Death Row

[Hack Wilson - real]

Signing Pac was essentially the end of Death Row

[HighEyeCue]

people forget that Dre released that wack Aftermath compilation in '96

say what you want about Suge, he would have never put out something like that

[Blasphemy (A)]

people forget that Dre released that wack Aftermath compilation in '96

say what you want about Suge, he would have never put out something like that

Yeah....because The Chronic 2000/Too Gangsta For Radio were just bomb shit that blew away the charts and the industry.  Nvm the two 2pac Remix albums that Suge Knight authorized or Death Rows version of Kurupts Album (Taking off a variety of cuts that would of made the album better). Sucking his dick any harder and they'll have to call you "DUst Buster".

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

Aftermath compilation was dope from a production standpoint. It just featured artists I didn't care about.

[Cavvy]

blunt time was amazing in a production sense, pity RBX was featured on it, Im a fan of the Narrator but those verses were straight up garbage

[Hack Wilson - real]

people forget that Dre released that wack Aftermath compilation in '96

say what you want about Suge, he would have never put out something like that

Yeah....because The Chronic 2000/Too Gangsta For Radio were just bomb shit that blew away the charts and the industry.  Nvm the two 2pac Remix albums that Suge Knight authorized or Death Rows version of Kurupts Album (Taking off a variety of cuts that would of made the album better). Sucking his dick any harder and they'll have to call you "DUst Buster".

chronic 2k and TG4R had some BANGERS on them


but they also had wackass The Realest on them :-/

[dubsmith_nz]

Aftermath compilation was dope from a production standpoint. It just featured artists I didn't care about.

Too much rnb filler as well

[OG Jaydc]

Lol @ suge being like master p. Death row were releasing like 1-2 albums a year. Suge was the complete opposite. In fact it's often been said a lot of albums didn't come out because they didn't meet suges standards for quality.

[One2free]

I know shit would never had been the same without Dre, Pac, Snoop.

But as previously said, I know Tha Row could had made a way much bigger impact. Suge was too busy retaliating here & there, notably with Snoop. That's what fucked up with crooked I, Kurupt, VK, Eastwood & others.. If they would had take the right descision, there could have been some others classics.

[Okka]

Aftermath compilation was dope from a production standpoint. It just featured artists I didn't care about.

Yeah, true that. There's only a few songs on it that i still listen to. Would've been dope to hear Busta Rhymes on "Fame", he was supposed to be on it.

[Jimmy H.]

I think Pac could have made just as good an album as All Eyez on me somewhere else... it'd be different, but still great,
and then California Love and Can't C Me could have been on Chronic 2, or Heltah Skeltah or Dogg Food or wherever.

I don't think Pac needed the Death Row guys to make a proper 2Pac album, and I think it just kind of interrupted what Death Row was doing
even more so than the soundtracks. If you really have to have Pac on DR, then I'd say it would have fit more if it was just one disc,
Dre produced, with more features from inmates, or maybe like a Pac/Snoop collab album, all Dre beats

While I agree that Pac from an artist point did not need Death Row to make great music. It was actually a solid pairing for commercial purposes. The public is fickle. You need to switch things up from time to time. Pac going there made the entire thing exciting again. Dre and Snoop were there for four years at this point. The idea of Pac working with Snoop or Pac working with Dre breathed new life into the formula. Putting Pac there also put him in a position where he could handpick all these great beats and make that double album quickly. One important thing to remember about "All Eyez" was that some of the best songs were waiting there for him when he got there. The down side was the entire direction of the company was completely adjusted to center around him, which I think hurt them in the long run.

[shmosh]

In my opinion, this is what should have come out on DR:

The Chronic
Doggystyle
Dogg Food, but with more Dre production, trim away some of the weaker tracks, more of Snoop at his peak
Lady of Rage solo, all Dre produced, Snoop, Pound, RBX, etc. guesting pretty heavily, like on Doggystyle
RBX solo album, again, all Dre produced, DR inmates featured heavily
Helter Skelter with Ice Cube, and all Dre production, DR inmates featured heavily
Chronic 2... maybe would have ended up being like 2001, but with inmates all involved
Tha Doggfather, Dre produced, like Doggystyle, but perhaps less funk and more Godfather strings and violin sounds, etc.


