Rick Rubin Return To The NYU Dorm Room Where He Launched Def Jam

19 October,2014: Def Jam Recordings, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, was founded in a small New York University dorm room by Rick Rubin.

Rubin, who’s worked with an array of artists, from LL Cool J and Kanye West to Johnny Cashand Red Hot Chili Peppers, recently went back to where it all started as part of the Rolling Stonedocumentary, “Rick Was Here.”

“I can’t believe it’s 30 years,” he says while sitting in the dorm room in the documentary. “It’s really trippy. It doesn’t feel like that long. I’ll say I don’t normally look back very much, but when I come here, I think of the crazy parties that we had, being threatened to be kicked out for noise complaints, the adventures.”

Those adventures helped create a foundation for a label that would eventually help define a genre and a culture as Def Jam would be home to several iconic Rap figures, including T La Rock, Jazzy Jay, Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Jay Z, among others.

The documentary, of course, also outlines Rubin’s partnership with Russell Simmons, who provided credibility in business while helping Def Jam become a “a real record company,” in Rubin’s eyes.