Obese Records

Last updated

Obese Records
Obese Records.jpg
Parent companyWarner Music Group
Founded2002 (2002)
Founder Tirren Staaf
Defunct2016 (2016)
Statusinactive
Distributor(s)Atlantic
Genre Hip hop
Country of origin Australia
Location Melbourne
Official website obeserecords.com
SloganFatter Than Ya Mama

Obese Records was a record label that released music from the Australian hip hop genre. It was the largest Australian independent hip hop label, including performers Pegz, Hilltop Hoods, Thundamentals, Reason, Andy Struksha, and Dialectrix. Obese Records also operated two retail stores in Melbourne, a record distribution company, a soul imprint named Plethora Records, and operated the artists' management and touring company Obese Records Artist Management.

Contents

History

Founding as OB's record store

Obese Records was founded in 1995 as a small record store [1] called OB's by Ollie Bobbitt, in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran. Specialising in hip hop music, [2] the store changed its name to "Obese Records" after Bobbitt sold the business to Shazlek One. In mid-2002 the store was bought by Melbourne-based artist Tirren Staaf (a.k.a. Pegz) who transformed it into a record label. [3]

According to Pegz, there were few other labels specializing in Australian hip hop at the time, and none putting significant funds into marketing. [4] Pegz claims that he "saw the opening and went for it. It was about giving the people around me the opportunity they deserved." [5] Pegz used the label to create a distribution network, [6] and also purchased the Zenith Records vinyl pressing plant, one of only two companies then still pressing vinyl records in Australia. [7] The pressing plant was subsequently sold in November 2007. [8]

Expansion

The first artist released on the label was MC Reason's EP Solid in 2000, [9] [10] produced by Jolz with appearances from Brad Strut, Bias B and Pac D. [11]

Other early releases included compilation albums, Culture of Kings (which included songs by Koolism, Hilltop Hoods, Hunter, Terra Firma, Lyrical Commission and Downsyde) [11] and Obesecity, which Pegz describes as "key networking tools" for the growing Australian hip hop scene, [10] as well as formative releases from Bliss n Eso, Bias B, DJ Bonez, Downsyde, Brad Strut and Layla. The two-disc Culture of Kings Volume Two included tracks by Hilltop Hoods, Delta, Layla, TZU, Hospice, Brothers Stoney, Bliss n Eso and Funkoars. It was the first Australian hip hop album to be selected for the Triple J feature album spot on local radio. [11]

In 2003, Obese released the Hilltop Hoods album The Calling , which became the first Australian hip hop album to go gold. [12] Mark Pollard, founder of Stealth Magazine , commented during an interview with Tony Mitchell in 2004 that Hilltop Hoods’ success had been helped by Obese. [13]

— Mark Pollard, founder of Stealth Magazine (2004) [13]

In 2006 the Hilltop Hoods were nominated and won awards for Best Performing Independent Album ( The Hard Road ) and Best Independent Artist at that year's Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Chart Awards.

Two artists associated with the label were nominated for four AIR Chart Awards in 2007 (three for Hilltop Hoods and one for Muph & Plutonic). [14] At the 2007 ARIA Awards, the Hilltop Hoods won 'Best Urban Release' for their album The Hard Road: Restrung . [15] The Hilltop Hoods DVD, The City of Light, released by Obese Records in 2007, has also been classified gold. In 2008, two artists on the Obese label, Muph & Plutonic and Spit Syndicate, received nominations for 'Best Urban Album' at the ARIA Awards. [16] In 2010 M-Phazes' album, Good Gracious, was nominated for 'Best Urban Album' at the ARIA Awards. [17]

Obese also had a soul imprint, Plethora Records, [18] and operated an artists' management and touring company, Obese Records Artist Management. [9]

Later years

Following Hilltops Hoods departure to start their own label with EMI, [19] Obese Records continued to focus on both established artists and underground locals. [10] Plethora Records was founded as Obese' Records subsidiary soul label in 2010. [19]

Obese was filming episodes for Obese TV, their web series, by 2012. [19] In 2013 Obese Records signed its first management contract with emcee Kerser, at that point having divisions for sales, publicity, marketing, accounts, and A&R. [9] The record store in Prahran at 4A Izett Street [20] continues to sell hip-hop merchandise as of 2013, and also hosts listening parties, radio marathons, and a segment on Obese TV. [9] Pegz expanded the company in 2013, opening a retail store in the Melbourne neighborhood of Frankston. It stocks music, merchandise, street apparel, spray paint, art supplies, DVDs, and street art magazines. [9]

