Of Hooptys and Hovercrafts; The Def Jux Juggernaut Goes Down

Definitive Jux Records, the most innovative sonic force in hip-hop over the last ten years, will be going on an indefinite hiatus. In the words of El-P, the label's founder and artistic director:

"In 2000 starting a traditional record label made a lot of sense. But now, in 2010, less so and I find myself yearning for something else to put my energy into. I also see newer, smarter, more interesting things on the horizon for the way art and commerce intersect, and as an artist and an entrepreneur, I'm eager to see them unfold. The evolution of this industry is, in my opinion, exciting, inevitable and it would be nice to see the DEFINITIVE JUX brand be a part of it. In other words, maybe we can turn this hoopty in to a hovercraft."

Def Jux was known for El-P's signature beats, which I can most accurately label 'futuristic industrial noise-funk,' and a roster of verbally intimidating rappers. El-P's former group, Company Flow, launched this sound with 1996's Funcrusher Plus (reissued in 2009 on Def Jux), and Def Jux releases The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox and Labor Days by Aesop Rock rank among the landmark hip-hop albums of this past decade. I truly do hope that the changing landscape of music production and distribution will allow Def Jux to reemerge from its hibernation as a hovercraft, and if it does, it will be well-armed with beats that break the sound barrier and some of the most dangerous emcees around. Rather than write any further about their music, I will let the Def Jux roster speak for themselves.

Aesop Rock - Daylight
 
I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent
While the triple-sixers' lassos keep angels roped in the basement
I walk the block with a halo and a stick pokin' your patience

 Cage - Shoot Frank

One last vein to poke made it too dark to see this
Scenery slips then line up to go in the ground and leave us
So repeat this till I'm sick and I won't feed this
To my little girl who kept me in this world to beat this

Cannibal Ox - Ox Out The Cage

Vast Aire:
I grab the mic like, "Are you experienced?"
But I don't play the guitar, I play my cadence

Vordul Mega:
Rap this subliminal thoughts of criminal ways
While critical times got my mind locked in a physical maze

Company Flow - The Fire In Which You Burn

El-P: 
Even when I say nothing it’s a beautiful use of negative space

El-P - Fantastic Damage

vagrant of Reaganomics phasing
read the books that will burn at the barn-raising

this is the third installment of a prequel that was never written right
filmed with that classic Brooklyn magic, without Lucasarts graphics
rendered cuddly comic relief creatures or terrible child actors

Mr. Lif - Return Of The B-Boy

The innocence of infants, instincts of incest,
burning incense i'm intense,
funny how the powerful scent just dents his senses

Murs - Walk Like A Man

Now I used to walk with the gun now I walk like a man
And I walk what I talk and I walk never ran
And I never say never but I mean hardly ever
And if shootin' is the solution then you're not that clever
If you don't know shit then you still know better

Perceptionists - Black Dialogue

yeah, it was written in the books of europeans we were savage
that our history was insignificant and minds below average

master yourself, for maximum outreach potential
respect that you get from that will roll exponential

RJD2 - The Horror

(cool sounding beats)
time to understand the horror
time to understand the monster
(cool sounding beats)