Steve Stoute is an industry veteran who's name evokes respect and who's reputation for being an upfront and knowledgeable mover-and-shaker is welldeserved. Having made his career working with some of the industry's biggest names--from legendary Queens rapper Nas to the Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige--Stoute spent 2011 at the forefront of hip hop culture and business.

Early in the year, Stoute made waves by writing a personal letter, in the form of a full-page ad in the New York Times, to the Grammy committee questioning whether or not the awards show was in touch with the hip hop community and youth culture in general, drawing praise from several notables in the business, including Jermaine Dupri.

He also released a new book called The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy.

"I intended the book for young professionals and college students," Stoute says. "I hope that they really feel like this book is for them. This book speaks to a generation that now has this information and they should be marketing and promoting and communicating this notion going forward and stop putting people in boxes."