CASE STUDY/WHAT HAPPENED TO DEF JAM

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CASE STUDY/WHAT HAPPENED TO DEF JAM

Def Jam Recordings over the years has had one of the most important legacies in the culture. Def Jam was always looked at as the label that every aspiring rapper wanted to sign to. How could one label have so many great artists over such a long period of time? We’re talking about LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and Run DMC. In the early 90’s it was EPMD, Public Enemy, and Redman. Then there was X, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Young Jeezy. All of these artists put out classic albums while being signed to Def Jam. Things seem to be going great. It was like they were never going to slow up. What happened?

The historic record label was founded in 1984 by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. By the 1990s Rick Rubin had left the label and started his own label. A new era was among Russell and the rest of the label. According to Lyor CohenL who was the president at Def Jam at the time it was a rough period after Rick Rubin left until the signed Redman. It seems that after that they signed Redman things seemed to turn around. Lyor Cohen was president from 1988 to 1998. He signed off on Legendary artists like Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule.

After that Def Jam went through various presidents including Kevin Liles and Jay-Z. Somewhere in between this time Russell Simmons also left the label they were going through more changes still putting out great music and the whole time being admired as a historic record label. Then came L.A. Reid in 2007. Reid is credited for signing artists such as Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and Ne-Yo. He’s known for working with great R&B artists like Mariah Carey. So why was he the head of the most iconic HipHop label in 2007?

This, to me, was the beginning of a long line of questions that began to come up about the label at least for me. I would wonder why I wasn’t hearing music from my favorite artists like 2chainz, Jeezy, or Big K.R.I.T. A lot of artists that were excited to sign to the label ended of leaving on bad terms. The names that come to mind to me are Lil Durk and Rick Ross.

I’m not really sure what the future holds for this Record label. At this time Snoop Dogg has become an executive and has recently helped bring over Benny The Butcher to Def Jam. I honestly say I’m a little skeptical will we have to wait for Tana Talk 4? Will Benny sound different? I’m not sure but I guess we’ll see. I believe that after L.A. Reid resigned from Def Jam it was an opportunity for Def Jam to do what they’re trying to do now. They could have got a figure in the culture and of the culture like DJ Khaled years ago. Maybe even a Westside Gunn could have been the president at one point. As much as I love the Snoop Dogg move I feel like he’s so synonymous with the west coast it doesn't make sense to be the president of Def Jam. More like Death Row.