Misplaced Pages

#173826

87-502: Frederick Jay Rubin ( / ˈ r uː b ɪ n / , ROO -bin ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings , founder of American Recordings , and former co-president of Columbia Records . Rubin helped popularize hip hop by producing records for acts such as the Beastie Boys , Geto Boys , Run-DMC , Public Enemy , and LL Cool J . He has also produced hit records for acts from

174-433: A 2003 Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance ("Give My Love to Rose") and a nomination for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (" Bridge over Troubled Water " with Fiona Apple ). Rubin introduced Cash to Nine Inch Nails ' " Hurt ", and the resulting cover version of it on The Man Comes Around became a defining song of Cash's later years. Rubin also produced two of Joe Strummer 's final songs, "Long Shadow",

261-461: A Cash Money Click reunion album, due to Ja Rule's contractual obligations, which alleged that Cohen paid Ja and Irv Gotti US$ 8 million not to submit the project to TVT, but instead to parent company Universal. This resulted in TVT suing Def Jam, alleging infringement, fraud and tortious interference, winning $ 132 million in a judgment, but was later reduced to $ 126,000 after Universal and Def Jam appealed

348-615: A London-based, UK arm known as 0207 Def Jam (formerly Def Jam UK in the 1990s until the mid-2000s) and is currently operated through EMI Records . It has a Johannesburg, South Africa and Lagos, Nigeria-based arm known as Def Jam Africa . As of 2024, Def Jam's current roster includes Justin Bieber , DJ Khaled , Alessia Cara , Logic , 2 Chainz , Frank Ocean , Big Sean , Dave East , Wale , Jeremih , Pusha T , Fabolous , Jhené Aiko , Coco Jones , LL Cool J , Public Enemy , Jadakiss , YG , Muni Long , Buju Banton , Fridayy , Benny

435-618: A Universal Zulu Nation DJ and was a member of the Zulu group Jazzy Five , with which he recorded the single "Jazzy Sensation." Although Jazzy Jay began performing primarily at street parties, in the 1980s he began DJing in New York clubs such as Negril, the Roxy, the Ritz, and Danceteria . He also hosted a hip hop radio program on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM and in 1984 he played himself as The Roxy 's DJ in

522-547: A book on how to be." In 2023, he started hosting a podcast titled "Tetragrammaton" on Apple Podcasts , which mainly featured interviews . Rubin's biggest trademark as a producer has been a "stripped-down" sound, which involves eliminating production elements such as string sections , backup vocals, and reverb , and instead having naked vocals and bare instrumentation. But by the 2000s, Rubin's style included such elements, as noted in The Washington Post : "As

609-512: A chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss 's book Tools of Titans , and often gives advice on creativity via his Instagram page. Rubin's debut book, published on January 17, 2023, by Penguin Press , is The Creative Act: A Way of Being . It is a nonfiction work about creativity. He said, "I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be

696-549: A close association with rap, signing the Geto Boys and continuing to work with Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and Run-DMC. Rubin had originally given his new label the name "Def American Recordings". In 1993, he found that the word " def " had been accepted into the standardized dictionary and held an actual funeral for the word, complete with a casket, grave, celebrity mourners, and a eulogy by Al Sharpton . Def American became American Recordings . Rubin has said: "When advertisers and

783-551: A deal with Republic Records . The first albums released under this new deal were ZZ Top 's La Futura and the Avett Brothers ' The Carpenter . Rubin attempted to record a cover album with Crosby, Stills & Nash in 2012, but the brief sessions were unsuccessful. Graham Nash called the sessions "irritable" and "not a great experience". In July 2021, Rubin signed with Endeavor Content to further develop his home studio, Shangri-La Recording Studios. Rubin has

870-613: A falling out with then Def Jam president Lyor Cohen . Rubin left for Los Angeles to start Def American Records, while Simmons remained at Def Jam in New York. In Los Angeles, Rubin signed a number of rock and heavy metal acts, including Danzig , Masters of Reality , the Four Horsemen , and Wolfsbane , as well as alternative rock group the Jesus and Mary Chain and stand-up comedian Andrew Dice Clay . Though Rubin's work at this time focused mainly on rock and metal, he still retained

957-478: A fatal heart attack. A month later, Def Jam released his posthumous album, Exodus , which debuted and peaked in the top ten on Billboard 200. Two digital greatest hits albums by DMX were also available for streaming under the label throughout the same period: A Dog's Prayer and The Legacy . Later that year, Harleston conference-called hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg and named him the executive consultant of Def Jam. Snoop agreed to Harleston's request and took over

