Rawkus Records is over

[Tim D]

I dont know if anyone has seen this but thought i'd drop it:

"After eight years in business and releasing such groundbreaking artists as Mos Def and Talib Kweli, Rawkus Records is closing their doors. The label will officially shut down as of January 31. After signing a joint venture deal with Geffen/Universal, the parent label opted not to renew the deal, leaving Rawkus without distribution. Sources said the label will vacate their Broadway offices by the end of the month and certain artists will be absorbed by Geffen"

 

[nobodyfamous]

whoa

 

[monumental]

that's great for all us artists who don't wanna sell their soul to a major label, just shows it's tough to make it if your not mainstream.

 

[TITO]

i wonder what's going on with mos def, talib kweli, skillz and pharoahe monch, if i was geffen ill make sure i keep those four at least. rawkus has some of the sickest lyricist's in the game right now and i hope they still drop sound bombing 4.

 

[nobodyfamous]

i know skillz aint with them n e more....rumor has it the roc is lookin at mos and talib

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Yeah that news is not so Fresh but anyhow if you liked Rawkus Then so be it......I can just remember Evil D making commentary and talking bad about Cannibus being the Worst Emcee he ever worked with and then everyone else was silent.........but Rockwilder and the Rest of the panels finally agreed and someone asked him (Evil D) a question about what he thought about Rawkus at a packed conference I attended about 2 years ago.....Imma quote him....... This is what he said without a second thought or hesitation......."Fuck Rawkus Records"....LOL I guess he's happy now....

 

[djswivel]

Mos Def and Talib are two of the greatest emcees around...someones gonna pick em up no doubt....Pharoahe is nice too

 

[Guevara]

DAMN THiS NEWS iS VERY VERY oLD.CiTY

 

[MIKELABZ]

the passing of rawkus only brings good news to the underground hip hop scene it shows that the big corporations are willing to accept the message us undergound artists are putting out there.

L-Rock

 

[J-Bust]

thats fucked up, rawkus was the shit

 

[mercurywaters]

rawkus is garbage. they were good when they first hit. then they started to go bankrupt and they wanted all their artists to commercial. all the artists on rawkus have been trying to get off the label for years. i read in an interview with last emperor that they wanted him to get a personal trainer and muscle up so he could be the next L.L. cool J. thats weak as hell to me. kweli was trying to shop his last album to other labels. it almost didn't come out at all. rawkus is shady as hell. good riddance

 

[o.Prime]

R.I.P. Rawkus

most successful album - Black Star

most groundbreaking album - Funcrusher Plus

just my opinion.

 

[chris]

I agree, when Rawkus came out they were nice and lasted a few years then just went down hill. But one thing i loved about them is they came out with mad singles on vinyl eventhough its not very profitable. I still cant believe they tried to sell out. Thats hip hop for you.

Best Rawkus single: Boom Royce 5'9"
Most grownd breaking: Eminem
Best career ruined: Last Emperor (its a damn shame.)
Best mix tape:Sound bombing 2

 

[RigorMortis]

what is that line of el p again.. sign to rawkus? i'd rather get mouth fucked by nazis unconcious..

sorry just popped into my mind, rawkus had some great potential and did some dope things but it was dying for a while and it's about time they are getting buried, because the stench would've become unbearable.. lets hope the artists that have been on hold all this time are now free to bring out their stuff..

 

[Cold Truth]

man rawkus had an ill roster for a minute.... blackstar in itself was dope- not to mention pharoah, and didnt they sign g rap? didnt they also release the high and mighty home field advantage cd?

question: how the hell s the last emporer supposed to be the next cool j? or anything REMOTELY similar? and they pretty much killed it with soundbombing three, although it wasnt bad (i have varying opinions on this album....) but 2 was a friggin classic- THIRSTIN HOWELL BABY! that album changed my whole perspective on hip hop..... i was a dmx disciple before that.

and lets not forget the impact that the first Lyricist Lounge had... people always talk about mixtapes and classics and 5 mics and all that, but this album was just raw with it, complete with some HORRIBLE recordings, sounded like bedroom beats to me, no studio or nothin.... just a dope album all around. the second one sported that SICK track with kweli and dead prez...... although the rest was a lil sudpect if you ask me...

all in all, they could have become a dominant voice in hip hop, i mean damn, mos and kweli now have serious mainstream acceptance and appeal, and maybe we aint talkin platinum here, but when you consider the impact that another mos release, another kweli release, another blackstar and pharoah release and g rap (if we could just get the man some beats....... you listenin hi tek?)..... theycould have been a solid label. too bad they screwed it all up.

 

[mono]

last emp deserved something better. i felt like the rawkus lp was produced just for selling, not for us serious fans. not as much heart in it.
legend of big foot was way deeper.
and what ive heared bout kwelis guerilla monsoon...tsstss....thanx for some alltime classic releases, rawkus, but fuck you anyway, good u died.