Death Row Records is a record label that was founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, and was once home to some of West Coast hip hop's most well-known rappers, including 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound (Kurupt and Daz Dillinger).
Death Row has sold nearly 100 million albums worldwide, and generated close to $750 million in revenue. The label was also once home to The D.O.C., Jewell, RBX, The Lady of Rage, Warren G, Nate Dogg, K-Solo, Michel'le, Danny Boy, DJ Quik, Petey Pablo, Tha Realest, and Crooked I. In addition, the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC was signed on and working on an album when she died in a car accident in Honduras.
The rise and fall of the company was chronicled in filmaker S. Leigh Savidge's 2001 film Welcome To Death Row.
Origin/Leaving Ruthless Records
In the late '80's, producer Andre "Dr. Dre" Young was a member of the gangsta rap group N.W.A, signed to fellow member Eric "Eazy-E" Wright's Ruthless Records. As head of production at the label, Dre produced a large number of Ruthless projects, many of them high-selling; feeling the pressures of having to produce so many acts, Dre became frustrated with Ruthless[3]. After the departure of Ice Cube over financial disagreements with Heller, artist and friend The D.O.C. and friend Suge Knight went over the books with a lawyer. Convinced that Heller was dishonest, they approached Young about forming a label with them, away from Heller and Eazy-E. Allegedly using strong-arm tactics, Knight was able to procure contracts from Eazy for The D.O.C., Dr. Dre and singer Michel'le.
Knight approached successful rapper Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, using management connections with rapper Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, claiming that Johnson had written and produced the song "Ice Ice Baby", and had not received credit or royalties for the song. Knight and two bodyguards arrived at The Palm in West Hollywood, where Van Winkle was eating. After shoving Van Winkle's bodyguards aside, Knight and his own bodyguards sat down in front of Van Winkle, staring at him before finally asking "How you doin'?" Similar incidents were repeated on several occasions before Knight showed up at Van Winkle's hotel suite on the fifteenth floor of the Bel Age Hotel, accompanied by Johnson and a member of the Oakland Raiders. According to Van Winkle, Knight took him out on the balcony by himself, and implied that he would throw Van Winkle off unless he signed the rights to the song over to Knight. At one time, Death Row Records was located at the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and San Vicente Blvd. Knight also approached Michael "Harry-O" Harris, a businessman incarcerated on drug and attempted murder charges. Through David Kenner, a criminal attorney handling Harris's appeal, Suge and Harry-O set up Godfather Entertainment, a parent company for the newly-christened Death Row Records.
International success & controversy
The Chronic
With Kenner's legal expertise as incentive, Knight began signing young inner-city California artists and arranged for Death Row to handle thesoundtrack for the 1992 Laurence Fishburne/Jeff Goldblum film Deep Cover. The single, "Deep Cover", established Dre as a solo artist and a young Snoop "Doggy" Dogg as his protege. Work soon began on The Chronic, Dre's solo album, which heavily featured Snoop and the rest of the label's core roster. Its singles, "Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" and "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang", saw Dre and Snoop responding to disses by Eazy-E and other artists at Ruthless over Dre's leaving the label and N.W.A.
The album went on to sell five million records, establishing the west coast in hip-hop and popularizing the distinctive style of g-funk. Continuing to release albums boycotting Dre, Eazy-E claimed the success of the album and its singles netted him nearly as much money as it did Young, though the album became Death Row's first landmark release and solidified the status of the label and its artists.
Doggystyle
After finding solo success, Young began crafting Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle; the process took two years, and Snoop's debut was finally released in 1993 due to public demand and high pressure from retailers. Though unfinished, it outdid The Chronic at four times platinum, and garnered similarly glowing reviews. Soon after the release of the album, controversy began to hit the label; Snoop was charged with murder, fueling the debate that politicians C. Delores Tucker and then-presidential candidate Dan Quayle sparked by denouncing gangsta rap as against American values, encouraging violence towards police officers, and degrading to black women. They used the music and video images of Death Row Records as examples.
Suge Knight's rise & Dr. Dre's departure
Signing 2Pac and Bad Boy feud
By 1995, the label began to flood with Knight's cronies—friends and gang members fresh out of jail, as well as off-duty police officers later implicated in the Rampart scandal, working as security. Emboldened, Knight began taking more control of the label and further sought the spotlight, while Dr. Dre receded into the background, shying away from the increasingly violent atmosphere and Suge's newfound volatility. C. Delores Tucker's pressure to conform extended to a joint proposal by herself and a Warner executive to set up a record label with Knight to put out content-controlled rap music, which Knight billed as a breach of contract, resulting in a switch in distribution from Time Warner toInterscope. At the '95 Source Awards, the Death Row roster's performance garnered a poor reception from the mainly east coast audience; Knight also made comments pertaining to Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Puff Daddy, sparking friction between the two labels (and, later, the two entire coasts). Soon Knight would sign highly controversial rapper Tupac "2Pac" Shakur, incarcerated on a second-degree rape conviction, after agreeing to post Shakur's bail. At the same time, a rift between Michael and Lydia Harris and Suge and David Kenner began to grow, with the latter pair denying Harris's involvement in the company and refusing to take his phone calls.
Tupac immediately began work on his Death Row album, kicking off his tenure by insulting Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy, who he accused of setting him up to be robbed and shot earlier that year, as well as Bad Boy Entertainment, Mobb Deep and Nas. Tha Dogg Pound's debut album, Dogg Food, continued the label's streak of commercial successes; its members, rappers Kurupt and Daz Dillinger, joined Shakur in ridiculing New York rappers with their single "New York, New York," featuring Snoop Dogg. The video, set in New York City, was also heightened when the set was fired upon in a driveby after Notorious B.I.G. appeared on radio telling listeners "2pac and Dogg Pound were in town making a music video dissing New York" which was not the case. After the shooting fueled by Biggie, Snoop and Dogg Pound decided to take a new turn with the video production and filmed new scenes kicking down building in New York. Disillusioned with the direction of Death Row, artists RBX and The D.O.C. chose to leave, after which Knight exercised tighter control over the rest of the roster. Dogg Food was not produced by Dr. Dre but was mixed by Dre, a further testament to Young's dwindling involvement with his own label. Though he contributed two tracks to 2Pac's All Eyez on Me, it was mostly produced by Daz and Johnny J. Shakur's behavior reportedly became erratic as he continued verbal wars with Mobb Deep, Nas, Biggie, The Fugees and Jay-Z; in response to supposed sleights by Dre, Shakur also turned on the label's co-founder and former head producer. Shakur felt everyone at the label was working with the exception of Dre who Shakur claims as stealing producing credits. In 1996, Dre left Death Row to form Aftermath Entertainment.
Tupac Shakur's murder & Suge Knight's incarceration
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 his LBC Crew, Warren G and Nate Dogg of his group 213 and Kurupt and Daz of Tha Dogg Pound. 2Pac shut himself into the studio with little-known producers 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 Shakur's The Outlawz and Bad Azz. Knight was now barely reachable by his staff, and employees were routinely assaulted as punishment for not following orders.
During a trip to Las Vegas for a Mike Tyson fight, Shakur was interviewed on the possibility of Death Row East, an east coast branch of the record label. Though names from Big Daddy Kane and the Wu-Tang Clan to Eric B. and K-Solo were mentioned, the label would never be formed; three days later, Tupac, Knight and others were caught on camera assailing gang member Orlando Anderson who was a Southside Crip (which provided security for Bad Boy Entertainment artists). Later that night, Shakur was shot several times while in a car with Suge headed to Knight's Vegas club 662; despite living for several days in critical condition, the rapper died on September 13, 1996. Shakur's "Makaveli 7 Day Theory" was released in November just one week before Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Tha Doggfather". Although both albums went to platinum sales in their first weeks on the shelves the impact on Death Row had started to mount; Knight was convicted of parole violation and sentenced to nine years' prison time, causing Interscope to drop its distribution deal with the label. His control over the label diminished, Nate Dogg was able to leave, followed by Snoop Dogg and Kurupt; after the release of his own and the Lady of Rage's solo albums, Daz and Rage followed suit. Daz would later return in 1999 with Big C-Style to form Dogg Pound Records only to leave again in early 2001. Kurupt returned to the label iN 2002 upon Suge Knight's release from prison.
Death Row in the 2000s
2nd generation exodus
Maintaining artistic control from behind bars, Knight launched smear campaigns against several of his former artists, most notably Snoop Dogg. The label supported itself with releases pulled from vaults—most successfully various posthumous 2Pac albums, along with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg re-releases and then-unreleased compilation records such as Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 and Snoop Dogg: Dead Man Walkin. He signed new talent, including Crooked I, Left Eye of TLC, Top Dogg and Tha Realest, picking up affiliates Spider Loc and Eastwood. He also appointed former Ruthless Records artist Cold 187um head producer, to oversee the 2Pac album Until the End of Time and unauthorized Dogg Pound release 2002. 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 former friends Daz and Snoop Dogg. Mentoring Crooked I, he began work on Against tha Grain; his verbal feud with his former partners continued from 2002 to 2005.
After promoting his new talent for years from prison, directing a campaign against his former artists and exacerbating the conflict between Daz and Kurupt, Suge had still yet to release any albums by his living artists. In 2004, Spider Loc signed a deal with G-Unit and enjoined a verbal bout with rapper The Game, leaving Knight and Death Row behind. 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, Crooked I also left Death Row, eventually filing a gag order on Knight to prevent the mogul's interference with his 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.
Legal troubles
Further legal troubles included Suge Knight's possible implication in the 1997 murder of The Notorious B.I.G. in Los Angeles, California. A federal informant provided testimony that Los Angeles police officers David Mack and Rafael Perez--both implicated in the Rampart scandal—worked as security for Death Row when off-duty, and that they and Suge Knight had conspired to have Biggie killed after a party the rapper attended on the night of his murder. However, testifying in a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by B.I.G.'s mother and widow, he went back on his testimony, claiming it as hearsay. In the same case, a second prison informant named Kenny Boagni claimed that Mack and Perez were indeed on the label's payroll at the time. The case was eventually declared a mistrial, and criminal investigation reopened, though a second suit has thus far brought no claims against Knight directly.
Knight was also investigated in 2005 for paying a man to punch Dr. Dre as he accepted a lifetime achievement award at the 2004 Vibe Awards; though he denies the claim, the assailant apparently told Santa Monica police that Knight offered him $5,000 for the job. A lawsuit was brought against him by Lydia Harris, resulting in a court order to pay her $107 million in profits owed after she'd been forced from the label. The judgment resulted in Knight declaring bankruptcy in 2006, after turning down Warner Music Group's offer to buy at $25 million, and made to auction off all assets of the label.
'06 also saw Dr. Dre bring a lawsuit against the label demanding rights to The Chronic, by reason of unpaid royalties. By 2008, it was reported separately that Susan Berg, president of Global Music Group, bid on the label at auction for $24 million, and that Warner had topped her bid by reiterating its $25 million dollar offer, but neither sale went through; questions regarding Knight's financial status surfaced when he suedKanye West over a shooting/robbery at the rapper's birthday party.
On January 15 of 2009, Death Row Records was successfully auctioned to entertainment development company WIDEawake Entertainment Group, Inc. for $18 million. WIDEawake bought the asset and immediately assigned it to WIDEawake Deathrow because it was an American asset and belonged in the USA. New owner Lara Lavi, CEO of WIDEawake, expressed her intent to set up an online destination store of Death Row material, as well as renewing relationships with former Death Row artists.
On January 25 of 2009, an auction was held for everything found in the Death Row Records office after the company filed for bankruptcy. Of note was the Death Row Records electric chair which went for $2500.
