Daptone Records is a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

independent record label based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. Best known as the home of

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul music, soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a Retro-soul, revival movement of mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. They released their debut album Dap D ...

and Charles Bradley, the label boasts a roster which includes Menahan Street Band,

The Budos Band The Budos Band is an American instrumental band from Staten Island, New York, formed in 2005. AllMusic describes the group as a "doom rock Afro-soul big band with a '70s touch" that joins "musical universes from trippy psychedelia and Afro-funk ...

, The Sugarman 3, and Antibalas, and runs the recording studio Daptone's House of Soul.

History

Daptone Records was formed in 2001 by Gabriel Roth ( Bosco Mann) and Neal Sugarman. Daptone was born out of the closure of Desco Records, a label run by Roth with fellow musician Philip Lehman who both played in the band Soul Providers. Roth and Lehman ended their band and business relationship in 2000. Roth, who had played with Sharon Jones as part of the Soul Providers, subsequently founded a new label with Neal Sugarman, leader of The Sugarman 3, as the home of their new group,

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul music, soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a Retro-soul, revival movement of mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. They released their debut album Dap D ...

. Their first release was 2002's '' Dap Dippin' with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings''. In their first four years, Daptone would also put out Sharon Jones' sophomore album, '' Naturally'', as well as original releases by the Sugarman 3 and Dap-Kings-adjacent

. During this time, they also converted a two-family home in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...

into an analog

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

space. The first album recorded there was Antibalas's "Who Is this America?" in July 2003. Producer

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

became a fan of the studio. He brought in

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

to record parts of her album ''

Back to Black ''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, ...

'' there with The Dap-Kings and Antibalas members Nick Movshon and Victor Axelrod. The Dap-Kings would tour with Winehouse in 2007. In addition to Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Daptone has recorded and released the music of Antibalas, The Sugarman 3,

, The Poets of Rhythm, The Mystery Lights, The Daktaris, The Mighty Imperials, Lee Fields, Charles Bradley, Binky Griptite, The Sha La Das, and Naomi Davis. The Daptone Record label is inexorably tied to Sharon Jones. The label and members of her band were with her during the last weeks before her death. Since its founding, Daptone has released over one hundred 45 RPM singles and fifty albums.

Imprints

As of 2021, Daptone operates four specialty

imprints Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. * Ever-Soul, an imprint that reissues rare soul singles from the 1960s and 1970s. * Dunham, a label run by

Thomas Brenneck Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer, best known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of Dunh ...

and Homer Steinweiss, best known for their releases of Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band. * Penrose, a Southern California offshoot of Daptone began by Bosco Mann in 2020. * Wick, a subsidiary founded in the late 2010s with a roster of rock-leaning artists.

Recording studios

Daptone built their studio, called Daptone's House of Soul, in a converted two-family home in the

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southe ...

neighborhood of Brooklyn on Troutman Street. It was very run down when they first rented it, and the neighborhood was not great. Daptone Records has its offices in the top floor, the studio is on the ground floor. The label built the studio from scratch, and made the decision to not have computers, but to rely completely on the more old-fashioned

analog recording Analog recording is a category of techniques used for the recording of analog signals. This enables later playback of the recorded analog audio. Analog audio recording began with mechanical systems such as the phonautograph and phonograph. La ...

methods to make music. There are tape machines and a CD recorder, but no

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

or digital reverbs. The studio is where they have recorded most of their releases. Their distinctive sound is a product of the studio acoustics, recording only on analog tape (no

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

), and mixing done by Roth. The recording studio and engineering personnel have been sought out by record producers such as

. In 2006,

recorded parts of her

album at Daptone studios. In February 2009, Daptone's House of Soul was broken into and thieves made off with the better part of its equipment.

Artists

Daptone

* Adam Scone * Antibalas * Benjamin & the Right Direction * Bob & Gene * Charles Bradley * Cochemea * Lee Fields * Joseph Henry * Menahan Street Band * Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens * Orquesta Akokán * Saun and Starr AKA "The Dap-ettes" *

* The Como Mamas * The Frightnrs * The James Hunter Six * The Mighty Imperials * The Sugarman 3 * The Olympians * The Sha La Das

Dunham

* Charles Bradley

Penrose

Thee Sacred Souls ''Thee Sacred Souls'' is the debut studio album by American soul trio Thee Sacred Souls, released on August 26, 2022, through Daptone Records. Background Thee Sacred Souls formed in April 2019, composed of bassist Sal Samano, drummer Alex Garc ...

* The Altons

Wick

* The Ar-Kaics * The Jay-Vons * The Mystery Lights * Michael Rault

Discography

Notable awards

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

* 2021: Antibalas, ''Fu Chronicles'' –

Best Global Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors i ...

(nominated) * 2019: Orquesta Akokán, ''Orquesta Akokán'' – Best Tropical Latin Album (nominated) * 2014:

, '' Give The People What They Want'' – Best R&B Album (nominated) A2IM Libera Awards * 2021: Antibalas, Fu Chronicles – Best World Record *2021: Label of the Year (Small) *2019: Orquesta Akokán, ''Orquesta Akokán'' – Best Latin Album (nominated) * 2019: Charles Bradley, '' Black Velvet'' – Best R&B Album (won) * 2019: Charles Bradley, ''Black Velvet Deluxe'' – Creative Packaging (nominated) * 2019: Label of the Year (Small) (won) * 2018:

, '' Soul of a Woman'' – Best R&B Album (won) * 2018: Label of the Year (Small) (won) * 2017: Charles Bradley, ''

Changes Changes may refer to: Books * '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo * ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel * ''Chan ...

'' – Best Blues/Jazz/R&B Album (won) * 2017: Charles Bradley – Best Live Act (nominated) * 2017: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (Neal Sugarman) – Best Sync Usage (won) * 2017: Label of the Year (Small) (won) * 2017: Charles Bradley, ''Changes'' – Marketing Genius (nominated) * 2016: Label of the Year (Small) (won) * 2015: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Hardest Working Artist (won) * 2015: Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, ''Cold World'' – Best Heritage Album (nominated) * 2015: Label of the Year (Small) (nominated) * 2014: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, "Retreat" – Video of the Year (nominated) * 2014: Charles Bradley – Hardest Working Artist (won) * 2014: Charles Bradley – Best Live Act (nominated) * 2014: Label of the Year (Small) (won) * 2013: Antibalas, “Dirty Money” – Video of the Year (nominated) * 2013: Label of the Year (Small) (nominated) * 2012: Charles Bradley – Road Warrior of the Year (won) * 2012: Label of the Year (Small) (won)

References

External links

*
Dunham Records

EVER-SOUL Records
{{Authority control American independent record labels Soul music record labels 2001 establishments in New York City Record labels established in 2001 Companies based in Brooklyn