Following on from the barnstorming success of Straight Outta Compton, Hollywood is wasting no time getting other a-list hip hop properties onto the silver screen. While we heard recently that a Death Row Records film has been green lit, the latest news in tinseltown’s love affair with the pioneers of hip hop being that Def Jam Recordings is set to get the biopic treatment.
The label, founded by legendary producer Rick Rubin and iconic hip hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons, was home of such influential artists as Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys. Started in Rubin’s college dorm room in 1983 before Rubin had even met Simmons, it would be Vincent Gallo that would introduce the two, with the rest being music history.
The film will be based on Life & Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, + God, the memoir written by Simmons in 2002. Still very much in the early stages of development, the film nevertheless already has some stars attached with Wolf Of Wall St‘s Jonah Hill rumored to be playing Rubin, while the role of Simmons would be filled by Michael B Jordan, the star of the upcoming Rocky spin-off Creed.
Although there is no word yet on which actors are being considered to play the roles of the label’s stars, let us know what you think in the comments. However one things can speculate on is that if Hill and Jordan are anything to go off we should expect a more star studded ensemble than Straight Outta Compton‘s largely unknown cast.
Stay tuned for more news, although in the meantime you can relive a little of the old Def Jam glory days and watch the iconic video for Fight For Your Right (To Party) by The Beastie Boys here below.
Watch: The Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right (To Party)
