In 1984, in the confines of an NYU dorm room, Rick Rubin and Russell “Rush” Simmons formed a record label. They wanted to create a brash, loud, honest kind of music, a redefinition if you will of what people were starting to call hip-hop. Little did they know that this company, Def Jam Recordings, would change music, the music business, and quite possibly the world forever.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I was seven years old in 1984. I happen to have been lucky enough to say that by the time Def Jam found its' legs, I was old enough to be along for the ride. The label created and provided the platform for hip-hop music to truly thrive in a time when it was still young and considered a fad. It’s first single, T La Rock and Jazzy Jay’s “Its Yours” (which Nas would later sample on his classic debut) set the tone for what would become an amazing string of artists who are now icons in hip hop: LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys (whose “Licensed To Ill” gave the culture it’s first Billboard Top 200 #1 album), Slick Rick, Public Enemy, and EPMD.

You can’t go to any corner of this earth and not find hip-hop’s fingerprints somewhere. Def Jam is part of the reason for that...

Def Jam, and their ethos of allowing the artists to be themselves, is the blueprint for every other independent record label that ever created anything remotely close to hip hop music. Uptown Records, Bad Boy Entertainment, Rocafella Records, and Death Row Records all gave the world memorable music, and they all owe a debt to the house the Rick and Russell built. It’s not enough to simply say that Def Jam is important to hip-hop. DEF JAM RECORDINGS IS HIP-HOP. Today you get Ghostface, The Roots, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Nas, Method Man, and Redman music straight from Def Jam. Jay-Z became a household name after his tenure in it’s hallowed halls, even briefly becoming it’s president. Some of the hip-hop/r&b joints you’ve jammed to at the club were provided via DefSoul. They gave you comedy with Def Comedy Jam, breaking acts like Chris Tucker and Bernie Mack. Def Poetry Jam introduced a larger audience to the joy, pain, and beauty of performance poetry. Def Jam even gave us video and film directors: Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner got his start shooting videos, including clips for Redman, LL Cool J, and Public Enemy’s first video “Louder Than A Bomb”. He has since directed great music videos for Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Wutang Clan, P. Diddy, and Madonna. He also directed a little film called Rush Hour, and the sequels that followed. Guess what record label did the soundtrack?

Def Jam, and their ethos of allowing the artists to be themselves, is the blueprint for every other independent record label that ever created anything remotely close to hip hop music.

But Def Jam’s biggest contribution to us all is that twenty-five years after it exploded onto the scene, it’s still here. It’s still relevant, and it’s become a symbol of respect, and a reminder of all the things we love about the culture. Def Jam has been a huge part of my life, from my earliest days as a military brat and hip-hop ambassador around the world to my later development as a writer and filmmaker. This label’s legacy plays a huge part in the foundation of my own company and the documentary film I am currently developing/directing, “Tougher Than Leather”, about the globalization of hip-hop culture, and how it changed the world. You can’t go to any corner of this earth and not find hip-hop’s fingerprints somewhere. Def Jam is part of the reason for that, and just like that very first single, hip-hop is still yours.