No Limit Records

No Limit Records
Founded	1990
Founder	Percy "Master P" Miller
Status	Defunct
Distributor(s)	Priority Records
Genre	Hip-hop, Southern rap
Country of origin	United States
Location	Richmond, California (1990-1995) New Orleans, Louisiana (1995-2003)
Official Website	NoLimitRecords.com

No Limit Records was an American hip-hop record label that was founded in 1990 by hip-hop artist, Percy "Master P" Miller. It was distributed by Priority Records.

No Limit Early years

Master P began his career by distributing his records through a small San Francisco Bay area record label. He named the label "No Limit Record Shop", which started out in Richmond, California where his mother resided. Despite being on the West Coast, he maintained his connections to the South through his father who remained in New Orleans. Miller signed his friends E-A-Ski & CMT, Sonya C (his then girlfriend), King George, Big Ed, Lil Ric and added his brother, Silkk the Shocker. Later he and Silkk (along with their brother C-Murder) went on to form the group TRU. During the early 90's, P released many solo albums, with very little success. However, Miller was able to garner notoriety for himself and No Limit Records on the West Coast by collaborating with various artists and through his compilation albums West Coast Bad Boyz 1 & 2. Following his success on the West Coast in 1994, he decided the time was right to expand his label. After signing Oakland rapper Dangerous Dame who later released the EP Escape from the Mental Ward through No Limit, Miller then signed several acts from New Orleans. The new additions included Mia X and his brother C-Murder. During this time, Master P also did tracks with Kane & Abel and Mystikal (all of which he later signed to the label). In 1995, TRU released their third album, True, which achieved gold status. After the success of TRU, many of his West Coast artists began to believe they were not being compensated fairly.

Successful years

Master P moved No Limit Records and set up shop in New Orleans. He brought his brothers Silkk and C-Murder with him, along with Big Ed, who were all part of the successful group TRU, along with King George and Calli G. Mia X, Kane & Abel, Tre-8 and Mr. Serv-On from New Orleans joined No Limit in 1995. In 1995, No Limit signed a huge distribution deal with Priority Records to distribute No Limit Records music & formed Beats By The Pound. Master P maintained ownership of all of his master recordings and his studio. He also became the label's main artist, and released the album Ice Cream Man in 1996, his most successful album until then. In 1997, No Limit grew momentum with critically acclaimed and successful releases from Master P (Ghetto D), TRU (Tru 2 Da Game), Mia X (Unlady Like) and Mystikal (Unpredictable), amongst others . By 1998, No Limit Records had grown to consist of Master P, C-Murder, Silkk the Shocker, Snoop Dogg, Mac, Mercedes, Soulja Slim, Full Blooded, Fiend, Magic, Mia X, Skull Duggery, 2-4-1, Q.B., Sons Of Funk, Lil Soldiers, Short Circuit,Steady Mobb'n, Ghetto Commission, KLC, Mo B. Dick, Prime Suspects, Gambino Family, and Mystikal. Master P's 1997 album Ghetto D, and the 1998 album, MP Da Last Don, reached number one on the Billboard 200. In efforts to broaden his career, Master P also wrote, directed and acted in the underground movie I'm Bout It and performed several of the tracks on the album's accompanying soundtrack. It started his movie career which lead to films such as I Got the Hook Up and Foolish.

Decline

Silkk the Shocker's release, Made Man, debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200. Master P began to branch outside of rap; he appeared in World Championship Wrestling matches in which his No Limit Soldiers took on the West Texas Rednecks and he even tried to make it as a professional basketball player. Fewer and fewer No Limit Records featured their marquee artists, leading their fans to the correct conclusion that they had left the label. By 2000, only Master P, C-Murder, Silkk, Magic, Mac and Mia X remained from their most celebrated artists. A long list of new artists such as Short Circuit, D.I.G., Young Gunz (2 former members of the Gambino Family), Popeye, Baby Soulja, Black Felon, Afficial, Samm, Curren$y, Choppa and Krazy were introduced in 1999 and 2000, who all failed to create interest in themselves or in No Limit Records. Popular artists such as Mystikal had left, and his first post-No Limit album, Let's Get Ready, debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 in 2000. Beats By The Pound (KLC, O'Dell, Craig B. and Mo B. Dick) left No Limit after money disputes in the summer of 1999, only Carlos Stephens remained. Many new producers (XL, Suga Bear, Ezell, Kenoe) appeared but didn't quite meet the expectations. P's good friend Mac (who is still signed to the label) was in jail for murder at this time. Many of the No Limit artists did not reach longevity and left for other projects. By 2002, it appeared that the focus of No Limit Records was limited to the Miller family. This notion was further strengthened with the release of his son, Lil' Romeo's, debut album.

On December 17, 2003, the company filed for bankruptcy due to various lawsuits.^[1]

Current years

Reorganization

A few years later Percy named his new label "The New No Limit Records". By 2004, the reorganized label had moved to Koch Records for distribution. As of this year (2005), The New No Limit is now in partnership with Miller's own distribution company, Guttar Music Entertainment. On November 26, 2010 No Limit was established again except with the name changed from No Limit to No Limit Forever.

See also

• No Limit Records discography
• List of No Limit Records artists
• Guttar Music Entertainment
• No Limit Forever Records
• List of record labels

References

1. ^ Yvonne Bynoe (2006). Encyclopedia of rap and hip-hop culture. Greenwood Press. p. 249. ISBN 0313330581. http://books.google.ca/books?id=ioKfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22filed+for+bankruptcy%22#search_anchor. Retrieved 2009-09-20. 

External links

• No Limit Records RIAA Certified Records