Second Time Around: Music Stars With Success at Different Labels

Artists who've switched labels and remained successful.

Control - Janet Jackson has officially bossed up after announcing that she’ll be releasing her next album on her own label, Rhythm Nation Records, through a partnership and distribution with BMG this fall. The “Nasty” girl has a history of success at different record companies and has sold more than 160 million albums through her previous deals with A&M and Virgin. With her momentum in full throttle as she plans her Unbreakable world tour in August, Janet hit up Twitter yesterday to thank her fans for their continued support by singing to them a small snippet of her appreciation and stating, "I wanna tell you how important you are to me! Love J."With devoted fans that have held down her singing career for over 30 years, it’s no surprise why she’s had so much success despite her label hopping. But she’s not the only artist who’s racked up sales recording for diff...

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Control - Janet Jackson has officially bossed up after announcing that she’ll be releasing her next album on her own label, Rhythm Nation Records, through a partnership and distribution with BMG this fall. The “Nasty” girl has a history of success at different record companies and has sold more than 160 million albums through her previous deals with A&M and Virgin. With her momentum in full throttle as she plans her Unbreakable world tour in August, Janet hit up Twitter yesterday to thank her fans for their continued support by singing to them a small snippet of her appreciation and stating, "I wanna tell you how important you are to me! Love J."With devoted fans that have held down her singing career for over 30 years, it’s no surprise why she’s had so much success despite her label hopping. But she’s not the only artist who’s racked up sales recording for diff...

Pharrell Williams  - Pharrell's has had a lot of success in the game and, as an artist, started rocking out with Virgin Records in 2002, where he released several projects with his group N.E.R.D. In 2006, he connected with Interscope for his hit album In My Mind. And he's having a "Happy" year so far, releasing his sophmore solo effort, G I R L, in March on Columbia Records. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation)

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Pharrell Williams  - Pharrell's has had a lot of success in the game and, as an artist, started rocking out with Virgin Records in 2002, where he released several projects with his group N.E.R.D. In 2006, he connected with Interscope for his hit album In My Mind. And he's having a "Happy" year so far, releasing his sophmore solo effort, G I R L, in March on Columbia Records. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation)

Busta Rhymes - Busta broke out on the scene in 1991 with his group Leaders of the New School on Elektra Records and stayed with the label for his solo success, too, which included the albums The Coming and Anarchy. In 2001, he connected with J Records and Clive Davis for two solo runs, and in 2006, he dropped The Big Bang with Dr. Dre's Aftermath and Interscope Records. A stint at Motown followed and now the veteran MC is slated to drop his next album, E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2), on Cash Money later this year. (Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for VH1 Save The Music)

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Busta Rhymes - Busta broke out on the scene in 1991 with his group Leaders of the New School on Elektra Records and stayed with the label for his solo success, too, which included the albums The Coming and Anarchy. In 2001, he connected with J Records and Clive Davis for two solo runs, and in 2006, he dropped The Big Bang with Dr. Dre's Aftermath and Interscope Records. A stint at Motown followed and now the veteran MC is slated to drop his next album, E.L.E. 2 (Extinction Level Event 2), on Cash Money later this year. (Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for VH1 Save The Music)

Light Up - Between hitting the road with Justin Timberlake for the Legends of the Fall tour and his own Magna Carta Holy Grail jaunt, Hov spent much of the year under the bright lights of the stage. (Photo: Ollie Millington/WireImage)

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Jay Z - Roc-a-Fella Records signed a distribution deal with Def Jam for Jay Z's second album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, and he went on his No. 1 streak with the label until 2008, when he split to form his own label, Roc Nation (distributed through Atlantic).(Photo: Ollie Millington/WireImage)

Nas - Nas released eight projects via Columbia, including his first, Illmatic, and it's followup, Stillmatic, which included the unforgettable Jay Z dis record "Ether." In 2006, however, he pulled a surprise move on everyone when he signed to Def Jam — where Jay was just named president — and came out with the slaughter, Hip Hop Is Dead and 2012's Life Is Good.(Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

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Nas - Nas released eight projects via Columbia, including his first, Illmatic, and it's followup, Stillmatic, which included the unforgettable Jay Z dis record "Ether." In 2006, however, he pulled a surprise move on everyone when he signed to Def Jam — where Jay was just named president — and came out with the slaughter, Hip Hop Is Dead and 2012's Life Is Good.(Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

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8 Ball & MJG - 8 Ball & MJG came out hard in 1992 rocking with Suave House as the label went through two distribution deals with Relativity and Universal respectively. The Memphis duo then switched camps and rocked out with JCOR Entertainment and Interscope Records. In 2004, they joined Puff's Bad Boy regime and in 2010 released their last major project, Ten Toes Down, with T.I.'s Grand Hustle and E1.      (Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

