Gee Street Records was a hip hop record label. Jon Baker formed the label in 1984 in a converted warehouse on Gee Street in London, following a trip to New York City, where he had become enamored with hip hop music and culture. The label closed when it was sold to V2 Records in 1999, after recording gross sales of US$70 million from eight million units worldwide.
Gee Street brought the likes of Jungle Brothers & Queen Latifah under license to the UK to the attention of the British public, spawning top-20 hits. The label also developed its own domestic roster with acts such as DJ Richie Rich, Outlaw Posse, and Stereo MC's. It also had operations in the US with acts such as P.M. Dawn, Doug E. Fresh, Gravediggaz, and New Kingdom.
When the business fell on hard times in 1990, Island Records (which had already been sold to PolyGram) bought 50% of its stock and Baker relocated the headquarters to New York City. Baker later worked as head of Island Jamaica for North America, but continued to operate Gee Street.
Baker eventually made an arrangement with Richard Branson in 1996 to have Gee Street releases manufactured and distributed by V2 Records, with the Gee Street company otherwise being independent and in control of its own marketing. In November 1999, however, Baker sold Gee Street to V2, and the brand was discontinued.
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