J Rawls
In 2005, J Rawls launched his own company, POLAR Entertainment, LLC. The vision of this company is to “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative” by providing good music for the soul.
The first project from Polar Entertainment, LLC was the J Rawls “Essence of Soul” album. Released in spring, 2005, the album featured artists such as Eric Roberson, Venus Malone, Jonell, Sol Uprising, Tavaris, and Middle Child. The next project for the company was the very successful “The Liquid Crystal Project”. These albums have sold well and received critical acclaim in Japan, Europe and the United States.
In 2006, Polar Entertainment followed up with releases by J Rawls and Dudley Perkins, “It’s the Dank & Jammy Show”. Several vinyl only exclusives such as the turntablism album “Waxsmith” and several Liquid Crystal 7 inches kept fans excited about the label.
Soon J Rawls found himself being drawn into the foray of Hip-Hop and Jazz fusion that he aptly coined the term “JAZZ HOP”. He began working with the Columbus, Ohio Jazz band Attention Disorder and together they would form and record, The Liquid Crystal Project. The Liquid Crystal Project is one of Polar Entertainment’s most successful series.
In 2008, the company released, J Rawls & Middle Child – “Rawls & Middle”; and the follow up to The Liquid Crystal Project, “LCP II” to eager critics and fans alike. The critically acclaimed John Robinson and J Rawls are the JAY ARE project, soon followed in 2009. The album was the duo’s ode to the history of jazz and helped to forward the JAZZ HOP movement. While J Rawls forged into new genres with Nu-Soul and Jazz Hop projects, he continued to explore his Hip Hop roots with the Nature Sounds release “The Hip-Hop Affect”.
For the year 2012 and beyond, POLAR is making moves to expand in the market place with more products from J Rawls as well as adding new artists to the fold.