Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent

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 ...

and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

brand founded in 1981 by

Tom Silverman Tom Silverman is an American entertainment executive. He is most notable for founding the pioneering hip-hop and electro-funk music label, Tommy Boy Records, now known as Tommy Boy Entertainment. Early life and education Silverman grew up in W ...

. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

, Afrika Bambaataa,

Stetsasonic Stetsasonic is an American hip hop band. Formed in 1981 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Stetsasonic was one of the first hip hop acts to perform with a full band and use live instrumentation in their recordings, paving the way for future ...

Digital Underground Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour. Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory " Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty H ...

Coolio Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo ...

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

House of Pain House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's name is a reference to the H. G. Wells novel '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', a refer ...

, Naughty By Nature, and

Force MDs The Force M.D.'s are an American contemporary R&B, R&B vocal group that was formed in 1981 in Staten Island, New York. Although the group has old school hip hop roots, it is perhaps best known for two tunes that are widely considered 1980s quiet ...

. Tommy Boy is also credited with introducing genres such as

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

, Latin freestyle, and

Latin hip hop Latin hip hop (also known as Latin rap) is hip hop music that is recorded by artists in the United States of Hispanic and Latino descent, along with Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, North America, Central America, South America, and ...

to mainstream audiences in America.

History

1981-1985: Independent music media

Tom Silverman created Tommy Boy Music in 1981 in his

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

apartment with a $5,000 loan from his parents. The label was an outgrowth of Silverman's ''

Dance Music Report ''Dance Music Report'', initially ''Disco News'' and later ''DMR'', was a biweekly U.S. trade magazine oriented toward nightclub and radio DJs in the dance music industry. The magazine was first published in September 1978, changed its name from ...

'' bi-weekly publication, which spanned 14 years, beginning in September 1978.

1985–2002: Partnership with Warner Bros. Records

In 1985,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

entered into a partnership with Tommy Boy and acquired half of the label, and it allowed the label to use independent distribution as it saw fit, with the option to distribute artists through the major-label channel through Warner Bros. Records or sister label

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. Monica Lynch, who was one of the first employees hired by Tom Silverman, became president of the label in 1985. As A&R for the label, she signed and managed Queen Latifah, De La Soul, and host of hip hop musicians.

Even though the male–female power struggle in hip hop music has always been present, Lynch and her peers said that the early days of hip hop were magical times for women looking to make it in the record business. Julie Greenwald, Sylvia Robinson, DJ Jazzy Joyce, Mona Scott, and Claudine Joseph also made their mark on different areas of hip-hop. Greenwald and Robinson, like Lynch, became powerful music executives. For more than 25 years, DJ Jazzy Joyce has been one of the most visible and in-demand female turntablists. And Scott and Joseph have managed the careers of some of the biggest names in hip-hop. "Hip-hop provided a tremendous amount of opportunities for women, which might seem antithetical because of the association that many people have with misogyny and hip-hop," says Lynch. "There has been a lot of attention paid to misogynist lyrics in hip-hop over the years, and I'm not going to defend or damn it. I think it exists, but some of the people who helped put those records out were women."

According to Jeff "Chairman" Mao, a key DJ in 1990s underground hip-hop and online hip-hop radio host, Monica Lynch managed the careers of Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Stetsasonic, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, Naughty by Nature among others. The label had several joint ventures in the mid 1990s including Penalty Recordings, Stepsun, Beyond, and Ignition. The label also had deals with labels such as Timber Records and distribution deals with Outcaste Records and 75 Ark, while also giving independent distribution to sister imprints that already had label deals with WEA, including American Recordings' Ill Labels,

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

' NovaMute, and Cold Chillin Records' Livin' Large. In 1997, Tommy Boy launched an imprint label called Upaya to pursue the growing interest in

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

and spiritual/ world music. The imprint Tommy Boy Gospel was launched in 1998 under the direction of Max Seigel and Marvie Wright. That same year, the imprints Tommy Boy Black Label, which specialized in underground hip hop music, and Tommy Boy Silver Label, which specialized in dance music, were founded. In 2001, while still affiliated with

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

, Tommy Boy Records founder

formed Tommy Boy Films, a TV and film division with Kung Faux creator and Dubtitled Entertainment founder, Michael "Mic" Neumann.Kipnis, Jill (October 19, 2002).
Tommy Boy Branches Out With Film/TV Division
'. Billboard Magazine. Page 6.Tommy Boy Films Distribution Deal
by James Scileppi, Koch/Entertainment One, August 1, 2005.

