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Def Jam Recordings is an American based hip-hop record label that operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group, which is owned by Universal Music Group. Artists signed by Def Jam include Nas, LL Cool J, Ludacris, Luzity, Method Man, Joe Budden, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Young Jeezy and Jay-Z.
Beginnings Def Jam was founded by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin in Rubin's dorm room at New York University. The first releases on Def Jam Recordings were LL Cool J's "I Need A Beat" and the Beastie Boys' "Rock Hard," both in 1984. The singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with Columbia/CBS Records the following year. The first full-length album released by Def Jam Recordings was LL Cool J's ''Radio'' in December of 1985. A year later, Def Jam created a subisdary label, OBR Records. The label was for R&B artists. The first artist that Def Jam signed was Oran "Juice" Jones, who enjoyed success with his hit single "The Rain". Lyor Cohen became president of Def Jam in 1988, after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form Def American in 1989. CBS Records, meanwhile, was sold to electronics giant Sony as the decade ended and by 1991 had been re-christened into Sony Music Entertainment. PolyGram Despite multi-platinum selling releases from LL Cool J., Public Enemy and EPMD, Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles in the early 1990s and was faced with folding. Salvation came in 1994, however, when PolyGram purchased Sony's 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings — subsequently bringing the label into their fold. Following PolyGram's acquisition of the company, Def Jam released Warren G's Regulate…G Funk Era, which went triple platinum and effectively revived the label. Def Jam remained in the black, as its veteran star LL Cool J released his widely successful album Mr. Smith in 1995. The label later signed a then-teenaged Foxy Brown, whose debut album Ill Na Na became a platinum seller in 1997. The same year, Def Jam struck up a distribution deal with Damon Dash's and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's Roc-A-Fella Records, and soared to even greater heights with its central star, Jay-Z as the decade drew to a close. The Island Def Jam Music Group PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in 1996, further strengthening their ownership of the company. In 1998, PolyGram itself was purchased by Seagrams and absorbed into its Universal Music Group, becoming the largest record label in the world. Following Universal Music Group's buyout of PolyGram, it purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings, and soon after merged it with Island Records to form The Island Def Jam Music Group. In spite of the formation of IDJMG, Def Jam and Island continued to run as separate labels underneath the bigger umbrella. In 1999, Def Jam created an R&B spin-off label called "Def Soul". Island's urban artists -- Dru Hill, Sisqo and Kelly Price -- were moved over to Def Soul, which also issued recordings by Musiq, Montell Jordan, Case, 112, Patti LaBelle, and The Isley Brothers. Today Slip-N-Slide Records and Disturbing Tha Peace Records are among the imprint labels distributed by Def Jam. Roc-A-Fella Records was sold to the company by Dash, Burke and Jay-Z in 2004, upon his stepping down from the label. Upon his retirement in 2003, Jay-Z was appointed CEO of Def Jam, as well as full ownership of the Roc-A-Fella name and rights. See also | ||||||||
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