Ichiban Records was an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, founded in 1985 by John Abbey and Nina Easton in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, United States.

History

Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels.

Urgent! Records Urgent! Records was an American record label owned by Tim Whitsett, based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, and distributed by the Atlanta-based Ichiban Records. Label founder Whitsett produced albums for singer Jerry Butler (singer), Jerry ...

and Mr. Henry Records of Houston were both distributed by Ichiban. Besides recording a string of hip hop groups in later years, Ichiban originally specialised in blues and has also released albums by musicians such as Buster Benton and Raful Neal. Ichiban filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

in 1999. The catalog is now controlled by EMI, but nothing has been reissued since the label ceased operations. The label's name, "ichi-ban", is Japanese for "number one" or "first one", an expression commonly used in Japan to mean the best.

Notable artists

Hip hop

* A.W.O.L. * Detroit's Most Wanted * DFC * Gangsta Pat * Ghetto Mafia * Hard Boyz * Insane Poetry * Kid Sensation * Kilo Ali *

Kool Moe Dee Mohandas Dewese (born August 8, 1962), better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, songwriter and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of ...

* Lil John * MC Brains * MC Breed * Rodney O & Joe Cooley *

Sir Mix-a-Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot or his CB handle Prime Minista, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1992 hit song " Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

* Success-n-Effect *

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in Dallas, raised in Miami, he was the first solo white rapper to achieve commercial success foll ...

Willie D William James Dennis (born November 1, 1966) is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He emerged as a member of the hip hop group Geto Boys, which he formed in 1986 alongside fellow Houston rappers Bushwick Bill and Scarface. He signed wit ...

Soul

Clarence Carter Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include "Slip Away (Clarence Carter song), Slip Away", "Back Door Santa" (both released 1968), "Patches (Ch ...

* Willie Clayton * Millie Jackson * Barbara Lynn *

The Three Degrees The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 12 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Ho ...

Tyrone Davis Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) (although many sources have his date of birth as May 4, 1938), was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more th ...

* Little Johnny Taylor * Scola

Funk

Slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

Blues/jazz/rock

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

* Buster Benton * Ben E. King * Gary B.B. Coleman * Dash Rip Rock * Deadeye Dick * The Fleshtones * Little Mike and the Tornadoes * Luther "Houserocker" Johnson * Joey Gilmore * Big Joe & the Dynaflows * Ernie Lancaster * Trudy Lynn * Jerry McCain *

Floyd Miles Floyd Miles (April 13, 1943 – January 25, 2018) was an American electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He released four solo albums from 1992 onwards. Life and career Miles was born and raised in Daytona Beach, Flori ...

* Raful Neal * Phunk Junkeez * Tom Principato * Artie "Blues Boy" White * Blues Boy Willie *

Chick Willis Robert Lee "Chick" Willis (September 24, 1934 – December 7, 2013) was an American blues singer and guitarist, who performed and recorded from the 1950s to the 2000s. Biography He was born in Cabaniss, Monroe County, Georgia, the cousin of Ch ...

References

External links

Discogs entry
{{Authority control Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999 Hip-hop record labels American record labels Blues record labels