Episode 203: Alan Grunblatt

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Alan is the head of rock and urban at Entertainment One Music, a record label you may know better by the name it had until 2009, Koch Records. Koch is a label that had hits with veteran artists like Fat Joe’s Terror Squad, KRS-One, The Game, and Snoop Dogg; while also breaking new artists like Unk, Rich Boy, and even a then-new DJ Khaled. Hip-hop fans will remember the period in the mid-2000s where they had huge hits with Jim Jones, the Ying Yang Twins, Unk, Khaled, and more.

But Entertainment One is only a part of Alan’s story. He started out at Sony getting the Fresh Prince his first millions, and then worked at Relativity Records in the early 1990s just as the label was first getting into hip-hop, with artists like Fat Joe, the Beatnuts, and a young guy out of Chicago who called himself Common Sense. Alan was also responsible for helping to make then-regional acts like Three 6 Mafia and 8Ball & MJB rise to national prominence. He even played a key role in Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records during the period of its greatest success.

Tracks featured in this episode:

1. Brujeria, “Hermanos Menendez”
2. Grim Reaper, “See You in Hell”
3. Boogie Down Productions, “My Philosophy”
4. Fresh Prince 900 Number Commercial 1988 from USA Network
5. Yo! MTV Raps - Episode 1 (1988)
6. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, “Parents Just Don’t Understand”
7. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, “A Nighmare On My Street”
8. Too $hort, “Freaky Tales”
9. Violator f/Prodigy, Jadakiss, Butch Cassidy, “Livin’ The Life”
10. Chi-Ali, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a #”
11. DJ Khaled, “We Takin’ Over”
12. Eminem, “The Sauce”
13. Eazy-E, “It’s On”
14. Eazy-E, “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s”
15. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone”
16. Ice Cube, “No Vaseline”
17. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “1st of Tha Month”
18. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “Tha Crossroads [D.J. U-Neek’s Mo Thug Remix]”
19. Busta Rhymes, “Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check”
20. 8Ball & MJG, “Top of the World”
21. Three 6 Mafia, “Tear Da Club Up ’97”
22. Three 6 MAFIA 1997 Tear The Club Up Tv Spot
23. Tear Da Club Up Thugs | DJ Herb’s Get Crunk & Tear It Up Mix (Clean Version)
24. Jim Johnston, “Can’t Get Enough (Flash Funk)”
25. RZA, “La Rhumba”
26. Snoop Dogg f/Nancy Fletcher, “Gz And Hustlas”
27. Ying Yang Twins, “Say I Yi Yi”
28. DJ Khaled f/T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg & Rick Ross, “All I Do Is Win”
29. Jim Jones, “We Fly High”
30. Ray J f/Young Berg, “Sexy Can I”
31. Unk, “Walk It Out”
32. The Diplomats f/Cam’ron & J.R. Writer, “Stop-n-go”
33. The Angie Martinez Show-50 Cent/Camron Video
34. The Angie Martinez Show-50 Cent/Camron Video
35. Ray J f/Young Berg, “Sexy Can I”
36. Dorrough Music, “Ice Cream Paint Job”
37. The Game, “The Documentary 2”
38. Streets of Compton, Episode 1
39. Streets of Compton, Episode 2
40. Chinx f/Meet Sims, “On Your Body”
41. The Beatnuts f/Big Punisher & Cuban Linx, “Off the Books”
42. Soulja Slim, “Souljas On My Feets”
43. Soulja Slim, “I’ll Pay For It”
44. Finatticz, “Don’t Drop That Thun Thun”
45. Chi Ali Mini-Documentary
46. Eazy-E - Arsenio Hall Interview + Live Performance Of Real Compton City G’s.wmv
47. LeToya Luckett, “B2L”
48. Bel Biv DeVoe, “I’m Betta”
49. Skeme f/London Jae, “Red Coupe”
50. Montana of 300, “Dirty Dancing”
51. Nicky D’s freestyle live with DJ Kay Slay in NYC (Shade 45)
52. Wyclef Jean, “Lady Haiti”

Show notes:

1. New York Times, “Rappers Find That a Small Label Can Have Its Uses”
2. Forbes.com, “The Game’s Manager Gives Us The Behind-The-Scenes On ‘The Documentary 2’”
3. The Beanuts, “Off the Books” video
4. Radio.com, “Jerry Heller’s Top Five ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Falsehoods”
5. Forbes.com, “Did Jerry Heller Actually Cheat N.W.A?”