Soul Temple 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 pr ...

founded in 2012 by hip hop recording artist RZA and Bob Perry after the release of the RZA directed '' The Man with the Iron Fists''. The label's first release was that album's soundtrack. The label has since released studio albums by

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...

members

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of '' Enter the Wu-Tang (36 ...

and

U-God Lamont Jody Hawkins (born November 10, 1970), better known as U-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for his deep voice and rhythmic flow t ...

. All albums released on the label are executive produced by RZA.

History

On August 28, 2012 leading up to the release of RZA's directorial debut '' The Man with the Iron Fist'', he announced the founding of a new record label named Soul Temple Records. He explained the goal of the label being; the label "will release records from independent minded artists from a variety of genres, from the creative community." The labels first release would be revealed to be '' The Man With the Iron Fists OST''. The album featured appearances from

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 201 ...

, M.O.P.,

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. After initially being signed to Interscope Records in 2006, Gibbs recorded his debut studio album under the label ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

Kool G. Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper from Queens, New York City. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as ...

Flatbush Zombies Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) is an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliott ...

, Corrine Bailey Rae,

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half o ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream succes ...

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

, and

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...

among others. RZA said Soul Temple had been an idea he had for years, and it was inspired by his relationship with

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songw ...

. By September 2012, Ghostface Killah announced he would be releasing an album through Soul Temple Records titled, ''

Twelve Reasons to Die ''Twelve Reasons to Die'' is the tenth studio album by Wu-Tang Clan member and rapper Ghostface Killah. It is a concept album based on a comic book of the same name. The album was produced and composed by Adrian Younge. It was also executive prod ...

'' on November 20, however it would be pushed back to April 2013 to not compete with ''The Man with the Iron Fists'' soundtrack. On March 19, 2013, RZA released ''The RZA Presents Shaolin Soul Selection: Vol 1'' a compilation album compiled from the

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

archive. ''Twelve Reasons to Die'' would be released on April 16, 2013 and debut at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' 200 selling 15,000 copies in its first week of sale. In June 2013, U-God would sign onto Soul Temple to release his fourth studio album, the RZA produced ''

The Keynote Speaker ''The Keynote Speaker'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member U-God. The album was released on July 23, 2013, by Soul Temple Records. The album features guest appearances from GZA, Method Man, Styles P, Inspectah Dec ...

''. It would receive its release on July 23, 2013 to minor commercial performance and mixed critical reception. U-God would criticize Soul Temple following its release, for him feeling they did not promote or release his record correctly. Soul Temple was also meant to release

Souls of Mischief Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. History East Oakland n ...

's sixth studio album ''There Is Only Now'' in 2013. Following an outrage due to orders not being processed correctly, and customers not receiving their products, RZA said that it was due to bad staffing positions at the label, which resulted in business not running correctly. He also revealed that Bob Perry had been removed from the mail-order department, and demoted from president of the label to VP of the A&R department. On December 24, 2013, the label released "Destiny Bends" a tribute song for deceased actor

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...

by RZA for digital download.

Discography

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control American record labels American independent record labels Hip hop record labels