2002–2017: Independent again

In 2002, Tommy Boy Records became independent again after it ultimately ended its joint venture with

, which wanted greater unit sales, and the master tapes released until that time became property of Warner Music, while the Tommy Boy trademark remained with

. The then-current Tommy Boy music artists were shopped to the various

WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

labels, the Tommy Boy television and film divisions were merged with the Tommy Boy music division, and the resulting company was rebranded as

Tommy Boy Entertainment Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital Un ...

. Tommy Boy then began licensing its trademark to

for use on reissues through

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

2017–2018: Catalogues acquired

In 2017, because of Warner Music's divestment requirements as a result of its purchase of

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

, Tommy Boy was able to reacquire its pre-2002 catalogue and the catalogues of

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' ...

Grand Puba Maxwell Dixon (born March 4, 1964), known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and emcee, best known as one of the members of the group Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, New York. Biography He made his debut as Grand Puba Max ...

, and

Club Nouveau Club Nouveau is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "New Club") was changed from its original inca ...

. In 2018, Tommy Boy also acquired

Amherst Records Amherst Records is an American independent music label, founded in 1957 by the late Leonard Silver, who later on founded Buffalo-based music store Record Theatre. In 1984, Amherst acquired the back catalogs of Avco Records. Notable artists * S ...

, Harlem Music, and Halwill Music, which hold masters and publishing rights for a diverse collection of ’70s Soul, Disco, and Jazz artists including

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All ...

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...

, and

Glenn Medeiros Glenn Alan Medeiros (born June 24, 1970) is an American former musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is best known on the national and international music scene for his 1987 global s ...

2019–2020: De La Soul controversy

Controversy rose in early 2019, after Tommy Boy announced that the catalog of its formerly signed group

would be available on streaming services later that week. This announcement prompted the group to begin a "Tommy Boycott" campaign, due to the fact that they would receive only 10% of revenue generated by streams, with the other 90% going to Tommy Boy. The campaign was shared by their fellow artists

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, Questlove and Pete Rock, among others. In response, Tommy Boy postponed the deal and announced their discography would not be available on streaming services as previously scheduled.

2021–present: Tommy Boy sold to Reservoir Media

In June 2021, Tommy Boy was acquired for $100 million by Reservoir Media, a music publishing and media rights company founded in 2007 by Iranian-Canadian businesswoman

Golnar Khosrowshahi Golnar Khosrowshahi (born September 18, 1971) is an Iranian-Canadian businesswoman and the CEO and Founder of Reservoir Media Management, Inc. She is currently a member of the New York Philharmonic Board of Directors, and she also served as Boar ...

Brand image

The Tommy Boy logo was originally designed in 1982 by Steven Miglio and redesigned in 1989 by

Eric Haze Eric Haze (born in 1961) is an American artist, graphic designer and art director. Career Eric Haze was born in 1961 in New York City to progressive parents of the Upper West Side. Haze was drawn to art through his father's friend's pop art coll ...

. The logo was named on ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

's'' list of the 50 Greatest Rap Logos of all time, coming in at number nine. In the late 1980s, with the emergence of

streetwear Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk, skateboarding and Japanese street fashion. Eventually hau ...

fashion, Tommy Boy produced and distributed

Carhartt Carhartt, Inc. is an American apparel company founded in 1889, known for heavy-duty working clothes such as jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, vests, shirts, jeans, dungarees, fire-resistant clothing and hunting apparel. Carhartt remains a fami ...

jackets embroidered with its logo on the front and back for its own merchandise line called Tommy Boy Gear. Tommy Boy is also credited as the first to use

lanyard A lanyard is a cord, length of webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, and activation and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lowe ...

s as promotional items, which became a popular

fashion accessory in the 1990s.

Selected artists

* 808 State * Above The Law * Afrika Bambaataa * Amari * Amber *

Big Noyd TaJuan Akeem Perry (born May 7, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Noyd, is an American rapper from Queensbridge, Queens, New York. He is closely affiliated with Mobb Deep and is featured on all of their albums except ''Blood Money''. C ...

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...

(deceased) *Black by Demand *

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began DJ ...

