Rawkus Records
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Rawkus Records was established in 1996 by Brian Brater and Jarret Meyer, with financial backing from a school friend, James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch. Due to their connections to a source of money, Rawkus had the budget to advertise as well as the big hip hop labels. In 1999 it entered into a distribution deal with Interscope/Geffen, whose parent company was Universal Music.
Rawkus was responsible for bringing fame to many underground hip hop acts such as Sir Menelik; Company Flow; the High and Mighty; Mos Def and Talib Kweli (a duo known as Black Star), Common, Pharoahe Monch, Skillz, and DJs and producers such as Hi Tek, Dr. Luke and DJ Evil Dee, as well as resurrecting hip hop legend Kool G Rap. It helped launch the conscious hip-hop movement through these artists and their influential compilations The Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing, which each had worldwide tours.
In 2002 Rawkus inked a joint venture deal MCA to take their underground sound mainstream, with its roster including Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, The Roots, and Common. Soon after joining with MCA, MCA folded and Interscope/Geffen bought Rawkus and attempted to shift the focus from underground acts producing what they wanted to producing what Interscope/Geffen wanted.
In January of 2004 it was reported that Rawkus split from Geffen and was moving on from some of its initial acts in an effort to rebuild its movement, hence ending an era. In an interview with hip-hop news site AllHipHop.com, Hi Tek said, “They took chances and gave their life to underground hip-hop when no one else would. I really appreciate them. I think Rawkus was part of keeping real hip-hop music alive in its down times.”
In July of 2005 it was announced that Rawkus had re-emerged with a new distribution deal with RED Distribution, the independent distribution arm of the SonyBMG family, with releases planned for 2006. New releases are scheduled from hip hop group The Procussions and Chicago rappers Naledge and Double-0 (Kidz in the Hall), as well as hip hop group Panacea. The label will be working in a joint venture with Soulspazm Records to release Canadian producer Marco Polo's album Port Authority.
Rawkus' reputation among hip hop fans has changed considerably during its existence. Once seen as a label that championed underground hip hop, the shift away from this has left many with a bad taste in their mouths. Most notably perhaps is a now famous quotable which appeared on ex-signee El-P's Fantastic Damage album where, on the track Deep Space 9mm he stated 'Signed to Rawkus/ I'd rather be mouth-fucked by Nazis unconscious'. Also Pharoahe Monch lyrics in his song 'Shut'em down Freestyle' appearing on his Awakening mixtape 'Wel all know what sucks, but what the f**k sucks more than SUKWAR backwards? I'll let you meditate on that for a minute... R.A.W.K.U.S.' taking at jab at the label that made his solo act famous. Rawkus recently signed the Blue Scholars, an influential underground group out of Seattle, Washington.
[edit] Rawkus compilations
- Soundbombing (1997)
- Lyricist Lounge, Volume One (1998)
- Soundbombing 2 (1999)
- Lyricist Lounge 2 (2000)
- Soundbombing III (2002)
- Best of Decade I: 1995-2005 (2005)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- RAWKUS.COM - Official site (requires Macromedia Flash)
| Rawkus Records |
| Groups |
|---|
| Black Star | Company Flow | Da Beatminerz | The High & Mighty | Jurassic 5 | Smut Peddlers |
| Artists |
| Big L | DJ Spinna | Hi-Tek | Mos Def | Pharoahe Monch | Skillz | Talib Kweli |
| Full length albums |
| Funcrusher Plus | Soundbombing | Lyricist Lounge, Volume One | Black Star | Soundbombing 2 | Heavy Beats, Vol. 1 | Little Johnny From the Hospitul | Home Field Advantage | Black on Both Sides | Internal Affairs | The Big Picture | Train Of Thought | Lyricist Lounge 2 | Porn Again | Hi-Teknology | Brace 4 Impak | Soundbombing III | I Ain't Mad No More | The Beautiful Struggle | Best of Decade I: 1995-2005 |
