For every household name producer, such as Rick Rubin or Dr. Dre, there are multiple innovators who languish in obscurity. Larry Smith is one of those musicians, and he does not deserve this place in history, especially for Hip-Hop. While Smith played instruments on as well as produced huge hits... Read more

Some sad news broke over the weekend. Yesterday (April 27), it was confirmed that DJ EZ Rock (of Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock fame) passed away. The Harlem, New York DJ/producer and onetime Profile Records artist is known as a pillar within the late '80s/early '90s "Hip-House" movement, where... Read more

#6 Profile Records Founded in 1981 by Steve Plotnicki and Cory Robbins, Profile Records was the first label to establish hip-hop with the mainstream as an enduring genre. There had been some hit singles, previously, but Profile was the first record label to have a rap album certified gold (500,000+... Read more