Periscope Pictures announced on 19 September 2013, that Obese Records would be distributing its documentary Hunter: For The Record locally in Australia. The feature film chronicles hip hop artist Robert Hunter before his death from cancer in 2011. Hunter had released all his albums on Obese, and in conjunction with the DVD, the label is releasing his final album, Bring it All Back, posthumously. [21]

In 2016 Obese Records announced that their official closing date would be 7 May and that they would no longer be releasing any music.[ citation needed ]

Staff

Distribution

Obese Records Distribution provides distribution for the following labels, in addition to Obese Records: [22]

Artists

Discography

Cat. #TitleArtistYear
OBR001Solid Reason [23] 2000
OBR002Culture of Kings: Volume 1 (CD, [24] vinyl [25] )Various2000
OBR003Hip Hop Life Bias B 2001
OBR004-
OBR008		Culture of Kings: Volume 2 [26] Various (Solomon Klepto, Pegz, Bob Balans, Hilltop Hoods, Hospice, Art of War, Layla, etc.)2002
OBR009The Courageous L.P. Matty B 2002
OBR010The Authentic LP Brad Strut 2002
OBR013ObeseCity [27] Various (Terra Firma, Brothers Stoney, Sol Klept, Chopper Read-Brad Stru -Bias B-Balans, The Hospice, Koolism, etc.)2003
OBR015Culture of Kings: Volume 3Various2003
OBR016Drastik Measures Hyjak N Torcha 2004
OBR017 The Calling Hilltop Hoods 2003
OBR018Andy SocialAndy Struksha2003
OBR019 Flowers in the Pavement Bliss N Eso 2004
OBR020Pegasus Pegz 2001
OBR02112" ApostlesTask Force & Pegasus2002
OBR022 Capricorn Cat Pegz 2003
OBR023One Step Ahead Reason 2004
OBR024Hunger Pains Muph n Plutonic 2004
OBR025Lesfortunate Downsyde 2004
OBR026 When the Dust Settles Downsyde 2004
OBR027The Fuss About Sluts Layla) 2005
OBR028Heretik Layla) 2005
OBR029Bonez Presents The Mamma's Kitchen Mix DJ Bonez 2005
OBR030More Than MusicMuphin2003
OBR031For The Ladies Mr. Trials) 2005
OBR032 Who Am I Drapht 2005
OBR033Aces High DJ Bonez 2005
OBR034 Axis Pegz 2005
OBR035Nothing But Silence Grayskul & Debaser 2005
OBR036Back Then Pegz 2005
OBR037Chechen Gorilla Pegz 2005
OBR038Heaps Good Muph & Plutonic 2005
OBR039Codes Over Colours Plutonic Lab 2005
OBR040The Waiting / Midnight on Pluto Plutonic Lab 2005
OBR041 Clown Prince Hilltop Hoods 2006
OBR042 The Hard Road Hilltop Hoods 2006
OBR043Life's a Lesson Reason 2006
OBR044Jase Connection, Beathedz Vol.01Jase2006
OBR045The Greatest Hit Funkoars 2006
OBR046 The Greatest Hits Funkoars 2006
OBR047 The Hard Road (single) Hilltop Hoods 2006
OBR048 Silence the Sirens Muph & Plutonic 2006
OBR049 What a Great Night Hilltop Hoods 2007
OBR050 Been There Done That Bias B 2007
OBR051 The Hard Road: Restrung Hilltop Hoods 2007
OBR052Hard to Kill Vents 2007
OBR053Roll Call DJ Bonez 2007
OBR054 Burn City Pegz 2007
OBR055 Don't Let Your Guard Down Chasm 2008
OBR056 Jimmy Recard Drapht 2008
OBR057 Brothers Grimm Drapht 2008
OBR058Towards the Light Spit Syndicate 2008
OBR059 And Then Tomorrow Came Muph & Plutonic 2008
OBR060The Tides Are Turning Reason 2008
OBR061Thundamentals Thundamentals 2008
OBR062Cycles of Survival Dialectrix 2008
OBR063Left To WriteSkryptcha2009
OBR064Known UnknownsThe Coalition Crew2009
OBR065 Long Story Short Illy 2009
OBR066Unregrettable Hyjak N Torcha 2009
OBR067The Great Divide Gully Platoon 2009
OBR068Sleeping on Your Style Thundamentals 2009
OBR069MoveChasm & Vida Sunshyne2009
OBR070 Good Gracious M-Phazes 2010
OBR071 Power of the Spoken Mantra 2010
OBR072Exile Spit Syndicate 2010
OBR073The NumbersSkryptcha2010
OBR074Audio Projectile Dialectrix 2010
OBR075 The Chase Illy 2010
OBR076Audio BiographySimplex2011
OBR077Drama Pegz 2011
OBR078Phaze One M-Phazes & Emilio Rojas 2011
OBR079 Foreverlution Thundamentals 2011
OBR080Speaking VolumesMantra2011
OBR081Window of Time Reason2011
OBR082This is How We Never DieChasm2012
OBR083MindfulSkryptcha2012
OBR084ObeseCity 2 [27] Various2012
OBR085Bring It Back Illy 2012
OBR086Sunday Gentlemen Spit Syndicate 2013
OBR087 Diamond Cuts EP Chasm 2013
OBR088 The Cold Light of Day Dialectrix 2013
OBR089Smoking Aces EPChasm2013
OBR090The WorksM-Phazes2013
OBR091Sunday Gentlemen: Deluxe EditionSpit Syndicate2013
OBR092Day Turns to Night EPChasm2013
OBR093So We Can RememberThundamentals2014
OBR094Night Vision EPChasm2014
Source: Official Discography
Plethora Records (imprint)
Cat. #TitleArtistYear
PLR001 Neon Heartache Jess Harlen2010
PLR002 Park Yard Slang Jess Harlen2012

