Giant put together this brief but fascinating video about Cey Adams, former art director at Def Jam and creator of some of the most iconic hip-hop album covers of all time. Adams has just put together a book with inveterate hip hop technician Bill Adler about the process of making them and their legacy. Wanna know who created Mary J. Blige’s signature logo? Yep, this is the dude. Not to be missed. Watch after the jump. (via Nah Right)

Click here to view the embedded video.

2009 has been a good year for The Dream. First he lands R&B hot chick Christina Milian (is she preggers? I’m not one to gossip but…), great reviews on his second album Love vs. Money, and now The Dream is…a label exec?

Who knew? The Dream, real name (say this 3x fast) Terius Hagert Youngdell Nash, announced via his Twitter that he has been appointed the Executive Vice President of Island Records, and thanked everyone over there at Def Jam for believing that he could take on the job. According to Nash, he “looks forward to the challenge of rebuilding music for not only Island Records, but for Universal Records as a whole.” Seems like he’s taking his new job pretty seriously, as he should be. No word yet on what the singer/songwriter/producer’s first task at hand is for the label, but this should be interesting to watch unfold.

Either way… CONGRATS TO THE DREAM!

Though only 18 years old, Karina Pasian has already been involved in a bidding war between Bad Boy, Interscope and Def Jam (Def Jam won out), been nominated for a Grammy and even sang at the White House. She released her last album about a year ago and will be borrowing our ears once again with another album on the horizon. Her new single “Half Empty”, written the Pen Up Girls, shows a grown up and lovesick side of Pasian, where she can’t imagine herself without her…other half. You can expect more big things from Dominican-Armenian mixed New Yorker before year’s end.

Download: Karina Pasian “Half Empty”

Outside your window is the sound of Amerie’s street cred making a comeback. So Amerie doesn’t have the war stories to go toe-to-toe with your favorite rapper, but her singles are music’s top guns. After an endorsement overdose by—none other—Funkmaster Flex last week on Hot 97, Amerie’s new single “Why R U?” is next on deck.

Now one of the leading ladies on Island/Def Jam, Amerie is the female a-alike to the Dream—a real radio killer (zing!). “Why R U?” produced by the Buchanans (responsible for Jay-Z’s “What More Can I Say?”) borrows the break-beat drums of “Ego Trippin’” by the Ultramagnetic MC’s—a warm hip-hop welcome to her new digs. L.A. Reid is billed as executive producer for the crucial fourth album, titled In Love & War by the Korean/African-American siren. Since jumping ship from Colombia records, the new record deal last year with Def Jam is already making up for Amerie’s last effort, Because I Love It which wasn’t released in the U.S. Check out how Amerie’s pop-friendly vocals blurs the line of Go-Go music and late ’80s rap below.

Download: Amerie, “Why R U”

The music, according to Electrik Red is a work in progress—a journey, not a destination. We know Three Six Mafia said, “it’s hard out here for a pimp,” but it’s no mystery that women travel a rocky road too, if not more so. Come May 26th Electrik Red’s debut album, How To Be A Lady: Volume 1, will show you how to do this son—ahem, ladies.

The members of Def Jam’s newest pop-sensation, Naomi Allen, Lesley Lewis, Sarah Rosete, and Kydra “Binkie” Reevey are cut from a different cloth of girl groups. Where television manufactures over-sized collectives to march to the drum of their male-puppet masters, Electrik Red’s foursome stands out as “the real.” Their close-knit friendship which began in 2000, helped build the framework for an accomplished career as former models and backup dancers (featured in Ciara’s “Like A Boy” video). Now as the vessels for songs written by The-Dream (and produced by partner Tricky Stewart) there is no difference in how they share the stage. Get a crash course on Electrik Red from The Fader’s Issue 59 in the link below.

Download F59 in .pdf form here.

And just as The-Dream hit the ground running with remixes with labelmate Fabolous, Jeremih is also featured on Loso’s street single, “It’s My Time,” produced by the Runners. J’s impressive cameo over this Young Jeezy and R. Kelly’s “Go Getta” tribute gives Brooklyn’s finest a much-needed anthem for his next LP. Mike Shory couldn’t have done it any better.

Download: Jeremih f. Fabolous, “Birthday Sex”

Download: Fabolous f. Jeremih, “It’s My Time”