Devin The Dude Leaves Rap-A-Lot Records

After over 14 years on one of Hip Hop's longest lasting, most acclaimed labels, Texas-based emcee/producer and deejay Devin the Dude opted not to renew his contract with Rap-A-Lot Records today. Since 1993, Devin has released material with his group Da Odd Squad, Scarface's Facemob and four solo albums, including the most recent 2007 release Waiting To Inhale, which HipHopDX considered one of the 25 Top Albums of the year [click here]. The artists' biggest moments in Hip Hop have arguably been in the featured role, notably on risque sex anthems such as Dr. Dre's "Fuck You" and Scarface's "Fuck Faces."

"Rap-A-Lot has been my family for a long time and there's no bad blood at all. But change is a part of life and I feel like this is the time to make a change and focus more on the business side of my career, I've had a nice run so I'd like to develop artists and give some of these other cats out here a platform to shine," Devin said in a statement through his publicist.

Other notable artists to leave the label in the past include The Geto Boys' Willie D, Bushwick Bill and Big Mike, as well as latter acts such as Hussein Fatal, Salt and The Luniz.

Devin recently independently released his project with Odd Squad members and others as The Coughee Brothaz, in the form of Smoke Sessions Volume 1, a soon-to-be nationally distributed disc from the BCD Music Group previously available on Devin's Myspace page [click here].