Big Beat Records is an East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 and dance-music

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 that operates as a subsidiary of Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records Group

Atlantic Records Group is an umbrella label founded in 2004 by Warner Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its Atlantic Records unit....

.

History

Founded as an indie label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 in 1987

1987 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

 by 22-year-old New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 deejay

Deejay

A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...

 Craig Kallman

Craig Kallman

Craig Kallman is Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records.Craig Kallman signed the legendary lyricist Percee P and released his sought after 12" "Puttin' Heads To Bed" on his imprint Big Beat in the early 1990s. He joined the company in 1991, when Atlantic acquired Kallman's independent Big Beat...

, the company initially operated out of Kallman's parents' apartment. After achieving some notoriety on the underground dance music

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 circuit, Doug Morris

Doug Morris

Doug Morris is an American music executive. He is the current Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of the Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011.-Life and career:...

 — then head of Atlantic Records — brought Kallman and Big Beat into the Atlantic stable in 1991

1991 in music

See also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...

. Atlantic purchased the label outright in 1992.

Although the label originally focused on house music

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

, being entrenched in the often cutting-edge New York music scene inevitably led Big Beat to embrace the growing hip hop genre as the 1990s progressed. It also had a sub-label named Turnstyle. In 1998

1998 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...

, Kallman was promoted to Vice President of Atlantic. Following his promotion, Big Beat (and most of its roster) was subsequently absorbed into its parent company.

Big Beat's artists included Lil Kim (under the Big Beat label Undeas), Po'Broke&Lonely, Skillz

Skillz

Shaquan Lewis, also known as Mad Skillz, Skillz, is an American rapper known for his acclaimed 1996 album From Where???, a reference to his origins in Virginia, not the stereotypical New York City or Los Angeles rapper, and he's also known for his yearly "Rap Ups", which he has done since...

, Changing Faces, Robin S.

Robin S.

Robin S. is an American singer-songwriter, who scored success in the 1990s with such hit singles as "Show Me Love" and "Luv 4 Luv". She has had three number ones on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.-Career:Robin S...

, Junior Mafia, Jomanda

Jomanda (group)

Jomanda was an American female R&B/house vocal trio from New Jersey. Members included Joanne Thomas, Cheri Williams and Renee Washington. They had several hits on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart during the first half of the 1990s, including "Got a Love for You," which reached #1 in 1991...

, Double X Posse

Double X Posse

Double X Posse, also known as Double XX Posse, was a 1990s hip hop group. Its debut album, Put Ya Boots On , spawned two successful singles. The first and most successful, titled "Not Gonna be Able to Do It," reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles in 1992 and also reached 68 on the Hot...

, Jody Watley

Jody Watley

Jody Vanessa Watley is an American, singer, songwriter, record producer, and founder of Avitone Records whose music crosses genres from Pop, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Electronic Soul....

, The Bucketheads, Jay Williams, David D'Or

David D'Or

David D'Or is an Israeli singer, composer, and songwriter. A countertenor with a vocal range of more than four octaves, he is a three-time winner of the Israeli "Singer of the Year" and "Best Vocal Performer" awards. He was also chosen to represent Israel in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, at...

, and Quad City DJs.

Relaunch

Big Beat relaunched, as Atlantic's dance-oriented imprint, in early 2010, with Wynter Gordon

Wynter Gordon

Diana "Wynter" Gordon is an American pop/dance singer-songwriter. She began as a writer for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she began working on an album while continuing to write songs for other acts and providing vocals on songs...

, Chromeo

Chromeo

Chromeo is an electrofunk duo formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2004.-History:Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 on guitar and lead vocals...

, Dj Chuckie

Chuckie (DJ)

Chuckie, born Clyde Sergio Narain is a Dutch DJ and producer of Surinamese descent.-Biography:Chuckie grew up in Surinam and was influenced by the large number of musical genres of the country. When one of his friends started working as a DJ, his interest for DJing started at the age of thirteen...

, Martin Solveig

Martin Solveig

Martin Picandet, better known under his stage name Martin Solveig is a French electronic music DJ and producer from Paris. He also hosts a weekly radio show called "C'est La Vie" on stations worldwide including FG DJ Radio in his homeland...

, Teddybears

Teddybears

Teddybears is a Swedish band formed in 1991, known for mixing pop, rock, hip-hop, electronica, reggae, punk and many other genres.-History:...

, Sebastian, and Skrillex

Sonny Moore

Sonny John Moore is an American electronic dance music producer who is widely known by his professional name Skrillex. Moore is also a former frontman for the American band From First to Last. In late Autumn of 2007 he embarked on his first tour as a solo artist, the Team Sleep Tour with Team...

on its roster.