Author Topic: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother  (Read 5745 times)

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #30 on: February 13, 2017, 01:43:22 PM »
Does the Change The Game Remix with Jay Z and co exist with DJ Clue hollering like an angry lemur?

Don't think so. That remix was made specifically for Clue's album.

I had the feeling that was the case but then again I do remember hearing untagged versions of Clues albums that were released for promo, same thing with DJ Envy. They were limited press releases but they were out there.
 

Jay Wallace

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #31 on: February 15, 2017, 06:11:55 PM »
Death Row died when 2Pac did...Suge went to jail and everyone started leaving the label after that, all those compilations never sold except for Pac's

Exactly. Everything they sold after 1996 was based off connections to their old artists and the brand they established.  Tupac soundtracks sold because they were soundtracks to his films and they were promoting new unreleased music from him.  Chronic 2000 sold because it was attempting to tie into Dre's new album.  2Pac albums were not selling based on the Death Row brand as "R U Still Down", which was not a Death Row project sold massive numbers as did "Still I Rise" which Death Row took its name off of and refused to promote.

There was never a second dynasty of hit-makers.  They put out some Snoop albums and a Dogg Pound project and that was all she wrote. 

A debut at #15 is not bad by any stretch

It's not great.  It's modest business for a label that used to do major sales.  You previously credit the Death Row brand for being behind the sales of the two posthumous 2Pac albums that came out around that time.  If that were the case, this album which was released in between both should have benefited greater from it.  It didn't.  It advertised in major magazines.  It boasted having music produced by Dr. Dre, new material from Jay-Z, Snoop, Xzibit, 2Pac, Nate Dogg.  It did average sales.  They were basically making money off what was hot elsewhere.  People were not buying the album to hear new music from their roster at the time.
 

love33

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #32 on: February 15, 2017, 10:28:54 PM »
#15 Debut is Great for having "Gangsta Rap" radio song only in LA markets and a couple small westcoast stations -- "Change The Game Remix" was the big song off this album and I remember radio stations giving clue credit for the track but saying the album was available on both places and some bought the Death Row version for the track while others bought the Clue album (FYI, the Death Row version didn't have the shoutouts allover it).  For what it's worth Above The Law's manager said it was 500k at the time (I think what he said happened was they shipped GOLD worldwide)

The "Still I Rise" is a Death Row album, it has the logo smacked on it and Suge owns the publishing on those tracks -- pulling promo just means they did exactly that, they pulled back advertising dollars because of a disagreement with Amaru

"R U Still Down" was a Death Row album that was released by Amaru Records -- those were mostly all Death Row material on that album that because of a court ruling allowed Afeni to release it on Amaru (same thing happened with Nate Dogg album when he released it, those were Death Row recorded tracks)

"Until the End of Time" Debuted at #1 LONG after 1996 -- it was supposed to promote the new artists -- Tha Realest, Eastwood, Soopafly, Top Dogg, El Dorado, Crooked I, Ray J, NINA, etc. all had material for this album -- some ended up coming out on the mixtape by Death Row and others came out on Tupac "Nu-Mixx for the Streets" which featured a banger from Crooked I & 2Pac -- Tha Realest songs leaked out later but were scrapped from UTEOT and the Nu-Mixx album because of contract issues with the label

Death Row had GARBAGE promotion after they lost Interscope -- Interscope was pushing Top Dogg hard in magazines and ready to give him the big push in 1998 before Suge and Jimmy got into a disagreement and they broke it off
Suge was also getting ready to push Soopafly really hard too -- and he had the "Cindafella" track in rotation on The Box and BET -- again, it comes down to shitty promotion

There's no way to deny Interscope/Universal would have promoted Suge's stuff a shit ton better than the garbage he got at Koch Records -- Suge got so-so average promotion by Priority Records in the short stint with Chronic 2000 (Priority could get a single in rotation, but they couldn't push like Interscope where it was basically guaranteed spins)

When Koch/D3/Wideawake were promoting, Death Row couldn't promote shit -- nobody knew about the release dates cause they were always changing -- they fucked up Soopafly and Crooked I's albums big league -- Death Row thought buying a billboard with Crooked I in LA was going to push the album and a small radio tour -- but there was no serviced spins on regular playlists outside LA and Hot 97 in NY for "So Damn Hood" -- I remember I was in Miami and they were on the radio tour and played it once or twice and it was never heard of again -- Shitty promotion!  Artists solo albums were promoted and then all of a sudden that artist was put on the back burner or secretly kicked off the label and then a new artist came up to be promoted and the same shit kept happening over and over again -- We heard about Crooked I's solo album for almost 3 years, he recorded 8 different versions of it and then "Hood Star" -- then all of a sudden the website says "Eastwood -- Born To Be Hated" was the new album being pushed -- he did a track with Top Dogg called "If You Can't Take The Heat", then it was supposed to be on the debut album, instead they were to put it on TGFR and then they pulled it off there cause Top Dogg left the label, then that shit never dropped! Then instead we got a 2Pac album and a new Kurupt album later -- Shitty business and fans were left in the dark relying on a website that was barely updated, full of empty promises that failed to deliver, and little to no promo! I remember getting the promo poster for TGFR and it was fucked up and had a bunch of artists who weren't on it like Top Dogg and DMX

The second generation got a shit deal -- for a superstar label like Death Row Records, those distribution deals were garbage after Priority
 

love33

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #33 on: February 15, 2017, 11:40:07 PM »
Found this (Really Really RARE) version

This is a Really dope track!



There was a rumor that these lyrics were Pac's (again, not accusing Realest of stealing lyrics, but that was the 'Rumor')
I wonder if Darryl Harper, and Realest may be able to shine some light on it

Looking for the Other Versions!

ANYONE?! Mitek23 I saw your Youtube quite impressive...do you have it?!
 

Jay Wallace

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #34 on: February 16, 2017, 05:30:25 PM »
#15 Debut is Great for having "Gangsta Rap" radio song only in LA markets and a couple small westcoast stations -- "Change The Game Remix" was the big song off this album and I remember radio stations giving clue credit for the track but saying the album was available on both places and some bought the Death Row version for the track while others bought the Clue album (FYI, the Death Row version didn't have the shoutouts allover it).  For what it's worth Above The Law's manager said it was 500k at the time (I think what he said happened was they shipped GOLD worldwide)
Your recollections seem extremely suspect.  For starters, the remix of “Change the Game” wasn’t a single.  The original version off Jay’s album was.  I’m sure some stations played it but neither Clue nor Suge was pushing it for spins.  Also, radio station DJ’s generally don’t talk about the tracks and what albums they are off of when they spin music unless the artist or label is at the station promoting it.  I doubt it was on any major radio station’s daily play list and if it did end up getting spun, the DJ wasn’t randomly stopping to give the listeners’ a tutorial on what albums it was available on.

The song itself was not a Death Row song.  It was a Clue track that Suge licensed so he could advertise a Jay-Z feature.  JT the Bigga Figga and Daz also licensed it for the “Game 4 Sale” soundtrack.  And FYI to your FYI… every released version of the remix has the DJ Clue tags over it including the Death Row one.  Given that Clue’s label never pressed a radio single for it, I’m calling bullshit on your story.

Your creative imagination is building up an elaborate revisionist history to make every move that Death Row does seem like it happened on a grander scale. 
#15 Debut is Great for having "Gangsta Rap" radio song only in LA markets and a couple small westcoast stations   

Here is where your defense contradicts your argument.  If Death Row is still a hot label, why is there single only getting played in the West Coast market? 2Pac is still hot so his shit is getting played.  Death Row on their own isn’t.

  The "Still I Rise" is a Death Row album, it has the logo smacked on it and Suge owns the publishing on those tracks -- pulling promo just means they did exactly that, they pulled back advertising dollars because of a disagreement with Amaru.

Incorrect.  Their logo isn’t on the back cover and Suge isn’t listed as executive producer. They didn’t pull because of a disagreement with Amaru either.  Amaru and Death Row both pulled their names off of it over issues from the success of “Greatest Hits”.  Amaru and Death Row felt Interscope was profiting off their participation but not contributing enough money to marketing and promotion.
 
"R U Still Down" was a Death Row album that was released by Amaru Records -- those were mostly all Death Row material on that album that because of a court ruling allowed Afeni to release it on Amaru (same thing happened with Nate Dogg album when he released it, those were Death Row recorded tracks)
 

Wrong again.  “R U Still Down” contains no recordings from Pac’s Death Row days.  This is his early Interscope material from 1993-94 (outtakes from Thug Life, his song from Poetic Justice soundtrack, tracks he recorded in between Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and Me Against The World).  Nate Dogg’s situation was different.  He did record an album with Death Row but he retained the rights to his solo work and was allowed to shop it elsewhere like King T did with his Aftermath project. 


