By Tai Saint Louis
As Miami Hip-Hop mainstay Slip-N-Slide Records enters into its fifteenth year of operation, the label’s owner Ted “Touche” Lucas is preparing to commemorate the anniversary in a major way.
Lucas is inviting fans and colleagues alike to join in the celebration next Thursday (December 11) in Miami.
Confirmed guests for the event include Island Def Jam Music Group chairman L.A. Reid and Warner Music Group president Kevin Liles, both long time friends of Lucas’, as well as the entire Slip-N-Slide roster, including the label’s marquee artists Trina, Rick Ross, and Plies.
The evening will also include several performances, including a special appearance by R&B singer Keith Sweat.
“A lot of prayers went into this,” Lucas told AllHipHop.com of Slip-N-Slide’s success. “I ain’t gonna sit here and play with nobody. Cuz there were times that we had our ups-and-downs as a label, when we went through different things. But definitely [we got through it] by staying prayed up, and building good relationships.”
Slip-N-Slide was conceived by Lucas and childhood friend Hollywood, Trick Daddy’s older brother who unfortunately died, before seeing the success the label would find with his brother in the mid-90s.
The two started out with the R&B group Nu Vibes before establishing themselves as South Florida’s premier Hip-Hop label, with the emergence of Tre+6 and, later, Trick Daddy.
Since the 1997 release of Trick’s debut Based on a True Story, the label has sold over 10 million records combined, with the most recent success of Rick Ross and Plies adding to the foundation built by Trick and Trina.
“My artists, I don’t look at them like artists, I look at them like business partners,” Lucas explained to AllHipHop.com. “We put our heads together and we keep working. Things gonna come, but we’re able to overcome them and keep working. And bringing on new people like Plies, and Rick Ross finally getting a chance with ‘Hustlin,’ that made the label continue to grow. And Trick Daddy holding the fort down as well as Trina. Trina’s still able to make hit records today, still selling records, and still able to go out there and do shows. A lot of people can’t say that after fifteen years of being in business [about] an artist like Trina that you’ve been in business with all this time. Fans are still happy, [we’re] still selling and selling ringtones and things of that nature.”
The label has now branched out into other genres of music and established a rock division earlier this year.
In addition to its established artists, Slip-N-Slide is moving into the future with the recent addition of pop artist Qwote, who is enjoying moderate success with the new single “Don’t Wanna Fight.”
Also added to the family this year are R&B singers Camar and Shonie, and up-and-coming rapper Swayze Baby.
“We’re definitely aspiring not to be known as just a rap label,” remarked Lucas. “We’re spreading our wings…I wouldn’t say I’d do anything differently, cuz I wouldn’t be able to be here if I didn’t go through those times of seeing everything the way it went down. Fifteen years ago, Miami wasn’t known for no Hip-Hop. It was known for booty shakin’. So I came up through the hardest time of it all. And to be able to survive all that, that’s what made us able to still be here 15 years.”