Word: def
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Kevin Liles loves to give advice to young African Americans hoping to get into business. Starting as an unpaid intern at Def Jam, he worked his way up to president. Now an executive vice president at Warner Music, Liles, 37, recently published an inspirational book called Make It Happen. TIME's Dorinda Elliott talked with him about the race factor in business and playing the card game Guts with Jay-Z--but only after a barber gave Liles a trim in the Atlantic Records office...
What was it like for you, coming from Def Jam, which was a mostly black environment, moving into Warner, the big U.S. corporation...
...production, handled by Def Jux guru El-P, alongside other behemoths like DJ Shadow, Blockhead (Aesop Rock’s producer), as well as Cage’s long-time collaborator Camu Tao, snaps with aggressive buzzing thuds and lush melodic loops. El-P, who has a hand in more than half of the songs, opens with one of those rare productions where grinding guitar and a low end courtesy of the bassist from Yo La Tengo, actually work under the voice...
You’re hoping that he’ll go totally batshit, because most people can’t actually punch in faces left and right. Lyrical gymnastics and hot beats are here in abundance, but sometimes the street-slick Def Jux machine stifles too much of the high-pitched rapper who used to trigger nightmares...
...psychedelic folk family band whose records are highly sought after in the collecting world. The collaborative approach highlights the talents of some of the most innovative producers out there (including Danger Mouse, Caribou, Koushik, Kid Koala, Belle and Sebastian’s Chris Geddes, and Def Jux rapper Murs), while maintaining a sense of cohesion and respect for the original material that is unprecedented in remix projects of this ilk. Part of the success on this front must be attributed to Nobody (known for his work on the L.A.-based Plug Research), who curates the whole project with a light...