"Until the End of Time" Debuted at #1 LONG after 1996 -- it was supposed to promote the new artists -- Tha Realest, Eastwood, Soopafly, Top Dogg, El Dorado, Crooked I, Ray J, NINA, etc. all had material for this album 
 
You’re once again taking massive creative liberties here.  Death Row was going to release this on their own with their artists but it was planned as a four-disc box set called “The Vault” with “Untouchable” featuring Crooked I as the single in early 2001.  Amaru blocked it and split it into two different albums and took over creative control on it with Interscope backing them.  It didn’t sell off the strength of Death Row as most of the references to Death Row were taken off and artist involvement was minimal.  Whether those artists you named were all going to be included is anyone’s guess but it sounds like you’re once again trying to play up your imagined version of how things were going to happen.

Death Row had GARBAGE promotion after they lost Interscope -- Interscope was pushing Top Dogg hard in magazines and ready to give him the big push in 1998 before Suge and Jimmy got into a disagreement and they broke it off 

They had garbage promotion because there was nobody to oversee the label and push new artists.  The albums with 2Pac’s name and likeness on them like his albums and movie soundtracks sold because 2Pac was still hot, not because of who Interscope was “pushing hard in magazines” or whatever Death Row song you remember secretly getting airplay all over the place.

Suge was also getting ready to push Soopafly really hard too -- and he had the "Cindafella" track in rotation on The Box and BET -- again, it comes down to shitty promotion
Promotion only does so much.  You’ve created this exaggerated idea that all the labels have to do is “push” something while ignoring all the other elements that go into it.  Snoop didn’t become a star because Interscope decided to push him after he recorded an album.  He was already on numerous Dre singles and videos and doing award show appearances before they even started working on his album.  Lady of Rage had a massive hit single and her album didn’t do anything, Obie Trice had a commercial for himself in the opening of the first single off one of Em’s albums and still got put behind 50.  Just because they played somebody’s video a couple times during a block for a rap video show or gave them a write-up in a magazine doesn’t mean they had proper momentum to be a star.  None of the artists that came after 1996 were built up to sell anywhere near what the artists before them did.   

There's no way to deny Interscope/Universal would have promoted Suge's stuff a shit ton better than the garbage he got at Koch Records -- Suge got so-so average promotion by Priority Records in the short stint with Chronic 2000 (Priority could get a single in rotation, but they couldn't push like Interscope where it was basically guaranteed spins)

It’s pointless to argue because Koch was where they were at.  You’re still buying into the illusion that just because it’s Interscope that Jimmy Iovine will wave the magic wand and make it a hit.  The labels themselves are a big factor (hence why G-Unit Records broke more artists than Shady Records despite them both being on Interscope and Eminem being the bigger artist).  Death Row went south because all of their established artists were gone and their CEO went to prison. 

The second generation got a shit deal -- for a superstar label like Death Row Records, those distribution deals were garbage after Priority
  That’s because the label had nothing to sell.  They chose to sever ties with all the artists who people associated with Death Row during its peak period.  Everything that people loved about Death Row was still selling, courtesy of the the Up in Smoke tour.  When those artists stood next to Xzibit and artists like that, people took notice.  That’s how it is.  The brand is only as strong as the stars connected to it.  You can have the biggest hit movie in the world.  If all the stars and producers jump ship and don’t do the sequel, the odds of it being a hit become more difficult.  It has nothing to do with distribution or how hard the studios push.  The studios aren’t pushing because they don’t want to invest money when they don’t forsee a return. 
 

love33

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #35 on: February 17, 2017, 12:10:46 AM »
#15 Debut is Great for having "Gangsta Rap" radio song only in LA markets and a couple small westcoast stations -- "Change The Game Remix" was the big song off this album and I remember radio stations giving clue credit for the track but saying the album was available on both places and some bought the Death Row version for the track while others bought the Clue album (FYI, the Death Row version didn't have the shoutouts allover it).  For what it's worth Above The Law's manager said it was 500k at the time (I think what he said happened was they shipped GOLD worldwide)
Your recollections seem extremely suspect.  For starters, the remix of “Change the Game” wasn’t a single.  The original version off Jay’s album was.  I’m sure some stations played it but neither Clue nor Suge was pushing it for spins.  Also, radio station DJ’s generally don’t talk about the tracks and what albums they are off of when they spin music unless the artist or label is at the station promoting it.  I doubt it was on any major radio station’s daily play list and if it did end up getting spun, the DJ wasn’t randomly stopping to give the listeners’ a tutorial on what albums it was available on.

The song itself was not a Death Row song.  It was a Clue track that Suge licensed so he could advertise a Jay-Z feature.  JT the Bigga Figga and Daz also licensed it for the “Game 4 Sale” soundtrack.  And FYI to your FYI… every released version of the remix has the DJ Clue tags over it including the Death Row one.  Given that Clue’s label never pressed a radio single for it, I’m calling bullshit on your story.

Your creative imagination is building up an elaborate revisionist history to make every move that Death Row does seem like it happened on a grander scale.  
#15 Debut is Great for having "Gangsta Rap" radio song only in LA markets and a couple small westcoast stations  

Here is where your defense contradicts your argument.  If Death Row is still a hot label, why is there single only getting played in the West Coast market? 2Pac is still hot so his shit is getting played.  Death Row on their own isn’t.

 The "Still I Rise" is a Death Row album, it has the logo smacked on it and Suge owns the publishing on those tracks -- pulling promo just means they did exactly that, they pulled back advertising dollars because of a disagreement with Amaru.

Incorrect.  Their logo isn’t on the back cover and Suge isn’t listed as executive producer. They didn’t pull because of a disagreement with Amaru either.  Amaru and Death Row both pulled their names off of it over issues from the success of “Greatest Hits”.  Amaru and Death Row felt Interscope was profiting off their participation but not contributing enough money to marketing and promotion.
 
"R U Still Down" was a Death Row album that was released by Amaru Records -- those were mostly all Death Row material on that album that because of a court ruling allowed Afeni to release it on Amaru (same thing happened with Nate Dogg album when he released it, those were Death Row recorded tracks)
  

Wrong again.  “R U Still Down” contains no recordings from Pac’s Death Row days.  This is his early Interscope material from 1993-94 (outtakes from Thug Life, his song from Poetic Justice soundtrack, tracks he recorded in between Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and Me Against The World).  Nate Dogg’s situation was different.  He did record an album with Death Row but he retained the rights to his solo work and was allowed to shop it elsewhere like King T did with his Aftermath project.  


"Until the End of Time" Debuted at #1 LONG after 1996 -- it was supposed to promote the new artists -- Tha Realest, Eastwood, Soopafly, Top Dogg, El Dorado, Crooked I, Ray J, NINA, etc. all had material for this album  
 
You’re once again taking massive creative liberties here.  Death Row was going to release this on their own with their artists but it was planned as a four-disc box set called “The Vault” with “Untouchable” featuring Crooked I as the single in early 2001.  Amaru blocked it and split it into two different albums and took over creative control on it with Interscope backing them.  It didn’t sell off the strength of Death Row as most of the references to Death Row were taken off and artist involvement was minimal.  Whether those artists you named were all going to be included is anyone’s guess but it sounds like you’re once again trying to play up your imagined version of how things were going to happen.

Death Row had GARBAGE promotion after they lost Interscope -- Interscope was pushing Top Dogg hard in magazines and ready to give him the big push in 1998 before Suge and Jimmy got into a disagreement and they broke it off  

They had garbage promotion because there was nobody to oversee the label and push new artists.  The albums with 2Pac’s name and likeness on them like his albums and movie soundtracks sold because 2Pac was still hot, not because of who Interscope was “pushing hard in magazines” or whatever Death Row song you remember secretly getting airplay all over the place.

Suge was also getting ready to push Soopafly really hard too -- and he had the "Cindafella" track in rotation on The Box and BET -- again, it comes down to shitty promotion
Promotion only does so much.  You’ve created this exaggerated idea that all the labels have to do is “push” something while ignoring all the other elements that go into it.  Snoop didn’t become a star because Interscope decided to push him after he recorded an album.  He was already on numerous Dre singles and videos and doing award show appearances before they even started working on his album.  Lady of Rage had a massive hit single and her album didn’t do anything, Obie Trice had a commercial for himself in the opening of the first single off one of Em’s albums and still got put behind 50.  Just because they played somebody’s video a couple times during a block for a rap video show or gave them a write-up in a magazine doesn’t mean they had proper momentum to be a star.  None of the artists that came after 1996 were built up to sell anywhere near what the artists before them did.    

There's no way to deny Interscope/Universal would have promoted Suge's stuff a shit ton better than the garbage he got at Koch Records -- Suge got so-so average promotion by Priority Records in the short stint with Chronic 2000 (Priority could get a single in rotation, but they couldn't push like Interscope where it was basically guaranteed spins)

It’s pointless to argue because Koch was where they were at.  You’re still buying into the illusion that just because it’s Interscope that Jimmy Iovine will wave the magic wand and make it a hit.  The labels themselves are a big factor (hence why G-Unit Records broke more artists than Shady Records despite them both being on Interscope and Eminem being the bigger artist).  Death Row went south because all of their established artists were gone and their CEO went to prison.  

