It's May 14, 2024, 07:33:53 PM
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
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 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.
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)
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
I have physical copies of both the original and re-released Gang Related Soundtrack and neither have hidden tracks. For the re-release the songs by Top Dogg and Chocolate Bandit have full credits in them. I don't know what Love33 is smoking with all these Death Row fairy tales, but he's wildly off-base with most of everything he posts.
Here we go again…. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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. It isn’t a spin. You claim to have heard it multiple times on the radio but there is no listing of it as being a major rotation in terms of radio spins or even being pressed/released as a radio single so even if your account is accurate, that isn’t evidence of it being any kind of hit, it means you heard it on a specific radio station. You’ve already set a precidenct as having a very exaggerated and questionable view of what constitutes a “hit” and having shaky recollections of how big certain singles/videos were. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 2Pac + Outlawz - Still I Rise -- Suge is the executive producer Uncredited. Suge and Afeni would have been executive producers as Amaru/Death Row were involved in the production of the album but both labels pulled their credit over disputes stemming from the success of “Greatest Hits”. There isn’t a Death Row or Amaru logo on any portion of the physical CD release and they are not credited as executive producers in the album booklet. You are making the argument that “Still I Rise” sold of the strength of Death Row’s popularity and they weren’t actively promoted as being involved with the project. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM Be careful with Wikipedia -- ANYONE can edit those articles - have to look at the Sources on anything on that website True, which is why, in this case, I brought up the actual album release, which only has Interscope Records as a listed label with the copyright notice. In other cases, I have cited only information that has a link to it, such as Billboard website numbers. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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. Completely untrue. Suge wasn’t home during Top Dogg’s peak role at Death Row. Crooked I was easily the most pushed artist from 2000 until about late 2003. He was going to be on the first single from the 2Pac Vault project until Amaru pulled rank and had it changed. He put him on 2002 with “Gangsta Rap” (presumably, the intro to the song was added to more prominently feature him), he mentioned him in several interviews as being “the best in the West”, he brought him to New York to debut “So Damn Hood” during an interview with Angie Martinez, he was featured on the XXL cover with the new roster (May 2003), he brought up on national TV for an interview with Jay Mohr on Real Sports where he specifically brought him out in the middle of the interview and had him spit a freestyle, he was the most featured artist on “Dysfunktional Family” soundtrack with six songs and was the featured artist on the selected single/video. Suge was actually out of prison at this point and could actually promote him but it just didn’t pick up how it should have and by late 2003, he was asking to leave and was getting fazed out in favor of Kurupt. He wasn’t being blackballed for working with Irv Gotti. Suge stopped promoting him because he was pushing to be released from his contract with the label. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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 Yes, lots of stock in him by putting him in a hidden track on a two-disc album with no mention in the credits that wasn’t even included in but a rare amount of pressings. Most versions of that album don’t even contain that song and he’s not featured anywhere else on that album. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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) Gang Related was released in October 1997. 2Pac’s “Greatest Hits” didn’t come out until November 1998. In between that time, Death Row put out two solo albums (Daz, Mich’elle). Neither one had a single Top Dogg/YGD track on there. Now, “Changes” was already acknowledged as being the first single, which means it would have been the most prominently-pushed song connected to that project. In other words, they wouldn’t have pushed anything else on that album for months. And when they did release a second single, it was “Unconditional Love”. They shot a video for that one and it never got much play. Contrary to what you think, “All About U” was a three-year-old already released song. They added Top Dogg because they didn’t want to feature Snoop and had an unreleased video they filmed with Pac already. It never took off as a major hit. Period. