Fiend - "Big Timer" (No Limit Records, 1998)
No Limit Records’ late nineties success was so all-consuming
and their rise was so rapid that it’s kind of amazing that they aren’t talked
about more. The label released its first album, Master P’s lackluster Get Away Clean, in 1991, and developed a
regional following around its home base of New Orleans in the years following.
Despite becoming Louisiana’s premier hip-hop label, No Limit struggled to break
through nationally. Then 1996 rolled around, and Master P’s Ice Cream Man went Platinum. A few
months later, Silkk the Shocker’s debut hit #6 on the hip-hop/R&B charts,
but the rest of the No Limit stable was still inactive or commercially
unsuccessful. 1997 was a marked improvement for the label, as TRU, Steady Mobb’n,
Mia X, and Mr. Serv-On released high charting albums on the label. Three major
successes toward the end of that year pushed No Limit firmly into the
mainstream consciousness. First, No Limit made its first foray into film with I’m Bout It, and the accompanying
soundtrack featuring most of the label’s artists debuted at #1 on the Billboard
hip-hop/R&B chart and quickly went Platinum. Master P followed this up with
Ghetto D. With the singles “I Miss My
Homies” and “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!,” the album hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200
chart and went Platinum three times over. Soon after, Mystikal, No Limit’s
greatest rapper, put out his debut with the label.
In 1998, No Limit quadrupled their output, putting out
twenty-three albums, almost all of which went Gold or Platinum. After his
defection from Death Row, Snoop Dogg signed to No Limit that year, bringing
further publicity and sales to the suddenly inescapable label. They dropped
down to fifteen albums in 1999, but their popularity was so high that even the
terminally off-beat Silkk the Shocker was able to debut at #1 with his third
album. In spite of this continued success, the seams began showing. I’m Bout It was such an unexpected
success that Master P and No Limit tried to expand their empire further into
film, toys, books, and sports management. Due to poor business practices and
lack of resources, most of these endeavors failed almost immediately.[1]
Mystikal’s contract expired in ’99 and he immediately jumped ship to Jive
Records. The label’s production team Beats by the Pound had been responsible
for nearly every hit single and great album track that the label had released
up to that point, but they too left the label amid disputes over money. The label
stretched itself too thin and quickly lost its ability to sustain itself. Only
five No Limit albums came out in 2000. Outside of Master P, Snoop Dogg was the
label’s biggest remaining star, but he fled the sinking ship once he fulfilled
his contract that year. P hurriedly signed a bunch of new artists, including
future underground stoner rap star Curren$y, but they proved unable to develop
new artists. Even novelty hits by P’s son Lil’ Romeo couldn’t save the label,
and No Limit quietly folded in 2003.
