In February 2022, Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row from MNRK Music Group with the goal of reviving the record company.
Death Row Records is now formally under Snoop Dogg's leadership. The rapper's acquisition of the label was disclosed in February 2022. Given that his career was launched by Death Row Records in the 1990s with the release of his debut album, "Doggystyle," it's a heartfelt move.
“I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value,” Snoop Dogg said. “It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members." "This is an extremely meaningful moment for me.”
How did Snoop Dogg acquire Death Row Records?
Snoop Dogg revealed on February 9, 2022, that he would purchase the Death Row Records trademarks from MNRK Music Group in advance of the release of his subsequent album and his participation in the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.
Although the label's catalog was not immediately included in the sale, it was reported that he was close to a deal to buy his and other Death Row artists' catalogs from MNRK. Snoop Dogg's third studio album was released on Death Row Records on February 11, 2022, after a 26-year absence from the label.
Originally, the rights to Tupac Shakur's and Dr. Dre's albums were not included in Snoop Dogg's acquisition of Death Row Records. Snoop Dogg announced in a March 4, 2022 interview with Tidal that he had purchased the rights to every album previously released on Death Row Records, including his own Doggystyle and Dr. Dre's “The Chronic.”
After the interview, Dr. Dre's attorney, Howard King, denied the "false reports" two days later, claiming the rapper still has complete control over “The Chronic,” which returned to streaming services on February 1, 2023. Death Row Records made the announcement that it would launch its own streaming service on April 18, 2022, paying its artists higher royalties than the major music streaming services.
Snoop Dogg gave former Apple Music Global Creative Director Larry Jackson's Gamma Music Company a share of the Death Row catalog in December 2022. Snoop Dogg announced on February 12, 2023, that SoundOn, a music distribution company, would collaborate with Death Row to bring their back catalog to TikTok. On March 9, 2023, the full Death Row discography will be available on all streaming services.
Who are the founders of Death Row Records?
The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey established the independent record company Death Row Records in the United States in 1991. In the 1990s, the West Coast-based artists Dr. Dre (The Chronic), Snoop Dogg (Doggystyle, Tha Doggfather), Tha Dogg Pound (Dogg Food), and 2Pac (All Eyez on Me, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory), among others, released hip-hop albums that went multi-platinum. Death Row's annual revenue peaked at over $100 million.
After the passing of its leading artist, 2Pac, Suge Knight's imprisonment, and the departures of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in the late 1990s, the label started to decline. Death Row was involved in controversies, lawsuits, and acts of violence by its artists and associates despite its financial success.
Death Row Records declared bankruptcy in 2006, and on January 15, 2009, WIDEawake Entertainment purchased it at auction for $18 million. After declaring bankruptcy in 2012, the WIDEawake label's owner sold it to Entertainment One, which later became a part of Hasbro until April 2021, when eOne Music was acquired by The Blackstone Group. In February 2022, Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row from MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne).
Where is Suge Knight now?
Suge Knight (Marion Hugh Knight Jr.) is currently incarcerated for a 28-year period at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, California. He won't be eligible for parole until October 2034 while the sentence is scheduled to end in 2040.
He was involved in a hit-and-run incident in Crompton, California, in January 2015. The incident resulted in one man's death and another's injury. For this crime, he is currently serving a 28-year sentence in prison.
Suge has faced controversy on occasion despite his successes. He was allegedly involved in the killings of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. He wasn't, however, charged or found guilty.
For attacking two rappers in a Hollywood recording studio in 1992, Marion received five years of probation in 1995. The following year, he was given a nine-year sentence for breaking his probation, but on August 6, 2001, he was released early.
The music producer was nonetheless detained once more in Las Vegas in 2012 for a number of unfulfilled warrants related to moving violations, and marijuana was found in his car by the authorities.
Feud with Dr Dre
In 2016, Knight alleged that Dr. Dre hired a hitman to try and kill him. He claimed that Dre wanted him dead as a result of their lifetime management agreement, which gave him the right to 30% of Dre's earnings from the entertainment industry.
On the weekend of the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, which just so happened to be when he was shot multiple times, the alleged hit was planned to occur. 30% of Dre's $1 billion profit from the sale of Beats to Apple, or $300 million, was the amount Knight sued Dre for in the lawsuit.
Involvement in Tupac Shakur’s Murder
In 1996, on September 7th, Tupac Shakur was shot. Six days later, at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, he passed away. In 2017, Knight alleged that Death Row employee Reggie Wright Jr. and his ex-wife Sharita tried to kill him but instead accidentally killed Tupac.
The LA Times later connected the shooting to a Compton gang after Sharita denied the accusation. BIG, who was Tupac's main rival, also passed away in a similar incident on March 9, 1997. A gang group was implicated in Biggie's death, but the issue has never been resolved.
Snoop Dogg and other former members of Death Row have also suggested that Suge may have been responsible for both rappers' deaths. They also believed that Biggie's case involved murderous revenge.
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