The history of JDub Records has finally been written. The Jewish record company, which was founded in 2003 and quickly became the single most popular venture of its kind, discovered Matisyahu (then battled him in court) and went on to represent acts like Balkan Beat Box, Michael Showalter, and The Sway Machinery before ultimately losing its funding in 2011. Daniel Arkin has the full oral history of the label—which formerly owned Jewcy—over at Brooklyn Ink:
It’s the story of a scrappy start-up that broke all the rules, revolutionizing Jewish music over eight years and thirty-six albums. It’s the story of the savvy innovators and radical artists who shook up Jewish popular culture at the dawn of a new millennium.
Read the whole thing here.
Klezmer Punks, Gangsta Rabbis: An Oral History of JDub Records [Brooklyn Ink]