Sherri Hines is accustomed to having the odds stacked against her. She and her 10 siblings were raised by a single mother in the Bronx. Hines recounts memories of finding eviction notices posted on their front door, and of being afraid when a mentally ill neighbor fired a gun in her home when she was 9 years old.
"I took to the streets at 14 and discovered hip-hop and developed a sisterhood," Hines told WNYC's Jami Floyd. "And so we decided to start our own female DJ and rap group."
They called the group "Mercedes Ladies." Hines said the influential music producer Russell Simmons promised at first to help them make it in the music industry, but eventually decided not to work with them. Hines wanted to confront him about his decision. So she left a club one night in the early 1980s and went with Simmons to his office. There, she said, Simmons raped her.
"He treated me like I was a piece of garbage," said Hines.
Hines, 55, is one of at least four women who have come forward to say Simmons raped them. Several more have accused Simmons of sexual harassment and other offenses. The NYPD has confirmed that it received allegations involving Simmons and that detectives are in the process of reviewing that information.
Simmons denied the allegations in a statement to WNYC through his lawyer. "These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual," wrote Simmons. He also posted a denial on Instagram.
Hines wrote about a similar attack by a powerful businessman she calls "Ron" in her 2008 book "Mercedes Ladies." Hines told WNYC she was afraid to name Simmons for fear of being shut out of the music industry.
She is coming forward now, she said, because being silent has been like a "virus" inside of her. Every time a woman comes forward it helps other women tell their stories, she said.
"It's about taking your power back, taking your dignity back," Hines said. "You don't have to suffer in silence no more."
Here is the full transcript of Hines's interview with Jami Floyd:
JF This is All Things Considered on WNYC. I'm Jami Floyd. At least 12 women are accusing music mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct between the years 1983 and 2016.
Simmons was born in Queens. He went on to become one of the most important figures in modern American music. Sherry Hines is one of Simmons' accusers. She came forward last month to say the music producer raped her in the early 1980s when she was just 18-years-old and part of an all-female rap group called Mercedes Ladies.
Hines based a chapter of her 2008 book of the same name on the alleged attack. In the book, she portrays an incident in which the main character is sexually assaulted by a powerful businessman named "Ron." She told WNYC she was afraid to name Simmons in the book for fear of being blackballed in the music industry. In a statement provided to WNYC, Simmons categorically denies the allegations, writing, “These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.” Sherri Hines joins me now. Sherri, welcome.
SH Hi. Thank you for having me.
JF First Sherri, I have to ask you what happened all those years ago. And how did it make you feel?
SH Back then I had came from a home of a single parent with 11 kids. So I took to the streets at 14 and discovered hip-hop and developed a sisterhood. So we decided to start our own female DJ and rap group.
JF And people have to understand that rap actually originated on the corners.
SH Yup. In The Bronx.
JF In the Bronx. And it wasn't in record studios at first, but Russell Simmons took it inside and professionalized it. And that's how you met him, it was it was a business relationship, right?
SH Yes. When I when I met Russell — Mercedes Ladies, we were “hood famous” as you would say in the streets. We used to battle against the male groups on the corners, in the parks. I met Russell, I met him and I had told him, "You know, Mercedes Ladies — we need management." And then from that, that's when it developed when Russell started working with us.
JF So then I have to ask you about what happened that night.
SH Russell said, "I just opened up an office around the corner, Rush Productions. You want to come check it out? It's not furnished yet, but you know, we getting it together. Come look." And then from there, when we got to his office, that's when everything took place. And to talk about it — the way it happened, it happened so fast. And only thing I could do is leave out of it as fast as I could. And I just, it was like I was at the elevator forever. But I was crying and I just was kind of in total shock, like I can't believe how — just violated.
So I went to get my friend and she looked on my face said, "What's wrong?"
And I said, "Let's just go, let's just go."
So when I told her what happened and she was like, "Why — you know, we should call your mom, tell your mom."
I said, "Naw, I don’t want to tell my mother, cause she's going to be like, 'Why did I go up there?'"
