Cory Robbins

Cory Robbins (born September 23, 1957) is an American record executive. Robbins founded two influential record labels.

The first, Profile Records (in business from 1981 to 1996; Robbins left in 1994), grew to become a large independent label that proved key in the rise of hip-hop as a commercially viable genre, most notably in breaking hip-hop's first multiplatinum act, Run-D.M.C.

The second, Robbins Entertainment (founded in 1996), has been a pioneer charting dance music's course into the 21st century.

Robbins is currently the owner and president of Robbins Entertainment, which is based in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood.

Robbins was born to Warren and Paula Robbins in Brooklyn, NY. His family spent the first part of his life in Hollis, Queens — the same neighborhood where the members of his future artists Run-D.M.C. grew up. Robbins father was a "closeout specialist" of wholesale clothing and ran a small chain of clothing stores in suburban New York and New Jersey called the Sample Nook. The Robbins family relocated to Rockland County, north of the city, in 1964.

Contrary to some accounts, Cory Robbins was not the heir to any "Baskin Robbins" fortune. Irvine "Irv" Robbins, the co-founder of Baskin Robbins, was born in Canada and lived on the West Coast. Cory Robbins' father Warren was in the retail clothing business.

Robbins formed a band in high school called The Centrifugal Force, and wrote songs with the hope of pitching them to publishers, record companies, and artists. In 1974, a 16-year-old Cory Robbins was shopping his songwriting demos in New York City when he met Bob Reno, the head of Midland International Records, which had success with disco tracks like Silver Convention's "Fly, Robin, Fly," signed by Midland's A&R man Eddie O'Loughlin.

Reno passed on Robbins' demos, but he eventually offered Robbins a summer job. During Robbins' freshman year in college, Reno coaxed Robbins to drop out and come work for Midland's publishing arm, picking and pitching songs.

Robbins left Midland to pursue a career as a DJ and record producer. He sold his first production, "Keep It Up" by Nightfall, to RCA in 1977 for $4,000. Robbins also produced "Doin' The Best That I Can" by Bettye LaVette for West End Records in 1978.

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