Def Jam Recordings

Def Jam Recordings is an American record label focused predominantly on hip hop, pop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. In the UK, the label takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through EMI Records, while in Japan, it is known as Def Jam Japan, operating through Universal Music Japan. The label distributes releases of various record labels, including Kanye West's GOOD Music,[1][2] and Listen Up Forever Records, headed by producer, Ronny J. Current artists include Justin Bieber, Logic, Big Sean, Kanye West, Nas, 2 Chainz, Teyana Taylor, YG, Dave East, Jeezy, Jeremih, Valee, Pusha T, Amir Obé, Fabolous, Desiigner and Nasty C.

Not to be confused with Deaf Jam, Def Comedy Jam, or Def Poetry Jam.
Def Jam Recordings
Parent companyUniversal Music Group
Founded1984 (1984)
Founder
Distributor(s)
Genre
Country of originUnited States
LocationNew York City, New York
Official websitedefjam.com

Company history

Founding and CBS Records Group era (1983–1994)

Def Jam was co-founded by Rick Rubin in his dormitory in Weinstein Hall at New York University[3] and its first release 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.[4] Another cites DJ Jazzy Jay as their connector.[5] 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 the music business. And I had no experience whatsoever."[6] The first 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 the following year.

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 the home to Nice & Smooth and EPMD after both acts were acquired due to the folding of their former label Sleeping Bag Records.[7] 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 under Warner Bros. Records as opposed to Columbia/CBS. As 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 with him to Def American in its initial stages.

PolyGram era (1994–1998)

By 1992, despite recent multi-platinum selling releases from Public Enemy, and EPMD, Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles and was faced with folding. However, in 1994, PolyGram purchased Sony's 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings—subsequently bringing the label into its fold. Following PolyGram's purchase, Def Jam distributed the Violator Records-signed artist Warren G's Regulate... G Funk Era album, which went triple platinum and brought much-needed revenue to Def Jam through its distribution deal with Violator.[8]

PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in 1996, further strengthening its ownership of Def Jam. Shortly thereafter, Rush Associated Labels was renamed Def Jam Music Group. The label remained profitable as its veteran star LL Cool J released his successful album Mr. Smith in 1995. The label later signed Foxy Brown, whose debut album Ill Na Na became a platinum seller in 1997.

The Island Def Jam Music Group founding (1998–2000)

In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagram and merged with the MCA family of labels, which became Universal Music Group. It then purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings from Russell Simmons for a reported $100 million. UMG merged 14+ record labels including: Def Jam, Island Records and Mercury Records to form 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 bigger umbrella.

Lyor Cohen was appointed co-president of IDJMG, and Kevin Liles succeeded him as president of Def Jam. In 1999, IDJMG created a R&B spin-off label called Def Soul Recordings to run alongside Def Jam Recordings, which inherited many of Island Records' urban artists, including Dru Hill and its lead singer Sisqó, the Isley Brothers and Kelly Price. Def Soul also issued recordings by Musiq, Montell Jordan, Case, 112, Patti LaBelle, and Christina Milian. Island's 4th & B'way Records was also folded into Def Jam. Kevin Liles also served as President of Def Soul Records.

Also in 1999, the label began to distribute releases by Murder Inc. Records, run by former Def Jam executive Irv Gotti. Murder Inc.'s roster of artists would include Ja Rule, Ashanti, Lloyd, Vita. 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 artists have included Ludacris, Chingy, and Bobby Valentino. Russell Simmons tapped Texas-born and raised rap legend Scarface as the original head of Def Jam South. After about a 4-year run at Def Jam South, Scarface negotiated a release from the company in 2003.

2000s

In 2000, The Island Def Jam Music Group announced the formation of Def Jam Germany, the first international Def Jam company. This increased 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 a new contract.[9]

The second international label is a Japanese branch, Def Jam Japan (デフ・ジャム・ジャパン, Defu Jamu Japan), also founded in 2000.[10] Their artist roster has included AI, Teriyaki Boyz, Nitro Microphone Underground, and South Korean boy band BTS.

In 2003, Murder Inc. became the center of a money laundering investigation involving illegal profits from drug trade,[11] leading to the label's eventual release from its distribution contract by 2005. The final shares of Roc-A-Fella Records were sold to The Island Def Jam Music Group in 2004, by which time it had launched the career of producer-turned-rapper Kanye West.

In 2004, Cohen left IDJMG for Warner Music Group, and was replaced by former Arista and later Epic executive L.A. Reid. An unhappy Liles eventually decided to follow Cohen to Warner.[12] A bidding war for Jay-Z's contract began, and Reid appointed Jay-Z president of Def Jam.[12]

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, Jay-Z decided not to renew his contract as the President and CEO of Def Jam in order to start his new venture, Roc Nation.[13] 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 Executive Vice President of Def Jam, a position that was previously left vacant since December 2007.

2010s

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.[14] Until March 2013 when he exited his post at Def Jam and it was announced he'd be heading up the urban division of Interscope Records by his former boss, Barry Weiss.[15] 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.[16] No I.D. is now the executive vice president of Capitol Music Group.