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM He was pushed on MTV and magazines, that was the big medium in 1998 for music No, he wasn’t. In 1998, they had already pulled “Goin’ Back to Cali” from the retail release of Gang Related soundtrack. He wasn’t on RRGB or Hung Jury and didn’t have any videos out. Why would he be on MTV and what would he be promoting? Why would the label be pushing him over the artists that actually had music out? Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM Suge was running around mentioning he's got the Top Dogg coming out and signed up on his label. Running around where exactly? Suge was locked up in prison from 1997 until 2001. He was very rarely granted in-person interviews. Most interviews were conducted in print via prison telephone or by having a reporter go in with a notepad or recorder. And at this point, the focus of the media was far more into the East/West feud, the murders of Tupac and Biggie, the falling out with Dre and Snoop, and his time in prison. He wasn’t heavily promoting new artists and even if he was, I doubt the magazines would have made them the focus when he was being connected to murder conspiracies and extortion. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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) No, they made them to promote their music but not every music video that gets made is played in heavy rotation. Loads of big-budget videos were being made at that time. Not all were being played. New Death Row videos were not getting played frequently in 1997-98. You had Tupac and that was about it. And even some of his videos were not getting heavily played. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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 Heavily, huh? Let’s examine this. The first Murder Inc. release to feature Death Row artists was “Irv Gotti Presents, The Inc”. It featured one song, “Next Nigguz”, which had Crooked I and Eastwood on it with five other featured artists. Not only was it not a single but nobody on that song even went on to have an album for years. This would have been at the peak of Murder Inc’s popularity, right before they start to fall. The second release to feature them was the “Remix” version of the same album. This, once again, had ONE feature. Crooked I on “Baby” with Ashanti. Contrary to your theory that “the label ran the game”, this was late 2002 and people were getting tired of them. This album debuted at #26. It should also be noted that “Baby” came with numerous versions (one with Scarface, one solo, and one with Crooked) and Crooked was never pushed as a prominent selling point. Crooked ended up being in the video but since he wasn’t on the version on Ashanti’s album (which went multi-platinum), the exposure was limited. Their third and final appearance was on “Connected” on Ja Rule’s Last Temptation. Not a single. Released right around the time when the label was starting to sink. By my calculations, that amounts to approximately three songs and one video. The closest claim to fame here was being in a video for an Ashanti single and being included in a posse cut with Cadillac Tah on the last top-selling album Murder Inc had. Since you’re the one making the claim, how exactly were they being “heavily featured” again? Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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/ You got your facts mixed up, homeboy. Read your own article again. It says Hutch and E.D.I. were music supervisors on Until The End of Time, not Still I Rise. From what I understand, Hutch didn’t come onboard until Too Gangsta For Radio. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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 Parts of this are true. Afeni didn’t want Suge using Pac to promote Death Row but more specifically, she didn’t want anyone using Pac. She wanted complete control of his music and likeness. She compromised with Death Row because they had some legal ground to stand on because of the contracts. I have never heard anything about her being specifically being against Hutch doing anything and she definitely wasn’t pulling for Daz. Those two had a huge falling out over “Makaveli & Dillinger” and he was dissing her pretty regularly on his website by this point so I don’t know where you got your info from. Seems like you took a small piece of truth and used it to spin your own story. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM 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 Not pushed back. Kurupt didn’t record this until he came back. He wasn’t working with Death Row during the UTEOT recordings. Hell, it’s pretty clear by Kurupt’s lyrics on the song that this was recorded much later as he’s throwing shade at artists being inserted into Pac’s music who never knew him and this really hadn’t become a trend until later on. UTEOT predates the addition of Nas, Ja Rule, Eminem, 50 Cent, and others being added to Pac recordings. Kurupt, while not publicly beefing with Suge, did not have a working relationship with Death Row from 1999 until he went back in 2002.
