Fake Four Inc.

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Fake Four Inc.

Founded	2008
Founder	Ceschi Ramos David Ramos
Distributor(s)	Sonic Unyon, Redeye Distribution
Genre	Indie hip hop, indie rock
Country of origin	United States
Location	New Haven, Connecticut
Official website	www.fakefourinc.com

Fake Four Inc. is an independent record label based in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded by Ceschi and David Ramos in 2008.

According to an interview with Ceschi on Ugsmag.com,^[1] the Ramos brothers started Fake Four Inc. with help from Grimm Image Records in San Bernardino, California and Squids Eye Recording Collective in Dayton, Ohio as an outlet to release and distribute their personal music projects and those of their friends. Since the initial release This Up Here by David Ramos, Fake Four Inc. has been an entirely self-sufficient label.

Style

Although Fake Four Inc. does not adhere to genre specifications, it is closely tied to the experimental indie hip hop sound associated with labels such as Definitive Jux, Anticon and Rhymesayers Entertainment and indie rock. Brett Uddenberg of URB praised the label for pushing the boundaries of indie rap.^[2] Chris Faraone of The Phoenix wrote "Fake Four is the most important label in progressive hip-hop right now."^[3]

History

The first full-length release on Fake Four Inc. came with This Up Here by David Ramos on May 20, 2008.^[4] It is an album by co-founder of the label and Modern Drummer magazine's Top 10 Progressive drummers.^[5] The album received praise from publications such as Tiny Mix Tapes,^[6] XLR8R^[7] among others.

In 2009, Fake Four Inc. signed an exclusive distribution deal with Redeye Distribution joining labels such as Kill Rock Stars, Ninja Tune, Thrill Jockey, Warp Records among others.

In 2010, Fake Four Inc. became official label partners with Circle Into Square in Portland, Oregon and took on production and distribution duties for the smaller like-minded label. Fake Four Inc. is exclusively distributed by Sonic Unyon in Canada and Redeye Distribution worldwide.

Fake Four Inc. has released the albums by Astronautalis, Blue Sky Black Death, Boy in Static, Busdriver, Electric President, K-the-I???, Myka 9, Noah23 among many others. Nearly all releases on the label have placed on CMJ charts, including Vessel by Dark Time Sunshine on #2 CMJ Hip Hop ranking and Lawson Graham by Factor and Owl Hours by Awol One & Factor on #3 CMJ Hip Hop showings.

Fake Four Inc. is also known for their intra-label collaborations and extensive self-booked touring. The label has sponsored and promoted tours of the United States,^[8] Canada^[9] and Europe.^[10]

Ceschi’s imprisonment

In September 2013, Ceschi started an 18-month sentence stemming from a controversial marijuana charge. His brother David, who is currently at the helm of the record label, described the situation:

After his family was threatened and he was forced to give a coached statement to Police in 2010 he ended up going to court for years. In the end he has taken a reasonable plea bargain compared to the 5-7 years he was facing. Right now the stability of Fake Four is being threatened by Ceschi's situation & the exorbitant amount of debt that has been accumulated due to legal fees.^[11]

A website for donations has been set up to help Ceschi.

Roster

K-the-I
Lord Fowl
Louis Logic
Mad Gregs
Mic King & Chum
Moodie Black
Myka 9
Nathaniel Motte
Noah23
Onry Ozzborn
Open Mike Eagle
Paranoid Castle
Penny
Pretend You're Happy
Ron Contour
Sadistik
Sister Crayon
Sixo
Sole and the Skyrider Band

Discography

2008

05/27: David Ramos - This Up Here (#FFINC001)
07/21: Factor - Chandelier (#FFINC002)
08/26: Mad Gregs - Big Nun (#FFINC003)
09/23: Lord Fowl - Endless Dynamite (9/23/08) (#FFINC004)
11/04: Pretend You're Happy - Pretend You're Happy (11/4/08) (#FFINC005)

