Konvict Kulture 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, ...

founded by R&B singer

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

, Melvin Brown and Bu Thiam in 2003 under the name Konvict Muzik. Artists including

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

Kat DeLuna Kathleen Emperatriz DeLuna (born November 26, 1987) is an American singer. DeLuna began pursuing a career as a singer when she was a teenager and later signed with Epic Records. Her debut single, " Whine Up", released in 2007, went on to become ...

, Mali Music,

Red Café Jermaine Alfred Denny,, Konvict Music. Accessed October 10, 2011. (born September 19, 1976), known professionally as Red Café, is a Guyanese-American rapper. He formed the short-lived hip hop group Da Franchise in the late 1990s, who signed w ...

, Dolla,

Ya Boy William Joseph Crawford (born January 28, 1984), known by his stage name Ya Boy (also known as Rich Rocka), is an American rapper from Fillmore District, California. He is best known for his 2011 single " Lock Down" (with DJ Drama featuring Ak ...

, and Costa Titch have signed to and released singles or albums by the label. Heard at the beginning of many of the label's recordings, besides Akon's own production or songwriting contribution, is the sound of the clank of a jail cell, followed by Akon uttering "Konvict". In 2022, the label was rebranded into Konvict Kulture. By 2011, Fotemah Mba was appointed Vice President of A&R for the label. The label operated with another label founded by Akon in 2006, KonLive Distribution, whose flagship artist was

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

. KonLive was an imprint of

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 ...

, while Konvict Muzik was an imprint of Akon's label,

Universal Motown Records Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the " urban" half of the Universal Records label, ...

prior to the launching of KonLive. In 2011, Akon signed Nigerian artists

P-Square P-Square are a Nigerian music duo composed of the twin brothers Mr. P (singer), Peter Okoye and Rudeboy (singer), Paul Okoye, who co-write and co-produce most of their songs. Noted for their artistic reinvention, musical versatility, and Visual a ...

, Tuface, and

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), better known as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobea ...

as representatives of the label in Africa.Akon signs 2face, Wizkid and P-Square as Konvict Musik Representatives
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Background

Akon started his own label after the success of his 2003 mixtape ''Akonvict.''

KonLive Distribution

KonLive Distribution (or simply KonLive) was a

founded in 2006 as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...

, the label was to allow both parties to manage the career and recording catalogue of singer

. Other notable acts signed to the label included

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...

Colby O'Donis Colby O'Donis Colón (; born March 14, 1989) is an American singer. He is best known for his guest appearance on Lady Gaga's 2008 single "Just Dance (song), Just Dance", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100, spent over ...

, Brick & Lace, Mali Music,

Natalia Kills Natalia Noemi "Teddy" Sinclair (' Cappuccini; born 15 August 1986) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She has recorded music under various aliases, most famously as Natalia Kills and Verbalicious. She is currently the lead vocalist of ...

, Jeffree Star, R. City,

, and

Verse Simmonds Maurice "Verse" Simmonds is a Puerto Rican / Virgin Islander singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. Based in Los Angeles but raised in the Virgin Islands, he moved to the United States after high school and he forme ...

Notable artists

Current

*Amirror

Former Konvict Artists

* OG Boo Dirty * Demarco * Sarkodie *

Jonn Hart Di'Jonn Gary Grizzell (born August 28, 1985), better known by his stage name Jonn Hart, is an American singer from Oakland, California. He is best known for his 2012 single "Who Booty" (featuring Iamsu!), which peaked at number 66 on the ''Billboa ...

* Bohagon *

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

Cyhi the Prynce Cydel Charles Young (born September 15, 1984), known professionally as CyHi the Prynce (also referred to as CyHi Da Prynce or simply CyHi), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He signed a major label recor ...

* Billy Blue * S. Fresh * Lego * Costa Titch (deceased) *

D Teck Dwayne Domonick Grant (born November 4, 1987), known as D-Teck, is an American hip hop recording artist, record producer, songwriter, rapper, and label owner. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica and was raised in the Bronx, New York. He has worked w ...

* Dolla (deceased) *

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

* Jeffree Star * JQT *

Red Cafe Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

* Sean Teezy

Former KonLive Artists

* R. City * Brick & Lace *

* Jeffree Star *

* Ray Lavender * Mali Music

Discography

References

External links

{{Authority control Record labels established in 2005 Sony Music Record labels established in 2006 Contemporary R&B record labels Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Hip-hop record labels Vanity record labels Akon SRC Records