Indie Review Radio

Daniel “Danny” Simmons, Jr. is an abstract-expressionist painter. Older brother of hip-hop impressario Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons (“Reverend Run” of Run DMC), he is the founder and President of the Rush Arts Gallery. In addition, Simmons converted part of his loft in Brooklyn into the Corridor Gallery. Along with his brother Russell, Simmons established Def Poetry Jam, which has enjoyed long-running success on HBO. Simmons is also the founder and Vice-President of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization. In 2004, Simmons published Three Days As The Crow Flies, a fictional account of the 1980′s New York art scene. He has also written a book of artwork and poetry called I Dreamed My People Were Calling But I Couldn’t Find My Way Home. Simmons is the son of Daniel Simmons, Sr., a truant officer and black history professor who also wrote poetry, and Evelyn Simmons, a teacher who painted as a hobby. He earned a degree in social work from New York University and a master’s i