Reflecting on Uptown Records

With a BET series in development I started thinking about the many levels of the late Andre Harrell's fabled label

Mary J. Blige was nominated for an Academy award for acting and singing. Sean Combs owns a cable network and has made nearly a billion dollars since starting in hip hop as rapper/businessman Puffy. Bruno Mars won the Grammy for album of the year by making a recording inspired by R&B from the late 1980s and early ‘90s.

These are just three examples of the enduring influence of Uptown Records, a label that existed from 1986 to 1997. It’s where Blige became the Queen of Hip Hop Soul and the voice of generation of black women. It’s where Combs (aka Puffy aka Puff Daddy aka Diddy aka Love) began his legendarily, controversial and lucrative career as talent scout, stylist, artist, label owner, perfume promoter and liquor retailer. It is the label that Bruno Mars used as a template for ’24 Karat Magic,’ a multiplatinum album that relied heavily on the new jack swing and hip hop soul that Uptown pioneered.

Through Uptown’s saga you can trace the story of a resurgent New York City as Wall Street trading, real estate development, and crack dealing paralleled a new phase of hip hop, where sample heavy, radio friendly, soulfully street records were recorded that redefined pop culture. Heavy D & the Boyz, Al B. Sure!, Soul for Real, Jodeci, Father MC and GUY were key acts in a label that gave rise to a blend of R&B and hip hop that we now take for granted. I did a recent radio show tribute to label head Andre Harrell with B. Sure, Uptown co-founder Jimmy ‘Jimmy Luv’ Jenkins and Andre Harrell’s cousin Oneal McKnight and it got me thinking again about the label’s story and importance.

At the center of this story was the late Andre Harrell, Bronx native, former rapper (the Doc in Dr. Jeckyll & Mr Hyde), ingratiating storyteller, cultural philosopher and suit & tie fly gent, who founded Uptown as a home for aspirational, fashion forward, culturally important MCs, singers and producers who reflected the pulse of that era in New York City. Uptown popularized the idea of “ghetto fabulous,” a state of mind where Gucci and Chanel met jeeps and Timberland boots in the bliss of conspicuous consumption. At an Uptown album release party boxer Mike Tyson, supermodel Naomi Campbell, designer Tommy Hilfiger, drug kingpin Alpo and Wall Street broker Tracy Maitland could be found at a table at downtown nightspots Nells, Cafe Tabac or Moomba.

The Uptown story starts with its founding in 1986 via a $75,000 deal with MCA for a compilation album and effectively ends with Andre exiting to run Motown Records with a contract worth millions. The pain and emotion that made Mary J. Blige a star mirrored a troubled personal life that included a tempestuous love affair with label mate KC of the trailblazing vocal group Jodeci. Combs, later a visionary in terms of hip hop’s musical and fashion direction, had a difficult period of growth at Uptown. His sometimes violent temper resulted in fights with artists and staff members, and played a key role in Andre ultimately dismissing him from the label. Gangsters saw what Andre built and either envied him or protected him. Harlem gangster Gene Griffin got between Andre and new jack swing inventor Teddy Riley, while Los Angeles’ Suge Knight tried to intimidate Andre years before the infamous east coast/west coast rap war.

Ultimately the Uptown story is filled with tales of young black people coming of age in a glamorous, edgy time. On the outside Uptown looked like a well oiled hit machine. But in its offices artists and executives were making it as they went along. Missed planes and meetings, crazy sexual escapades, squandered recording budgets, fist fights, and rivalries made Uptown the real ‘Empire.’

You could actually trace the arc of Uptown’s narrative through what parts of the New York area Andre resided in during the Uptown years. Uptown Records started in a Brooklyn apartment that also served as Andre’s residence and that of many of his early artists. It was the scene of many a spirited house party. After Uptown’s initial success the label moved into MCA’s offices on 57th and 7th with Andre close by on 56th Street in the second highest residential building in Manhattan. Andre would also own a million dollar home in posh Alpine, New Jersey close by Eddie Murphy’s famous “Bubble Hill” mansion. He’d also have a ghetto fabulous brownstone in Greenwich Village.

Just as Uptown evolved from humble beginnings Andre and his social circle expanded as well. Andre moved from black bougie establishments like the upper West Side’s Shark Bar to downtown bistros where he shared stories with businessmen Ron Pearlman and political royalty like Bobby Shriver. It was Andre who saw ‘The Great Gatsby’ film and decided to hold a white clothes only party in Central Park, which became must attend event. (Later his protege Sean Combs would continue this tradition in the Hampton’s.) So Uptown’s story is not just a tale of music, but of aspirational young New Yorkers bursting ambition.