Ruffhouse: From the Streets of Philly to the Top of the ’90s Hip-Hop Charts Audiobook (Free)

How Ruffhouse Files founder Chris Schwartz overcame poverty, abuse, and addiction to start probably one of the most pivotal labels in hip-hop history and launch the careers of a few of music’s biggest stars

‘All respect to Chris Schwartz. He’s an excellent visionary.’―Nas

Like a struggling musician looking to catch a break in 1980s Philadelphia, Chris Schwartz navigated the crime-infested, morally bankrupt music industry to found and build one of the most successful hip-hop record brands in the globe. That about Ruffhouse: From the Roads of Philly to the very best of the ’90s Hip-Hop Graphs label was Ruffhouse, which released the careers of Nas, The Fugees, Cypress Hill, yet others, dominating the charts and generating global revenues of over one billion dollars.

Schwartz and his partner, Joe Nicolo, built Ruffhouse from one desk and a telephone to one of hip-hop’s most revered record companies while simultaneously struggling with drug habit and alcoholism. A story of money, greed, envy, betrayal, assault, addiction, reduction, and redemption, not forgetting a whole lot of music, Ruffhouse reveals the inside story from the record businesses, documenting studios, tour buses, personal jets, mansions, r / c, and concert halls at the height of hip-hop’s 1990s heyday, while also uncovering the darker part of the business enterprise, from police stations to rehab treatment centers, courtrooms to prisons. Narrated in Schwartz’s personal candid, searing prose, Ruffhouse is a gripping portrayal of hip-hop lifestyle at its tipping point, since it transitioned from urban curiosity to a worldwide commercial platform.