[1] Its compilation album, Uptown Is Kickin' It (1986)[2] included the label's signees Heavy D & The Boyz and was distributed by MCA Records.
The Heavy D & The Boyz' debut album, Living Large (1987) was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and found moderate mainstream success.
Combs worked with newly signed acts Jodeci, Father MC, and Mary J. Blige,[1] who altogether placed a number of singles on the R&B chart.
In 1991, Harrell was executive producer of the comedy film Strictly Business, starring Tommy Davidson and Halle Berry, as well as its soundtrack.
[1] The following year, Harrell and MCA reached a multimedia deal that eventuated in development of FOX's hit television series New York Undercover—a police drama originally named Uptown Undercover—which aired from 1994 to 1998.
Uptown promptly suffered, yet Combs still executive produced Mary J. Blige's second album, My Life, released December 1994, soon certified 3x Multi-Platinum in the U.S. Increasingly dissatisfied, Mary J. Blige and Jodeci both signed to West Coast Management, the firm of Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row, based in Los Angeles.
Prominent acts like Mary J. Blige and Jodeci signed directly to Uptown's distribution label, MCA.