Awful Records

Awful Records is an Atlanta-based independent record label and creative collective associated with an experimental strain of Southern hip-hop, alternative rap, and internet-native music culture. The collective was formed in 2011 by the rapper and producer known professionally as Father, together with friends he met around Georgia State University. Its early identity was less that of a conventional label than of a shared artistic community: members recorded together, promoted one another, and developed an intentionally informal aesthetic through online releases and social media. The collective gained wider attention during the early 2010s as SoundCloud became an important channel for emerging rap artists. Father began posting music to the platform in 2013, and Awful Records became increasingly visible through a loose network of Atlanta artists, producers, visual creators, and collaborators. The label's music was characterized by minimal or unconventional production, irreverent humor, unusual vocal approaches, and a deliberately independent presentation. The breakthrough associated with this period was Father's 2014 single “Look at Wrist,” featuring iLoveMakonnen and Key!, followed by his mixtape Young Hot Ebony. Awful's profile expanded through the work of artists connected with the collective, including Father, Zack Fox, Meltycanon, Archibald Slim, and others. The group was often discussed as part of Atlanta's broader independent rap ecosystem, but its appeal also came from its distance from standard major-label presentation. Awful functioned as a creative platform where music, online personality, visual identity, and community overlapped. In 2018, Awful Records announced a partnership with RCA Records. The arrangement was intended to allow artists associated with Awful to enter joint Awful/RCA agreements, giving the collective access to major-label infrastructure while preserving its independent identity. Father released Awful Swim in partnership with RCA and Adult Swim that year. The arrangement ended in 2020, after the release of Father's EP Hu$band. Following the separation, Awful returned to a narrower model centered on Father's releases rather than operating as a conventional multi-artist major-label imprint. Father also described the organization as returning to its earlier collective form and indicated that he had not originally intended to control the careers of other artists. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Father moved from Los Angeles back to Atlanta for family reasons. Awful subsequently continued to be associated primarily with his work and with its clothing activity. Father's later releases included the 2020 EP Tha Thingz I Do 4 Money and the album Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You, followed by Young Hot Ebony 2 in 2022. The latter revisited the style and title of his earlier breakthrough mixtape and included appearances from former Awful associates Zack Fox, Meltycanon, and Archibald Slim, as well as Tony Shhnow. Awful Records is best understood as a small independent label, artist collective, and cultural imprint rather than a large-scale recorded-music corporation. Its historical importance rests on its role in Atlanta's internet-era rap scene, its cultivation of unconventional artists, and its ability to move between self-directed releases, a temporary major-label partnership, and a more focused artist-led model.

Awful Records emerged in Atlanta in 2011 as a collective of friends and musicians organized around Father, the rapper and producer whose birth name is Centel Orlando Mangum. Father met many of the people associated with the group while attending Georgia State University. The early organization was collaborative rather than corporate: members recorded together, circulated music online, and built a common identity around unconventional rap, humor, and a deliberately independent approach. The collective's public profile grew as Father began uploading music to SoundCloud in 2013. Online distribution helped Awful reach listeners without relying on established label systems, and the group became associated with Atlanta's experimental and internet-oriented rap scenes. Father's 2014 single “Look at Wrist,” featuring iLoveMakonnen and Key!, was an important visibility point. His mixtape Young Hot Ebony followed in September of that year, helping establish the musical and visual language associated with the Awful name. Father continued releasing music while Awful's wider network developed. His debut studio album, Who's Gonna Get Fucked First?, arrived in 2015, followed by I'm A Piece of Shit in 2016. Although these were Father releases rather than conventional label-wide compilations, they contributed substantially to Awful's identity. The collective was also connected with artists such as Zack Fox, Meltycanon, and Archibald Slim. Its importance lay not only in individual recordings but also in the sense of a shared scene in which artists, producers, online personalities, and visual creators could collaborate. In 2018, Awful Records entered a partnership with RCA Records. The agreement was designed to provide a route for artists linked to Awful to sign joint deals with the two labels. Father's Awful Swim was issued in association with RCA and Adult Swim during this period. The partnership represented an attempt to connect Awful's unconventional collective model with the distribution and resources of a major record company, without fully abandoning the label's distinctive identity. The RCA arrangement ended in 2020 after Father's Hu$band EP. Following the split, Awful ceased functioning as a broad signing vehicle in the way contemplated by the partnership. Father stated that the project had originally developed as a collective and that he had not set out to become a major-label-style owner of other people's careers. The label therefore returned toward its earlier identity, focusing on Father's new work while retaining an association with clothing and the broader Awful aesthetic. Father's later releases helped carry the imprint into the 2020s. During the COVID-19 pandemic he moved from Los Angeles back to Atlanta for family reasons. He released Tha Thingz I Do 4 Money in 2020 and then the album Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You. These projects marked a change in vocal and emotional presentation, including more crooned and auto-tuned performances than the deadpan style associated with some of his earlier work. In 2022, he issued Young Hot Ebony 2, returning to the title and general character of the earlier mixtape while featuring former Awful associates Zack Fox, Meltycanon, and Archibald Slim alongside Tony Shhnow. Awful Records' history illustrates the fluidity of independent music organizations in the streaming era. It began as a friend-based creative collective, gained recognition through online music circulation, experimented with a major-label partnership, and later narrowed its formal label activity around its founder. Its legacy is tied to Atlanta's independent rap culture and to a model in which a label can operate simultaneously as a music platform, social network, aesthetic brand, and clothing imprint.

