Barry Hankerson formed Blackground in 1993, as a result of unsuccessful efforts to sign his niece Aaliyah to big record labels.

Using his connection with singer R. Kelly, who he managed at the time, Hankerson obtained a contract with Jive to distribute the release of Aaliyah's debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number.

After Aaliyah and R. Kelly parted ways, Jive and Blackground agreed to terminate their contract in 1996 and Hankerson signed a lucrative distribution deal with Craig Kallman at Atlantic.

[10] Starting in 2003, Blackground's focus shifted towards pop and rock, signing predominantly white artists beginning with New England tween Joanna "JoJo" Levesque.

Her self-titled debut album JoJo was released the following year, entering the Billboard 200 chart at number four and being certified platinum by the RIAA.

[11] During this time JoJo received support from her friend Taylor Swift, who referred to the Blackground situation as "fucked up" years before facing a similar battle with her label over music ownership.

In 2006 Blackground released the debut album Soundtrack to Your Life by former O-Town member Ashley Parker Angel, preceded by its lead single "Let U Go".

The song was featured on the Universal Republic Records A&R Sampler for March 2007 and was added to Top 40 and Hot AC playlists across the country.

Gurlz went on a promotional tour appearing at radio stations and events including the launch of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock before breaking up in 2008.

[15] In 2010, Blackground partnered with former Universal Motown Senior Vice President of Promotion Gary Marella to distribute his new label Roma Records.

Later that year, Blackground signed a new artist Crystal Nicole better known as Cri$tyle, who began her career as a songwriter and has written songs for Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Keke Palmer and many more.

In December 2016, Complex wrote a detailed article on Blackground, Barry Hankerson and his role in the absence of Aaliyah's music.

The latest studio album release from the label was Timbaland's Shock Value II in 2009, with singles: "Morning After Dark", "Say Something", "Carry Out" and "If We Ever Meet Again".

On August 25, 2021, Barry Hankerson revealed in an interview with Big Tigger for WVEE that a fourth (and likely final) studio album, titled Unstoppable, would be released in "a matter of weeks".

The album will feature Drake, Snoop Dogg, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Future and use previously unreleased vocals from before Aaliyah's passing.

In October 2021, Billboard revealed through an article that Blackground Records' first signee, Autumn Marini, would be releasing her debut single "Drive" on November 12, 2021.