The six letters of Def Jam, like the three of RAL (for Rush Associated Labels), Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin have imprinted them indelibly in hip-hop mythology. The epicenter is New York, but the label has always been able to get away from it to prospect as far as San Diego, DC, Los Angeles, or Detroit, in order to ensure that it has the best representatives of Boom Bap in its ranks. , Hardcore Funk, Go-Go or Electro.
Beastie Boys, EPMD, Onyx, Redman, Method Man, LL Cool J, Junkyard Band, South Central Cartel, 3rd Bass; the list of MC's who have left a mark stamped with the Def Jam or RAL logo is a freestyle where catching your breath is difficult.
In order to study more closely the footprints left by these behemoths, Uncle O, the man behind the 5 volumes of Shaolin Soul compilations, went to explore the label's 1985-1995 period. Around each of them, he found only cracked ground, irrefutable proof that it was by the force of imposing bass drums and slapping snare drums that all of them were anchored in the history of hip-hop. . Kick & snare.
Producers Rick Rubin, Marley Marl, Rockwilder, Jazzy Jay or Prince Paul programmed them on TR-808s, Oberheim DMX or LinnDrum with a brutal groove. Hit on MPC pads with flexibility, or precisely taken from a funk break. Heavy and powerful, these rhythms have served the most bare rap as much as the one that feeds on samples.
Coming from another age, stored behind a photograph of Glen E. Friedman, the man who created the visual history of Def Jam and RAL through iconic covers, they are the work of rap's T-Rex, Dinosaur Beats.