Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def,

Silkk the Shocker Vyshonn King Miller (born June 18, 1975), better known by his stage name Silkk the Shocker (formerly Silkk), is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. The brother of Master P, Miller signed with his record label No Limit Records, an im ...

, Jay-Z,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung, C-Murder, Mia X, Westside Connection, and Ice-T. It also distributed hip hop record labels including Death Row Records, Hoo-Bangin' Records,

No Limit Records No Limit Records is an American record company founded by Master P. The label's albums were distributed by Priority Records, Universal and Koch Records. The label included artists such as Snoop Dogg, Mercedes, Silkk the Shocker, Mystikal ...

, Posthuman Records, Rap-A-Lot Records, Rawkus Records, Roc-A-Fella Records, Ruthless Records Duck Down Records, and Wu-Tang Records. According to '' Billboard'', "few record labels were as important to the rise of

West Coast hip hop West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of Hip-hop, hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during th ...

as Priority Records".

Company history

Beginnings (1985–1996)

The Los Angeles-based company (with no ties or relations to a previous Priority Records label that was a subsidiary of what was then CBS Records) was formed in 1985 by three former K-tel executives: Bryan Turner, Mark Cerami and Steve Drath. Initial funding was provided by R-tek, a company headed by former K-tel board members: Ray and Harold Kives, and their company took an initial 50% ownership in Priority. Priority bought out the R-tek interest in 1987. Its first success came with novelty act the California Raisins. To support early operations, Priority Records licensed repertoire from others and released compilation albums using archive recordings while developing its own artist roster. Priority Records achieved success as an independent label by developing a precedent-setting "street-based" formula of underground marketing which bypassed mainstream radio. This approach allowed Priority to sell millions of records without entering into the fiercely competitive major label battles over radio airplay. Priority's strategic marketing team was developed by Vice President Alyssa Pisano, who led Priority's Marketing and Creative Services Department between 1987 and 1996. Priority's roster featured numerous gold, platinum and multi-platinum artists, including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg,

, Jay-Z,

, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung C-Murder, Mia X, Westside Connection, No Limit and Ice-T. Priority distributed rapper Jay-Z's debut album, '' Reasonable Doubt'', in June 1996 with Jay-Z's company Roc-A-Fella Records. The album was a critical success, but a minor success upon release, selling 43,000 copies in its first week and 420,000 copies altogether. It was ultimately certified Platinum by the RIAA. ''Reasonable Doubt'' was Roc-A-Fella and Jay-Z's only album with Priority Records.

EMI acquisition (1996–2004)

In the early 1990s, the label struck up a distribution deal with EMI, while continuing to operate independently. EMI bought a 50% stake in Priority in 1996, and the remainder in 1998. In 1997, Priority released the I'm Bout It soundtrack by

. The album was a critical and commercial success, debuting and peaking in the top 5 on the ''Billboard 200''. It sold 300,000 copies in its first week, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. In 1998, in conjunction with Hoo-Bangin' Records, Priority released Mack 10's third studio album, '' The Recipe''. A top 15 charting album on the U.S. ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

'', the album went on to be certified Gold by the RIAA. ''The Recipe'' featured guest appearances from Priority artists Master P and Snoop Dogg. In January 1999, Priority and No Limit released Silkk the Shocker's album, '' Made Man'', which debuted and peaked at #1 on the U.S.

. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Despite EMI's full ownership, Priority continued to be an independently managed company until 2001, when its operations were merged into EMI's major U.S. subsidiary,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. Priority was absorbed into Capitol Records in 2004 and ceased operations.

Relaunch (2006–2013)

In late 2006, EMI revived Priority Records, and it was supposed to start releasing new records again but never did except for a couple compilation and greatest hits albums from the likes of N.W.A, Westside Connection, Mack 10, and Ice Cube. In 2009, Snoop Dogg was appointed creative chairman of the label; Priority released Snoop Dogg's tenth studio album, '' Malice N Wonderland'' on December 8, 2009. In July 2013, Priority was re-launched via a joint venture between

and Insurgency Music. Based at the Capitol Records Building in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the new Priority Records was a producer centric label that focused on a broader array of music genres, including electronic music as well as urban music. The lone release under Priority's first relaunch was Snoop Dogg's Malice n Wonderland, which was a commercial failure. Following this, Priority remained dormant.

Second relaunch (2015–present)

In 2015, due to the success of the 2015 American biographical film '' Straight Outta Compton'' based on former Priority act N.W.A, Priority Records was relaunched one more time as a distributor. This time the focus was on new acts, including G Perico, Snoh Aalegra and Jonn Hart. In 2018, Priority Records partnered with TuneGO. Priority Records signed TuneGO Artist, Three Guests and distributed their album, ''3G''. Priority also signed Massachusetts rap group Bandits The Label and later went on to distribute DtheFlyest debut project "Dope Boy Diaries" which was executive produced by CruufromtheNorth and featured a hit single with rap superstar Lil Baby titled "Fugazi" (2018).

Artists

* Former Priority Records artists

Associated labels

*'' Hoo-Bangin' Records'', founded by Mack 10 *''

'', founded by Master P. The label's roster included Master P and

. *'' Roc-A-Fella Records'', founded by Kareem Burke, Damon Dash, and Jay-Z. Roc-A-Fella's lone release with Priority was Jay-Z's 1996 debut album, '' Reasonable Doubt.

References

External links

Official website of Priority Records

"2002 Music Awards"
by Anthony Mariani, ''Fort Worth Weekly'', June 13, 2002, retrieved June 29, 2006 {{Authority control Record labels established in 1985 Record labels disestablished in 2004 Record labels established in 2006 Re-established companies American record labels Hip-hop record labels Universal Music Group Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Gangsta rap record labels 1985 establishments in California 2004 disestablishments in California 2006 establishments in California