Cold Chillin' Records

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cold Chillin' Records was a producer-and-crew label that released many classic records in the late 1980s and early 1990s, founded by manager Tyrone Williams and run by Len Fichtelberg. Most of the label's releases were by members of the Juice Crew, a loosely knit group of artists centered around producer Marley Marl. Initially, Cold Chillin’ was a subsidiary of Prism Records, then, in 1988, it signed a 5-year distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records and, in the mid-1990s, it was distributed by Epic Street/SME Records. It also had a sub-label named Livin’ Large, which released Roxanne Shanté's second album and several singles by other artists, and was distributed by former Warner Bros. subsidiary Tommy Boy Records as part of its deal with Warner. Since the deal with Epic Street, it has only really existed as a reissue label. Only Big Daddy Kane’s works remain with Warner Bros. and Kool G. Rap's 4,5,6 remains with Epic. The remainder of the label’s catalog is controlled by Landspeed Records, a division of Traffic Entertainment Group. Along with Ruthless Records, Death Row Records and Rap-A-Lot, Cold Chillin' Records is widely respected for serious contributions to hip-hop music during its formative years.