Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.

Interscope was founded in 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Communications' Ted Field with financial support from Atlantic Records (which owned a 53% stock in the label). Initially, it was distributed by the Atlantic Records subsidiary East West Records America. A&R Executive Joseph Jozwiak and producer Beau Hill were also part of the original founding team.

The original focus of the label was on hip-hop and urban music, but by the mid 90's its range began to expand, to where its roster would be as wide ranging to include the industrial rock artist Nine Inch Nails (Nothing Records), shock rocker Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit, Helmet, No Doubt and later the Latin artist Kings Of Flow in a unique partnership with Los Angeles based indie Latin label.

Following UMG's acquisition of PolyGram in 1998, Geffen Records and A&M Records were merged into Interscope. In 2004, DreamWorks Records was merged into the Interscope-Geffen-A&M group bringing over artists including Blink-182, Papa Roach, Rise Against, Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse, AFI, The All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World and Rufus Wainwright (the artists were divided between Interscope and Geffen, with most going to the latter). In 2005 Interscope launched a new imprint called Cherrytree Records, for emerging artists; beginning with group The Lovemakers and later including Far East Movement, Feist, Flipsyde, Tokio Hotel, and Robyn. Lady Gaga is with Interscope, but no longer with Cherrytree as of 2011^[update].LMFAO is also part of the Interscope Records Major Hits.

James "Jimmy" Iovine (last name pronounced Eye-o-Veen; born March 11, 1953) is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.

Born in Brooklyn, Iovine began his career as a recording engineer in the mid-1970s, working with Raspberries, John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen. He went on to produce albums for U2 (Rattle & Hum), Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Stevie Nicks, Golden Earring, Simple Minds, Dire Straits, Flame (featuring Marge Raymond, Jimmy Crespo, Bob Leone, and others), and Patti Smith. Iovine established Interscope Records in 1991 with the release of Gerardo's Mo' Ritmo. It went on to become Interscope-Geffen-A&M following Universal's acquisition of PolyGram when Iovine was named co-chairman; in 2001, he became chairman.

He is credited with having given Eminem's demo tape to Dr. Dre, who signed him to his Aftermath label. In 2002, Iovine co-produced the hit Eminem movie 8 Mile and in 2004, he and Paul Rosenberg signed a first look deal with Paramount Pictures and MTV Films for their Interscope/Shady/Aftermath banner. Iovine co-produced the first film under the deal, Get Rich or Die Tryin', starring 50 Cent. In 2003, he was co-executive producer of Enrique Iglesias's album Seven. In January 2008, Iovine, Dr. Dre and Monster Cable released Beats by Dr. Dre high-performance headphones. Iovine is also an executive producer with LeBron James and Maverick Carter of the documentary More Than A Game, which was released in the fall of 2009.

Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Game. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats. As of 2011, Dr. Dre is ranked as the third richest figure in the American hip hop scene by Forbes with a net worth of $250 million.

Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut, The Chronic, released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993 and to win a Grammy Award for the single "Let Me Ride". In 1996, he left Death Row to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Under that label, he produced a compilation album titled Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath in 1996, and released a solo album titled 2001 in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.

Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is a Multiracial American rapper and member of the rap group G-Unit. Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he dropped out of high school in 1998. G-Unit released two albums, Beg for Mercy in 2003 and T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight) in 2008. Banks released his first solo album The Hunger for More in 2004 with the top ten hit single "On Fire". He followed with Rotten Apple in 2006 and left Interscope Records 2009. In 2010 G-Unit signed with EMI to distribute Banks third studio album H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2), which was released on November 22, 2010.

Banks was born in New Carrollton, Maryland and raised in Queens, New York City; he is of mixed Puerto Rican and African American descent. His father spent most of Lloyd's childhood in prison, leaving his mother to raise him and his two siblings. Lloyd attended August Martin High School but dropped out at age 16. For his stage name, he took his great, great-grandfather's name Banks, which was passed on by his uncles who also shared it.

Natalia Keery-Fisher (born 15 August 1986) is an English singer-songwriter, actress, and director who performs under the stage name Natalia Kills. She released her debut album, Perfectionist, in 2011.

Kills was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to an Afro-Jamaican father and Uruguayan mother, where she attended Bradford Girls' Grammar School. In addition, she studied classical drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She stated in a post on her blog on social website, MySpace that she grew up flying between London and Florida, where she had relatives, resulting in a mixed American and English accent.

Kills made her acting debut at age 9 in 1995 in New Voices. She had a regular role as Sima on the TV sitcom All About Me and also played Amy Franks in the BBC's long-running radio drama The Archers. She began writing songs at 14, some of which were featured in films and television shows, including Bring It On 4, Sleepover, Just My Luck, and Entourage. After finishing with The Archers in 2003, Kills began pursuing a music career and attributes her musical breakthrough to winning a Radio 1 MC Battle in Leeds under the name "Candy Rapper" in 2003. She signed to the UK record company Adventures in Music and released her first single "Don't Play Nice" under the name Verbalicious in February 2005. Kills' told W that her childhood nickname from her mother was "Verbal" because she talked and sang a lot. She adopted the name and variations of it as her stage name at some points during her career.