I don't think they should have had the soundtracks Murder Was the Case or Above the Rim...
Afro Puffs should have been first single from Rage's album, and Natural Born Killaz should have been on Helter Skelter.
I felt like the soundtracks slowed them down during their peak... at the time people were happy to have a couple more classic tracks, but they didn't seem like "real" albums.

I think Pac could have made just as good an album as All Eyez on me somewhere else... it'd be different, but still great,
and then California Love and Can't C Me could have been on Chronic 2, or Heltah Skeltah or Dogg Food or wherever.

I don't think Pac needed the Death Row guys to make a proper 2Pac album, and I think it just kind of interrupted what Death Row was doing
even more so than the soundtracks. If you really have to have Pac on DR, then I'd say it would have fit more if it was just one disc,
Dre produced, with more features from inmates, or maybe like a Pac/Snoop collab album, all Dre beats


Basically, I think they were a lot stronger with sticking with their core rappers and having Dre produce with Daz, Warren, Sam, etc. co-producing...
I think it fell apart starting with the soundtracks as it took away the focus and then it just unraveled.

The way I see it, they should have had like 6 or so albums all with a classic Dre sound and with just the main crew...

You know how with the Wu, RZA produced 36 Chambers, then ODB's album, Method Man's, GZA's, Rae's, and Ghostface's and
those are all classics and sound kinda related to each other and have the rest of the Wu as the main features?
I'd have liked to see DR like that..

[Hack Wilson - real]

dogg pound were inferior on Cant C Me compared to Pac's 3 verses


and u know Dre wasnt finishing Chronic 2 anytime soon

[DeeezNuuuts83]

While I agree that Pac from an artist point did not need Death Row to make great music. It was actually a solid pairing for commercial purposes. The public is fickle. You need to switch things up from time to time. Pac going there made the entire thing exciting again. Dre and Snoop were there for four years at this point. The idea of Pac working with Snoop or Pac working with Dre breathed new life into the formula. Putting Pac there also put him in a position where he could handpick all these great beats and make that double album quickly. One important thing to remember about "All Eyez" was that some of the best songs were waiting there for him when he got there. The down side was the entire direction of the company was completely adjusted to center around him, which I think hurt them in the long run.

Very good points.  I think Pac earned his spot on Death Row with the huge success of his album along with already having been an established star, but Suge gave him too much control within the company too quickly, having essentially pushed aside every artist except for Snoop.  I remember reading some article (though I can't remember who from Death Row was being interviewed) regarding when they had signed Hammer, and supposedly Suge made the decision with input from Snoop and Pac specifically, which tripped me out because by that time, Pac couldn't have been on Death Row for more than two or three months, yet his input carried more weight than anyone else's on the label who had been a part of the group for longer, such as Dre (who was already on his way out by that time), Sam Sneed, Rage, etc.  (I left out the Dogg Pound artists since Snoop was more or less speaking on their behalf.)

I understand Suge pushing Pac's album to capitalize on the buzz around it along with both Pac and Death Row being in headlines, which obviously paid off, but I think Rage should've been able to put an album out since she had buzz and was good on the mic too.  I'd say summer 1996 would've been the best time to do it, since it would've been her turn, though despite her lack of involvement in Death Row's beefs, I'm sure she would've caught some flak for it just because of her affiliation with the label.

[HighEyeCue]

dogg pound were inferior on Cant C Me compared to Pac's 3 verses


and u know Dre wasnt finishing Chronic 2 anytime soon

Dogg Pound dumbed down their lyrics cause they made it a party track

would have liked to hear what Ice Cube would have sounded on it