Russell Simmons Named Editor-in-Chief of Global Grind

CELEBRITY BLOGGER INITIATIVE LAUNCHED TO PROMOTE ONLINE EXCHANGE,
ENTERTAINMENT AND EMPOWERMENT

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Grind (www.globalgrind.com), today
announced Russell Simmons will serve as its Editor in Chief. Global Grind is
the premier social media platform developed by and for the Hip Hop community.
Philanthropist and cultural entrepreneur Simmons, an early investor in the
site, served as guest blogger on the site, alongside Reverend Run's widely
anticipated Daily Words of Wisdom, and political commentary by Dr. Benjamin
Chavis. The strong response to their blogs led to the creation of the site's
new "Celebrity Blogger" section. A mix of celebrities and influencers within
the Hip-Hop Community will blog on a variety of topics including music,
lifestyle, culture, politics and sports. The Global Grind Celebrity Blogger
initiative allows celebrities to stay in tune with their fan base through a
media platform that is linked to media, artist and social networking sites,
while allowing users to get fresh content from their favorite
celebrities/personalities and opinion leaders.

Global Grind will expand its blogging initiative to include a diverse array of
bloggers including leading and emerging artists, thought leaders,
celebrities, actors, models, DJ's, politicians and activists.

Early blogging partners include:
Akon

Angela Simmons

Benny Boom

Bow Wow

Brandi Garcia

Brett Ratner

Damon Dash

DJ Cassidy

DJ D-Nice

DJ Khaled

DJ Whoo Kid

Free

Ed Lover

World Famous G-Mack

Gorilla Zoe

Jim Jones

John Legend

JoJo Simmons

Justine Simmons

Kevin Liles

LL Cool J

Militainment Crazy Raw Radio

Little X

Nas

Nelly

Ne-Yo

Nia Long

Rev Run

Sanaa Lathan

Toccara

T-Pain

Trey The Choklit Jok

Big Boy

Noemie Lenoir

LeToya Luckett

Mickey Factz

Vanessa Simmons

The exclusive content will appear on custom created profile pages that are the
artist/celebrity's direct connection to Global Grind users. These profile
pages will be featured alongside the currently more than 40 and growing
celebrity "Global Coverage" content aggregation pages that include the most
up-to-date web content about the celebrity on one page. Content on both the
profile and Global Coverage pages is promoted and commented on by Global
Grind's users as well as on third party social networks. The celebrity Global
Coverage pages include icons and opinion leaders ranging from President Obama
to Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Steve Harvey, Kim Kardashian, Michael Moore and many
others.

Navarrow Wright, CEO of Global Grind, states, "Global Grind is proud to
announce Russell Simmons as its Editor in Chief, as it's been a natural
progression over the past year with his extensive involvement from the site as
an early investor and popular blogger on the site. Global Grind has always
been about connecting people: first connecting our audience to the content
they want, then connecting leading and emerging sites to users and advertisers
through our Grind Network, and now connecting bloggers big and small directly
to the new American mainstream, while syndicating their content to key
networks like Facebook. I look forward to working alongside Russell to develop
this unique global platform in 2009."

Russell Simmons, new Editor in Chief of Global Grind, states, "Ever since my
early days in music, through my work in fashion, comedy, film, TV and
philanthropy, I have worked as a facilitator of communication, and a promoter
of creativity, entrepreneurship, giving, and political engagement. Global
Grind is the ultimate connector for the HipHop community and like-minded
creative entrepreneurs and activists."

Simmons added, "Whether you're a celebrity, a politician, an artist, a
comedian or an emerging blogger, Global Grind gives the community a powerful
platform to speak to each other, the media and the world."

Lead venture investor Jim Breyer of Accel Partners noted, "We are very excited
to be part of such a fundamental long-term internet opportunity and being
partners with an outstanding group of team members and contributors." Breyer
has invested in over 30 companies that have completed IPO's or successful
mergers, and is also a board member of leading companies such as Wal-Mart,
Marvel Entertainment, Facebook, and Etsy.

About Global Grind

Global Grind is a leading edge technology platform that enables users to
discover the most current and broadest array of content of interest to them
from all the leading sources on the web. It incorporates cutting- edge tools
for search, discussion, rating, and sharing that enables celebrity bloggers to
dramatically increase their connection to the more than 40 million global hip
hop fans. The capabilities include state-of-the-art integration with artist
sites, media platforms and social network sites including MySpace and
Facebook. Moreover, via Global Grind's Facebook Connect partnership,
celebrity content and activity is automatically syndicated to the 150
million-strong Facebook network.

Launched in Jan 2008, Global Grind has partnered with more than 35 publisher
sites, and reaches more than 1 million monthly unique visitors. It has
established itself as a unique promoter of "The World According To Hip Hop" by
working collaboratively with other leading and emerging sites of interest to
the trend-breaking hip hop community. The company is headquartered in New York
City and is privately held, with backing from Russell Simmons, private
investors, and Accel Partners of Palo Alto, California. For more information,
please visit www.globalgrind.com.

CONTACT: Sweta Shah
5W Public Relations
212.584.4314
sshah@5wpr.com

SOURCE Global Grind

Sweta Shah of 5W Public Relations, +1-212-584-4314, sshah@5wpr.com, for Global
Grind