CEITEDMOFO
Banned
The story of Death Row Records’ rise and fall has been told ad nauseam. There have been countless books, DVDs, and documentaries chronicling this great American tragedy. It even found its way into the blockbuster film Straight Outta Compton. Yes, we love a great rags-to-riches-back-to-rags tale. But there are parts of this story that have long been forgotten — left on the cutting room floor, so to speak — weird twists, turns, and anecdotes, whose folklore didn’t survive the internet age (other than obscure 2Pac bulletin boards on now-defunct Geocities pages). It’s a weird piece of history that hasn’t been celebrated … until now.
In 1999, Suge Knight sat in a California prison serving out a nine-year sentence on a parole violation. The charge stemmed from a beating he and his goons handed out on the night 2Pac was tragically murdered in Las Vegas in 1996. The music industry executive, who just a few years prior had the world in his hands, was quickly losing his grip. His Death Row Records empire was crumbling, and there was little he could do about it from behind the walls. Suge was still feared on the streets, but his respect was waning.
The biggest star on his label, Tupac Shakur, was dead; his murder still unsolved. Their other biggest star, Snoop Dogg, had gone AWOL and was riding high on Master P’s tank, thanks to a $3 million cash bailout from the Colonel (No Limit had effectively replaced Death Row’s spot as the hottest label in rap). Dr. Dre, who’d left the label three years prior, had stumbled a bit with his first post-Death Row release, Dr. Dre Presents The Aftermath, but was back atop the charts thanks to his fresh-faced protégé, Eminem.
Knight sat and watched his former artists and business partners flourish from behind bars. The life Suge had been accustomed to in the free world — the thousand-dollar tabs at Monty’s Steakhouse, the fleet of luxury cars, endless women and million-dollar album and video budgets — was temporarily on hold. Suge had passed the Death Row reins to Reggie Wright Jr., a childhood friend from Compton, who was running the label in his absence. One half of Tha Dogg Pound, Daz Dillinger, was christened the “Executive Over C’er” — or the music director of the label — who oversaw each and every release. He was transitioning into Dr. Dre’s vacated in-house producer role.
The label was actually doing pretty well thanks to the Death Row Greatest Hits double album (which went multi-platinum), as well as a Tupac Greatest Hits double album that would eventually go diamond (10 million sold units shifted). The soundtracks for two movies starring Tupac that no one ever actually saw also performed well — mainly because they included unreleased Tupac songs, which were at a premium when the world didn’t have immediate access to every Tupac song
But the novelty projects were starting to wear thin on the public, and consumers saw through their cash-out schemes. Death Row hadn’t produced a new star since the mass exodus a few years prior, and interest in their current roster was all but gone. Their once-captive audience had moved on to Pac and Biggie’s successors such as Master P, DMX, and Jay Z.
The Lady Of Rage’s long-awaited debut flopped. Kurupt, amid a flurry of lawsuits, filed bankruptcy and fled the label to start his own imprint, ANTRA. Daz Dillinger, the last Crip standing, released a great solo debut, Retaliation, Revenge And Get Back, before leaving the label for good. The album crept to gold status despite minimal push from Death Row (Daz and Death Row staff were at odds over Snoop’s defection). Nate Dogg went the indie route, taking his Death Row masters and releasing them as a double album on the mystery label Breakaway Entertainment (sources have told me this label was secretly funded by Suge). Death Row was left with a roster of relative unknowns. Suge was now the biggest star on his own label.
Suge’s true cash cow, however, was his vast Tupac catalog. In his 11 months on Death Row, Tupac recorded more than 200 songs for the label — many rough and unfinished. Pac was the definition of a workhorse during his time on Death Row, and he somehow managed to film close to a dozen music videos, two motion pictures, two albums (one a double), and hundreds of songs in less than a year. Some say Pac knew he was going to die, but the truth is he was out on bail, and feared he’d soon be back behind bars.
But with Tupac dead and Suge in prison, the Tupac catalog — Suge’s most valuable asset — was far from safe. Within months of Suge’s incarceration, the library had been viciously raided and unearthed by blood-sucking bootleggers. The sources of the leaks are still unknown, but it’s long-rumored to have been orchestrated by former Death Row employees — either financially strapped, or with a vendetta against Suge.
The music spread like wildfire, opening the market for the Tupac bootleg craze, and further fueling rumors that Pac was still alive. Full albums worth of material popped up at mom-and-pop record shops, flea markets, and street vendors. Before being able to purchase online or download via Napster, having this unreleased Pac material was a badge of honor, with some of the bootlegs costing upwards of $40. This writer in particular drove around the Midwest meeting bootleggers in gas-station parking lots and back rooms of semi-legit music stores just to have the most exclusive of Tupac releases.
Suge was in a bad place. He felt betrayed and powerless against many of the people he once loved. So he had no other choice but to go on the offensive.
Tensions between Death Row and Snoop had already come to a head by early 1998. Snoop had aired out his grievances against the label in a high-profile Source Magazine cover story, venting his frustrations against Suge and his shady business practices. Diss songs such as “fu*k Death Row” and “Death Row Killa,” where Snoop took aim at the label and Suge in particular, started popping up on mixtapes and on the bootleg circuit. There was clearly trouble in the water. It didn’t help matters that Snoop Doggy Dogg, who had shortened his name to Snoop Dogg, had signed a multi-million dollar deal with Master P’s No Limit Records, the hottest rap label in the business.
good idea they never put it out 
while countin their cash
