The end of 1995 saw the tenth anniversary of Def Jam, possibly the most influential label in the history of hip-hop. Started in New York by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, the label has been responsible for bringing us Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Method Man, Warren G, Onyx and even Slayer.
Russell Simmons started his foray into the music business as a party promoter, booking rap acts for parties at City College of New York, where he was studying at the time. He subsequently became a manager, handling a variety of acts including his younger brother's band, a three-piece rap outfit called Run DMC.
Rick Rubin, meanwhile, was studying at NYU and was a fan of metal, hardcore and rap. Listening to the records of bands like Run DMC convinced him to experiment with production and in 1984, he produced T. LaRock's 'It's Yours'. When the two men met, they found they shared a dislike of the two-facedness of the music business and decided to start Def Jam, a meeting of two cultures, black and white, rap and rock, embodied respectively in Simmons and Rubin. They had one manifesto: to record and promote the music that nobody else would touch with a bargepole and, with the help of Simmons's management company Rush, give rap artists decent representation. Simmons had noticed the short life-span of many rap acts and attributed it to a lack of management. In Rush, artists could at last have someone who understood them, but who could still talk to the moneymen in the record companies
The first Def Jam recording was 'I Need A Beat', by LL Cool J, a 16 year-old rapper from Queens. Produced by Rick Rubin, it sold 100,000 copies and was a foretaste of things to come for both the artist and the label. This was swiftly followed by the AC/DC-sampling 'Rock Hard', the first rap recording by a little known NY hardcore act who called themselves The Beastie Boys. It is a testament to the instinct, business sense and foresight of the founders of Def Jam that both of these acts are still recording, and notching up substantial record sales, ten years on.
These two debut singles were strong enough to convince Columbia Records that Def Jam were a worthwhile investment. Simmons and Rubin's street-level knowledge combined with Columbia's money and clout put Def Jam in a very powerful position. October of '85 saw the release of LL Cool J's platinum-selling 'Radio' album which is still considered a classic today. This success was followed in 1986 with Oran 'Juice' Jones, whose 'The Rain', topped the R&B charts and made the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and the Beasties' debut album 'Licensed To Ill'. This album turned puerile juvenilia into an art form, VW symbols into fashion statements and three white middle-class brats into an overnight sensation. When they visited England, they were denounced on chat shows as stupid, untalented and a fad. The album went triple-platinum.
During the next two years, Def Jam went from strength to strength. In 1987, they released the debut album by the "Black Panthers of Rap", Public Enemy. 'Yo! Bum Rush The Show', although by no means a classic debut, showcased the elements that were to make PE such a force in hip-hop. A few months later, LL Cool J's second album, 'Bigger And Deffer' came out. It contained his first break into the US Top 20, 'I Need Love' and has to date sold over three million copies.
The next major release on Def Jam was Public Enemy's second, 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back', which cemented their place as chief agitators, black power preachers and the most important hip-hop act of the '80s. This album has entered into rap legend, with Terminator X's mad cut-ups (a hip-hop act sampling Queen and The Smiths?) and Chuck D's booming demagogic vocals cast against Flavor Flav's clowning. 'Bring The Noise' contains what is probably one of PE's most sampled moments- "Bass! How low can you go?" and 'Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos' was recently covered by Tricky. 'Nation Of Millions' went platinum, as did the subsequently released debut from Slick Rick, 'The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick' and LL's 'Walking With A Panther'. However, all was not well on Planet Def Jam. Simmons and Rubin's dream of a seamlessly linked rock/rap label started to come unstuck, with them both pulling in different directions. Rubin hadn't been happy with Simmon's signing of Oran 'Juice' Jones and Simmons had not been happy with Rubin signing Slayer. Rubin was also involved in a dispute with the Beastie Boys, which led to them moving to Los Angeles and Capitol Records, to later form Grand Royal. Eventually Rick Rubin left Def Jam, forming Def American (now American Recordings) and producing more straightforward rock acts like The Black Crowes, The Cult, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and, bizarrely, Johnny Cash. The artists on the label fared no better, with PE's Professor Griff being forced to leave the band after controversy over anti-Semitic statements and Slick Rick being jailed for attempted murder.
This bad patch in the early 1990s lasted a couple of years, with Def Jam being forced to reorganise itself. Columbia were unhappy with Simmons's other projects, his television and clothing companies, feeling that he should spend more time at his record company. Also, New York was no longer the centre of the rap universe- NWA (and spin-offs) and Snoop Doggy Dogg had focussed the world's attention on the West Coast and gangsta rap. Never to be outdone, and under a new deal with PolyGram, Def Jam signed Dr Dre's brother Warren G, whose 1994 'G-Funk... Regulate' album spawned a host of disciples and copyists, and Montell Jordan.
From out of a dead period, suddenly 1994 was Def Jam's most profitable year to date. Public Enemy made a dramatic return to the forefront of hip-hop with 'Muse Sick N Hour Mess Age' and Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man released his solo effort through Def Jam. With other signings like Redman and Onyx making serious waves, Russell Simmons's label enters its second decade alive and most definitely kickin'.
Tim.