Death Row Records is an American
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
that was founded in 1991 by
The D.O.C.,
Dr. Dre,
Suge Knight, and
Dick Griffey
Richard Gilbert Griffey (November 16, 1938 – September 24, 2010) was an American record producer and music promoter who founded SOLAR Records, an acronym for "Sound of Los Angeles Records". The label played a major role in developing a funk ...
. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by
West Coast-based artists such as
Dr. Dre (''
The Chronic''),
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
(''
Doggystyle'') and
2Pac (''
All Eyez on Me'') during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row made over US $100 million annually.
By the late 1990s, the label began to decline after the death of its star artist, 2Pac, imprisonment of Suge Knight, and the departures of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. It was embroiled in controversies, lawsuits, and violence by its artists and associates, despite enjoying financial success.
Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18 million on January 15, 2009. The owner of WIDEawake went bankrupt in 2012; the label was sold to
Entertainment One, and it then became a division of
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
until April 2021, when
eOne Music was sold to
the Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson, Peter Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Stephen Schwarzman, who h ...
. Snoop Dogg bought Death Row from
MNRK Music Group in February 2022, intending to revive the label.
History
1987–1992: Origins and the first generation
In 1987,
N.W.A's Dr. Dre signed to
Eazy-E
Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. Eazy-E is often re ...
's
Ruthless Records. As head of production at the label, Dr. Dre produced a large number of Ruthless projects, many of them successful; feeling the pressures of having to produce so many acts and feeling he was underpaid, Dr. Dre became frustrated with Ruthless. After the departure of
Ice Cube in 1989 over financial disagreements with
Jerry Heller,
Suge Knight and
the D.O.C. went over the books with a lawyer. Convinced that Jerry Heller and Eazy-E were dishonest, they approached Dr. Dre about forming a label with them, away from Heller and Eazy-E. Allegedly using strong-arm tactics, Suge Knight was able to procure contracts from Eazy-E for the D.O.C., Dr. Dre,
Jewell, and
Michel'le.
Dr. Dre and Suge Knight along with partners the D.O.C. and
Dick Griffey
Richard Gilbert Griffey (November 16, 1938 – September 24, 2010) was an American record producer and music promoter who founded SOLAR Records, an acronym for "Sound of Los Angeles Records". The label played a major role in developing a funk ...
began the process of starting a record label and music partnership in anticipation of Dr. Dre's departure from Ruthless. Although the name of their new music venture was originally called Future Shock, both the D.O.C and Suge Knight's business associate
Michael "Harry-O" Harris have claimed to have suggested changing the name of the new label to 'Def Row' (a play on
Def Jam
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The ...
), but rights to the name were already owned by
the Unknown DJ, who also happened to be one of Dre's former music associates in the 1980s. Unknown stated in an interview that he created the name "Def Row" for a potential deal to start another record label under
Morgan Creek. However he later sold the naming rights to Dr. Dre and his partners in July 1991 and by 1992 the name changed to its eventual title of Death Row Records. Knight approached Michael "Harry-O" Harris, a businessman imprisoned on drug and attempted murder charges. Through David Kenner, an attorney handling Harris's appeal, Harry-O set up Godfather Entertainment, a parent company for the newly christened Death Row.
Knight approached
Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle), using management connections with Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, claiming Johnson had produced and co-written the song "
Ice Ice Baby", and had not received royalties for it.
After consulting with Alex Roberts, Knight and two bodyguards arrived at
The Palm in West
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, where Van Winkle was eating. After shoving Van Winkle's bodyguards aside, Knight sat down in front of Van Winkle, staring at him before asking "How you doin'?"
Similar incidents were repeated on several occasions, including alleged attempts to lure Vanilla Ice into a van filled with
Bloods and
Crips
The Crips are a primarily African-American alliance of street gangs that are based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips ...
