| Revision as of 02:01, 7 September 2006 editFuriousFreddy (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers30,397 edits cleanup← Previous edit | Revision as of 01:28, 9 September 2006 edit undo204.244.150.7 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {| class="infobox" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 rules=rows align="right" font="3" style="font-size:85%; width:25em; border-collapse:collapse; border:1px solid black;" | |||
| |- ! style="background:LightBlue;" | |||
| | style="font-size: larger;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Def Jam Recordings''' | |||
| |- | |||
| | colspan="4" | ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Parent company''' | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Founded''' | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Founder(s)''' | |||
| |]<br>] | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Distributing label''' | |||
| | ] (]) | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Genre(s)''' | |||
| | ], ], ] (Minority) | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Country''' | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | align="right" | '''Web site''' | |||
| | http://www.defjam.com/ | |||
| |} | |||
| '''Def Jam Recordings''' is an ] based ] ] that operates as a part of ], which is owned by ]. Artists signed by Def Jam include ], ], ], ], ], and ]. | |||
| ==Company history== | |||
| ===Beginnings=== | |||
| Def Jam was founded by ] and ] in Rubin's dorm room at ]. The first releases on Def Jam Recordings were ] "I Need A Beat" and the ] "]," both in 1984. The singles sold well, eventually leading to a distribution deal with ] the following year. The first full-length album released by Def Jam Recordings was LL Cool J's ] in December of 1985. A year later, Def Jam created a subisdary label, ]. The label was for R&B artists. It's first artist signed was Oran "Juice" Jones, who enjoyed success with his hit single "The Rain". | |||
| ] became president of Def Jam in ], after winning a power struggle with Rubin, who would shortly thereafter leave the company to form ] in ]. CBS Records, meanwhile, was sold to electronics giant ] as the decade ended and by ] had been was re-christened into ]. | |||
| ===PolyGram=== | |||
| Despite multi-platinum selling releases from LL Cool J., ], ] and ], Def Jam ran into severe financial troubles in the early ] and was faced with folding. Salvation came in ], however, when ] purchased Sony's 50% stake in Def Jam Recordings — subsequently bringing the label into their fold. Following PolyGram's acquisition of the company, Def Jam released ] ''Regulate…G Funk Era'', which went triple platinum and effectively revived the label. | |||
| Def Jam remained in the black, as its veteran star LL Cool J released his widely successful album ''Mr. Smith'' in ]. The label later signed a then-teenaged ], whose debut album ''Ill Na Na'' became a platinum seller in ]. The same year, Def Jam struck up a distribution deal with ] ], and soared to even greater heights with its central star, ] as the decade drew to a close. | |||
| ===The Island Def Jam Music Group=== | |||
| PolyGram acquired an additional 10% in Def Jam Recordings in ], further strengthening their ownership of the company. In ], PolyGram itself was purchased by ] and absorbed into its ], becoming the largest record label in the world. Following Universal Music Group's buyout of PolyGram, it purchased the remaining interest of Def Jam Recordings, and soon after merged it with ] to form ]. Inspite of the formation of IDJMG, Def Jam and Island continued to run as seperate albels underneath the bigger umbrella. In ], Def Jam created an ] spin-off label called "Def Soul". Island's urban artists -- ] and ] -- were moved over to Def Soul, which also issued recordings by ], ], ], ], ], and ]. | |||
| Today, ], ], and ] are among the independent labels distributed by Def Jam. Roc-A-Fella Records was sold to the company by Dash in ], upon his stepping down from the label. Roc-A-Fella co-founder Jay-Z, meanwhile, was subsequently appointed President and CEO of Def Jam by Island Def Jam chairman ]. New albums from Nas, Fabolous, and Ludacris are expected by the end of the year. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||