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| Tuff City :: Selected Discography |
 Tuff
City is an old skool label that will be familiar with any Hip Hop head who
has a few older records in their crates. The Red sleeve with the yellow Tuff
City logo will bring back good memories to many. Famous for releasing tracks by
the likes of the Cold Crush Brothers, 45 King, Spoonie Gee, Lakim Shabazz,
Freddie B & The Mighty Mic Masters, PHD and YZ etc. etc. etc., the list of
absolute classics dropped by this label is endless. Just take a look at
their discography and you'll be surprised how many records they actually
released. For me back in those early days the label was a sign of quality
and was synonymous with breaking new ground and producing fresh sounds. Any
record inside one of these sleeves was a definite purchase. This was all
down to one man, Aaron Fuchs, who back in the late '70's was a journalist.
After being embroiled in the burgeoning Hip Hop scene he decided to pack it
in and started the Tuff City Records label over twenty fours years ago in
1981.Initially strictly underground, Tuff City grew and made a good name for its self. However, Fuchs was a shrewd business man and saw that there was money to be made out of sampling and copyrights in sound recordings. At this time it is obvious that many people did not have an inkling of the future value of long obsolete recordings and it could be argued that he took advantage of this. Having his direct inside connection to the production processes of is artists he knew the importance of sampling and connected with the number of units he was now shifting he set about buying up the rights to as many songs and back catalogue works as he could. It is rumoured that he cynically bought up the rights to popular breakbeats in order to extort money from other Hip Hop producers outside his stable. An example of this would be Impeach The President by the Honey Drippers, the rights to which Aaron Fuchs quickly snapped up. This description of the situation is a touch harsh, but he did spot a business opportunity and expressed it to the max. Hip Hop producers were starting to pay Fuchs heavily if they chose to use certain samples and he was also purchasing the rights to sound recordings from impoverished artists at a greatly undervalued rate. As the Tuff City catalogue grew the business changed and although a few new artists such as Ghetto Philharmonic, Optimist Prime and Buddah and the Bandit were brought through, the main objective was now licensing. This in turn led to another development in the business which again was responding to the public's changing tastes. Tuff City began to spawn off shoot labels which were used to re-issue obscure, underappreciated and previously unreleased blues, soul, funk and R&B. The labels formed included: Night Train International, Funky Delicacies, Soul-Tay-Shus, and of course the original Old Skool Hip Hop sister label Smokin'. Tuff City released funk acts including: Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Bernard Purdie, Wilbur Bacomb, Weldon Irvine, Eddie Bo, Cornell Dupree and Eddie Henderson through Blues acts including: Ray Charles, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Johnny Otis, Charles Brown, Jay McShann and Joe Liggins. The reach was now truly wide and deep. Admittedly the Tuff City label has done good work in its efforts to unearth this old music and bring it to a new audience, it does seem slightly wrong that not everyone is benefiting from the sales. Never the less the world would be a poorer place if Tuff City had not put out some of the acts which looking back we can now see made Hip Hop what it is including: Marley Marl, the Ultramagnetic MCs, Davy DMX, T-Ski Valley, DJ Hollywood and more. Other acts that you would perhaps not expect to have come out on Tuff City would include Teddy Riley the New Jack Swing King and the fantastically named Funkmaster Wizard Wiz. The Tuff City empire is still thriving and they have kept many of the old releases in print as well as re-packaging music for new releases as well. Check below for some of Tuff City's recent releases and then head over to their site and empty your wallets...
Other Recent Releases
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| Intro |
Early Doors: 1979-1985 |
False Dawn: 1985-1990 |
Underground Years: 1990-1995 |
Hip Hop Renaissance: 1995- 2000 |
Hip Hop Future: 2000 & Beyond |
Artists & Discographies |
