This is a list of current, and former, artists for American label Universal Records of Universal Motown Republic Group, or one of its associated labels. An asterisk (*) denotes an artist who no longer records for the label.
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr., professionally known as Irv Gotti, is an American DJ, music producer, record executive, and the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records. He is best known for producing multiple number-one records for Ashanti, Ja Rule, and Jennifer Lopez, as well as his collaborations with Jay-Z, DMX, and Kanye West. Gotti is also the creator of the BET series Tales.
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul music, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz records. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan, it is distributed by EMI Records.
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Early years Cash Money Records released albums of Juvenile, B.G., and Hot Boys. Distributed by Republic Records, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip hop artists, including Lil Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj. The company is regarded as one of the most successful record labels of the 2000s–2010s.
Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop. During the 1990s, aided by its A&R worker Sean Combs, it led the fusion of these two genres. Its artists included Al B. Sure!, Christopher Williams, Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Father MC, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., and Soul for Real.
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. On April Fools' Day 2014, Universal Music publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group, leaving Island, Def Jam and its affiliated subsidiaries as separate sister labels.
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group. The label has been dormant since 2006, due to Universal Motown and Universal Republic Records being formed and taking all of the artists from it. Those labels were eventually combined to form the latest iteration of Republic Records.
Christopher Noel Dorsey, better known by his stage name B.G., is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his music career signing to Birdman's Cash Money Records in 1994 at the age of 13. Dorsey, alongside fellow rappers Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk, collectively formed the group, the Hot Boys in 1997. B.G. released several solo albums for Cash Money, including the platinum-selling Chopper City in the Ghetto in 1999. In 2001, he resigned from Cash Money Records and created his own label, Chopper City Records.
Universal Motown Republic Group (UMRG) was an umbrella label founded in 1999 by Universal Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its unit. UMRG was formed in 1999 by pooling together Universal Records, Motown Records, and Republic Records,, but which gave way to the current incarnations of those labels at the time, Universal Motown Records and Universal Republic Records.
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an imprint of the Universal/Motown Records Group, and was renamed Universal Republic Records after a reorganization in 2006 before going back to its original name in 2012.
Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
SRC was an American record label created by former Loud Records CEO Steve Rifkind. It was a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and was distributed through Republic Records.
Biv 10 Records was founded by Michael Bivins in 1992, through a joint venture with Motown Records.
Murder Inc. Records, LLC. is an American record label founded by brothers Chris and Irv Gotti in 1998. The label's flagship artist was Ja Rule. According to Chris Gotti, Murder Inc. had sold over 30 million units worldwide and grossed over $500 million. Their office was located at One Worldwide Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, while their main studio was The Crackhouse, also located in New York City.