J. Prince has shunned the spotlight for much of Rap-A-Lot Records' 32 years of business. The label's founder, the man born James Smith, has gone public in a very big way this year. The Houston, Texas native published his memoir The Art And Science Of Respect. Right as the text... Read more

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual competition series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry (which has been determined), including the possibility... Read more

1994 was a pivotal year for southern Hip-Hop. OutKast released their monumental debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik while Scarface's five-mic-certified The Diary showed that Georgia and Texas were both in strong Southern stride. Additionally, Memphis, Tennessee was also starting to really make statements thanks to releases from Three 6 Mafia and 8Ball &... Read more

“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’s annual battle series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to... Read more

Last November 10, rapper Mr. 3-2 (aka Christopher Barriere) was killed at a Houston gas station. As a member of The Convicts, Blac Monks, and Screwed Up Click, 3-2 played a pivotal role in Texas Hip-Hop throughout the 1990s and 2000s, especially J. Prince's Rap-A-Lot Records. In that time, he... Read more

Rapper Mr. 3-2 has been a Houston, Texas Hip-Hop mainstay for more than 25 years. In addition to co-founding The Convicts with Big Mike, and being an official member of Screwed Up Click and Blac Monks, 3-2 has appeared on several critically acclaimed albums. The 44 year-old man born Christopher... Read more

The connections between Death Row and Rap-A-Lop Records run deep, from the top down. Respective label heads Suge Knight and J. Prince have been tight for years and, the labels' artists have collaborated on a number of projects and, in the case of the Outlawz, even been signed to both... Read more

Scarface is gearing up to release Deeply Rooted on September 4. In a career that spans nearly 30 years, it will only be the third time Brad Jordan is releasing a studio release outside of Rap-A-Lot Records (2002's The Fix, 2006's One Hunnid with Tha Product). However, the Houston, Texas... Read more

In the history of Hip-Hop, Houston, Texas' Geto Boys are one of the rawest groups to garner mainstream recognition. Whether the famed trio of Scarface, Willie D, and Bushwick Bill, or other group members Raheem, Prince Johnny C, Big Mike, or Sir Rap-A-Lot, songs like "Let A Ho Be A... Read more

Plenty of Hip-Hop groups have seen lineup changes. Ice Cube famously (and rather loudly) exited N.W.A in 1990 to pursue solo interests away from Ruthless Records. After a fast-track to stardom, Young Jeezy departed from Boyz N The Hood to become a Corporate Thug at Def Jam. Cee-Lo, and later... Read more

Despite the fact that Rap-A-Lot Records was born in Houston, Texas and Death Row Records was founded by two men from Compton, California, there's been a lot of cross-over. In the mid-1990s, Death Row artists like 2Pac, Danny Boy, and Tha Dogg Pound were cleared to appear on Rap-A-Lot releases,... Read more

#16 Rap-A-Lot Records Not from Houston but I Rap-A-Lot...Long before Cash Money and long before No Limit, Rap-A-Lot records was the voice of hip-hop in the South. Founded by J Prince in 1986, the label put Houston on the map. That was no small feat given that rap music was... Read more