Strange Famous Records is an indie hip hop

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 ...

based in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. It was founded by

Sage Francis Paul William "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is an American independent underground rapper from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of Strange Famous Records. Early life and education Francis was born in Miami, Florida ...

. Artists on its roster include

B. Dolan Bernard Dolan (born March 8, 1981) is an American rapper, spoken word artist, activist, screenwriter, and composer based in Providence, Rhode Island.Strange Famous RecordB. Dolan Biography/ref> History B. Dolan's first performances took place ...

Cecil Otter Kyle Smith (born July 16, 1980), better known by his stage name Cecil Otter, is a rapper and producer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a founding member of the indie hip hop collective Doomtree. History '' Cecil Otter's False Hopes'' was r ...

Prolyphic Alfred Schoeninger (born June 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Mopes, and formerly Prolyphic, is an American hip hop musician from Rhode Island. He is one half of the duo Stick Figures along with Robust and is currently signed to Stran ...

, and

Sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

, among others.

History

Strange Famous Records started out in 1996 as a way for

to release music. Originally this involved tape dubbing and photocopying covers. In 1999, while working at the radio station WRIU (90.3 FM), he was allowed access to the station's computers and

CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the in ...

s replaced the tapes. The albums were sold locally, raising money to press CDs at a manufacturing plant. In late 2005, Strange Famous Records enlisted the help of outside parties to create an online webstore www.strangefamousrecords.com. The online store was soon developed and a mail order business was set into effect. This was a "cash only" postal mail service. The catalogue expanded into shirts, sweatshirts, vinyl, stickers, buttons and eventually other artists' projects. In 2006, Strange Famous Records added a lot to its catalogue. They included not only Sage Francis items (such as ''Life is Easy'' and ''

Road Tested ''Road Tested'' is a live album and first live album by Bonnie Raitt, released in 1995. Track listing ;CD One #"Thing Called Love" (John Hiatt) – 4:48 #"Three Time Loser" ( Don Covay, Ronald Dean Miller) – 3:39 #"Love Letter" (Bonnie Ha ...

''), but items from people who work closely with SFR, including

Solillaquists of Sound Solillaquists of Sound, often shortened to Solilla, is an American hip-hop quartet based in Orlando, Florida. Its line up currently consists of MCs Alexandrah and Swamburger, poet Tonya Combs and producer/composer Divinci. Solillaquists utiliz ...

Grand Buffet Grand Buffet is a hip-hop funk duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made up of Jackson O'Connell-Barlow (stage names: Iguanadon, Grape-a-Don, Plaps, Nate Kukla, and Mr. Pennsylvania) and Jarrod Weeks (stage names: M-Dog, Lord Grunge, Viceroy, Mat ...

, Sole,

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...

, Reanimator,

among others.

Buck 65 Richard Terfry (born March 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian alternative hip hop artist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country, ...

's album '' Situation'' which was produced by

Skratch Bastid Paul Murphy (born September 2, 1982), better known by his stage name Skratch Bastid, is a Canadian DJ and record producer. He is a three-time Scribble Jam DJ Battle winner. He is the first-ever Canadian DJ to be nominated for the Jack Richardson Pr ...

was released on Strange Famous Records on October 30, 2007. dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip's album ''Angles'' was released in the United States and Canada on SFR in 2008. B. Dolan's album ''The Failure'' and Prolyphic and Reanimator's album '' The Ugly Truth'' were both released on SFR on May 8, 2008. Sage Francis is the executive producer of both and appears on both albums. Los Angeles rapper

2Mex Alejandro Ocana, better known by his stage name 2Mex, is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of The Visionaries and Of Mexican Descent. He has collaborated with underground hip hop artists such as Jel, Omid, Thavius Beck, Facto ...

signed to Strange Famous Records in 2008, and his solo album, ''My Fanbase Will Destroy You'', was released on the label in 2010. Minneapolis hip hop group No Bird Sing's third album, ''Definition Sickness'', was released on the label in 2013.

Strange Famous Digital

In 2016, the label launched Strange Famous Digital (often stylized as SFDigi), an online distribution where they would be able to expand their roster and push more releases, "removing as many middle men as possible." The same year, seven new artists were added to the roster.

Roster

* Aupheus *

* BlackLiq *

Buddy Peace Nick Budd, better known by his stage name Buddy Peace, is an English hip hop producer and DJ from London. He has been the resident DJ for Lex Records and Strange Famous Records. Career Buddy Peace released the mixtape, ''Wolf Diesel Mountain'', ...

Buddy Wakefield Kenneth Zane Beasley III (born June 4, 1974), known as Buddy Wakefield, is an American spoken word artist, a three-time poetry slam world champion, and the most toured performance poet in history. His works have been released by Strange Famous R ...

* Cas One *

* Curtis Plum * Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip * Dope KNife * Duncan Jewett * Figure * Jesse The Tree * Jivin’ Scientists * Kurtis SP * Metermaids * No Bird Sing * Prayers for Atheists *

* Reanimator *

* Seez Mics *

* Wheelchair Sports Camp * Yugen Blakrok

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Record labels established in 1996 American independent record labels Hip hop record labels

History

Strange Famous Digital

Roster

See also

References

External links