Flipmode Records

infobox record label
name = Flipmode Entertainment


parent = Universal Music Group
founded = 1994
founder = Busta Rhymes
distributor = Universal Motown
genre = Hip Hop
country = USA
url =

Flipmode Entertainment is a record label founded in 1994 by hiphop artist Busta Rhymes that operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In 2006, the label jointly released Busta Rhymes's "The Big Bang" with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. Busta and his group are now signed to Universal Motown after fatal fallout with Interscope Records.

Company history

Elektra Years (1996-2000)

Soon after the Elektra Records deal was done, Busta was granted his own label which was to serve as an imprint to the label. At the time his friend, Rah Digga, was signing to Elektra along with another friend of his, Rampage. Elektra would allow Busta to sign these acts to his Flipmode Records. Under the terms of the deal, Busta was responsible for putting their albums together and they would fund, promote and distribute the releases from the label. The first release from Flipmode was Busta Rhymes's "The Coming", which came in 1996, during the time that the east coast was beginning to gain popularity again after the rise of the west coast. This album went platiunm and catopulted him and the label into stardom as this album is looked at as one of the many classic east coast albums that came out during this period. Rampage would release his debut album in 1997, along with Busta Rhymes' second album. The label soon released an album by Flipmode Squad, "The Imperial Album". By 1999, the group and label were one of the most popular crews in hip hop, with Busta Rhymes as their central star and leader. Despite this, Busta was looking for a change as he was disappointed with the way that Elektra handled his last project and Rah Digga's debut, "Dirty Harriet" sold poorly. After the release of his album, "Anarchy", Busta began looking for a way to move him and his squad to another label, but had only released four out of the five albums in his deal with Warner Bros. Records. So, in 2000, he released a compilation album and began to search for a new home.

J Records (2000-2004)

After he moved the label away from Elektra, he had begun talking to Clive Davis, who had been recently ousted from Arista Records. He mentioned to Busta that he had recently created a new imprint at Sony, J Records. Clive told Busta that he had yet to sign anyone to the label and would be glad to distribute Busta and his Flipmode Records. The deal was done by November of 2000 and Busta Rhymes began work on his fifth album, "Genesis". The album sold well, fueled by the P. Diddy-collaborated "Pass the Courvoisier." The single was a big hit during the year of 2002 and introduced Busta Rhymes into a younger generation of fans and totally revitalized his career. After the hype surrounding "Genesis" died down, Busta began working on an album for his Flipmode Squad, Rah Digga, and himself. The first to be released was "It Ain't Safe No More", which featured Mariah Carey and the Flipmode Squad. Three singles from the album got a lot of airplay, but the album stalled at gold, making it the worst-selling album in Busta Rhymes discography. To this Busta would blame on J Records not promoting his music properly, thing really reached a dramatic point when J did not release Rah Digga's album nor did they release the album by Flipmode. Busta got very frustrated with the label as they spent a substantial amount of money to promote Alicia Keys and her album. He said that when he went platinum on the label it was because of him and what he did out of his pocket because J Records neglected their hip hop acts, while they were big promoters of their R&B acts. He said that J is a label that doesn't need to have hip hop acts on their label, because they are more into releasing soul music. After the controversy occurred, they began associating themselves with Dr. Dre and Eminem, then rumors began to circulate that Busta was moving the label again. These rumors proved to be false at the time. He would record some songs with Eminem and Dr. Dre, but would continue to stay at J Records. From 2002 to 2004, nothing was heard from Flipmode Records as Busta Rhymes, the face of their label was doing more television than anything else. They resurfaced in 2005, when Busta Rhymes announced that he was planning to leave J Records and was recording his seventh album.

Aftermath/Interscope (2006-2008)

In late 2005, Busta Rhymes had moved Flipmode once again, this time to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, a subsidiary of powerhouse label, Interscope Records. He celebrated the new distribution deal by cutting off his trademark dreadlocks and signing hip hop phenom, Papoose and Chauncey Black, formerly of Blackstreet. The deal came as no surprise to any hip hop fan as Dr. Dre had been producing for Busta since he had been signed to Elektra and he had began to be featured on many Shady/Aftermath projects during the years 2003 and 2004. In February 2006, he released the second single, "I Love My Chick" from his seventh studio album "The Big Bang". The album was released on June 13, 2006. It was a platinum success and returned the label back to the radio and back to hip hop prominence after a four year absence. This success would be short-lived as the label's next release, "Have You Seen" by Rampage failed to certify on the charts. Soon after, the label would run into more bad luck. Papoose, who was signed to a joint-venture with Streetsweepers Entertainment announced that he was leaving Flipmode after signing a $1 Million dollar contract with the label. Soon after, longtime Flipmode Records act Rah Digga left the label saying that it seemed that Busta had no desire to talk to Dr. Dre about putting her album out instead he was having too much of a good time partying. Despite this, the label is still a semi-success and the upcoming releases are "B.O.M.B." by Busta, which is due in December 9, 2008, "Church Boy?", the debut album of Chauncey Black and longtime Flipmode rapper Spliff Star's debut album "About Time". This release comes after the release of his mixtape/album "One Shot Willy". On July 17, 2008, Busta Rhymes got dropped from Interscope/Aftermath. It was reported that Busta Rhymes was dropped from Interscope due to a heated argument with Jimmy Iovine. He later confirmed that the album would be released in late September on Aftermath. www.Aftermathmusic.com contacted the general manager of Aftermath, who issued the response “Yes, it’s true. He got dropped.” [http://www.aftermathmusic.com/blog/?p=50 Busta Rhymes off the Math] It was later revealed that following his alleged acrimonious departure from the Interscope/Aftermath label he signed a new deal with Universal Motown, who will release his 8th studio album "B.O.M.B." on November 4, 2008. [name=universalmotown> [http://www.rap-up.com/2008/09/17/exclusive-busta-rhymes-signs-with-universal-motown/ Exclusive: Busta Rhymes Signs with Universal Motown.] "Rap-up.com." Accessed September 17, 2008.] [http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh5aaUWUPQT7BE5n6j]

