1501 Certified Entertainment

History

1501 Certified Entertainment is an independent record label based in Houston, founded in 2016 by Carl Crawford, a former professional baseball player. The label’s operations manager until 2020 was T. Farris, who had previously worked with Swishahouse and its artists Paul Wall and Mike Jones.

Crawford also relied on J. Prince, the founder of Rap-A-Lot Records, as a consultant. Rapper HardyBoy Pigg has said he was the first artist signed to 1501. Farris recruited many early artists, including rapper Haroldlujah and singer Railey Rose.

In 2018, after a video of Megan Thee Stallion freestyling in a 2016 Houston cypher went viral, Crawford found her on Instagram and signed her to a 360 deal. Later that year, she also signed a distribution deal with 300 Entertainment. By 2019, the label’s roster included rappers D-Raww and K’ona Lisa. Megan Thee Stallion’s 2020 single “Savage,” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and her albums Good News (2020) and Traumazine (2022) were all released through 1501.

Rapper Erica Banks joined the label in April 2020, and after her single “Buss It” went viral on TikTok, she signed a joint deal with 1501 and Warner Records in 2021. In May 2020, during a music video shoot at Crawford’s home for a new signee, two people drowned in his pool: Bethany Lartigue, a 25-year-old football player and the signee’s girlfriend, and a young boy named Kasen Hersi. Banks later posted a tribute to Lartigue on social media.

In 2022, the label shifted its focus to scouting influencers to become rappers. In February 2023, amid an ongoing legal dispute with Megan Thee Stallion that began in 2020, Crawford stepped down as president and named Kai “Verse” Tyler as his replacement. By June 2023, Banks said she had left the label and accused them of owing her money in the lyrics of her song “Real Rap Bitch.” The following month, Crawford claimed on Instagram Live that Banks’s departure left 1501 $500,000 in debt to Warner Records.