So So Def Recordings is a
record label, based out of
Atlanta, Georgia and owned by
Jermaine Dupri, specializing in
Southern hip hop,
R&B and
bass music.
The label was established in 1993 as a joint venture with Columbia Records; its first act was female R&B group Xscape, whose debut album was released in the fall of the same year and went platinum—as did their second and third albums, released in 1995 and 1998 respectively. In 1994, the label released the debut album of Da Brat, who immediately became the first solo female emcee to be certified for platinum album sales. In 1996, Kandi Burruss (of Xscape) brought the singing group Jagged Edge to the attention of the label (their debut album, A Jagged Era was released in 1997.) So So Def later released the triple platinum debut album by Bow Wow in 2000.
Other acts on the label have included Dem Franchise Boyz, Maestro Harrell, The Ghost Town DJs, INOJ, J-Kwon, Trina Broussard, R.O.C., Anthony Hamilton.
In 2002, So So Def's distribution deal with Columbia Records ended. The following year, Dupri moved So So Def to Arista Records, where he was appointed president of Black Music. While many of So So Def's acts moved with the label to Arista, Bow Wow and Jagged Edge were forced to remain at Columbia, due to their contracts having been with that company primarily. In 2004, So So Def was shifted from Arista to Zomba Music Group because of the Sony-BMG merger (ironically, this made Arista and Zomba sister labels to Columbia).
