In this Social Media, internet empowered age it’s never been easier to run your own label. But the flip side of that truth is it’s never been harder to make yourself stand out, to make your label rise above the competition, to make your passion a career.
Which is why the inexorable rise and rise of Sleazy Deep, Sleazy G and offshoots Ghetto and Sleazy Tech – is all the more impressive.
A one-man labour of love, London DJ and producer Rob Made has turned Sleazy Deep from an ultra-cool indie label to a fast-rising dance music juggernaut, firing out Ibiza anthems (2016’s ‘A Peaceful Crowd,’) Hype Edit destroying reworks (K&K’s Double 99 take on ‘Rip Groove’) and picking up support from A-list DJs like Sonny Fodera, Sam Divine and Danny Tenaglia on a regular basis.
Launched in 2011, Sleazy Deep quickly built up a powerful roster of talents, including Finnebassen, Vanilla Ace, Pete Oak while their Sleazy G imprint, and sub-label Ghetto, signed up big-hitting names like Amine Edge & DANCE, Sirus Hood, Shiba San and Tapesh.
To date, the Sleazy empire has released 1108 tracks over the past 6 years, a whopping 184 tracks a year, equivalent to a single every 2 days. The label quickly started making noise across the charts – Sleazy Deep was the 2nd best selling nu-disco label in 2014, while Sleazy G claimed 2 Beatport No1s, and at one point, held 19 singles in the Top 100. Further accolades came with the release of Miami Sleaze in 2015, a 25 track compilation that shot to the top of the Beatport album charts.
That success spread into the DJ community, where Sleazy tracks and EPs were played by a dazzling cast of DJ talent: everyone from Solomun, Karmon, Sharam Jey, Kolombo, MANIK, Groove Armada, Seth Troxler, Miguel Campbell, Maceo Plex, Lee Foss and DJ T lent their support to the one-man label.
Throughout the musical journey, the standards have remained remarkably high, as Rob’s A&R skills have pinpointed up-coming talent with laser-like precision: a case in point are K&K, signed to Sleazy Deep sub-label Sleazy Tech. Their 2016 release ‘A Peaceful Crowd’ dominated charts and clubs alike, finding its way into virtually every DJ’s USB. And then there’s the signing of Ryan Blyth: his Sleazy Deep cross-over track ‘Eleven’ launched him into the stratosphere where he’s remained following the huge Spotify success of follow up track ‘Show Me.’
While Rob’s focus is inevitably on his homegrown labels, he’s had his own fair share of success on his Sleazy mission, with Solomun loudly championing his tracks ‘The Way I See’ and ‘Made You Love Me’ which were nearly signed to Diynamic. With Rob’s home built studio finished, expect to hear a lot more from him – and his white-hot new side project – later this year.
With label parties in the pipeline, and more on-point releases through the ever-expanding Sleazy family, it’s no surprise that Mixmag called him a ‘serious player in house circles.” Sleazy Deep might be a one man label, but they’ve launched the careers of dozens of huge dance music stars in a short space of time: an incredible success story, by anyone’s definition.
Written by Andy Buchan (Mixmag/DJ Mag writer)
