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Brandon Johnson AASP 2/12/09

Def Jam Records is one of the world’s most famous recording labels next to Atlantic, 20th Century, and so on. Def Jam has many hit artists such as The Dream, Ludacris, Rocko, Kanye West, Rihanna, and others. You would think that a black man, because of all of the hip-hop/rap artists, created Def Jam. But what would you say if I told you that a white man created Def Jam?

Frederick Jay “Rick” Rubin created Def Jam in 1984. Rubin was born on March 10, 1963 in Long Island, New York. He went on to go to Long Island High. While he was there he noticed something very peculiar. Everyone’s taste in music was different. While the blacks listened to the new hip hop and rap songs the whites were listening to the new rock, funk, and alternative songs. Rubin wanted to change something about it.

After high school he attended New York University. During his time there he befriended DJ Jazzy Jay. Together they produced their first single “Its Yours”. They met Russell Simmons who helped Rubin create Def Jam records in his NYU dorm.

Russell Simmons was born on October 4, 1957. He is the brother of famous rapper and tv star Rev Run. He attended City College of New York but left his time there to promote artists such as Kurtis Blow and Run DMC

Later on Rick Rubin discovered a up and coming young man who called him self LL Cool J. LL sent a copy of his song “ I Need a Beat” to Def Jam. Rubin liked it and decided to sign LL to Def Jam. Little did he know that this will help Def Jam become even bigger than he ever imagined.media type="youtube" key="BVkaN--0ld0" height="344" width="425"

Soon after LL Cool J was signed on a new group had emerged into his life. He had met the Beastie Boys. Soon after signing them they made their first single with him “Rock Hard”. Rubin soon made a deal to merge with CBS Records, which made their popularity skyrocket.

Rubin was doing well. He was ready to sign more artists. Rubin also wanted to reach out to another genre of music: R&B. Def Jam branched out to create OBR Records directed towards R&B artists. He signed his first R&B artist Oran “Juice” Jones helping him create his single “The Rain”. Def Jam also signed metal band Thrasher and hip hop group Public Enemy as artists. Because of Rick Rubin meeting Russell Simmons we have many artists signed onto Def Jam. The music industry was never the same after it. It gave blacks a voice in the music industry to show the pain and sorrow they were going through.

This topic matters to me personally because I am a music junkie. I love music. it's the 3rd thing that I live everyday by. I think that it's worth knowing because people listen to this kind of music everyday and have no idea where or who it came from. It can show the history of something that everyone loves.

Here are 3 samples from Def Jam hits in 1979. [|I Need A Beat by LL Cool J],This song is the 2nd hit recorded by Rick Rubin. [|Its Yours by T La Rock & Jazzy Jay], and [|The Rain by Juice Jones] Now 3 samples of Def Jam hits from today. [|One More Drink by Ludacris feat. T-Pain][|Rockin' That Thang by The Dream][|She Got Her Own by Ne-Yo feat. Jamie Foxx and Fabolous]