Joe and Schoolly D-manager Chris Schwartz started Ruffhouse Records in 1986 to capitalize on the wealth of rap talent from the Philly area.
In the late '80s Joe produced, engineered or mixed (for other labels) Schoolly, the 7A3, Steady B, Blackmale, Roxanne Shante and many others, establishing his rap rep. After foundering under an onerous distribution deal with Enigma Records in 1987 and 1988, Ruffhouse came to fruition when distribution was switched to Columbia.
The label's first release was Cheba's The Piper in 1990, and their first hit was Tim Dog's Fuck Compton (with Joe mixing) which topped the rap charts in 1991 and fueled the East/West rap wars.
The label came into its own with the release of the first Cypress Hill album, a double-platinum slice of THC-soaked L.A. Latino rap, exec-produced and mixed by Joe.
One of Ruffhouse's biggest hits came in 1992 with Kris Kross, a pair of Atlanta 12-year-olds under the wing of Jermaine Dupri (with Joe and Phil engineering and mixing, and Joe exec-producing), released the quadruple-platinum Totally Krossed Out (No.