SRC Records

SRC Records
Parent company Universal Music Group
Founded 2002
Founder Steve Rifkind
Status Defunct
Distributor(s) Republic Records
(In the US)
Virgin EMI Records
(Outside the US)
Genre Hip hop/R&B
Country of origin United States of America

SRC Records (Street Records Corporation) 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.[1]

Company history

SRC Records was founded by Steve Rifkind in 2002. The same year that he was ousted from his CEO position from Loud Records, he would form the label and sign an exclusive distribution deal with Universal Records. The label was much like Loud Records, a hip hop and R&B label. The first move with the label was signing David Banner, a rapper from Jackson, Mississippi. With Banner as their flagship artist, SRC soared to great heights behind his 2003 debut. The label was instantly hailed as the second-coming of Interscope Records, due to the obvious similarities. The hit single "Like A Pimp," would make the label a household name within the hip hop community. During the year of 2003, the label would hit paydirt after hearing tapes from Senegalese singer, Akon, who they would immediately sign to their label. In 2004, Akon would release his multi-platinum debut album, Trouble. In early 2004, they signed a deal to distribute material from the rap supergroup, Terror Squad. SRC would go on to release all albums from Remy Ma and the group Terror Squad, itself. In the summer of 2004, SRC would become home to the hit single, "Lean Back," by Fat Joe and Remy Ma. After these releases, SRC had established itself among the other heavyweight record labels in hip hop music. In 2005, the label granted Akon his own label Konvict Muzik. The deal brought more artists on to the label and a hit album from Akon.

Loud deal, Later Successes and Eventual Closure

In June 2007, Sony Music resurrected Rifkind's original label, Loud Records. Loud had been home to many of the more popular hip hop acts of the time, but would shut down operations in 2004. After the resurrection of Loud, Rifkind would buy the label and make it a subsidiary of SRC. His first act after re-gaining the label was, as he did fifteen years earlier, signing the Wu-Tang Clan.[2] In August 2010 Rifkind signed rapper Joell Ortiz in a deal with SRC Records and Universal Motown Records.[3] The label had a deal with Universal Republic Records, later the label was reverted to Republic Records.

On July 29, 2012, Steve Rifkind announced that he was leaving Universal Records on September 1, 2012. On September 1st, the label closed and all its artists either left Republic/Universal or were transferred to the same label.

Labels under SRC

Roster

SRC discography

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/a-young-music-executive-takes-over-at-motown/
  2. ↑ http://blogs.bet.com/music/soundOff/and-i-quote-asher-roth-ti-rick-ross-lyor-cohen-nick-cannon/
  3. ↑ http://rapradar.com/2010/08/30/joell-ortiz-signing-with-src/
  4. ↑ http://www.srcrecords.net/djwebstar.aspx

External links

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