This September, Rizzoli will release “Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label” written by Bill Adler and Dan Charnas, with a preface by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons.
“This is the story of Def Jam in the words of its artists and top executives, taken from interviews and seamlessly told as a narrative of no-holds barred recollections and anecdotes, made even more compelling by the fact that Def Jam is one of the last great record labels to enjoy the widespread cultural influence that it does, in light of the increasing digitization of music. Def Jam celebrates a label that defined hip-hop and whose impact extends beyond its incredible roster of recording artists to all areas of culture–fashion, lifestyle, cinema, art–impacting the music business and pop culture forever.”
Artists LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Rihanna and Kanye West are all featured, amongst others, alongside memorabilia from the archives and photos by the likes of Albert Watson, Glen E. Friedman, Jonathan Mannion and Annie Leibovitz. Furthermore, the book was designed by Cey Adams, Def Jam’s founding creative director. – High Snobiety

A small-but-committed group of writers, bloggers and videographers that (mostly) exist and function all over the D.C. Metro area.