In 1994 a dream was born. Although it would take a couple years
to become reality, Street Level Records (SLR) is living proof that
hard work, dedication and business savvy pays off. Its founder
went from living in the backseat of his car to the driver’s
seat of the most prolific independent Hip-Hop label in Seattle
and continues to set the benchmark for Northwest Hip-Hop.
Musical History and Successes
Street Level Records, founded in
1996 by CEO and in-house producer David Severance III (aka Mr.
D-Sane), got its start with the formation
of the label’s first signature group, “F.T.S.” (Full
Time Soldiers). As bootleg copies of their material started to
circulate, people became hooked on this new Seattle sound that
featured spitfire lyrics and hard-hitting production. After receiving
large amounts of positive feedback from fans hungry for more, the
label and artists decided it was time to put out a real album.
Street Level went to work on their first project in 1998 with F.T.S.’ self-titled
debut, “Full Time Soldiers.” With the release of their
first project, Street Level gained an incredible buzz in the Puget
Sound area and went on to sell over 1,000 copies. For a fledgling
indie label, it was a major accomplishment. This was confirmed
when SLR received their first national media attention by being
named in the nationally distributed Rap Sheet Magazine 1998 Regional
Round–Up as one of the few Seattle groups to “shake
things up.”
F.T.S. and First Successes
F.T.S. added to their lyrical arsenal by recruiting some talented
new members and quickly went to work on their sophomore album
entitled, “Money Motivated.” Demand for the new F.T.S.
album was so great that many Sam Goody stores were taking advance
reservations, a first for any local Hip-Hop group. The March
2000 release solidified SLR as a serious record label with top
quality production and unadulterated talent. Combined with one
of the largest and most successful record release parties that
Seattle has ever seen, this album was destined to do great things – which
soon proved to be true. The hit single “Player’s
Policy” received heavy rotation on KUBE 93’s “Future
Flavors” show. Phone lines lit up and requests poured in
as F.T.S. started their invasion into the world of mainstream
music. The massive amounts of radio feedback garnered F.T.S.
a spot at the 2000 KUBE 93 Pre-Summer Jam Party where they literally
stole the show and left a club full of people screaming for more. “Money
Motivated” has gone on to sell close to 2,200 copies and
remains the best selling local album available in stores to date.
Online Presence
SLR’s dominance has also spread into cyberspace. Utilizing
the latest audio technology such as the popular Mp3 format, SLR
joined the largest website on the planet for this form of audio
hosting, www.Mp3.com. This often over-looked technology has landed
SLR artists at the top of the Mp3.com charts for the past three
years, resulting in over 419,000 individual downloads and generated
over $8,000 in earnings. The Internet has helped SLR become more
visible to a world-wide audience and has helped gain fans from
as far away as Australia, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Norway
and Sweden. SLR also has a website at www.streetlevelrecords.com
that features an extremely popular message board hosted by the
second largest Hip-Hop site in the world, www.siccness.net. Thousands
of international Hip-Hop fans visit daily to show their support
and find out what the latest news is on SLR.
Continuing Success
With the success of F.T.S., the doors of opportunity
began to open. Severance soon shifted into overdrive and went to
work on
building a new Street Level Studio where the artists could begin
working full time on various projects. Utilizing Severance for
all of the music production and graphic design needs, SLR was able
to increase cost effectiveness tremendously by handling many tasks
in-house. Business savvy and strategic planning allowed Severance
to lead SLR into producing and releasing three projects in one
year (2001), yet another first for any Seattle Hip-Hop record label.
I.K.
The first of these releases was a four-person spin-off group called
I.K. (Independent Kash), which dropped, industry slang for “released,” their
project in March of 2001, entitled “Kash Me Out.” Discernable
through the title, “Kash Me Out” was a statement
to the Seattle-area Hip-Hop scene that SLR is independent and
here to do business! Even though this album was a little harder
edged than previous productions and didn’t receive any
radio play, it has moved over 2,000 copies to date.
S.Y.K.O.
The second SLR release for 2001 was originally unplanned in the
year’s business model. A young Portland native, who goes
by the name of S.Y.K.O. (Skilled Young Kreative Organizm), recorded
the album “Sykotherapy.” Due to the great chemistry
between Syko and Severance, it convinced SLR to go ahead with
the project and it was released in May. The album was written
and recorded in an astonishing four weeks, while previous projects
had taken up to a year to finish. SLR rushed this album out to
the streets and it was quickly hailed as an underground classic. “Sykotherapy” also
did not receive any radio play, but it has been SLR’s most
successful album online and has been the top seller in the StreetLevelRecords.com
online store. Current sales have it projected at 1,800 copies.
Byrdie
For the final release of 2001, Severance had something a little
different in mind – something more “mainstream” and
radio friendly. The album is called “Poetic Epidemic” and
in September of 2001, the “Epidemic” was released
to the public. Byrdie, an F.T.S. member and lead artist on their
smash single “Player’s Policy” from a year
earlier, decided to do a sequel to it simply called “Player’s
Policy pt. 2.” It features an up-tempo club beat and a
catchy hook that stuck in the heads of Seattleites from the first
beat. It quickly infected fans and radio listeners who could
not get enough of “Pretty Byrdie” and blew up KUBE
93’s phone lines with requests. The song did so well that
it was put into regular rotation, an honor few local artists
have ever received. SLR threw another huge record release party
to celebrate the release and success of Byrdie’s record,
which was just what the album needed to propel it into the spotlight.
The result? SLR had a hit record on their hands!
The Byrdie “Poetic Epidemic” album did great things
for SLR. Seattle magazines such as The Stranger and Seaspot took
notice of Byrdie and wrote articles. The single “Player’s
Policy pt 2” received radio play all over the Northwest,
California and even Salt Lake City. SLR printed up its first batch
of vinyl records for the single and it was heard in many clubs
from Seattle to the Bay Area for quite some time. The single did
great on the Northwest dance record charts as well, competing with
national acts for several months. Tony B and the “Future
Flavors Show” also showed their support for the project by
playing 2 other songs from Byrdie’s album, which made it
the first local album to have three songs hit the KUBE 93 airwaves.
Also, don’t be surprised when you turn on your favorite AT&T
Cable DMX channel and hear songs from “Poetic Epidemic” emitting
from your TV set.
Severance was also honored for his hard work and dedication to
the Seattle music scene in Profyle Magazine. Although normally
focusing on California artists, Profyle couldn’t help but
notice the amount of product and new sounds that the NW is bringing
to the table. When they investigated this trend, it didn’t
take long for them to figure out that SLR was at the head of the
Seattle Hip-Hop scene.
Current Projects
Just when Northwest Hip-Hop fans thought they
had seen it all, SLR has achieved yet another first with the simultaneous
release
of 3 albums! With the June 2003 release of these projects, it is
clearly evident that Street Level Records is the premier independent
label not only in the Seattle area, but throughout the entire Northwest.
With 8 albums under it’s belt (10 if you count the underground
albums) SLR continues to be the most prolific independent Hip-Hop
label around. The company is actively promoting these new albums
and SLR reps/street team members can be seen almost every night
of the week at various clubs, concert venues and community events.
In the meantime, SLR is hard at work on several other albums and
plan on having another banner year. This years business plan has
SLR set to break it’s own record with the release of 4 albums.
Sales of the newest SLR releases are off to a fantastic start
and have already moved close to a combined 2,200 units within months.
SLR has been contacted by several national distributors and is
currently in negotiations to solidify a distribution agreement
that will propel Street Level Records into the national spotlight.
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