Simmons and Rubin edged out Jazzy Jay and the official Def Jam record label was founded while Rubin was attending New York University in 1984. Jazzy Jay introduced Rubin to concert promoter/artist manager Russell Simmons in the Negril club, and Rubin explained he needed help getting Def Jam off the ground. Producer Arthur Baker helped to distribute the record worldwide on Baker's Streetwise Records in 1984. By 1983, the two had produced 'It's Yours' for Bronx rapper T La Rock, and released it on Def Jam. Having befriended Zulu Nation's DJ Jazzy Jay, Rubin began to learn about hip hop production. The band broke up in 1984 as Rubin's passion moved towards the NYC hip hop scene.

The band played in and around the NYC punk scene, toured the Midwest and California, and played with seminal hardcore bands like Meat Puppets, HГјsker DГј, Circle Jerks, Butthole Surfers, and Minor Threat, becoming friends with Fugazi frontman and Dischord Records owner Ian MacKaye. In 1982, a Hose track became Def Jam's first release, a 45 rpm 7' vinyl single in a brown paper bag, and no label. He moved on to form Hose, influenced by San Francisco's Flipper. Although he had no authority in New York City, Rubin's father traveled from Nassau County, New York, to Manhattan wearing his Long Beach auxiliary police uniform as he attempted to 'shut down' the show.Дuring his senior year of high school, Rubin founded Def Jam Records using the school's four-track recorder. Their biggest claim to fame was being thrown off the stage at CBGB, after performing two songs, for brawling with the heckling audience, a brawl which was instigated by friends of the band who had been instructed to do so to get the show shut down and create a buzz. He then played in a band with childhood friends Marc Greenhut, Carlos Ferreiro, and Joey Ferrante, performing at garage and school shows for town friends until a teacher helped him create a punk band called The Pricks.

While a student at Long Beach High School he befriended the school's audiovisual department director Steve Freeman who gave him a few lessons in guitar playing and songwriting. His father, Michael (Mickey), was a shoe wholesaler and his mother Linda a housewife. Frederick Jay Rubin was born in Long Beach, New York and grew up in nearby Lido Beach.

The geto boys supreme