Def Jam South was a 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 l ...

. The label focused primarily on southern acts. It was best known for launching the career of its first artist signed,

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

and his own imprint,

Disturbing tha Peace Disturbing tha Peace Records (or DTP) is an American record label founded by rapper Ludacris, Ludacris' manager Chaka Zulu, and Chaka Zulu's brother Jeff Dixon in 1998. History Beginnings Disturbing tha Peace was founded in 1998 by Christ ...

. In 2004, following the signing of

Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for ...

and hip-hop's overdominance of

trap music Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music which originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from t ...

, 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, hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during th ...

and East Coast hip hop 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 Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee ...

. 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. He has p ...

, wanted to capitalize off of the success of southern rap. 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. Later that year, a former Atlanta DJ named Chris Luva Luva began rapping under the moniker

and released his debut solo album, '' Incognegro,'' independently on his own record label

. 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'' (2000), '' Word of Mouf'' (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 soon after. Following this,

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

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 Recordings 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. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music fo ...

"Unofficial" revival (2005)

In the summer of 2005, Atlanta rapper

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 and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

was named president of Def Jam South. DJ Khaled left Def Jam South in 2011 after his label, We the Best Music, would be a part of Cash Money Records, a division of Def Jam's sister Universal Music label,

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, 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 ...

. There has been no official releases under Def Jam South, as of 2022. Despite the shutdown, an official

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

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 2020 single "Top" (remixed featuring Lil Durk), which received platinum certi ...

and Kaash Paige.

Former artists

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), known professionally as Big Boi, is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in Atlanta, he was one half of the Southern hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper ...

* Scarface *

Discography

References

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