Warner Music Group Corp.'s Independent Label Group (ILG) have announced an exclusive agreement with Minneapolis-based Rhymesayers Entertainment. Pioneers in the Twin Cities hip hop music scene, Rhymesayers was founded in 1995 by hip hop entrepreneurs Sean Daley and Brent Sayers and has grown to become one of the country's most successful independent hip-hop labels.

With an extensive roster of locally and nationally recognized artists including rising stars Atmosphere, MF DOOM, P.O.S., Mac Lethal and hip hop lyricists Brother Ali, whose second full-length album "The Undisputed Truth," hits stores on April 10th. This partnership represents the latest renowned independent label to join the ILG family, which already includes Ferret Music, hip hop’s Rap-a-lot and Swisha House/Swisha Blast Records.

Effective immediately, Rhymesayers will have the ability to utilize various aspects of ILG's extensive network of sales, promotion and marketing resources to further promote its stable of cutting-edge artists. WMG's Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) will primarily handle distribution with select titles being distributed by WEA Corp. Launched as a testament to WMG's commitment to supporting rising artists and entrepreneurs in the independent music community, ILG is comprised of WMG's Asylum Records, East West Records and Cordless Recordings.

In making the announcement, Todd Moscowitz, President of ILG and Asylum Records, said, "Sean Daley and Brent Sayers have been visionaries in the vibrant Twin Cities hip-hop music scene. We are excited to bring them and Rhymesayers into the ILG family to help them further develop and support their impressive roster of artists as well as collaborate on future projects."

Brent Sayers, President & Co-Founder of Rhymesayers Entertainment, added, "More than our desire to be independent, Rhymesayers first and foremost has always wanted to be in a position to help our artists reach their individual goals and aspirations. ILG understood that and has provided us with an extremely unique opportunity to do this. Under this new deal, we can remain as independent as we have ever been while utilizing individual select services as needed. Additionally, if desired and warranted, we have the potential to upstream artists to a WMG label while still playing an integral role in the artists'' career. Working with ILG and WMG will allow us to grow like never before and all of us here at Rhymesayers are extremely excited about this new partnership."