Who were the Jewish men who shaped the sonic landscape of modern hip hop in the early 1980s?
Jerry Heller, Rick Rubin, and Lyor Cohen were the Jewish men who shaped the sonic landscape of modern hip hop in the early 1980s. Jerry Heller managed N.W.A., Rick Rubin founded Def Jam Recordings, and Lyor Cohen served as the former CEO of Def Jam. These figures built the infrastructure of the genre while their Jewish identity was often obscured.