Fan explainer Crate Guide
Def Jam by the decade: a fan’s crate-digging guide
From LL Cool J to Rihanna and Justin Bieber, here is how the label’s roster changed decade by decade.
Fan-written summary of publicly documented facts. Check the sources at the end.
1980s
LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy define the label’s first era.
1990s
Method Man’s Tical (1994), DMX’s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998) and Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella releases, including Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998), put Def Jam back on top.
2000s
Jay-Z becomes president in 2004. Ludacris rises through Def Jam South, Kanye West arrives via Roc-A-Fella with The College Dropout (2004), and Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) brings “Umbrella.”
2010s and beyond
Big Sean, Justin Bieber and Jhené Aiko are among the artists the label’s own channel highlights today.