• 2022

  Young Hot Ebony 2 is released

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  Father issues a sequel to his breakthrough mixtape, featuring several former Awful associates.

• 2020

  RCA partnership ends

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  Awful Records and RCA formally end their relationship after the release of Father's Hu$band EP.

• 2018

  Awful partners with RCA Records

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  The label announces a partnership allowing artists connected to Awful to pursue joint Awful/RCA agreements.

• 2018

  Awful Swim is released

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  Father releases Awful Swim in association with Awful Records, RCA Records, and Adult Swim.

• 2014

  “Look at Wrist” and Young Hot Ebony raise the label's profile

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  Father's breakout single and subsequent mixtape become key early releases associated with Awful Records.

• 2013

  Father begins releasing music on SoundCloud

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  Father starts posting music online, helping bring the Awful-associated sound to a wider audience.

• 2011

  Awful Records forms in Atlanta

  [1]Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org

  Father and a group of friends form the collective that becomes Awful Records.

An artist-led Atlanta independent label and creative collective emphasizing experimental rap, internet-native distribution, collaborative culture, and an irreverent alternative identity.

• Music · 2011

  Recorded music

  Awful Records has primarily operated as a platform for rap and hip-hop recordings, especially releases by founder Father and artists connected with the collective. Its catalog is associated with experimental production, sparse arrangements, unconventional vocal performances, satire, and an internet-oriented presentation. Releases have appeared as singles, mixtapes, extended plays, and albums.

• Artist catalog · 2014

  Father releases

  Father's releases form the central recorded-music offering associated with Awful Records. Key projects include Young Hot Ebony, Who's Gonna Get Fucked First?, I'm A Piece of Shit, Awful Swim, Tha Thingz I Do 4 Money, Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You, and Young Hot Ebony 2. His work has moved between deadpan, minimal rap and more crooned, auto-tuned styles.

• Apparel

  Clothing and merchandise

  After the RCA partnership ended, Awful Records was described as continuing not only through Father's music but also as a clothing brand. The apparel activity extends the label's visual identity beyond recordings, although detailed product ranges and current distribution are not documented in the supplied sources.

• 2020

  Return to a founder-centered independent modelStrategy

  Background

  Following the end of the RCA partnership, Awful no longer operated as a broad joint-label vehicle for its signees.

  Action taken

  The imprint dropped its signees from the prior arrangement and focused on releasing new Father material while continuing as a clothing brand and creative identity.

  Aftermath

  Awful returned closer to its original collective format, with Father's subsequent releases serving as the principal documented output.

  Source

• 2018

  Enter a partnership with RCA RecordsM&A

  Background

  Awful had developed as a small Atlanta collective, while a major-label relationship offered additional distribution and commercial infrastructure.

  Action taken

  Awful Records announced a partnership under which artists associated with the collective could enter joint Awful/RCA agreements.

  Aftermath

  The partnership supported Father's Awful Swim release with RCA and Adult Swim, but the relationship ended in 2020.

  Source

1. 1Father (rapper)en.wikipedia.org