def

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The word def is hip hop (and graffiti) slang, generally meaning a positive adjective used as a superlative. Taken from the root word 'definitive', if something is 'def' then it is classified as being very good. If something is very definitive in its representation of its genre or classification, it is 'def'. Def Jam records took their name from this term.

The term originated in New York in the early 1980s. It made it into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1993, whereby Rick Rubin (president of Def American Records) and members of the rap community subsequently had a mock funeral for the word, with a eulogy performed by Al Sharpton.^[1]

Other uses

• DEF, the acronym
• Mos Def: a rap artist.
• Def Jef: a rap artist
• So So Def Recordings: a rap record label.
• Def Jam Recordings: a rap record label.
• Def American: a rock and rap record label.
• Def Pen Radio: an online radio show.
• Def Leppard: British hard rock band.
• Deftones: an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California

References

1. ^ Solomon, Zaichkowsky and Polegato. Consumer Behaviour. Pearson, Toronto. 2005

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