Priority Records
Parent company	EMI
Founded	1985
Founder(s)	Bryan Turner Mark Cerami Steve Drath
Distributing label	Capitol Records (In the US)
Genre(s)	Various
Country of Origin	US
Website	Official site of Priority Records

Priority Records is an American based record label, owned and operated by EMI, and has made a name for itself dealing primarily in hip hop music. Image File history File links Priorityrecords_logo. ... The EMI Group is a major record label, based in Kensington in London, in the United Kingdom. ... See also: 1984 in music, other events of 1985, 1986 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // January 28 - Various artists, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana... Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label, owned by EMI. // The Capitol Records company was founded by the songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, with the financial help of movie producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, (1910-1971) (owner of Music City, at the... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... The EMI Group is a major record label, based in Kensington in London, in the United Kingdom. ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ...

Company History

Beginnings

The Los Angeles-based company was founded 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. K-tel International is an As-Seen-On-TV company, which is most noted for their compilation music albums such as The Super Hits series, The Dynamic Hits series and The Number One Hits series. ...

To support early operations, Priority licensed repertoire from others and released compilation albums but soon began to develop its own significant artist roster. Between 1987 and 2001, Priority enjoyed success with many gold, platinum and multi-platinum artists, among them NWA, Ice Cube, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mack 10, Westside Connection, Eazy-E and Ice-T. Priority bought out the R-tek interest in 1987. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) was a hip hop group that was formed in Compton, California in 1986, and disbanded in 1991. ... Ice Cube (born OShea Jackson on June 15, 1969 in Los Angeles, California) is an American rapper, actor and film director. ... Percy Robert Miller (born April 29, 1967), better known as Master P, is an entrepreneur, businessman, marketing expert and rap artist. ... Calvin Broadus (born October 20, 1971, in Long Beach, California), better known as Snoop Dogg (other nicknames include Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tha Doggfather, The Bigg Boss Dogg, Bigg Snoop Dogg, and The D-O Double G) is a rapper, record producer and actor from the United States. ... Mack 10 (born David Rolison or DMon Rolison on August 9, 1971 in Inglewood, California) is a gangsta rapper and actor. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Eazy-E (Eric Wright) (September 7, 1963 - March 26, 1995) was an African-American rapper, record producer, and record executive who initially rose to fame as a member of the group N.W.A.. Born in Compton, California, Eazy-E dropped out of Compton High School while in tenth grade... Tracy Ice-T Marrow (born February 16, 1958)[1] is an American rapper, rock musician, author, and actor. ...

EMI acquisition

In the early 1990s, it struck up a distribution deal with EMI, while continuing to operate independently. In 1996, however, EMI bought a 50% stake in Priority, and the remainder in 1998. Despite EMI's full ownership, Priority continued to run as an independently managed company until 2001, when its operations were merged into EMI’s major US subsidiary, Capitol Records. Priority was absorbed into Capitol Records in 1994, and ceased operations. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The EMI Group is a major record label, based in Kensington in London, in the United Kingdom. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label, owned by EMI. // The Capitol Records company was founded by the songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, with the financial help of movie producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, (1910-1971) (owner of Music City, at the...

Revivial

In late 2006, EMI revived Priority Records. The first act signed to the newly reorganized company is C-Murder (who, in the mid-late 1990s, recorded for the label via No Limit Records.) 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... C-Murder (b. ...

Sub-labels

Priority has also provided distribution for other labels such as:

• Ruthless Records
• Death Row Records
• No Limit Records

Ruthless Records was the name of two different record labels, a Chicago punk label, and a Los Angeles hip hop label. ... Death Row Records is a record company that was founded in 1991 by Suge Knight and Dr. Dre, and was once home to some of raps biggest names, including: Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Tha Dogg Pound. ... No Limit Records is a record label that began in the early 90’s as the No Limit Record Shop in Richmond, CA. Through a distribution deal with Priority Records to distribute No Limit Records music, millionaire founder Master P maintained ownership of all of his master recordings, his studio...

References

• "2002 Music Awards" by Anthony Mariani, Fort Worth Weekly, June 13, 2002, retrieved June 29, 2006

June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• List of record labels

This is a list of record labels. ...

External Links

• Official Priority website