Profile Records was one of the earliest

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

labels. As well as hip-hop they released

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, and electro records.

History

In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. He invited his songwriter friend Steve Plotnicki to be a partner. They each borrowed $17,000 from their parents, purchased the little used Panorama Records subsidiary from MCA, and Profile Records was born. Their tiny office opened at 250 West 57th street in NYC on May 1, 1981. With the success of “Genius Rap” by Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, they escaped financial ruin by a mere $2,000. From there it was

Gidea Park Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly an affluent and residential area, it was historically located in the county of Essex. It saw significant expansion in t ...

's “Seasons of Gold” that brought more commercial and financial success, becoming Profile Records’ first hit to make the Billboard Hot 100. In 1982 the fledgling label gained international recognition with the club hit "

I Specialize in Love "I Specialize in Love" is a song written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher. Mixing engineer, Mixed by Tee Scott, the song was a club hit in the early 1980s when recorded by American singer Sharon Brown (singer), Sharon Brown, the niece of songwrite ...

", recorded by Sharon Brown, licensed to

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in the UK. The label continued its commercial success, with gold and platinum sales with artists such as Dana Dane, Twin Hype,

Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...

, Poor Righteous Teachers,

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

, and

Paul Hardcastle Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is an English composer, musician, record producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number one on the UK Singles Chart in 1 ...

among others. In 1985, the label moved to a headquarters at 740 Broadway in New York. The label had numerous sub-labels such as Smile Communications (which later became independent and continued to be controlled by Plotnicki after Profile was acquired), Sea Bright Records, and Robert Hill's Zakia Records, the label that launched the career of King Sun and hip hop legends Eric B. & Rakim. Profile's biggest act was Run-D.M.C., which was introduced to Robbins when manager Russell Simmons sent him a demo cassette of " It's Like That". Robbins signed the group soon after. The partners' less than amicable split severed not only all business ties but all personal ones too. Robbins, in 2008, said he had no regrets “except for an occasional loss, it was a good experience, a positive experience but I would not change a thing.” Profile was acquired by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

in 1998, and its catalogue and artists were transferred to Arista.

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

(owner of Arista since 2004) now manages much of Profile's back catalog and master recordings. Most recordings are currently out of print except for the albums of DJ Quik,

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American Hip hop music, hip hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base is the stage name of Robert Ginyard (b. May 18, 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock was the stage name of Rodney "Skip" Bryce (1967–2014). They are best ...

and Run-D.M.C.

Artists

Hip hop

* 2nd II None * 52nd Street * Camp Lo * Caveman * Dana Dane * Derek B * DJ Quik * Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde * N2Deep *

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

* Poor Righteous Teachers *

Pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

* Run-D.M.C. * Smoothe da Hustler * Special Ed * Surf MC's * Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce * Twin Hype

Others

* Asher D & Daddy Freddy *

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist from Clarendon, Jamaica. Career In 1977, Levy formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bla ...

* Boys Don't Cry * Chanelle * Cro-Mags * The Cucumbers * Cutty Ranks * Judy Torres * Leeway * Moev * Murphy's Law *

Plasmatics The Plasmatics were an American punk rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City in 1978. They were a controversial group known for chaotic, destructive live shows and outrageous thea ...

* Sharon Brown * The Accelerators * The LeRoi Brothers * The Nils

References

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1981 Record labels disestablished in 1997 Hip-hop record labels Reggae record labels Arista Records House music record labels Sony Music