Get Low Recordz

Founding in the Fillmore

Get Low Recordz was founded in San Francisco by Joseph Thompson, the rapper and producer known as JT the Bigga Figga, who grew up in the city's Fillmore District. Wikipedia dates the founding to 1991, while the label's Discogs profile gives 1992. The label began as a basement operation, with Thompson producing, engineering and releasing his own records and those of his neighborhood associates. His early cassette “Don't Stop 'Til We Major” appeared in 1992 on Lil Daddy Records and was later reissued by Get Low. The collective around the label, the Get Low Playaz, included JT, San Quinn, D-Moe and Seff Tha Gaffla.

Early releases and the Priority deal

JT's album “Playaz N the Game” was released on Get Low Recordz on CD and cassette in 1993 and was reissued in 1994. Its regional sales drew the attention of Priority Records, and in 1994 Get Low entered a distribution deal with Priority that lasted about a year. Priority issued versions of JT's early albums, including a 1995 reissue of “Don't Stop 'Til We Major” and a 1996 reissue of “Playaz N the Game.” JT's “Dwellin' in tha Labb” followed in 1995 on Get Low and his affiliated Straight Out Tha Labb Entertainment, and the 1997 compilation “Game Tight (The Greatest Hits)” collected his earlier work. After the Priority period ended, the label returned to fully independent distribution.

Collaborations and The Game

Get Low continued to release albums by JT and his associates, including San Quinn and Messy Marv. In 2000 the label released “Beware of Those,” a joint album by JT and Vallejo rapper Mac Mall, and it reissued much of its catalog on CD the same year, around the time it made a distribution arrangement with Bayside Records. JT's “Hustle Relentless” appeared on Get Low in 2002. Thompson is credited with discovering Compton rapper The Game before his Aftermath deal. Get Low released The Game's first album, “Untold Story,” on October 5, 2004. Executive produced by JT with beats by Sean T, it debuted at number 146 on the Billboard 200, reached number 29 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and had sold about 82,000 copies in the United States by 2005.

Later activity and legacy

In the fall of 2005 Thompson was named head of West Coast A&R for Houston's Rap-A-Lot Records while continuing to run Get Low. The label kept releasing JT's albums through the 2000s, and several titles were reissued again in 2006. Get Low was also involved in a naming dispute with a label of the same name associated with Memphis Bleek. In 2015 Thompson launched the streaming service Trapflix. Get Low Recordz is regarded as one of the main outlets for 1990s San Francisco rap, documenting the Fillmore and Hunters Point scenes at a time when major labels paid them little attention.