Mass Appeal Records
Mass Appeal Records is an American independent record label founded in 2014. The label is the music division of the Mass Appeal Media Group. In May 2014, it was announced that American rapper Nas was launching an indie label with Mass Appeal with Peter Bittenbender of company Decon. The label's current roster includes artists such as: Nas, DJ Shadow, Mannie Fresh, Dave East, Fashawn, Black Milk, and Keyon Harrold. Since its inception, the label has put out releases including the singles "Old English” from Young Thug, Freddie Gibbs, and ASAP Ferg and Jay Electronica's "Exhibit  C"; albums such as Fashawn's "The Ecology", Pimp C's "Long Live the Pimp", and J Dilla's "The Diary", and mixtapes, such as Dave East's "Hate Me Now". History. On October 24, 2014, the label released Run the Jewels album "Run the Jewels 2". The album was crowned as number-one album of the year by "Pitchfork", "Stereogum" and "Spin"and number-two hip hop album of the year by "Rolling Stone". In 2015, Marvel Comics released comic book covers inspired by Run the Jewels. Following his signing to Mass Appeal, Fashawn released his long-awaited second album  The Ecology on February 24, 2015. The album features guest appearances by Nas, Aloe Blacc, Dom Kennedy, and more. Mass Appeal Records released "The Mountain Will Fall", the fifth studio album by DJ Shadow on June 24, 2016. It was his first studio album since 2011's "The Less You Know, the Better". The album was ranked at number one on Top Dance/Electronic Albums at "Billboard". On December 4, 2015, the label released Pimp C's fifth album, the posthumous "Long Live the Pimp". The following year, on April 15, 2016, the label released J Dilla's vocal album  The Diary. The album was ranked at number two on "Pitchfork"s list of "Most Promising" releases of Record Store Day 2016. NPR included "Fuck the Police" in their "Songs We Love" segment. Mass Appeal released "Rubble Kings: The Album" on January 15, 2016. J Dilla released "The Diary" through Mass Appeal on April 15, 2016. DJ Shadow released "The Mountain Will Fall" on June 24, 2016. Mass Appeal released "The Land (Music from the Motion Picture)" on July 29, 2016. Dave East released "Kairi Chanel" on September 30, 2016. Boldy James released "The Art of Rock Climbing" on January 27 , 2017, and "House of Blues" on February 24, 2017. Fashawn released "Manna" on August 11, 2017. Dave East released "" on August 18, 2017. Ezri released "be right back" on October 5, 2017. Dave East released "Paranoia 2" on January 16, 2018. Black Milk released "Fever" on February 23, 2018. In May 2017, Mass Appeal announced a joint venture publishing company with Pulse Music Group. In June 2018, a new partnership with Universal Music Group was announced with the companies entering into a multi-year global agreement. On June 15, 2018, Nas released his twelfth studio album "Nasir", through Mass Appeal  Records and Def Jam Recordings. It succeeds Nas' album "Life Is Good", released six years prior in 2012. The album was a part of the GOOD Music 7-song, 5-album rollout executive produced by Kanye West, featuring appearances from Kanye West, Puff Daddy, 070 Shake, Tony Williams, and The-Dream. "Nasir" debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units, of which 49,000 were pure album sales. It serves as Nas's twelfth top-ten album in the United States. In August 2018, Cantrell released his debut EP "Stardust 2 Angels". The project was  accompanied by a Mass Appeal-produced documentary available via YouTube, entitled, "Stardust 2: Cantrell on Skating, New Album and Albany, GA | Mass Appeal". Mass Appeal artist Stro released his debut project, "Nice 2 Meet You, Again" on October 19, 2018. The EP has one feature by Mannywellz. Cuz Lightyear released "Blue Slime" on November 30, 2018, featuring rappers Lil Baby, Killer Mike, and Yung Bans. Mass Appeal's resident punk band, The 1865, released "Don't Tread On We!" on January 25, 2019. The 1865 has four members: Mass Appeal's own director, Sacha Jenkins, alongside Carolyn "Honeychild" Coleman , Flora Lucini, Chuck Treece, and Jason "Biz" Lucas. The label then released a compilation album called the "Starting 5: Vol. 1" on February 5, 2019, with features from Nas, Black Milk, and Liana Bank$. The project had an accompanying tour during rollout, The Starting 5 Tour, with artists Ezri, Stro, Fashawn, Cantrell, and 070 Phi.