Nearly 18 years ago in the sleepy town of Davis, CA. a hip hop collective began which would change the face of independent hip hop forever. Formed under the name Solesides by Lyrics Born, DJ Shadow, and Chief Xcel the collective was born out of the dark depths of UC Davis’ KDVS radio station under the tutelage of KDVS DJ Jeff Chang (DJ Zen). With a wealth of talent, ingenuity and drive and pretty much no music business experience Solesides launched with the mission of bringing good hip hop to Northern California and the world at large.

“The original idea was to do a series of 12-inch records with different artists on each side, hence “sole sides.” And there would be no shortage of talent to pick from as the core of the crew quickly expanded.” -villagevoice.com

Among the next to join the crew were Gift of Gab and Lateef the Truth Speaker both of whom moved to Davis when word of Solesides reached them through pals Chief Xcel and Lyrics Born. Shortly thereafter in February 1993 they released their first 12-inch: Lyrics Born’s “Send Them, Tom” on the A-side with DJ Shadow’s “Entropy” on the B-side. “Entropy” would turn out to be the bigger success and paved the way for Shadow’s eventual release of Entroducing his groundbreaking debut LP on James LaVelle’s Mo’ Wax label.

Releases began steadily pouring out of Solesides and they started making a name for themselves. As Solesides gained momentum and more releases under it’s belt the fledgling label hit a wall: It had fulfilled it’s initial goal and needed a new directive. The guys decided the best thing to do was to dissolve Solesides and start a new collective with a new mission statement. Enter Quannum Projects.

1997 saw the official forming of Quannum Projects, but it would be two years before they actually released a new record. As they began to get the label off the ground it became clear they needed some help. In September 1999 Isaac Bess was hired as GM for Quannum bringing his indie label experience and savvy to the Quannum family. Over the next 9 plus years Bess helped build Quannum from a loose collective to a successful indie label. With releases like Blackalicious’ Nia and Lyrics Born’s Later That Day Quannum had succeeded in establishing themselves as a prominent voice in independent hip hop. As the years went on management changed and new artists were signed yet the mission remained the same.

Now host to a wider range of music Quannum serves as a home for artists such as Brazilian samba-funk maestro Curumin, LA rapper Pigeon John and electronic acts General Elektriks and ApSci. As they continue to grow and diversify one thing stays the same: The commitment made by a few friends almost two decades earlier to put out good independent music for all to hear.

Here are some Quannum faves to check out:

Blackalicious
“The Fabulous Ones” (mp3)
from “Nia”
(Quannum Projects)

More On This Album

Curumin
“Compacto” (mp3)
from “JapanPopShow”
(Quannum Projects)

More On This Album

ApSci
“Crazy Crazy Insane” (mp3)
from “Best Crisis Ever”
(Quannum Projects)

More On This Album

Lyrics Born
“Callin’ Out” (mp3)
from “Later That Day…”
(Quannum Projects)

More On This Album