It all started back in early '01 when Jahzeel and A.T.G. met in a freestyle battle in high school that was hyped up by the usual dumbasses hyping it up in the hallway. The two got cool with each other and started makin music together a couple of years later (this would be late '02, early '03). It started out pretty much as A.T.G., Jahzeel and another cat named Deuce recording mixtapes out of Jahzeel's mama's old apartment while they were in their last year in high school/ first year in college. They pretty much made gas money and such selling their own mixtapes around town and getting a small amount of street fame.
Other rappers eventually started coming in, and a group/bootleg record label called One Time Records started up. The group was pretty much too many types of people, the wrong kindsa artists and half the people didn't have their heads in the right place. Not to mention, there was too many people cuz about fifteen or so niggaz would come in and out of the studio and bullshit and nothing would ever get done. One Time did manage to squeeze out one mixtape, but it was horrible and sounded like a buncha junk slapped together cuz of the difficult artists to work with. One rapper flew to New York and came back with a big head thinking he was better than everyone else and that everyone needed to step their game up, but it was known around the streets that he was one of the wackest artists. This caused some tempers to flare and made room for eventual drama that was to come next. Another One Time artist started showing his true colors as well. Little did anyone know that in his own hood and high school, he was known as the coward ass instigator who started fights, destroyed friendships and got his ass whooped (he lied about his streeet credit). Once he jumped in and started flapping his gums, the whole thing fell apart. A.T.G. left first to pursue other possibilities, and in the meantime Jahzeel was dealing with increasing drama from the remaining people. Finally, some beef started from niggaz flapping they gums and the group disbanded with everyone wanting to whoop each others' ass. This is what happens when dumb-ass kids wanna name they group after a name associated with snitches.
For about a year everyone was beefing with each other. A.T.G. chilled in the hood while taking care of some personal shit and working on his rhymes after everything cooled down. Jahzeel ostracized himself from most everybody from One Time and took some time to build up his studio and record solo for awhile. As for the bulk of One Time, they pretty much started their own "Squad", but everybody laughed cuz the mixtapes they tried to peddle on the streets made them look horrible.
Jahzeel decided to say "fuck it" and start another label with different kinds of people this time. He pulled his homeboy Solja Boy into the mix, as well as J Switch, a young budding producer fresh out of high school. Him and A.T.G. eventually squashed their beef after meeting on the street and hearing each other's stories about the beef, which was instigated by former One Time rappers. Jahzeel brought A.T.G. on shortly after as co-CEO to help run the label during the summer of '04. Mack E11 and a few other artists came shortly after and Street Connection Records was born.
Street Connection records became successful in far more ways than One Time. There were three producers making original beats for everybody, there was a manager and paperwork, everything was run properly and most important of all, the label received actual legal status. Mixtapes were sold on the streets with moderate success and everybody was recording on their albums in the label's updated studio.
Problems came with Street Connection early on as well but Jahzeel and A.T.G. were better prepared than last time so drama didn't really go down. Some problems emerged when a female artist came into the label and all the younger artists tried to holla at her. This started some problems in the group and half the record left when the female artist left (one of the artists was stalking her, we later found out). Nobody was beefing with each other this time cuz the older and wiser artists and CEOs learned from last time. Contracts got tore up and everyone called it a day.
The remaining members of Street Connection were at this point Jahzeel, A.T.G., Solja Boy and Mack E11. All of them put more focus into working on their solo albums. Solja Boy and Mack E11 pretty much helped out with the record business just as much as the two CEOs, looking for new artists and producers and helping make sure everything went smooth. Jahzeel was polishing his engineering skills and building the studio while A.T.G. was working on his beat production skills and going up to Carriben Grill in Dallas to check out the other local artists and get some possible connections. Around this time Jahzeel discovered myspace and everyone on the label jumped on waaaaaaaay before everybody else did and the media got into it. More connections were made with rappers throught out the country.
JB, aka Mista T-X, came into the group recently through one of A.T.G.'s friends, a producer who tossed beats to the label from time to time. JB rounded out the small group and brought in a different style and grace. He quickly made it into SC's inner circle of trust (lol). The group began performing at small spots around town and their fame grew over myspace, selling mixtapes on the streets and passing out fliers for their performances. The current roster is now Jahzeel, A.T.G., Solja Boy, Mack E11 and JB, a small group of young cats who been in the game for a minute and got they heads straight because everyone in the group went through their own personal problems and situations in the past and learned from them.
Right now, the five young rappers are busy polishing up their albums and working on mixtapes, as well as finding spots to perform at during the summer and finally getting a distribution deal so Street Connection Records can finally have an album in stores legally, just like all the other majors and independent labels do it.
Street Connection Records serves a purpose to bring real music back to the hood. Before all the ice, cars, bling bling, fuckin wid hoes and fake niggaz tryna be gangsta. They put messages in they songs and try to educate the younger generation with their tales from the streets about their own personal experiences.
