Dr. Dre Had To Change Original "Aftermath" Label Name For This Reason

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 01: Dr. Dre attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue )
Can you guess what the label's original name was?

Dr. Dre is one of the most legendary producers in the history of hip-hop. His story of founding his record label Aftermath and the success it went on to have is part of rap music history. But the influential label was almost called something completely different. Over the weekend MC King T, the label's first ever signee told his story of its early days in an interview on Murder Master Music Show. One of the most interesting details revealed during the whole thing was that Aftermath was almost called something completely different.

Earlier in the interview King T sets up how he became involved with the label. “I’m like one of the first artists he wanted to sign, we just ended up in the studio up at Record One, they just put on a beat and I just knocked it out," he explains. The resulting song was "Str-8 Gone" which T still has a lot of love for. "one of the best songs I’ve done in my career. I was just happy to be working with Dr. Dre.” Later on in the interview, he explains that he signed on so early the label wasn't even called Aftermath yet. I was there before the name Aftermath even came about. I think it was something like Black Market or something" he explains.

Dr. Dre's Label Was Almost Never Aftermath

King T also provided an explanation for why the original name was changed. “You know what it was something like Black Market, but somebody else had it, they were trying to sell it to Dr. Dre for some buku money," he explained. They ended up putting the ‘Str-8 Gone’ song on the first compilation they ended up putting out on Aftermath." This isn't the only story recently that's had fans reminiscing on Dr. Dre's past. He and long-time collaborator Snoop Dogg just dropped another tease for their upcoming collaboration Missionary.

Reports from behind the scenes have had fans buzzing about the duo getting back in the studio together. Even so, the album doesn't have any confirmed release date and it's unclear when fans can even expect to hear it. What do you think of the original name of Aftermath being "Black Market?" Let us know in the comment section below.

About The Author
Lavender Alexandria is a music and culture journalist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s covered dozens of musical genres and styles from the most mainstream to the most experimental and underground on her blog and accompanying YouTube channel that looks at music, pop culture, and Billboard charts since 2017: Lav’s Music Corner. Lavender has produced editorial and listicle content both in written and video form over the past far years and has also interviewed up-and-coming artists like Censored Dialogue. Her experiences covering culture have taken her from Hyperpop parties in LA to underground rap shows in Atlanta, to DIY punk shows in Charlotte. Lavender has also written for iHeartRadio, covering some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop such as Ice Spice, Drake, Doja Cat and Cardi B. She also has bylines with ScreenRant and continues to write for Ringtone magazine. Lavender is a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and her favorite rap artists include Clipping, Little Simz, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kendrick Lamar.
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