Perspective Records is an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, launched in 1991 by the producing team

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

, through a joint venture with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

—which Jam & Lewis had had a prosperous working relationship with throughout the 1980s, with several of its major acts including

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

, and label founder

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

. Acts on Perspective's roster included Bobby Ross Avila,

Smooth Smooth may refer to: Mathematics * Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology * Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions * Smooth algebrai ...

Mint Condition Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...

, Lo-Key,

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

Sounds of Blackness Sounds of Blackness is a vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the ''Billboard'' R&B and Hot Dan ...

Young Zee Dewayne Battle (born December 24, 1970), known professionally as Young Zee, is an American underground hip hop emcee. He was a former member of the Outsidaz, alongside Pacewon. Career Outsidaz The Outsidaz, a large hip hop crew that became t ...

, and

Ann Nesby Ann Nesby (born Lula Ann Bennett; July 24, 1955) is an American R&B, gospel and dance music singer and actress. She is the former lead singer of Sounds of Blackness; a songwriter with credits including hits sung by Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knigh ...

. From 1993 to 1996, A&M Records released most of its own

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

acts through Perspective. Rapper

Tech N9ne Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two m ...

was one of the signees for the label, however he was released from the label due to creative differences. In 1997, Jam and Lewis resigned as the label's CEOs, but remained consultants. Over the next year, Perspective continued to release recordings by the current artists for the sake of fulfilling contractual obligations with them. The company was dismantled, and absorbed into A&M Records, in early 1999—per the merger of A&M's

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

parent and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. In 2018, Jam & Lewis reactivated Perspective Records under its current distributor,

Virgin Music Label & Artist Services Virgin Music Label & Artist Services is a music distributor of independent artists and record labels, owned by Universal Music Group. The subsidiary focuses on the distribution of new or emerging partners. Started by Virgin Records as Carolin ...

. The first album released under the label since 1998 was

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson ...

's album ''Stand For Love''. In 2019,

lead singer

Stokley Williams Stokley Williams (born July 15, 1967) also known simply as Stokley, is an American singer, record producer, and percussionist. Williams is best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the band Mint Condition. Career In 2011, he was feat ...

signed to Perspective for the second time as a solo artist to release his second album, ''Sankofa''.

Albums released on Perspective Records

Sounds of Blackness

* ''

The Evolution of Gospel ''The Evolution of Gospel'' is the debut studio album by Sounds of Blackness, released May 7, 1991, on A&M Records. In 1992, the album received the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album, Best Gospel Choir or Chorus ...

'' (1991) * '' Africa to America: The Journey of the Drum'' (1994) * ''Time for Healing'' (1997)

Lo-Key?

* ''Where Dey At?'' (1992) * ''Back 2 Da House'' (1994)

Mint Condition

* ''

Meant to Be Mint ''Meant to Be Mint'' is the debut studio album of R&B band Mint Condition. The album was released on June 11, 1991, on Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' A&M imprint Perspective Records. ''Meant to Be Mint'' reached to no. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop ...

'' (1991) * ''

From the Mint Factory ''From the Mint Factory'' is the second studio album by American R&B band Mint Condition. The album was released on October 5, 1993 on Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' record label Perspective Records. The album peaked and charted at number 104 on the B ...

'' (1993) * ''

Definition of a Band ''Definition of a Band'' is the third studio album by the R&B band Mint Condition. It was released on September 24, 1996, on Perspective Records. ''Definition of a Band'' was Mint Condition's most successful recording to date, yielding two hit s ...

'' (1996) * ''The Collection (1991-1998)'' (1998)

Drama

* ''Open Invitation'' (1994)

4.0

* ''4.0'' (1997)

Rufus Blaq

* ''Credentials'' (1998)

Smooth

* ''

Reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

'' (1998)

Bobby Ross Avila

* ''My Destiny'' (1993)

Raja-Nee

* ''Hot & Ready'' (1994)

Solo

* ''

'' (1995) * '' 4 Bruthas & a Bass'' (1998)

Ann Nesby

* ''I'm Here for You'' (1996)

Lisa Keith

* ''Walkin' in the Sun'' (1993)

Peabo Bryson

* ''Stand For Love'' (2018)

Stokley

* ''Sankofa'' (2021)

Soundtracks

* ''

Mo' Money ''Mo' Money'' is a 1992 American comedy -drama film directed by Peter Macdonald, and written by Damon Wayans, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Stacey Dash, Joe Santos, John Diehl, Harry Lennix, Bernie Mac (in his film debut), and ...

'' (1992) * ''

Kazaam ''Kazaam'' () is a 1996 fantasy comedy family film. It was directed by Paul Michael Glaser, written by Christian Ford and Roger Soffer based on a story by Glaser, and starring Shaquille O'Neal as the title character, a 5,000-year-old genie who ...

'' (1996)

Shelved albums

Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard

* ''King Of New York'' (recorded in 1996, released in 2015 under Back 2 Da Source Records)

Young Zee

* ''Musical Meltdown'' (recorded in 1996, released in 2015) Young Zee- Musical Meltdown CD at Fat Beats
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Albums released on Perspective Records

Sounds of Blackness

Lo-Key?

Mint Condition

Drama

4.0

Rufus Blaq

Smooth

Bobby Ross Avila

Raja-Nee

Solo

Ann Nesby

Lisa Keith

Peabo Bryson

Stokley

Soundtracks

Shelved albums

Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard

Young Zee

References

See also