On April 1, 2014, it was announced that Island Def Jam 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 Recordings, Island Records and Motown Records, all as separate entities.[17]

Def Jam Recordings operates as a stand-alone label within Universal Music Group. Def Jam signed DaniLeigh to the label in early 2017. Steve Bartels served a time as President/CEO of Def Jam Recording until it was announced on August 3, 2017 that as of January 2018, Eminem's longtime manager and co-founder of Shady Records, Paul Rosenberg has been appointed Chairman/CEO of Def Jam Recordings.[18] On February 21, 2020, Paul Rosenberg stepped down on his position as CEO of Def Jam.[19][20]

On September 17, 2019, the luanch of Def Jam South East Asia 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.[21]

Presidents

Notable current artists
gollark: This is at least... internally consistent and whatever, I think, it's just rather horrifying and not something I want to be judged by or anyone to be judged by.
gollark: Oh, and if for some reason you're an *incredibly* self-confident person who thinks all acts they do are right, you'll turn out maximally non-evil.
gollark: Being vaguely aware of that sort of thing, and also that I live in a relatively comfortable position in what is among the richest societies ever, I feel bad about *not* doing more things, which would cause me to be more evil than someone who just ignores this issue forever, which is not, according to arbitrary moral intuitions I have™, something which an evilness measuring thing should say.
gollark: With any actual planning you can just give away as much as reasonably possible. It's just an issue of good management of stuff.
gollark: There are *not* that many people who actually go to the logical conclusion of that line of thinking and go "guess I'll donate all my excess income to charities".

References
  1. Breihan, Tom. "Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music Signs With Def Jam". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  2. "Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music Signs Worldwide Deal With Island Def Jam". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  3. Herschberg, Lynn (September 2, 2007). "The Music Man". New York Times Magazine.
  4. Turner, Edwin (2011-12-17). "I Review Def Jam 25, the Overstuffed Illustrated Oral History of a Record Label that Helped Change American Culture". Biblioklept. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  5. "Def Jam Records launched by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin". The Guardian. 12 June 2011.
  6. "Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons: Def Jam's First 25 Years". NPR. 9 October 2011.
  7. Moore, Maurice. "Indianapolis: CRUSH Ent Presents: EPMD & DJ Scratch @ The Vogue". bestevents.us. Best Events. Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  8. "PolyGram acquires 50% of Def Jam". Business Wire. 1994-11-16. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  9. "Hiphop Geschichte des Labels DefJam". Netzfeuilleton.de. 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  10. "Def Jam Japan (A Universal Music Company)". Universal-music.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  11. "Hip-Hop's Irv 'Gotti' Surrenders to FBI - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment". Foxnews.com. 2005-01-27. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  12. Ogunnaike, Lola (Aug. 28, 2005). "Jay-Z, From Superstar to Suit". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
  13. Reid, Shaheem (2007-12-24). "Jay-Z Stepping Down As Def Jam President/CEO". MTV News. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  14. Markman, Rob (2012-03-12). "Def Jam Names Joie Manda New President". MTV.com. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  15. Aswad, Jem (March 28, 2013). "Joie Manda Resigns as Def Jam President, Moving to Interscope". Billboard.
  16. "No I.D. Is The New Executive Vice President Of Def Jam Recordings". The Source.
  17. miranda (1 April 2014). "Island Def Jam Is Over". XXL Mag.
  18. "Eminem's Manager Paul Rosenberg Named New CEO of Def Jam". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  19. https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.54664/title.paul-rosenberg-steps-down-as-def-jam-recordings-ceo-chairman
  20. Woods, Aleia (2020-02-23). "Paul Rosenberg steps down from his CEO position at Def Jam". REVOLT. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  21. Stassen, Murray (September 17, 2019). "Universal launches Def Jam South East Asia and Astralwerks Asia". Music Business Worldwide.
  22. Caramanica, Jon (19 May 2015). "Alessia Cara Speaks Up for the Outsiders on 'Here'". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  23. Arlissa (2018-08-25). "Arlissa". Def Jam. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  24. Yohance Kyles (2019-01-24). "Def Jam Announces 'Undisputed' Compilation Featuring New Artists On The Roster". Allhiphop.com. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  25. "Beau Young Prince". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  26. Sydney Gore (2018-11-09). "Bernard Jabs Drops an Anthem for All the "Big Tymers"". Highsnobiety. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  27. "Logic Launches BobbyBoy Records as Joint Venture With Def Jam". Variety.com. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  28. Bobby Sessions (2018-08-25). "Bobby Sessions". Def Jam. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  29. Ali Booth (2019-06-19). "Carson Lueders Lands Major Music Contract with Def Jam". Tigerbeat.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  30. Jem Aswad (2019-03-15). "Timbaland's Mosley Music Group Strikes Joint Venture With Def Jam (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  31. DaniLeigh (2018-08-25). "DaniLeigh". Def Jam. Retrieved 2018-08-25.
  32. "Def Jam's Newest Artist Fetty Luciano Rates New Music On Who's Next Rated [VIDEO]". HOT 97 | #1 For Hip Hop.
  33. Milca P. (2019-10-06). "Fredo Bang Connects With Tay Keith On "Face Down"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
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  36. Riley Wallace (2019-12-02). "Singer Kaash Paige Talks 'Love Songs' & Def Jam Debut". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  37. Joe Price (2019-01-23). "Premiere: Maxo Drops "Time" Video". Complex.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  38. Michael Madden (2018-12-11). "New Def Jam signee Nimic Revenue leads off December's Twin Cities rap roundup". Citypages.com. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  40. Shaad D'Souza (2019-08-21). "Listen to Saint Bodhi's arresting debut single "FlowerChild"". Thefader.com. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
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  43. "Rapper and Hooper TJ PORTER Is Putting NYC on His Back" – via www.facebook.com.
  44. "YFL Kelvin Signs w/ Def Jam". imfromcleveland.com.
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