Time to wax nostalgic for a minute…These days being an underground hip-hop fan is as much of a fad as being a commercial fan is. When Rawkus hit the scene in 1996, people didn’t listen cause it was trendy, they listened because it was a necessary alternative to the increasing amount of trash on the radio.
El-P began his foundation for Def Jux as a member the seminal Company Flow crew while at Rawkus; Pharoahe Monch launched his solo career; Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Hi-Tek began theirs; The High & Mighty birthed Eastern Conference Records; even Eminem reached his underground zenith with his hit on a Rawkus compilation.
Rawkus owners Brian Brater, Jarret Meyer and James Murdoch (son of billionaire Rupert Murdoch) quickly learned that keeping it real didn’t mean keeping it profitable. So they tried to become what they weren’t, artists lost creative control and put out albums that didn’t please the fanbase. Artists were treated poorly and albums became eternally delayed, by 2001 they were going out of business. That is, before MCA scooped them up and they began releasing their albums under their banner.
MCA didn’t last much longer however and soon closed it’s doors, with Geffen/Universal swallowing up most of their roster. As it stands now, it looks like they will not be renewing their deal with Rawkus and it will spell the end of the Rawkus Records legacy. Geffen is expected to retain the services of certain artists, but their very well may be some nice free agents in the market.