SECTION 10

#1732779623174

1044-491: A new contract. The new millennium saw Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam's subsidiary, begin to expand beyond one figurehead artist. Roc-A-Fella Records artists proved successful with the Jay-Z's The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2001) and The Blueprint (2001), including the labels other signees gaining recognition with Beanie Sigel 's The Truth (2000) and Memphis Bleek 's The Understanding (2001). The second international label

1131-513: A partnership with Rocky Bucano. More recently, Jazzy Jay was featured in the 2001 turntablism documentary Scratch . In the film, he displays his extensive LP collection (kept in the basement of his home), which he claims comprises at least 300,000 to 400,000 records. In 2000, Jazzy Jay was inducted into the Technics/DMC DJ Hall of Fame. He sometimes performs together with another hip hop pioneer, Grand Wizard Theodore . He

1218-451: A phenomenon in music known as the loudness war , in which the dynamic range of recorded music is compressed and sometimes clipped in order to increase the general loudness. Albums Rubin produced that have been criticized for such treatment include: Rubin has practiced meditation since he was 14 years old. Rubin began dating former actress and model Mourielle Hurtado Herrera in 2010, and they were married at an unknown date. They have

1305-601: A producer came from working with the Red Hot Chili Peppers , with whom Rubin produced six studio albums from 1991 to 2011, starting with the band's fifth release, Blood Sugar Sex Magik , which launched the band to mainstream success thanks to the hit singles " Give It Away " and " Under the Bridge ". Other albums include One Hot Minute, Californication, By the Way, Stadium Arcadium and I'm With You. The six albums with

1392-719: A return to the rapper's original credibility following the fallback of his 1993 album, 14 Shots to the Dome ; his last album under the Def Jam/Columbia partnership. The label later signed Foxy Brown , whose debut album, Ill Na Na (1996) became a platinum seller in 1997. Def Jam followed up with its then-new R&B act, Case , whose self-titled debut album (also in 1996), including the single, " Touch Me, Tease Me ", went gold. In June 1997, Def Jam acquired 50% of Roc-A-Fella Records for an estimated $ 1.4 million, giving co-founders Jay-Z and Damon Dash part ownership of

1479-519: A sequel to Def Jam Vendetta , featured artists from the label. These artists include Method Man & Redman, N.O.R.E., Ludacris, Ghostface Killah, Memphis Bleek, and Joe Budden. The final shares of Roc-A-Fella Records were sold to Island Def Jam in 2004 for $ 10 million. By that time, Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam had launched the career of rapper-producer Kanye West . His debut, The College Dropout , went on to sell over two million copies. Co-founder Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke were forced out of

1566-469: A son born in 2017 and reside in Malibu, California . Rubin was a vegan for over 20 years, but later began eating meat again. He is a fan of professional wrestling and held season tickets to WWE events at Madison Square Garden throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He has cited wrestlers Roddy Piper and Ric Flair as influences on his work, and has said that villainous wrestlers were hugely influential in

1653-560: A song Strummer wrote for Cash to record although he never did, and a cover of Bob Marley 's " Redemption Song ". Both were released on Strummer's final album, Streetcore , which was released after his death. Rubin also produced a version of "Redemption Song" with Strummer and Cash together, which was featured in Cash's posthumous box set, Unearthed . Rubin has also produced a number of records with other artists, which were released on labels other than American. Arguably his biggest success as

1740-564: A stand-alone label within the Universal Music Group. Def Jam signed DaniLeigh to the label in early 2017. Steve Bartels served as president and CEO of Def Jam since 2013 until an announcement commenced on August 3, 2017, stating that in January 2018, Eminem 's manager and co-founder of Shady Records , Paul Rosenberg would be appointed chairman and CEO of Def Jam. On September 17, 2019, the launch of Def Jam South East Asia

1827-573: A variety of other genres, such as pop ( Kesha , Adele , and Lady Gaga ), heavy metal ( Danzig , Metallica and Slayer ), alternative rock ( The Cult , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Rage Against the Machine , the Strokes and Weezer ), hard rock ( Audioslave , AC/DC and Aerosmith ), nu metal ( Linkin Park , System of a Down , Slipknot ), and country ( Johnny Cash , The Avett Brothers , and

