4th & B'way Records (pronounced and spelled out completely as
Fourth and Broadway Records in the
UK) was a
US-based subsidiary of
Island Records that specialized in street-oriented music such as
hip-hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagship label of the Island Trading Company, the independent-distribution parent company of Island's other
record labels that operated in the US. However, 4th & B'way was not distributed through major-label channels—the flagship Island label was distributed by
Atlantic Records at that time—until the label and distribution company were acquired by
PolyGram Records in 1989, when Island Trading became a unit of PolyGram Group Distribution and was renamed
Independent Label Sales (ILS). It was also one of several US-based Island labels that were named after nearby
New York City streets when Island's US headquarters were located at 14 East 4th Street in
Manhattan, the same building that held the legendary
Greenwich Village branch of
Tower Records, and also nearby at 400 Lafayette Street. When Island moved its headquarters to the Worldwide Plaza Building at 825 8th Avenue in 1995, where PolyGram's US headquarters were also located, the empty 4th Street offices became the headquarters of
V2 Records.