Game Recordings was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based

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 ...

best known for its artists featured on the soundtrack of the video game ''

Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...

''. Game Recordings artists included

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...

Agallah Angel Aguilar (born May 8, 1974), better known by his stage names Agallah, 8-Off, Brad Piff, Swagallah and Agallah Don Bishop, is an American rapper and producer. He was a member of The Diplomats-affiliated group Purple City and he is the CEO ...

Sean Price Sean Duval Price (March 17, 1972August 8, 2015) was an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock. Early life and educati ...

, Pretty Ugly, Ilacoin,

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, and

JoJo Pellegrino Joseph Edwards (born September 13, 1977), professionally known as Jojo Pellegrino, is an American rapper, songwriter and actor from Staten Island, NY. Known for his lyrical abilities and versatility, Pellegrino was formally managed by Chris Lighty ...

. The label was also known for the "Game Girls," or "Hip Hop Honeys," who featured on all of the promotional singles and maxi-CDs it released. The label's

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

was Jonathan "Shecky Green" Shecter, co-founder of ''

The Source ''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 ma ...

'' magazine. Eric "Ric Riggler" Rhea, an A&R executive, headed the company.

Releases

Game Recordings' first release was Lord Digga's ''My Flows is Tight'', a song based on a sample from the theme of the game show ''

The Price is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

''. In 1999, Game Recordings released a 12" single consisting of three songs, by rap duo

Bad Meets Evil Bad Meets Evil is an American hip hop duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5'9" (Bad) and Eminem (Evil). Bad Meets Evil was formed in 1998, thanks to the duo's mutual friend, Proof. The group's name comes from the song "Bad Meets ...

, called '' Nuttin' to Do''. In 2000, Game Recordings released two singles from artist Ilacoin. "By A Stranger" featuring other New York artists Labba (later of

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

' Flipmode Squad) & Bad Boy artist,

Black Rob Robert Ross (June 8, 1968 – April 17, 2021), known professionally as Black Rob, was an American rapper who was signed to Bad Boy Records. He was best known for his 1999 single " Whoa!", which peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...

(snipped for the video game ''

'') and "Keep It Street" featuring

Sadat X Derek Murphy (born December 29, 1968), better known as Sadat X, is an American rapping, 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 ...

Brand Nubian Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, composed of three emcees (Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar), and formerly three DJs (DJ Alamo, DJ Sincere, and DJ Stud Doogie). Their debut studio album, '' One for All'' ...

. One of the B-sides to Ilacoin's single "Keep It Street", "This, That & The 3rd" (produced by

Easy Mo Bee Osten Harvey Jr. (born December 8, 1965), better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, known for his production work for artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Miles Davis, as well as his affiliatio ...

) would be interpolated for The

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 affili ...

2007 single, "Take It Back" from the

8 Diagrams ''8 Diagrams'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released December 11, 2007, on SRC/Universal Motown Records. The album was released three years after the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard, and six years after the group' ...

album. In 2002, the label released ''Game Tight'', a compilation album.

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

was featured on the album, on the Pretty Ugly song ''Hit Em' Up''. Game released three full-length albums, two by Royce da 5'9" ('' Rock City'' and '' Rock City Version 2.0''); its third release was ''Game Tight'', a best-of album. The label was also set to release 8-Off

's First album, ''Imagine Your Life'', although the album never saw the light of day. In 2008, Game released two CDs by

: the first was a new Royce da 5'9" album titled ''Lost & Found'', which features rare and unreleased tracks that were recorded while he recorded for the label, and the second is titled ''Rock City Version 3.0'', which is a mix of Royce's first two albums, '' Rock City'' and '' Rock City Version 2.0''. Game also provided

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

with songs for the ''

Midnight Club 2 ''Midnight Club II'' is a racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sequel to '' Midnight Club: Street Racing'', published for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows and first in series to ...

'' soundtrack. Game Recordings stopped operating as a record label in 2005. Shecky Green continued to make and promote the ''Hip Hop Honeys'' DVD series under the Game Recordings name. In 2007,

released his single "Hit 'Em"/"Ding!" through the label. Although Game Recordings no longer functions as a record label, an artist known as Keith from Up the Block is represented by Game. Also, the Game

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

site is still in operation, as are the Hip Hop Honeys. Although he did not record it, he did various tasks for the

Infinity Ward Infinity Ward, Inc. is an American video game developer. They developed the video game ''Call of Duty'', along with seven other installments in the ''Call of Duty'' series. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, and Jason West established Infinity Ward ...

series for the '' Call of Duty: Ghosts'' saga.

External links

discogs.com
{{Authority control American record labels Record labels disestablished in 2005