Man you're off on YGD, -- The Top Dogg was the go to artist for Suge -- they spun "All About U" on MTV -- Yes, Suge wasn't literally "running around", but he was telling The Source, VIBE, and all the media outlets "I gotta guy called the Top Dogg" and was bragging about him. Here's an interview with Top Dogg and them talking about the Major Spins he got on MTV and BET (I personally remember this)DX: You mention invisibility. You appeared in two major videos. I remember seeing you on MTV and BET. What did it mean for you to have the 2Pac “All About U” video, and then “Top Dogg Cindafella”?YGD Top Dogg: [Laughs] Back then, if I was inside [with my friends], and the videos would come on, I’d go outside. I don’t wanna see the videos, I’m humble. If the video comes on, I’ll disappear. [Laughs] I never really let that shit go to my head.(Source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.16748/title.ygd-top-dogg-recalls-controversies-while-at-death-row-records-new-album)That Crooked I promotion tour that you are referring to, I remember that, he played a completely different version of "So Damn Hood" that sounded way better on Hot97 -- but that was it, he had a ground game where Suge flew around with him and they made a nice couple of appearances on BET with Tha Row Hitterz -- Crook was there with Suge, Kurupt, NINA -- My whole point is that Irv Gotti got him more free exposure --> He was on a JA RULE album -- Ja was a house superstar (you know this, I don't have to say it) -- Ja Rule was the biggest rapper in the game for a time period before 50 Cent knocked him off -- Ja Rule, DMX, and Jay-Z were the New York Big 3 dropping platinum albums, so for Eastwood to get featured with a house artist like Ja Rule, and get a video with Ashanti who was HUGE at the time for R&B (she had her big feature track "Always On Time" and the track with Fat Joe "What's Luv") -- For Crook to be on the same tracks as these artists in their prime was a much bigger push than Suge could ever give him than playing a track once or twice on Hot97 or putting a Billboard up of Crook taking a shit! Crook had more of a ground game than Top Dogg (because Suge was locked down), but he never got the spins Top Dogg did on MTV and BET other than what Irv Gotti got him (and BET Uncut at 2 AM EST played "Still Tha Row", but the video for some reason was blackballed and considered 'too explicit' for daytime tv so he got screwed -- they also changed the beat on the video and it sounded off)There's an interview, I should see if I can find it, I think it's Danny Boy, talking about how he believes Suge put him in stalemate -- and Danny B said that's what Suge does to his artists, he tells them to keep recording, and if he's pissed off at them low-key for something, he won't act like it, but he'll just blackball all your work (i.e. SNOOP getting blackballed around the time of Smokefest and several other examples) -- There was no payola to the radio stations because Death Row didn't have the distributor (D3 couldn't do much more than press the CDs and send them out, but they couldn't get these songs on radio playlists outside of California)Tha Realest got a push from Suge too -- Realest was featured on 6 tracks on "The Chronic 2000", which that album sold 5 times TGFR & Dysfunktional Family OSTDanny Boy talked about how Suge would blackball his artists by telling them how great the albums were, how he loved the material, and he would tell them "it's coming soon" and it would never drop -- he would just string along his artists -- Many believe this is what happened to Crooked I -- Danny Boy pointed out that he may have been jealous that he recorded with Irv Gotti and Irv offered him more than what Suge could offer him, and Suge took offense to that (remember Crook was offered deals by Aftermath and Bad Boy at the time) -- the album had a release date set and after it was delayed, then it was supposed to be "Hood Star", then it kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed, and Crooked said, he was pissed his album didn't drop over and over again, and the same shit happened to Tha Realest, he said he had 150 songs recorded, and he kept visiting Suge in prison 3 times a week, and he told him how great the material is and that the album is coming soon, and he never dropped the shit.Danny Boy said he would trap the artists in longterm deals so they couldn't sign another deal and he wouldn't let them off, they would have to go through a long ride in the court system to have the ability to record elsewhere (i.e. Nate Dogg, Tha Realest) -- Danny Boy said Suge would string his artists along in a stalemate purgatory where they were locked in and completely lost their buzz with nothing coming out!Hutch tookover in 2000 -- But Top Dogg got the first big push, then Realest got the push on Chronic 2K, then Crook got a push (both with Suge radio tour & Murder Inc), and Eastwood was heavily featured on Crook's stuff (like Snoop was on Dre's) which was the plan for himHutch was working on the 2Pac project, I remember him talking about it interviews how it's such a privilege to get to go into the Vaults and some of the stuff he heard in it sent shivers down his spine -- That's right around the time where Afeni did her best to railroad him off the project -- Yeah, I remember her being pissed at Daz, but before Daz did that and sold Makaveli & Dillinger on the Internet, she was expecting him to have a heavy hand from Tha Row side of Unreleased 2Pac as part of the Suge-side of the project (right around that time they made public "Tha Vault")Also "Still I Rise" was promoted on the OFFICIAL Death Row Records website -- they had snippets posted up (I mean that's Tha Row's crew allover that album) -- I'm sure someone here can vouch for me on that!