SECTION 20

#1732779623174

1914-541: Is a Japanese branch, Def Jam Japan ( デフ・ジャム・ジャパン , Defu Jamu Japan ) , also founded in 2000. The label was later rebranded as Def Jam Recordings; however, it is sometimes still referred to as Def Jam Japan. Their artist roster has included Japanese-American singer Ai , Teriyaki Boyz , AK-69 , Nitro Microphone Underground, and South Korean boy band BTS . Ja Rule released his third studio album, Pain Is Love , on October 2, 2001 through Def Jam. Pain Is Love topped

2001-428: Is a member of Brooklyn musical group Phony Ppl . In 2011, Jazmine graduated from the prestigious Eastman School of Music , and is pursuing a career as a classical oboist . In 2014, she married Danny Lambert, of Bray, County Wicklow , Ireland. In 2012, Jazzy Jay confirmed he was working on a collaborative album with DJ Phix. He was quoted speaking on the album saying "I'm just tryin' to get back to my roots, DJ Phix

2088-599: Is also interviewed extensively in the 2003 hip hop documentary 5 Sides of a Coin .He was featured in the 2004 song "Rock And Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2" by Handsome Boy Modeling School giving a background on himself and on rap as an art form. Jazzy Jay narrated a walking tour of The Bronx , "Hip Hop," by Soundwalk, that won the 2004 Audie award for Best Original Work. He and his wife have three children (Jazmine, Matthew, and Kenya), and live in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn , New York . Matthew Byas

2175-478: Is credited as music supervisor for the film Less than Zero and as the producer of its soundtrack . Rubin portrayed a character based on himself in the 1985 hip-hop motion picture Krush Groove , which was inspired by the early days of Simmons's career as an artist manager and music producer. He then directed and co-wrote (with Ric Menello ) a second Run–DMC film, Tougher Than Leather in 1988. In 1988, Rubin and Simmons went their separate ways after Rubin had

2262-596: The Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 361,000 copies and is certified triple platinum by the RIAA. The album was supported by the singles: Down Ass Bitch , Always on Time , and Livin' It Up . In January 2003, Murder Inc. became the center of a money laundering investigation involving illegal profits from drug trading , leading to the label's eventual release from its distribution contract by 2005. Def Jam also blocked Murder Inc. and TVT Records from releasing

2349-694: The Violator Records -signed artist Warren G 's debut album, Regulate... G Funk Era , which went triple platinum and brought much-needed revenue to Def Jam through its joint deal with Violator. PolyGram acquired an additional 10% stake in Def Jam, further strengthening its ownership of the label. Shortly thereafter, Rush Associated Labels were renamed to the Def Jam Music Group. The label remained profitable as its veteran star LL Cool J released his successful album Mr. Smith in 1995,

2436-541: The Butcher , Trinidad Cardona , DaniLeigh , Fredo Bang , Nasty C , Armani White , and Hit-Boy among others. The label also inspired the Def Jam video game franchise (2003-2010) which include the games Def Jam Vendetta , Def Jam: Fight for NY , Def Jam: Icon and Def Jam Rapstar . Def Jam was co-founded by Rick Rubin in his dormitory in Weinstein Hall at New York University , and its first release

2523-598: The Chicks has praised his production methods, saying, "He has the ability and the patience to let music be discovered, not manufactured. Come to think of it, maybe he is a guru." Producer Dr. Dre has said that Rubin is "hands down, the dopest producer ever that anyone would ever want to be, ever". Despite having never worked with Rubin, British band Muse praised him for his "hands off" approach to production and credited him as an influence on its first self-produced album, The Resistance . The album's lead single, " Uprising ",

2610-533: The Chicks ). In 2021 he co-starred in the six-part documentary miniseries McCartney 3,2,1 which explores the career of Paul McCartney . In 2007, Rubin was called "the most important producer of the last 20 years" by MTV and was named on Time 's list of the " 100 Most Influential People in the World ". Frederick Jay Rubin was born into a Jewish family in Long Beach, New York , on March 10, 1963,

2697-654: The Chili Peppers also spawned 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, a record the band as of 2015 still holds, and various awards, including 16 Grammy nominations (with six wins), and a Producer of the Year Grammy award for 2006's Stadium Arcadium , which was also nominated for Album of the Year. The band has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, most of which are

Rick Rubin - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-623: The Comatorium . In May 2007, Rubin was named co-head of Columbia Records. He co-produced Linkin Park 's 2007 album Minutes to Midnight with Mike Shinoda . Rubin and Shinoda have since co-produced the band's 2010 album A Thousand Suns and its 2012 release Living Things . In 2007, Rubin won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for his work with the Chicks , Michael Kranz, Red Hot Chili Peppers , U2 , Green Day , and Johnny Cash released in 2006 Rubin won

