Studio !K7
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| Studio !K7 | |
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| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Horst Weidenmüller |
| Genre | Electronic |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Location | Berlin |
| Official website | http://www.k7.com/ |
!K7 Records is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany that focuses mostly on electronic music. The name is an abbreviation of the company's original Berlin address, Kaiserdamm 7 (they have since relocated to Heidestr. 52). !K7 has since opened branch offices in New York City, Hamburg, London, and Tokyo. !K7 also has a Hip Hop sublabel / imprint, Rapster Records.
[edit] History
!K7 Records today is best known for producing electronic music artists and especially for the DJ-Kicks compilations. Its history finds its beginnings back in 1985 with the idea of releasing digital video clips. Later on came the specially mixed DJ sets to go with them: the X-Mix series was born.
Ten years later, the DJ-Kicks series came to life. Its concept was innovative, since complete albums with DJ cuts to be played on your home stereo were completely unknown at that time. Artists such as Kruder & Dorfmeister, Nightmares On Wax, Thievery Corporation and Stereo MC's contributed releases, earning the DJ series worldwide fame.
In 1996, !K7 started launching artist albums. A decade later, the !K7-discography features albums from the likes of Kruder & Dorfmeister, Matthew Herbert, Dani Siciliano, Ursula Rucker, Swayzak, and Boozoo Bajou.
In 2001, another step was taken: Rapster Records, a new label under the !K7 umbrella, started focussing on Urban, Soul and HipHop. Since then, Rapster has been releasing records by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock and Roy Ayers, amongst others. Rapster also forged an alliance with UK based soul aficionado Peter Adarkwah whose label BBE has been dealing in diverse, eclectic sounds covering many genres from old scratchy Brazilian grooves through 70's funk via jazz fusion and new hip hop for over a decade.
With its newly founded subsidiary Ever Records in 2006, !K7 has given Indie bands and singer/songwriters such as Cortney Tidwell, Cyann & Ben, and Howie Beck a platform.
In 2008 Strut & Gold Dust Media joined the !K7 label group. Between 1999 and 2003 Strut released everything from Nigerian Afrobeat to Leftfield Disco to Rare Groove. The release of Grandmaster Flash’s new album will also take place this year. Strut’s founder, Quinton Scott, is responsible for A&R. Gold Dust Media is A & R’D from the US office of !K7 and will focus mainly on American artists.
