The pioneer of techno music in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Jay Denham started Black Nation Records in 1992. Denham previously gained critical acclaim for his legendary "In Synch EP" as Vice on Fragile Records (the sub-label of Detroit's renowned Transmat label). During this same time period in the late '80s and early '90s, he also recorded material for 430 West, did remix work for Kevin Saunderson at KMS, and appeared on the famed "Techno II" Detroit Techno compilation on Network Records. After a living in Detroit for three years, Denham returned to his hometown of Kalamazoo in 1992 and started Black Nation Records that same year. At first, initial distribution troubles delayed the release of the first record until 1995. In early 1996, his "Day of Atonement" and "Playerhater" releases as Blackman and Vice, respectively, caught the notice of techno fans, and Black Nation quickly gained notoriety for it's high quality releases. In addition to Black Nation, he also released records on such famed techno labels as Tresor, Sativae, Fragmented, Cloned Vinyl, Fragile, and Cosmic. In 1998, he released his first album "Escape to the Black Planet" on Germany's Disko B records. This was followed by 1999's "Synthesized Society" album, also released on Disko B. The year 2000 saw the debut of Slavery 2000 and Sector 616, Jay's new sublabels for Black Nation.