Young Black Brotha Records

Origins

Young Black Brotha Records, often shortened to YBB, is a Vallejo, California, label established in the early 1990s by the producer Khayree Shaheed, known as Khayree. Born in Vallejo in 1960, Khayree had produced early work for Vanilla Ice and, through Strictly Business Records, the first recordings of Mac Dre. Mac Dre's 1989 EP “Young Black Brotha” shared its name with the new company. Mac Dre was arrested in March 1992 and sentenced to five years in federal prison, and during his incarceration Khayree turned his attention to a younger Vallejo rapper, Jamal Rocker, known as Mac Mall, who became the first artist signed to the label.

“Illegal Business?”

Mac Mall recorded his debut album at around fifteen, with Khayree producing the entire record. “Illegal Business?” was released on Young Black Brotha on July 13, 1993. The Bay Area station KMEL supported the record with airplay, and the video for the single “Ghetto Theme” was directed by Tupac Shakur. The album sold more than 125,000 copies as an independent release, a strong figure for a small regional label. Ray Luv, a former partner of Tupac Shakur in the Santa Rosa group Strictly Dope, also joined the label, and his EP “Who Can Be Trusted?” came out on Young Black Brotha in 1993.

Major-label distribution

The label's regional sales led to national distribution for some of its artists. Ray Luv's album “Forever Hustlin',” released in 1995 by Interscope Records through Young Black Brotha, reached number 21 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and included the single “Last Nite.” Khayree also produced most of Young Lay's 1996 album “Black 'N Dangerous,” and Young Lay's “All About My Fetti” appeared on the soundtrack to the film “New Jersey Drive.” Mac Mall left for Relativity Records for his second album, “Untouchable” (1996), but returned to Khayree for “Illegal Business? 2000,” released on March 23, 1999, through Young Black Brotha's sublabel Don't Give Up Productions. That album reached number 7 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 54 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Khayree also issued his own album, “The Blackalation (The World Is Yours),” in 1997.

Later years and legacy

Mac Mall went on to run his own labels, Sesed Out Records and later ventures tied to Thizz Entertainment, and for a time he also owned the Young Black Brotha name for his own releases. He reunited with Khayree after about twelve years apart, and the label released their album “The Rebellion Against All There Is” in 2012 and Mac Mall's “Macnifacence & Malliciousness” in 2014. Young Black Brotha is remembered for Khayree's dense, keyboard-driven production and for launching the careers of Mac Mall and Ray Luv, making it one of the key Vallejo labels alongside Sick Wid' It.