From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Def Jam South
Def Jam South
Def Jam South of the biggest stars in the hip hop market and would lead
the label to great heights. Despite this, Island Def Jam
could not afford to finance the label anymore so they
shut it down in 2003.
Revival through Jeezy (2005-present)
In early 2005, Def Jam announced that they were re-
launching the label and that Ludacris and DTP were re-
turning along with new act Young Jeezy and his Corpo-
rate Thugz Entertainment imprint. Atlanta rapper Young
Jeezy would release his debut album, which would go
Parent company Universal Music Group platinum and revive the label. New releases from the
Founded 1999 DTP camp kept the label on the radio and gained them
more recognition than they ever had in their previous
Founder Russell Simmons run. In 2006, they were able to reach a distribution deal
Distributor(s) Def Jam Recordings with Slip-n-Slide Records to release albums from their
artists signed from that point on. In December 2005, Cash
Genre Southern hip hop
Money Records producer Mannie Fresh announced that
Country of origin United States he was leaving that label. Fresh was quickly signed on to
become the new CEO of Def Jam South. Scarface would
Location New York City, New York
end up leaving the label in 2003, returning for a one-al-
bum deal. As of 2009, DJ Khaled has been appointed pres-
Def Jam South is the southern division of Def Jam Record-
ident of the label.[1]
ings. The label is best-known for launching the career of
Ludacris and his Disturbing tha Peace group and label.
In 2003, the label shut down but was relaunched in 2005. Artists
They have also jump-started the career of Young Jeezy.
• DJ Khaled
• Ludacris
Company history • Young Jeezy
• Playaz Circle
Beginnings • Rick Ross
• Lil Scrappy
In the late 1990s, hip hop’s main popularity moved from
• The-Dream
West Coast hip hop and East Coast hip hop to Southern
• Ace Hood
hip hop. Founder of NY Label Def Jam Russell Simmons
• U.S.D.A.
wanted to capitalize off of the success of southern rap.
• Young Zasta
He recruited Scarface, a southern rap legend and former
member of the Geto Boys to be the head of the label
and, by 1999, the label was established. Also in 1999, an References
Atlanta DJ named Chris Luva Luva began rapping under
[1] "DJ Khaled Wants Hits -- Not Beef -- As President Of
the moniker Ludacris and released his debut solo album
Def Jam South". Shaheem Reid. MTV Networks.
Incognegro independently on his own record label Dis-
February 19 2009. http://www.mtv.com/news/
turbing tha Peace. Scarface listened to the album while
articles/1605328/20090218/dj_khaled.jhtml.
visiting Atlanta and made a deal to distribute Ludacris
Retrieved 2009-05-25.
and his DTP label through Def Jam. Ludacris became one
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Def_Jam_South&oldid=466968624"
Categories:
• Hip hop record labels
• Labels distributed by Universal Music Group
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Def Jam South
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