Easy Star Records

Easy Star Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996. Based in New York City, the label primarily produces and releases albums in the genres of reggae and dub. As a global leader in the progressive reggae movement, the label has a close knit but musically diverse roster of artists, hailing across the globe from Jamaica, England, New Zealand, Hawaii, and all corners of the continental U.S.The label has had multiple albums chart at #1 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart, including Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band, two albums by The Green, and Vines by Passafire, who signed to the label in 2013. In 2014 the label released albums by artists such as Rebelution, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad,Backbeat Soundsystem,New Kingston,and The Expanders, whose June 2015 album Hustling Culture debuted at #1 on the Top Reggae Albums chart.The label manages bands such as the Easy Star All-Stars, a touring and recording musical collective, and has worked with artists outside the reggae genre such as Citizen Cope and Corey Harris.

Easy Star Records was founded in 1996 by friends; Michael Goldwasser, Eric Smith, Lem Oppenheimer and Remy Gerstein, in NYC.

Despite coming from various backgrounds and interests, the founders shared a love for live dancehall and Jamaican reggae.

As depicted by United Reggae, the founders "felt there was a place for roots reggae made with live musicians and analog equipment, like it had been back in the 70’s and early 80’s". The inspiration for the label's name came from the "Jamaican patois salutation, ‘Easy, Star,’ as in 'Take it easy, Star.'"

At the time, Goldwasser was working as a musician, while Oppenheimer, a DJ, had recently moved to New York after graduating from Oberlin College in Ohio. Eric Smith, a native New Yorker, studied political science and sociology at SUNY Albany, while maintaining his interest in live reggae and vinyl. He was also working as a news assistant on The New York Times’ Metro desk.

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