DX: You were, if I’m not mistaken, the last Death Row artist to have his own video, of the new guys. Years later, you have Renegade out. But on the real, how close did you ever get to releasing an album at Death Row?YGD Top Dogg: Actually, we never really got to an album. I’m so grateful and thankful for that, ’cause I’m able to [release] my own album [now]. I did a lot of singles over there at Death Row, but I never had an album that I was actually working on. I was just workin’ on songs. I was still just an artist in development. I just blessed to be on songs so big that motherfuckas still play ’em on the radio, and still remember ’em.DX: What happened next? What progressed?YGD Top Dogg: I was ready, but I wasn’t developed. I’d just been rappin’ for a year or two, and I was on a [very well-known] label. We made it. [Laughs] I just took that and ran with it. I just stuck to the script, man, and my name motivated me. I know it sounds weird, but “Top Dogg” was powerful in some ways.
Man you're off on YGD, -- The Top Dogg was the go to artist for Suge -- they spun "All About U" on MTV -- Yes, Suge wasn't literally "running around", but he was telling The Source, VIBE, and all the media outlets "I gotta guy called the Top Dogg" and was bragging about him.
Here's an interview with Top Dogg and them talking about the Major Spins he got on MTV and BET (I personally remember this)
My whole point is that Irv Gotti got him more free exposure --> He was on a JA RULE album -- Ja was a house superstar (you know this, I don't have to say it) -- Ja Rule was the biggest rapper in the game for a time period before 50 Cent knocked him off -- Ja Rule, DMX, and Jay-Z were the New York Big 3 dropping platinum albums, so for Eastwood to get featured with a house artist like Ja Rule, and get a video with Ashanti who was HUGE at the time for R&B (she had her big feature track "Always On Time" and the track with Fat Joe "What's Luv") -- For Crook to be on the same tracks as these artists in their prime was a much bigger push than Suge could ever give him.
Hutch tookover in 2000 -- But Top Dogg got the first big push, then Realest got the push on Chronic 2K, then Crook got a push (both with Suge radio tour & Murder Inc), and Eastwood was heavily featured on Crook's stuff (like Snoop was on Dre's) which was the plan for him
Hutch was working on the 2Pac project, I remember him talking about it interviews how it's such a privilege to get to go into the Vaults and some of the stuff he heard in it sent shivers down his spine.
-- That's right around the time where Afeni did her best to railroad him off the project -- Yeah, I remember her being pissed at Daz, but before Daz did that and sold Makaveli & Dillinger on the Internet, she was expecting him to have a heavy hand from Tha Row side of Unreleased 2Pac as part of the Suge-side of the project (right around that time they made public "Tha Vault")
Also "Still I Rise" was promoted on the OFFICIAL Death Row Records website -- they had snippets posted up (I mean that's Tha Row's crew allover that album) -- I'm sure someone here can vouch for me on that!
Quote from: love33 on February 27, 2017, 12:06:52 AMMan you're off on YGD, -- The Top Dogg was the go to artist for Suge -- they spun "All About U" on MTV -- Yes, Suge wasn't literally "running around", but he was telling The Source, VIBE, and all the media outlets "I gotta guy called the Top Dogg" and was bragging about him. Here's an interview with Top Dogg and them talking about the Major Spins he got on MTV and BET (I personally remember this)DX: You mention invisibility. You appeared in two major videos. I remember seeing you on MTV and BET. What did it mean for you to have the 2Pac “All About U” video, and then “Top Dogg Cindafella”?YGD Top Dogg: [Laughs] Back then, if I was inside [with my friends], and the videos would come on, I’d go outside. I don’t wanna see the videos, I’m humble. If the video comes on, I’ll disappear. [Laughs] I never really let that shit go to my head.(Source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.16748/title.ygd-top-dogg-recalls-controversies-while-at-death-row-records-new-album)That Crooked I promotion tour that you are referring to, I remember that, he played a completely different version of "So Damn Hood" that sounded way better on Hot97 -- but that was it, he had a ground game where Suge flew around with him and they made a nice couple of appearances on BET with Tha Row Hitterz -- Crook was there with Suge, Kurupt, NINA -- My whole point is that Irv Gotti got him more free exposure --> He was on a JA RULE album -- Ja was a house superstar (you know this, I don't have to say it) -- Ja Rule was the biggest rapper in the game for a time period before 50 Cent knocked him off -- Ja Rule, DMX, and Jay-Z were the New York Big 3 dropping platinum albums, so for Eastwood to get featured with a house artist like Ja Rule, and get a video with Ashanti who was HUGE at the time for R&B (she had her big feature track "Always On Time" and the track with Fat Joe "What's Luv") -- For Crook to be on the same tracks as these artists in their prime was a much bigger push than Suge could ever give him than playing a track once or twice on Hot97 or putting a Billboard up of Crook taking a shit! Crook had more of a ground game than Top Dogg (because Suge was locked down), but he never got the spins