Gotee Records is a

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, ...

of Christian hip-hop, based in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The label was founded in 1994 by

TobyMac Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...

, Todd Collins and Joey Elwood. The first album produced is Out of Eden's '' Lovin' the Day''. The label was a part of

EMI Christian Music Group EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

. However, they bought back EMI's minority share to become fully independent again as of March 31, 2008.

Toby McKeehan Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...

is currently the president of the company and as of 2009, the label is currently distributed by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. McKeehan got the name "Gotee" from the song "Socially Acceptable" on dc Talk's album '' Free at Last''. A member of the band

GRITS Grits (stylized as GRITS) is an American Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit". GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter ...

was doing the background vocals, and he was saying, "Let it go, T, let it go." ("T" refers to Toby). McKeehan happened to be growing a

goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on the chin entirely. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer solely to a bear ...

on his face at the time, and when Mark Heimermann pointed out the coincidence, he decided to name his new record company, "Gotee Records". However, McKeehan does not publish his own albums under this title; instead he publishes his own records under the same label dc Talk was signed to,

ForeFront Records ForeFront Records is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock record label founded in 1987 by Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Ron W. Griffin. It was purchased by EMI in 1996 from Dan R. Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, and is a divis ...

, an imprint of

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, ...

. He owns the name the Gotee Bros. In May 2015 Gotee was acquired by Zealot Networks. Zealot's Nashville office is headed by former Gotee artist

John Reuben John Reuben (born John Reuben Zappin; January 14, 1979) is an American Christian hip hop artist signed to Gotee Records until late 2010. Reuben has sold over 200,000 copies of his first four albums.Breimeier, Russ (May 2002)"John Reuben - ''Hinds ...

. As part of the acquisition Gotee is still operated independently.

Artists

Current artists

* Charly Perry * Cochren & Co. * Matt Hammitt * Mackenzie Phillips * Jon Reddick * Joseph O'Brien (singer) * lydi lynn * RENEE * Ryan Stevenson * Terrian

Former artists

* Abandon Kansas (active, independent) * Flynn Adam (active, independent) * Jeff Anderson (active) * Aguilar * Aaron Cole (active, currently signed to

Provident Label Group Provident Entertainment is a division of Sony Music headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee and focused primarily on Christian music. The group handles its own physical distribution through its Provident-Integrity service. Provident Label Group ...

RCA Inspiration RCA Inspiration (formerly Verity Gospel Music Group) is a gospel music group operating under Sony Music Entertainment. History Inception In late 2002, BMG completed the purchase of the Zomba Group for US$2.74 billion and as a part of that deal, ...

) * Christafari (active, on Soul of Zion Entertainment) * Curious Fools (disbanded) * Jeff Deyo (active, on Indelible Creative Group) * Deepspace5 (active, on Deepspace5 Records) *

DJ Maj Michael Joseph "Mike" Allen (born October 9, 1970), professionally known as DJ Maj, is an American Christian music DJ and rapper, contributing to gospel music albums released by tobyMac, GRITS, Ill Harmonics, Carman, dc Talk, and the Newsboy ...

(active, on Tractor-Beam Records) *

Family Force 5 FF5 (formerly known as Family Force 5, The Phamily, Ground Noise and The Brothers) is an American Christian rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band was formed in 2004 by brothers Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, and Jac ...

(on hiatus; currently on

Word Records Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In ...

) * Finding Favour (active) * Fighting Instinct (disbanded) * 4th Avenue Jones (disbanded) * The Gotee Bros. (disbanded, side project of

tobyMac Kevin Michael McKeehan (born October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. Widely regarded as one of the most ...

of DC Talk) *

Jamie Grace Jamie Grace Harper (born November 25, 1991) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. In 2010, TobyMac found her songs on YouTube and signed her to his label Gotee Records for two alb ...

(active, independent) *

(on hiatus) * Hollyn (active, independent) *

House of Heroes House of Heroes is an American alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio. They have released six albums: ''What You Want Is Now'' (2003), ''House of Heroes'' (2005), ''The End Is Not the End'' (2008), ''Suburba'' (2010), ''Cold Hard Want'' (20 ...

(active, currently independent) * I Am Terrified (active, currently independent) *

The Katinas The Katinas are a Contemporary Christian Music, contemporary Christian music group. They are a family of five brothers. The group's members sang in Assembly of God church as children, and began playing fairs, soon moving up to nationwide slots ...

(active, unsigned) *

Capital Kings Capital Kings is an American contemporary Christian music act. The group went on hiatus on January 3, 2018 before returning on July 7, 2023, with the single "Higher". The group consists of producer-rapper Cole "Saint X" Walowac and producer-sing ...

(on hiatus) * Sarah Kelly (active, currently an owner of Sarah Kelly Music School) *

Jennifer Knapp Jennifer Lynn Knapp (born April 12, 1974) is an American-Australian folk rock and contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter, author, and LGBTQ advocate. She is best known for her first single "Undo Me" from her Gold-certified debut studio ...

(active, currently unsigned) *

Knowdaverbs Michael Boyer II, better known by his stage names Knowdaverbs and later Verbs, is a Christian hip hop artist. He has recorded for Gotee Records. Background He started rapping at the age of twelve, and spent time dancing with GRITS during the ...

(changed name to Verbs; currently with 1280 Music) * Johnny Q. Public (disbanded) * LA Symphony (on hiatus; members now performing solo) *

Liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

(active, unsigned) * Mars Ill (active, on Deepspace5 Records) * Morgan Harper Nichols (active, independent) * Our Heart's Hero (disbanded) * Out of Eden (disbanded) * Courtnie Ramirez * Richlin (stylized as RICHLIN) *

Relient K Relient K () is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman during their third year in high school and time at Malone University in Canton. The band is named after guitarist ...

(active, on Mono Vs Stereo Records) * Stephanie Smith (on hiatus; currently in Copperlily) * Sonicflood (active on Resonate Records) * StorySide:B (disbanded) * B. Reith (active, currently independent) *

(active, currently independent) * Ayiesha Woods (active, independent) * Paul Wright (active, unsigned) * Andy Zipf (active, with P is for Panda Records)

Compilations

* ''Gotee Records presents: Showcase'' * ''We Are Hip Hope'' * '' Freaked! A Tribute to dc Talk's Jesus Freak'' * ''Gotee Records Freshman Class 2000'' * ''Gotee Records: The Soundtrack'' * ''Ten Years Brand New'' * ''Gotee Night Out'' * '' Hip Hope Hits'' collection"Various Artists Hip Hope Hits 2009"
. ''Jesus Freak Hideout'', 02/07/2009, written by Scott Fryberger * ''Tis the Season to be Gotee'' * ''Tis the Season to be Gotee Too'' * ''Gotee Records: Twenty Years Brand New''

RIAA gold certifications

References

External links

*
Gotee Records Photo Group on Flickr
Pictures of Gotee artists in concert, with fans, backstage, etc. {{Authority control American record labels Christian hip-hop record labels Evangelical Christian record labels EMI Record labels established in 1994 1994 establishments in Tennessee