, before Knight showed up at Vanilla Ice's hotel suite on the 15th floor of the Bel Age Hotel, accompanied by Johnson and a member of the
Los Angeles Raiders. According to Vanilla Ice, Knight took him out on the balcony by himself, and implied he would throw Vanilla Ice off unless he signed the rights to the song over to Knight; Van Winkle's money helped fund Death Row.
Death Row was initially located at the intersection of Westwood Blvd and Wilshire Blvd, later to be relocated to the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and San Vicente Blvd.
1992–1995: ''The Chronic'', ''Doggystyle'', and other releases
With the help of Kenner, Knight began signing young,
inner-city California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
-based artists and arranged for Death Row Records to contribute to the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
for the 1992 film, ''
Deep Cover''. The single, "
Deep Cover", established Dr. Dre as a solo artist and a young
Snoop Doggy Dogg as his protégé. Work soon began on ''
The Chronic'', Dr. Dre's debut solo album, which heavily featured Snoop and the rest of the label's core roster.
In 1992,
Jimmy Iovine
James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...
's
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
negotiated a $10-million deal with
Dr. Dre and
Marion "Suge" Knight to finance and distribute Death Row. The meeting and negotiations were initiated by McClain, who met Dre when he was recording his ''The Chronic.'' Original plans had called for the album to be released through Sony, but Sony passed on ''The Chronic'' due to Death Row's controversial nature and Dr. Dre's contractual status. After hearing the album, Iovine agreed to release it, although doing so required a complicated distribution agreement with
Priority Records
Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Silkk the Shocker, Jay-Z, Paris, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung, ...
, Dre's label as a member of
N.W.A. ''The Chronic'' was released in December 1992.
The album, which was released on December 15 and peaked at number 3 on the
Billboard Top 200, went on to sell 5.7 million records worldwide, popularizing the distinctive style of
G-Funk
G-funk, short for gangsta funk, (or funk rap) is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-F ...
.
[Jon Pareles (November 14, 1999)]
Music; Still Tough, Still Authentic. Still Relevant?
''The New York Times''. Retrieved March 18, 2008. The Death Row roster consisted of Dre, Snoop,
Daz,
Kurupt,
Nate Dogg,
The Lady of Rage,
The D.O.C.,
Jewell,
RBX,
Soopafly and many more.
After Snoop Dogg found solo success through his features on The Chronic, Dre began producing
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
's debut album ''
Doggystyle'' throughout 1993. Snoop's debut was released on November 23, 1993 due to public demand and high pressure from retailers. Though unfinished,
[''Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account: An Insider's Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop'' (Williams/Alexander, 2008) ] it outperformed ''The Chronic'' at
Quadruple Platinum, and garnered similarly glowing reviews. Soon after the release of the album, Snoop Dogg was charged with
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
, fueling the debate that politicians
C. Delores Tucker and vice presidential candidate
Dan Quayle
James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American retired politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...
sparked by criticizing
gangsta rap
Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...
for being against American values, degrading to black women, and encouraging violence towards police officers. Throughout 1994, Death Row Records released the soundtracks ''
Above the Rim'' and ''
Murder Was the Case''.
On November 22, 1994, at the offices of The Brotherhood Crusade in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, Suge Knight and several artists from Death Row such as
Tha Dogg Pound
Tha Dogg Pound is an American hip-hop duo composed of West Coast rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were among the first acts to sign to Death Row Records in 1992.
Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albums starting in 1998; they left th ...
as well as
DJ Quik distributed nearly 2,000 turkeys to the public. Death Row also donated turkeys the following year as well.
On March 13, 1995, Death Row Records hosted a private party at the
El Rey Theatre, where
Kelly Jamerson, a
Rolling 60's Crip, was severely beaten by several
Bloods, who were allegedly from Suge Knight's inner circle. As a result of his injuries, Jamerson died the next day at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
1995–1996: Signing 2Pac, Bad Boy Records feud, Dr. Dre's departure
After an August visit to see 2Pac at
Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York state, Suge traveled southward to New York City to join Death Row's entourage to the 2nd Annual Source Awards ceremony.
