Observe Since 98

Observe since 98. The name says it all. In the late 1990s a young Hip-Hop head from Madison, Wisconsin was on the outside looking in. He started dabbling in graffiti and then beatmaking to get involved, but it would be years until Madison developed any kind of legitimate Hip-Hop scene. However, by the mid-naughts, Observe had launched Loretta Records and put out a handful of local releases. The imprint failed to garner much attention outside Wisconsin and in 2006 he decided the venture had run its course. Fast-forward a decade, and Observe felt the climate was right to resurrect Loretta with a focus on the beat scene and the just emerging Boom Bap renaissance. Over the last four years he has become recognized as something of an indie label maverick. The new era of his record company saw Observe help break some of the biggest names in underground Hip-Hop, including Benny The Butcher, CRIMEAPPLE, Rome Streetz, sadhugold, and many more. Regardless of the strides he has made as a label head, his real achievements have been as a crate digger and sound architect. When he relaunched Loretta it was largely to showcase his own beats and he dropped three well-received beat tapes between 2016-17. Yet, it was Observe’s satirical industry mogul persona The Savage and the trilogy of producer albums he released baring the character’s name and image that really cemented him as an underground favorite.