Part Three — Hip Hop Record Labels

Profile Records

Two guys, $34,000 borrowed from their parents, and the label that broke Run-D.M.C.

Founded: 1981
Founders: Cory Robbins and Steve Plotnicki
Base: 250 West 57th Street, New York City
Status: Acquired by Arista in 1998; catalog now with Sony Music

Profile is the great independent success story of the 1980s: a two-man operation that came within $2,000 of failure in its first year and ended the decade with the biggest rap group on earth.

A $17,000 idea, doubled

In 1980 Cory Robbins, then 23 and briefly an MCA employee, decided to start a label and invited his songwriter friend Steve Plotnicki to partner with him. Each borrowed $17,000 from his parents, bought the little-used Panorama Records subsidiary from MCA, and opened a tiny office at 250 West 57th Street on May 1, 1981.

The first signings — Grace Kennedy and Lonnie Love — did not save them. 'Genius Rap' by Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde did, reportedly pulling the company back from ruin by about $2,000. Gidea Park's 'Seasons of Gold' gave Profile its first Billboard Hot 100 entry, and in 1982 Sharon Brown's club anthem 'I Specialize in Love' made the label an international name.

A demo cassette called 'It's Like That'

Profile's biggest act arrived by mail. Manager Russell Simmons sent Robbins a demo cassette of 'It's Like That' by his brother's group; Robbins signed Run-D.M.C. soon after. The Hollis trio stripped rap down to drum machine, guitar and two voices in leather and Adidas, and turned an independent New York label into a hitmaker.

Run-D.M.C.'s run — 'Sucker M.C.'s', 'Rock Box', 'King of Rock', and the 1986 album 'Raising Hell' with its Aerosmith collaboration 'Walk This Way' — made them the first rap group to reach mainstream rock audiences at scale, and did it on an indie's balance sheet.

Range, then a sale

Profile was never a one-act label. It scored gold and platinum with Dana Dane, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, Special Ed, Poor Righteous Teachers, Twin Hype, Nemesis and Paul Hardcastle, and in 1991 it introduced Compton's DJ Quik — an early sign that the coasts were about to trade places.

Arista Records acquired Profile in 1998, taking the name, catalog, masters and artist contracts; Sony Music has managed much of that back catalog since 2004. Most of the catalog is out of print today, with Run-D.M.C., Rob Base and DJ Quik the notable exceptions.

Essential cuts

1981
Genius Rap
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde
The hit that kept the lights on in year one.
1983
It's Like That / Sucker M.C.'s
Run-D.M.C.
Drum machine minimalism that reset the sound of rap.
1988
It Takes Two
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
The Lyn Collins 'Think' loop becomes a permanent party record.
1989
I Got It Made
Special Ed
Sixteen years old, entirely unbothered — Brooklyn confidence on wax.

On the roster