Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons
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One was a college dropout who began promoting local rap acts in the ghettos of New York; the other was an NYU student who spent more time playing in punk bands than he did in class. One knew nothing but hip hop; the other nothing but rock. Nevertheless, after a chance encounter at a New York club, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons became fast friends. Together, they would go on to found the most influential hip hop label in the world, and change the face of American music forever.
It was on one fateful evening in 1984 when Simmons decided to visit Danceteria – a club in New York City where hardcore rockers and streetwise rappers comfortably intermixed. It was there that he met Rubin, who shared his love of hard beats and rhymes. They might have come from different musical backgrounds, but on this point, they found a common ground. As it turns out, the diverse crowd that could be found each week at Danceteria was symbolic of the relationship that would transpire between the two in the coming years.
Rubin had a vision of fusing the two genres – rap and rock – together. While he had never produced a record – he was instead used to being in front of the microphone – Rubin hooked up with T. La Rock and Jazzy Jay to produce “It’s Yours,” a single that featured rhyming raps over hard metal beats. The track would sell around 100,000 copies, and impressed Simmons enough to ask for a second meeting.
Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons had their second encounter in a music promoter’s office. Almost immediately, the two decided to go into business together, and Def Jam Records was formed. Each man put in $4,000 of their own money as startup capital, and the company began operating out of Rubin’s NYU dorm room. The first single Def Jam released was L.L. Cool Jay’s “I Need a Beat,” which also sold over 100,000 copies. They followed that up with The Beastie Boys’ “Rock Hard.” Within its first year, Def Jam had released seven singles and had negotiated a distribution deal with Columbia Records.
Over the next few years, Def Jam continued to grow, finding and signing such successful musical acts as Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C., and EPMD. Rubin also suggested producing a collaboration between Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith, which resulted in a cover of “Walk this Way” that is often credited with introducing rap-hard rock to mainstream listeners.
In 1988, Simmons and Rubin went their separate ways after Rubin became involved in a power struggle with then Def Jam president Lyor Cohen. While Simmons stayed on with Def Jam in New York, Rubin left for Los Angeles, where he founded Def American Records, and returned to his rock roots.
Despite the end of their working relationship, both Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons have left an indelible impact on the music industry. MTV has even called Rubin “the most important producer f the last 20 years,” while VH1 called Simmons “the most important businessman in the history of rap music.”
Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons
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