The second generation got a shit deal -- for a superstar label like Death Row Records, those distribution deals were garbage after Priority
 That’s because the label had nothing to sell.  They chose to sever ties with all the artists who people associated with Death Row during its peak period.  Everything that people loved about Death Row was still selling, courtesy of the the Up in Smoke tour.  When those artists stood next to Xzibit and artists like that, people took notice.  That’s how it is.  The brand is only as strong as the stars connected to it.  You can have the biggest hit movie in the world.  If all the stars and producers jump ship and don’t do the sequel, the odds of it being a hit become more difficult.  It has nothing to do with distribution or how hard the studios push.  The studios aren’t pushing because they don’t want to invest money when they don’t forsee a return.  


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Your recollections seem extremely suspect.  For starters, the remix of “Change the Game” wasn’t a single.  The original version off Jay’s album was.  I’m sure some stations played it but neither Clue nor Suge was pushing it for spins.  Also, radio station DJ’s generally don’t talk about the tracks and what albums they are off of when they spin music unless the artist or label is at the station promoting it.  I doubt it was on any major radio station’s daily play list and if it did end up getting spun, the DJ wasn’t randomly stopping to give the listeners’ a tutorial on what albums it was available on.

The song itself was not a Death Row song.  It was a Clue track that Suge licensed so he could advertise a Jay-Z feature.  JT the Bigga Figga and Daz also licensed it for the “Game 4 Sale” soundtrack.  And FYI to your FYI… every released version of the remix has the DJ Clue tags over it including the Death Row one.  Given that Clue’s label never pressed a radio single for it, I’m calling bullshit on your story.

Your creative imagination is building up an elaborate revisionist history to make every move that Death Row does seem like it happened on a grander scale.  

Completely Not True -- They played this song in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, it was allover Power 106 -- this was a HUGE Hit, "R-O-C with the D-P-G", they performed it Live at Shows! Huge track that Remixed a Huge Track!

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Here is where your defense contradicts your argument.  If Death Row is still a hot label, why is there single only getting played in the West Coast market? 2Pac is still hot so his shit is getting played.  Death Row on their own isn’t.
As I said, their distribution was TERRIBLE -- the LA Radio Play was the Hometown local airplay -- you can have the hottest artists in the world, but if you have no promotion, you aren't getting spins and it's going to be really really hard to sell -- 2Pac's Death Row material was distributed by Interscope/Universal, everything else was distributed by Koch/D3 (Small basement label with NO Promotion)

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Incorrect.  Their logo isn’t on the back cover and Suge isn’t listed as executive producer. They didn’t pull because of a disagreement with Amaru either.  Amaru and Death Row both pulled their names off of it over issues from the success of “Greatest Hits”.  Amaru and Death Row felt Interscope was profiting off their participation but not contributing enough money to marketing and promotion.
Still I Rise is a Death Row release -- I remember the Official Death Row website promoting it and putting the tracklist up and the promo posters had tha row logo -- in fact, "Baby Please Don't Cry" single was furnished on the website and "The Good Die Young" (tharow.com had all that) -- Outlawz were signed and owed Suge one more album, and this was their album that fulfilled their contract -- the 2pac material had to be done together with Death Row/Amaru as the court ruling stated -- Johnny J, Daz (lead producer at Death Row when this came out), Daryl Big D Harper, and QD III all the Death Row producers did the music -- Outlawz were actively signed to Death Row at the time

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Wrong again.  “R U Still Down” contains no recordings from Pac’s Death Row days.  This is his early Interscope material from 1993-94 (outtakes from Thug Life, his song from Poetic Justice soundtrack, tracks he recorded in between Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and Me Against The World).  Nate Dogg’s situation was different.  He did record an album with Death Row but he retained the rights to his solo work and was allowed to shop it elsewhere like King T did with his Aftermath project.  
Not entirely true -- There was a lot of stuff on that album that came from Death Row -- take for instance the Jon B. track -- here's MTV talking about him recording it at Death Row studio -- http://www.mtv.com/news/1430675/jon-b-talks-about-working-with-tupac/
Also, Nate Dogg's publishing was all 'Suge Publishing' -- the court ruling said Nate could release the album on his own but Suge also had rights to Nate's music recorded on the label and the publishing ("Suge Publishing") -- Suge kept ALL the publishing for ALL his artists -- he's one of the Only Executive Producers to OWN everything that was recorded at his label in some capacity

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You’re once again taking massive creative liberties here.  Death Row was going to release this on their own with their artists but it was planned as a four-disc box set called “The Vault” with “Untouchable” featuring Crooked I as the single in early 2001.  Amaru blocked it and split it into two different albums and took over creative control on it with Interscope backing them.  It didn’t sell off the strength of Death Row as most of the references to Death Row were taken off and artist involvement was minimal.  Whether those artists you named were all going to be included is anyone’s guess but it sounds like you’re once again trying to play up your imagined version of how things were going to happen.
And you're wrong again and trying to rewrite history on this one -- Death Row & Amaru had ALL the Rights to Pac's Music -- she couldn't "bump" Death Row out if she wanted -- The edits you're referring to are because Johnny J got pissed he thought he was owed money by Suge so he removed some of the references as a get-back and before Suge could get them to fix it, he did it at the last minute -- Suge Knight is the EXECUTIVE PRODUCER and his logo and name is stamped on the album -- it was promoted on the website
Yes, "The Vault" was a rumor, and they decided to break it up into 2 double albums because they concluded they would sell more than someone having to shell out $100 for a Rap Album (which is what they wanted to do and release it around Thanksgiving to make Christmas money)
The main disagreement is that originally Above The Law was going to be HEAVILY INVOLVED with the direction, packaging, and the total delivery of the albums -- Amaru didn't feel comfortable with Big Hutch running the whole show for Suge -- Originally, Daz was the Lead Producer for Death Row Records when these projects were in the beginning stages, and Suge KICKED Daz off the label, and BIG HUTCH aka Cold187um, who did the Too Gangsta For Radio, Eddie Griffin, and Dogg Pound album, tookover for Daz -- Afeni didn't know Hutch, wasn't really familiar with his work, and didn't have the same type of trust for him as she did Daz, who she knew thru Pac, and Daz was one of Pac's biggest producers -- NINA was also supposed to be heavily featured on this project -- the conclusion was they decided to try to keep it with "artists and producers pac knew" with a little bit of commercial flavor with a couple modern artists (jazze pha, trick daddy, etc.) to appeal to the new crowd for sales




This other version they have several versions, made it onto Kurupt's album:


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They had garbage promotion because there was nobody to oversee the label and push new artists.  The albums with 2Pac’s name and likeness on them like his albums and movie soundtracks sold because 2Pac was still hot, not because of who Interscope was “pushing hard in magazines” or whatever Death Row song you remember secretly getting airplay all over the place.
Interscope/Universal largely controlled the mainstream radio and anything they sent out to radio stations got mad plays -- Suge lost Interscope and they became somewhat of an enemy when he posted Jimmy Iovine's directions to his house and personal information on "Too Gangsta For TV" release -- Jimmy at that point decided to use his networking ties to "blackball" non-Pac releases from the radio stations (it wasn't hard, Death Row had shit promotion as we talked about)

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Promotion only does so much.  You’ve created this exaggerated idea that all the labels have to do is “push” something while ignoring all the other elements that go into it.  Snoop didn’t become a star because Interscope decided to push him after he recorded an album.

No artist went platinum on D3 Records -- Soopafly could've had at least a hit record or sold at a minimum GOLD if he was on Interscope Records -- Suge Knight's Deal with Ted Fields and Jimmy Iovine is what pushed Gangsta Rap into white suburbia -- No Gangsta Rap label ever went as far as Death Row did with around the clock MTV videos, MTV News, spins allover the USA, award shows, etc. all pushed by the Interscope machine -- Suge, Ted, & Jimmy had a deal -- Suge just go do the music and Jimmy & Ted will handle ALL the promotion, set up interviews, MTV airplay, MTV specials, furnish all singles to radio outlets -- Suge just worry about making bomb music while they handle the rest -- Soopafly didn't have that type of Luxury with D3, not EVEN close!

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The labels themselves are a big factor (hence why G-Unit Records broke more artists than Shady Records despite them both being on Interscope and Eminem being the bigger artist).  Death Row went south because all of their established artists were gone and their CEO went to prison.  

The Game became a multi-platinum superstar, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks sold records, & Yayo got spins and features allover the radio under Interscope umbrella -- that's thousands of more exposure than Soopafly got with garbage Koch -- Interscope had the promotion machine ramped up on YGD "The Top Dogg" and then when Tha Row lost Interscope, all the buzz with Top Dogg went away too when they pulled the rug out -- Imagine if Top Dogg dropped on Interscope, Daz followed with "RAW" on Interscope, then they followed with Tha Realest & Crooked I, then laid down a NINA album, Eastwood, & Ray J  -- there would've been some hits with that group just like G-Unit!

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That’s because the label had nothing to sell.  They chose to sever ties with all the artists who people associated with Death Row during its peak period.  Everything that people loved about Death Row was still selling, courtesy of the the Up in Smoke tour.  When those artists stood next to Xzibit and artists like that, people took notice.  That’s how it is.  The brand is only as strong as the stars connected to it.  You can have the biggest hit movie in the world.  If all the stars and producers jump ship and don’t do the sequel, the odds of it being a hit become more difficult.  It has nothing to do with distribution or how hard the studios push.  The studios aren’t pushing because they don’t want to invest money when they don’t forsee a return.

