Chris Schwartz
Chris Schwartz is the co-founder of Ruffhouse Records, one of the biggest hip-hop record companies in the world. Throughout the 90’s, Ruffhouse was home to the biggest names in hip hop. The roster included The Fugees, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Cypress Hill, NAS, Kris Kross, DMX, Kool Keith,John Forte, Soul Assasins, The Pyscho Realm, Call O’ da Wild, Steady B, Cool C, Robby B & DJ Jazz, CEB, Jamalski, Tim Dog, Kulcha Don, Sons of Sacrifice, Sporty Thieves, Liz Leiti, Lin Que, Blakmale, The Mountain Brothers, Mac-Money & DJ QST, Larry Larr, Delinquent Habits, The Outsidaz, Young Zee, Pace Won, Maja Figgaz, Beanie Sigel, State Property, Leela James, Keith Martin,MC Schoolly D & DJ Code Money among others. Ruffhouse Records sold over 130 million records worldwide generating over a billion dollars in sales and a multitude of Grammy Awards. Chris has been the recipient of many awards celebrating his success including the National Association of Recording Arts & Sciences Governor's Award, The Dyana Williams Lifetime Achievement Award, The Philadelphia Music Alliances "Walk Of Fame" award as well as over 250 gold and platinum records.
Chris also produced a number of feature films most notable was “Snipes” Starring Nelly, Zoe Saldana, Dean Winter and Frank Vincent. Other films include “Money, Power and respect”, and “Train Ride” Starring Wood Harris and MC Lyte. Chris also served as music supervisor on feature films such as “Bait” starring Jamie Foxx and directed by Antoine Fuqua.
Chris has been recognized in numerous national and international publications including the cover of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, LA Times, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Vibe, Billboard, The Source, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly and Vanity Fair as well as TV appearances on CNN, CNN-FN, MSNBC, BBC, MTV, BET, and VH1. Chris has also made numerous appearances on the Howard Stern Show
Chris was originally from Devon, Pa. he dropped out of high school at 17 and joined the US Navy serving as an aviation armament specialist. As an aspiring musician, Chris pursued a career as a performer after the Navy. He relocated to Philadelphia where he played in a number of bands performing Electronic music, R&B and Dance. In the early eighties, he started producing, marketing and managing artists. One of these artists was hip hop’s first “gangster rapper” Schoolly D. Schoolly D’s music was the inspiration for later artists such as Ice T, NWA, Eazy E.
In 1987 Chris along with producer Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo started Ruffhouse Records catapulting them to astronomical success. In 1999 Forbes reported Ruffhouse Records to be worth over 175 million dollars. Chris was viewed as an innovator and visionary who recognized and proved early on that hip-hop music could be a global phenomenon. He set up the first hip-hop tours outside of North America and brought hip-hop to the world.
Chris Schwartz introduced the world to some of the most enduring music while impacting popular culture in the eighties and nineties.
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