Lex Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 2001 |
Founder | Tom Brown |
Genre | Alternative hip hop, electronic, alternative rock |
Country of origin | England |
Location | Camden, London |
Official website | lexrecords |
Lex Records is a British independent record label. Most releases on the label are alternative hip hop, alternative rock or electronic music. [1] [2] [3] Dazed described Lex as a label "...whose wildly creative output spans over a decade of landmark releases that have changed the music industry no end." [4]
Founded in 2001, Lex was originally an imprint of Warp. [5] By the end of 2003, Lex had released several albums including debuts by Boom Bip, Non-Prophets and Danger Mouse and the success of these albums allowed Lex to expand. [6]
In 2004, Lex managed The Grey Album campaign, establishing Danger Mouse as a critically successful artist. [7] Damon Albarn got a copy of The Grey Album and this led to Danger Mouse being approached to produce Gorillaz's second album Demon Days . [4] [8] Demon Days was released by Parlophone in May 2005 and sold millions of copies [9] [10] establishing Danger Mouse as a commercially successful producer by the summer of 2005. [11] [12]
In September 2005, Brown bought Warp's share of the label. [13] The next release was Danger Doom The Mouse and the Mask . It was Lex's best selling release to date. [14] Gnarls Barkley's multi platinum debut St. Elsewhere followed in 2006, released on Warner with Lex branding.
In March 2008, Gnarls Barkley's second album 2006 The Odd Couple was released on Warner with Lex branding. In the same month, Lex released Neon Neon Stainless Style which was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2008.
In 2009, Lex released MF Doom's Born Like This .
In July 2010, Lex released an audiobook of Alan Moore & Mitch Jenkins' Unearthing , narrated by Moore and scored by Crook & Flail. They performed it live at the Old Vic Tunnels. [15] Also in July, Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse & David Lynch's Dark Night of the Soul was released on Parlophone with Lex branding.
In May 2011, Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi's album Rome featuring Jack White and Norah Jones was released on Parlophone with Lex branding.
On 5 November 2011, Lex marked its tenth anniversary with a show at The Roundhouse in Camden featuring performances by Ghostface Killah, MF Doom and Jneiro Jarel, [16] and released Complex , a compilation album. [17] [18]
In August 2012 Lex released JJ Doom's Key to the Kuffs . [19] Later in 2012 Lex launched Charlie White and Boom Bip's art project Music For Sleeping Children which includes photography, video, electronic music and spoken word recordings. [20] Lex's first two short films, written by Alan Moore and directed by Mitch Jenkins were previewed online in November 2012. [21] [22]
In 2013, Lex released Neon Neon's second album Praxis Makes Perfect . [23] The album was presented live as an immersive theatre performance with National Theatre Wales. [24]
In November 2013, Lex and ATP co-promoted a show with MF Doom, BadBadNotGood and Bishop Nehru at the Kentish Town Forum. [25] MF Doom went on to collaborate with BadBadNotGood and Bishop Nehru on Lex. BadBadNotGood remixed the JJ Doom track "Guv'nor"; MF Doom produced the Bishop Nehru mini-album NehruvianDoom; and MF Doom appeared on BadBadNotGood & Ghostface Killah's album Sour Soul .
Eyedress released his first single on Lex in 2016. [26] His debut studio album, Manila Ice, was released on Lex in May 2017, followed by Sensitive G in November 2018. [27] [28] The single "Cocaine Sunday" from Sensitive G received gold RIAA certification in 2024. [29]
In late 2019, Lex released the first singles from Eyedress’ third album Let's Skip to the Wedding , including "Jealous" on 19 December 2019. “Jealous” became viral hit the following year. [30] “Jealous” was certified gold in Australia, Canada, Poland and the US in 2021, and 3x platinum in the US in March 2024. [31] [29] [32] [33]
Lex released “Romantic Lover” by Eyedress on 12 January 2020 which also became a viral hit. [30] "Romantic Lover" was certified platinum in the US in March 2023. [29]
Lex's first feature film, The Show , written by Alan Moore and directed by Mitch Jenkins was an official selection for SXSW 2020. [34] Following SXSW's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic film had a world premiere at Sitges Film Festival 2020, [35] and was licensed to Starz. [36]
Eyedress' album Let's Skip to the Wedding , which includes the singles "Jealous" and "Romantic Lover", was released on 7 August 2020. The album was certified gold in the USA and Canada in 2024. [29] [31]
On 31 December 2020, MF Doom's death was announced on social media. [37]
In August 2021 Lex released Eyedress’ fourth studio album Mulholland Drive . [38] The first single from the album, “Something About You” became a viral hit in the US with Rolling Stone citing the track as the fastest-rising song on American streaming services for the week ending 23 September 2021. [39] "Something About You" was certified gold in the USA in May 2022, and platinum in October 2023. [29]
During 2021, Lex marked its twentieth anniversary by releasing a series of remixes of recordings in its catalogue under the project title Lex-XX . [40]
Grammy Awards (USA)
Plug Independent Music Awards (USA)
British Animation Awards (UK)
RIAA certification (USA)
Music Canada certification (Canada)
Brit Certified (UK)
Dennis David Coles, better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film The Mystery of Chess Boxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises.
Brian Joseph Burton, known professionally as Danger Mouse, is an American musician and record producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from the Beatles' The Beatles, also known as The White Album. In 2008, Esquire named him one of the "75 most influential people of the 21st century".
