West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: AfterMathematics on October 04, 2001, 11:59:48 PM
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Every time people refer to Suge, they're always talking about what a great businessman he is. But, if you look at the facts, what has he done that was so extraordinary?
People always say that Suge handled the business-side of Death Row, and Death Row groupies will say how Suge was responsible for the company's success. But let's be honest here: Give the biggest moron in the world the hottest producer in rap (Dre) who has this uncanny ability to pick out superstar talent (Snoop), have him make one of the greatest albums of all time (The Chronic), and how could he NOT blow it up? I'm twenty four now, so I was in high school when The Chronic came out. There was no fucking promotion for that shit when it was first released...The ONLY reason it blew up was because it was an incredible fucking album, not because Suge pulled some awesome business tricks. This is especially clear when you look at the Chronic's release date and when it first hit the Billboard Charts. There's a pretty considerable amount of lag there. When I picked up The Chronic (Well, the first time...I think I've bought that album at least 3 times by now...Scratched, Stolen, Remastered), I just happened to run across it at Tower Records. I listened to NWA before, so I knew who Dr. Dre was, and I was pretty surprised to see that it wasn't off Ruthless. I hadn't heard about it, I didn't see any advertisements in the Source or any kind of promotion. I just happened to see it on the racks. Of course, a while later "Nuthin' But a G Thang" hit the airwaves and the rest is history.
After The Chronic blew up, Snoop was fucking untouchable. It's one thing to pick up a classic album years after its release, and something very different to have picked up that same CD the day it was released. The younger people on this board probably cannot fully imagine what a GOD Snoop was back then. The homey simply could do no wrong. The hype behind Doggystyle was consumer driven, primarily cuz everyone wanted to hear more of Snoop's flow. So they pushed back the Doggystyle release date over and over again (Seemingly, according to Mellowman, because they didn't finish the thing), and when it came out everyone bought it. Once again, where is Suge's business genius in all this? I don't see it...Seems pretty obvious it was Dre and Snoop's talent that built Death Row. Of course, they got 2pac later, but that wouldn't have happened if Death Row had been some shitty little unsuccessful label.
This is just a perspective for the people on the board who might not really remember Death Row's early days. I know most of you don't really support the current Row, but I just had to get this off my chest and, if you have a counter opinion, to hear your arguments. My prediction is that Death Row will never come back...Suge Knight ain't shit without Dre, Snoop, Pac, DPG...Suge outta jail? Who the fuck cares...It won't (and hasn't) changed a damn thing.
Peace.
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Of course, I wasn't totally fair. I guess Suge had a big part in getting Dre out of his contract with Ruthless...But still, that just shows that he's a thug, not necessarily a great businessman.
Sometimes I wonder what the Chronic would have been like if it had been released on Ruthless. Can you imagine Eazy and Ren on that album along with Snoop, DPG, Rage, RBX? How fucking incredible would that have been? *Sigh* Things that never can be.
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i agree with what your saying... I was about when efil4zaggin dropped. i missed the chronic.. but doggystyle blew shit outta control. it was the first cd i ever owned.
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AFTERMATHEMATICS keep on preachin brother preach!
hahaha
Don't forget that it's all about thug life!
Don't forget that tupac used to scream THUG LIFE!
Nowadays if you a man you gotta do whacha gotta do to survive cos theres no truth in this fuckin world.
Recording labels exist to make money it doesn't matter how they make it!
When Tupac was bailed out he knew that money was gonna be made out him.And he was gonna be exploited thats why he decided to leave deathrow after fullfilling his contract!
If I was Suge I wasn't gonna sign Tupac a contract I was just gonna bail him out ,give him a share at tha row that was gonna serve as signal that I feel him and for sure after that probably Tupac wasn't gonna leave tha row!
For tha row coming back i don't think it will ever come back!
this is the end of death row records!
STILL
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Thank You AfterMathematics.
If robbing your employees blind, stuffing your pockets with almost all of the business profits, ruining potentially the greatest hip hop label of all time makes you a great businessman, then I guess he is.
Don't get me started on this excuse for a person. I could go on all day.
As Dre says in his Bad Intentions video, "Do the Math, Aftermath gets the last laugh." (Something like that)
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Tha only reason, they said he was a good businessman was because he was, it wasnt common for a black to blow up his business like he did that fast. But a lot of credit has to be given to David Kenner. Suge never discovered any of tha talent, Dre discovered Warren G an Kurupt, Sam Sneed, Lady of Rage, J-flexx an snoop, an through snoop he discovered RBX an Daz. Suge did a lot of stuff for DR but he gets way to much credit from tha death row dick riders
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Crooked i could be the guy who takes Deathrow back to the top.
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suge ain't smart
he was just lucky,and intimidating
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Suge handled his business. Fuck what everybody says about him. Fuck what the media writes. Fuck how many asses he has kicked. The man put business first. Death Row would never have earned more than $120 million dollar in just four years if he didn't take his business seriously. Few of the thousands of other artists, educated producers or excecutives with decades of expierience in the music business ever had his type of vision and savvy. Because Death Row was a small company and Suge ruled with an iron fist, he was intimately involved in all the operarations. He decided which singles would be released, designed album artwork, picked girls for the videos, and even decided what Snoop would wear.
(Mckinley Lee, Snoops former bodyquard)
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too long to read but i'll tell u this suge was a good business man till 96 i'd say deathrow had everything then fell off artist leaving n shit quality diteriating to turning into plain garbige dissing ex inmates and associates although he still making money off them those days are limited and that was all due to contracts from b4 96 but he fucks over artists left right and centre so its not gone make em want to keep putting out bangers 4 they gone get out of there. none of the current roster will ever blow up cos ppl don't wanna fuck with deathrow. another point ppl try to say suge made dre but dre was already a star in his own right when he started deathrow with suge which is probably one of the reasons for its huge success along those early classics but who knows maybe without that no one would've heard them? we certain see that today as you really need to be on a big name record label with a big name producer to blow up these days or atleast have one of the 2 its all about who your connected with
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You can't blame Suge for what went on from 1997-2000. If you read the Sept. 2001 issue of Vibe, it details who REALLY ran day-to-day operations of Tha Row. Suge is a businessman; the people that ran Tha Row for the past 4 years weren't. His brother wasn't trained to handle Music business, nor Michel'le. Suge couldn't handle the day-to-day from jail, so those in charge, thought they were doing a good job, but they ended up digging a very deep hole that Suge and the new artists have to climb out of.
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a good business man wouldn't of gone to jail in the first place!! u watch his trial video clip he wasn't in a suit he was wear some basket ball shirt or somink i don't remember but not a suit what do u expect if u can't even make the effort 34 ur own trial and ur look at the list of arrest he had under his belt if ur such a good business man you wouldn't be found out. a good business man is puff daddy he escaped jail by putting shyne in the shit dodging it in every way possible keeping up appearnces with j-lo when it was over etc. maybe immoral but arn't all good businessmen? also look at him the man can't rap but he still makes a success of it because of the empire he built he doesn't have my respect but he is a good business man
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I wish that Death Row could come back but they won't cause they got too much enemies!
What ever they try is stamped out!
We are in a new world and Death Row does not seem to fit in!
If I was Suge I was gonna wind up Tha Row and go back to basketball!
As a proud citizen of South Africa I feel sorry for Mr Knight as well as for Death Row as a label that they will never come back!
Anyway we will remember that there was a recording label that existed called Death Row Records!
STILL