Def Jam Records founded, launching hip-hop's corporate era

Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin co-founded Def Jam Recordings in 1984, signing LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. Simmons, the Black business architect of the label, turned hip-hop into a commercial industry, later expanding into fashion (Phat Farm), television, and finance — making him the first hip-hop mogul and demonstrating the genre's enormous economic potential.