Top Dogg did on MTV and BET other than what Irv Gotti got him (and BET Uncut at 2 AM EST played "Still Tha Row", but the video for some reason was blackballed and considered 'too explicit' for daytime tv so he got screwed -- they also changed the beat on the video and it sounded off)There's an interview, I should see if I can find it, I think it's Danny Boy, talking about how he believes Suge put him in stalemate -- and Danny B said that's what Suge does to his artists, he tells them to keep recording, and if he's pissed off at them low-key for something, he won't act like it, but he'll just blackball all your work (i.e. SNOOP getting blackballed around the time of Smokefest and several other examples) -- There was no payola to the radio stations because Death Row didn't have the distributor (D3 couldn't do much more than press the CDs and send them out, but they couldn't get these songs on radio playlists outside of California)Tha Realest got a push from Suge too -- Realest was featured on 6 tracks on "The Chronic 2000", which that album sold 5 times TGFR & Dysfunktional Family OSTDanny Boy talked about how Suge would blackball his artists by telling them how great the albums were, how he loved the material, and he would tell them "it's coming soon" and it would never drop -- he would just string along his artists -- Many believe this is what happened to Crooked I -- Danny Boy pointed out that he may have been jealous that he recorded with Irv Gotti and Irv offered him more than what Suge could offer him, and Suge took offense to that (remember Crook was offered deals by Aftermath and Bad Boy at the time) -- the album had a release date set and after it was delayed, then it was supposed to be "Hood Star", then it kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed, and Crooked said, he was pissed his album didn't drop over and over again, and the same shit happened to Tha Realest, he said he had 150 songs recorded, and he kept visiting Suge in prison 3 times a week, and he told him how great the material is and that the album is coming soon, and he never dropped the shit.Danny Boy said he would trap the artists in longterm deals so they couldn't sign another deal and he wouldn't let them off, they would have to go through a long ride in the court system to have the ability to record elsewhere (i.e. Nate Dogg, Tha Realest) -- Danny Boy said Suge would string his artists along in a stalemate purgatory where they were locked in and completely lost their buzz with nothing coming out!Hutch tookover in 2000 -- But Top Dogg got the first big push, then Realest got the push on Chronic 2K, then Crook got a push (both with Suge radio tour & Murder Inc), and Eastwood was heavily featured on Crook's stuff (like Snoop was on Dre's) which was the plan for himHutch was working on the 2Pac project, I remember him talking about it interviews how it's such a privilege to get to go into the Vaults and some of the stuff he heard in it sent shivers down his spine -- That's right around the time where Afeni did her best to railroad him off the project -- Yeah, I remember her being pissed at Daz, but before Daz did that and sold Makaveli & Dillinger on the Internet, she was expecting him to have a heavy hand from Tha Row side of Unreleased 2Pac as part of the Suge-side of the project (right around that time they made public "Tha Vault")Also "Still I Rise" was promoted on the OFFICIAL Death Row Records website -- they had snippets posted up (I mean that's Tha Row's crew allover that album) -- I'm sure someone here can vouch for me on that!Funny you cited that interview because the very next question asks about an album QuoteDX: You were, if I’m not mistaken, the last Death Row artist to have his own video, of the new guys. Years later, you have Renegade out. But on the real, how close did you ever get to releasing an album at Death Row?YGD Top Dogg: Actually, we never really got to an album. I’m so grateful and thankful for that, ’cause I’m able to [release] my own album [now]. I did a lot of singles over there at Death Row, but I never had an album that I was actually working on. I was just workin’ on songs. I was still just an artist in development. I just blessed to be on songs so big that motherfuckas still play ’em on the radio, and still remember ’em.DX: What happened next? What progressed?YGD Top Dogg: I was ready, but I wasn’t developed. I’d just been rappin’ for a year or two, and I was on a [very well-known] label. We made it. [Laughs] I just took that and ran with it. I just stuck to the script, man, and my name motivated me. I know it sounds weird, but “Top Dogg” was powerful in some ways.Top Dogg wasn't a "go-to" guy. You're having delusions of grandour if you think otherwise. More falsehoods:1) Crooked I never had a release date in stone, and the album that would have been released was "Say Hi To The Bad Guy", not "Hootstar"2) Nate Dogg didn't have a long trip through the court systems. He actually won against Death Row and got the rights to his DR album, and was able to drop an album a year or so after leaving the label
lol this thread is pure comedy to think this delusional moron thinks tha fakest and top none were stars is hilarious
Quote from: Jay Wallace on February 27, 2017, 04:03:42 PM It became a big-selling album because it was Tupac, not because Death Row advertised it on their website.
