Labels in Review: Awful Business

How Awful Records managed to strike a deal with one of the music industry’s giants under the leadership of rapper and internet personality, Father.

Written by Kasey Clarke

Father in his music video for “Heartthrob”
Image courtesy of Stereogum

Over the summer, the long independent Atlanta based Awful Records signed a deal with Sony subsidiary RCA Records. Though a seemingly sudden change of trajectory for the label, fans of Awful Records reacted to the announcement with congratulations rather than skepticism. Congratulations were in order, since all reports framed the deal as a creative partnership, rather than a buyout. It’s a story almost too good to be true: a successful and experimental indie label receiving the funding and recognition of a major entity without acquiescing any creative control. Followers of the label, though, are likely to believe that this progress was inevitable.

The success of Awful Records lies in its leader, rapper, producer, director, and Twitter personality, Father. Hailed as the original Soundcloud rapper, Father originated Awful Records in 2014 as a raunchy, oddball, new hip-hop group with notable artists such as Abra, Tommy Genesis, and Playboi Carti. The label represents the more underground rap scene of Atlanta, the rap capital of America and home to Migos, Future, Gucci Mane and many more hip-hop heavyweights.

Father seems to possess an effortless ability to develop a brand without even trying. He has long had a say-whatever do-whatever attitude that flowed into the culture in the early days of the label. 2014 is widely regarded as a golden year for the group due to the frequency of releases to SoundCloud, in the midst of the platform’s popularity.

In its early days, the label’s culture revolved around heavy collaboration between its artists and near constant releases. The prevailing mindset has been that Awful Records is a place to accept and celebrate the weird or taboo. Its artists have been credited withbringing maturity to trap music and productively including themes likesex positivity in their work. The About page on the label’swebsite describes itself as “a group of likeminded Atlanta weirdos who like to party and make art.”

Photo courtesy of Awful Records

Last to play the businessman, Father maintains a commitment to the creative. His personality is as much a part of his brand as his music. He interacts with his 160K Twitter followers under the name Tracee Ellis Sauce. He speaks candidly about his projects online, gathering attention from fans and potential collaborators alike. He is also behind the coordination of all of the label’s visuals, which he tries to make quirky and immersive but true to the sense of the music.

This attachment to a unique visual style is what led him to sign folk singer Faye Webster in 2017. Webster, formerly a student at Belmont University where she learned photography, had connections to Atlanta rappers including longtime friend Lil Yachty and Awful Records’ own, Ethereal. Despite having a different sound than the rest of the label, Webster lent her airy vocals to the laid back rap track “Rollin’” by Ethereal. She has since left Awful Records to focus more on her photography, but her brief stint in music which resulted in an album release with the label, displays Awful Records’ range as a creative powerhouse.

Faye Webster with Ethereal, Lord Narf, Archibald Slim, Edicampus
Photo courtesy of Faye Webster

The path to success, however, has not been fraughtless. One of Father’s biggest frustrations was losing superstar Playboi Carti to A$AP Mob just as he began to receive attention. Father holds no bitterness, though, and recognizes these losses as a part of staying independent.

“At that time period, I could not do more for him than A$AP,” he said in an interview with Highsnobiety. “It’s a business, bro!”

Certainly, this is just one of many tradeoffs associated with retaining complete autonomy over your work. Being from Atlanta also means competing with producers like Metro Boomin. Almost a decade old, many of Awful Records’ artists hang at around only 30,000 monthly Spotify listeners and many of their songs are released for free. Negotiating the limits of indie labels is likely what lead to Father’s decision to partner with RCA. One of the main points of the deal is the ability for Awful Records to utilize Sony’s media distribution and marketing expertise.

Graphics for Awful Swim, Father’s Adult Swim collab released under RCA Records
Photo courtesy of RCA Records

From boasting about being an unapologetic mess to becoming a major force in the Atlanta rap scene, Father has never sacrificed his authenticity. He is an inspiration to indie artists for exemplifying the acclaim you can receive for following an individual philosophy. This deal with RCA positions Awful Records at the cusp of a new level of success, but it is not overzealous to say that under the leadership of its gregarious founder, Awful Records will never lose its voice.