Current Roster

Artists

Below is a list of artists who signed to Flipmode Records. [http://www.flipmodefans.com/bioflipmode.htm http://www.flipmodefans.com/bioflipmode.htm] ]
* Flipmode Squad
** Flipmode/Universal Motown
* Busta Rhymes (CEO)
** Flipmode/Universal Motown
* Spliff Star
** Flipmode/Paperrock
* Chauncey Black
** Flipmode/Geffen
* Reek da Villian
** Flipmode/Cash Out
* Show Money [ [http://www.myspace.com/showmethemoneyggg MySpace.com - Show Money - BROOKLYN, New York - Hip Hop - www.myspace.com/showmethemoneyggg ] ] [ [http://www.flipmodefans.com/bustabio.htm Flipmode biographies ] ]
** Flipmode/Guap Gang

DJ
* DJ Scratchator
** Flipmode/Torian

Former Artists

Below is a list of artists who were signed to Flipmode Records in the past but left.
*Serious
*Lord Have Mercy
*Roc Marciano
*Meka
*Papoose
*M. Dollars
*Labba
*Rah Digga

Discography

Albums

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Past Mixtapes

*2002
**Flipmode Squad
***"Arsenal For The Streets pt. 1"
*2003
**Flipmode Squad
***"Arsenal For The Streets pt. 2 (The Full Court Press)"
**Busta Rhymes
***"Salute The General"
**Rah Digga
***"Wrong Bitch To Fuck With pt. 1"
***"Wrong Bitch To Fuck With pt. 2"
**Spliff Star
***"Blood & Sweat"
*2004
**Busta Rhymes
***"The Storm Before The Storm"
***"Slaughter Pt. 1"
***"Slaughter Pt. 2"
***"Slaughter Pt. 3"
***"Surrender"
*2005
**Busta Rhymes
***"Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind"
**Labba
***"Bloodstain Chronicles Vol. 1"
*2006
**Busta Rhymes
***"Countdown To The Big Bang"
***"King Of The Remixes"
***"New Crack City"
***"Point Of No Return"
***"The Crown"
***"The Ruler"
**Labba
***"Come Up Off That!!!"
***"The New Problem 1"
***"The New Problem 2"
**Rampage
***"Demagraphix"
*2007
**Flipmode Squad
***"The Facelift Pt. 1"
***"The Full Course Meal"
**Busta Rhymes
***"Black Friday Pt. 1" (with Reek da Villian)
***"Dillagence" (with J Dilla)
**Spliff Star
***"Let The Streets Decide"
***"Contraband" (mixtape)
**Reek da Villian
***"The Remixes pt. 1"
***"Goons & Gangsters"
***"Pharmacy"
***"Pharmacy 2"
*2008
**Flipmode Squad
***"Hell Boyz Pt. 1"
**Busta Rhymes
***"I've Already Outshined Your Favorite Rapper"
***"Busta's Back"
***"Black Friday Pt. 2" (with Spliff Star)
***"The 48 Laws of Power"
***"I've Already Outshined Your Favorite Rapper, Part Two"
**Baby Sham
***"New Movement"
***"Re-Birth"
**Reek da Villian
***"Pharmacy 3"
**Show Money
***"Show "Me The" Money"
**DJ Scratchator
***"No One Can Do It Better Pt. 1"
***"No One Can Do It Better Pt. 2"
***"Muthafucka I'm Ill Pt. 1"
***"Muthafucka I'm Ill Pt. 2"

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Upcoming Albums

Below is a list of upcoming releases from Flipmode Records.
*Busta Rhymes – "B.O.M.B." – December 9, 2008
*Spliff Star – "One Shot Willy" (street album) – November, 2008
*Chauncey Black – "Church Boy?" – 4th quarter 2008
*Spliff Star – "About Time" – 2009
*Reek Da Villian – "TBA" – 2009
*Flipmode Squad – "Rulership Movement" – 2009

Upcoming Mixtapes
*Reek Da Villian – "Super Saiyans" (with U.R.B.Z.) – 2008
*Reek Da Villian – "Let The Bidding Wars Begin" (Mixtape + DVD) – 2008
*Flipmode Squad – "Pre Rulership mixtape" – 2008

ee also

*Flipmode Squad
*List of record labels
* [http://www.geocities.com/bustaunofficial FLIPMODE SQUAD online]

References