Empire City Records Ignites with Sky Balla

Empire City Records ignites with Sky Balla. New label paves the way for independent success.

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 7, 2006 -- Bringing together some of the most prolific minds in independent music might be a task for some, but the men of Empire City Records have harnessed a synergy second to none.

After a year of searching, they signed the enigmatic Bay Area emcee Sky Balla as their flagship artist. They recently produced a new video for Sky's single "Big Boy Things," and have two mixtape projects dropping in July - all gearing up for Sky Balla's full-length feature debut on the Empire City imprint.

Founded in Spring 2005, the roundtable of business talent consists of Jason Rockland, CEO; Sickamore, VP of Operations; Animal Steele, Executive Director of A&R; Kori King, General Manager; and the newest addition to the team, JP Mehar, Director of Promotions. Individually they all have made impressive business moves in various areas.

"We aren't the type of people who settle for moderate success," explains Jason Rockland. "We all play to play big. We consider ourselves a 'major independent' with budgets and sales goals similar to any major label. As people see what we have done with the Sky Balla project in just a few months, they will realize what separates us from other labels."

Rockland defines Empire City Records as "a label focused on artist development." Various distribution deals have already been offered, and the ECR team is confident they will find the optimal situation.

"Our goal from the beginning has been to partner with a major label on this project, and make sure Sky Balla realizes his potential as a career artist," says Animal Steele. "He has always had it in him, and it's our job to make sure other people have the opportunity to see that as well"

While the label is comprised of talented individuals, the result of their work is a cohesive vision. "Success is inevitable," asserts Rockland. "The ultimate goal for us is to secure a long term partnership with a major label. We want to become a label known for developing and releasing artists with staying power."

For more information on Empire City Records, go to www.tygereye.net/empirecityrecords and www.empirecityrecords.com

For more information on Sky Balla, go to www.tygereye.net/skyballa and www.skyballa.com

About Empire City Records

As the scale of success in the music industry shifts slightly from domineering majors to risk-taking, forward-thinking independents, revolutionaries emerge. Tenderly founded by music enthusiast and Wall Street connoisseur Jason Rockland, Empire City Records was born in April of 2005.

As its chief financial sponsor, brainchild and President, Jason Rockland has divulged all of his time, capital, and energies, into producing an outstanding musical organization. Immediately summoning the services of a most entrepreneurial and accomplished staff, he initiated a strong foundation of taste-making musical elite. The Empire City partnership is fueled by:

Sickamore, VP of Operations; an influential personality, trendsetter, and music industry pioneer, accredited to jump starting the careers of Def Jam signee Tru-Life, Atlantic Records signee Saigon and countless others. Sickamore recently took on an A&R position at Atlantic Records, has his own consulting firm and nationally-branded I Can Make You Famous mixtape series.

Kori King, General Manager; a self-starter and Columbia University grad who's career highlights include both opening a record label with the release of three albums and founding a successful tech company of which he single-handedly financed his Computer Science major.

Animal Steele, Executive Dir. of A&R; a middle management guru/forecaster in both music and fashion, whose ten-year position as a buyer and indie label confidante spawned long standing relationships with Hip Hop's superpowers and led him to A&R the legendary Grammy nominated Last Poets album.

Empire's mission is to shape music through developing artists. They, unlike the industry norm of conformity, refuse to surrender to the ease of mimicking fads. With a goal opposite of the all too familiar one-hit-wonders of our time, they set out fearlessly at an endeavor to motivate the masses.

# # #