2871-658: The Dream Canteen . Again these two albums both featured no.1 singles on the Alternative Songs chart. Rubin also produced Mick Jagger 's 1993 Wandering Spirit album, Lords of Acid 's 1994 Voodoo-U album, Tom Petty 's 1994 Wildflowers , AC/DC 's 1995 Ballbreaker , Donovan 's 1996 Sutras , System of a Down 's 1998 System of a Down , and Metallica 's 2008 Death Magnetic . In 2005, Rubin executive-produced Shakira 's two-album project Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 . He

2958-569: The Island Def Jam Music Group . Despite the formation of IDJMG, the Def Jam, Mercury, and Island labels continued to operate as separate imprints underneath the umbrella. That same year, Def Jam and Island Def Jam signed rapper Ja Rule . Lyor Cohen was appointed co-president of IDJMG, and Kevin Liles succeeded him as president of Def Jam. In 1998, Def Jam created an R&B spin-off label called Def Soul Records to run under

3045-461: The NYC hip hop scene. Having befriended Zulu Nation 's DJ Jazzy Jay , Rubin began to learn about hip hop production . By 1983, the two had produced "It's Yours" for Bronx rapper T La Rock , and released it on Def Jam. Producer Arthur Baker helped to distribute the record worldwide on Baker's Streetwise Records in 1984. Jazzy Jay introduced Rubin to concert promoter/artist manager Russell Simmons in

3132-609: The Negril club, and Rubin explained he needed help getting Def Jam off the ground. Simmons and Rubin edged out Jazzy Jay and the official Def Jam record label was founded while Rubin was attending New York University in 1984. Its first release was LL Cool J 's "I Need a Beat". Rubin went on to find more hip-hop acts outside the Bronx , Brooklyn , and Harlem , including rappers from Queens , Staten Island , and Long Island , which eventually led to Def Jam's signing of Public Enemy . Rubin

3219-554: The Pricks. Their biggest claim to fame was being thrown off the stage at CBGB after performing two songs due to brawling with hecklers, which had actually been instigated by friends of the band who had been instructed to do so to get the show shut down and create a buzz. Although he had no authority in New York City , his father traveled to Manhattan wearing his Long Beach auxiliary police uniform as he attempted to "shut down"

3306-525: The RIAA, and sold five million copies worldwide. The success of the album prompted Lyor Cohen to challenge DMX to record another album quickly to have another album released within the same calendar year. DMX's second studio album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood was released on December 22, 1998 and debuted at number one the Billboard 200 . The album sold over 670,000 units in its first week of release, and went on to sell over four million copies worldwide. DMX claimed that Def Jam made $ 144 million from

3393-550: The Rubin-produced albums. Various members of the Chili Peppers have also been used on other projects by Rubin, John Frusciante featured on Johnny Cash and Chad Smith featured on the Chicks. After 24 years of working with Rubin, the band announced in late 2014 that it would be working with Danger Mouse on its 11th studio album. Rubin returned to the role of producer for the band's two albums released in 2022, seven months apart from one another: Unlimited Love and Return of

3480-548: The award again in 2009, for production work for Metallica , Neil Diamond , Ours , Jakob Dylan , and Weezer in 2008. In 2007 and 2012 , Rubin won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year . The former was for his work on the Chicks album Taking the Long Way and the latter came for his contribution to Adele 's album 21 . Rubin left Columbia in 2012, and revived the American Recordings imprint through

3567-499: The band did not see him more than once a week until they finished recording the vocals at his house. In 2022, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler said of Rubin's production of the band's 2013 album 13 : "Some of it I liked, some of it I didn't like particularly. It was a weird experience, especially with being told to forget that you're a heavy metal band. That was the first thing [Rubin] said to us. He played us our very first album , and he said, 'Cast your mind back to then when there

Rick Rubin - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-496: The charts. The album sold over 4.9 million copies to date, and has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA. The following year, it launched another subsidiary, Def Jam South , which focused on Southern rap and distributed releases from labels such as Disturbing tha Peace , whose artist roster included its co-founder Ludacris , Shawnna , Bobby Valentino and Playaz Circle . Russell Simmons tapped Houston hip hop legend and former Rap-A-Lot recording artist Scarface as

