Def Jam To Be Honored By VHI

Label Will Be Lauded At Net's Sixth Annual Hip Hop Honors Event

Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 6/15/2009 8:52:00 AM

Def Jam Label To Be Honored
By R. Thomas Umstead
Influential hip-hop record label Def Jam Records will be the honoree at VH1's sixth annual Hip Hop Honors 2009 event in October.
The show, which celebrates hip hop music luminaries who broke new ground and propelled the genre, will premiere Oct. 12 and will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Def Jam, which spurred the careers of LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Kanye West, Slick Rick, Rick Ross and Rihanna.
"It is impossible to pay tribute to the best in hip hop without recognizing Def Jam Records," said Lee Rolontz, EVP of Music Production. "Throughout the years VH1 has honored numerous artists from the Def Jam label, but due to the magnificent impact that Def Jam as a company has made on not only hip hop culture but pop culture as a whole, we thought they definitely deserved the opportunity to be honored."