Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly on hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The label has 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. Def Jam distributes releases of various label imprints, including Kanye West's GOOD Music,[1][2] and Dave East's From the Dirt Records. Current artists include Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Toya Johnson, Nasty C, 2 Chainz, Dave East, Jeezy, Jeremih, Jhené Aiko, and YK Osiris, among others.
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. 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 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 via 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 and the rights of its Def Jam albums with him to Def American in its initial stages.
In 1991, CBS Records was folded (or rather rebranded) to the music division of Japanese electronic giant Sony, bringing Def Jam and Columbia with it.[8][9] 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.