Def Jam Recordings 25th Anniversary [Box]

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: This 4-CD, 59-song box set marks the ten year anniversary of the Def Jam Music Group. It includes a 64-page full color booklet with photographs, liner notes and track-by-track annotations. Def Jam scored an almost unfathomable streak of hits during the opening years of the golden age of hip-hop. The legendary label founded by Rick Rubin & Russell Simmons launched the careers of LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and many others. This sleekly packaged four-disc box set, released in 1994, chronicles the halcyon years of the imprint. The set features smash hits like "Around the Way Girl," "Fight the Power," and "Fight for Your Right" from the abovementioned superstars, alongside groundbreaking singles like Slick Rick's "Children's Story" and Onyx's "Slam," winding up as hip-hop took its next turn with tracks like Method Man's "Bring the Pain."

Rolling Stone (12/14/95, p.81) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a sound on the New York streets...the driving force behind the most musically influential--and financially succesful--new record label of the '80s....its initial breakthrough, its stormy maturation and, finally, its establishment as a major industry player..." Spin (12/95, p.120) - 7 - Flawed Yet Worthy - "...the stable that introduced hip-hop's new-school generation...presenting brash artists with trademark personae, 'round the way allegiances, and prodigious enough rhyme skills to last an entire album....Get this to hear hip-hop's conquest of pop play out on your stereo..." Q (1/96, p.157) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "It's almost trite to say, but Def Jam is the most important black music label since Atlantic and Motown....The other astonishing thing about this wholly remarkable label is that it has continued to be vital and innovative throughout its 11-year history..." Melody Maker (12/2/95, p.31) - Bloody Essential - "...you can crash in here at random and...hear something that pipes more feeling, open intelligence, wild imagination and a simple sonic appeal into a couple of minutes than the whole of this week's...charts....The only real recommendation is capital letters saying LISTEN..." Musician (2/96, p.93) - "...Def Jam's courtship of major label music...helped create a pop-culture juggernaut, one that shredded conventions on television rather than on the indie circuit...not only captures the highlights of rap's premier label, but shows how hip-hop grew up before our eyes..." Village Voice (2/20/96) - Tied for #7 on the Reissues list of Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. NME (Magazine) (12/23-30/95, p.23) - Ranked #2 on NME's `Compilations Of The Year' list for 1995. NME (Magazine) (11/25/95, p.46) - 10 (out of 10) - "...Def Jam...is probably the only record label in history that can truly claim to have altered the musical landscape both dramatically and permanently....this awesome collection...[is] an absolute must-steal for anyone with an interest in uncompromising, insurrectionary music....This, in short, is the shit..."

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25