Already reputed for strongarm tactics on the Los Angeles rap scene, after giving a brief comment of support for Shakur,
Suge used his brief stage time mainly to disparage
Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, CEO of
Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...
, the label then leading New York rap scene. Knight criticized Combs for his habit of ad-libbing on his artists' music as well as making numerous cameo appearances in his artists' music videos.
Suge then invited artists seeking the spotlight for themselves to join Death Row.
Eventually, Puff recalled that to preempt severe retaliation from his Bad Boy crew, he had promptly confronted Suge, whose reply—that he had meant
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...
, of
So So Def Recordings, in Atlanta—was politic enough to deescalate the conflict.
Still, among the fans, the previously diffuse
rivalry between America's two mainstream rap scenes had instantly flared already.
And while in New York, Suge visited
Uptown Records, where Puff, under its founder
Andre Harrell, had started in the music business through an
internship
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...
.
[Sullivan 2003]
noting ''Newsweek'' report
Apparently without paying Uptown, Suge obtained the releases of Puff's prime Uptown recruits
Jodeci, its producer
DeVante Swing, and
Mary J. Blige, all then signing with Suge's management company.
On September 24, 1995, at Jermaine Dupri's birthday party at the Platinum House nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia, Bad Boy's entourage entered a heated dispute with Suge and Suge's friend Jai Hassan-Jamal "Big Jake" Robles, a Campanella Park
Piru Bloods gang member and Death Row bodyguard.
According to eyewitnesses, including a Fulton County sheriff working there as a nightclub bouncer, Puff had heatedly disputed with Suge inside the club.
Several minutes later, outside the club, Puff's childhood friend and own bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones was involved in a heated altercation with others that ultimately led to Robles being fatally shot while entering a Limousine.
The attorneys of Puff and Jones both denied any involvement by their clients, while Puff's lawyer added that Puff had not even been with his bodyguard that night. Over 20 years later, the case remains officially unresolved, and Jones himself was fatally shot in Atlanta in November 2003 during an altercation with the
Black Mafia Family.
Yet immediately and persistently, Suge blamed Puff, cementing the enmity between the two bosses, whose two record labels dominated the rap genre's two mainstream centers.
In October 1995, Knight visited 2Pac in prison again and posted $1.4 million bond. 2Pac began work on his Death Row album, kicking off his tenure by insulting
the Notorious B.I.G.,
Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Puff Daddy (the founder of
Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...
), whom he accused of setting him up to be robbed and shot at Quad Studios on November 30, 1994, as well as
Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo formed in Queens, New York (state), New York in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy (rapper), Prodigy and Havoc (musician), Havoc, they are considered to be among the pr ...
,
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
,
A Tribe Called Quest,
De La Soul,
Jimmy Henchman,
the Fugees and
Nas.
Tha Dogg Pound
Tha Dogg Pound is an American hip-hop duo composed of West Coast rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger. They were among the first acts to sign to Death Row Records in 1992.
Kurupt and Daz went on to release solo albums starting in 1998; they left th ...
's debut album, ''Dogg Food'', continued the label's streak of commercial successes; its members – rappers
Kurupt and
Daz Dillinger
Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...
– then joined Snoop in ridiculing New York rappers with their single "
New York, New York
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...
", featuring Snoop Dogg. The video, set in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, New York, was also heightened when the set was fired upon in a drive-by. After the shooting, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound filmed scenes kicking down a building in New York. The single provoked a response called '"
L.A., L.A." by East Coast rappers
Capone-N-Noreaga,
Tragedy Khadafi
Percy Lee Chapman (born August 13, 1971), known by his stage name Tragedy Khadafi (formerly Intelligent Hoodlum), is an American rapper and record producer. Hailing from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Queens, New York City,Brown, Marisa. ...
, and Mobb Deep.
Another report was that
Sam Sneed was beaten in one of the label's meetings by a group of Death Row affiliates, led by Suge Knight and 2Pac. According to
Daz Dillinger
Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...
