Big Crown Records is an independent label started in 2016 in Brooklyn by Leon Michels & Danny Akalepse. Home of El Michels Affair, Lady Wray, Bobby Oroza, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Brainstory, & many more…
Big Crown Records is a New York record label founded in 2016 by Leon Michels*** and Danny Akalepse who set out to have a label thats only boundaries are defined by taste not genre. Home to Lady Wray, El Michels Affair, Bobby Oroza, Brainstory, Holy Hive, Surprise Chef, The Shacks, Liam Bailey, and many more, all of their artists can’t be found in the same aisle of a record store but collectively they define the Big Crown Sound 👑
Leon Michels and Danny Akalepse are summing many super releases at the helm of the 6 year’s old Big Crown Records. While some are sharp, reserved for insiders, others are aimed at a wider audience. Lady Wray belongs to this category, her first album releasing the productions of Michels under his new colors. As one soul magazine chronicled: « Gabe Roth will have had Sharon Jones, Tom Brenneck, Charles Bradley; with Nicole Wray, Leon Michels has found his artistic connection. The jewel in his Great Crown. »
*** Leon Marcus Michels is an American music producer, record executive, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader of the eclectic soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of Truth & Soul Records and Big Crown Records. He is a founding member of soul and funk bands Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Menahan Street Band, and Lee Fields & The Expressions, and has played with Charles Bradley as well as Wu-Tang Clan. A frequent collaborator of Dan Auerbach, Michels was a touring member of The Black Keys and co-founded The Arcs. As a producer, Michels has produced records for artists such as Lee Fields, Norah Jones, Chicano Batman, Nicole Wray, and Hanni El Khatib.