Uptown Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by Andre Harrell in the late-1980s. It went on to become one of the most popular hip hop and R&B labels of the early 1990s, and featured Guy, Heavy D, Christopher Williams, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Monifah, and Soul 4 Real on its roster.
Uptown was a starting ground for Sean "Diddy" Combs, who started as an intern and later became a top executive. Combs was instrumental in developing Jodeci and signing and producing for Mary J. Blige. He was fired from Uptown in 1993, and went on to establish Bad Boy Records, taking new hip-hop artist The Notorious B.I.G. with him.
The label was acquired by MCA Records in 1987. Harrell left Uptown in 1996 to become the CEO of Motown Records, and Heavy D became the president of Uptown. By 1996, Uptown was distributed by Universal Records and its artists (with the execption of Monifah and Soul For Real) were moved to the MCA roster.
The label is now a part of Universal Motown Records Group.
