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HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK ANNOUNCES FOURTH ANNUAL ACTION AWARDS RECIPIENTS

EARVIN “MAGIC” JOHNSON, KANYE WEST, DEBRA L. LEE AND BET NETWORKS AND STEVE STOUTE TO RECEIVE ACTION AWARDS

NATIONAL CELEBRITY GALA TO FOCUS ON OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN COMMUNITY SERVICE AND EMPOWERMENT

NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 10, 2006 – Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Co-Chairmen of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), announce the Fourth Annual Action Awards, an exclusive benefit, fundraising celebration and dinner that will help support HSAN’s nonprofit work to utilize the power of Hip- Hop for positive social change.

Set to take place on Monday, October 16, 2006, at The Lighthouse, Pier 61, Chelsea Piers (23rd Street at the Hudson River), in New York City, the 2006 Action Awards will honor Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Kanye West, Debra Lee and BET Networks, and Steve Stoute. Event Co-Chairs are entertainment industry entrepreneur Andre Harrell and Universal Music Group’s Motown Records’ President Sylvia Rhone. Red Carpet and Cocktail Hour begins at 6:30 p.m., with the Action Awards Dinner and Program to follow at 7:30 p.m. Music will be provided by the legendary DJ D-Nice.

Corporate Sponsors making the 2006 Action Awards possible include Gold Partners: Anheuser-Busch, Inc. and Windows Live Search, with Silver Partners: Amtrak, DeBeers, General Motors, BET, MTV, Pepsi, and Warner Music Group.

Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis jointly stated, “Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Kanye West, Debra L. Lee and BET Networks, and Steve Stoute have all made an outstanding contribution to the empowerment of people and communities. HSAN is proud to honor them with Action Awards for making a positive difference in our society and world.”

In prior years, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network’s Action Awards have honored the good charitable works of Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris and The Ludacris Foundation, Nelly, Destiny’s Child, Jermaine Dupri, Chrysler Financial,
Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Pepsi-Cola North America President Dawn Hudson, Tommy Hilfiger and MTV’s “Choose or Lose” Campaign.

HSAN is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. The work of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network started at HSAN’s inception in 2001, after the first National Hip-Hop Summit themed “Taking Back Responsibility.” A series of initiatives were established and, in the past five and a half years, HSAN followed through –engaging the Hip-Hop generation in community development issues related to equal access to high quality public education and reading literacy, reformation of unjust laws, freedom of speech and artistic expression, voter registration and mobilization, financial literacy and empowerment and youth leadership development.

This past year alone, the HSAN has:

· Produced in conjunction with Chrysler Financial and Anheuser-Busch, Inc. a second year of highly successful series of Hip-Hop Summits on Financial Empowerment, which included Summits in Detroit, Miami, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas and HSAN’s first international Summit in Toronto.
· Produced Philadelphia’s Hip-Hop Summit National Town Hall Meeting On Community Empowerment which aired on CN8, The Comcast Network in August
· Been recognized by NASDAQ and invited to ring the opening market bell in honor of HSAN’s 5th anniversary on June 14.

About Hip-Hop Summit Action Network:

Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is a non-profit, non-partisan national coalition of artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents and youth leaders united in the belief that the “hip-hop” phenomena is an enormously influential agent for positive social change which must be responsibly and pro-actively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice. For more information on the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, go to www.hsan.org.

Board of Directors
Co-Chairman: Russell Simmons
Co-Chairman: Dr. Benjamin Chavis

Lyor Cohen, Warner Music Group; Sean “Diddy” Combs, Bad Boy Entertainment; Damon Dash, Dash Music Group; Jermaine Dupri, Virgin Records; Kevin Liles, Warner Music Group; Mike Concepcion, Grand Jury Records; Dr. Manning Marable, Columbia University; Kedar Massenberg, Kedar Entertainment; Kwesi Mfume, Mfume Group; Hilary Rosen, former President of the Recording Industry Association of America; Rich Slomovitz, Rush Communications; and Steve Stoute, Translation Marketing.

For more event information, or to purchase tickets or tables, please call Valeisha Butterfield at 212.997.3014.

For more information on the local summits and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network efforts, go to www.hsan.org.