Def Jef

Last updated

Def Jef
Birth nameJeffrey A. Fortson
Born (1970-09-27) September 27, 1970 (age 53)
Harlem, New York, U.S.
Genres Rap, hip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, music producer, actor
Years active1984–present
Labels Delicious Vinyl, Thugline

Def Jef is the stage name of Jeffrey Fortson [1] (born September 27, 1970), an American alternative hip hop musician and rapper of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was born in Harlem, New York City.

Contents

His debut album was 1989's Just a Poet with a Soul , [2] which won critical acclaim for sociopolitical lyrics and original beats. [1] Additionally, he was a member of the West Coast Rap All-Stars, a collaboration of West Coast-based hip hop artists who released the anti-violence single "We're All in the Same Gang" in 1990. He performed on the television variety show In Living Color in 1990. [3]

After his second album, Soul Food , was released, Def Jef moved into production full-time. [1] Since the 1990s, he has produced, written, arranged and remixed artists including Nas, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kimberley Locke, Maxwell, Avant, Tupac Shakur, and Shaquille O'Neal. He has worked with Krayzie Bone and Thugline Records.

He produced the theme songs for the Disney sitcom That's So Raven and The Game .

Def Jef also appeared in the feature film Deep Cover in 1992. [1]

Discography

Related Research Articles

The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music, beginning in 1983–84 with the early records of Run–D.M.C., Whodini, and LL Cool J. Predominantly from Queens and Brooklyn, it was characterized by drum machine-led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock; rapped taunts, boasts, and socio-political commentary; and aggressive, self-assertive delivery. In song and image, its artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with funk and disco, novelty hits, live bands, synthesizers, and party rhymes of artists prevalent in the early 1980s. Compared to their older hip hop counterparts, new school artists crafted more cohesive LPs and shorter songs more amenable to airplay. By 1986, their releases began to establish hip hop in the mainstream.

The Native Tongues were a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists known for their positive-minded, good-natured Afrocentric lyrics, and for pioneering the use of eclectic sampling and jazz-influenced beats. Its principal members were the Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love, and Queen Latifah. The collective was also closely tied to the Universal Zulu Nation. Rolling Stone cites the track "Doin' Our Own Dang" as "the definitive Native Tongues posse cut".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daz Dillinger</span> American rapper and producer

Delmar Drew Arnaud, known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz, is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label in pioneering West Coast hip hop and gangsta rap for mainstream audiences. Alongside Kurupt, he formed the hip hop duo tha Dogg Pound in 1992, with whom he has released eight albums.

Ulpiano Sergio Reyes, better known as Mellow Man Ace, is a Cuban-American rapper known for bilingual delivery and novelty rhymes. He was born in Cuba and moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compton's Most Wanted</span> American hip hop group

Compton's Most Wanted (C.M.W.) is an American gangsta rap group and part of the early West Coast hip hop scene. The leaders of the group are MC Eiht and Tha Chill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Quik</span> American rapper, record producer, and DJ (born 1970)

David Marvin Blake, better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper, record producer, and DJ, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Tupac, Chingy, R. Kelly and Shaquille O'Neal, among others. Blake's stage name reflects his ability to produce songs in a short period of time. Some of his top songs include "Dollaz + Sense", "Tonite", "Born and Raised in Compton" and "Jus Lyke Compton".

Mark Howard James, professionally known as The 45 King and also known as DJ Mark the 45 King, was an American hip hop producer and DJ from The Bronx, New York. He began DJing in the mid-1980s. His pseudonym, the 45 King, came from his ability to make beats using obscure 45 RPM records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlanta hip hop</span> Music genre

Although the music scene of Atlanta is rich and varied, the city's production of hip-hop music has been especially noteworthy, acclaimed, and commercially successful. In 2009, The New York Times called Atlanta "hip-hop's center of gravity", and the city is home to many famous hip hop, R&B, and neo soul musicians.

<i>Hip Hop Connection</i> British magazine

Hip Hop Connection (HHC) was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".