3741-460: The consultancy role in July. In August 2021, Harleston announced that he will replace himself as the interim president of Def Jam with former Interscope/ RCA executive and Keep Cool founder Tunji Balogun , who agreed to take on the role as chairman and CEO, which he did on New Year's Day 2022. In late-October 2022, Def Jam ended their partnership with GOOD Music, Kanye West's label, in response to

3828-465: The decade drew to a close, the label signed Public Enemy , whose controversial lyrical content garnered the company both critical acclaim and disdain. Lyor Cohen became president of Def Jam/RAL in 1988, after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form Def American Recordings . Rubin would take Slayer and the rights of its Def Jam albums with him to Def American in its initial stages. In 1991, CBS Records

3915-582: The development of the Beastie Boys ' public image. He financially backed wrestling promoter Jim Cornette 's company Smoky Mountain Wrestling from 1991 to 1995. Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam ) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group . It is based in Manhattan , New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop , contemporary R&B , soul and pop . The label has

4002-532: The entire recording process of Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) : "We were being charged horrendous amounts of money. And for me, if you're going to produce something, you're fucking there. I don't care who you are! [...] The Rick Rubin of today is a shadow of the Rick Rubin that he was. He is overrated, he is overpaid, and I will never work with him again." Taylor expressed regret for those comments in 2016, and said he wanted to make amends with Rubin, attributing

4089-472: The executive vice president of the urban division at Def Jam's sister Universal label, Capitol Music Group . On April 1, 2014, it was announced that the Island Def Jam Music Group would no longer be active following the resignation of CEO Barry Weiss. A press release serviced by Universal Music Group stated that IDJMG, and all of its assets would be reorganized into Def Jam, Island and Motown, all as separate entities. Def Jam Recordings currently operates as

4176-485: The fashion world co-opted the image of hippies, a group of the original hippies in San Francisco literally buried the image of the hippie. When 'def' went from street lingo to mainstream, it defeated its purpose." The first major project on the renamed label was Johnny Cash 's American Recordings (1994), a record including six cover songs and new material written by others for Cash at Rubin's request. The album

4263-613: The following year. However, the Hose and T La Rock releases were not part of the deal and are now controlled by different entities. This created a short-lived subsidiary label called OBR Records, short for Original Black Recordings, which catered toward R&B artists—the first artist signed to that imprint was Oran "Juice" Jones , who enjoyed success with his hit single " The Rain ". A few years later, Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen started an umbrella label called Rush Associated Labels to handle Def Jam and its numerous spinoff labels. RAL became

4350-489: The founder's online and public media outbursts, including his 2024 presidential campaign , antisemitic and pro-race remarks. Although, West had already been exiled from the label after releasing Donda on August 29, 2021, as so Pusha T after It's Almost Dry on April 22 earlier that year, making 070 Shake 's You Can't Kill Me the final release under the GOOD/Def Jam partnership. On October 31, 2023,

4437-476: The friction to being "freshly sober [...] unsure of [himself]" and to never having previously worked with anyone whose methods were like Rubin's. In 2019, when comparing Rubin to Greg Fidelman (who had recently produced Slipknot's album We Are Not Your Kind ), Taylor again criticized Rubin for his absences from the studio due to other work commitments. He said that Rubin was "a nice guy, absolutely nice guy" but claimed that "he just wasn't fucking there" and that

SECTION 50

#1732779623174

4524-560: The home to Nice & Smooth and EPMD after both acts were acquired due to the folding of their former label Sleeping Bag Records . Other acts under the RAL umbrella included Redman , Onyx , Flatlinerz , Domino , Warren G and Jayo Felony . Def Jam also signed its first and only thrash metal band, Slayer , in 1986, and the band's third and fourth albums were the only two Def Jam releases to be distributed through Geffen Records via Warner Bros. Records as opposed to Columbia/CBS. As

4611-493: The influential hip hop film Beat Street . Jazzy Jay and Afrika Islam performed some of the first DJ team routines and teamed up to battle both Grandmaster Flash (solo) and Grand Wizard Theodore (solo). Around 1984, Jay met Rick Rubin and assisted him in laying the foundation for what would become Def Jam Recordings . The label's first official single was the single "It's Yours" by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay. Jay later introduced Rubin to Russell Simmons , creating one of

4698-423: The label as Cohen left IDJMG for Warner Music Group , and was replaced by music executive Antonio "L.A." Reid . Frustrated, Liles and now-chairwoman of Atlantic Records , Julie Greenwald eventually decided to follow Cohen to Warner. That same year, through Def Jam A&R executive Shakir Stewart , Def Jam signed Atlanta, Georgia based rapper Young Jeezy . His debut album, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101