, the reason this happened was that Sam Sneed had too many East Coast rappers in his "Lady Heroin" music video. Disillusioned with the direction of Death Row, artists
RBX and the D.O.C. chose to leave, after which Suge Knight exercised tighter control over the rest of the roster.
''Dogg Food'' was not produced by Dr. Dre but was mixed by Dr. Dre, a further testament to Dre's dwindling involvement with Death Row. Dr. Dre also grew tired of Knight's violence within the label, although he contributed toward two tracks on 2Pac's ''All Eyez on Me''. The rest of the tracks on the album, however, were mostly produced by Daz Dillinger and
Johnny J, despite Dr. Dre being nominally titled as Executive Producer. 2Pac's behavior reportedly became erratic as he continued his verbal wars with the Notorious B.I.G., Bad Boy Records, Puff Daddy, Mobb Deep, and Prodigy, including many violent confrontations with many of those rappers at some points. On March 22, 1996, due to the infighting, Dr. Dre officially left Death Row Records to found
Aftermath, which provoked 2Pac to turn against Dr. Dre.
Suge Knight's relationship with
MC Hammer dates back to 1988. With the success of Hammer's 1994 album, ''
The Funky Headhunter'', Hammer signed with Death Row in 1995, along with his close friend, Tupac.
The label did not release the album of M.C. Hammer's music (titled ''
Too Tight''), although he did release versions of some tracks on his next album. However, Hammer did record tracks with Shakur and others, most notably the song "
Too Late Playa" (along with
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American Rapping, rapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influe ...
and
Danny Boy). After the death of Tupac in 1996, MC Hammer left the label.
1996–2001: Tupac Shakur's murder, Suge Knight's incarceration, and decline
Formerly a united front of artists, Death Row's roster fractured into separate camps. Daz, now head producer, worked on Snoop Dogg's second album ''
Tha Doggfather'', which featured
Bad Azz and Techniec of the
LBC Crew,
Warren G
Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...
and
Nate Dogg of his group
213 and Tha Dogg Pound. 2Pac shut himself into the studio with Hurt-M-Badd and Big "D", crafting ''
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory'' - unlike ''All Eyez on Me'', it was devoid of high-profile Death Row guest appearances, instead showcasing
The Outlawz and Bad Azz, and had a much darker tone. Suge Knight was now barely reachable by his staff, and employees were assaulted as punishment for not following orders.
In New York City for the
MTV Video Music Awards, 2Pac was interviewed on Death Row East, an East Coast subsidiary branch of Death Row. It was also during this time that Alex Roberts and David Kenner had been seen at Suge Knight's Vegas Club 662, in discussion about the possibility of having Roberts' New York underworld connections help pave the way for Death Row East. The record label was supposed to be run by
Eric B. and Big D with
Craig Mack being the first artist signed to the label. On September 7, 1996, Suge Knight and 2Pac were caught on surveillance camera at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas attacking gang member
Orlando Anderson, who was a member of the South Side
Compton Crips street gang. Later that night, 2Pac was shot four times in a
drive-by shooting in the front seat of Suge Knight's
BMW 750iL waiting at a red
traffic light
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...
at
crossroads; en route to Knight's Las Vegas Club 662;
despite living six days in critical condition, 2Pac died on September 13, 1996. He was 25 years old.
2Pac's "
The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory" was released in November 1996, just one week before Snoop Dogg's "
Tha Doggfather", which both achieved
Multi-Platinum sales. The following months, Death Row released ''
Death Row Greatest Hits'', ''
Christmas on Death Row'', ''
Gridlock'd'', and ''
Gang Related''.
Nate Dogg's album, ''
G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1'' was supposed to be released on January 14, 1997, but got shelved due to issues at Death Row Records, despite getting released independently as a double disc the following year.
On February 28, Suge Knight was convicted of probation violation and sentenced to nine years in prison,
causing
Interscope
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
to drop their distribution deal with the label.
