Star Trak Entertainment was an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, founded by

the Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

and Rob Walker in 2001. It was launched as an imprint of

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

, a subsidiary of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

from its formation until 2003, after which it operated under

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, a subsidiary of EMI, and ultimately

Interscope Geffen A&M Records Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records (with its subsidiary, A&M Records) ...

, following EMI's merger with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The label ceased operations in 2015. Its name is a reference to the 1960s TV program ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''.

History

Beginnings

Star Trak was formed in 2001 by the Neptunes. The label was partially funded by

(from

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

) in a joint-venture.

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

would sign longtime friends,

Clipse Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip-hop, hip hop duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formed in 1994, it consists of brothers No Malice, Gene "Malice" and Pusha T, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during t ...

. Their debut album, ''

Lord Willin' ''Lord Willin is the debut studio album by the American Hip-hop, hip hop duo Clipse. The album was released on August 20, 2002, in the United States by Star Trak Entertainment, Star Trak and Arista Records, Arista. Recording sessions took place ...

'', was released in 2002 led by the hits, " Grindin'", "

When the Last Time "When the Last Time" is the second official single from the Clipse's album ''Lord Willin. It reached #19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the issue dated December 21, 2002—becoming the group's highest-charting single. The video features a fr ...

", and " Ma, I Don't Love Her" After the success of the album, the label would sign

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

, Vanessa Marquez, Fam-Lay,

N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) was an American rock and hip-hop band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists ...

and pop rock band Spymob, who provided backing instruments for N.E.R.D's debut album ''In Search Of...''. The label released a compilation album during the summer of 2003, entitled, '' The Neptunes Present... Clones.'' In late 2003, Star Trak Entertainment released the highly successful album, '' Tasty'', by Kelis led by the hit single "

Milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

." In early 2004, Star Trak linked with EMI's

for a new distribution deal. The first release from this deal was ''

Fly or Die ''Fly or Die'' is the second studio album by American rap rock band N.E.R.D. It was released on March 23, 2004. Production The band recorded its second album ''Fly or Die'' during 2003. The band actually learned the instruments needed to play ...

'' by

Addition of Snoop Dogg

In mid-2004, Star Trak signed EMI cousin label,

Doggystyle Records Doggy Style Records (formerly known as Dogghouse Records) is an American record label founded by the rapper Snoop Dogg in 1995. It is named after Snoop Dogg's debut album, ''Doggystyle'' (1993). The record label started out as a subsidiary of D ...

to a distribution deal and soared to new heights behind veteran Doggystyle Records rapper,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

. A few months later, Star Trak Entertainment left EMI's Virgin Records before completing a year with the label. They ended up moving operations over to

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. Here, they would release Snoop Dogg's album, '' R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece.'' The album was led by "

Drop It Like Its Hot "Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring American musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, '' R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Mast ...

", which would be yet another hit single for the fledgling label. This album would go Platinum in the US like some other Star Trak Entertainment releases. It also had many other hit singles. After the album's release, the label was in a surplus and could afford to spend money on new things, so they signed underground

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

rapper

Slim Thug Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1979), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He gained mainstream attention for his guest performance alongside Paul Wall on Mike Jones' 2004 single "Still Tippin'". The followi ...

& in 2005, he released his debut album, '' Already Platinum.'' This album would give Star Trak Entertainment yet another hit, "Like A Boss", and "I Ain't Heard of That."

Decline

After the release of Slim Thug's album, Geffen Records was partially absorbed into Interscope, which moved Star Trak into an exclusive distribution deal with Interscope and ended all business with Geffen as Snoop Dogg stayed and took his Doggy Style imprint with him. During this time, the label added Kenna and

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 single " Blurred Lines" (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams), which peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, received ...

to their roster.

Resurgence

In 2006, Pharrell released his debut solo album, '' In My Mind.'' The album provided another two hits for the label and capitalized what is the Neptunes sound. These singles were "

Can I Have It Like That "Can I Have It Like That" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Pharrell Williams featuring vocals from American singer Gwen Stefani. From the former's 2006 debut album '' In My Mind'', it is the opening track. The so ...

", with

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

, and " Number One", with

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. Other releases in 2006 were Robin Thicke's second album, '' The Evolution of Robin Thicke'', which featured the hit, " Lost Without U." The last 2006 release was

's second album, '' Hell Hath No Fury'', the album featured another hit for the label, " Mr. Me Too." This was their first release through their Re-Up Gang Records imprint. Because of constant delays on the album's release date, and a small amount of production, then low record sales, Clipse asked for their release from the

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

label with in terms released them from Star Trak Entertainment moving their Re-Up Gang Records imprint to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Star Trak Entertainment has since signed Teyana Taylor to their roster, along with Chester French, Natasha Ramos, Epoch When and Sergio Veneno. In 2007, Kenna released his album, '' Make Sure They See My Face.'' Releases for 2008 included

and Robin Thicke. Releases for 2009 included Chester French, Teyana Taylor, Kenna,

and

Teriyaki Boyz Teriyaki Boyz are a Japanese hip hop group from Yokohama, Japan. History The group consists of Keisuke Ogihara, Ilmari and Ryo-Z from Rip Slyme, Verbal (rapper), Verbal from M-Flo, rapper Wise (rapper), Wise and Nigo, the DJ and founder of the p ...

. In 2013, the label saw success once again with the chart-topping single "

Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rapper T.I. and American musician Pharrell Williams from Thicke's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the a ...

", performed by Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell &

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

Artists

Former artists

* Chester French *

* Fam-Lay * The High Speed Scene *

* Kenna *

The Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

* Super Cat *

Spymob Spymob is an American alternative rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Best known for their appearance on the 2003 Star Trak Entertainment compilation '' The Neptunes present Clones'', with the song "Half Steering...", they also provided backi ...

* Suga Suga *

* Teyana Taylor *

Discography

References

{{Authority control Record labels established in 2002 American record labels Contemporary R&B record labels American hip-hop record labels Pop record labels Labels distributed by Universal Music Group The Neptunes