The biggest artist on Cash Money Records was Juvenile at one point -- fast forward years later and it's Lil Wayne who turned into a Dynasty, then Drake and Nikki Minaj took it over -- Tha Row had Top Dogg, Soopafly, Tha Realest -- then Suge revamped the roster to Crooked I, NINA, Ray J, Kurupt, & Eastwood -- That's not a bad core of players by ANY stretch -- And to say those artists are garbage is just flat out dishonest -- Go listen to some of their unreleased (and released stuff for that matter) -- it's amazing how Irv Gotti took Eastwood & Crooked I & had people buzzing allover them "Nexxt Niggaz," "Connected," "Baby" -- Irv Gotti had these guys rolling -- Suge had shit distribution -- the biggest mistake he made is he thought he could beat out all the distributors that black-balled him and wanted to shove it in their face and spike the ball and prove he didn't need a MAJOR to make it back to the top -- Suge's biggest problem was that not only was the Promotion TERRIBLE, but his artists weren't getting the exposure they needed -- they had all this bomb music they were sitting on and Suge on them to stay in the studio til 5 AM as Crooked I and Tha Realest both said he did, and then you have nothing being released -- Crooked I wanted to drop mad mix tapes and Suge told him not to because it would kill off his buzz for an album -- Suge left this happen because of his big head to "fight the man" and make an example -- all this at the cost of a new generation of artists getting shelved!  I'm not saying the new generation was "better than" or even equal to, but they never got the same opportunities the first generation of Row artists had with all the Daily Video spins, MTV promotion, MTV News updates, magazine promotion, radio airplay (as you mentioned, even less than average talent like Lady of Rage got mad spins!)  Meanwhile, they couldn't even keep Crooked I single in rotation, but Irv Gotti gets Crooked I played allover BET with the quickness! A lot of shady stuff happened to Death Row, and in a lot of way, over politics and Suge's decisions, the artists got shelved and the fans lost out on some great music!  Thanks for the post, I enjoyed reading your take!
« Last Edit: February 17, 2017, 12:23:50 AM by love33 »
 

Quadruple OG

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #36 on: February 17, 2017, 09:08:38 AM »
So many lies and falsehoods from this love33 character

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Not entirely true -- There was a lot of stuff on that album that came from Death Row -- take for instance the Jon B. track -- here's MTV talking about him recording it at Death Row studio -- http://www.mtv.com/news/1430675/jon-b-talks-about-working-with-tupac/

R U Still Down? was an Interscope album with unreleased 2pac recordings prior to 1995. The track you're talking about was recorded while 2pac was on Death Row in 1996 and wasn't released until 97 I think.

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"Until the End of Time" Debuted at #1 LONG after 1996 -- it was supposed to promote the new artists -- Tha Realest, Eastwood, Soopafly, Top Dogg, El Dorado, Crooked I, Ray J, NINA, etc. all had material for this album -- some ended up coming out on the mixtape by Death Row and others came out on Tupac "Nu-Mixx for the Streets" which featured a banger from Crooked I & 2Pac -- Tha Realest songs leaked out later but were scrapped from UTEOT and the Nu-Mixx album because of contract issues with the label

Wrong. With Afeni and Interscope also overseeing things, there wasn't a chance in hell of there ever being tracks with Tha Realest, Top Dogg, and El Dorado. All three were off the label by that time. Ray J wasn't hanging around with Death Row until 2002.

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Death Row had GARBAGE promotion after they lost Interscope -- Interscope was pushing Top Dogg hard in magazines and ready to give him the big push in 1998 before Suge and Jimmy got into a disagreement and they broke it off

Wrong and Wrong. Interscope dropped Death Row in 1997 after Lady of Rage's album was released. Death Row was with Priority after that, and with Top Dogg being on Death Row/Priority, Interscope would not push an artist that wasn't on their label

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Originally, Daz was the Lead Producer for Death Row Records when these projects were in the beginning stages, and Suge KICKED Daz off the label, and BIG HUTCH aka Cold187um, who did the Too Gangsta For Radio, Eddie Griffin, and Dogg Pound album, tookover for Daz -- Afeni didn't know Hutch, wasn't really familiar with his work, and didn't have the same type of trust for him as she did Daz, who she knew thru Pac, and Daz was one of Pac's biggest producers -- NINA was also supposed to be heavily featured on this project -- the conclusion was they decided to try to keep it with "artists and producers pac knew" with a little bit of commercial flavor with a couple modern artists (jazze pha, trick daddy, etc.) to appeal to the new crowd for sales

1) Daz left the label and stole masters
2) Hutch was not around and didn't have any involvement with Dysfunktional Family Soundtrack
3) Left Eye was not supposed to be "heavily featured" on either album. UTEOT came out in March 2001 with one Left Eye track. She signed with Death Row in January 2002 and died in April 2002. Better Dayz came out at the end of 2002.

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Interscope had the promotion machine ramped up on YGD "The Top Dogg" and then when Tha Row lost Interscope, all the buzz with Top Dogg went away too when they pulled the rug out -- Imagine if Top Dogg dropped on Interscope, Daz followed with "RAW" on Interscope, then they followed with Tha Realest & Crooked I, then laid down a NINA album, Eastwood, & Ray J  -- there would've been some hits with that group just like G-Unit!

See above, Death Row was dropped by Interscope in 1997. They did not have a promotion machine "ramped up" behind Top Dogg. Ever.
 

Jay Wallace

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #37 on: February 17, 2017, 05:15:53 PM »

Completely Not True -- They played this song in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, it was allover Power 106 -- this was a HUGE Hit, "R-O-C with the D-P-G", they performed it Live at Shows! Huge track that Remixed a Huge Track!
  Me thinks you have it confused with the original version.  Clue/Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella never even pressed it as a radio single.  It wasn’t a single for The Professional 2 album.  It wasn’t a single for the Dogg Pound’s album.  It was not a B-side for the “Change The Game” single that was pressed and sent to radio stations.  Radio stations very rarely just grab songs off albums and play them on their own without the artist or the label specifically pushing it.  You might the occasional instance where a DJ will get an exclusive from an artist and premier it exclusively on their show but after that, the label has to get involved to give it legs on radio. It wasn’t a hit.  It wasn’t in regular rotation in the New York market.  They would not have performed it live at shows unless Daz and Kurupt were there as guests.  It never charted on Billboard.  Period. 

As I said, their distribution was TERRIBLE -- the LA Radio Play was the Hometown local airplay -- you can have the hottest artists in the world, but if you have no promotion, you aren't getting spins and it's going to be really really hard to sell -- 2Pac's Death Row material was distributed by Interscope/Universal, everything else was distributed by Koch/D3 (Small basement label with NO Promotion)
Which is more or less what I said.  2Pac was still hot as an artist so Interscope held on to him.  Though, technically, he was still contracted to them as a solo artist from day one.  Death Row was a dying label so Interscope dumped them.  Priority picked them up, thinking they might still be valuable but their projects didn’t sell so they also dumped them. 

Also, Nate Dogg's publishing was all 'Suge Publishing' -- the court ruling said Nate could release the album on his own but Suge also had rights to Nate's music recorded on the label and the publishing ("Suge Publishing") -- Suge kept ALL the publishing for ALL his artists -- he's one of the Only Executive Producers to OWN everything that was recorded at his label in some capacity.
Nope.  Suge owned the masters, not the publishing.  Not the same.  Dr. Dre owned his own publishing (read credits sometimes, “Ain’t Nuthin Going On But Fucking” is Dre’s publishing), hence why they couldn’t put out leftover Dre tracks on Chronic 2000 and why WideAwake couldn’t release unreleased Dr. Dre music.  The original “Deep Cover” is owned by Sony and “Keep Their Heads Ringin” is owned by Priority. Pac’s estate owns his publishing (Joshua’s Dream).  Nate Dogg’s estate owns his publishing.

Yes, "The Vault" was a rumor, and they decided to break it up into 2 double albums because they concluded they would sell more than someone having to shell out $100 for a Rap Album (which is what they wanted to do and release it around Thanksgiving to make Christmas money)
   Not a rumor.  It was announced.  The same Death Row website you mentioned had it as the opening bumper with the single, “Untouchable” featuring Crooked I advertised.  It was changed because Amaru legally prevented them from putting it out.

The main disagreement is that originally Above The Law was going to be HEAVILY INVOLVED with the direction, packaging, and the total delivery of the albums -- Amaru didn't feel comfortable with Big Hutch running the whole show for Suge -- Originally, Daz was the Lead Producer for Death Row Records when these projects were in the beginning stages, and Suge KICKED Daz off the label, and BIG HUTCH aka Cold187um, who did the Too Gangsta For Radio, Eddie Griffin, and Dogg Pound album, tookover for Daz -- Afeni didn't know Hutch, wasn't really familiar with his work, and didn't have the same type of trust for him as she did Daz, who she knew thru Pac, and Daz was one of Pac's biggest producers -- NINA was also supposed to be heavily featured on this project -- the conclusion was they decided to try to keep it with "artists and producers pac knew" with a little bit of commercial flavor with a couple modern artists (jazze pha, trick daddy, etc.) to appeal to the new crowd for salesuote]\
  Nope.  Daz was long gone by this point and was also getting legal flack from Afeni for trying to put out “Makaveli & Dillinger” on his own label for $500.  Amaru was extremely protective of Pac’s music. 