Suge Knight's control over the label diminished, as
Nate Dogg was able to leave, followed by Snoop Dogg and Kurupt.
The Lady of Rage left after the release of her solo album
Necessary Roughness to pursue an acting career, so did
Michel'le with
Hung Jury
A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again.
Thi ...
. Daz Dillinger departed in 1999 after the release of his debut album
Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back, but produced for Big C-Style, and he later formed
D.P.G. Recordz. During Knight's incarceration, Death Row released ''
Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000'' and ''
Too Gangsta for Radio'', which both received negative reviews. Both albums had the label's new signees,
Tha Realest
Jevon Jones (born October 11, 1973) is an American Rapping, rapper better known by his stage name Tha Realest, and formerly Tenkamenin The Vigilante (or simply Tenkamenin). His debut album, ''Witness Tha Realest'', was released on July 14, 2009, ...
and
YGD Tha Top Dogg, who were criticized for imitating the styles, looks, and vocals of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. Also, ''
Dead Man Walkin''', a Snoop Dogg compilation of unreleased recordings, was released without his authorization.
2001–2005: Knight's release, return to prison, second generation
Maintaining artistic control from behind bars, Suge Knight launched smear campaigns against his former artists, most notably
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
, death threats were exchanged, and Snoop Dogg responded by publicly dissing Suge Knight, leaving the label, and later releasing a
diss track named "
Pimp Slapp'd", critically acclaimed by
music magazine
A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and culture in music cognition, music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with ...
''Complex''. The label supported itself with releases pulled from vaults—most successfully various posthumous 2Pac albums, along with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg re-releases. He signed new talent, including
Crooked I, who had been lighting up the Californian underground with his rhyming ability, particularly the Wake Up Show with Sway & King Tech.
On August 6, 2001, Suge Knight was released from prison.
Despite bad blood, Kurupt would again sign with Suge Knight in exchange for the position of Vice President, which sparked a feud between himself and Daz Dillinger and Snoop Dogg. He began work on ''
Against tha Grain''; his verbal feud with his former partners continued from 2002 to 2005. The same year, Knight decided to enter the UK market with Death Row Records operating as an independent record label in conjunction with the Ritz Music Group,
a company known for its success with Irish country music artists such as
Daniel O'Donnell The joint-venture signed British R&B singer Mark Morrison to a five-year deal with Death Row Records UK, with a single called "Thank God It's Friday" and an album called ''
Innocent Man'' scheduled for a 2002 release. However, the single did not chart in the UK and the album ended up being released by footballer Kevin Campbell's record label 2 Wikid, before being re-issued in 2006 by Mona Records.
Left Eye, member of the R&B girl group
TLC signed with Death Row after finishing her solo deal with
Arista who released her first album ''
Supernova
A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...
'' in 2001. At this time, Death Row changed into Tha Row Records. Lopes joined to record a second solo album under the pseudonym
N.I.N.A. (New Identity Not Applicable), while also working on TLC's new album ''
3D''. N.I.N.A. was canceled after her death in April 2002. The album was leaked online in 2011.
After promoting his new talent from prison, directing a campaign against his former artists and exacerbating the conflict between Daz Dillinger, Snoop Dogg and Kurupt, Suge had still yet to release any albums by his new artists. After Kurupt's second departure, ''Against tha Grain'' was released; soon after, citing dissatisfaction with serving five years on the label and seeing no release, Rapper Crooked I left Death Row, eventually filing a gag order on Knight to prevent him from interfering with him finding a new deal.
Petey Pablo, who had signed in 2005 and started the never-released album ''Same Eyez on Me'', left along with rapper Tha Realest in 2006.
