Russell Simmons Talks Starting Def Jam
In a recent feature with Global Grind, Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons talked about how he met his partner business Rick Rubin and went on to create Def Jam Records.
“Rick Rubin, I seen him at Danceteria. He was a member of the Beastie Boys,” Simmons began.
“He was DJ Double R. I met him at Danceteria because Jazzy Jay brought him to me.
“Jazzy Jay was on the record ‘It’s Yours’ by T La Rock. It was the best record on the radio.
“We talked at Danceteria and he played me his drum machine. He had so many beats.”
Russell continued to tell the story of Def Jam, which was founded in 1985, saying, “We started a record label. The record label put out LL’s first record.
“The record stores didn’t know what was in the box because it said Def Jam.
“It was a core community who went to that cool store that bought the cool records, and that record was next after ‘It’s Yours.’ Rick owned and created that label, Def Jam, that was him.”