Interscope/Universal largely controlled the mainstream radio and anything they sent out to radio stations got mad plays.
Not true.  They definitely were the top music label and had a great deal of power and influence but you’re feeding into an extreme misconception by saying that “anything they sent out” was getting “mad plays”.  It just doesn’t work that way.  Eminem had three hit singles off “Marshall Mathers LP”. D-12 had one with “Purple Pills” and despite having Dre production on “Fight Music”, it didn’t become a hit in the US.  Obie Trice’s singles charted well but not great.  If it were simply a matter of the Interscope machine, there would not have been such a huge distinction once 50 Cent arrived and had four singles chart off his album and B-sides get actual airplay.  It wasn’t because Interscope “pushed him in magazines”.  He was active in his own promotion, which allowed him to be more of an asset. 
This is what you’re not getting.  G-Unit Records was a bigger label for breaking artists because they had street teams and did a lot of their own marketing/promotion.  This was true of Roc-A-Fella, Death Row, and a lot of other upstart labels.  The majors give them the money because they know they’re going to do the footwork on the promotion.

No artist went platinum on D3 Records -- Soopafly could've had at least a hit record or sold at a minimum GOLD if he was on Interscope Records -- Suge Knight's Deal with Ted Fields and Jimmy Iovine is what pushed Gangsta Rap into white suburbia -- No Gangsta Rap label ever went as far as Death Row did with around the clock MTV videos, MTV News, spins allover the USA, award shows, etc. all pushed by the Interscope machine -- Suge, Ted, & Jimmy had a deal -- Suge just go do the music and Jimmy & Ted will handle ALL the promotion, set up interviews, MTV airplay, MTV specials, furnish all singles to radio outlets
More of the misconception.  The level of airplay you’re talking about is Donald Trump-level exaggeration. There was only one MTV network in the 90’s and they were pretty diverse when it came to music genres.  They weren’t playing rap around the clock, let alone exclusively Death Row music. MTV certainly had a great relationship with them but not to the level you are bringing it.  Yo! MTV Raps would do specials where they sat down with Dr. Dre or Snoop or Pac but they also did this with Biggie and numerous other rappers.  This “No other Gangsta Rap label ever did what Death Row did” talk is silly as well.  When Ruthless was at its peak, they were doing just that.  Bad Boy wasn’t really Gangsta Rap but they were also getting that coverage. 
As for it being Interscope who pushed Gangsta Rap into white suburbia.  That’s nonsense.  N.W.A. was the starter kit for the gangsta rap craze.  When they broke up, Ice Cube was having just as much success over at Priority.  Interscope wasn’t even in the picture when they were doing “Deep Cover”.  Sony was going to offer them an even bigger deal but backed out when Eazy sued them for interfering with a contracted artist (Dre).  Interscope wasn’t even the exclusive distributor for Death Row until 1995.  Priority and Interscope shared album credit while Time Warner was in charge of distribution. 


Soopafly didn't have that type of Luxury with D3, not EVEN close!
  Soopafly wasn’t even on the label when they signed to D3. He was a featured artist for Chronic 2000 and then disappeared after that.  By the time, the distribution deal with D3 happened, Soopafly was releasing his Death Row album through Daz’s DPG Recordz label.

The Game became a multi-platinum superstar, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks sold records, & Yayo got spins and features allover the radio under Interscope umbrella -- that's thousands of more exposure than Soopafly got with garbage Koch -- Interscope had the promotion machine ramped up on YGD "The Top Dogg" and then when Tha Row lost Interscope, all the buzz with Top Dogg went away too when they pulled the rug out -- Imagine if Top Dogg dropped on Interscope, Daz followed with "RAW" on Interscope, then they followed with Tha Realest & Crooked I, then laid down a NINA album, Eastwood, & Ray J  -- there would've been some hits with that group just like G-Unit!
This wild career-making promotional push for Top Dogg you keep talking about NEVER even existed.  There was no buzz.  He was on one album release for Death Row (prominently featured but no music videos or heavy radio rotation) and it was distributed by Priority.  He’s not even mentioned once or featured at all on the official Death Row video, “Death Row Uncut”, which came out not long after Chronic 2000, and ended up selling pretty well.  Realest is in one video, a low-budget porno version of one of the singles.  They both get featured in one video on the DVD version.  The rest of the video is broken up to about 90% videos of Tupac, Dr. Dre, Snoop, and Tha Dogg Pound. The most prominently featured artist other than them is DJ Quik, who also was not affiliated with the label anymore by the time the video was being produced.  Soopafly’s only appearance is in some camcorder footage of the Dogg Pound running through a hotel room to cock-block him while he’s trying to fuck a groupie. To anyone who didn’t know any better, they’d probably just assume he was a member of Snoop’s entourage.  Hardly promotion.
And this is why post-Tupac Death Row never had a chance.  Dre brought the momentum from NWA over and used it to build hype around Snoop and the younger guys.  When Pac died and Snoop left, there was no torch passing moment.  It made matters worse when Suge himself was more about talking about the old roster than the new one.  Meanwhile, Dre and Snoop used that momentum on artists like Xzibit (who managed to become a star on the level of a pre-1996 Death Row player despite not being on Interscope). 

The biggest artist on Cash Money Records was Juvenile at one point -- fast forward years later and it's Lil Wayne who turned into a Dynasty, then Drake and Nikki Minaj took it over -- Tha Row had Top Dogg, Soopafly, Tha Realest -- then Suge revamped the roster to Crooked I, NINA, Ray J, Kurupt, & Eastwood -- That's not a bad core of players by ANY stretch -- And to say those artists are garbage is just flat out dishonest.

I never said or implied those artists were garbage.  They were talented but the label wasn’t working in the right direction.  Their CEO was in prison for several years and when he got out, he seemed more interested in promoting his issues with the old roster than in building the new one. 

it's amazing how Irv Gotti took Eastwood & Crooked I & had people buzzing allover them "Nexxt Niggaz," "Connected," "Baby" -- Irv Gotti had these guys rolling --

Except he didn’t.  Murder Inc. was already starting to sink.  They did a couple songs with Death Row artists and a bunch of people on West Coast music discussion forums like this exagerrated the collaborations into “Oh my God!  Death Row is coming back!”.  Only one of these songs was a single.  The Crooked I version wasn’t on the album, just the video.  The video got moderate airplay.  Since a Death Row artist was actually featured in a music video that was shown on a music channel, you’re now spinning it like the video got played every hour on BET and Irv Gotti got them all this exposure.  If those same songs were done with someone like Nelly and had the same reception, they’d already be forgotten.


I'm not saying the new generation was "better than" or even equal to, but they never got the same opportunities the first generation of Row artists had with all the Daily Video spins, MTV promotion, MTV News updates, magazine promotion, radio airplay (as you mentioned, even less than average talent like Lady of Rage got mad spins!) 
Firstly, I never said Rage was a less than average talent.  Secondly, your argument of the same opportunities is irrelevant.  If the artists who were on Ruff Ryders, Volume 4, were on Ruff Ryders, Volume 2, maybe they would be household names too.  What’s your point? 
 

Jay Wallace

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #38 on: February 17, 2017, 05:25:06 PM »

R U Still Down? was an Interscope album with unreleased 2pac recordings prior to 1995. The track you're talking about was recorded while 2pac was on Death Row in 1996 and wasn't released until 97 I think.
Correct.  Pac did, I believe, revisit some of his unreleased track concepts, when he got to Death Row but everything put out on "R U Still Down" was material recorded under his Interscope contract.  The track Jon B. mentions was a song for his own album.

So many lies and falsehoods from this love33 character
Also true.  It's almost humorous how exaggerated he gets.  Anything Death Row did with anyone remotely popular was some "major hit", even if it was just an album cut that never even got played on the radio.  While their actual hits were on every channel and radio station non-stop.  As someone who actually remembers that time period, yes, they were hit records but the only West Coast song that was constantly played everywhere in 1995-96 to the point of exhaustion was "Gangsta's Paradise". 
 
 

love33

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #39 on: February 20, 2017, 12:30:50 AM »
First of all, I remember hearing "Change The Game Remix" allover Power 106, and I traveled to Detroit and they had it regularly in the playlist on WJLB 97.9  -- It was also played on Hot 97 in NY, go look it up it was on their playlist
Next, Top Dogg WAS promoted heavily by Interscope when he was on Death Row, in fact his hit track "All About U" was featured on MTV, The Box, and BET.

