The Dawn of Def Jam via Rolling Stone

In 1984, Def Jam Records, the label that defined hip-hop’s commercial and artistic potential, was born in a very unlikely location: a tiny New York University dorm room. Founder Rick Rubin — now a record-industry legend who’s shepherded the careers of everyone from Jay Z to the Red Hot Chili Peppers — hadn’t returned to that Greenwich Village double-occupancy room in three decades. But for Rolling Stone Films’ premiere documentary, Rick Was Here, he ventured back to Weinstein Hall, room 712, to remember how it all began. “I can’t believe it’s 30 years,” he says. “It’s really trippy.”

RelatedRick Rubin

Rick Rubin on a Lifetime of Meditation and Music

In the film presented by MaggieVision Productions and director Josh Swade, Rubin recalls the energy of Eighties New York, the attempt to make records that sounded like the raw performances he heard in clubs and the wild parties he threw in the dorm room listed as the label address on the first Def Jam 12-inch, T La Rock and Jazzy Jay’s explosive, drum machine-driven “It’s Yours.” The Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz remembers how he plucked a demo out of a pile in the room and told Rubin, “Man, this is really good, Rick. You gotta check it out.” (The tape belonged to a teenage MC named LL Cool J.)

Once he teamed with burgeoning mogul Russell Simmons, the Def Jam age — and hip-hop as an unavoidable market force — officially began. Rubin started DJ-ing for the Beasties and spent two years working with them on their legendary debut album, Licensed to Ill. “Nothing that happened was intentional,” he tells us. “Everything was trying to make something cool to play for our friends that they would like.”

In Rick Was Here — which arrives as Def Jam is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a new box set and special concert tonight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center — Simmons, LL Cool J, Rubin’s college roommate Adam Dubin, former Def Jam president Lyor Cohen and more tell the story of how it all became possible. “Make it yours,” Rubin says. “That’s the thing that can change the world.”

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/dawn-of-def-jam-watch-rick-rubin-return-to-his-nyu-dorm-room-20141016#ixzz3IyyCriK7
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Fela Kuti: Zombie

Fela Kuti’s Zombie Album. 
Who you ask? Actually, I’m not totally sure yet either. But what I do know, is that he influenced not only many musicians across the world but also created a musical style called Afrobeat.
Around May of 2013 I read a great book by Talking Heads founder David Byrne called How Music Works. In that book David talks about the influence that Fela Kuti had on him and his music.

Fela Kuti“…I knew that he was a phenomenon, a unique phenomenon, in that the music he was bringing together, it sounded like it, and it truly was, he had lived in the United States for a while, he was influenced by the Black Power movement in the late ’60s, by the different strands of American music at that time, whether it was Miles Davis or Coltrane, James Brown, etc. And you could hear all that, you hear him put it together with African grooves and create something completely new out of it. But it’s obviously informed by, he’s bringing a lot of what was happening on this continent back to Africa. Just amazing! The lyrics and everything, having something to say that wasn’t just party music, that made it pretty incredible too.”
– David Byrne on Fela Kuti, 1999

I thought I should look in to Fela at that time but it got lost in the chaos of my mind and I neglected to follow up on my instincts. Fast forward to July of 2014 and I am watching a crazy documentary in an L.A. hotel room while in town for work. Beware of Mr. Baker follows the strange and drug-fueled career of Ginger Baker who was the amazing drummer behind Eric Clapton’s Cream(Check out Disraeli Gears if you haven’t already), Blind Faith and – you guessed it – he also played with Fela Kuti.
OK, how have I never heard of this guy before and then I randomly am exposed to him through David Byrne and Ginger Baker? This is what I love about music; you are always chasing the white rabbit. The influences and discovery of great music never ends.
In July I did watch a few videos and listen to tidbits of his songs, but I felt I really needed to rediscover this artist and have had it on top of my mind. It didn’t take long to discover that he has a long queue of current music icons and influencers. Here is one article alone that has praise from the likes of Brian Eno, Talib Kweli, George Clinton, Common and Paul McCartney to just name a few.
http://www.okayafrica.com/video/fela-kuti-afrobeat-legend-interviews/
If Paul McCartney is in, I have to be in.

So I have chosen what appears to be his most influential album called Zombie. Released in 1977(I was just watching Star Wars, lol), Zombie brings his political views to the forefront, which you will see eventually leads to his death. This is an amazing story and an amazing musician that continues to influence modern rock, rap, hip hop, jazz, latin and so much more. I can’t wait to learn more about him and this afrobeat music. Let the listening and discovery begin.
Album link: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/zombie/id682197269
About Fela: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti
Zombie Album Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_(album)
Other Links:
findingfela.com
felaproject.net
Red Hot + Fela
I hope everyone enjoys this first pick.
Darren Scott
Click here to read our reviews of Zombie.