Stuck On Success

The name Stuck Records might or might not ring a bell with the Seattle Hip Hop community right now, but get ready - they are about to make moves in a major way. Formed by the alliance of Zac Johnson, President, and Karim Panni, Vice President, the label currently houses Seattle’s own Boom Bap Project, and is on the hunt for up and coming talent.

Working out of a home office in Seattle, 23-year-old Zac Johnson is definitely putting in the work to keep his label and its artists up to par. Although the label has only been going for a year, Zac’s venture into the music industry started four years ago. “I first started out DJ’ing, I was really into Hip Hop and loved music” he says. “At around 18 years old, I met up with a group called Oldominion. From then I told them ‘Let’s put out some music, lets get something going.’ We talked about putting out a label back then, but didn’t have the entire vision at that time.”

At the same time he was formulating his plan, Zac started Basement Productions and began presenting local Hip Hop shows around Seattle. “We started out promoting Oldominion - getting them shows - trying to get some publicity in the town - and trying to make them get a name for themselves because they were all good friends of mine,” he explains. “I worked closely with promoters from Portland and Vancouver, and I met up with my current partner Karim in Eugene.”

Zac convinced Karim to move up to the Emerald City, where as a team they started promoting shows and building the local Hip Hop scene. “Karim had a lot of connections, he was born and raised in San Francisco and knew a lot of people,” he says. “I figured with my business sense and his connections we could make a lot of noise.”

Karim had a promotion company already established, so Zac decided to drop Basement  Productions and start up a new venture with his partner. “When he moved up here we started Darkside Productions.  We started doing most of the Hip Hop shows in town. Through all those shows we started to form connections with other groups and booking agents. Dom, who was a part of Oldominion, started to help out with Darkside Productions.”

Both Karim and Dom eventually formed what is now known as the Boom Bap Project. With this joining of forces Zac saw the perfect opportunity to establish something greater for the team. “I decided to form a record label and the first act would be Boom Bap Project, obviously,” he says. “ From there, we built on it. Pale Soul was a good friend of mine, so we decided to go ahead and put out his solo project on the album as our second release. I also signed another group to the label by the name of Frontline, which Dom was apart of.”

Stuck Records future looks rosy with acts such as the Micronots and Texas native Blavu Blake currently on the roster. But even though things are looking up, Zac continues to promote the label through out the industry attempting to make a name for its artists, and the year-old Stuck Records. Currently, the label is working on a compilation that showcases the label’s talent, and also features some established Hip Hop acts. “ So far, we have Mocha Only on there, Sunspot Jones from the Living Legends, Boom Bap Project, Oldominion, Grouch and Eligh, L’roneous , as well as Swollen Members,” he explains. “Stuck Records goal is to provide an avenue for artists to express themselves - a place where they can paint a canvas. We are here to support Seattle and hopefully Seattle will support us.”

~Gibran Waldron

The Boom Bap Project’s Circumstance Dictates can be picked up at Cellophane Square, and online at hiphopsite.com and Sandbox Automatic.    You can also visit their site at http://www.boombapproject.com