Thursday, Oct. 16th, Def Jam Recordings will present a 30th Anniversary Concert at Barclays Center in Brooklyn New York. It’s being billed as an “all star” event, but unfortunately the original stars (LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, etc) who made Def Jam what it is today aren’t included on the bill. Despite that major “oversight” the show will continue and most likely be sold out by the time you read this article.
Recently, Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, LL Cool J and former Def Jam publicist, Bill Adler shared memories of the early days with the New York Post. Among the stories mentioned were the disgust and horror experienced by parents who took their pre-teen daughters to Madonna’s 1985 concert at Radio City Music Hall. The Beastie Boys were her opening act and when they ran out on stage cursing and grabbing themselves, the adults were less than thrilled. LL, who literally won the lottery when Ad-Rock found his demo in the mail, would drop by the office to provoke the artists to battle rap and then follow Russell to various restaurants to mooch a free meal. Chuck D was about to give up rap completely (in his mid-20’s) after a single with an earlier group didn’t make it, but Rick Rubin pursued him relentlessly. When Chuck saw the entire crowd at a Madison Square Garden concert hold their Adidas in the air during Run-DMC’s performance, he became inspired and the rest is Hip Hop history.
Below are a collection of Def Jam faves. Some tracks will sound familiar to you & (maybe) some won’t, but it all adds up to classic music.
