Leslie Edward Pridgen, better known by his stage name Freeway, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first gained recognition after appearing on Jay-Z's fifth album, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia in 2000. The following year, he became a member of the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective State Property, which were signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. After releasing their debut album, Pridgen signed to Roc-A-Fella as a solo artist and began work on his debut album, Philadelphia Freeway (2003). Upon release, the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical response. He released a follow-up, Free at Last (2007) to moderate reception before him and fellow State Property cohorts were dropped from the label.
Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. Carter issued his debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996) as the label's first release, in a joint venture with Priority Records. The label has signed and released albums for acts including Kanye West, Cam'ron, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Juelz Santana, Freeway, Jadakiss, Teairra Marí, State Property, and The Diplomats before its dissolution in 2013.
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by Universal Music Group. It consists of labels created under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group, leaving IDJMG and its affiliated subsidiaries as separate sister labels.
M.O.P. is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. After years of mostly underground success, they gained more mainstream recognition in 2000 with the song "Ante Up", which would become their biggest hit. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premier and is part of the Gang Starr Foundation. Fame sometimes produces under the moniker Fizzy Womack, and has produced tracks on every M.O.P. release since 1996's Firing Squad, as well as work for other artists including Kool G Rap, Teflon and Wu-Tang Clan.
Dwight Equan Grant, better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his association with Jay-Z and his label Roc-A-Fella Records, to which Grant signed in 1998 and became a flagship artist. His debut studio album, The Truth (2000) was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200. Along with his solo career, Grant was the de facto leader of the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective State Property, which he formed with Roc-A-Fella labelmates, and who debuted in 2002 with a namesake film in which Grant starred. The group released two well-received studio albums.
State Property is a hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, led by rapper Beanie Sigel with fellow Philadelphia rappers Freeway, Peedi Crakk, Oschino Vasquez, and Omillio Sparks, and the duo Young Gunz. Formed in 2000, they signed with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records to release two studio albums: their eponymous debut album (2002) and The Chain Gang Vol. 2 (2003), both of which saw critical and commercial success. The former album accompanied the namesake film in which the group starred, while its sequel was released in 2005 and mainly starred Sigel. Each member was dropped from the label in late 2007, leaving the future of the group in question.
The Dynasty: Roc-La-Familia is the fifth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, featuring prominent appearances from signees of Roc-A-Fella Records. It was released on October 31, 2000, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its lead single, "I Just Wanna Love U ", produced by the Neptunes, became one of Jay-Z's most successful singles peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, with 557,789 copies sold in its first week. The album is certified double platinum by the RIAA. The album received positive reviews from critics, and became the 20th highest-selling R&B/Hip-Hop album of the 2000–2010 decade according to Billboard.
The Diplomats is an American hip hop collective formed in 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jimmy Jones in Harlem, New York. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew up together in Harlem. In 1999, fellow Harlem-based rapper Juelz Santana joined the group.
S. Carter Records was a record label formed by Jay-Z. The label included Foxy Brown. The label was formed after The Island Def Jam Music Group, holding a 50% stake in the Roc-A-Fella Records, bought the last 50% of the company. They also appointed Jay-Z the president of Def Jam Recordings, soon after Damon "Dame" Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke were released as the co-founders of Roc-A-Fella Records. Dash and Burke have started up Dame Dash Music Group since, which was also distributed by Island Def Jam. In 2009, S. Carter Records dissolved and went out of business after Jay-Z created Roc Nation in 2008, which was actually a 10-year contract agreement between him and concert promotion company Live Nation. Despite the closure, the name still bears copyright on later Jay-Z releases, albeit as "S. Carter Enterprises".
Pedro Louis Zayas, better known by his stage names Peedi Crakk or Peedi Peedi, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his guest appearances on Freeway's 2003 single "Flipside" and Jay-Z's album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002). He was a member of the Roc-A-Fella Records group State Property, and was signed to G-Unit Philly. He is of Puerto Rican descent.
Def Jam Recordings 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 B. Coming is the third studio album by American rapper Beanie Sigel. Originally scheduled for an October 2004 release, the album was ultimately released on March 29, 2005 through Dame Dash Music Group and Def Jam Recordings.
Roosevelt Harrell III, known professionally as Bink, is an American hip hop producer from Norfolk, Virginia, who is noted for his work with Roc-A-Fella Records artists. His most high-profile work has been Jay-Z's critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, for which he produced three tracks. He is sometimes credited as Bink! or Bink Dog. In 2011, Bink and American-reggae artist Atiba finished a collaborative album titled Foreigner. A release date for the project has yet to be announced.
Bobby Marcel Wilson, better known by his stage name Bobby V, is an American R&B singer. Born in Mississippi and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he first joined the R&B group Mista in 1994, who became best known for their 1996 single "Blackberry Molasses". The song preceded the release of their eponymous debut studio album that same year, which underperformed commercially. The group disbanded the following year.
Streets Is Watching is the soundtrack album to Abdul Malik Abbott's 1998 film of the same name. It was released on May 12, 1998, via Roc-A-Fella Records/Def Jam Recordings. Production was handled by Mahogany, Jaz-O, AK47, Darrel 'Digga' Branch, Dave G, Dinky Bingham, DJ Clue?, Irv Gotti, Ken "Duro" Ifill, M.O.P., Tone Capone, Ty Fyffe, and Dame Dash, who also served as one of executive producers together with Jay-Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. It features appearances from Jay-Z, Christión, Memphis Bleek, Diamonds In Da Rough, DMX, Ja Rule, M.O.P., N.O.R.E., Rell, Sauce Money, Usual Suspects, and The Ranjahz member Wais. The album fared well commercially reaching #27 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and having two singles appear on the Billboard Hot 100.
Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, music producer, and director based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
This page lists a discography of albums and extended plays released under or distributed by Def Jam Recordings, a division of Universal Music Group, which had been created in 1984. Records distributed by another label, but released under Def Jam, are also included or otherwise reviewed. Also included are albums or EPs that were released under Rush Associated Labels and subsidiaries like Original Black Recordings, DJ West, Def Soul, Disturbing tha Peace, Def Jam South, Roc-A-Fella Records, Murder Inc. Records, and GOOD Music.
Flight 360: The Takeoff is the second and final studio album by American hip hop duo Playaz Circle. It was released on June 23, 2009, on Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place at DB Studios in College Park, at Upstairs Studio in Atlanta, at KY Recordings, at Trak Meet Studios in St. Louis, at Milk Money Consulting, and at Solitaire Studios. Production was handled by Big Hurt, Wonder Arillo, Aktual, Brandon Casey, Brian Casey, Clarence "Kage" Holmes, Crank King, Kidz With Machine Gunz, Korleone, Larry Love, LT Moe, T-Gunnz, The Royalty, The Trak Starz, Tombstone, and Trouble Styles, with Chaka Zulu, Jeff Dixon and Ludacris serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Brandon Casey, Brian Casey, Bobby Valentino, CeeLo Green, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, OJ Da Juiceman, Raekwon, Sunni Patterson, Young Dro, Ivory Weems, Dunlap Exclusive and Jay Rush.
Paid in Full is the soundtrack album to the 2002 film, Paid in Full. It was released on October 25, 2002, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. The soundtrack was released on two compact discs. The first disc was a collection of old school hip hop and R&B songs, while the second was a collection of new songs recorded by Roc-A-Fella. The album peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200, number 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 2 on the Top Soundtracks chart.