4785-498: The label into the Island Records fold. Island would share in sales and marketing duties with select radio projects while Def Jam remained independent on all other label functions (A&R, video, promotion and publicity). The label venture went on to receive huge success with a slew of various other multi-platinum releases from Montell Jordan , Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Redman, Method Man and more. RAL/Def Jam also distributed

4872-534: The label made its debut in the Philippines through Universal Music Philippines , led by former Sony Music Philippines and Sindikato Management executive Enzo Valdez. Pinoy hip hop quartet VVS Collective was the label's first signed artists. On February 21, 2020, Paul Rosenberg stepped down on his positions as chairman and CEO of Def Jam. He was replaced by the head of business affairs at Universal Music, Jeffrey Harleston, who instead assumed interim control over

4959-427: The label within a five-year gap between 1998 and 2003), as well as new signee Joe Budden expressed discomfort with Jay-Z's leadership of the label, having altogether left the label since then. Under Jay-Z's leadership, Def Jam launched the successful careers of contemporary R&B singers Rihanna and Ne-Yo . At the end of 2007, after he released American Gangster , Jay-Z decided not to renew his contract as

5046-537: The label's companionship. Def Jam inherited many of Island's urban artists, including Dru Hill (including its lead singer Sisqó ), the Isley Brothers (featuring Ronald Isley ) and Kelly Price . Def Soul also issued recordings by Musiq Soulchild , Montell Jordan, Case , 112 , Patti LaBelle , and Christina Milian . Liles also assumed presidency of Def Soul, which also formed a Classics subsidiary (active from 2003 to 2011). Island's 4th & B'way Records

5133-511: The label's core artist, Jeezy, had fulfilled his contract with Def Jam. Meanwhile, the label had already signed Washington, D.C. rapper Wale . Beginning in 2024, Def Jam began operating under the Republic Records branding. Jazzy Jay Jazzy Jay was born into a Gullah family in coastal South Carolina. He moved with his family to New York City at a young age and took up the drums , his first instrument. His first drum

5220-549: The label's presence around the world. Def Jam Germany signed German rappers Spezializtz and Philly MC. The label was located in Berlin and opened on May 23, 2000. In addition to signing and marketing local artists, Def Jam Germany also marketed all U.S. signed Def Jam artists in the German territory. But the German division folded just two years later in 2002. Many of the artists were picked up by Universal/Urban, while others did not get

5307-584: The label, while Def Jam maintained distribution and co-marketing. In 1997, through Def Jam A&R Irv Gotti , Def Jam signed artist DMX . DMX's first studio album, It's Dark and Hell is Hot was released on May 12, 1998 and was co-executive produced by Irv Gotti. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 250,000 copies in its first week. The album went on to sell four million copies in America, being certified Quadruple Platinum by

SECTION 60

#1732779623174

5394-430: The label. That November, Def Jam teamed up with Alex and Alec Boateng to create a new UK spin-off label called 0207 Def Jam under Universal Music UK's EMI Records. The UK roster currently consists of Stormzy . Def Jam also expanded to Africa with the creation of Def Jam Africa . On April 9, 2021, returning label veteran DMX died in a White Plains hospital a week after suffering from a drug overdose succumbing him to

5481-535: The most important partnerships in hip hop production. Jazzy Jay also put out Def Jam's third 12" in 1985, entitled "Def Jam" b/w "Cold Chillin' In The Spot", which featured Russell Simmons on vocals. In 1986, he participated in the recording Planet Rock - The Album , which was certified gold . Also a producer, Jay founded Jazzy Jay's Studio in the Bronx, where he produced early recordings by Diamond D , Fat Joe , Brand Nubian , A Tribe Called Quest , and others. He also began his own label, Strong City Records, through

5568-493: The music business. And I had no experience whatsoever." The second single released with the Def Jam Recordings logo was T La Rock & Jazzy Jay's "It's Yours". The first releases with Def Jam Recordings catalog numbers 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 CBS Records through Columbia Records

5655-425: The original head of Def Jam South. On October 10, 2000, Def Jam and Murder Inc. released Ja Rule's second studio album, Rule 3:36 . Anchored by the success of the single Between Me and You , the album topped the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum in America. In 2000, The Island Def Jam Music Group announced the formation of Def Jam Germany, the first international Def Jam company. This increased

