Hitlist Vol. 4

Over the years the Deep South has proven to be one of the most viable markets in the history of contemporary pop music. The region is the land that produced legendary recording artists such as Miami's controversial Luke and the 2-Live Crew, Atlanta's multi-platinum selling duo, Outkast, and Houston's pioneering recording act the Geto Boys. It is also the home of some of the nation's most powerful independent record label such as No Limit, Cash Money and Rap-A-Lot, all of which have produced chart-topping acts that dominated the pop and r & b charts. Soon to take its rightful place among this list of esteemed labels is a feisty independent outfit called Wreckshop Records. As one of the leading record companies in the Deep South, Wreckshop Records collectively sold a million albums in its short existence. In the world of independent rap labels, where selling over 20,000 copies is considered an underground hit, Wreckshop records has consistently produced underground classics that often competed with mainstream rap records in the South. Wreckshop was started in 1997 by its ambitious founder and visionary Derrick "DWreck" Dixon. As a young man growing up in Beaumont, Texas Derrick had three dreams. They were: 1) playing professional football like his brother Floyd Dixon formerly of the Atlanta Falcons; 2) being a nationally known rapper; 3) owning a successful business. After an injury sidelined his first dream, Derrick entered Clark/Atlanta University where he received his MBA. And like most successful businessmen he saw his share of failures before he finally hit upon the right business and the right formula to be successful. With music as his first love, Derrick persevered. "I've always been in business," explains Derrick. "Wreckshop is actually the sixth business that I've owned. I had a recording studio, I had another record label, I had a store in the hood, I had a corner store where I sold seafood and me and my brother had a sports bar in Beaumont, plus I had a barbeque stand out here in Houston." By the time Derrick opened up Wreckshop he had enough knowledge and practical experience to run a successful label, all he needed was the right artist to launch his label. He found a Houston area MC by the name of Fat Pat. As a member of the infamous Screwed Up Click, a Houston based collective lead by the legendary DJ Screw, Fat Pat had earned a large and loyal following free styling on DJ Screw's popular mix-tapes. In the summer of `98, Wreckshop dropped Fat Pat's debut LP Ghetto Dreams and it exploded on the Southern underground, selling 200,000 copies. Unfortunately, Fat Pat was killed before he could enjoy the record's success, a fact that troubles Derrick to this day. "Losing Fat Pat was a major blow to me both personally and professionally," recalls a somber Derrick. "I didn't just lose an artist, I lost a friend. I thought that I couldn't go on after that, but I knew Pat wouldn't want it that way. So we released a tribute album called Fat Pat & the Wreckshop Family, Throwed in the Game. It sold over 100,000 units." After the untimely demise of Fat Pat, Wreckshop signed ESG, another member of the infamous Screwed Up Click, whose debut Shinin' & Grindin' sold 50,000 units. His follow-up record City Under Siege sold a whopping 100,000 units. Things were going well, to say the very least. But, despite the fact that Wreckshop was doing better than most of their competition in Texas, there were no major deals on the table like the ones offered to Lil Troy, Big Pokey or Young Starr. "At this point we were doing well," says Derrick. "People in the industry were noticing us. A lot of Houston area rappers were getting deals back then. "DMD had gotten a deal and Big Pokey got a deal. Everybody was getting deals but us. We felt like we were losing the war. We had to do something. So we came up with the movie and soundtrack The Dirty Third. I knew if that movie was successful that it would raise the value of our label and our artists." Indeed it did. The movie sold 20,000 units with its soundtrack selling 50,000: The movie also debuted on BET Action Pay-Per-View and exposed his artists to millions of new viewers throughout the country, which helped to set up their next and most promising artist, a local Houston singer/rapper, Big Moe. Like his previous label mates, Big Moe was also a member of the Screwed Up Click. While mostly known for his smooth, churchy r & b vocal hooks, Moe's rhyming skills were tight, a combination that Derrick knew could catapult the MC to stardom. In the summer of 2001 Wreckshop released Bi Mo's debut album City of Syrup. Fueled by the blazing hot single "Mann" (pronounced Main, a southern slang for the word man), which is a club friendly take on Black Rob's mega-hit "Whoa," the album exploded in the South, selling 150,000 units and counting.