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| First Priority Music | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder |
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| Distributor(s) |
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| Genre | Hip hop |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Official website | firstprioritymusic |
First Priority Music (FPM) was an American hip hop record label of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which later released contemporary R&B and country music, among others. A small independent, it formed distribution relationships first with Atlantic Records, and later on with Jive/Zomba.
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music, is a genre of popular music developed in the United States by inner-city African Americans and Latino Americans in the Bronx borough of New York City in the 1970s. It consists of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling beats or bass lines from records, and rhythmic beatboxing. While often used to refer solely to rapping, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, pop, soul, funk, hip hop and electronic music.
Country music, also known as country and western, and hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. It takes its roots from genres such as American folk music and blues.
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First Priority was founded by Nat Robinson in 1987, to release music by his son Kirk better known as Milk Dee of Audio Two. FPM's first release was Audio Two's "Make It Funky"/"Top Billin'", which was successful enough to secure the label a distribution deal with Atlantic Records.
"Top Billin'" is a single for American hip-hop duo Audio Two, released as the B-side of the single "Make It Funky" from the album What More Can I Say? It was released before First Priority Music inked a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. The song was voted #8 in About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs. It was also included in both lists of the musical-reference book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download.
Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Led Zeppelin and Yes.
MC Lyte's debut album Lyte as a Rock (1988) was followed by her records, Eyes on This (1989) and Act Like You Know (1991). "Ruffneck", from 1993's Ain't No Other , was the first gold single by a solo female rap artist. Other members of the hip hop roster of the period include Positive K, Michie Mee, Alliance, Kings of Swing, and Barsha. A compilation featuring FPM artists, The First Priority Music Family: Basement Flavor , was released by the label in 1988. A short-lived sub-label called Bum Rush was distributed by Atlantic then-sister label Virgin Records from 1989 to 1991.
Lyte as a Rock is the debut album of American rapper MC Lyte. released in 1988. In 1998, the album was listed in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. The album is broken down track-by-track by MC Lyte in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique.
Eyes on This is the second album by MC Lyte. It was released on October 3, 1989, almost a year after her classic debut album Lyte as a Rock, for First Priority and Atlantic Records and featured production from Audio Two, as well as Grand Puba, The King of Chill, Marley Marl, Nat Robinson and PMD. Eyes on This would peak at #86 on the Billboard 200 and #6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and produced three hit singles, each of which made it in the top 10 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, "Cha Cha Cha" (#1), "Cappucino" (#8), and "Stop, Look, Listen" (#9)
Act Like You Know is the third album released by MC Lyte. It was released on September 17, 1991, for First Priority Records, distributed by Atlantic Records and featured production from big-name producers, Audio Two, The 45 King, Epic Mazur and Richard Wolf. Act Like You Know had a softer, more R&B-like sound than her more hardcore albums, Lyte as a Rock and Eyes on This, and reviews were generally mixed. The album fell in the charts, only peaking at #102 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. However, two singles made it high on the Hot Rap Singles, "When In Love" made it to #3 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, while "Poor Georgie" made it to #1 on the chart and #83 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Recent years saw releases by Jason Downs and the 2004 single by Eamon called "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)," which were released through Jive/Zomba.
"Fuck It " is the debut single by American singer-songwriter/harmonicist Eamon. It was co-written by Eamon, Kirk Robinson and Mark Passy. It was released on November 23, 2003 as the lead single from his debut album, I Don't Want You Back.