5742-584: The position again. . In March 2011, it was announced that former Warner Bros. Records executive Joie Manda would become the first president of Def Jam since Jay-Z . Around the summer of 2011, after Universal Music disbanded the Universal Motown Republic Group , Motown Records would be moved under the Island Def Jam umbrella. In 2012, Manda assumed the position of president until March 2013 when he exited his post. It

5829-419: The president and CEO of Def Jam in order to start his new Live Nation venture, Roc Nation . Following Jay-Z's departure, L.A. Reid took over leadership of the label, as opposed to hiring a replacement. In June 2008, Shakir Stewart was appointed as the executive vice president of Def Jam, a position that was previously left vacant since December 2007. However, on November 1, Stewart committed suicide, vacating

5916-469: The ruling, claiming that the existence of an agreement between the parties meant that their behavior was only a breach of contract and not fraud. That September, DMX released his fifth album, Grand Champ . Though it was DMX's fifth number one album and was certified platinum by the RIAA, it was his final album for the label before leaving in 2006. Also that September, Def Jam released the video game, Def Jam: Fight for NY . The video game, which served as

6003-584: The sales of his first two albums. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Universal Pictures ' former parent, Seagram . It later merged with the MCA group of record labels. In early 1999, the label group was rebranded as the Universal Music Group . It then purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings from Russell Simmons for a reported $ 100 million. UMG merged over 14 record labels including Def Jam, Island, and Mercury Records together to form

6090-515: The same year, Rubin began his long musical partnership with Slayer , producing Reign in Blood , considered a classic of the heavy metal genre. This was his first work with a metal band. In 1987, the Cult released its pivotal third album, Electric . Produced by Rubin, the album remains one of the Cult's trademark and classic works. Rubin worked with the Cult again on the 1992 single "The Witch". He

6177-718: The show. Rubin founded Def Jam Recordings while in college at New York University. He moved on to form the band Hose , influenced by San Francisco's Flipper , where he played guitar. In 1982, a Hose track became Def Jam's first release, a 45 rpm 7" vinyl single in a brown paper bag, and no label. The band played in and around the NYC punk scene, toured the Midwest and California, and played with seminal hardcore bands like Meat Puppets , Hüsker Dü , Circle Jerks , Butthole Surfers , and Minor Threat , becoming friends with Fugazi frontman and Dischord Records owner Ian MacKaye . The band broke up in 1984 as Rubin's passion moved toward

6264-460: The son of housewife Linda and shoe wholesaler Michael Rubin. He grew up in Lido Beach . While a student at Long Beach High School , Rubin befriended the school's audiovisual department director, who gave him a few lessons in guitar playing and songwriting. He then played in a band with three friends, performing at garage gigs and school shows until a teacher helped him create a punk band called

6351-605: The track reaches a crescendo and [Neil] Diamond's portentous baritone soars over a swelling string arrangement, Rubin leans back, as though floored by the emotional power of the song." Of Rubin's production methods, Dan Charnas , a music journalist who worked as vice president of A&R (Artists & Repertoire) and marketing at American Recordings in the 1990s, said, "He's fantastic with sound and arrangements, and he's tremendous with artists. They love him. He shows them how to make it better, and he gets more honest and exciting performances out of people than anyone." Natalie Maines of

6438-697: The videos for the Beastie Boys' " (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) " and " No Sleep till Brooklyn ", effectively launching the band's mainstream hip hop career. It was the idea of Rubin's friend Sue Cummings, an editor at Spin magazine, to have Run-DMC and Aerosmith collaborate on a cover of Aerosmith's " Walk This Way ". This 1986 production is often credited with both introducing rap hard rock to mainstream ears and revitalizing Aerosmith's career. In 1986, he worked with Aerosmith again on demos for their forthcoming album, but their collaboration ended early and resulted in only rough studio jams. In

6525-407: Was Ja Rule's debut studio album, Venni Vetti Vecci . The album, released June 1, 1999, peaked in the top 3 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum in America. In December 1999, DMX released his third studio album, ...And Then There Was X through Def Jam. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 , with close to 700,000 copies sold, making it his third straight album to debut atop

6612-461: Was a Roland drum machine He began his career in hip hop in the 1970s in The Bronx , New York , the epicenter of hip hop culture during the first decade of its development, at the age of 13. An early member of Afrika Bambaataa 's Universal Zulu Nation , he was a protégé of Bambaataa as well as his older cousin, Kool DJ Red Alert. Beginning as a Zulu King dancer in the early 1970s, Jay later became

