Biography
Born Jeffrey Forston, Def Jef earned recognition as one of the stronger sociopolitical voices in rap during the late 1980s and early 1990s. His 1989 debut Just a Poet With Soul drew strong acclaim, yet the 1991 follow-up Soul Food landed with milder impact, prompting a move into behind-the-scenes work. Once he stepped back from the microphone, production and remix duties connected him to projects by Nas, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Nadanuf, Boss, Bone, and Shaquille O'Neal. Brief screen turns followed in the 1990 feature Downtown and the 1992 release Deep Cover, while he also kept a hand in television as music supervisor for MTV’s Lyricist Lounge series. In 2002 the producer and his Kontrol Freeks unit assembled Kontrol Ya’self, an audio software package containing beats, samples, and tracks.
Albums
