Summary
For many of us- for me, at least- to talk about Def Jam is to talk about and remember the '80s, when I'd spend time in record stores like the now-shuttered Beat Street, asking the in-house D J to play me this, play me diat And, slowly, I started to differentiate by label-to realize diat as with Rough Trade, Verve, or Sub Pop, a Def Jam artist was deeply indfviduaL but also part of an exclusive, narrowly cast collective of like- minded masterminds, led byRick Rubin and Russell Simmons from die onset and Lyor Cohen later. Even if they never get a ring, those pinstripes demand respect I flipped in and out ofthe recently aired VHl Hip Hop Honors show, a yearly fete honoring rap's past that this year, served as an extended Def Jam reunion party and love letter.
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Extract
Def Jam at 25
What is it about hip-hop that inevitably, almost any conversation revolves around dates- around how far back in the day you can claim to go? Is there a culture as proudly obsessed with its past that still publicly and adamantly refuses to get caught up in a pissing ...
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