LOS ANGELES — Chris Manak walked into his Highland Park bar Gold Line cradling a formidable lizard.
The DJ, producer and founder of the longtime L.A. record label Stones Throw, who performs as Peanut Butter Wolf, was looking after his daughter’s bearded dragon, Sweet Pea, for the afternoon. The scaly beast looked curious as it walked atop the reams of vinyl at Manak’s bar, on the ground floor of Stones Throw’s offices, which take up half a block on Figueroa Avenue.
Stones Throw, like the creature climbing up his shirt, is a resilient survivor. Founded in 1996 as an indie hip-hop label, the imprint has stretched to all corners of funk, rock and rap music, with records like Madvillain’s “Madvillainy” that influenced generations of artists including Tyler, the Creator and Ye. It earned plaudits from Questlove and Snoop Dogg, won a Grammy for progressive R&B album, and hung on as the record business imploded and rebuilt in the streaming era…