Exclusive: Steve Rifkind - The History of Loud Records Part 1 & Part 2
New York, NY (December 1, 2008) - If you were a kid growing up in the 90’s, you knew about Loud Records. And if you’re a fan of the guys that grew up in that era that turned out to be rappers, you owe Loud your allegiance, even if you don’t see the similarities. Because before Suge Knight’s Death Row in the West, before the meteoric rise and evolution of Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and before the god emcee gave Def Jam a taste, all of your favorite artists listened to the records pushed by Steve Rifkind.
Truth be told, before Akon, David Banner and Asher Roth, before pop music took over hip-hop and before the culture was dictated by the music, Rifkind was paving the way for everyone just beginning to see the different avenues hip-hop was opening up. The current climate of entrepreneurship sees it’s roots in the Steve Rifkind Company, the street team that ruled hip-hop through the 90’s. In fact, grass roots marketing as a whole owes their foot-soldier mentality to Loud Records.
This interview is not revisiting the past for nostalgia purposes. This is a few minutes for you to get a sense of the man and motivation and story behind some of the biggest acts hip-hop has ever seen, which opened the world’s eyes to hard lyricism, swagger, metaphors and true street tales from the likes of Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Xzibit, Big Punisher, Tha Liks and many more.
In Part One, Rifkind talks about the evolution of his marketing company into a record label, remembers hearing Wu Tang and Big Punisher for the first time and why he doesn’t even know why Loud Records was so important. In Part Two, he gives his insight on the kind of rappers that were making records during the 90’s, his regret to selling to Sony, the future of SRC and the favorite part of his job.
Part One
Part 2