Russell Simmons & Rick Rubin On The Birth Of Def Jam Recordings [Video]

Two music pioneers square off in this special edition of Noisey’s Back & Forth series focused on the 30th Anniversary of the legendary Def Jam Recordings. Def Jam founders Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin talk about the early days of the label, their first twelve-inch release, LL Cool J’s hit “Radio,” and LL Cool J’s involvement with Run-D.M.C. in this clip, available via Noisey for the first time.

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Chuuwee – JFK (DJBooth Freestyle Series) [Video]

Oft imitated but never equaled, the DJBooth Freestyle Series ran from February 2009 through June 2011. Its 250 total entries were the work of a veritable who’s-who of underground and emerging emcees, including rising stars like Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller. Now, it’s back for a second round. The ninth entry in the relaunched series comes courtesy of Chuuwee, the Sacramento representative last featured with November’s F**kin’ Great. On JFK, Swoooots‘s ominous keyboard loops set the stage for hard-nosed lyrical flames from the unsigned buzzmaker. Chuuwee’s Amerikkka’s Most Blunted mixtape, a collaboration with Trizz, is slated to drop later this month. In the meantime, fans are encouraged to check out his 2013 projects, The Great GatZby (with Shae Money) and Thrill.

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