* Boiler Room *

Capone-N-Noreaga Capone-N-Noreaga (also known as C-N-N) are an American hip hop duo formed in 1995 from Queens, New York. The duo features East Coast rappers Capone and N.O.R.E. History In October 1995, Capone-N-Noreaga appeared in ''The Source'' magazine's ...

*Christian Tiger School *

The Cliks ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

(deceased) *

* Disco D (deceased) *

Everlast Erik Francis Schrody (born August 18, 1969), known by his stage name Everlast, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter, who was the frontman for hip hop group House of Pain. He was also part of the hip hop supergroup La Coka ...

* Fannypack *Fresh Gordon *

*GLOBE & Whiz Kid *

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 C ...

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

Handsome Boy Modeling School Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip hop producers Dan the Automator ( Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) and Prince Paul (Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz). The collaboration originally lasted ...

*Indica * Indo G *

Information Society An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid inf ...

Jocelyn Enriquez Jocelyn Enriquez (born December 28, 1974) is a Filipino American dance-pop singer born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her most popular songs are "Do You Miss Me", "A Little Bit of Ecstasy", and the Stars on 54 (Enriquez alongside Ultra ...

Jonzun Crew Jonzun Crew was an American electro and early funk– hip hop group that was active in the 1980s. The group was led by Michael Jonzun, his brothers Maurice Starr and Soni Jonzun, and Carl (Captain Fingers). Overview The Jonzun Crew was forme ...

Joydrop Joydrop is a Canadian alternative rock band active in the late 1990s and early 2000s from Toronto, Ontario. The band reunited in 2017. The band consists of vocalist Tara Slone, guitarist Thomas Payne, bassist Tom McKay, and drummer Tony Rabalao. ...

Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez (born Donald Gregory Mattern, August 24, 1949) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He has been referred to as one of the only DJs of his time to gain international attention. Career Mattern moved to New York City a ...

* K7 *

Kim Burrell Kimberly Jean Burrell (born August 27, 1972) is an American, Grammy–nominated, gospel singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor from Houston, Texas, United States. Biography Early life Born Kimberly Jean Burrell on August 27, 1972 in Houston, Te ...

Kristine W Kristine Elizabeth Weitz, widely known by her stage name Kristine W, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and entrepreneur. She is most widely known as a dance music artist. Born and raised in Pasco, Washington, she found ear ...

* LFO * Lord Finesse *

J.C. Lodge J.C. Lodge, (born June Carol Lodge, 1 December 1958, London, England), is a British-Jamaican reggae singer, actress, fine artist and teacher. Her breakthrough hit "Someone Loves You Honey, Someone Loves You, Honey" became the best-selling singl ...

Masters at Work Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been ...

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 of t ...

Money Mike Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in ''Friday After Next'', had a stint on '' Wild 'n Out'', portrayed Bobby Shaw in '' My Wife and Kids'', provided the voice of A Pimp ...

* Naughty by Nature *

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

* Pimpadelic *

Planet Patrol Planet Patrol is an American electro group originating in the 1980s. The members were Arthur Baker, John Robie, and a quintet of vocalists led by Herbert J. Jackson (lead singer), Joseph Lites, Rodney Butler, Michael Anthony Jones, and Melvin ...

Plushgun Plushgun is an American indie rock/New wave music, new wave/synthpop band founded by Dan Ingala located in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, United States. The current lineup of the band is Ingala, Taylor Armstrong on guitar and Matt Bogdanow on dr ...

* Prince Paul * Prince Rakeem *

* RuPaul *

Shock G Gregory Edward Jacobs (August 25, 1963 – April 22, 2021), known professionally as Shock G and by his alter ego Humpty Hump, was an American rapper and musician who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground. ...

(deceased) *

Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, '' Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an article ...

Soul Coughing Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty (also known as M. Doughty), keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. Soul Coughing developed a d ...

* Stars on 54 *

Thunderpuss Thunderpuss is the (mainly dance) remix/production team of Los Angeles-based music producers Barry Harris and Chris Cox. Harris had previously worked as part of several music groups including Kon Kan, Top Kat, Killer Bunnies and Outta Cont ...

*Timmy Gatling * TKA *

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 ...

*Viewtiful Joe

Discography

References

External links

*
Company reference in Hoover's
{{Authority control American record labels House music record labels 1981 establishments in New York City Record labels established in 1981 Hip hop record labels Post-disco record labels Warner Records