Bayer Mack
| Block Starz Music | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder | Bayer Mack Kai Denninger |
| Distributor(s) | Select-O-Hits |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | US |
| Location |
Louisville, Kentucky Sarasota, Florida |
| Official website | www.blockstarztv.com |
Block Starz Music is an American independent record label owned and operated by award-nominated writer, record executive, and film producer Bayer Mack. Its catalog includes independent releases by Machine Gun Kelly, Lega-C, Wiz Khalifa, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Big Sean, Rhymefest and Ceddy Bu Rap Sumo. The label also includes its subsidiaries such as the independent film and television production company Block Starz Music Television.
Block Starz Music began as a promoter of free online mixtapes by recording artists signed to other labels before developing its regionally themed compilation series as a way to attract and market its own talent. Block Starz Music's first official mixtape, Suburban Empire by ex-VH1 reality show star John Brown, was released in early 2009. An alumnus of Ego Trip's The White Rapper Show, XXL Magazine put Brown "in the same category as Weird Al Yankovic" and lampooned the project. The first Block Starz compilation, West Coast Block Starz, was released in early February 2009 and featured various independent artists and guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, E-40, Keak da Sneak, and Daz Dillinger. While well received by reviewers, the effort was a commercial disappointment.
In the summer of 2009, Block Starz partnered with Atlanta-based D-Lo Entertainment to release Certified, the debut mixtape from future Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta cast member Rasheeda. The company would go on to have more success with the mixtape release What's High? by a nineteen-year-old Jewish rapper from Youngstown, OH named Throwback, who at the time had the same manager as a then unsigned Wiz Khalifa. Block Starz Music quickly signed Throwback, who had recorded two songs with Khalifa, as its first official artist and began work on East Coast Block Starz in the fall of 2009. Released on December 29 with the song "Was It" by Throwback featuring Wiz Khalifa as the lead single, East Coast Block Starz received generally favorable reviews, though critics noted it had a decidedly more commercial slant than its predecessor. In addition to "Was It", which benefited from the growing popularity of Wiz Khalifa, Boston native Supastar LT's collaboration, "I Love My City", with Kardinal Offishall and Red Cafe also became a popular-selling download from the project.
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