Renaissance Recordings

Renaissance Recordings officially began in 2020, but the seeds were planted long before the name ever existed.

The foundation was built through a series of chance encounters, creative conversations, and mutual respect between artists who were already moving through the same circles. The founding fathers of Renaissance Recordings, roc raw and Sonny Kolfax, legally Joseph Cuffee and Joseph Kason respectively, first met several years before the label was formed. That first meeting was arranged by a future Renaissance artist, Gritty Grime. At the time, none of them knew that moment would eventually become part of a much larger story.

Years later, roc raw and Sonny Kolfax crossed paths again in the Richmond, Virginia battle rap scene. Sonny was competing, while roc had taken on a more media focused role through his platform, 30 Pages of Rhymes. What started as mutual respect slowly became a real friendship. From that friendship came a podcast built around their shared love of professional wrestling: FTMR, short for Fuck the Main Roster.

During the course of recording the podcast, the conversations naturally began to shift toward music. Through their mutual connection with producer Akai Phifer, the idea of creating music together started to take shape. roc raw began recording his album The Cuffee, while Sonny Kolfax and Akai Phifer joined forces to form the group Cult Classic. Their project, The Cherokee Kid, became the first official release on Renaissance Recordings.

Once word spread that roc, Sonny, and Akai were building something of their own, the movement began to grow. They were soon joined by like minded artists and collaborators they had met throughout their creative journey, beginning with ReddHanded, followed by Trill Nik, Slumdogg, King Preme, Reeveytown, and Gritty Grime.

Over time, Renaissance Recordings became more than a label. It became a family of artists, producers, writers, and visionaries connected by a shared belief in independent creativity. Some collaborators, including BC Music1st and HAWK, may not be official Renaissance artists due to their own label responsibilities, but they remain part of the extended family and the story.

More recently, Renaissance has continued to expand with the addition of Habeeb, Super Dope, Logos the Poetic, and Just Cam, each bringing their own voice, perspective, and creative energy to the movement.

At its core, Renaissance Recordings is a Richmond born independent music brand rooted in hip hop culture, friendship, collaboration, and artistic freedom. The mission has always been simple: create meaningful music, build a platform for real artists, and preserve the kind of art that outlives the moment.

This is not just a label.
This is Renaissance.