Here's the video that was played allover:



Also, here is the Soopafly video that was in rotation on BET and THE BOX from "The Chronic 2000" & "Dat Whoopty Whoop" (was supposed to be released on DR/DPG Records)





Next,Daz was kicked off Death Row after a visit with Suge Knight in 2000 -- He took Soopafly with him, who was signed to Death Row/DPG Records, and Daz also ran up to the Bay to visit JT The Bigga Figga to teach him how to release indy albums -- after he learned this, he went and started dropping stolen material ("RAW," Soopafly album, Makaveli & Dillinger, etc.)  - Daz was originally supposed to be a strong part of TGFR (obviously he was the lead producer at the label), and instead it featured a new version of "Gangsta Rap" which pulled Daz off and Hutch redid the beat and they added Scarface, then they changed the album to diss Daz and REMOVE Top Dogg -- Top Dogg recorded multiple tracks with Eastwood -- these were all removed -- Also, that version of "Gangsta Rap" got pushed back to Dogg Pound '2002' album -- Crooked I said multiple times right after Daz got booted, he started being a major hater against Crooked after he asked him to leave with him and Crook told him Hell No that he's going to get his album released.

Yes, I remember Tharow.com putting "The Vault" up there -- They also cancelled it soon after as I mentioned they split it into the 2 double albums -- I also remember ThaRow.Com putting singles from "Still I Rise" on there (The Outlawz owed Suge 1 album, and this was it, which is why the album was called 2Pac + "Outlawz" -- "Still I Rise") -- Also, LOOK at the album credits -- SUGE KNIGHT is the Executive Producer -- Source:  http://www.angelfire.com/wa/DefRow/a.stillrise.html

Here's a catalog of Death Row releases:  http://www.angelfire.com/wa/DefRow/albums.html
** Notice: "Still I Rise" is on there!

And here's where you're wrong -- Suge OWNED ALL HIS PUBLISHING -- he mentioned it OVER and OVER again in Interviews -- Anyone he signed to Death Row, he owned the publishing on in some capacity (either shared or he owned it all) -- what happened with Dr. Dre is that he got a judge to issue an order that Suge could only reissue the music "as is", except for the SINGLES, which appeared on compilations ("Keep Their Heads Ringing" was re-issued on Death Row's Greatest Hits) -- In exchange the judge ruled Suge owned the rights to the album title "The Chronic 2000," which is why Suge had to cut the tracks with the Top Dogg ft Dr Dre off the album -- Dr Dre could not call his album "Chronic 2001", the real name of the album is "Dr. Dre 2001" -- There's no "Chronic" in the album title, just a pic of a chronic leaf on the cover

R U STILL DOWN Death Row Unreleased -- https://soundcloud.com/2pac-ogs-and-unreleased/2pac-r-u-still-down-og-unreleased-original-version-rare-death-row-records/recommended




And Irv Gotti showed he could push Suge's artists -- there's a rumor that Suge got pissed about Crook working over there and blackballed him quietly (kept promising him he would drop the album, but really had no plans to drop it) -- they said that was Suge's way of getting back at artists -- lock them in longterm contracts where he owns the publishing and then put them in stalemate and never release their album, meanwhile tricking them into thinking the album is "coming soon"

You give Suge no credit when Death Row was ALL Suge -- the artists when they left never became as good as they were on Death Row, with Dre being the only exception as "2001" outsold "The Chronic" -- but "The Chronic" set off the entire G-Funk Era with the mainstream explosion -- EVERY other Artist who has left Death Row except Bow Wow, has become worse than they were before --> FACT
 

Jay Wallace

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #40 on: February 20, 2017, 05:13:33 PM »
First of all, I remember hearing "Change The Game Remix" allover Power 106, and I traveled to Detroit and they had it regularly in the playlist on WJLB 97.9  -- It was also played on Hot 97 in NY, go look it up it was on their playlist
The fact that you remember hearing it doesn’t go very far.  You seem to remember a lot of things that didn’t actually happen like there being a non-tagged version of the song on 2002, which is not the case.

As far as looking it up, I have.  I see the original version included as a single with a chart position.  I don’t see any for the remix so unless you can provide a link, you’re essentially asking me to go look for proof of something that I have never stated.  This is your argument, you can provide the links.

Next, Top Dogg WAS promoted heavily by Interscope when he was on Death Row, in fact his hit track "All About U" was featured on MTV, The Box, and BET.
That ISN’T heavy promotion.  Death Row had an unreleased video they actually filmed with Tupac in their vaults.  Death Row and Amaru were both involved in putting together “Greatest Hits” but since Snoop was no longer on peaceful terms, Death Row pulled him off of the “Hits” version and added Top Dogg as a way to feature a new artist.  They did a similar thing with Swoop G by adding him to a pre-existing Snoop video/song for “Head Doctor”.  Neither video was a major hit.

“Changes” was the hit single off “Greatest Hits”.  It’s the one that was pushed as the first single.  It was the one that got the most spins on radio and most play as a video.  It was nominated for a VMA and was arguably the most popular posthumous hit for Pac.  Death Row put out “Unconditional Love” as the follow-up single but that didn’t chart anywhere near as well.

To claim that Top Dogg was promoted heavily is preposterous. He was given a short verse on a song that ended up getting put out as a video.  They didn’t send him on a promotional tour to premiere or push it.  He wasn’t given any major featured articles.  He wasn’t given a follow-up single.  Hell, this song never charted as a single in conjunction with “Greatest Hits” and am pretty sure it was never released as such. No record of it in Pac’s list of album singles.  The Outlawz were a whole lot more singles/videos and even got an album released with Pac and I wouldn’t say they were “promoted heavily” either.  I also wouldn’t say they were “heavily promoting” RL because he sang on  “Until the End of Time” and was included in the video (which got much more play than “All About U”).
 
Also, here is the Soopafly video that was in rotation on BET and THE BOX from "The Chronic 2000" & "Dat Whoopty Whoop" (was supposed to be released on DR/DPG Records)
 
Great.  Thanks for showing me a video that I already knew existed.  Death Row made lots of videos for songs that didn’t get played very much, if at all.  I’m not arguing that they didn’t make videos or release singles.  I’m challenging you on your argument that they were hits or that Interscope was in the process of “heavily promoting” them.
Next,Daz was kicked off Death Row after a visit with Suge Knight in 2000 -- He took Soopafly with him, who was signed to Death Row/DPG Records, and Daz also ran up to the Bay to visit JT The Bigga Figga to teach him how to release indy albums.

Daz and Soopafly actually weren’t cool at this time.  Big C-Style did an interview talking about how Daz rolled up on him at a swap meet and beat him up.  I can’t recall the specifics at this time but they didn’t leave at the same time. 
Daz was originally supposed to be a strong part of TGFR (obviously he was the lead producer at the label), and instead it featured a new version of "Gangsta Rap" which pulled Daz off and Hutch redid the beat and they added Scarface, then they changed the album to diss Daz and REMOVE Top Dogg -- Top Dogg recorded multiple tracks with Eastwood -- these were all removed -- Also, that version of "Gangsta Rap" got pushed back to Dogg Pound '2002' album -- Crooked I said multiple times right after Daz got booted, he started being a major hater against Crooked after he asked him to leave with him and Crook told him Hell No that he's going to get his album released.
 
 
“Gangsta Rap” existed in multiple versions but it was never a Daz track.  It was produced by Fredwreck originally and was a Kurupt solo.  Top Dogg was already getting pushed to the side by the time that “Too Gangsta” came out.  He doesn’t have a single featured song on there.   Eastwood wasn’t on there either and didn’t get starting pushed as a Death Row artist until much later.
I also remember ThaRow.Com putting singles from "Still I Rise" on there (The Outlawz owed Suge 1 album, and this was it, which is why the album was called 2Pac + "Outlawz" -- "Still I Rise") -- Also, LOOK at the album credits -- SUGE KNIGHT is the Executive Producer -- Source:  http://www.angelfire.com/wa/DefRow/a.stillrise.html
 
Alright, let’s break this one down real quick before you start confusing yourself again.

#1 – Your source is clearly just a link to a fan page. 
#2 – Even the fan page says that “Death Row/Amaru logos were not included”.
#3 – My original quote regarding this was, “Their logo isn't on the back cover and Suge isn't listed as executive producer.” Your fan page backs up what I said. 

Death Row and Amaru were involved in the creation of this album but not the promotion.  Their logos were not included and Suge is not credited as an executive producer so while they may have received proceeds and credit for the album, people were not buying it off the strength of Death Row’s involvement because Death Row was not advertised.  If you own the physical album, the CD back cover, the back of the booklet, and the CD itself all give sole copyright to Interscope, 1999. Suge is given publishing credit but there is no mention of Death Row inside other than in the artist thank you’s.

Here is the Wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_I_Rise_(album)
It lists label as “Interscope Records”.

Death Row/Amaru were obviously involved in the process but the fact remains they withdrew their credit so the album sold because it was 2Pac, not because it was Death Row. 