2006–2022: Bankruptcy, closure, WIDEawake, Hasbro
On April 4, 2006, both Death Row Records and Suge Knight simultaneously filed for
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
bankruptcy protection following the appointment of a Receiver to acquire and auction off assets of both Death Row Records and Suge Knight in the
civil case filed by Lydia Harris. Among those listed as unsecured creditors to Death Row include the Harrises ($107 million), the
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
($6.9 million),
Koch Records ($3.4 million),
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
($2.5 million) and a number of artists previously signed to the label. Suge Knight eventually lost control of Death Row Records and his personal assets when Chapter 11 Trustees took over both cases.
On January 15, 2009, Death Row Records was successfully auctioned for $18 million to
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
-based WIDEawake Entertainment Group that was founded in 2008 by Lara Lavi, with financing from New Solutions Financial Corporation. On January 25, 2009, a public auction was held for everything found in Death Row's office after it filed for bankruptcy. Of note was the Death Row electric chair which went for US$2,500. Lavi was removed from WIDEawake and Robert Thompson-So of New Solutions took over day-to-day operations. Lavi then sued her former company WIDEawake, along with New Solutions and Thompson-So in
New York County Court on November 19, 2009.
WIDEawake issued previously unreleased material from such artists as Kurupt, Danny Boy,
Crooked I,
Sam Sneed,
LBC Crew, Jewell and
O.F.T.B. Dr. Dre's, ''The Chronic Re-Lit'' was released on September 1, 2009 and contained ''The Chronic''
remastered with seven unreleased songs featuring Snoop Dogg, CPO, Kurupt, Jewell, and a bonus DVD containing a Dr. Dre interview, a Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg mini movie, and television commercials for the original ''The Chronic''. The album also contained a scene from an unfinished feature film entitled, SAIGON, CA, which was to launch WIDEawake's film studio. ''Death Row The Lost Sessions Vol 1'' by Snoop Dogg was released October 13, 2009 and contained 15 previously unreleased tracks, including some produced by Dr. Dre. ''Death Row: The Ultimate Collection'' was released on November 24 and was a special box set containing three audio CDs (one greatest hits disc and two discs of unreleased content), one DVD of music videos including the unreleased Dr. Dre music video "Puffin' On Blunts".
On December 5, 2012, Jonathan Hay, a former Death Row
publicist reported through
HipHopDX
''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
that New Solutions Financial Corporation, the Canadian company that owned WIDEawake Death Row, had gone
bankrupt and sold both the label and catalog to a publicly held company in a deal that would be closed on December 10. In 2013,
Entertainment One purchased the rights to the Death Row catalog. New Solutions Financial Corporation was eventually exposed as an alleged
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...
.
On August 23, 2019, American toy company
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
announced a $4 billion purchase of
eOne, making them the owners of Death Row Records. In April 2021, Hasbro and Entertainment One announced it would sell-off
eOne Music to
The Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson, Peter Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Stephen Schwarzman, who h ...
, which its acquisition was completed in June 2021.
2022–present: Revival through Snoop Dogg and third generation
On February 9, 2022, ahead of the release of his next album and his appearance in the
Super Bowl LVI halftime show, Snoop Dogg announced that he would acquire the rights to the Death Row Records trademarks from MNRK Music Group (the renamed eOne Music). The sale did not immediately include rights to the label's catalog, but it was reported that he was nearing a deal to acquire the catalogs of himself and other Death Row artists from MNRK. On February 11, 2022, Snoop Dogg released his
third studio album on Death Row Records, marking a 26-year lapse from the label after
Tha Doggfather album.
Snoop Dogg's purchase of Death Row Records did not include the rights to Tupac or Dr. Dre's albums originally which those rights have been reverted back to
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
. On March 4, 2022, in an interview with
Tidal, Snoop Dogg stated he acquired the rights to all the albums previously released on Death Row Records, including his debut studio album ''Doggystyle'' and Dr. Dre's ''The Chronic.'' Despite the interview, Dr. Dre's lawyer, Howard King, denied the "false reports" two days later, stating that Dre still retained total control of ''The Chronic'', which came back to streaming services on February 1, 2023. On April 18, 2022, it was announced that Death Row Records would have its own streaming service, which pays higher royalties to its artists than main music streaming services.