And then I was starting to feel like, maybe I was wrong, I shouldn'tve went up there. Like, did I do something wrong? Or, you know, why did he do this to me? Like he treated me like I was a piece of garbage. Like you had that power to do it and you did it. You took what you want, and...OK.
JF Women who've been in this situation talk about how fast — "everything happened so quickly," is the expression.
SH Absolutely.
JF But still things go through your mind.
SH It goes through your mind. And it all, everything just felt like, well why he did this to me? Like because I'm a female from the Bronx in the hip-hop game trying to come up? He seen we was trying to come up, we work just as hard as them —why would you violate me like that? And then you know my mom was a single parent and you didn't care. And you used your power. And then I was stuck in a position, like who's going to believe me? Because it was Russell Simmons.
JF You could have called the police.
SH Mhmm.
JF Right? Then when you wrote your book you could've made it a book about this attack.
SH Absolutely.
JF But I guess I want to understand why —
SH Why now?
JF Why now.
SH "Why now" was, I been going through a spiritual growth and part of my spiritual growth was that — I was the one that couldn't cry, I was the one that couldn't — whatever happened to me, I just [toughed it out] and kept going, but I didn't realize that the damage I was doing to myself. I had a virus inside of me. And even though I was looking like I was OK, I was holding down jobs, I was still going for the careers — until I let everything go and forgive everyone, it's going to stay inside of me and I'm not going to be able to grow spiritually in order to get to the next level.
JF Have you been contacted by NYPD now that all of this has come out?
SH Oh yes, yes I have, actually. I think they reached out to all of the women, they’re reaching out to all the women. And they contacted me and reached out to me and it's just things I can't discuss on air. But yes, they did reach out.
JF Studies indicate that only one in 15 African American women report being raped. And some women of color just feel a very strong connection to their families, to their communities. They don't want to expose what's going on in our communities. And then in this case, we're talking about an iconic figure. How much did that weigh on your decision?
SH When you talk about the black communities, the thing is is that it's a lot of women that has been violated. Some people will say, "Oh there's [a] no snitching code." You know, you grew up grew up to say — don't say nothing. Or some felt embarrassed, or some felt that like, who would care? Or who would believe them? And in my situation, this is a person that had power in an industry of hip-hop. So I don't know what would have happened. I could have got blackballed in the business, nobody would got to hear my story. So you had people that was getting violated, raped, women — you know. But it's just the culture that you was brought up in.
JF I asked you about the African American female pressure, because #MeToo has been largely about white women. White celebrities, male celebrities. And you know, as a black woman I wonder if our voices are being heard as loudly as some of the white women celebrities. You know we talk a lot about working class women and #MeToo. And when will we start to hear more about middle- and working-class women who certainly must be suffering.
SH I think they suffered in silence. But I think what this is doing now, like I just started meeting some of these women, and you know they tell me, "Thank you, thank you." You know, "I'm so glad you coming out" and by one person coming out, the next one coming out. And I think it's about taking your power back, taking your dignity back. You don't have to suffer in silence no more, because it's not right that because a person has power, that they could just take what they want.
JF Has it been difficult for you since you've come forward?
SH Emotionally yeah, because it just brought up so much pain inside that I guess I've been covering for so long. And I'm just looking back at everything and it was like, "Wow all I ever did was struggle, and work hard, and wanted to make a difference as a black female grown up in the Bronx," where everybody thought, you know, like there's nothing there. And I was against all odds, but I kept going and kept getting up. Now I see why I went through all of that, because it’s making me the woman who I am today. And the impact to be a blessing to others.
JF Sherri Hines is a native of the Bronx and co-founder of the first all-female rap group Mercedes Ladies. Her novel of the same name was published in 2008. Sherri Hines, thank you so much for joining us.
SH You're welcome and thank you.
JF In a statement to WNYC, the NYPD confirms they've received information about allegations involving Russell Simmons. The statement says detectives are in the process of reviewing that information.
An earlier version of this story said that the alleged rape occurred in 1983 and that Hines was 18 years old. Hines is unclear about the year of the incident, though she says it occurred in the early 1980s. The story has been updated to reflect that.