Daniel Dumile, also known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom, was a British-American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and "supervillain" stage persona, he became a major figure of underground hip hop and alternative hip hop in the 2000s.
Fishscale is the fifth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, released March 28, 2006, on Def Jam in the United States. The album features guest appearances from every member of the Wu-Tang Clan, as well as Ghostface Killah's Theodore Unit. It also features production from several acclaimed producers, such as MF Doom, Pete Rock, J Dilla, and Just Blaze, among others. The album follows an organized crime theme, and is named after a term for uncut cocaine.
St. Elsewhere is the debut studio album by American soul duo Gnarls Barkley. It was released on April 24, 2006, in the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and on May 9, 2006, in the United States, although it was available for purchase one week earlier as a digital download in the US iTunes Store. St. Elsewhere debuted at No. 20 on the US Billboard 200, and peaked at No. 4. It topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart for 39 non-consecutive weeks in 2006 and 2007.
"Crazy" is the debut single of American soul duo Gnarls Barkley, taken from their 2006 debut album, St. Elsewhere. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and several other countries.
"Smiley Faces" is a song by American soul music duo Gnarls Barkley from their debut album, St. Elsewhere (2006). It was released July 17, 2006, as the second single from that album in the United Kingdom and peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
Danger Doom was an American hip hop supergroup consisting of Danger Mouse and MF DOOM. Their first album, The Mouse and the Mask, was released October 10th, 2005, and followed by the Occult Hymn EP in 2006.
Waxploitation is an American record label, artist management company and music publisher, which was founded in 1996 by Jeff Antebi.
Gnarls Barkley is an American soul duo composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green and producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, St. Elsewhere, in 2006. It contained their hit single "Crazy", which peaked at number two on the US Hot 100 and topped the UK Singles Chart. It was nominated at the 2007 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, and was platinum certified for shipping over 1,000,000 records. St. Elsewhere also received a nomination for Album of the Year. Their second studio album, The Odd Couple, was scheduled for release in April 2008, but due to a leak of the album over the internet, they decided to release it early. The album in its entirety received similarly positive reviews.
British-American rapper and record producer Daniel Dumile, also known under several stage names, most notably MF DOOM, released six studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, 10 instrumental albums, seven collaborative albums, 14 singles, and 32 music videos in his career.
The Odd Couple is the second studio album by Gnarls Barkley, released digitally on March 18 and physically on March 25, 2008. Due to an early leak of the album over the Internet in early March 2008, the duo decided to push up the release from April 8. The album was released to the iTunes Store and Amazon MP3 on March 18.
The discography of Gnarls Barkley, an American alternative hip-hop duo composed of record producer Danger Mouse and soul singer Cee Lo Green, consists of two studio albums, two extended plays, seven singles and seven music videos. The duo originally met in the late 1990s, and began to record music together in 2003 following the release of Danger Mouse's 2003 album Ghetto Pop Life. Their first single, "Crazy", was released in 2006; it achieved worldwide chart success, reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 – where it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) – and reaching the top ten of the Australian, New Zealand and Swiss singles charts, among others. It also topped the UK Singles Chart, attracting considerable attention for becoming the first song ever to top the chart on digital download sales alone, following a change to the chart's eligibility rules allowing songs to chart purely on digital sales providing that it was given a physical release the following week. The song appeared on Gnarls Barkley's debut studio album, St. Elsewhere, which peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 as well as topping the New Zealand and United Kingdom albums charts. Three further singles – "Smiley Faces", which reached the top ten of the UK and Irish singles charts, "Who Cares?" and a cover of the Violent Femmes song "Gone Daddy Gone" – were released from St. Elsewhere, although none of them appeared on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sour Soul is a collaborative studio album from Canadian jazz instrumental hip hop band BadBadNotGood and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. It was released worldwide on February 24, 2015.
Idris Ennolandy Vicuña, known professionally as Eyedress, is a Filipino musician.
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The discography of BadBadNotGood, the Canadian instrumental jazz and hip-hop group, includes five solo studio albums as well as collaborative projects like 2015's Sour Soul with Ghostface Killah, and numerous singles. Collaborative since their origin, BBNG is well known for working with artists like Daniel Caesar, MF DOOM, Kali Uchis, and Mick Jenkins. Outside of their own output, BBNG are noted producers and songwriters and often work with fellow Canadian producers Frank Dukes and Kaytranada.
"Jealous" is a song by Filipino musician Eyedress, released on 6 December 2019 as a single from his album Let's Skip to the Wedding (2020). It first charted at number twenty four on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and number twenty three on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs charts on the week of 20 February 2021, climbing to number fifteen on both charts the following week, and remaining in the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart for 20 weeks. It received multi-platinum certification from the RIAA for selling 3,000,000 equivalent units in the United States. The single was also certified gold in Australia and Poland and platinum in Canada.
Let's Skip to the Wedding is the third studio album by Filipino singer-songwriter Eyedress, released on August 7, 2020, through Lex Records. The album was produced by Eyedress.
Lex-XX is a compilation of remixes issued by Lex Records in 2021 and 2022 to mark the label's twentieth anniversary. Lex-XX is the third compilation on the label, following Lexoleum (2001-2003) and Complex (2011-2012) each released approximately a decade apart.