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8 Ball & MJG - 8 Ball & MJG came out hard in 1992 rocking with Suave House as the label went through two distribution deals with Relativity and Universal respectively. The Memphis duo then switched camps and rocked out with JCOR Entertainment and Interscope Records. In 2004, they joined Puff's Bad Boy regime and in 2010 released their last major project, Ten Toes Down, with T.I.'s Grand Hustle and E1.      (Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey became a pop phenom under the guidance of Columbia Records and eventually signed a $100 million deal with Virgin/EMI, but suffered so severely from exhaustion that she was bought out of her contract just months later. She emerged again on Island Records with the bounce back album, The Emancipation of Mimi.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey became a pop phenom under the guidance of Columbia Records and eventually signed a $100 million deal with Virgin/EMI, but suffered so severely from exhaustion that she was bought out of her contract just months later. She emerged again on Island Records with the bounce back album, The Emancipation of Mimi.(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

"Conquer" - Hav and P "conquer like the British" over imperial horns. "Queens rap, we got more than a little of that," spits P. (Photo: B. Giacomazzo / Splash News)

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Mobb Deep - Mobb Deep kicked it off in 1993 on 4th & B'Way, but the label wasn't ready for the Queens duo. In 1995, they became Infamous with Loud Records and dropped four albums. Havoc and Prodigy then released Americaz Nightmare on Jive in 2004, but the Mob was too gully for the home of the boy bands. In 2006, they then connected with 50 Cent and joined G-Unit and Interscope Records, where they've been celebrating their 20-year anniversary and released their eighth studio album, The Infamous Mobb Deep.(Photo: B. Giacomazzo / Splash News)

Michael Jackson - The Jackson 5 first rose to popularity via a deal with Motown, under which Michael Jackson began releasing his solo albums. After a while, however, the brothers felt the label was stifling their creativity too much and they jumped ship for Eipc, where MJ went to record the rest of his catalogue, including Off the Wall, Thriller and Invincible.(Photo: EPA/JAN NIENHEYSEN /Landov)

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Michael Jackson - The Jackson 5 first rose to popularity via a deal with Motown, under which Michael Jackson began releasing his solo albums. After a while, however, the brothers felt the label was stifling their creativity too much and they jumped ship for Eipc, where MJ went to record the rest of his catalogue, including Off the Wall, Thriller and Invincible.(Photo: EPA/JAN NIENHEYSEN /Landov)

Ray Charles - Ray Charles left his first label home of Atlantic on a high note with his 1959 album, The Genius of Ray Charles, his first Top 40 entry. He was being courted by several big deals and ultimately chose ABC-Paramount, where he won a Grammy for "Georgia on My Mind."(Photo: REUTERS/Shaun Best )

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Ray Charles - Ray Charles left his first label home of Atlantic on a high note with his 1959 album, The Genius of Ray Charles, his first Top 40 entry. He was being courted by several big deals and ultimately chose ABC-Paramount, where he won a Grammy for "Georgia on My Mind."(Photo: REUTERS/Shaun Best )

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Cam'ron - Around the turn of the new millennium, Cam'ron demanded to be released from his Epic/Sony contract. Thereafter, he signed with Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam and ushered in the "Hey Ma" and "Oh Boy" era. Killa Season then followed as he hooked up with Asylum Records under Warner Music Group in 2006. (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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Cam'ron - Around the turn of the new millennium, Cam'ron demanded to be released from his Epic/Sony contract. Thereafter, he signed with Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam and ushered in the "Hey Ma" and "Oh Boy" era. Killa Season then followed as he hooked up with Asylum Records under Warner Music Group in 2006. (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

The LOX, New L.O.X. Order - Jadakiss and Styles P recently joked that the LOX reunion album was taking longer than Dre's Detox. Funny, but not funny. The album, which would mark the Yonkers trio's first since 1998, has supposedly been almost finished since 2007. The group blames "paperwork" and label politics.UPDATE: Jadakiss confirmed that the follow-up to We Are the Streets would be named We Are the Streets 2...three years ago. Thee are still no reports as of yet when the new album will be released. (Photo: Matthew Peyton/Getty Images)

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The LOX - After commercial success with Bad Boy Records, The LOX decided it was time for a change. The Yonkers trio wanted to sign to Ruff Ryders, the label that was already managing them, but Sean "Puffy" Combs wouldn't let them out of their contract. So, they went guerilla — sporting "Free The LOX" T-shirts and going on the radio, rallying fan support. Puff eventually gave in and they recorded We Are the Streets with a Swizzy-produced "Wild Out."(Photo: Matthew Peyton/Getty Images)

Snoop Dogg - Snoop D-O-gizzle was one of the voices that put Death Row on the map, starting straight away with his debut, Doggystyle. He maintained that way — as a hit-maker — through several deals including No Limit, Priority/Capitol/EMI, and Geffen/StarTrak/Interscope.(Photo: WENN.com)

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Snoop Dogg - Snoop D-O-gizzle was one of the voices that put Death Row on the map, starting straight away with his debut, Doggystyle. He maintained that way — as a hit-maker — through several deals including No Limit, Priority/Capitol/EMI, and Geffen/StarTrak/Interscope.(Photo: WENN.com)