Denise "Dee" Barnes is an American rapper and former Fox television personality who performed in the West Coast hip hop female duo Body & Soul and hosted a radio show on KDAY, prior to gaining wider fame as the host of Fox's hip hop show Pump It Up!, a weekly FOX TV rap music series on air from 1989-1992, according to IMDb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delicious Vinyl</span> American independent record label

Delicious Vinyl is an American independent record label founded by Matt Dike and Michael Ross in 1987 and based in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We're All in the Same Gang</span> 1990 single by The West Coast Rap All-Stars

"We're All in the Same Gang" is a hip hop song by a collaboration of prominent American West Coast hip hop recording artists under the West Coast Rap All-Stars umbrella, who assembled to promote an anti-violence message. It was released on May 22, 1990 through Warner Bros. Records as the lead single and a title track from the compilation album of the same name. Produced by Dr. Dre, the posse cut features contributions from King Tee, Body & Soul, Def Jef, Michel'le, Tone-Lōc, Above The Law, Ice-T, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, J. J. Fad, Young MC, Digital Underground, Oaktown's 3.5.7, MC Hammer and Eazy-E, with the voice of the news reader in the song's intro was done by then-future World Championship Wrestling announcer Lee Marshall. Music video for the song was directed by Ken Andrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boss (rapper)</span> American rapper (1969–2024)

Lichelle Marie Laws, better known by her stage name Boss, was an American rapper from Detroit. Her debut album, Born Gangstaz, reached number three on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 1993. Laws became best known as a part of the burgeoning West Coast gangsta rap scene in the early ’90s.

<i>Soul Food</i> (Def Jef album) 1991 studio album by Def Jef

Soul Food is the second album by the American musician Def Jef. It was released on September 22, 1991, on Delicious Vinyl, and featured production from Def Jef, DJ Mark the 45 King, Brand New Heavies, and Devastatin'. Two singles were released, "Here We Go Again" and "Cali's All That". Def Jef promoted the album by touring with Brand New Heavies.

Hip-hop or hip hop music, also known as rap, and formerly as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s by African Americans and Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "hip hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own." By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified racially and genderly. The music developed as part of the broader hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.

Alternative hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip hop groups that refuse to conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such as gangsta, bass, hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres drawing equally from funk and pop/rock, as well as jazz, soul, reggae, and even folk."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Run-DMC</span> American hip hop group

Run-DMC was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, formed in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and especially one of the most famous hip hop acts of the 1980s. Along with Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, and Public Enemy, the group pioneered the fun music new-school hip hop music and helped usher in the golden age of hip hop. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC and DJ relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaz-O</span> American rapper and record producer (born 1964)

Jonathan Allen Burks Sr., better known by his stage name Jaz-O, is an American rapper and record producer. Active in the late 1980s through the 1990s, he became known in retrospect as the mentor of fellow Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z. Burks, nicknamed "the Originator", debuted the artist on his 1986 single "H. P. Gets Busy". Burks signed with EMI to release three studio albums: Word to the Jaz (1989), To Your Soul (1990) and Kingz Kounty (2002). His debut extended play (EP), The Warmup (2021) was the first release from the Roc Nation subsidiary, Equity Distribution. He has also been credited with production work for other artists including Puff Daddy, Rakim, Usual Suspects, GZA, Kool G Rap, Queen Latifah, M.O.P., and Group Home, among others.

Progressive rap is a broad subgenre of hip hop music that aims to progress the genre thematically with socially transformative ideas and musically with stylistic experimentation. Developing through the works of innovative US hip hop acts during the 1980s and 1990s, it has also been known at various points as conscious, underground, and alternative hip hop.

"Bra" is a song by British funk band Cymande from their self-titled debut studio album Cymande. Written by the group's members Patrick Patterson and Steve Scipio, it was recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in London, produced by John Schroeder, and released as a 7-inch single first in 1972 and then through Janus Records in 1973. Released as the second single from the album, the song peaked at No. 51 on the Soul Singles Billboard chart in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Colin Larkin, ed. (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 80. ISBN   0-7535-0252-6.
  2. Kellman, Andy. "Biography: Def Jef". AMG . Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  3. Def Jef at IMDb