WIDEAwake ownership
Acquisition by WIDEawake
WIDEawake Deathrow Entertainment LLC a Delaware company was formed as soon as the Death Row Assets were fully paid for in early 2009. WIDEawake Entertainment Group Inc. – the Canadian company which is funded by New Solutions Capital in Ontario, Canada assigned the entire Death Row Asset to the Delaware company. The Assignment documents are on file with the New York Supreme Court. The Delaware company has two members US citizen, Lara Lavi who is the managing member, and CEO/President and Canadian, Ron Ovenden who has a minority share in the US company and is also the Chairman and CEO of WIDEawake’s lender New Solutions Capital. Litigation continues in both the USA and Canada between Lavi and Ovenden over control of the Company because of New Solutions Capital’s efforts to interfere with Lavi’s ability to manage her company.
At stake in the latest court battles is all the content included in the acquisition is a vast catalog with songs and albums such as "Hit 'Em Up 2" and other material by 2Pac and fellow deceased Death Row artist Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes under the name N.I.N.A. (New Idenity Non Applicable), alternate versions and cut songs from Dr. Dre's The Chronic, and even Gospel and R&B. Lavi has met with Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound andCrooked I, and—working with the artists, the two plan to release multimedia box-sets of music, artwork, and DVDs from Death Row Records, and are planning to use some of the revenue generated to benefit Afeni Shakur's Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts. In a recent interview Lara Lavi indicated that they plan on releasing Shakur's music in its original form. Lavi explained in a recent allhiphop.com interview that Death Row is hoping to release a new 2pac album in 2010 to coincide with their birthday celebrations in honour of the late rapper. Now with all the litigation as New Solutions attempts to remove Lavi from her own company.
In late 2009, Robert Thompson-So was made the new CEO of WIDEawake Death Row Records. Unknown in the entertainment world, new-comer Thompson-So, hails from the Canadian financial services and advisory field, with no previous experience in the music production business. According to his biography, Thompson-So holds, "...the designation of Canadian Investment Manager (CIM), and is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI). He is also a Certified Hedge Fund Specialist (CHFS)". During this time, John Payne, the former VP of WIDEawake, was promoted to President of the company.
On February 11, 2010, Dr. Dre (née Andre Young) sued WIDEawake Death Row Records in federal court, alleging non-payment of royalties, unauthorized release of "The Chronic Re-Lit" album, and violation of his digital distribution rights to "The Chronic" album . On February 17, 2010 the Canadian court Justice Campbell heard testimony from Lavi and Ovenden's lawyers. Several weeks later Justice Campbell issued a State of Reasons and ordered the parties to trial on the issue of what is the actual equity split between the parties regarding ownership of Wideawake Death Row Entertainment LLC. Thus Lavi won February by convincing the court that it was not a slam dunk that New Solutions chairman Ron Ovenden had majority ownership and was therefore allowed to remove her, assign $20million dollars worth of debt onto Death row and take over the company. Elusive Global Perceptional Youth branding expert Lev Rolando was asked by the courts of what was the real worth of publishing -assets of Death Row Records it is said through Attorneys worth was over 2.5 Billion Dollars in sales which makes the Assets on level Unimaginable. Lev Rolando was rumored to sale and literally give way his shares and assets of any Death Row records properties.
Since Lavi's departure, Death Row is a steadily distressed asset. The new releases in 2010 are not selling as New SOlutions pocketed $5million in the advances Lavi raised with E-1 and the publisher Evergreen and refused to spend money on marketing the Death Row brand or product. Case in point according to Canadian Court public records, New Solutions would not allow more than a $25,000 marketing spend for all of North America for the October 2009 album release Snoop Doggy Dog, the Lost Sessions Vol 1.
Death Row fans are waiting to see if Lavi will attempt to buy out her partner or walk away. A trial is not scheduled until late spring, early summer at the latest in Toronto, Ontario Canada.
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