See also

Related Research Articles

Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and was initially largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music that is no longer restricted to the creative underground, with artists such as The Kid Laroi, Manu Crooks, Onefour, Iggy Azalea, Hilltop Hoods, Bliss n Eso and Youngn Lipz, having achieved notable fame. Australian hip hop is still primarily released through independent record labels, which are often owned and operated by the artists themselves. Despite its genesis as an offshoot of American hip-hop, Australian hip hop has developed a distinct personality that reflects its evolution as an Australian musical style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilltop Hoods</span> Australian hip-hop group

Hilltop Hoods is an Australian hip hop group that formed in 1996 in Blackwood, Adelaide, South Australia. They are regarded as pioneers of the "larrikin-like" style of Australian hip hop. The group was founded by Suffa and Pressure, who were joined by DJ Debris after fellow founder, DJ Next, left in 1999. The group released its first extended play, Back Once Again, in 1997 and have subsequently released eight studio albums, two "restrung" albums and three DVDs.

<i>The Hard Road</i> 2006 studio album by Hilltop Hoods

The Hard Road is the fourth studio album by Australian hip hop group Hilltop Hoods. Released on 1 April 2006 by Obese Records, it debuted at number one on the Australia ARIA Albums Chart, and was the first album by Australian artists to achieve that position. It contains the top 20 single "Clown Prince". It achieved Gold status on 8 April 2006, a week after release, and has now surpassed Platinum status.

The Funkoars are an Australian hip hop act from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The group is part of the Certified Wise crew of hip hop artists from South Australia, who also collaborated on various recordings. Despite being on hiatus since 2016, Funkoars are still rostered to Golden Era Records.

Dazastah is one of the MCs of the Perth, Western Australia-based hip-hop group Downsyde.

Hyjak N Torcha is an Australian hip hop group from Sydney, New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drapht</span> Musical artist

Paul Reid, formerly Paul Gary James Ridge,, better known by the stage name Drapht, is an Australian hip hop artist from Perth. Drapht is a member of the Syllabolix (SBX) crew, a collective that includes fellow Perth-based hip hop artists such as Downsyde.

Tirren Staaf, otherwise known as Pegz, is an Australian hip hop artist and producer hailing from Melbourne, Victoria. He was the CEO of Obese Records—the record label responsible for artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Downsyde, and Bias B.

Muph & Plutonic is an Australian hip hop group. It is composed of MC Muphin and DJ–drummer–producer Plutonic Lab, both of whom released several solo albums before joining together to form a combined act in 2004.