In December 2022, Snoop Dogg sold a stake of Death Row's catalogue to former
Apple Music
Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
's Global Creative Director
Larry Jackson's music label
Gamma
Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...
. During the onset of 2023, Jane Handcocks's ''World of Women'' and
October London's ''The Rebirth of Marvin'' were released. On February 12, 2023, Snoop Dogg announced that Death Row's catalogue would return to
TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
via association with music distribution company SoundOn. Death Row's catalogue returned to all music streaming services on March 9, 2023.
Gang violence
Death Row Records has been referred to as "the most controversial record label in history", due to Suge Knight's practice of hiring gang members and the gang-related violence which plagued the record label. Knight, who was a member of the
Mob Piru Bloods, hired gang members from his set, as well as other sets, including the
Fruit Town Piru and Lueders Park Piru.
There have been several murders committed by gang members affiliated with Death Row Records. Furthermore, many of the Bloods who worked for the record label would eventually be murdered.
Murder of William "Rat" Ratcliffe
In 1995, an aspiring rapper and member of the
Bounty Hunter Bloods named William "Rat" Ratcliffe was pressuring Suge Knight to sign him to Death Row Records. After Ratcliffe confronted Knight with 10 other Bounty Hunter Bloods, Knight ordered
Wardell "Poochie" Fouse, who was a fellow Mob Piru member, to kill Ratcliffe.
Murder of the Notorious B.I.G.
After the murder of Tupac Shakur, Knight was incarcerated due to probation violations. Knight held
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...
, the CEO of
Bad Boy Records
Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...
, responsible for the death of Shakur and sought revenge.
Through his then-girlfriend Theresa Swann, the incarcerated Knight contacted Wardell Fouse and hired him to kill The Notorious B.I.G. Swann was given $25,000, of which $13,000 would go to Fouse.
During the initial investigation into Wallace's murder, Fouse was not a suspect, as detective
Russell Poole's prime suspects were the LAPD officer
David Mack and Mack's friend Amir Muhammed (Harry Billups). After Poole resigned from the department in 1999, the case stalled. After the case was reopened in 2006, the lead detective, Greg Kading, concluded that Wardell Fouse was the shooter.
As Fouse was murdered in 2003, no charges were pressed against him.
Feud between the Mob Piru and Fruit Town Piru
By the early 2000s, a rivalry had developed between the Mob Piru Bloods and the Fruit Town Piru Bloods, resulting in the deaths of several Mob Pirus associated with Death Row Records, including (but not limited to):
*
Alton "Buntry" McDonald, who was shot dead on April 3, 2002, allegedly by George Williams, who also went by the nicknames "G" or "Ponytail".
*
Henry "Hendog" Smith, who designed the logo for Death Row Records.
Smith was shot dead on October 16, 2002. Smith was killed by a member of the Denver Lanes Bloods.
*
Wardell "Poochie" Fouse, who was shot dead on July 24, 2003.
This feud started when George "G" Williams, who worked as a bodyguard for Suge Knight, was fired after he failed to return two Death Row Records cars which he borrowed. After Williams was fired, he became a close associate of Rodrick Cardale "Lil Rod" Reed, a Fruit Town Piru member. The pair are alleged to be behind the murders of the Mob Piru Bloods from Death Row Records.
Roster
Current artists
Former artists
Former producers
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
See also
*
Death Row Records artists
References
Further reading
* ''Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records'', Ronin Ro, Doubleday, 1998, 384 pages,
* ''Labyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implications of Death Row Records' Suge'' by Randall Sullivan, Atlantic Monthly Press, April 2, 2002, 384 pages,
* ''
The Killing of Tupac Shakur'', by
Cathy Scott, Huntington Press, 2002 (2nd ed), 235 pages,
* ''Welcome to Death Row'', Director: S. Leigh Savidge & Jeff Scheftel, (Video) 2001
External links
YouTube channel
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American companies established in 1991
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Dr. Dre
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