Arista Records Album Discography, Part 24: Rowdy Records
The Rowdy label was established in 1992 in Atlanta by Dallas Austin and “L.A.” Reid. The label recorded R&B and hip-hop music, and was distributed by Arista.
Austin had composed many songs for various popular R&B acts, including Monica, Another Bad Creation, Boyz II Men, Joi, For Real, Da King & I and TLC. Reid had recently formed another Arista-distributed label, LaFace, and, so as to devote time to the struggling label, left Rowdy in 1993.
Rowdy recorded such artists as Y’all So Stupid (from Atlanta), Illegal (a rap duo with one member from Philadelphia and another from South Carolina), For Real (one of the participants in the 1995 multi-artist R&B hit “Freedom” on Mercury), Los Angeles alt-metal band Fishbone (after a seven-year stay at Columbia), and British artist Caron Wheeler (in the U.S.).
Rowdy, however, only had one major album success to its credit: at only 15 years of age, Monica debuted with her first studio album, Miss Thang, on July 18, 1995. The album’s range of genres was far and wide, going from hip-hop to R&B to pop to adult contemporary in sixty-nine minutes. The record sold 36 million copies worldwide and went triple platinum in the U.S. It spawned three #1 R&B hits (“Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)”, “Like This and Like That”, “Before You Walk Out of My Life”), and she spawned two more (“Ain’t Nobody”, “For You I Will”) from two of 1996’s big movie hits (The Nutty Professor and the original Space Jam). Right around this time, Monica decided to join the parent Arista label.
Thereafter, Rowdy’s fortunes took a rapid nosedive. Monica was not only the biggest star on the label, she actually WAS the label. The company decided to go independent as a result of her departure due to creative differences with Arista, but that did not solve the problem and nothing came from the label’s independence. In 1998, Dallas Austin stepped down as CEO of Rowdy, which led to it going kaput forever. From 1999 to 2002, he decided to form a new label with Capitol named Freeworld.
In 2005, Mr. Austin decided to revive Rowdy because he was that captivated by a performance he saw from a Decatur-based group named Da BackWudz. This new label is under Motown distribution.
This discography will center exclusively on the Arista years of the label. Albums on Rowdy used a 75444–37XXX numbering system. The album discography for Rowdy under Arista distribution amounted to only nine titles, a rather limp number compared to the heavy amount of activity it seemed to do on the singles front.
The vinyl albums on Rowdy used a black label with a drawing of a kid wrecking part of the word ROWDY with a baseball bat. The bottom text, which, unusually, was upside down, read “Rowdy Records, 10 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011. Manufactured by Arista Records, a Bertelsmann Music Group Company.”
75444–37000–1/2/4 — Van Full of Pakistans — Y’all So Stupid [05–25–93] Introduce Me/85 South/Interlude/Van Full Of Pakistans/Interlude/Bowl Of Soul/Interlude/Bootleg Beatdown//Dirt Road White Girl/Interlude/Monkey Off My Back/Interlude/Super N — -a/Y’all/On & On/Interlude
75444–37001–1/2/4 — Contemporary Jeep Music — Da King & I [07–13–93] Side A is labeled as “Contemporary Side”, and Side B is labeled as “Jeep Side”. Let’s Take A Trip/Flip Da Scrip/Interlude 1-MC Asshole/Krak Da Weazel/Interlude 2-Amusement Park/Brain 2 U/Tears//Soul Shack Interlude/Ghetto Instinct/Interlude 3-Jazz Skit/This Is How We Do/Interlude 4-Izzy Sings Da Blues/Lost My Mind/Represent/What’s Up Doc
75444–37002–1/2/4 — The Untold Truth — Illegal [08–24–93] Back In The Day/Illegal Will Rock/Head Or Gut/Crumb Snatcher/We Getz Buzy/Stick ’em Up/Understand The Flow/On Da M.I.C./Ban Da Iggidy/Lights, Camera, Action/Interlude/If U Want It
75444–37003–1/2/4 — Fishy Pants — Muzza Chunka [1993] Dim Sum Brunch/Float/$83.38/Insects & Condiments/Loaded/Abcessnessmess/Feed Me/Meaty Greedy/Open House/Chicken Lamp/Terrible One/Chunk
75444–37004–1/2/4 -
75444–37005–1/2/4 -
75444–37006–1/2/4 — Miss Thang — Monica [07–18–95] Miss Thang/Don’t Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)/Like This And Like That/Get Down/With You/Skate/Angel/Woman In Me (Interlude)/Tell Me If You Still Care/Let’s Straighten It Out/Before You Walk Out Of My Life/Now I’m Gone/Why I Love You So Much/Never Can Say Goodbye/Don’t Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days) Remix/Forever Always
75444–37007–1/2/4 -
75444–37008–1/2/4 — Last Chance, No Breaks — Jamal [10–10–95] Live Illegal/Keep It Live/Situation/Insane Creation/Fades Em All/The Game/Da Come Up/Don’t Trust No/Keep It Real/Genetic for Terror/Unf**Kwittable
75444–37009–1/2/4 -
75444–37010–2/4 — Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge — Fishbone [05–21–96] Intro/Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge/In the Cube/Beergut/Interlude 1/Psychologically Overcast/Alcoholic/Love…Hate/Interlude 2/Riot/Monkey Dick/Sourpuss/Rock Star/Pre Nut/Nutmeg
75444–37011–1/2/4 -
75444–37012–2/4 — From the MGM Motion Picture “Fled”: Music From The South — Various Artists [1996] Intro — Big Rube/You Can’t Run — Royal C/Touch Myself — T-Boz/Remember What I Said — Goodie Mob/Bright Lights — T. Smith/Word — God’s Gift To God/Missing You — Monica/Highway — Tony Rich Project/Magic In Your Eyes — Joi/Spain — Lou/Right Way — For Real/Crank This — DJ Kizzy Rock/Fled — Fishbone
75444–37013–2/4 — Free — For Real [09–17–96] Intro/Like I Do/Good Morning Sunshine/Hold Me/So In Love/Remember/Will You Love Me//The Saddest Song I Ever Heard/Nothing Without You/How Can I Get Close To You/Love Will Be Waiting At Home/For All Of My Life/Free
