Set up in a New York dorm room by the now esteemed producer Rick Rubin and quickly joined by Russell Simmons, Def Jam quickly gained fame as the home of groundbreaking Rap and Hip-Hop.

The label's first releases from LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys came in 1984 and were quickly followed by a run of albums from the controversy-coveting political activists Public Enemy, a move that made Def Jam famous worldwide.