Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. As well as hip-hop they released

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, and electro records.

History

In 1980,

Cory Robbins Cory Robbins (born September 23, 1957) is an American record executive. Robbins founded two influential record labels. The first, Profile Records (in business from 1981 to 1996; Robbins left in 1994), grew to become a large independent label that ...

, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. He invited his songwriter friend Steve Plotnicki to be a partner. They each borrowed $17,000 from their parents, purchased the little used Panorama Records subsidiary from MCA, and Profile Records was born. Their tiny office opened at 250 West 57th street in NYC on May 1, 1981. With the success of “Genius Rap” by Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, they escaped financial ruin by a mere $2,000. From there it was

Gidea Park Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly affluent and residential, it was historically within the county of Essex and saw significant expansion in the early 20t ...

's “Seasons of Gold” that brought more commercial and financial success, becoming Profile Records’ first hit to make the Billboard Hot 100. In 1982 the fledgling label gained international recognition with the club hit "

I Specialize in Love "I Specialize in Love" is a song written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher. Mixed by Tee Scott, the song was a club hit in the early 1980s when recorded by American singer Sharon Brown, the niece of songwriter Phil Medley. Released as a single ...

", recorded by Sharon Brown, licensed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in the UK. The label continued its commercial success, with gold and platinum sales with artists such as

Dana Dane Dana McCleese (born September 6, 1965), better known by his stage name Dana Dane, is an American rapper known for performance of humorous lyrics and for his fashion sense. Early life Dana was born in the Walt Whitman housing project in Fort Gr ...

Twin Hype Twin Hype was an American rap trio, originating from New Jersey. Consisting of twin brothers Glennis Brown (the Sly) and Lennis Brown (Slick) along with Jose Matos born August 14 1968 (DJ King Shameek). Career The twins started rapping together ...

Run DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

Poor Righteous Teachers Poor Righteous Teachers was a hip hop group from Trenton, New Jersey, founded in 1989. Often referred to as PRT by its fans, Poor Righteous Teachers was known as a socially and politically conscious hip hop group, with musical content inspired ...

, Nemesis, and

Paul Hardcastle Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Early l ...

among others. In 1985, the label moved to a headquarters at 740 Broadway in New York. The label had numerous sub-labels such as Smile Communications (which later became independent and continued to be controlled by Plotnicki after Profile was acquired), Sea Bright Records, and Robert Hill's Zakia Records, the label that launched the career of King Sun and hip hop legends Eric B. & Rakim. Profile's biggest act was

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

, which was introduced to Robbins when manager

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...

sent him a demo cassette of " It's Like That". Robbins signed the group soon after. The partners' less than amicable split severed not only all business ties but all personal ones too. Robbins, in 2008, said he had no regrets “except for an occasional loss, it was a good experience, a positive experience but I would not change a thing.” Profile was acquired by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

in 1998, and its catalogue and artists were transferred to Arista.

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

(owner of Arista since 2004) now manages much of Profile's back catalog and master recordings. Most recordings are currently out of print except for the albums of

DJ Quik David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper and producer, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, ...

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American hip hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base is the stage name of Robert Ginyard (b. 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock was Rodney "Skip" Bryce (1967–2014). They are best known for the 1988 hit " It Takes Two", ...

and

Artists

Hip hop

* Surf MC's *

2nd II None 2nd II None is a rap group from Compton, California. It consists of cousins KK (born Kelton L. McDonald) and Gangsta D (born Deon Barnett). They were members of the Elm Street Piru Bloods.52nd Street *

Caveman The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin ...

Camp Lo Camp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba (Salahadeen Wilds) and Geechi Suede (Saladine Wallace). The duo is perhaps best known for their 1997 hit "Luchi ...

* Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde *

* Nemesis *

Derek B Derek Boland (15 January 1965 – 15 November 2009), better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988. Biography Born in Hammersmith, Lon ...

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

Pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

* Special Ed *

Smoothe da Hustler Damon Smith, (born February 8, 1975) known by his stage name Smoothe Da Hustler, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He released his debut LP '' Once Upon a Time in America'' on Profile Records in 1996. H ...

* Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce *

Others

* Asher D & Daddy Freddy * Boys Don't Cry * Sharon Brown *

Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among t ...

The Cucumbers The Cucumbers are an American power pop band (music), band from New Jersey, founded in Hoboken, New Jersey, Hoboken in the early 1980s by husband-and-wife duo Jon Fried and Deena Shoshkes. History Fried and Shoshkes met in their freshman dorm at ...

Leeway Leeway is the amount of drift motion to leeward of an object floating in the water caused by the component of the wind vector that is perpendicular to the object’s forward motion.Bowditch. (1995). The American Practical Navigator. Pub. No. 9. ...

* The LeRoi Brothers *

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. Career Levy was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bl ...

* Murphy's Law *

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock, hardcore punk and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1977. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous theat ...

Cutty Ranks Philip Thomas (born 12 February 1965), better known as Cutty Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall singer. Biography Thomas was born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica in 1965. He began his career as a reggae artist at the age of eleven with local sound s ...

Judy Torres Judy Torres (born June 13, 1968 in The Bronx, New York City) is an American freestyle music artist and dance-pop singer. Early life and career Growing up in the Bronx, Torres was the oldest of five siblings. She attended St. Thomas Aquinas, a ...

The Accelerators The Accelerators were an American rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. They were formed in 1982 by singer/guitarist Gerald Duncan and released five albums. Writer and critic Peter Eichenberger described the band as "one of the ...

The Nils The Nils are a Montreal punk rock band formed in 1978 by Alex Soria. The Nils first gained local notoriety upon the 1982 release of a five-song demo entitled ''Now''. Their self-titled debut album was released to critical acclaim in 1987, and e ...

Moev Moev is an electronic band based in Vancouver, British Columbia that recorded on Atlantic Records, Nettwerk Records, Go! Records and Cop International. History Moev was formed in 1981 by Tom Ferris and Cal Stephenson. The band released an EP in ...

References

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1981 Record labels disestablished in 1997 Hip hop record labels Reggae record labels Arista Records House music record labels Sony Music