| Flipmode Entertainment | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1994-2010 |
| Founder | Busta Rhymes |
| Distributor(s) | Universal Motown |
| Genre | Hip Hop |
| Country of origin | USA |
Flipmode Entertainment (originally Flipmode Records) is a record label founded in 1994 by hiphop artist Busta Rhymes that operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In 2006, the label jointly released Busta Rhymes's The Big Bang with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. Busta and his group are now signed to Universal Motown after fatal fallout with Interscope Records. Flipmode is no longer active due to Busta's new label Conglomerate Records.
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Soon after the Elektra Records deal was done, Busta obtained his own label which was to serve as an imprint to the label. At the time his friend, Rah Digga, was signing to Elektra along with another friend of his, Rampage. Elektra would allow Busta to sign these acts to his Flipmode Entertainment. Under the terms of the deal, Busta was responsible for putting their albums together and they would fund, promote and distribute the releases from the label. The first release from Flipmode was Busta Rhymes's The Coming, which came in 1996, during the time that the east coast was beginning to gain popularity again after the rise of the west coast. This album went platiunm and catopulted him and the label into stardom as this album is looked at as one of the many classic east coast albums that came out during this period. Rampage would release his debut album in 1997, along with Busta Rhymes' second album. The label soon released an album by Flipmode Squad, The Imperial. By 1999, the group and label were one of the most popular crews in hip hop, with Busta Rhymes as their central star and leader. Despite this, Busta was looking for a change as he was disappointed with the way that Elektra handled his last project and Rah Digga's debut, Dirty Harriet sold poorly. After the release of his album, Anarchy, Busta began looking for a way to move him and his squad to another label, but had only released four out of the five albums in his deal with Warner Bros. Records. So, in 2000, he released a compilation album and began to search for a new home.
After he moved the label away from Elektra, he had begun talking to Clive Davis, who had been recently ousted from Arista Records. He mentioned to Busta that he had recently created a new imprint at Sony, J Records. Clive told Busta that he had yet to sign anyone to the label and would be glad to distribute Busta and his Flipmode Entertainment. The deal was done by November 2000 and Busta Rhymes began work on his fifth album, Genesis. The album sold well, fueled by the P. Diddy-collaborated "Pass the Courvoisier." The single was a big hit during the year of 2002 and introduced Busta Rhymes into a younger generation of fans and totally revitalized his career. After the hype surrounding Genesis died down, Busta began working on an album for his Flipmode Squad, Rah Digga, and himself. The first to be released was It Ain't Safe No More, which featured Mariah Carey and the Flipmode Squad. Three singles from the album got a lot of airplay, but the album stalled at gold, making it the worst-selling album in Busta Rhymes discography. To this Busta would blame on J Records not promoting his music properly, thing really reached a dramatic point when J did not release Rah Digga's album nor did they release the album by Flipmode. Busta got very frustrated with the label as they spent a substantial amount of money to promote Alicia Keys and her album. He said that when he went platinum on the label it was because of him and what he did out of his pocket because J Records neglected their hip hop acts, while they were big promoters of their R&B acts. He said that J is a label that doesn't need to have hip hop acts on their label, because they are more into releasing soul music. After the controversy occurred, they began associating themselves with Dr. Dre and Eminem, then rumors began to circulate that Busta was moving the label again. These rumors proved to be false at the time. He would record some songs with Eminem and Dr. Dre, but would continue to stay at J Records. From 2002 to 2004, nothing was heard from Flipmode Entertainment as Busta Rhymes, the face of their label was doing more television than anything else. They resurfaced in 2005, when Busta Rhymes announced that he was planning to leave J Records and was recording his seventh album.
In late 2005, Busta Rhymes had moved Flipmode once again, this time to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, a subsidiary of powerhouse label, Interscope Records. He celebrated the new distribution deal by cutting off his trademark dreadlocks and signing hip hop phenom, Papoose and Chauncey Black, formerly of Blackstreet. The deal came as no surprise to any hip hop fan as Dr. Dre had been producing for Busta since he had been signed to Elektra and he had begun to be featured on many Shady/Aftermath projects during the years 2003 and 2004. In February 2006, he released the second single, "I Love My Chick" from his seventh studio album The Big Bang. The album was released on June 13, 2006. It was a platinum success and returned the label back to the radio and back to hip hop prominence after a four year absence. This success would be short-lived as the label's next release, Have You Seen by Rampage failed to certify on the charts. Soon after, the label would run into more bad luck. Papoose, who was signed to a joint-venture with Streetsweepers Entertainment announced that he was leaving Flipmode after signing a $1 Million dollar contract with the label. Soon after, longtime Flipmode Entertainment act Rah Digga left the label saying that it seemed that Busta had no desire to talk to Dr. Dre about putting her album out instead he was having too much of a good time partying. Despite this, the label is still a semi-success. On July 17, 2008, Busta Rhymes got dropped from Interscope/Aftermath. It was reported that Busta Rhymes was dropped from Interscope due to a heated argument with Jimmy Iovine. He later confirmed that the album would be released in late September on Aftermath. www.Aftermathmusic.com contacted the general manager of Aftermath, who issued the response “Yes, it’s true. He got dropped.”[1] It was later revealed that following his alleged acrimonious departure from the Interscope/Aftermath label he signed a new deal with Universal Motown, who will release his 8th studio album Back on My B.S. on May 19, 2009.[2][3]
Smith released his eighth studio album Back on My B.S. on May 19, 2009 via Universal Motown. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, selling 56,000 copies, and was his first album to not receive an RIAA certification, selling 122,000 copies to date. The singles that have been released from the album are, "Arab Money", featuring Ron Browz, "Hustler's Anthem '09", featuring T-Pain and "Respect My Conglomerate". The song "World Go Round", featuring British singer Estelle, was released in France on April 6, 2009 due to the heavy rotation of a leaked version. The single was be released in the UK on July 13, 2009. Smith announced that he his working on his upcoming ninth studio album entitled The Chemo. He says that his next project is 80 percent finished.[4] Canadian producer Boi-1da is currently working on the album.[5] On the red carpet at the 2010 grammy awards, Busta Rhymes had a brief interview with Nick Cannon where he stated that the album would be released on the 4th of July.[6] According to a HipHopDX.com article posted nearly two weeks after, however, The Chemo is set for a July 4, 2010 release[7].In 2011 Busta announced the start of his new label Conglomerate Records ending in flipmode being no longer active.[1]
Below is a list of artists who signed to Flipmode Entertainment.[8]
| Compilation album | Shelved or Unreleased album | Upcoming album |
Busta Rhymes – The Coming
|
Busta Rhymes – Flipmode Remixes
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| Rampage – Scouts Honor... by Way of Blood |
Busta Rhymes – When Disaster Strikes...
|
| Flipmode Squad – The Imperial |
Busta Rhymes – E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front
|
| Lord Have Mercy – Thee Ungodly Hour |
| Rah Digga – Dirty Harriet |
| Busta Rhymes – Anarchy |
Busta Rhymes – Total Devastation: The Best of Busta Rhymes
|
Busta Rhymes – Genesis
|
Busta Rhymes – Turn It Up!: The Very Best of
|
Busta Rhymes – It Ain't Safe No More
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| Rah Digga – Everything Is a Story |
Busta Rhymes – The Artist Collection: Busta Rhymes
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Rampage – Have You Seen?
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Busta Rhymes – The Big Bang
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Spliff Star – Contraband (street album)
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Busta Rhymes – Back on My B.S.
|
Busta Rhymes – TBA (Working Title)
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Below is a list of upcoming releases from Flipmode Entertainment.