Island Records is a Jamaican multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. Island Records operates four international divisions: Island US, Island UK, Island Australia, and Island France. Current key people include Island US president Darcus Beese, and MD Jon Turner. Partially due to its significant legacy, Island remains one of UMG's pre-eminent record labels.
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on May 25, 1999, by Island Records, in association with Psychopathic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from 1998 to 1999. The album is the fifth Joker's Card in the group's Dark Carnival mythology. The album's lyrics focus on the nine circles of hell and the morality of man as he is torn between righteousness and evil. The album's titular Jeckel Brothers are spirits who juggle balls of fire, representing the sins committed during the mortal life of the dead.
The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les is a Colombian American from Jackson Heights, Queens. Although only peripheral members, they are routinely acknowledged by Q-Tip as being members of Native Tongues. The Beatnuts were originally a trio before Fashion, now known as Al' Tariq, left the group to start a solo career. V.I.C. was also a member of The Beatnuts' production team for a while.
Stereo MC's are an English hip hop/electronic dance group that formed in Clapham, London, England, in 1985. They had an international top 20 hit with their single "Connected". After releasing eight albums for Island Records, K7, Graffiti Recordings, and Pias, they formed the label Connected with the band Terranova to release their own material and that of other artists within the house/techno/electronic genre.
6 Feet Deep is the debut album of the American hip hop supergroup Gravediggaz. Formed by former Tommy Boy Records artists Prince Paul, RZA, Frukwan and Poetic, the group utilized horror-themed imagery and lyrics combined with black comedy and satire to vent their frustrations with the hip hop record industry. The album's concept satirizes the hardcore hip hop and gangsta rap of the early 1990s. Released on August 9, 1994, by Gee Street Records, the album helped usher in horrorcore.
New Zealand hip hop derives from the wider hip hop cultural movement originating amongst African Americans in the United States. Like the parent movement, New Zealand hip hop consists of four parts: rapping, DJing, graffiti art and breakdancing. The first element of hip hop to reach New Zealand was breakdancing, which gained notoriety after the release of the 1979 movie The Warriors. The first hip hop hit single, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, became a hit in New Zealand when it was released there in 1980, a year after it was released in the United States. By the middle of the 1980s, breakdancing and graffiti art were established in urban areas like Wellington and Christchurch. By the early 1990s, hip hop became a part of mainstream New Zealand culture.
4th & B'way Records is a US-based subsidiary of Island Records that specialised in street-oriented music such as hip hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagship label of the Island Trading Company, the independent-distribution parent company of Island's other record labels that operated in the US. However, 4th & B'way was not distributed through major-label channels—the flagship Island label was distributed by Atlantic Records at that time—until the label and distribution company were acquired by PolyGram Records in 1989, when Island Trading became a unit of PolyGram Group Distribution and was renamed Independent Label Sales (ILS). It was also one of several US-based Island labels that were named after nearby New York City streets when Island's US headquarters were located at 14 East 4th Street in Manhattan, the same building that held the legendary East Village branch of Tower Records, and also nearby at 400 Lafayette Street. When Island moved its headquarters to the Worldwide Plaza Building at 825 8th Avenue in 1995, where PolyGram's US headquarters were also located, the empty 4th Street offices became the headquarters of V2 Records.
M.O.P. is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. After years of mostly underground success, they gained more mainstream recognition in 2000 with the song "Ante Up", which would become their biggest hit. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premier. Fame sometimes produces under the moniker Fizzy Womack, and has produced tracks on every M.O.P. release since 1996's Firing Squad, as well as work for other artists including Kool G Rap, Teflon and Wu-Tang Clan.
Critical Beatdown is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Ultramagnetic MCs, released on October 4, 1988, by Next Plateau Records. Production for the album was handled primarily by the group's rapper and producer Ced-Gee, who employed an E-mu SP-1200 sampler as the album's main instrument. Music journalists have noted the album for its innovative production, funk-based samples, self-assertive themes, and clever lyrical rhymes by Ced-Gee and rapper Kool Keith.
P.M. Dawn was an American hip hop and R&B act that formed in 1988 by the brothers Attrell Cordes and Jarrett Cordes in Jersey City, New Jersey. They earned significant crossover success in the early 1990s with music that merged hip hop, older soul, and more pop-oriented urban R&B.
Karl Clive Gordon, known by the stage name K-Gee, is a British DJ, producer, rapper and songwriter and former member of the Outlaw Posse.
Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience is the debut album by American hip hop group P.M. Dawn. It was recorded at Berwick Street Studios and Gee Street Studios in London. The album features soul vocals and stream-of-consciousness raps by Prince Be and unconventional samples by producer DJ Minutemix.
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" is a song by American hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, released in August 1991 as the second single from their debut album, Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991). It is built around samples of Spandau Ballet's "True", the Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip", and the Bob James version of Paul Simon's "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", with the remainder of the song written by P.M. Dawn vocalist Attrell "Prince Be" Cordes. Only Prince Be and "True" writer Gary Kemp were credited for writing the track.
The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel is the second studio album by hip hop supergroup Gravediggaz. Released on September 16, 1997, via Gee Street, V2 and BMG Records, the album has a more socially conscious sound and is considerably calmer than its predecessor; it features heavy production input by the RZA and his production team the Wu Elements.
Anthony Ian Berkeley better known as Too Poetic, was an American rapper and producer. He was also a founding member of the hip-hop group Gravediggaz, for which he used the alias Grym Reaper. He also used the alias Tony Titanium.
Outlaw Posse was a British hip hop group formed by Bello B and K-Gee. They also recorded together as Outlaw and Brothers Like Outlaw, before the group finally split in 1992.
Brothers Grym was a New York hip-hop group formed by Too Poetic and his two younger brothers, lyricists Brainstorm and R&B hip-hop producer E#.
Raw Deluxe is the fourth album by American hip hop group the Jungle Brothers. It was released on June 3, 1997 via Gee Street Records. Set to be distributed through Island/PolyGram, with which Gee Street had a distribution deal, this became the first Gee Street title to be distributed by V2/BMG after the label's purchase by Richard Branson.
Jon Baker (born 1960) is a music industry executive. He has worked as a fashion designer, promoter, and is currently co-owner of Geejam, a luxury resort and recording studio located in San San, near Port Antonio, Jamaica.
Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small, Nathaniel Hall, and Sammy Burwell. Hailed as pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hip-hop group to collaborate with a house-music producer. The trio released their debut album, Straight out the Jungle in July 1988. Their hip-house club hit single, "I'll House You" was added to the album in late-1988 reissues. Fostered by Kool DJ Red Alert, the Jungle Brothers' success paved the way for De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and eventually the Native Tongues collective that they founded.