Quote from: love33 on February 27, 2017, 12:06:52 AM Man you're off on YGD, -- The Top Dogg was the go to artist for Suge -- they spun "All About U" on MTV -- Yes, Suge wasn't literally "running around", but he was telling The Source, VIBE, and all the media outlets "I gotta guy called the Top Dogg" and was bragging about him. In what interviews? Do you have a link? Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM Here's an interview with Top Dogg and them talking about the Major Spins he got on MTV and BET (I personally remember this) The interviewer says he remembers seeing his videos. Nothing about major spins. I didn’t have BET back then but MTV sure as hell wasn’t playing those videos regularly. Even the video in the link is from some obscure video network. Also, since you brought up the link, here’s a quote that contradicts your own statements. "I did a lot of singles over there at Death Row, but I never had an album that I was actually working on. I was just workin’ on songs. I was still just an artist in development."These are the man's own words. You said he was the big artist in 1998 but neither of those videos came out until, at least, 1999. So I'll ask the question again - Why would he have been on MTV in 1998 for anything? Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM My whole point is that Irv Gotti got him more free exposure --> He was on a JA RULE album -- Ja was a house superstar (you know this, I don't have to say it) -- Ja Rule was the biggest rapper in the game for a time period before 50 Cent knocked him off -- Ja Rule, DMX, and Jay-Z were the New York Big 3 dropping platinum albums, so for Eastwood to get featured with a house artist like Ja Rule, and get a video with Ashanti who was HUGE at the time for R&B (she had her big feature track "Always On Time" and the track with Fat Joe "What's Luv") -- For Crook to be on the same tracks as these artists in their prime was a much bigger push than Suge could ever give him. And my point is you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about. A feature on a superstar rapper’s album is nowhere near what you make it out to be. Plenty of artists end up featuring on major artist’s albums, that doesn’t immediately make them stars, at best, that helps generate a buzz. Ja Rule did songs and videos with lots of artists. Cadillac Tah was featured on “Ain’t It Funny”, an actual #1 hit record with an actual mainstream video with Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez. More exposure than Crooked I and during a stronger selling point in Ja’s career. What happened? Nothing. People remember the song for Ja Rule and J-Lo like they remember D-12 songs for Eminem and don’t remember which Outlaw is featured on what Pac song. It’s not a diss. MC Ren is featured in all of the NWA tracks and videos but he’s not put out there like Cube is. Crooked I was never “pushed” by Irv Gotti. He did a few songs with Murder, Inc. and it was when Ja was on the way down. Irv actually “pulled” Vita, Charlie Baltimore, Cadillac Tah, and Black Child on numerous projects. They didn’t become stars and they were constantly linked to Ja in videos, albums, singles, etc. One guest verse isn’t going to make you a star. Quit believing your own nonsense. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM Hutch tookover in 2000 -- But Top Dogg got the first big push, then Realest got the push on Chronic 2K, then Crook got a push (both with Suge radio tour & Murder Inc), and Eastwood was heavily featured on Crook's stuff (like Snoop was on Dre's) which was the plan for him Nope. Top Dogg never got a real push. He and Realest were looked as the artists during Chronic 2000 but no real money or promotion was ever put into them. Death Row put out an official home video full of music videos in 1999 and the only time either one of them is featured is in a low-budget porno video for Daz’s song that has Tha Realest in it. They weren’t getting magazine covers or big interviews. When Tha Realest got shot in the studio in 1999 during the shooting that killed Kurupt’s bodyguard, The Source called him “Realness”. And enough with this “heavy feature” talk. Comparing Crook at that point to Dre is absurd. Dre was a superstar producer by the time he got on and the pushing of Snoop was far more substantial. They didn’t just give him a forty-second verse at the end of a video. They put him on equal billing and had him trade bars with Dre on Deep Cover and G-Thang. He was constantly put next to him. The people you’re mentioning were more like Bushwick Bill. One song on The Chronic. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM Hutch was working on the 2Pac project, I remember him talking about it interviews how it's such a privilege to get to go into the Vaults and some of the stuff he heard in it sent shivers down his spine. Yes, that project was “Until The End of Time”. We already went over this before. Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM -- That's right around the time where Afeni did her best to railroad him off the project -- Yeah, I remember her being pissed at Daz, but before Daz did that and sold Makaveli & Dillinger on the Internet, she was expecting him to have a heavy hand from Tha Row side of Unreleased 2Pac as part of the Suge-side of the project (right around that time they made public "Tha Vault")And here is where you lose me. Where did Afeni ever say any of this? Quote from: love33 on February 26, 2017, 01:26:07 AM Also "Still I Rise" was promoted on the OFFICIAL Death Row Records website -- they had snippets posted up (I mean that's Tha Row's crew allover that album) -- I'm sure someone here can vouch for me on that! Try to stay with me so this can hopefully, be the last time we go through this. I didn’t say Death Row didn’t work on the album or list it on their website. I said they took their name off the project. It was intended as a Death Row/Amaru release but at some point, both labels removed their names from the project. They both still include it as a release in their discography but they withdrew their logos and were not credited at the time of the release. It became a big-selling album because it was Tupac, not because Death Row advertised it on their website.
Quote from: Belt on February 27, 2017, 04:34:44 PMQuote from: Jay Wallace on February 27, 2017, 04:03:42 PM It became a big-selling album because it was Tupac, not because Death Row advertised it on their website. and we all know the ONLY reason top none got any exposure was the 2PAC song and video all about you i don't know what parallel world this guy lives in but in our world top and fakest were never going to be stars
1) Duh, I know it was "Say Hi To Tha Bad Guy" - If you read my post, they pushed it back and renamed it to "Hoodstar" after multiple delays -- Yes Crooked I had a release date of September 10, 2002, go look it up!2) Nate Dogg had to do a shared publishing deal where if Suge wanted to release it he could -- Many of Suge's artists have been tied up for years in the court system -- even on the latest Death Row bankruptcy proceedings, Suge sued the new owners of Death Row for $146 million so none of the artists could get anything (smart move)Go Listen to the Danny Boy Interviews and Educate yourselfTop Dogg:YES, Top Dogg was the Top Dogg for the label -- he had an album called "Every Dogg has Its Day" -- This album title was posted on the WEBSITE and I have the album (and so do many other people) -- he said that because he's trying to promote his new work, and doesn't want people salivating over the Death Row classics, because he knows that's what his career will likely be known for (maybe he can prove me wrong?)Now back to your claim -- Your totally wrong -- Suge put him on MULTIPLE TRACKS with Dr. Dre -- If you had NO PLANS for an artist, would you have him on multiple Dr. Dre tracks?! I mean there's a lot! Some of them that leaked -- "the Hoe Hopper, Die MF Die, the Columbine One that's rare as f... just think for a second -- you're in charge of the record label --> Put your business cap on, are you going to have your multi-million dollar producer's beats be put on some guy that you only have plans to be a scrub? Hell no, that would be a terrible investment -- He put him on Dre Beats to promote the shit out of him! How many people can say they've been on Dr. Dre beats and on Death Row Records -- Top Dogg was ONE OF A VERY FEW SELECT GROUP -- Dre doesn't even have that much shit released post NWA!
Lots of stuff here -- First, an artists career being launched off a featured appearance has been common in hip hop throughout time -- that's how Snoop blew up off "Nuthin But A G Thang" and "Dre Day" -- Ask Young Buck, who got his break during a 50 Cent feature (After he was featured on "Get Rich or Die Tryin" everyone was like you gotta sign this cat!), too many examples to name -- but featuring on a superstars track is one of the biggest ways artists break in and get their name out there for recognition and label signing (you know this)
Let me ask you this -- this is totally your opinion, if you're running a business, and you have Dr. Dre instrumentals, extremely rare for anyone to even have them, and in his prime at that, would you put them on an artist who you thought was some bum?