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A look at the attempts of black musicians to fight back by starting their own record labels.

Considered by many to be the ‘OG’ of black-owned labels, Sam Cooke decided he’d had enough of other people profiting from his phenomenal success and started Swan Records in the 1950s. He started investing in other black artists on reasonable terms, and had he not met an untimely death, he may have been the Jay-Z of his time.

His mantle was picked up by legends like Berry Gordy with the Motown phenomenon, Philadelphia International and Stax. All, though, were ultimately unable to fight the incredible power of the major labels and ended up selling their stakes back into the white-dominated industry.

It wasn’t until Master P that a black-artist owned label would survive and prosper within the hostile music world. His success was emulated by artists like Jay-Z, and then the new generation of artists like Drake and Stormzy followed in his stead to become music moguls in their own right.