He was the founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings and is known for his work with Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Jay-Z, and Mary J.

He studied painting at New York's School of Visual Arts and ultimately had work exhibited in the city alongside Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

[5][6] In the late 80s Adams and his partner Steve Carr co-founded the Drawing Board, Def Jam Recording's in-house visual design firm overseeing the visual style of Def Jam's artists as well as artists signed to MCA, Universal, Warner Bros., Bad Boy and BMG.

The Drawing Board closed in 1999 and Adams began working on corporate advertising campaigns for companies such as Levi's, Nike, HBO, Coca-Cola, Burton Snowboards, Moët & Chandon, Comedy Central, HBO, and Warner Bros. Adams continued designing branding and logos, working with companies such as Revolver Films and Asylum Records, and music artists as diverse as Foo Fighters, Don Henley, and Mary J.

[8] In 2008 Adams co-edited "DEFinition: the Art and Design of Hip-Hop", published by HarperCollins, with the music journalist Bill Adler, who had been Def Jam's original publicist.

He also worked with Brooklyn Academy of Music on "Picture the Dream," a community-based creative workshop which teaches young people the value of making art while educating them about Dr. King's message of equality through non-violence.

In his recent artworks, Adams employs mixed media including hand-made papers and magazine clippings on canvas, and silk screening.

The Foundation writes that Adams "draws inspiration from 60s pop art, sign painting, comic books, and popular culture.

[20][21] The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in September 2016 and Adams contributed a wall mural for the opening festival "Freedom Sounds: A Community Celebration.” Adams also designed a coffee table book published by the Smithsonian that is a 300-page anthology of Hip-Hop that includes a box set of CDs and never-before-seen photographs.

[3][31] Honoring the 44th anniversary of the birth of Hop Hip on August 11, 2017, Google launched a "first-of-its-kind Doodle featuring a custom logo graphic by famed graffiti artist Cey Adams, interactive turntables on which users can mix samples from legendary tracks, and a serving of Hip Hop history – with an emphasis on its founding pioneers.