And here's where you're wrong -- Suge OWNED ALL HIS PUBLISHING -- he mentioned it OVER and OVER again in Interviews -- Anyone he signed to Death Row, he owned the publishing on in some capacity (either shared or he owned it all)
 
Which would be why he couldn’t put out releases on certain artists.  He didn’t own full publishing.  He owned the masters.  He had publishing credit but Dre, Pac, Nate had publishing as well.
Suge could only reissue the music "as is", except for the SINGLES, which appeared on compilations ("Keep Their Heads Ringing" was re-issued on Death Row's Greatest Hits)
 
Death Row’s Greatest Hits had Priority music on it because of their working relationship, hence why “No Vaseline” was on there.  Death Row owns publishing on it but the rights are shared with different companies.
And Irv Gotti showed he could push Suge's artists
 

No, he didn’t.  He showed he could put them in a video. 
There's a rumor that Suge got pissed about Crook working over there and blackballed him quietly (kept promising him he would drop the album, but really had no plans to drop it)
 
That doesn’t even make sense.  Death Row had a working relationship with Murder, Inc.  In order for him to work with them, his label would have had to sign off on it.  If they didn’t want him to be in a video, they could have also stopped it.  It would hurt them more to not clear him for the video.  In which case, Murder Inc would have gone in another direction than it would to give him the go ahead and blackball him later. 
You give Suge no credit when Death Row was ALL Suge
 
 
I have given Suge credit.  I stated that one of the reasons the label fell apart after 1996 was because he was not around to handle the business side anymore.  You’re the one crediting all their pre-1996 success to Interscope pushing them.  By doing this, you can mold the narrative that they were still hot in the later years but they just didn’t have Interscope to help them when the reality was they just didn’t have a strong creative direction once they hit a cold spot.
EVERY other Artist who has left Death Row except Bow Wow, has become worse than they were before --> FACT
 
 
That isn’t a FACT.  That’s an opinion.  If you look at their peak period from inception until about 1997, you had only a handful of artists/groups who put out albums (Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound) and a few with hit singles (Rage, Nate Dogg). 

Pac was a superstar BEFORE Death Row and as mentioned whether Death Row was on the release or not, he still sells.

Snoop is still a huge star.  He continues to chart without Death Row and has remained a household name for 20 years.  He’s had more #1 singles off the label, than he has when he was on it.  Death Row has put out Snoop projects after 1997, they haven’t sold as well as Snoop’s own projects on other labels. 

Tha Dogg Pound had a huge hit with “Dogg Food”.  If you look at DPG (post-97), here’s the comparison of peak positions for their major label projects.

DEATH ROW
Retaliation, Revenge, and GetBack (Daz)  - Billboard #8
2002 (Dogg Pound) – Billboard #36
Against the Grain (Kurupt) – Billboard #60

NON-DEATH ROW
Kuruption (Kurupt) – Billboard #8
Streetz Iz A Mutha (Kurupt) – Billboard #31
Cali Iz Active (DPG) – Billboard #28, #1 Independent Charts

Rage had a hit single with “Afro Puffs”.  Once the label lost momentum, she put out an album that peaked at #32 with no hit singles. 

Nate Dogg had one major hit single on Death Row.  He went on to have countless more after he left.  His solo career never took off either on Row or after it but his contributions to best-selling albums were far more frequent.

It wasn’t just the label and Suge making the roster hot, it was the talent working together.  Once Dre left, they never had a single new breakout artist (no hit singles or platinum albums). 
 

2Relevant

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #41 on: February 20, 2017, 06:29:32 PM »
pretty much people only cared about 2pac and when he died death row died  8)
 

Okka

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #42 on: February 21, 2017, 01:28:06 AM »
Once again, "All About U" wasn't a Top Dogg song, so it wasn't HIS hit.
 

love33

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #43 on: February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM »
First of all, I remember hearing "Change The Game Remix" allover Power 106, and I traveled to Detroit and they had it regularly in the playlist on WJLB 97.9  -- It was also played on Hot 97 in NY, go look it up it was on their playlist
The fact that you remember hearing it doesn’t go very far.  You seem to remember a lot of things that didn’t actually happen like there being a non-tagged version of the song on 2002, which is not the case.

As far as looking it up, I have.  I see the original version included as a single with a chart position.  I don’t see any for the remix so unless you can provide a link, you’re essentially asking me to go look for proof of something that I have never stated.  This is your argument, you can provide the links.

Next, Top Dogg WAS promoted heavily by Interscope when he was on Death Row, in fact his hit track "All About U" was featured on MTV, The Box, and BET.
That ISN’T heavy promotion.  Death Row had an unreleased video they actually filmed with Tupac in their vaults.  Death Row and Amaru were both involved in putting together “Greatest Hits” but since Snoop was no longer on peaceful terms, Death Row pulled him off of the “Hits” version and added Top Dogg as a way to feature a new artist.  They did a similar thing with Swoop G by adding him to a pre-existing Snoop video/song for “Head Doctor”.  Neither video was a major hit.

“Changes” was the hit single off “Greatest Hits”.  It’s the one that was pushed as the first single.  It was the one that got the most spins on radio and most play as a video.  It was nominated for a VMA and was arguably the most popular posthumous hit for Pac.  Death Row put out “Unconditional Love” as the follow-up single but that didn’t chart anywhere near as well.

To claim that Top Dogg was promoted heavily is preposterous. He was given a short verse on a song that ended up getting put out as a video.  They didn’t send him on a promotional tour to premiere or push it.  He wasn’t given any major featured articles.  He wasn’t given a follow-up single.  Hell, this song never charted as a single in conjunction with “Greatest Hits” and am pretty sure it was never released as such. No record of it in Pac’s list of album singles.  The Outlawz were a whole lot more singles/videos and even got an album released with Pac and I wouldn’t say they were “promoted heavily” either.  I also wouldn’t say they were “heavily promoting” RL because he sang on  “Until the End of Time” and was included in the video (which got much more play than “All About U”).
 
Also, here is the Soopafly video that was in rotation on BET and THE BOX from "The Chronic 2000" & "Dat Whoopty Whoop" (was supposed to be released on DR/DPG Records)
 
Great.  Thanks for showing me a video that I already knew existed.  Death Row made lots of videos for songs that didn’t get played very much, if at all.  I’m not arguing that they didn’t make videos or release singles.  I’m challenging you on your argument that they were hits or that Interscope was in the process of “heavily promoting” them.
Next,Daz was kicked off Death Row after a visit with Suge Knight in 2000 -- He took Soopafly with him, who was signed to Death Row/DPG Records, and Daz also ran up to the Bay to visit JT The Bigga Figga to teach him how to release indy albums.

Daz and Soopafly actually weren’t cool at this time.  Big C-Style did an interview talking about how Daz rolled up on him at a swap meet and beat him up.  I can’t recall the specifics at this time but they didn’t leave at the same time. 
Daz was originally supposed to be a strong part of TGFR (obviously he was the lead producer at the label), and instead it featured a new version of "Gangsta Rap" which pulled Daz off and Hutch redid the beat and they added Scarface, then they changed the album to diss Daz and REMOVE Top Dogg -- Top Dogg recorded multiple tracks with Eastwood -- these were all removed -- Also, that version of "Gangsta Rap" got pushed back to Dogg Pound '2002' album -- Crooked I said multiple times right after Daz got booted, he started being a major hater against Crooked after he asked him to leave with him and Crook told him Hell No that he's going to get his album released.
 
 
“Gangsta Rap” existed in multiple versions but it was never a Daz track.  It was produced by Fredwreck originally and was a Kurupt solo.  Top Dogg was already getting pushed to the side by the time that “Too Gangsta” came out.  He doesn’t have a single featured song on there.   Eastwood wasn’t on there either and didn’t get starting pushed as a Death Row artist until much later.
I also remember ThaRow.Com putting singles from "Still I Rise" on there (The Outlawz owed Suge 1 album, and this was it, which is why the album was called 2Pac + "Outlawz" -- "Still I Rise") -- Also, LOOK at the album credits -- SUGE KNIGHT is the Executive Producer -- Source:  http://www.angelfire.com/wa/DefRow/a.stillrise.html
 
Alright, let’s break this one down real quick before you start confusing yourself again.

#1 – Your source is clearly just a link to a fan page. 
#2 – Even the fan page says that “Death Row/Amaru logos were not included”.
#3 – My original quote regarding this was, “Their logo isn't on the back cover and Suge isn't listed as executive producer.” Your fan page backs up what I said. 

Death Row and Amaru were involved in the creation of this album but not the promotion.  Their logos were not included and Suge is not credited as an executive producer so while they may have received proceeds and credit for the album, people were not buying it off the strength of Death Row’s involvement because Death Row was not advertised.  If you own the physical album, the CD back cover, the back of the booklet, and the CD itself all give sole copyright to Interscope, 1999. Suge is given publishing credit but there is no mention of Death Row inside other than in the artist thank you’s.

Here is the Wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_I_Rise_(album)
It lists label as “Interscope Records”.

Death Row/Amaru were obviously involved in the process but the fact remains they withdrew their credit so the album sold because it was 2Pac, not because it was Death Row. 


