| Tuff City Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 (1981) |
| Founder | Aaron Fuchs |
| Genre | Hip hop,doo-wop,dancehall |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | New York City |
| Official website | www |
Tuff City Records is a New York–basedrecord label founded by journalist Aaron Fuchs in 1981.[1] Initially concentrating onhip hop music, the label's roster expanded to includedoo-wop,dancehall, and hip hop–jazz fusion, and releases included reissues of music from as far back as the 1940s.[1]
Aaron Fuchs was a journalist withCash Box, and Tuff City was one of the earliest hip hop labels, with Fuchs quitting his job as a journalist to run the label.[1] After the label's first two releases, a distribution deal was signed withCBS Associated Records, although Tuff City severed the link after only a year.[1] The label pioneered the release of albums of break beats—the building blocks for others to use in their recordings.[1] Fuchs also bought the rights to earlier recordings that were sampled by others, bringing money into the label via licensing costs.[1][2] One of these, "Impeach The President" bythe Honey Drippers, was the subject of a court case with Fuchs filing a lawsuit againstSony Music andDef Jam Recordings for illegally sampling the track on recordings byLL Cool J andEPMD.[3] The case was settled out of court.[4] In late 1980s and early 1990s Tuff City released a string of new hip hop recordings by ANTTEX,Lakim Shabazz,Mark the 45 King and YZ. In the mid-1990s, Tuff City launched theOl' Skool Flava sub-label for reissues of classic hip hop material.[5][6] Another sub-label,Night Train International, was established to re-releaseAcademy,Lucky Four andMagic Touch blues and rhythm and blues music. Works ofProfessor Longhair,James Booker,Tuts Washington andLenny LaCour, among others, have been released by the label.[7]
In subsequent years the label began reissue projects in soul with Soul-Tay-Shus Records, funk with Funky Delicacies, and New York Latin music with Andale Records. Via its subsidiaryTufamerica (also stylizedTufAmerica), Tuff City became also known for suing artists likeKanye West and theBeastie Boys for their use of samples the rights to which Tuff City acquired for this purpose.[8][9]
In another case, Tuff City sued EMI records for its failure to pay royalties to Tuff City in connection with songs credited to the late George Patterson. EMI countered that Tuff City did not have proper chain of title.[10] The case is ongoing, but its status is unknown since the subsequent purchase and break-up of EMI by Universal Music in 2013.[10]