Blackground Records: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 00:26, 3 May 2013
| Blackground Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Barry Hankerson Jomo Hankerson |
| Distributor(s) | Interscope Geffen A&M (In the US) Polydor Records (Outside the US) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | New York City, Los Angeles |
Blackground Records is an American record label owned by entertainment attorney and artist manager Barry Hankerson and his son Jomo Hankerson. Today it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed by Interscope Records as of 2009. Oddly, it is no longer listed as Universal Music Group's label.[1]
History
In 1993, Hankerson formed the label, and Aaliyah became its first signee. At the time, Hankerson was managing R. Kelly, and was able to get his label Jive Records to distribute Blackground's releases. In 1996, Blackground obtained a lucrative distribution deal with Atlantic Records, just before the release of Aaliyah's second album, One In A Million.
Often playing distributor hopscotch, in 2000, Blackground switched over to Virgin Records. One year later, it moved again, this time finding a home at Universal Motown Records Group. In 2001, after the death of Aaliyah her self-titled and final album Aaliyah rose to number one on the Billboard 200 and became the first album who reached number one and best-selling record from Blackground Records. Aaliyah sold over 32 million albums worldwide.
In 2003, JoJo was signed to Blackground. JoJo released her first self-titled album JoJo in 2004, went number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified with Platinum. In 2006, she released her sophomore album The High Road, which debuted number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified with Gold. To date, JoJo sold over 5 million records worldwide. Her singles "Leave (Get Out)" produced by Soulshock & Karlin and "Too Little Too Late" produced by Billy Steinberg were her huge hits worldwide.
As of October 2009, Blackground is to be distributed by Interscope Records, also part of Universal Music Group
In 2010, Blackground partnered with former Universal Motown Senior Vice President of Promotion Gary Marella to distribute his new label Roma Records. Their first signing is Jordy Towers, who formerly went by the name Optimus. He is now doing his own thing in the new band SomeKindaWonderful. Later this year, Blackground signed a new artist Crystal Nicole better known as Cri$tyle, who began her career as a songwriter and has written songs for Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Keke Palmer and many more. In June 2011, Crystal released her first single "Pinch Me", which was produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox.
In 2011, Hankerson signed another female artist on Blackground Records, Jenna Artzer. Her first solo single "Falling To Pieces" is set to release in June 2012.
The latest album release was Timbaland's Shock Value II in 2009, with single: "Morning After Dark", "Say Something", "Carry Out" and "If We Ever Meet Again".
