a great resource...accurate and timely...making a significant impact upon hip-hop.”

In 2007, Simmons joined Sean “Diddy” Combs in hosting the AllHip.com Week VIP Party, and Creekmur has very fond memories of an unforgettable seven days featuring an all-star fashion show, seminar, and sold out concert in Times Square. “It was an incredible moment to see our brand in front of thousands of people,” he remembers.

Creekmur is dedicated to speaking to business and social organizations and universities across the country in the “spirit of community based activism.” He states, “We are the voice of the community,” and he looks forward to establishing a formal AllHipHop.com mentor program.

AllHipHop.com's commitment to expansion is exemplified several recent business moves, particularly into the mobile and video distribution industries.

Creekmur anticipates unlimited evolution, both personally and professionally.

“The sky is the limit. I have no boundaries,” he proclaims.

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