About Me
DON POOH President/CEO, Don Pooh Entertainment Both friends and associates know him simply as “Poohâ€- a fitting nickname for the mild -mannered Robert Cummins. The entertainment world, however knows him as Don Pooh, a major player in the multi-million dollar global industry known as hip hop music. Pooh has played a pivotal role in shaping the business and the image of the art form and has done so in just a few years. As head of Don Pooh Management and Don Pooh Productions, the 35 year old Brooklyn, New York native has come to work with some of the biggest names in music. Pooh discovered and managed Foxy Brown, the teen-aged hip hop superstar, which he helped to multi-platinum success. During Pooh’s tenure, Foxy recorded with hip hop and R&B superstars, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, Toni Braxton, and Sean “P. Diddy†Combs, among others. She also landed acting roles and secured a commercial endorsement for Mistic beverages.Pooh’s initial interest in the world of entertainment began while he was a student at Howard University. There he met friends Sean “P. Diddy†Combs and Mark Pitts (founder and president of By Storm Entertainment and Mark Pitts Management). Both would later become business partners in a number of successful ventures. In fact, Pooh and Mark joined forces to co-manage arguably one of hip hop’s greatest artists, The Notorious B.I.G.Not one to be limited in his business venture, the ambitious entrepreneur established Don Pooh Productions in order to sign a variety of young talent to contracts with major record labels. His roster includes Whiz DeNiro, male R&B group, Nucci Reyo, and Foxy’s brother Pretty Boy (in conjunction with Epic Records). Pooh, is also responsible for discovering , Shyne, the boy wonder of hip hop, who was signed to Sean “P. Diddy†Comb‘s, Bad Boy Entertainment. Pooh, who served as the Associate Executive Producer of the project, helped to close what some insiders suspect to be one of the largest recording contracts for a debut artist in recent music history. Pooh’s successes have not gone unrecognized. In 1999 Pooh was offered the position of Executive Vice President at MCA Records, the home of Mary J. Blige, Heavy D., The Roots, K-Ci and Jo Jo, and a long list of other successful artists. One of Pooh’s greatest accomplishments, at MCA was executive producing Mary J. Blige’s No More Drama album, which earned the platinum superstar her first grammy, and not to mention an even hotter spotlight for Pooh. He also re-mixed reggae artist, Shaggy’s hit single “It Wasn’t Me,†which resulted in 10,000,000 plus in record sales. During his four year stay with MCA, Pooh was responsible for several other acts which projected him to even greater status. Pooh reflects “It’s my hard work and attitude that has put me where I am today.†While his colleagues know him as the Hype Man- affectionately called that for his mastery of marketing, most concede that it is savvy business skills and his connection to the streets that keeps Pooh in the highly competitive game that is the music business.
