Chung King Recording Studios, formerly known as The Chung King House Of Metal, is a New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 founded by John King with financial backing of the Etches brothers and engineer expertise of Steve Ett became a site of many classic punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 and hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 recordings. King started Secret Society Records in 1979 before building a studio in an old restaurant in Chinatown

Chinatown, Manhattan

Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...

 – Chung King, and during early work with Def Jam, Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin

Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...

 dubbed the studio the “Chung King House of Metal” – and therefore changed the name of the company in 1986.

The studio gained its reputation in the international recording industry by the early commercial success of artists such as Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C.

Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...

, Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....

, Nas

Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...

, and LL Cool J

LL Cool J

James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...

 back when rap and hip-hop were still a "rumble in the Bronx".
As a result of the affiliation of such hip hop artists and those who subsequently came to embrace Chung King, both established and upcoming, Chung King Studios came to be known as “The Abbey Road

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

 of Rap”. The studio is well established as the recording environment of choice for a number of top-tier artists and producers.

Today, Chung King Studios is a multi-million dollar facility located on Varick St. in SoHo

SoHo

SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...

 and is recognized as one of the most successful and respected audio recording and production facilities in the world. The studio has several times been nominated by Mix

Mix (magazine)

Mix magazine is a periodical billing itself as "the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry". The magazine is distributed in 94 countries....

magazine Tech Awards for Outstanding Acoustic Design and founder & owner John King has received RIAA Industry Awards and a SPARS award for recording excellence.

Chung King Studios has produced records that have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, generating over $5 billion in sales.