Working At Death Row Records - The Reality, Crazier Than The Myth

[Black Excellence]

Lol @ dre being locked up. That guy probably doesn't even have a parking ticket

you reallly not aware of dre's arrest history huh ?

[Dikteta Dax]

Good Read, she has some other cool articles about Nate Dogg and Doggpound

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/doggystyles-tha-dogg-pound

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/memories-of-nate-dogg

[Black Excellence]

Good Read, she has some other cool articles about Nate Dogg and Doggpound

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/doggystyles-tha-dogg-pound

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/memories-of-nate-dogg

nice pieces. any more ?

[OG Jaydc]

Lol @ dre being locked up. That guy probably doesn't even have a parking ticket

you reallly not aware of dre's arrest history huh ?

Why did you quote me twice and give two different answers? Forget to sign out of one alias and into the other?

[Will_B]

Thanks for this

[Black Excellence]

Lol @ dre being locked up. That guy probably doesn't even have a parking ticket

you reallly not aware of dre's arrest history huh ?

Why did you quote me twice and give two different answers? Forget to sign out of one alias and into the other?

both of my resposes for the most part are accurate.

[Black Excellence]

just finished reading the one relating to tupac. lol @ suge laughing about and proclaiming pac was raped and later ironically signed him to death row.

[PhunkyDoob]

just finished reading the one relating to tupac. lol @ suge laughing about and proclaiming pac was raped and later ironically signed him to death row.

Right. That's def something i believe happened to be honest. Suge was probably either trying to get under her skin or maybe he's just bi-polar (Seems so in most of her write ups about him).

Btw there's an article about Snoop from 1995 on the same site too, that's where i found the picture i posted of him and another one with him and Tray Deee in the "Post your pictures" thread. Check it out.
There's also a Twinz interview from 1995.

[Jimmy H.]

I don't know. Despite many claims of people not getting theirs, I've always heard a lot of good storys that overshadow the bad ones, especially concerning Suge protecting his artists even outside of normal working hours. This story is another one that demonstrates that.

It's clear the media, along with encouraged ex-employee's were the primary factors in all this bad press, that Suge brought down Death Row. The media, along with parent labels who didn't want to dish out more than they needed were a reason it went down, and got blackballed. Suge wasn't leaving anywhere with some shyty deal, like all artists, and labels will sign and smile towards nowadays, and they all knew this. He done what most CEO's, or owners of their own shyt need to do in corporate America

I think one would be crazy to think that there is not nor ever was a good side to Suge. However, I've never bought into the theories about how people brought him down or "blackballed" him. Nobody that was outside the label knows the specific facts about what went down there but enough has been put out to where certain conclusions can be drawn. For all the things said about him, nobody has ever implied he was dumb. He had the power to steer the ship in any direction he wanted and he had one of the great rosters in music. Even after things went sour with Pac dying and artists jumping ship, he still had the ability to move forward with it but it wasn't to be.

[Dre-Day]

I don't know. Despite many claims of people not getting theirs, I've always heard a lot of good storys that overshadow the bad ones, especially concerning Suge protecting his artists even outside of normal working hours. This story is another one that demonstrates that.

It's clear the media, along with encouraged ex-employee's were the primary factors in all this bad press, that Suge brought down Death Row. The media, along with parent labels who didn't want to dish out more than they needed were a reason it went down, and got blackballed. Suge wasn't leaving anywhere with some shyty deal, like all artists, and labels will sign and smile towards nowadays, and they all knew this. He done what most CEO's, or owners of their own shyt need to do in corporate America

he made the label go bankrupt

[Quadruple OG]

Lol @ dre being locked up. That guy probably doesn't even have a parking ticket

he was. i think it was like 6 months in pasadena.

He was sentenced to 8 months in jail in 1994, not sure if he served all of it or part of it. Here's an article I found on it.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n20_v86/ai_15833588/

Grammy Award-winning rapper-producer Dr. Dre has received an eight-month jail sentence for violating probation in Los Angeles.

Dr. Dre, whose name is Andre Young, recently pleaded no contest to drunken driving charges. Young, 28, was arrested Jan. 10 after leading police on a chase through Beverly Hills and Westwood at speeds up to 90 mph in his 1987 Ferrari. Police said a blood test showed the rapper failed a sobriety test with a reading that was 0.16 percent, twice the state's legal limit.

He had been convicted of battery in 1993 for punching a man in the face, breaking his jaw outside of the home of Young's girlfriend.

Young entered the plea before L.A. Municipal Judge Paula Adela Mabrey who also ordered him to pay a $1,053 fine and attend an alcohol education program. Mabrey ruled Young's no contest plea violated the terms of his probation in the earlier battery case.

[swe iz active]

Thanks this was actually interesting to read

[V2DHeart]

Suge didn't bankrupt the label, it was a combination of things such as political pressure putting fear into potential business, or lenders, distributors and so on

Time Warner grew increasingly uncomfortable under such highly-publicized negative limelight, particularly when the prominent conservative politician Bob Dole became involved, calling the music Time Warner was producing 'nightmares of depravity.'

Time Warner could not censor what Interscope chose to produce without breaking a legal contract signed by the two companies. If Interscope opted to release 'Dogg Food,' it could do so with or without Time Warner's blessing. Interscope did release 'Dogg Food,' and in doing so forced Time Warner's hand; the latter bowed out of its 50 percent stake in Interscope at the end of the year

four months after the company bought back Time Warner's 50 percent interest in Interscope, it sold that same stake to MCA Records for just over $200 million, Bronfman, however, was wary of the furor created over Interscope's involvement with Death Row and maintained a right to refrain from supporting the release of material deemed too controversial or subversive by MCA standards

Interscope has assembled an unmatched array of alternative-rock and urban-music hit makers.' However, in that same article, founder Ted Field confessed that, due to the scandal surrounding Interscope's distribution of Death Row and the controversial lyrics of some of its other stars, particularly Marilyn Manson, he could no longer even donate money to the Democratic Party, of which he had been a long-time supporter and fund-raiser. His company had simply become too hot, both socially and politically

There is also the investigation in 95/96 that Michael Harris was trying to help out with.... The MSRPS was also deciding whether or not to decline investment into companies that release music with explicit content. They met with RIAA, company executives and anti-rap groups to discuss how to get their share holdings out, and how to move forward. You'll notice how they (Interscope) parted from Death Row, with the best, and most profitable (Dr Dre & Co.) releasing "softer" music way later than you'd have expected if it was simply down to Suge, or even the murder of 2Pac. There was no way Suge was going to release watered-down content. They all tried to make him before, Time Warner, Interscope, Tucker, and others, but he point blank refused to water down his music. He didn't give in. I respect the man for that, and for releasing quality

[makaveliapostle]

mucho propers.  great post, great read!

[Black Excellence]

also former photographer simone greene is releasing a book about death row next month btw. hiphopdx.com