DMX, Foxy Brown, Ja Rule, & Ashanti Perform at Def Jam 30 Concert

Def Jam celebrated 30 years of hip-hop with a star-studded concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Thursday night. The label’s past and present icons—from EPMD to Big Sean—united under one roof to perform some of their greatest hits.

Accompanied by Swizz Beatz, DMX tore up the stage with “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Where the Hood At,” and “Party (Up in Here).”

Ja Rule, who will star in MTV’s docu-series “Follow the Rules,” took it back with his Murder Inc. classics and brought out Irv Gotti and his former labelmate Ashanti for “Mesmerize” and “Always On Time.” The R&B princess stuck around to sing “Happy” and her debut single “Foolish.”

“This next record put me in the Guinness Book of World Records,” said Ashanti before performing the Biggie-sampled song, which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 in 2002.

Draped in a gold fur-lined jacket, a slimmer Rick Ross bumrushed the stage with French Montana and some twerking fans for “Pop That” and brought out Stalley for “One More Shot.”

Foxy Brown repped for her hometown with her classics “B.K. Anthem,” “Ain’t No Ni**a,” and “Get Me Home.”

Surprise guest Big Sean had the crowd singing along to his new anthem “I Don’t F**k With You,” Fabolous did his remix to “Hot Ni**a,” and 2 Chainz delivered a swagged-out set.