Def Jam Recordings — NYU Dorm Room, New York

Def Jam Recordings was founded in 1983 in Rick Rubin's dormitory room at New York University's Weinstein Hall at 5 University Place in Greenwich Village. Rubin, then a 20-year-old NYU student, and Russell Simmons, an established hip hop promoter from Queens, partnered to create what would become the most important hip hop label in history. Their first major release — LL Cool J's 'I Need a Beat' (1984) — was recorded in Rubin's dorm room and sold over 100,000 copies. The label's early roster would grow to include the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Slayer, and Run-DMC.

Rubin's production style — stripped-down beats, heavy drums, rock guitar samples — defined the sound of hip hop in the mid-1980s and helped bring the genre into the mainstream. The Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill (1986) became the first hip hop album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. Run-DMC's collaboration with Aerosmith on 'Walk This Way' (1986), facilitated by Rubin and Simmons, broke down the barrier between rock and rap and became one of the most commercially significant singles in music history.

The NYU dormitory at 5 University Place still operates as student housing and bears no formal marker of its significance to hip hop history. Rubin went on to become one of the most successful producers in all genres of popular music, working with Johnny Cash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, and many others. Russell Simmons built Def Jam into a major label before departing. The label continues to operate as part of Universal Music Group.