Def Jam Turns 25: Ten Artists Who Shaped The Label

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Def Jam Recordings, the influential music label founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons. In honor of Def Jam’s birthday, we’ve compiled a list of ten artists who had a hand in elevating the label to legendary status.

LL Cool J

Def Jam’s first signed artist was LL Cool J, who his debut album, Radio, with the label in 1985. The rapper has since put out 12 albums with the label, including the legendary 1990 album, Mama Said Knock You Out. This relationship helped establish the label and made LL Cool J one of the godfathers of Hip Hop.

Beastie Boys

The trio were a punk band until Rick Rubin changed them into a rap crew. Adam Yauch (MCA), Mike Diamond (Mike D), and Adam Horovitz (Ad-rock) recorded and released License To Ill in 1986, the album that launched them into superstardom. The Beastie Boys made it okay for white boys to dig hip hop.

Slayer

Though Def Jam is known as a hip hop label, they dabbled in other genres as well, putting out Slayer’s 1986 album Reign In Blood. Despite controversy (Columbia, Def Jam’s distributor, refused to release it), Reign In Blood was the band’s first album to enter the Billboard 200, debuting at #94. Slayer has since become one of the forefathers of thrash metal. Check out 1994’s “South of Heaven”, from the album of the same name:

Public Enemy

We’re just going to go ahead and say this: Public Enemy is the best rap group of all time. The group released the hip hop canonical albums It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988) and Fear Of A Black Planet (1990) under Def Jam, and became the voice of an angry black generation. Check out the track “Fight The Power” off their 1990 album to see what we mean:

Method Man & Redman

Though both artists have their solo careers, and are members of separate rap collectives (Method Man is with the Wu Tang Clan, while Redman is with Def Squad), it’s hard not to think of one without the other. Redman recorded Whut? Thee Album in 1992 with the label. Method Man followed suit in 1994 with the top selling Tical. Method Man & Redman also released Blackout! in 1999, their first album as a duo.

Warren G

Warren G is not the most accomplished musician on this list, but his 1994 debut album, Regulate… G Funk Era is worth mentioning, if only for the song “Regulate”, featuring Nate Dogg. Warren G was also one of the few west coast rappers in a roster list heavy with East Coast artists.

Jay-Z

While Def Jam is not entirely responsible for the Jigga man’s success, the label distributed the bulk of the rapper’s ouvre, including 1997’s In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, 1998’s Vol 2…Hardknock Life, and 1999’s Vol. 3… Life And Times of S. Carter, albums which made Jay-Z as rich and famous as he is now. He was also named President of Def Jam in 2004, a role he served until May of 2009.

DMX

Remember when you used to listen to DMX? Yeah, us too. The Ruff Rider released It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, his first album on a major record label, in 1998. He also put out Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood that same year, as well as …And There Was X in 1999. The latter album featured the song “Party Up”, a song we’re pretty sure everyone  listened to while driving around in their cousin’s Camaro. No? Just us? Well, here it is anyway:

Sisqó

Not everything Def Jam put out changed the game for the better, but even the lesser quality stuff was popular, as is the case with Sisqó. Def Jam was the label behind 1999’s Enter The Dragon. The album went on to sell over 11 million copies worldwide, mostly because of one song we’re embarrassed to show, but we will because we like you that much:

Ludacris

The man who put southern rap on the map is a Def Jam artist. Ludacris released the ever popular albums Back For The First Time in 2000 and Word of Mouf in 2001, and has since become the highest-selling southern rapper of all time. Here’s our favorite Ludacris song of all time, off of Word of Mouf: