By L.D.Williams Jr.
On February 5, 2008 Warner Music submitted an offer of $25 million for the assets of the bankrupt Death Row Records. The catalogue features the work of some of hip hop's most influential artists some of whom include: DJ Quik, Tha Dogg Pound (Daz & Krupt), Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur. The $25 million dollar bid will cover the master copies of the recordings, merchandising rights and music videos.
Marion 'Suge' Knight, the label's CEO, has asked the US Bankruptcy court to approve the bidding procedure at a hearing in Los Angeles. Potential bidders are required to submit a bid by April 11th for an auction that will occur on April 24th. Any new bidders that want to purchase the catalogue must exceed Warner Brothers bid of $25 million by at least one million dollars. Final approval for the catalogue will be given on May 12th, 2008.
The bidding over Death Row Records remaining assets is one of the final chapters of the life of one of the most influential labels in hip hop history. With the remains of the label up for sale it is important to take a look back at the fabled record label its founding, its rise to the pinnacle of the hip hop industry, its downfall, and its overall impact on hip hop.
Death Row Records was founded in 1991 during the time when Dr. Dre was leaving Ruthless Records. Dr. Dre along with Marion 'Suge' Knight formed Death Row Records and went on to sign artists like Sam Sneed, Lady of Rage, Warren G, Snoop Dogg and several others. The label entered the mainstream scene with the song 'Deep Cover' that was released in 1992. Dr. Dre then began work on an album that is considered a classic by many in the hip hop community The Chronic. Dr. Dre's single ' Nuthin But A 'G' Thang" featured a then unknown rapper by the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg. The single was number one on the Rap/Hip Hop charts. In addition to being an influential single in the United States there was also a global impact, the single charted as a number three single in the United Kingdom.
During the recording of the seminal project two brothers the Stanley brothers claimed that Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight assaulted them with a pistol after using a telephone without permission. The allegations by the Stanley brothers were one of Knight's early brushes with the law, it landed Knight in court and as a result Knight received seven years probation.
The provision of probation did not slow down Suge Knight. In 1993 he attended a Jack the Rapper convention. While he was at the convention he met up with Luke Campbell and Luke Records. The two camps Suge Knight and his entourage had been exchanging heated words with Luke Campbell and his Luke Records entourage. The feud extended through interviews and songs. When the two camps finally met up at the Jack the Rapper convention witnesses say that they saw Knight brandishing a weapon in clear view walking down the street. During another convention in New Orleans Knight was charged for inciting a riot in New Orleans that resulted in the injury of seven law enforcement officials.
In late 1993 Death Row Records released Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle. The album was one of the first albums to enter the Billboard Music charts at number 1. The album sold over 800,000 copies in its first week. The first week sales were the most by a debuting artist until 50 Cent eclipsed him a decade later.
The year of 1994 was just as good Death Row Records. In 1994 Death Row Records was responsible for the release of two multi platinum movie soundtracks Above the Rim and Murder was the Case. With critically and commercially successful albums by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg as well as two multi platinum soundtracks Above the Rim and Murder was the Case Death Row was soon the subject for criticism. As Death Row prepared the release of Tha Dogg Pound's debut album titled Doggfood. Several media outlets lashed out against Death Row for glorification of violence and the negative stigmatism of gangsta rap that Death Row promoted. The outcry from the media helmed by congressperson C. Delores Tucker forced Time Warner to sell its interest in Interscope to MCA Music Entertainment.
The media criticism and shift in business partners did little to derail Death Row Records. In 1995 the only concern of Suge Knight was a fledling record company owner named Sean Combs. Sean Combs is the dynamo that is responsible for Bad Boy Records. In 1994 he was a driving force behind the release of projects by his artists Craig Mack and Christopher 'Notorious B.I.G.' Wallace. The albums were not only critical and commercial successes but they help garrner fan interest in the East coast hip hop scene something that had not been done since Suge Knight came on the scene with his West coast sound. Knight was not a fan of the emergence of Bad Boy and publicly berated him at the 1995 Source award when he said: "Any artist out there that want to be an artist and stay a star, and don't have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos.all on the records.dancing, come to Death Row" these along with several other seminal events helped fuel what is know know as the East Coast/West Coast war.
In 1995 Suge Knight would make a move that would permanently shift the landscape of hip hop and fuel his war with burgeoning hip hop producer Sean 'Puffy' Combs' when he signed Tupac Shakur.
Despite the success of Death Row's sustained success and Tupac debut effort Dr. Dre, the label's in house producer became disillusioned with Knight's bad reputation and his thuggish tactics. Dr Dre cited an engineer being brutally beaten for rewinding a tape back to far as a seminal reason to leave. Dr. Dre's departure would cause Tupac and Dr. Dre's relationship to deteriorate.
Dr. Dre's leaving Death Row Records would be the beginning of the end of the golden era of Death Row Records. On September 7th, 1996 Suge Knight and Tupac Shakur attended the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the night Suge Knight a Mobb Piru Blood affiliate, Tupac and a member of the Death Row entourage engaged in a fight with Orlando Anderson a member of the Southside Crips of Compton. Later on during the same night Tupac Shakur was shot and he died seven days later as a result of internal bleeding. His official cause of death was repertory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in connection with the multiple gunshot wounds.
Losing his biggest and most bankable star wasn't the end of peril for Suge Knight. Knight ended up in court as a result of the altercation in Las Vegas. Judge Czuleger called Knight a threat to the public and as a result of his involvement in the fight in Las Vegas he was sentenced to nine years in prison.
. In 2001 Knight was released from prison after a five add a half year stint. Almost immediately Knight went back to work and tried to relaunch Death Row with a new generation of artists. Some of the artits that Knight signed to relaunch Death Row's second generation were: Top Dogg, Soopafly, Tha Realest, Eastwood, and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes who performed under the moniker N.I.N.A.
The album Too Gangsta For Radio was released with little fanfare and commercial success. In 2002, Death Row was dealt another blow when Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes was killed in a car crash before she could release anything under Tha Row (The new name that Death Row adopted upon Knight's release from prison) imprint. Left Eye's death coupled with a lack of new material by Tha Row's new generation stalled the fortunes of the once dominant label. A Tupac post humus album called Until The End of Time and Tha Dogg Pound's album 2002were some of the very few bright spots that occurred for Tha Row between Knight's release from prison.
In December of 2002 Knight was arrested and jailed yet again for associating with gang members. The following year in 2003 Knight was arrested and jailed yet again when he allegedly assaulted a parking lot attendant. In addition to his personal legal woes Crooked I became vocally unhappy and sought his release from the label. He was not alone as Krupt and Danny Boy left afterward because of numerous delays releasing their projects.
In 2005 Krupt released his album Against tha Grain amid controversy. Koch (who at this point distributes all of Tha Row's albums) allegedly altered the tracklist much to the chagrin of Knight and Tha Row records. The alteration of the album caused Knight to protest the album's release by encouraging fans not to purchase the album. The botched album was not the only problem for Knight as he was arrested after being pulled over after making an illegal U-turn and law enforcement officials found marijuana in the vehicle he was driving. He was released shortly thereafter but the black cloud of controversy did not stop following Knight. In August of 2005 he was shot in the leg in Miami when attending a party that was in honor of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. music label.
The botched LP, legal woes and bullet wounds would not prove to be as costly as when Knight lost a $107 million judgment to Lydia Harris who claimed to have helped start the label with her husband Michael Harris. Lydia Harris claimed that her husband put up $1.5 million to start the label in exchange for a 50 percent stake in the label. After Knight failed to appear numerous times a default judgment was awarded.
In 2006 Suge Knight was in court yet again only this time he was filing for bankruptcy protection. The company was being operated by Nielson while Knight acted as a debtor in possession. The Internal Revenue Service, Koch Records, and Interscope Records were some of the unsecured creditors that were listed during the bankruptcy proceedings. While the company was under bankruptcy protection Knight would not lose his company or the masters.
The year 2007 came and went for Suge Knight and his label which ultimately led the remnants of the once powerhouse being fought for in bankruptcy court. When the label was formed it was Knight's goal to make it the Motown of the 90s and for a brief time he achieved his goal helming the production of albums that are now seminal in hip hop history. Just as there is the good in Death Row's history there is the bad Suge Knight's numerous disputes with his peers in the industry, his numerous incarcerations and the lack of exposure that was given to his labels second generation. It does not matter whether you choose to remember the good, bad or ugly of Death Row Records it is certain that Death Row Records time in hip hop will be unforgettable and its impact on the culture will be undeniable.
