Def Jam Recordings

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Def Jam Recordings
Logo of the label
Logo of the label
Parent company Island Def Jam Music Group
Universal Music Group
Vivendi
Active years since 1984
founder Rick Rubin
Russell Simmons
Seat New York City
Website http://www.defjam.com/
Label code LC 8427
Sub-label Roc-A-Fella Records
Murder Inc. Records
Genre (s) Hip-Hop , Contemporary R&B

Def Jam is an American record label founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons that focuses on hip-hop artists. From 2004 to 2007 it was directed by US rapper Jay-Z . The label made a significant contribution to anchoring hip-hop culture in the mainstream and was next to Motown the most successful record company to record African Americans .

history

It was founded in 1984 by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons . The first business premises were in Rubin's college dorm room. The first release on the label came from a then only local great, the teenager LL Cool J with I Need a Beat . This was followed by Beastie Boys with Rock Hard . The success of both singles earned the label a distribution deal with CBS Records that grossed Def Jam $ 600,000. Other artists such as Run DMC and Public Enemy followed.

Freely inspired by the founding story, Simmons had the film Krush Groove shot in 1985 . The film, which has almost no plot, puts appearances by the then Def-Jam artists Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, The Fat Boys at the center of the plot. Shot for $ 3 million, the film grossed over $ 20 million.

In 1986 the Thrash Metal album Reign in Blood by Slayer was released on Def Jam , on the otherwise hip-hop label.

Rubin left Def Jam in 1989 and started Def American . Over the years, PolyGram has bought 60% of Def Jam's shares. In 1998 it became part of Universal Music . The group merged the label with Island Records to form Island Def Jam Records . Def Jam already had annual revenues of about $ 200 million at the time.

As an independent label, Def Jam founded Roc-A-Fella Records and Murder Inc. Records .

The group is now licensing the Def Jam name for numerous other products: In addition to the street fashion label, there is a Def Jam computer game series in collaboration with Electronic Arts , Defjammobile, which offers mobile phone ring tones and the like. There is the Def Con 3 energy drink as well as credit cards.

Def Comedy Jam was a long-standing television series with great ratings that featured careers including Martin Lawrence , Bill Bellamy , Bernie Mac and Chris Rock . The show Def Jam Poetry , brought together by Simmons , has aired on HBO since 2001 . In it, Simmons presents young poets from the poetry slam scene. The show was also performed as a Broadway show shortly thereafter . It brought a different audience to Broadway than is normally found there and won a Tony Award .

The rapper Jay-Z ran the label from 2004 to 2007. His successor, Shakir Stewart committed in 2008 on 1 November suicide . His successor was LA Reid , who in turn was replaced by Steve Bartels in 2012. Eminem's long-time manager Paul Rosenberg has been in this position since 2018 .

Artist at Def Jam

Def Jam

Def Jam South

Def Soul

literature

  • Stacy Gueraseva: Def Jam, Inc .: Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Influential Hip-Hop Label ; One World / Random House
  • Alex Ogg: The Men Behind Def Jam: The Radical Rise Of Russell Simmons And Rick Rubin ; 2002
  • Ronin Ro: Raising Hell ; Amistad, New York 2005
  • Russel Simmons: Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, + God ; Three Rivers Press 2002, * The Player hu iz the gay (2006) by Stephan King

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Blackpast.org "Def Jam"
  2. ^ Paul Rosenberg named CEO of Def Jam Recordings. latimes.com, August 3, 2017, accessed October 8, 2017 .