Empire Distribution - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from DJ Luke Nasty) American record label, publisher and distribution company Not to be confused with Empire Records.

EMPIRE Distribution

Genre	Hip hop Afrobeat R&B dance reggaeton country pop Latin alternative
Founded	2010 in San Francisco, California
Founder	Ghazi Shami
Headquarters	San Francisco, US
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Ghazi Shami (CEO) Nima Etminan (COO) Tina Davis (President)
Number of employees	200 (2024)
Divisions	EMPIRE Distribution EMPIRE Publishing EMPIRE (label) EMPIRE EMPIRE Africa EMPIRE Latino EMPIRE Nashville
Website	empi.re

Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, EMPIRE has offices in New York, London, Lagos, and Johannesburg in addition to recording studios in San Francisco and New York.

Shami, a San Francisco native with a background in music and tech, founded Empire as a digital distribution company focused on hip hop and rap. Developing proprietary software that allowed managers and artists to easily track airplay and sales, Empire paid monthly royalties to artists, many of whom had not previously earned digital revenue, and gained early support from the Bay Area's artist community.

In 2014, Shami, known as Ghazi, launched the Empire label. Empire Africa, Empire Latino, and Empire Nashville divisions were later established. Since its founding—in partnership with artists and artist labels—Empire has released music by artists including Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Shaboozey, Fat Joe, Tyga, Asake, Fireboy DML, XXXTentacion, G-Dragon, Philthy Rich, Young Dolph, Key Glock, King Von, Tink, Black Sherif, Yung Bleu, D Smoke, T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, DRAM, Cardi B and Emtee, among others. Empire Publishing was founded in 2020.

History

2010-2014: Founding, early success

Empire was founded in by Ghazi Shami. Raised in San Francisco, he grew up listening to Bay Area artists such as Too Short, Spice 1, RBL Posse, Souls of Mischief, Luniz, JT the Bigga Figga, and Rappin' 4-Tay. Equally interested in music and technology, in college he worked at the tech companies Sun Microsystems, Eloquent Technologies and Audio Highway; he later worked at Hyde Street Studios, where he engineered and mixed music by artists including Messy Marv, Planet Asia and Too Short.

In 2006, he was hired at INgrooves Music Group, an independent distribution and marketing company. While he had written code and built out streaming media sites since he was a teenager, at INgrooves, he learned about the intricacies of digital distribution, artist contracts, and royalties. Helping to build the company's rap division, he signed DIY artists representative of the Bay Area sound and culture, often introducing them to online revenue streams.

Ghazi founded Empire from his home in the Potrero neighborhood of San Francisco in 2010. In a 2019 interview, he said: "This company wouldn't exist if I wasn’t born and bred in the Bay; in SF and Silicon Valley. This company is as much a software company as it is a music company. It’d be a disservice to the roots, to the origin, to everything that I stand for, if this company wasn't firmly planted or rooted here."

Initially focused on rap, Empire's backend technology bypassed the existing digital distribution system and delivered music directly to streaming and retail platforms quickly to capitalize on the viral momentum of the genre's traditional rapid-fire releases. Contracts were non-exclusive and proprietary software allowed managers and artists to easily track royalties, which were paid monthly. The company's core practices, in addition to Ghazi's relationships, attracted artists, and as Empire gained traction, Ghazi hired Nima Etminan as his second-in-command. Etminan later became the company's COO.

2014-2020: Empire Records, Empire Latino, Empire Nashville

With its digital distribution platform successful, Empire established Empire Records. Among others, the label released Anderson .Paak’s album Malibu, which earned .Paak a Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist, category, as well as Fat Joe’s “All The Way Up” and DRAM’s “Broccoli.” Young Dolph turned down a $22 million major label deal to sign with Empire and remain independent. In an interview with Variety, Dolph said: "Empire is on deck with people who love to do this shit just as much as I do...whether you got money to deal with it or no money to deal with it, the best relationships are going to be the ones where you understand each other."

In 2017, XXXTentacion's debut album, 17, was released on Empire. It charted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. His sophomore album was released on Capitol. He returned to re-sign with Empire a month before his death; The New York Times reported that the deal was worth $10 million. XXXTentacion's posthumous album, Skins, debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart.

