Krush Groove is based on the inception of the
Def Jam Recordings label and the hardships that artists
Run-D.M.C. and
Russell Simmons faced to become successful. Simmons began his career trying to get his company Rush Management up and running. However, in the movie, he is shown as already being teamed up with producer
Rick Rubin to form Def Jam, referred to as Krush Groove Records in the film. In reality, the label was started by Rubin in 1984 in his college dorm at
New York University.
Larry Smith was the producer of Run-D.M.C.'s first two albums
Run-D.M.C. and
King of Rock, despite them being credited to Rubin, who produced the group's third album,
Raising Hell. Later on, the team was joined by its first popular teen sensation,
LL Cool J, who plays a very small role in the movie at the age of 17. Playing himself, LL Cool J is discovered through his piece "
I Can't Live Without My Radio", which is performed at an audition in front of
Dr. Jekcyll & Mr. Hyde,
Jam Master Jay,
DMC and Rubin in the latter's apartment. In reality, LL Cool J was discovered in Rubin's apartment but not through an audition. While going through a box of demos,
Beastie Boys member
Ad-Rock stumbled across LL's demo tape. With this, he produced a beat and co-wrote "I Need a Beat" with LL and Rubin, which launched both of their careers, which allowed the Def Jam label to take off. The song "I Can't Live Without My Radio" was made for the movie as a way for LL Cool J to star in it. However, this song was also one of the hit songs on his debut album
Radio.
The Fat Boys were the first group to showcase a human beat box while rhyming. In the movie, the group originally referred to itself as the Disco Three. It was not until a scene in an Italian buffet, where the three boys took the phrase
all you can eat to the next level by eating everything. When the group realized that they were really fat, they decided to give themselves the name Fat Boys. In reality, the name Fat Boys was suggested by the group's manager when he received a $350 hotel bill for extra breakfast ordered by the group on their European tour. As portrayed in the movie, the group was discovered through the
Coca-Cola and Tin Pan Apple
hip-hop contest at
Radio City Music Hall, where the trio won the grand prize—a recording contract—but had entered the contest to win the second-place prize, a stereo set. The movie was not made the way the artists desired, but with all the talent of that time and most of the members of the Def Jam and Rush Management family. The purpose of the movie, according to Simmons, was to showcase the array of young talent emerging from New York's black music scene and depict its vibrancy. ==Production==