And here's where you're wrong -- Suge OWNED ALL HIS PUBLISHING -- he mentioned it OVER and OVER again in Interviews -- Anyone he signed to Death Row, he owned the publishing on in some capacity (either shared or he owned it all)
 
Which would be why he couldn’t put out releases on certain artists.  He didn’t own full publishing.  He owned the masters.  He had publishing credit but Dre, Pac, Nate had publishing as well.
Suge could only reissue the music "as is", except for the SINGLES, which appeared on compilations ("Keep Their Heads Ringing" was re-issued on Death Row's Greatest Hits)
 
Death Row’s Greatest Hits had Priority music on it because of their working relationship, hence why “No Vaseline” was on there.  Death Row owns publishing on it but the rights are shared with different companies.
And Irv Gotti showed he could push Suge's artists
 

No, he didn’t.  He showed he could put them in a video. 
There's a rumor that Suge got pissed about Crook working over there and blackballed him quietly (kept promising him he would drop the album, but really had no plans to drop it)
 
That doesn’t even make sense.  Death Row had a working relationship with Murder, Inc.  In order for him to work with them, his label would have had to sign off on it.  If they didn’t want him to be in a video, they could have also stopped it.  It would hurt them more to not clear him for the video.  In which case, Murder Inc would have gone in another direction than it would to give him the go ahead and blackball him later. 
You give Suge no credit when Death Row was ALL Suge
 
 
I have given Suge credit.  I stated that one of the reasons the label fell apart after 1996 was because he was not around to handle the business side anymore.  You’re the one crediting all their pre-1996 success to Interscope pushing them.  By doing this, you can mold the narrative that they were still hot in the later years but they just didn’t have Interscope to help them when the reality was they just didn’t have a strong creative direction once they hit a cold spot.
EVERY other Artist who has left Death Row except Bow Wow, has become worse than they were before --> FACT
 
 
That isn’t a FACT.  That’s an opinion.  If you look at their peak period from inception until about 1997, you had only a handful of artists/groups who put out albums (Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound) and a few with hit singles (Rage, Nate Dogg). 

Pac was a superstar BEFORE Death Row and as mentioned whether Death Row was on the release or not, he still sells.

Snoop is still a huge star.  He continues to chart without Death Row and has remained a household name for 20 years.  He’s had more #1 singles off the label, than he has when he was on it.  Death Row has put out Snoop projects after 1997, they haven’t sold as well as Snoop’s own projects on other labels. 

Tha Dogg Pound had a huge hit with “Dogg Food”.  If you look at DPG (post-97), here’s the comparison of peak positions for their major label projects.

DEATH ROW
Retaliation, Revenge, and GetBack (Daz)  - Billboard #8
2002 (Dogg Pound) – Billboard #36
Against the Grain (Kurupt) – Billboard #60

NON-DEATH ROW
Kuruption (Kurupt) – Billboard #8
Streetz Iz A Mutha (Kurupt) – Billboard #31
Cali Iz Active (DPG) – Billboard #28, #1 Independent Charts

Rage had a hit single with “Afro Puffs”.  Once the label lost momentum, she put out an album that peaked at #32 with no hit singles. 

Nate Dogg had one major hit single on Death Row.  He went on to have countless more after he left.  His solo career never took off either on Row or after it but his contributions to best-selling albums were far more frequent.

It wasn’t just the label and Suge making the roster hot, it was the talent working together.  Once Dre left, they never had a single new breakout artist (no hit singles or platinum albums). 


Interesting Spin -- I can tell you I remember hearing "Change The Game Remix" multiple times on the radio -- that was the Remix, so it's like the "Ha Remix" from Juvy, the song itself was the hit, and the Remix was a sub-hit that drove DJ Clue album and Dogg Pound "2002" album debuting at #36 as you correctly pointed out.

2Pac + Outlawz - Still I Rise -- Suge is the executive producer

Be careful with Wikipedia -- ANYONE can edit those articles - have to look at the Sources on anything on that website

Quote
To claim that Top Dogg was promoted heavily is preposterous. He was given a short verse on a song that ended up getting put out as a video.
Yes, YGD the Top Dogg was the big push for Death Row -- He got a bigger push than Crooked I, and Crook got a push too -- Suge put A LOT of stock in him when he shocked the world with the "Goin Back To Cali" track he threw on the Gang Related Soundtrack that you had to let play through a blank segment to hear -- then he invested in his future with the 2Pac single (that was the big push to introduce him to the world, during a highpoint of Pac's career after he had the "Changes" single, just right after he passed) -- he recorded multiple albums on Death Row -- he was pushed on MTV and magazines, that was the big medium in 1998 for music -- Suge was running around mentioning he's got the Top Dogg coming out and signed up on his label --

Quote
Great.  Thanks for showing me a video that I already knew existed.  Death Row made lots of videos for songs that didn’t get played very much, if at all.  I’m not arguing that they didn’t make videos or release singles.  I’m challenging you on your argument that they were hits or that Interscope was in the process of “heavily promoting” them.

Sure, but they didn't make videos just for the memories -- remember the costs involved with these videos in the 90's and early 2000's -- Videos have actually went backwards as far as budgets since CD Bootlegs & videos moved from television to the internet (they stopped putting the Busta Rhymes $300k videos together for the most part when it shifted off tv to the net)

Quote
Top Dogg was already getting pushed to the side by the time that “Too Gangsta” came out.  He doesn’t have a single featured song on there.   Eastwood wasn’t on there either and didn’t get starting pushed as a Death Row artist until much later.
This is not entirely accurate -- Top Dogg and Eastwood were on the label together and recorded a lot of tracks together -- Yes, Top Dogg was about to get cut, and Eastwood was about to be pushed towards the front of the line, but they both hammered out multiple tracks together:  here's a few for you:

-- This was originally supposed to be on the TGFR

-- Here's Eastwood & Ray J with "The West"

-- Eastwood & Top Dogg "Raw & Uncut" -- This was also on the table for TGFR

Just A lil Bit ft. Sharna
Dope Money
Who Do U Believe In
Just a few that come to mind

Quote
Daz and Soopafly actually weren’t cool at this time.  Big C-Style did an interview talking about how Daz rolled up on him at a swap meet and beat him up.  I can’t recall the specifics at this time but they didn’t leave at the same time.
Daz went after EVERYONE after Suge booted him off -- Really lame because other cats were focusing on their career prospects and doing them, and he declared internet war on anyone that aligned themselves (just because he got booted, really lame!) -- Crook talked about how he came up to him and told him to leave and then Crook told him No and the beef happened -- Soopafly was the same thing -- Daz lost his job so he thought everyone should just bolt the company -- that's how his brain works -- Then he had the beef with Kurupt just because he signed up to work with Suge -- instead of being a smart businessman and recognizing the label is a pathway for a career, he went at anyone on the label

Quote
That doesn’t even make sense.  Death Row had a working relationship with Murder, Inc.  In order for him to work with them, his label would have had to sign off on it.  If they didn’t want him to be in a video, they could have also stopped it.  It would hurt them more to not clear him for the video.  In which case, Murder Inc would have gone in another direction than it would to give him the go ahead and blackball him later. 
In one of Crook's past interviews he talks about how he recorded all the albums and music, and for some reason it was never released -- he went to Suge multiple times, and he got angry -- this was right around when he re-recorded "Hood Star"album

Quote
No, he didn’t.  He showed he could put them in a video. 
Irv Gotti did WAY more than put them "in a video" -- he featured them heavily on his projects heavily -- in fact, they got more prime exposure with Murder Inc at that time because that label ran the game until 50 Cent rubbed them out


Hutch and the Outlawz's E.D.I. were credited as music supervisors, and Suge Knight was the OG Executive Producer on "Still I Rise" -- Here's an article with Hutch talking about being the Dr. Dre of Death Row after he took Daz's job as Lead Producer:
http://www.mtv.com/news/1445272/with-suge-behind-bars-big-hutch-is-in-charge/

As I mentioned before, this is where the disagreements came up with Amaru, in that Amaru wasn't all bout it bout it with Suge using 2Pac's Material to build the new Death Row, whereas Suge took the standpoint that Pac always worked with Tha Row in-house artists -- this is where a lot of events happened behind the scenes in that Suge didn't want these Pac albums becoming mainstream politicized events with all these mainstream cats like Eminem allover Pac material, where Afeni wanted to make the money this way -- On the other hand, Afeni didn't want Hutch calling all the shots and loading up the album with Death Row artists so that Suge could push his new roster -- she viewed this as Suge running it as promotional vehicle for the new roster rather than trying to capitalize and max out sales -- that's why she was okay with Daz, but didn't know Hutch -- Daz was supposed to be the shotcaller behind Suge with the Pac projects before he was fired, then all of a sudden Big Hutch comes along, and they want to put the new artists on there

These are a few of the many many tracks that Death Row recorded lining up the new roster for the 2Pac albums (and there are MANY, this is just a small little appetizer):


-- Pushed back to Kurupt's album
(Crooked I & Tha Realest also made their underground track "Drunk Drivin In My Glasshouse" based off the Pac verse on this track)
 

love33

Re: Tha Realest -- Special Kind of Mother
« Reply #44 on: February 26, 2017, 01:39:21 AM »