6699-463: Was a critical and commercial success, and helped revive Cash's career after a fallow period. The formula was repeated for five more Cash albums: Unchained (on which Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers served as the backing band), Solitary Man , The Man Comes Around (the last album released before Cash's death), A Hundred Highways , and Ain't No Grave . The Man Comes Around earned

6786-448: Was a single by his punk-rock group Hose . Russell Simmons joined Rubin shortly after they were introduced to each other, according to one story, by Vincent Gallo . Another cites DJ Jazzy Jay as their connector. Rubin has said he met Simmons on the TV show Graffiti Rock and recognized him then as "the face of hip hop": "He was five years older than me, and he was already established in

6873-635: Was also folded into Def Jam. Also starting in 1998, in preparation for the year 2000, Def Jam marketed and sponsored a new campaign titled Def Jam 2000 . Def Jam 2000 was the featured name for Def Jam on Def Jam albums from 1998 until its end in December 2000. Also in 1999, the label began to distribute releases by Murder Inc. Records , the newly-founded label run by former Def Jam A&R executive and record producer Irv Gotti . The label's roster of artists would include Ja Rule, Ashanti and Lloyd , among others. The first release from Murder Inc. under Def Jam

6960-472: Was announced at Music Matters, an annual music industry conference held in Singapore , where Joe Flizzow from Malaysia, Daboyway from Thailand, Yung Raja, Fariz Jabba and Alif from Singapore and A. Nayaka from Indonesia were announced as the label's six inaugural signings. That same month, Def Jam re-signed LL Cool J and DMX after nine and fourteen respective years apart from the label. In late 2019,

7047-479: Was folded (or rather rebranded) to the music division of Japanese electronic giant Sony , bringing Def Jam and Columbia with it. By 1992, despite recent multiple platinum selling releases from Public Enemy , and EPMD , Def Jam ran into major financial troubles and was faced with folding while at Sony. In 1994, PolyGram purchased Sony's 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings—subsequently bringing

7134-625: Was instrumental in pointing the members of the Beastie Boys away from their punk roots and into rap, resulting in Kate Schellenbach 's departure from the group. The Beastie Boys' 1985 "Rock Hard"/"Party's Gettin' Rough"/"Beastie Groove" EP came out on the success of Rubin's production work with breakthrough act Run-DMC , of which previous recordings were produced by Simmons and Orange Krush's musician Larry Smith. His productions were characterized by occasionally fusing rap with heavy rock . Rubin tapped Adam Dubin and Ric Menello to co-direct

7221-401: Was later announced by his former boss, Barry Weiss, that he would be in charge of the urban division at Def Jam's sister Universal Music label, Interscope Records . The-Dream served as Def Jam's executive vice president of A&R at Def Jam between 2012 and 2014. No I.D. held the position of executive vice president after helping to establish GOOD Music with Kanye West. He later became

7308-544: Was named UK Single of the Year at the 2010 Music Producers Guild Awards , and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy while accepting the award said, "I'd like to thank John Leckie for teaching us how to produce and Rick Rubin for teaching us how not to produce." The statement was initially interpreted as a criticism of Rubin, but Bellamy later clarified it was meant as a self-deprecating comment on the band's similarly "hands-off" attitude to production. In 2014, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor said that he met Rubin only four times during

7395-495: Was no such thing as heavy metal or anything like that, and pretend it's the follow-up album to that,' which is a ridiculous thing to think." Butler also stated that vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi had frustrations with Rubin's suggestions, and said: "I still don't know what [Rubin] did. It's, like, 'Yeah, that's good.' 'No, don't do that.' And you go, 'Why?' [And he'd say], 'Just don't do it. ' " Since at least 1999, listeners have criticized Rubin for contributing to

7482-412: Was released the following year and was co-executive produced by Stewart. The album's singles Go Crazy and Soul Survivor help push the album to double platinum status in America. Around this time, a bidding war for Jay-Z's contract began, and Reid appointed Jay-Z president of Def Jam on December 8, 2004. Long time label veterans LL Cool J and DMX (the latter of whom had five number one albums under

7569-643: Was to appear on the Talib Kweli 's album Eardrum , Clipse 's album Til the Casket Drops and Lil Jon 's album Crunk Rock . Rubin also produced the Jay-Z track " 99 Problems ", and was featured in the song's video. He also worked with Eminem on the song and music video "Berzerk". Rubin produced Black Sabbath 's 2013 album 13 and Billy Corgan 's comeback solo album Ogilala . In 2003 Rubin produced The Mars Volta debut album De-Loused in

#173826