Tonight VH1 will broadcast it's sixth annual Hip Hop Honours, celebrating the achievements of one of the genre's greatest brands - Def Jam Records.
The label is arguably the most celebrated in hip hop and a name that's synonymous with the genre. Multi-millionaire rapper Jay Z had success on the label as an artist and then went on to become CEO, before announcing he was stepping down as President in 2007.
One of the label's founders, Russell Simmons, explained that they took a risk when they first went into business with Jay Z and his label Roc-A- Fella - picking up a track from Jay's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt: "He was not the traditional Def Jam artist, the LL Cool J's, or even before that Run DMC or Houdini or whatever.
The mantra for the business has been see what's hot and develop it further. Jay Z was already on fire, he didn't need anybody's help."
"He keeps me on my toes"
Russell Simmons on Jay Z
DJ and BBC 1xtra presenter Semtex says Jay Z's signing to the label is legendary: "Jay Z couldn't get any airplay. Jay Z had heard that Kevin Liles was the man, he was the guy who could get records on radio.
"So, Jay Z pulls up at the office and he's like, 'Yo Kevin, here's a bag of money, get these records on the radio'. Kevin was like that's not me, keep your money. But what we'll do is we'll put this track on the Nutty Professor soundtrack, we'll shoot a video and we'll take it from there."
After Jay Z 'retired' from rap in 2003, he assumed the presidency of the label. Semtex: "Jay Z went from knocking on the door of the building, to getting into the building, to owning the building. When he became President of Def Jam records he just made the label even more hotter at that point."
As CEO of the label, Jay Z successfully launched the careers of artists like Rihanna and Ne-Yo, before stepping down in 2007.
Russell Simmons again: "He had to develop a lot of polish, the skill to talk to all different kinds of people and he had to keep it street smart. He always reminds me of what I have to keep doing, he keeps me on my toes."
VH1 broadcasts it's sixth annual hip hop show tonight, the event was recorded on September 23rd.
I Will Not Lose E-Book Review:
Get I Will Not Lose E-Book!
Comments