Rawkus

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Rawkus Records
Founding: 1996
Founder: Jarret Meyer and Brian Brater
Distribution: Sony BMG
Genre: Hip hop
Founding country: United States
Website: http://www.rawkus.com

Rawkus Records is a New York hip-hop music label and was founded in 1996 by friends Jarret Meyer and Brian Brater .

history

It was financially supported by James Murdoch , son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch . Thus, the financial means were there for large advertising measures, so that Rawkus could keep up with the big labels in this regard. In fact, Rawkus was only in the beginning the independent label that many underground hip-hop fans thought it was for years, because in 1999 Rawkus was able to agree on a distribution agreement with Geffen / Interscope under the Universal Music Group .

Artists such as Mos Def , Talib Kweli , Pharoahe Monch , The High & Mighty or Company Flow achieved a high level of awareness through their publications on Rawkus and were able to win many fans who later remained loyal to them even after they founded their own labels. The success of Rawkus made it possible for the Rawkus artists to set up their own labels. The High & Mighty founded Eastern Conference Records and El-P from Company Flow was able to offer a home to artists such as Aesop Rock , MURS and Mr. Lif with his label Definitive Jux .

The high reputation that Rawkus enjoyed through an underground image and the release of pioneering records was tarnished after the turn of the millennium by various breaches of contract with artists and very long waiting times for announced albums, some of which were then completely canceled. These artists who waited in vain for the release of their already advertised records included u. a. The Last Emperor , Smif-N-Wessun , Shabaam Sahdeeq and Kool G Rap . In January 2004, Rawkus' distribution contract with Geffen was not renewed, whereupon the label unceremoniously closed the doors overnight and in a spectacular action even the closest employees stood in front of closed doors without any information about their employment relationship.

Former artists of the label, such as El-P, expressed criticism of the label because it became more and more important for the operators to publish commercially usable music instead of music that the artists wanted to make. Hi-Tek, on the other hand, expressed its praise and recognized the merits of the label. Rawkus campaigned for independent and (still) unknown hip-hop artists when no one else wanted to do so.

In mid-2005 it became known that Rawkus had signed a new distribution contract with RED Distribution under Sony BMG and was planning a comeback. This comeback came in June 2006 with the release of the album 5 Sparrows For 2 Cents by The Procussions . Between 1996 and 2005 Rawkus Records sold over six million records (CDs and records). Some of them achieved gold status in the USA .

Artist (selection)

Discography (selection)

Albums
  • 1997 Funcrusher Plus (Company Flow)
  • 1999 Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star)
  • 1999 Black on Both Sides (Mos Def)
  • 1999 Internal Affairs (Pharoahe Monch)
  • 1999 Little Johnny From The Hospital (Company Flow)
  • 1999 Heavy Beats Volume 1 (DJ Spinna)
  • 1999 Home Field Advantage (The High & Mighty)
  • 1999 Porn Again (Smut Peddlers)
  • 2000 Train of Thought (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek)
  • 2000 Quality Control (Jurassic 5)
  • 2000 The Big Picture (Big L)
  • 2001 Hi-Teknology (Hi-Tek)
  • 2001 Brace 4 Impak (Da Beatminerz)
  • 2002 Quality (Talib Kweli)
  • 2003 Harlem's Finest - A Freestyle History (Big L)
  • 2004 The Beautiful Struggle (Talib Kweli)
  • 2006 Skillz (Mad Skillz)
  • 2006 School Was My Hustle (Kidz in the Hall)
Compilations
  • 1997 Soundbombing , Compilation (Various)
  • 1998 The Lyricist Lounge , Compilation (Various)
  • 1999 Soundbombing 2 , Compilation (Various)
  • 2000 The Lyricist Lounge 2 , Compilation (Various)
  • 2000 Egotrip's The Big Playback , Compilation (Various)
  • 2002 Soundbombing 3 , Compilation (Various)

Web links