Beat Factory was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 urban music

Urban contemporary

Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...

 management/production company and independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

, based in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

.

In 1982, Beat Factory was founded by Ivan Berry and songwriter Rupert Gayle. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Beat Factory managed the top urban music artists in Canada. In 1988, Berry signed Michie Mee

Michie Mee

Michelle McCullock , better known by her stage name Michie Mee, is a Canadian rapper and actor. As Canada's first notable female MC, she is considered a national hip-hop pioneer.-Early life and career:...

 to an international record deal with Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

, making her the first Canadian hip hop

Canadian hip hop

The Canadian hip hop scene was first established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much more slowly than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an underground phenomenon until the...

 artist signed to a major label. Beat Factory's biggest success was the Dream Warriors

Dream Warriors

Dream Warriors were a Canadian hip hop duo from Toronto, Ontario, comprising King Lou and Capital Q. Described as "a pair of deft, intelligent rappers" by Allmusic, they were major contributors to the jazz rap movement of the early 1990s. Their 1991 debut album, And Now the Legacy Begins, is...

, who sold 800,000 copies of their debut album And Now the Legacy Begins

And Now the Legacy Begins

And Now the Legacy Begins is the debut album of Canadian hip hop duo Dream Warriors, released April 23, 1991. It was released worldwide on Island Records and in the United States on sub-label 4th & B'way Records...

, released in 1991.

In 1996, Berry founded Beat Factory Music Inc., a record label division of Beat Factory, distributed by EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 and BMG Music Canada

BMG Music Canada

BMG Music Canada was the Canadian division of BMG, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Previously working for Henri Dès albums, it acquired the Lanoraie, Quebec-based Interdisc Distribution Inc...

. The label released a series of compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

s, known as RapEssentials

Rap Essentials Volume One

Rap Essentials Volume One is a Canadian hip hop compilation album, released in 1996 on Beat Factory Music. Its considered a landmark hip-hop album, and it was very influential....

and GroovEssentials

GROOVEssentials Volume One

GROOVEssentials Volume One is a Canadian R&B compilation album, released in 1997 on Beat Factory Music. Three songs from the album—"The Thing to Do" by Glenn Lewis, "Don't Leave Me Hangin" by Camille Douglas, and "How May I Do U" by Unique—were nominated for Best R&B/Soul Recording at the 1998 Juno...

. These albums included the first singles by Kardinal Offishall

Kardinal Offishall

Jason D. Harrow , better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall , is a Canadian rapper and record producer. He is often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", and is best known for his distinctive reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip-hop.-Life and career:Harrow was born in...

 and Glenn Lewis

Glenn Lewis

Glenn Lewis is a Canadian R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter. Originally planning to pursue a career in animation as a teenager, Lewis instead decided to focus on music. His father was a member of the musical group Crack of Dawn...

, both of whom became prominent artists in the 2000s.