Up Above Records is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

hip hop record label based in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, co-founded in 1995 by Doug "Papadoug" Kato and

The Visionaries Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...

member

KeyKool Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...

, along with

DJ Rhettmatic DJ Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nirza) is a producer, DJ and member and part creator of Southern California's first turntable band, the Beat Junkies. Rhettmatic began his DJ career in 1983, with Double Platinum, a DJ group based out of Cerritos, C ...

and

Beat Junkies The Beat Junkies is an American hip hop crew of DJs specializing in turntablism. Established in 1992 in Orange County, California by J. Rocc. As of 2014, The Beat Junkie Crew also host their own record pool, clothing line and radio station. ...

. The label's first release was a 12" single, KeyKool &

Rhettmatic DJ Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nirza) is a producer, DJ and member and part creator of Southern California's first turntable band, the Beat Junkies. Rhettmatic began his DJ career in 1983, with Double Platinum, a DJ group based out of Cerritos, C ...

's "Can U Hear It". The single's B-side, "E=MC5" featuring

Ras Kass John R. Austin II (born September 26, 1973), better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop supergroup The HRSMN, along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt in 2014. He is also a member of the ...

, Meen Green, Voodoo, and Visionaries member LMNO, was deemed "an underground classic" by ''

Source Magazine ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the m ...

'' (Feb. '96). Up Above Records has built a reputation as vinyl record specialists releasing 12-inch singles (the Jay Dee

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...

hip-hop hit "Fuck the Police"), as well as distributing vinyl releases for

Jurassic 5 Jurassic 5 is an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1994 by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup aka Zaakir), Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mark Potsic ( DJ Nu-Mark) and Lucas Ma ...

Legendary Music Living Legends is an American hip hop supergroup consisting of indie hip hop artists from California. Beginning in the mid 1990s, the crew garnered a following by recording, promoting and performing their music independently through Legendary ...

, and other distinguished artists such as

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 a ...

The Beatnuts The Beatnuts are an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernande ...

Tony Touch Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance ...

Dilated Peoples Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song " This Way", a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West. Better known in the UK, they reached t ...

DJ Spinna Vincent E. Williamsbetter known by his stage name DJ Spinna, is an American hip hop and deep house producer from Brooklyn. According to Allmusic, he has "remained strictly an underground artist despite his astonishing talent." Life and career Spi ...

, and

Sadat X Derek Murphy (born December 29, 1968), better known as Sadat X, is an American rapper, best known as a member of alternative hip hop group Brand Nubian. Originally known as Derek X, Sadat takes his name from former Egyptian president Anwar Sad ...

. Up Above Records has also released four moderately successful albums by the Visionaries, along with numerous albums for artists such as those listed below.

Artists

* Blend Crafters (

DJ Nu-Mark Mark Potsic, better known by his stage name DJ Nu-Mark (born June 10, 1971), is an American hip hop producer and DJ. He is a member of Jurassic 5, as well as the owner of Hot Plate Records. He has collaborated with and produced for a variety of ar ...

& Pomo) * Kev Brown *

Declaime Dudley Perkins is an American rapper and singer from Oxnard, California. He has released records on Stones Throw Records under his own name and the alias of Declaime. In 2008, he co-founded the SomeOthaShip Connect record label with his partner ...

* Kim Hill * LMNO * Key-Kool & Rhettmatic *

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 ...

of Oldominion * SonGodSuns (a.k.a.

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, Fac ...

) * Supernatural *

Camile Velasco Ciara-Camile "Camile" Roque Velasco (born September 1, 1985) known by her stage name Eli-Mac is a Filipino American singer and came in ninth place on the third season of the reality/talent-search television series, American Idol. She is one-qu ...

* Visionaries * Writer's Block (Zen & Dannu)

Vinyl distribution

* ''Angeles Records'' (vinyl distribution) *

(vinyl distribution) * ''Legendary Music'' (vinyl distribution)

Discography

* Blend Crafters (DJ Numark & Pomo): ''

Self-Titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

'' (2004) * Kev Brown: ''I Do What I Do'' (2005) * Declaime: ''Conversations with Dudley'' (2004) * DJ Rhettmatic: ''Exclusive Collection'' (2004) * Kim Hill (soul singer): ''Surrender to My Sunflower'' (2000) * Key-Kool & Rhettmatic: '' Kozmonautz'' (1995) * LMNO: ''This EP Reminds Me of '93'' (2004), ''Economic Food Chain Music'' (2004), ''Leave My Name Out (re-issue)'' (2005), ''P's & Q's'' (2005) * LMNO & Kev Brown: ''Selective Hearing'' (2008) * LMNO & Yann Kesz: ''Devilish Dandruff With Holy Shampoo'' (2009) * Sleep (of Oldominion): '' Christopher'' (2005) * SonGodSuns (a.k.a. 2Mex): ''

Over the Counter Culture ''Over the Counter Culture'' is the debut studio album by English indie rock band the Ordinary Boys. The album received critical praise and spawned the singles "Maybe Someday", "Week In Week Out", "Talk Talk Talk", and "Seaside". On its initia ...

'' (2005) * Supernatural: ''S.P.I.T. (Spiritual Poetry Ignites Thought)'' (2005) * Visionaries: ''Galleries'' (1997-8), ''Sophomore Jinx'' (2000), ''Pangaea'' (2004), ''

We Are the Ones (We've Been Waiting for) Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...

'' (2006) * Writer's Block: ''En Route (re-issue)'' (2004)

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1995 American independent record labels Hip hop record labels

Artists

Vinyl distribution

Discography

See also

References

External links