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Def Jam South was the music division of
Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...
. The label focused primarily on southern acts. It was best known for launching the career of
Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
and his own imprint,
Disturbing tha Peace Disturbing tha Peace Records (DTP) is an American record label founded by Ludacris, Jeff Dixon, and Chaka Zulu. History Beginnings Disturbing tha Peace was founded in 1998 by Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges, manager Chaka Zulu, and Zulu's brother ...
. In 2004, following the signing of
Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...
and hip-hop's overdominance of
trap music Trap is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United States during the 1990s. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang word "trap", a house used exclusively to sell drugs. Trap music uses synthesized drums and is ch ...
, the division was folded into Def Jam.


Company history


History

In the late 1990s, hip hop's main popularity moved from
West Coast hip hop West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the ea ...
and
East Coast hip hop East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the Bronx, New York City. In contrast to other styles, East Coast hip ...
to
Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memph ...
. Co-founder of Def Jam Recordings,
Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...
, wanted to capitalize off of the success of southern rap. He recruited Scarface, a southern rap legend and former member of the
Geto Boys Geto Boys (originally spelled Ghetto Boys) was an American hip-hop group originally formed in Houston, Texas. The Geto Boys enjoyed success in the 1990s with the group's classic lineup consisting of Bushwick Bill, Scarface and Willie D, earning ...
to be the head of the label and, by 1999, the label was established. Later that year, a former Atlanta DJ named Chris Luva Luva began rapping under the moniker
Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
and released his debut solo album, ''
Incognegro ''Incognegro'' is the independent and debut studio album by American rapper Ludacris. It was released on August 17, 1999, by Ludacris' newly founded indie record label, DTP Entertainment. Recording sessions took place from 1998 to 1999, with Luda ...
,'' independently on his own record label
Disturbing tha Peace Disturbing tha Peace Records (DTP) is an American record label founded by Ludacris, Jeff Dixon, and Chaka Zulu. History Beginnings Disturbing tha Peace was founded in 1998 by Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges, manager Chaka Zulu, and Zulu's brother ...
. Scarface listened to the album while visiting Atlanta and made a deal to distribute Ludacris and his DTP imprint through Def Jam. Ludacris became one of the biggest stars in the southern hip hop market and would lead the Def Jam South division to great heights with the releases of ''
Back for the First Time ''Back for the First Time'' is the major label debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist Ludacris. The album, his major label debut, was released on October 17, 2000 as planned, under Disturbing tha Peace and Def Jam South. Backgr ...
'' (2000), ''
Word of Mouf ''Word of Mouf'' is the second studio album by American rapper Ludacris; it was released on November 27, 2001, by Disturbing tha Peace and Def Jam South. It contains the singles, "Rollout (My Business)", "Area Codes", "Move Bitch", and "Saturday ( ...
'' (2001) and ''Chicken-N-Beer'' (2003). Scarface would end up releasing only one album under Def Jam South, ''The Fix'', in August 2002, as he left the label for
Rap-A-Lot Records Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records with the release of Raheem's 1988 debut ''The Vigilante''. The label w ...
soon after. Following this,
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
could not afford to finance the label's division anymore, due to the ongoing
music piracy Music piracy is the copying and distributing of recordings of a piece of music for which the rights owners (composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company) did not give consent. In the contemporary legal environment, it is a form ...
crisis, so on, Def Jam South was folded into the master generality of Def Jam Records in 2004, as they were in the process of signing then-newcomer
Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...
.


"Unofficial" revival (2005)

In the summer of 2005, Atlanta rapper
Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...
would release his debut album, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101''. It would later go platinum and claim a so-called "revival" of the label. In 2009,
DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...
was named president of Def Jam South. DJ Khaled left Def Jam South in 2011 after his label,
We the Best Music We The Best Music Group is an American record label founded by DJ Khaled. Previously We The Best operated as an imprint of IDJMG's division Def Jam South, and afterward as an imprint of the Universal Records division Cash Money Records. As of No ...
, would be a part of Cash Money Records, a division of Def Jam's sister Universal Music label,
Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...
. There has been no official releases under Def Jam South, as of 2022. Despite the shutdown, an official
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
playlist exists under the label's profile with the division name, included with songs by Ludacris, Jeezy and recent Def Jam signees
Fredo Bang Fredrick Dewon Thomas Givens II (born March 29, 1996), known professionally as Fredo Bang, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is best known for his tracks "Oouuh" and "Top" (featuring Lil Durk). In April 2020, he released his ...
and
Kaash Paige D'Kyla Paige Woolen (born January 8, 2001), known professionally as Kaash Paige (a backronym for Kill All Arrogance, Stop Hatred), is an American singer and songwriter from Dallas, Texas. She is signed to Se Lavi Productions and Def Jam Recordin ...
.


Former Artists

*
Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a member of the southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside André 3000. ...
*
DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...
*
Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...
* Scarface *
Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...


Discography


References

{{Authority control, state=expanded Hip hop record labels Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Def Jam Recordings