About
Duck Down 15-Year Anniversary Tour Feat. Pharoahe Monch
Duck Down Records is a hip hop record label, famous as the home of Hip Hop collective Boot Camp Clik. Duck Down was originally established as a management company in 1994, then officially established as Duck Down Entaprizez in 1995 by rapper Buckshot of Black Moon and his business partner Dru-Ha. After the success of the debut albums by Duck Down artists Black Moon and Smif-N-Wessun, they entered a national distribution deal with Priority Records in 1995, until they were dropped from the label in 2000. They remained without distribution until 2002, when they signed a deal with leading independent distributor Koch Entertainment. In April 2005, they left Koch and signed a new distribution deal with the Navarre Corporation (Navarre has since been sold to Koch, once again bringing the Duck Down label back to being distributed by Koch Entertainment).[1]Duck Down's original roster consisted of Boot Camp Clik members Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C.. Their first full length release was Heltah Skeltah's 1996 debut album Nocturnal. They released nine albums with Priority Records between 1995-2000. During their period with no distribution deal, they released only vinyl singles. During their stint with Koch Entertainment, they released four albums. Since their current deal with the Navarre Corporation, they have released four albums. Their next release will be Boot Camp Clik's The Last Stand, hitting shelves on July 18, 2006. According to the Duck Down website, the label has sold over 3,000,000 records to date.
In the fall of 1997, the label attempted signing Eminem, but Priority passed on the deal, not wanting to take the risk of signing a White rapper. The label is also famous for being involved in the "One Nation Petition", a petition asking for the release of the 2Pac album One Nation, recorded during the summer of 1996, and featuring appearances from Duck Down artists Buckshot and Smif-N-Wessun. Other artists that have been signed to the label include Masta Ace, and Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. They have also signed to Blue Scholars with Caffe Vita Coffee Co in early 2009 in order to distribute their music.
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