Ignoring its critics and surviving a conspiracy to ban it from the airwaves, rap has maintained its core street audience, while also crossing over into the commercial mainstream. Multi-platinum rap successes are becoming commonplace, and Messrs. Len Fichtelberg and Tyrone Williams, President and Chairman, respectively, of Cold Chillin' Records are thrilled and encouraged by this development. Barely a year old, the new independent label has an impressive roster of the best and brightest rap artists, including Roxanne Shante, Biz Markie, M.C. Shan, D.J. Polo and Kool G. Rap, Big Daddy Kane, and T.J. Swan. Ably assisted by the genius of producer Marley Marl, Cold Chillin' scored heavily with its initial releases by M.C. Shan; with his Down by Law LP surpassing the 150,000-unit mark, with limited radio airplay. A recently inked distribution pact with Warner Bros. Records has Fichtelberg and Williams bubbling ver with confidence that their company will be able to garner a greater share of the highly lucrative rap market. With its newly formed relationship with Warner Bros., the compatible vision and resolution of the founders, the creativity of Marley Marl, and the youth, vigor, talent, and raw ambition of its artists, Cold Chillin' Records obviously possesses all of the ingredients necessary to make it a force to be reckoned within the entertainment industry.
It all started in December of 1984 when a young neighbor of Marley Marl in the Queensbridge Project by the name of Lolita Gooden gets pissed off at the way girls are downed in the UTFO song, and bugs Marley until he takes her into his home studio t cut a tape "dising" "Roxanne, Roxanne." To "dis" means to disrespect someone, to insult with total disregard for the person's disposition. Magic played Lolita's answer taped on the air and it struck a responsive chord with the audience, especially with the girls. Soon after, Magic, Tyrone Williams and Marley Marl are in Philadelphia on business and they run into Dana Goodman of Pop Art Records. He hears the tape "Roxanne's Revenge" and immediately strikes a deal to bring it out. Now what Pop Art issues as a record is actually a tape of Magic playing the tape on the radio. The record, complete with Mr. Magic's intro and outro launches Lolita as Roxanne Shante and ushers in the Roxanne Craze of 1985. By the time the smoke clears, there had been an avalanche of Roxannes, dozens of records and a fair amount of legal entanglements. Only fourteen at the time, Roxanne was so hot she often did three shows in one day in three different states, ultimately flying back and forth between time zones in private planes.With Williams as her manager, and by adding other acts he was handling to her shows,Roxanne Shante actually paved the way for the formation of Cold Chillin' Records.
M.C. Shan, Biz Markie, and a few others got their initial exposure appearing on shows with Roxanne Shante and Tyrone Williams soon found himself with a growing stable of artists chafing at the bit for the big times.
In September of 1986, Prism made its first serious inroad into the rap market with a Marley Marl-produced EP by Biz Markie, featuring the monster cut "Make the Music With Your Mouth." This long-term hit, followed by "Nobody Beats the Biz"and the comic hip-hop-gross out "Pickin' Boogers"established Biz as a major contender in the rap world. The successes of these records also convinced Len Fichtelberg to team with Biz's manager, Tyrone Williams, and launch Cold Chillin' Records as an exclusive rap label. This was in December of 1986 and since then, Fichtelberg and Williams have not looked back.
The partnership came about because Fichtelberg and Williams had something the other needed. The former had hands-on experience running a record company, an office and staff and much-needed venture capital for investment. The latter had under management contract Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante, M.C. Shan, producer Marley Marl, and other talented rap artists. In other words, Tyron Williams had the performance necessary to make Cold Chillin' fly!
