Getting Rawkus
The rise and fall of hiphop record label Rawkus is covered in a fascinating article in the Village Voice (tip of the hat to O-Dub - he's got some extra questions on Rawkus over here).
Rawkus came up in the mid 90s with Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch and Company Flow - El P from the latter outfit eventually left Rawkus and started Def Jux, home to RJD2 (new album out May 18), Mr Lif, Aesop Rock, Cannibal Ox, and more.
"... Rawkus Records was founded on 10 g's in savings and a hazily idealistic notion about promoting progressive music. They tried drum'n'bass, electronica, and rock. They were not taken very seriously. But they could write a business plan, and they knew how to pull strings. So they tapped their old friend James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's kid. Pops agreed to invest in Rawkus even if it didn't have the gravitas. To get that, Brater and Myer would have to focus their vision a bit. They couldn't be all things to all genres. But they could be the only thing that mattered to you.
They got their first inkling from Company Flow. This was not true love—it was a marriage of convenience and opportunity. Orchestrated by abstract beatmaster-MC El-P, Co-Flo had little respect for Rawkus's business acumen or knowledge of hip-hop. But the Murdoch money was irresistible. Like almost every act that came to Rawkus, Co-Flo brought their own dream and asked the label to sell it: Funcrusher Plus. A few months later hordes of college geeks had an excuse for sitting sullenly in the back of the classroom: "Even when I say nothing it's a beautiful use of negative space."
Just prior to the label folding, after being bought by major label MCA (which was then swallowed by Geffen/Interscope, leading to the demise), they missed out on signing Kanye West. Bummer. If you want a local parallel, perhaps compare it to the shifting fortunes of Flying Nun, or more recently Kog Transmissions. NZ Musician did an excellent backgrounder on the Kog situation recently.
