Business is Booming

In a university dorm room, a rap dynasty is emerging. NME travels to New York to interview wordsmiths RuN DMC, along the way meeting producers Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons – the brains behind Def Jam. “The street wants something specific,” says Simmons.

LAST WEEK in New York I was told to go and meet a tubby 23-year-old record producer called Rick Rubin. Rick studies video at New York University and estimates that he hasn’t attended one class in the last 10 months. He’s not that bothered. He’s pretty certain that he’ll graduate at the end of the year. He lives on campus in a tiny cramped room which has difficulty accommodating his possessions, let alone his roommate’s. Every available space is taken up. Shelves are stacked high with records, books and tapes, the floor is covered with clothes and those all-important Nike training shoes.

It is from here that Rick runs Def Jam Records. His boss, Russell Simmons, operates from the other side of town. But he’s involved in so many other projects that to all intents and purposes Room 203, on the eighth floor of BNYU’s residential hall, is Def Jam.

So far Rick has produced and overseen the release of three singles: LL Cool J’s “I Need A Beat”, the wild “Rock Hard” by the Beastie Boys and “TLA Rock” by Jazzy Jay, three underground records that London’s b-boys have cherished these last few months.

Rick has two more singles on hold, and when he plays you these he cranks up the volume to an almost unbearable level, sits in his chair and, with eyes tightly closed, concentrates on every sound and every detail with an almost manic intensity. When the tune finishes, Rick remains transfixed in this position for about 10 seconds and then… boom!… he’ll snap out of it, smile, and change the record.