2009

01/15: Myka 9 - 1969 (#FFINC006)
04/14: Boy in Static - Candy Cigarette (#FFINC007)
05/05: Delby L - Nine Skies (#FFINC008)
06/16: Gregory Pepper & His Problems - With Trumpets Flaring (#FFINC009)
07/21: Awol One & Factor - Owl Hours (#FFINC010)
10/13: Sole and the Skyrider Band - Plastique (#FFINC011)
10/13: Sole and the Skyrider Band - Battlefields (#FFINC012)
12/08: Mic King & Chum - Flavor Ade (#FFINC013)

2010

01/26: Cars & Trains - The Roots, the Leaves (#FFINC014)
02/23: Electric President - The Violent Blue (#FFINC015)
03/08: Ron Contour & Factor - Saffron (#FFINC016)
04/20: Dark Time Sunshine - Vessel (#FFINC017)
05/18: Factor - Lawson Graham (#FFINC018)
06/29: Ceschi - The One Man Band Broke Up (#FFINC019)
08/10: Common Grackle - The Great Depression (#FFINC020)
09/07: Blue Sky Black Death - Third Party (#FFINC021)

2011

01/25: Onry Ozzborn - Hold On for Dear Life (#FFINC022)
02/15: Awol One & Factor - The Landmark (#FFINC023)
03/29: Noah23 - Fry Cook on Venus (#FFINC024)
04/26: Blue Sky Black Death - Noir (#FFINC025)
06/21: K-the-I - Synesthesia (#FFINC026)
07/19: Sole and the Skyrider Band - Hello Cruel World (#FFINC027)
08/16: Awol One & Nathaniel Motte - The Child Star (#FFINC028)
08/30: Paranoid Castle - Champagne Nightmares (#FFINC029)
09/13: Astronautalis - This Is Our Science (#FFINC030)
10/25: Hired Hand - Hired Hand (#FFINC031)
11/22: Factor and the Chandeliers - Factor and the Chandeliers (#FFINC032)

2012

01/24: Bleubird - Cannonball!!! (#FFINC033)
02/21: Busdriver - Beaus$Eros (#FFINC034)
04/03: Mad Gregs - Relatives (#FFINC035)
04/17: Sixo - Free Floating Rationales (#FFINC036)
05/29: David Ramos - Sento la Tua Mancanza (#FFINC037)
06/25: Greencarpetedstairs - Greencarpetedstairs (#N/A)
06/26: Open Mike Eagle - 4nml Hsptl (#FFINC038)
07/24: Dark Time Sunshine - Anx (#FFINC039)
08/21: Gregory Pepper & His Problems - Escape from Crystal Skull Mountain (#FFINC040)
09/18: Cars & Trains - We Are All Fire (#FFINC041)
10/16: Child Actor - Victory (#N/A)
11/13: Myka 9 & Factor - Sovereign Soul (#FFINC042)

2013

01/04: Penny - Twenties Hungry: The Unbound Anthems of Yesteryear (#N/A)
02/19: Sadistik - Flowers for My Father (#FFINC043)
03/05: Moodie Black - Moodie Black EP (#N/A)
04/16: Sister Crayon - Cynic EP (#FFINC045)
06/18: Gregory Pepper & Madadam - Big Huge Truck (#N/A)
07/23: Factor - Woke Up Alone (#FFINC046)
09/17: Grayskul - Zenith (#FFINC047)
10/01: Blue Sky Black Death - Glaciers (#FFINC048)
11/12: Louis Logic - Look on the Blight Side (#FFINC049)
12/06: Yes Yes Hobbyhorse - I Am Magic Said the Good Guy (#N/A)

2014

02/11: Bike for Three! - So Much Forever (#FFINC050)

References

External links

Official website
Fake Four Inc. on Circle Into Square
[http://www.discogs.com/label/Fake+Four+Inc. Fake Four Inc.] on Discogs

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