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".