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Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by André Harrell in 1987. It went on to become one of the most popular hip-hop and R&B labels of the early 1990s. Featured on the roster were such luminaries as Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Al B. Sure!, Jeff Redd, Christopher Williams, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Finesse & Synquis, Father MC, Monifah, Soul for Real, and Horace Brown.

Uptown was a training ground of sorts for Sean "Puffy" Combs, who began his career there as an intern and later became a top executive. Combs was instrumental in the development of Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. He was fired from Uptown in 1993, and went on to establish Bad Boy Records, taking newly discovered hip-hop artist The Notorious B.I.G. with him.

The label's products were at first distributed by various record companies. For example, Christopher Williams' debut album "Adventures in Paradise" was distributed by Geffen, and Al B. Sure!'s debut album "In Effect Mode" was distributed by Warner Bros. But by 1990 nearly all releases were being distributed by MCA Records. Harrell left Uptown in 1996 to become the CEO of Motown Records, and Heavy D moved into the role of Uptown's president and CEO. The same year, Uptown was repositioned to operate under the newly established Universal Records umbrella. Subsequently, many of Uptown's artists (with the exception of Monifah and Soul for Real) were moved to the MCA roster. By the late 1990s, Uptown Records became dormant and ceased releasing new material. Today the label is a part of Universal Motown Records Group, but remains in hibernation.

[edit] See also

• List of record labels