History
After his start as a local disc jockey, Just Blaze became a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records. He would mainly produce for prominent Roc-A-Fella artist, Jay-Z. Jay-Z would retire in 2003 and Blaze wanted his own label, so he could occupy his spare time. Island Def Jam could not afford to supply another label during that period, so Just Blaze left Def Jam in early 2004. Upon his departure, Atlantic Records head, Craig Kallman, took advantage of his free agent status and agreed to bankroll him his own vanity label to be operated through Atlantic and its Warner Music parent.
Fort Knocks Entertainment was quickly established by June 2004. The label would go on to sign a handful of acts that he had been watching from the underground circuit. This would include Brooklyn, New York rapper Brian Carenard, better known as Saigon, Chicago, Illinois singer Dave Young, and Jovan Dais.
The label's first release was Saigon's, "What a Life," featuring Tre Williams, which was quickly followed with the street album, The Moral of the Story. Around the time of these releases came Jovan Dais' "Another Man Will," its remix, and Fedex. Also in 2007, the label added Naledge to its ever-growing roster.
In the early stages of 2008, the label signed numerous acts including Seven Dirty, Armel,, M.E.D., and Jha Jha. The label was able to revive some of these acts careers and provide them with attention that they lacked at their previous label. They would quickly release the debut album from Seven Dirty, The Package, which featured "Do It All Again."
The label plans to release albums from M.E.D., Dave Young, Saigon, Seven Dirty, Jha Jha, and Red 5. Just Blaze now has plans to begin his own career as a rapper and, in turn he will rap under the pseudonym Red 5.
Fort Knocks recently added Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper, Ms. Jade to their growing roster. Kelis also signed with the label a few weeks later after meeting Just Blaze at a Manhattan party along with Nas protégé, Quan as a joint venture with Ill Will Records.
In May 2008, Just Blaze announced that the label had parted ways with Atlantic Records, searching for distribution deals with other labels.
Read more about this topic: Fort Knocks Entertainment
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