We Love Young Money, But We Miss These Old Money-Making Hip-Hop Labels
So maybe some of these hip-hop labels may still exist on paper, but to the public eye they are defunct. Since rappers went from the booth to the boardroom and decided to control their own fate, hip-hop labels have become the home for upcoming artists within a crew.
New rappers didn’t have to sign directly to majors, they could find the artist that understood their story and join their clique. But we miss some of these indies that acted like majors and introduced some popular artists that are still around today.
Hit the numbers and see some of the record labels that are mere shells of themselves and some that didn’t make it to this era.
Ruff Ryders
DMX, Eve, Swizz Beatz, The Lox and Drag-On had a sound all their own and a bike movement to go along with it. For some reason the artists couldn’t keep it together and decided to go their separate ways eventually. We miss what they added to the game.
No Limit
Master P, Silkk The Shocker, C-Murder, Mystikal and even Snoop Dogg helped No Limit rise to the top. Nowadays P’s son Romeo is still making headlines and No Limit has moved on to movies but at one point they were the voice of the south.
Disturbing The Peace
Ludacris was supposed to share his success with Shawna, I-20, Tity Boi, Bobby V and Field Mob but somehow his energy never fell wholeheartedly into the imprint. Tity Boi is still alive and kicking and Bobby V always manages to land on his feet while Luda is becoming a poised actor.
Death Row
Taking it back to the days when hip-hop authentically mirrored real life, Death Row was a notorious hip-hop label surrounded by controversy and wealth.
Too bad the artists weren’t always the recipient of the money and Suge Knight ended up behind bars for what he did behind the desk. But at their highest point they had 2Pac, Dr. Dre, The Dogg Pound, Lady Of Rage, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Danny Boy.
Cold Chillin’
Going back a lot further, one of the original labels that featured all rap acts was Cold Chillin’ Records. They were distributed by Warner Bros. and featured Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Kool G. Rap and Marley Marl on their roster. They didn’t make it deep into the 90’s but they paved the way for labels to follow.
Loud Records
Loud was founded by Steve Rifkind and was one of the first powerhouses of its era. Steve signed Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, Tha Alkaholiks, Big Pun, Raekwon and The Cella Dwellas. Loud was truly the place where an artist wanted to be at one time.
So So Def
So So Def may still have some people signed but Jermaine Dupri was on a roll back when he had Da Brat, Bow Wow, Jagged Edge, Xscape, and he was producing and remixing everything.
Flipmode Squad
Busta Rhymes did put out an LP from Rah Digga and his cousin Rampage but no one else from the Flipmode Squad saw any daylight. Baby Sham, Spliff Star and Lord Have Mercy waited for Mr. Rhymes to get his label together but for some reason all they got was featured verses on the Flipmode album that was pretty hot.
Murder Inc.
Irv Gotti went against all odds and assembled crooning rapper, Ja Rule, Vita, The Murderers and singers Ashanti and Lloyd to join forces to rise up the charts and rule the radio for some years.
50 Cent had a hand in destroying Ja’s rep but it might have been the Murder inc. music that didn’t stand the test of time.
Roc-A-Fella
Jay-Z preached family and a circle of success that he and Damon Dash brought to fruition as they introduced us to Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Freeway, The Young Guns, Rell, Kanye West, and even helped the Diplomat movement get off the ground.
But in the end, Jay and Dame had issues that could not be resolved and the two moguls decided to do business separately. State Property recently reunited and fans are getting a tad bit of resolve.
Bad Boy
Sure you can argue that Bad Boy is still around and that Puffy, or Diddy is still signing people and making hits. However, there is no argument that Diddy Dirty Money, Day 26 or whoever is inked to Mr. Combs is comparable to the days of Mase, Notorious B.I.G, The Lox, Black Rob, Faith Evans and 112.
Even his second generation of G-Dep, Shyne, Loon, Cheri Dennis and Da Band were hotter than where the label stands right now. Bad Boy was a force to be reckoned with, now they’re just a name tied to Sean Combs’ empire.
