This Friday, Chicago Urban Art Society will host a book signing and release party for the book Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label, celebrating the company's 25th Anniversary.
Larry Smith with Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay, D.M.C., and Reverend Run, 1985.
Launched in 1984, Def Jam has created the sound of young America – much as Motown’s artists provided so much of the soundtrack of the 60s. From LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy, to Method Man, Jay-Z, DMX, Ashanti, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Rihanna, and many others, Def Jam recordings changed pop culture and the music business forever, defining hip hop, and influencing fashion, art, cinema, and just plain lifestyle.
This Friday, October 21st at 6pm, Def Jam’s founding creative director, Cey Adams, and Def Jam’s founding publicist, Bill Adler will be at the Chicago Urban Art Society for a one night Chicago show to present, Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 years of the Last Great Record Label, and to discuss their book celebrating the company’s 25th year anniversary. The duo will lead a video/slide lecture and Q&A. Adams will also teach a two-hour art workshop that day, location TBA. Books will be available for purchase at the event and Adler and Adams will be signing them!
Many of us, even from several different generations, know and love Def Jam recordings and can appreciate the art the label has produced over the years. What Def Jam Recordings will present is a celebration of 25 years of this highly influential label by offering a compilation of juicy interviews and images tied seamlessly into a single retrospective narrative. Readers will also see images of the many promotional flyers, advertisements, movie posters, album cover art, magazine covers, and press clips distributed over the years around the world. Images by some of the best-known photographers of the era are featured: Annie Leibovitz, Albert Watson, Glen E. Friedman, and Jonathan Mannion. “Who would have thought, back in the ’80s, that we’d ever see a coffee-table book about rap,” writes former Def Jam chairman Lyor Cohen. Well, here it is, with enough boomboxes, gold chains and Kangol hats to please newbies and devotees alike.
Image of Chicago Urban Art Society’s Opening for The Post Family: Collections Exhibition 2011
Chicago Urban Art Society (CUAS) is a non-for profit art space located in a thriving art community just south of the loop. Through exhibitions, innovative teaching and learning opportunities, and non-traditional venue space, CUAS is by nature cross-platform and establishes its credibility through creative juxtapositions. CUAS offers a great range of events and exhibitions. Some recent highlights have been the 5 day Beethoven Festival in September, the Lowrider Pilsen Community Event which featured over 50 cars, live art making demonstrations and DJ, as well as the group exhibition Wood Worked which featured sculptures and paintings from local artists.
Friday, October 21: 6-11pm; free to the public
CUAS is located at 2229 S. Halsted (60608)
Official after party will be at Variable Space right off the Damen blue line.
RSVP for address + info at defjam25@groundliftmedia.com
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