Fox Fuse is a leading digital music label for
Caribbean music and is the largest label worldwide for
soca and
chutney
A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sa ...
music. Based in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
(previously in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
), Fox Fuse has built a strong reputation working with superstar clients such as
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
,
Lil Jon
Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cr ...
and
Shaggy
Shaggy may refer to:
People
*Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer
* Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse
* Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...
, and has some of the top performers and producers in
Caribbean music exclusively-signed to its roster.
Music Label
Fox Fuse entered the music distribution business in February 2012, releasing Trinidadian soca star Farmer Nappy's album 'You Make Me...Surrender.' Fox Fuse also released Farmer Nappy's hit album "Big People Party" in February 2014.
On February 17, 2015, Fox Fuse released its first executive-produced compilation titled 'Get Soca 2015,' which debuted at #3 on the
Billboard's
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
Reggae Albums chart and remained on the chart for seven consecutive weeks. 'Get Soca 2015' was also featured on the United States
iTunes store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
homepage, during its week of release and it went on to peak at #3 on the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
iTunes store Reggae section Top Albums chart, #3 on the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
iTunes store World/Reggae Top Albums chart, and #10 on the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
iTunes store Reggae Top Albums chart.
In May 2015, Fox Fuse released 'Stand And Be Counted' by Trinidadian Gospel reggae star Positive, which debuted at #9 on Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart, a major accomplishment for Caribbean Gospel music.
In July 2015,
Billboard cited Fox Fuse as being the "world’s largest distributor of
Cropover music." Fox Fuse released its second executive-produced compilation to celebrate the 2015
Cropover season, titled 'Fox Fuse Presents: Crop Over Soca 2015.'
In keeping with its mission statement of providing a powerful channel for quality Caribbean music to the global audience, according to its website, Fox Fuse has over 70 exclusively-signed label partners, which includes production houses, producers and artists. In August 2015, the
Daily News (New York) stated that Fox Fuse "is currently the world’s largest music label for contemporary soca music."
Artist management
Fox Fuse delved into the artist management business in 2012 with Jamaican dancehall artist Stein.
History
Fox Fuse was founded in 2007 by
Rhona Fox. The company made a name for itself as a media-marketing agency for Caribbean music, representing acts such as
Shaggy
Shaggy may refer to:
People
*Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer
* Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse
* Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...
,
Gyptian
Windel Beneto Edwards (born 25 October 1983), better known by his stage name Gyptian (), is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall.
Early life
Born to a Seventh-day Adventist ...
,
Richie Spice
Richell Bonner (born 8 September 1971), better known as Richie Spice, is a Jamaican reggae artist. He is a member of the Rastafari movement. Some of his most famous songs include, "Brown Skin", "Youth Dem Cold Rel Bad", "Grooving' My Girl", "Ear ...
,
Kevin Lyttle
Lescott Kevin Lyttle Coombs (born 14 September 1976) is a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Vincentian soca music, soca artist, who had a worldwide hit record, hit with "Turn Me On (Kevin Lyttle song), Turn Me On" in 2003, recorded with the danc ...
,
Drupatee Ramgoonai Drupatee Ramgoonai (; born 2 March 1958) is an Trinidadian and Tobagonian chutney and chutney soca musician. She was responsible for coining the term "chutney soca" in 1987 with her first album, entitled ''Chutney Soca'', which included both Engli ...
, and
Machel Montano. Fox Fuse has also represented concerts like Best of the Best in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
in 2009 and 2010, working with acts such as
Diddy,
Flo Rida,
Rick Ross and
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...
.
Rhona Fox served as the official spokesperson for the concert for those two years.
In 2012, Fox Fuse became a partnership when former
VP Records
VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, ...
licensing manager,
Zack Cohen, joined the company and it evolved into a music label.
Notable people
*
Rhona Fox (CEO)
*
Zack Cohen (CEO)
References
{{reflist, 2
Music companies of the United States
Mass media companies based in New York City
Mass media companies established in 2007
American companies established in 2007