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| Rowdy Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Dallas Austin Antonio "L.A." Reid |
| Distributors | |
| Genre | Various, with a focus onhip hop andR&B |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Official website | RowdyRecords.com |
Rowdy Records is arecord label distributed throughMotown Records andRepublic Records. It was founded by record producerDallas Austin in 1992, and the precursor to his entertainment company,Freeworld Entertainment.
Formed in 1992 by producersDallas Austin andL.A. Reid, Rowdy was initially distributed throughArista Records. At the time, Austin had gained notoriety for writing and producing hits for acts likeMonica,Another Bad Creation,Boyz II Men,Joi,For Real,Da King & I andTLC. Reid, meanwhile, was also running the fledglingLaFace Records. In 1993, Reid stepped down to continue focusing his energies on LaFace, leaving Dallas to run theAtlanta-based company on his own.
Rowdy shot to success in 1993 with rap groupIllegal, who had two number-one rap singles and the number-oneBillboard rap single of the year.
1995 saw the release of the triple platinum debut album from fourteen-year-old R&B singer Monica entitledMiss Thang. Other acts on the label included:Y'all So Stupid,For Real,Fishbone andCaron Wheeler. The label also released thesoundtrack to the motion-pictureFled.
In spite of the label's strong buzz in the industry (mainly due to Austin's name being attached to it), by 1997 Rowdy began to flounder, as Monica's debut album had been its biggest release to date—and arguably the company's only success. Creative differences with Arista subsequently caused Rowdy to vacate its fold, while Monica (its most notable star) remained at Arista. Without a major distributor, Rowdy briefly went the independent route before stalling completely. Austin's career, meanwhile, continued to thrive as he remained a highly sought after producer, which led to him stepping down as CEO. Rowdy closed in 1998. He then started the short-lived record labelFreeworld Entertainment after the dissolution of Rowdy.
In 2005, when the hip groupDa BackWudz caught Austin's attention, he decided to reactivate Rowdy (after seven years of dormancy) in order to sign them. Upon its reactivation, Rowdy took up distribution withMotown Records.
