So happy that this piece finally came to light, I know firsthand there was alot of hard work in writer Phillip Mlynar pulling together and thank Talib Kweli especially for his important input, don’t see how it could have been written without you. After A Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr, De La Soul and The Pharcyde, Rawkus Records was responsible for the inspiration to creating Third Floor Radio to showcase records like “Fortified Live,” “Universal Magentic,” “Body Rock,” “1999” and “Get By” that I would travel all the way to record stores like Fat Beats to play on air or during lunch at Walnut High School. I remember visiting their NYC offices and leaving with the infamous “Rawkus” vinyl DJ bag that I still haven’t gotten myself to throw away because I wore it almost everyday.
Takes awhile to read through the article but take the time and you’ll be happy you did. You’ll learn about new beginnings like Def Jux by El P post Company Flow, how they came to work with artists like Big L. & Pharoahe Monch alongside misses the label had in not signing producer Kanye, Common or Eminem as well as the record that never saw the light of day by rapper Pitbull. I’ll never forget greeting Eminem in the House of Blues Sunset hallway after he killed it on stage at the Lyricist Lounge LA, not knowing what his future would hold.
Reading this just made me pull out the old Soundbombing tapes and VHS cassettes of the Lyricist Lounge on this Throwback Thursday. Join me with your Threes Up! and read the “Oral History of Rawkus Records HERE.”
