Virgin Records Ltd. is a British record label founded by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman in 1972. It grew to be a worldwide phenomenon over time, with the success of platinum performers such as George Michael, Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Roy Orbison, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Keith Richards, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, dc Talk, the Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Oldfield, Gorillaz, and Spice Girls, among others.
Motown Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was 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.
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records, Arista Records, and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, electronic, R&B, blues, jazz, and country. Its name is derived from the initials of its defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). It was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1986, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG); however, RCA Records became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a merger between BMG and Sony Music, in 2004, and was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. It is the second oldest record label in American history, after sister label Columbia Records.
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in December 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk music and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. As of October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently-managed frontline label of Warner Music.
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic Records has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, The Hollies, Celine Dion, ABBA, Culture Club, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson, better known by his stage name Kool G Rap, is an American rapper from Queens. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew. He is often cited as one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time, and a pioneer of mafioso rap/street/hardcore content and multisyllabic rhyming. On his album The Giancana Story, he stated that the "G" in his name stands for "Giancana", but on other occasions he has stated that it stands for "Genius".
A Different Drum was an independent record label and online store based in Smithfield, Utah, founded in 1996. The label specialized in synthpop and related genres. A Different Drum has released hundreds of albums, singles, and compilations and was the biggest synthpop label in the U.S.
First Words is a Canadian hip hop group, consisting of Halifax beatmaker Jorun, DJ STV and emcees Sean One & Above. The trio released two albums and an EP, as well as contributing tracks to several hiphop compilations.
Independent music is music produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing. The term indie is sometimes used to describe a genre, and as a genre term, "indie" may include music that is not independently produced, and many independent music artists do not fall into a single, defined musical style or genre and create self-published music that can be categorized into diverse genres. The term ‘indie’ or ‘independent music’ can be traced back to as early as the 1920’s after it was first used to reference independent film companies but was later used as a term to classify an independent band or record producer.
Nicky Spesh is a rapper from North London, England. A member of the emerging British hip hop and Grime scene alongside the likes of Sway, Nicky Spesh first became recognised when he freestyled over DJ Kool Herc's set at The Scala in London in 2002. Spesh also promoted and performed at his own club nights 'GMBeats present GMBeats' at the Bug Bar, in Brixton and WKD in Camden with his eponymous pirate radio crew.
Momu is an electronic music producer duo of John David Moyer and Mark Musselman. The pair began making music together after meeting at Qoöl, a party organized by Moyer.
Bedrock is a DJ mix album produced by John Digweed. It was released in the United Kingdom on INCredible and in the United States on Ultra Records.
The Georgian Troupe is a left-wing Georgian opposition political party with a strong nationalist component set up in January 2007 and chaired by Jondi Bagaturia, formerly a leading activist of the Georgian Labour Party. Bagaturia left the Labour Party following his disagreement with the party leader Shalva Natelashvili in December 2006. The party has promised to nationalize companies and property bought by foreigners. It has been part of the United Opposition alliance since November 2007.
Olurotimi Akinosho, known professionally as Rotimi, is a Nigerian-American actor, singer, and model. He is known for his role as Darius Morrison on the Starz series Boss, and currently stars as Andre Coleman on Power.
NTS is an online radio station and media platform based in the Hackney area of London, England. The station was founded in April 2011 by Femi Adeyemi. NTS Radio serves the online community with a diverse range of live radio shows, digital media and live music based events. Its tag line is 'Don't Assume'. NTS has live stations in London, Manchester, Los Angeles and Shanghai and it broadcasts content live from over 30 cities a month. According to the Institute of Contemporary Arts website, "NTS Radio is a family of like-minded and passionate individuals, dedicated to supporting exciting music and culture through online radio and events. NTS uncovers the best of the musical past, celebrates the present and cultivates the future of the underground music scene, and prides itself on being open-minded and experimental".
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding of major record labels. Many artists begin their careers on independent labels.
38 Spesh is an American recording artist, rapper and producer.
Son of G Rap is an collaborative album by hip hop artists 38 Spesh and Kool G Rap.