In 2018, Tina Davis, previously an artist manager and a head of A&R at Def Jam, was named SVP of A&R, and a partnership with L.A. Reid's Hitco was announced. King Von's Empire-distributed song "Crazy Story" was a 3x platinum viral hit. He subsequently signed with Empire, releasing the mixtape, Grandson, which became one of the label's most successful releases. Empire also worked with Tyga in 2018; the track "Taste", was 9x platinum as of 2023.

Empire began working with Latino artists including Tego Calderón and Luis Enrique in 2012, and in 2018 established Empire Latino. In 2019, Empire Latino had its first hit with Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Jay Wheeler; as of 2023, his song La Curiosidad was 8x platinum.

Empire Nashville, a country music division, was founded in 2019, "blazing a trail for Black country artists."

2020 - present: Empire Publishing, Empire Africa, Shaboozey

In 2020, after developing proprietary software specific to music publishing that provided transparency similar to Empire's royalty software, Empire established a publishing division. Initial signings included Illmind, Nebu Kiniza, Dr Zeus and Empire artists Young Dolph, Key Glock, Mozzy, Fireboy DML,Yung Bleu and RJMrLA.

In partnership with Olamide and his label, YBNL Nation, Empire Africa's first signing was Nigerian Afrobeats artist Fireboy DML. His 2021 single "Peru", remixed by Ed Sheeran, was a global hit. With subsequent signings including Asake, Burna Boy, BNXN and Kizz Daniels, Empire Africa became a preeminent Afrobeats label; on Nigeria's year-end TurnTable Charts, Empire had the top three artists, the top two songs, and the top album. Empire releases held the #1 position on the Nigerian charts for 35 weeks over the course of the year.

Empire began investing in the Detroit hip-hop scene not long after the company was founded. In a 2022 interview with Billboard, Ghazi said he felt a strong connection between San Francisco and Detroit. The label signed Babyface Ray in 2017, and by 2022 had signed 10 artists, including Peezy, Babytron, Payroll Giovanni, and Rio Da Yung OG. Peezy’s "2 Million Up" went viral on TikTok and hit seven Billboard charts, including the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Rap Airplay and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

In October 2022, Empire acquired the Bay area-founded dance label, Dirtybird. In January 2023, a partnership with the Web3 investment platform, Nebula, was announced. It was also announced that Money Man, who was paid in Bitcoin when he signed with Empire in 2021, would release his EP on the Nebula platform.

In June 2023, Davis was named president of the company.

In May 2024, Shaboozey—who signed with Empire in 2021—released the album Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going. The album was a worldwide hit, with the single "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" hitting #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. It held the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 non-consecutive weeks, tying the 2020s record for the most weeks at #1 in November. He was nominated for five 2025 Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year (for "A Bar Song (Tipsy)") and Best New Artist.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2015	"Out of Many, One Music" (Shaggy)	Best Reggae Album	Nominated
2016	"Strictly Roots" (Morgan Heritage)	Best Reggae Album	Won
2017	"Malibu" (Anderson .Paak)	Best New Artist	Nominated
	"Malibu" (Anderson .Paak)	Best Urban Contemporary Album	Nominated
	"All The Way Up" (Fat Joe & Remy Ma)	Best Rap Performance	Nominated
	"All The Way Up" (Fat Joe & Remy Ma)	Best Rap Song	Nominated
	"Broccoli" (DRAM)	Best Rap/Sung Performance	Nominated
	"Rose Petals EP" (J Boog)	Best Reggae Album	Nominated

Notable artists

Selected discography

Further information: Category:Empire Distribution albums and Category:Empire Distribution EPs

