A new video chronicling the history of Rawkus Records, The Rise and Fall of Rawkus Records is now available to watch on YouTube. Founded in 1995 by Brian Bater and Jarret Myer, Rawkus was the premiere underground Hip-Hop label of the 1990s. The label introduced many new and unknown artists who would later become iconic and released music by Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Big L, The Beat Minerz, Company Flow, R.A. The Rugged Man and a host of others.

The ten-minute video, produced by Hip-Hop YouTuber Def Goldblum, points out that Nervous Records was a forerunner to Rawkus, releasing Black Moon's Enta The Stage and Smif N Wessun's The Shining as mainstream rap music was entering the "shiny suit era".

The mini-doc details the release of Rawkus' first rock and drum and bass releases, and their morphing into an underground Hip-Hop label with Company Flow's 1997 Funcrusher Plus, and the critically acclaimed SoundBombing compilation which launched the careers of Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Lyricist Lounge Volume 1 and Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star further cemented Rawkus as the official voice of underground Hip-Hop at the time. The video attributes the fall of the label to money mismanagement and the label losing focus due to its previous successes.

Check out the video above.