<i>Silence the Sirens</i> 2006 studio album by Muph & Plutonic

Silence the Sirens is the second album from Muph & Plutonic and was released on 21 November 2006. The album took 10 months to produce and features guest performances from several Australian MCs and Musicians, including Fatlip, Pegz, Urthboy, Ivens (Awakenings), Raph Boogie & BVA and Red Ghost. The album is considered a classic in the Australian Hip Hop scene, due its blend of high quality production and polished lyricism. It peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Urban Album Chart and was featured as Triple Js Album of the Week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Era Records</span> Australian record label

Golden Era Records is a record label that specializes in Australian hip hop music and is based in Stirling, South Australia, Australia. The label was founded in 2008 by South Australian hip hop trio Hilltop Hoods.

A-Love is a female Australian-based MC from Melbourne. Her debut album, Ace of Hearts was nominated 'Best Urban Release' in the ARIA Music Awards of 2008.

Gully Platoon are an Australian hip-hop group, composed of Pegz with Joe New and Dialectrix.

George Kordas, better known by the stage name DJ Bonez, is a hip hop DJ and producer, originally from Sydney and currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vents (musician)</span> Musical artist

Joseph Lardner, better known by the stage name Vents and also known as Vents One, Vents 1 and Vents Uno, is an Australian hip hop artist from Adelaide, South Australia. He has released two albums, 2007's Hard to Kill and 2011's Marked for Death. The latter was nominated for an ARIA Music Award.

Ryan Leaf, better known by the stage name Dialectrix, is an Australian hip hop artist from Sydney. He was a member of Down Under Beats Crew and, since 2008, has been a member of Gully Platoon. In addition to his musical career, Dialectrix works in the construction trades. He was introduced to hip hop culture through skateboarding during adolescence.

Leigh Ryan, better known by the stage name Plutonic Lab or sometimes as Pluto is an Australian music producer, engineer, artist & performer.

The discography of Australian hip hop group Hilltop Hoods consists of seven studio albums, one compilation albums, six extended plays (EPs), twenty-four singles and three DVDs. Their debut studio album A Matter of Time was released independently in 1999.

Jason Shulman, previously known by the stage names Reason, Rea' or MC Reason, is a retired Australian hip hop artist, who works as a secondary school teacher. He released four studio albums: Solid (2000), Reography (2002), One Step Ahead (2004) and Window of Time (2011), before retiring from his music career.

References

  1. ↑ "Obese Records Interview by Writin' Exact". Scene Magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Australian Music Online - record label profile 'Obese Records'". Archived from the original on 29 July 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  3. ↑ "Reason, Local Noise (02/10/2004)". Archived from the original on 23 March 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Dennes, Caz (1 May 2008). "OBESE BLOCK PARTY - Block Rockin' Beats". BMA Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  5. ↑ Kuch, Jesse (24 September 2009). "The Don". The Cairns Post . Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  6. ↑ Colman, Tim (9 December 2005). "Milkbar Stars". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  7. ↑ "New vinyl records donated to the NFSA". Australian Film Commission. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2007.
  8. ↑ Walter, John. "Fatter Than Ya Mama". Melbourne Pixel magazine. Archived from the original on 23 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steps, Jim (8 March 2013). "Obese Records – Frankston Store Opening". All Aussie Hip Hop. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 "Tales of Obese City". Mag. Slattery Media Group. June 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 "Obese Records interview". Scene Magazine. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  12. ↑ "Tiptop hip-hop with an Aussie accent". Record Scout Music News. 18 October 2004.
  13. 1 2 Mitchell, Tony. "Mark Pollard Interview". Local Noise. University of Technology, Sydney . Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  14. ↑ "Jagermeister AIR Award nominees". FasterLouder.com.au. 19 October 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2007: 21st Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 18 July 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  16. ↑ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2008: 22nd Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  17. ↑ Ferris, Rina; Brennan, Kristyn (28 September 2010). "2010 ARIA Awards Nominations & Artisan Award Winners Announced" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original (Portable Document Format (PDF)) on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  18. ↑ "Releases". Plethora Records. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  19. 1 2 3 "Chewing the fat with Obese Records – Red Bull website". Red Bull. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "Obese Records". Acclaim Mag. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Obese Records to Distibute [sic] Hunter: For The Record Documentary". if.com.au. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "Distribution". Obese Records. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "Releases". Obese Records. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  24. ↑ "Various - Culture Of Kings Volume 1". Discogs. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  25. ↑ "Various - Culture Of Kings Volume 1 - vinyl". Discogs. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  26. ↑ "Various - Culture Of Kings Volume 2". Discogs. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  27. 1 2 "Various - Obesecity". Discogs. Retrieved 21 March 2011.

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