Death of an Indie Label

Last updated
Death of An Indie Label
Starring Esham
James Smith
Mastamind
Music byEsham
Production
company
Release date
  • July 27, 2011 (2011-07-27)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Death of An Indie Label is a documentary & soundtrack about the independent record label Reel Life Productions, founded by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper Esham, in Detroit in 1990. The film, which was uploaded onto the label's YouTube channel, features appearances by James Smith, Esham and Mastamind. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The soundtrack for the film features Seven the General and Poe Whosaine.

Contents

Summary

James Smith and his younger brother, Esham, a rapper, found the independent record label Reel Life Productions in 1988. [7] In 1989, Esham records his debut album, Boomin' Words from Hell in one day. [4] In 1992, Esham founds a group, Natas, who release their debut album, Life After Death on Reel Life. Natas and Reel Life Productions are the subject of much controversy when a 17-year-old fan killed himself while smoking cannabis and playing Russian roulette while listening to Life After Death. [3] Esham goes on to influence local artists Kid Rock, Eminem and Insane Clown Posse. James Smith, the CEO of Reel Life Productions, is diagnosed with schizophrenia following a prison sentence. Smith's deteriorating mental state is depicted. Due to the poor living conditions of his apartment, James is evicted by his landlady, and moves in with Esham. [7]

Reception

The Metro Times describes the film as "compelling viewing". [1]

Soundtrack

Death of an Indie Label
Death of an Indie Label.jpg
Mixtape by
ReleasedSeptember 1, 2011 (2011-09-01)
Genre Midwest hip hop, hardcore hip hop, indie hip hop
Label Reel Life
Esham chronology
Hellaween: Pure Horror
(2009)
Death of an Indie Label
(2011)

Death of an Indie Label is the third mixtape by Esham. Released in 2011, it is the soundtrack to the documentary film of the same name and features Detroit emcees "Poe Whosaine" & Seven the General [8]

No.TitleLength
1."Comatose" 
2."Denouement" 
3."Reignin" 
4."Odd Future" 
5."Orgy Orange" 
6."Priceless Blessings" 
7."Cheddaphile" (feat. Seven the General) 
8."Time Machine" 
9."Sayonara" 
10."U Aint Got Nuthin On Me" (feat. Poe Whosaine) 
11."Serious Business" 
12."House 4 Rent" 
13."Daniel Jordan Skit" 
14."Beautiful Girl" 
15."Let The System Bump" 
16."Another Flight" 
17."Death Of An Indie Label" 
18."Amy Winehouse" 
19."Indubitably" 
20."Big Thangs" 

Related Research Articles

<i>Boomin Words from Hell</i> 1989 studio album by Esham

Boomin' Words from Hell is the debut album by the American musician Esham. It was released in 1989, and reissued the following year.

Esham Attica Smith, known mononymously as Esham, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Emerging as one of the first ever hip hop artists from Detroit, Esham released his debut studio album, Boomin' Words from Hell, in 1989 at the age of 16. Since then, he has gone on to release 21 studio albums in total and is best known as a representative of the hip hop subgenre horrorcore. In 1992, he co-founded the horrorcore group Natas. He and his brother James Smith founded and ran the Detroit hip hop label Reel Life Productions.

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<i>Godlike</i> (Natas album) 2002 studio album by Natas

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<i>Life After Death</i> (Natas album) 1992 studio album by Natas

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<i>WicketWorldWide.COM</i> 1999 studio album by Natas

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Reel Life Productions, also known as Gothom Records, is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan most associated with the hip hop subgenre horrorcore. The label was founded in 1989 by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper Esham. Since its formation, RLP had released much of Esham's discography, and had been home to a number of other artists, including Natas, Dice, Mastamind, T-N-T and The Dayton Family.

Esham is an American rapper from Detroit currently signed to Reel Life Productions, a label he co-founded in 1989. His discography consists of twenty six solo-studio albums, eight studio albums as a member of NATAS, three as a member of Soopa Villainz where he is known as "Black Spade", two as a member of 3 Headed Monster, ten EPs, as well as twenty three singles, five mixtapes, nine compilation albums, over 50 music videos, and many appearances on other artists' tracks and on compilations.

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N of tha World is the seventh studio album by Natas. Released in 2006, it was the group's first album released by Reel Life Productions since 1999's WicketWorldWide.COM, although there were claims that there was no newly recorded material by Natas, which broke up in 2002. Five songs on the album were newly recorded after Esham departed from Psychopathic Records in October 2005; the rest of the album consists of material recorded by Esham and T-N-T for a prospective Esham album, to be titled Club Evil, that never came out. Despite the album being attributed to Natas, the only track by the group is N of tha World. The other four new songs were "World's Apart", "On My Own", "Trouble & Pain" and "Niggaz Always Talkin' Alot of Shit".

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References

  1. 1 2 "City Slang: Esham's Death of an Indie Label | Metro Times Blogs". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  2. "Controversial Detroit Artist Releases Shocking New Album". Archived from the original on September 29, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Video on YouTube
  4. 1 2 Video on YouTube
  5. Video on YouTube
  6. Video on YouTube
  7. 1 2 3 Video on YouTube
  8. "Death of an Indie Label – Soundtrack « Hellava Store". Archived from the original on 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2011-09-10.