SUGE Knight Interview (Hella Tight)

[ZILLA THA GOODFELLA]

Hey yall, This interview waz his last one before he got outta jail. It's hella tight, check it out:


*You've been locked up for four years. I hear you're looking good and in great shape. How are you doing?

Suge Knight: Probably one of the best things about being incarcerated was, I got to get back in shape pretty well. Another thing about prison: when you go to prison, you find out who your real friends are.


*I’m sure you had a chance to hear about the Puff Daddy trial. What do you think about Puffy's situation and what he's going through right now?

To be honest with you, I don't want to see Puff Daddy go to prison. He's not a friend of mine, but I definitely don't want to see him go to prison. One thing about prison is that it's not made for everybody. Some people do crimes and deserve to come to prison, but prison can either make you stronger and stronger or it can make you weaker. He'll be the victim.


*Will there be tentions between Deathrow and Bad Boy after you come out of prison?

No, I don't see any reason for that. Basically we've grown up and now we're men. Puffy and his crew were bad boys since '91 and ten years later, they're still bad BOYS. Men don't go harrasing boys.

*I'm sure you've heard about this new documentary film, "Welcome to Death Row," which claims to tell the real story behind the rise and fall of your record label.

I haven't seen it, but I heard a bunch of conversations about the character who’s putting it out. {laughs}


*What do you think about it?

As for the film, that movie—low-budget, whatever it is—they know they're lying. They even tried to get us to participate in it to make it big. They said, “If you guys participate in it, we won't say anything negative about you.” I said, “Say what you wanna say.” I don't like rats and I'm not going to participate in that. Realistically, can't nobody make a film about Death Row but Suge Knight. One of the things, you don't have to take my word that they're lying. You can take the grand jury and the government's word that they're lying. As far as the Mike guy [Michael Harris, also known as Harry O.—a convicted drug dealer who claims to have initially bankrolled Death Row with $1.5 million to jumpstart the record label without a dime of the profits], this guy has told on almost every drug dealer, lied on them, Columbians and anybody else just to try to get freedom. Then he turned around and lied about Death Row to try to gain his freedom, which in a way, to me, is more sad and desperate. The thing about it is, if you took his paperwork—and that's what the lawyers said when they had the big thing about it—here's a guy who couldn't pay his own attorneys. But most of all, [Harry O] is a rat, his wife's a rat. They go around setting people up and think the more they tell on them, that that will get him home. You do the crime, you do your time and you suffer the consequences. As for anybody saying they had anything to do with Death Row, nobody ever gave me a penny. Nobody but God. Anything I've ever done, I’ve earned. And for people to go around and say they had something to do with Death Row or they helped start Death Row? If that's the case, start another label. If it was so easy and if it was so true. When you get desperate people looking for attention and trying to make some money, they'll say anything. When I first found out about [Michael and Lydia Harris], they said they owned Rap-a-Lot Records. The whole concept about it is, if you look at it, don't take just me and Death Row. These are the same people who say they started Rap-a-Lot. These are same people who say they paid for Denzel Washington and made him the actor he is today and took care of him and his wife with drug money.


*The Michael Harris and Denzel connection is mentioned in the film.

Yeah . {laughs} You know, it's Denzel Washington or if it's Rap-a-Lot, it's like it's no big deal. If it's Suge Knight and Death Row, they say, “Okay, it's a big deal,” and we have to prove that they were lying. You gotta realize one thing: the law works all the way around. If a person turns around and says, “Well, I did this for Denzel Washington with drug money, I did this with Rap-a-Lot with drug money, I did this with Death Row with drug money and I'm doing this for my wife, my family, with drug money,” it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. If they admitting they did all this stuff with drug money, why hasn't the government taken their shit? It's because they're just informants and they're just lying.

*In the film, Michael Harris speaks out from behind prison walls and says, “I'm not a rat.”

What I say to that is, read the paperwork. If a guy goes to grand jury 10 or 15 times, if he's down at MDC [Metropolitan Detention Center] when he's supposed to be doing state time, what do you call that? He's a rat and I don't like rats.


*Michael Harris says he gave you $1.5 million for Death Row Records.

First of all, nobody gave me nothing and never loaned me anything, number one. And second thing is, the government went through every detail of my background. And anybody that know me or knew me, any artists, every last one of them will tell you we didn't start off rich. We didn't start off with a million dollars.

*When the money started flooding in, so did the troubles, it seems.

When Tupac was incarcerated, I got him out. When Snoop supposed to went to prison for life for a drive-by shooting, it was my money and my help to get him off for that. When Andre [Dr. Dre] was supposed to go to jail, which he’d never been to jail or prison, it was my money and attorneys to get him off for that. It got to the point where everybody takes it for granted that they can't come to prison. When I went to prison, it should have been a wake up call for people in the industry.


*Last year, Dre, Snoop, and a lot of other guys who used to be on Death Row got together and created the "Up in Smoke" tour. What do you think about these guys getting together without you?

I think it's good they did something. I'm not bitter for that. But it goes to show you it was my idea. If you look at the Up in Smoke tour, I can show you the first Chronic tour with the liquor store scene, with Dre and Snoop and the undercover cops in there. That was my idea. That scene was shot in Compton, the original. Those guys can't even go to Compton. They can't go to the ghetto. They will need 10 to 20 security guards to make a simple visit. They're not respected like that anymore. Ghetto niggas realise them for what they really are.


*Did you or Death Row have anything to do with the drama at the Source Hip-hop Music Awards?

I wasn't at the Hip-hop Awards.


*You heard about what went down. What do you make of it?

Maybe some of those guys were fat-mouthing. Who knows? I know when I was out there, there was respect and we would never do anything to mess up the awards show for the kids. We wouldn't have done anything to cause the show to be cancelled.


*Dre’s discovery, Eminem, has blown up. What do you think about this white boy rapping?

I think the guy's funny. He's a good rapper. Right now, Eminem is the best out there as far as the West Coast is concerned. As far as Andre, he should have made sure Eminem was on his label.


*If Snoop wanted to come back to Death Row, would you take him?

No. I like Snoop. I like Dre, but their turn is over. They should be executives by now. It's time for the younger kids now. They need to retire. Once you get to be thirtysomething years old, married, with kids, it’s time for these 18-year olds. Give them their chance. Dr. J. retired, Michael Jordan retired. It's time to make room for the Kobe Bryants.  

[Hatesrats™]

Thanx 4 tha interview homie......that was tight.

[Don Jacob]

i think that is an old interview cuz i remember reading it last year

[Nosak]

seem like i already see this talk shit longtime ago,, i don'T know

[TheShiznit227]

I dunno if its new or not, cuz he has said most of that shit in other interviews, bout how dre and snoop cant go in the hood and shit...

[TheShiznit227]

exept the Welcome To Death Row shit i dont think he said any of that b4...but i could be wrong...

[ZILLA THA GOODFELLA]

I know huh, he said some of tha same shit in tha source,
but dat men dont harrass boys line waz helarious.

[HBKid_Jr]

thats interview was from around april

[ZILLA THA GOODFELLA]

Ah, NO, It said it's from August and tha last one b4 he got outta prison, He just said tha same shit again.