Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind inked a deal
with Universal Records Wednesday Dec. 18 and will officially launch SRC Records.
"It’s a joint venture with Universal,"
Rifkind told AllHipHop.com. We are gonna keep it grimy and to the street. The
formula for the label is not the far from Loud. "
The label has signed rappers Ricochet from Detroit,
Michigan and Grand Daddy Souf from Orlando, Florida. Grand Daddy Souf has moved
over 30,000 units independently, Rifkind said.
The label will have offices in the Universal
building in New York and will open the doors January 6. Rifkind, who also heads
up the influential marketing company also named SRC, said that he hopes to duplicate
Loud’s impressive success, but with a smaller, more concentrated focus.
"We are not going to have as big of a staff
at SRC Records as we did at Loud," Rifkind said. "I want to thank
the fans and everyone that supported Loud the past ten years. I hope that we
can have the same success we had with Loud."
SRC’s first release will drop March 25.
In related news, Rifkind announced earlier this
year that he would launch a cable television hip-hop lifestyle channel. The
channel will focus on underground hip-hop music and urban entertainment that
cannot be found on other cable channels.
