T.W.Is.M. RECORDS
NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and his partner Leonard Armato founded T.W.Is.M. (The World Is Mine) Records in 1993. In 1997, the label made a three-year joint venture agreement with A&M Records. T.W.Is.M. would relocate its offices to the A&M Records lot and A&M would market and distribute T.W.Is.M. product.
The label's first project was a rap album by O'Neal. The first single was "The Way It's Goin' Down (TWIsM for Life)." It was released to rap radio on July 27, 1998 and to urban/crossover on August 10, 1998. The single was supported by a video and personal appearances by Shaquille O'Neal in 12 cities in the East and Midwest.
On September 15, 1998, O'Neal released his album Respect. It was promoted with 75,000 promotional magnets with varying content. His second single, "Make This a Night to Remember" was released a few weeks later.
In late 1998, A&M's owner PolyGram merged with Universal Music Group. T.W.Is.M. moved the label into its fourth distribution agreement in five years.
TOP ARTISTS ON BILLBOARD R&B CHARTS BY YEAR
| YEAR | ALBUMS | SINGLES |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Shaquille O'Neal (1 Top 10) |
SOURCES:
A&M Reinforces R&B Efforts in Deal with Shaquille O'Neal. Craig Rosen. Billboard, February 14, 1998.
Executive Turntable. Billboard, March 14, 1998.
Shaq Signs Deal with A&M Records, His Twism Label Finds a Home. Variety.
Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits 1942-2004. New York: Billboard Books, 2006.
Whitburn, Joel. Top R&B Albums 1965-1998, Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc., 1999.
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