Year	Cat	Title	Artist(s)	Details	Certifications
2010	ERE	Authenticity	The Foreign Exchange	Oct 12, 2010	#145 on the Billboard 200 #23 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
2011	ERE	Setbacks	ScHoolboy Q	Jan 11, 2011	#100 on the US Billboard 200
	ERE	Longterm Mentality	Ab-Soul	April 5, 2011	#32 on the US Top Heatseekers #73 on the US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
	ERE	Section.80	Kendrick Lamar	July 2, 2011	#113 on the US Billboard 200 #1 on the US Top Heatseekers Albums
	ERE	Charity Starts At Home	Phonte	Sep 27, 2011
	ERE	In None We Trust	Crooked I	Nov 17, 2011
	ERE	Gift Of Gab 2	Rocko	Nov 24, 2011
2012	ERE	Dirty Slums	Slum Village	Mar 27, 2012
	ERE	Stoner's EP	Snoop Dogg	April 17, 2012	#31 on the US Independent Albums #33 on the US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
	ERE	Don't Be S.A.F.E.	Trinidad James	Sep 18, 2012	#103 on the US Billboard 200 #8 on the US Top Heatseekers Albums
	ERE	Baby Face Killa	Freddie Gibbs	Sep 25, 2012
2013	ERE	Still Goin In (Reloaded)	Rich Homie Quan	Feb 8, 2013	Named tenth best mixtape of 2013 by Rolling Stone.
	ERE	The Year of the Underdogz	Young Noble & Gage Gully	May 7, 2013
	ERE	West Coast Gangsta Shit	Daz Dillinger and WC	June 19, 2013
	ERE	ESGN (Evil Seeds Grow Naturally)	Freddie Gibbs	June 20, 2013	#8 on US Top Heatseekers Albums #24 on US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
	ERE	Cold Turkey	Starlito	July 2, 2013
	ERE108	Apex Predator	Crooked I	July 30, 2013	#33 on US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
	ERE110	3ChordFold	Terrace Martin	Aug 13, 2013	#43 on US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums #9 on US Top Heatseekers Albums
	ERE	Travis Garland	Travis Garland	Sep 10, 2013
	ERE	Gas Pedal EP	Sage The Gemini	Sep 10, 2013
	ERE	O.K.E. (Deluxe Edition)	The Game	Oct 8, 2013	#89 on the US Billboard 200 #19 on the US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
	ERE	Knock Madness	Hopsin	Nov 24, 2013	#1 on US Top Heatseekers Albums #7 on US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums #6 on US Independent Albums
2014	ERE135	Tortoise and the Crow CD	Grouch, Eligh	Mar 04, 2014
	ERE139	Phantom and the Ghost	Styles P	Apr 29, 2014	#74 on US Billboard 200 #14 on US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums #18 on US Independent Albums
	ERE	Barrel Brothers	Skyzoo and Torae	May 27, 2014
	ERE141	Venice	Anderson .Paak	Oct 28, 2014
2015	ERE	Strictly Roots	Morgan Heritage	June 8, 2015	Grammy Award Winning : Best Reggae Album
	ERE141	Fuk Wat They Talkin Bout	Tyga	Aug 24, 2015
	ERE141	Shadow of a Doubt	Freddie Gibbs	Nov 20, 2015	#76 on US Billboard 200
2016	ERE141	Malibu	Anderson .Paak	Jan 15, 2016	#79 on US Billboard 200
2016	ERE141	King of Memphis	Young Dolph	Feb 19, 2016	#49 on US Billboard 200
2017	ERE310	Plata O Plomo	Fat Joe and Remy Ma	Feb 17, 2017	#44 on US Billboard 200
	ERE344	Neva Left	Snoop Dogg	May 19, 2017	#54 on US Billboard 200
	ERE	For Your Girl Too	Selfish	May 23, 2017
	ERE	BitchImTheShit2	Tyga	Jul 21, 2017
	ERE	17	XXXTentacion	Aug 25, 2017	#2 on US Billboard 200
2018	ERE381	Kyoto	Tyga	Feb 16, 2018
	ERE453	Tru LP	Lloyd	Aug 31, 2018
	ERE	Dancing Shadows	Mario	Oct 5, 2018
	ERE	Skins	XXXTentacion	Dec 7, 2018	#1 on US Billboard 200
2019	ERE	Walk with Me	Rotimi	May 24, 2019
	ERE	Legendary	Tyga	Jun 7, 2019	#17 on US Billboard 200
	ERE	In My Defense	Iggy Azalea	Jul 19, 2019	#50 on US Billboard 200
	ERE524	I Wanna Thank Me	Snoop Dogg	Aug 16, 2019	#76 on US Billboard 200
	ERE	Wicked Lips	Iggy Azalea	Dec 2, 2019
	ERE537	Bad Vibes Forever	XXXTentacion	Dec 6, 2019	#5 on US Billboard 200