Death Row Records

While Dr. Dre was trying to leave Ruthless Records, he was introduced to Suge Knight through his friend The D.O.C., for whom Knight was a bodyguard at the time. With Dr. Dre, Knight, The D.O.C. and John Payne set out to found their own label which they called Future Shock Records and then later renamed it to Death Row Records.

Funding Death Row was accomplished via financial support from Interscope Records, which in exchange would distribute its records. The label's first release was The Chronic, the solo debut from Dr. Dre, in December 1992. Featured on the album were newcomers: Daz, Kurupt, The Lady of Rage, RBX and, most notably, Dr. Dre's new protege Snoop Dogg(then known as Snoop 'Doggy' Dogg). The album quickly exploded into 1993, peaking at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart, selling over three million copies. Later that year, Death Row released Doggystyle, the debut album from Snoop Dogg. Debuting at #1, it wound up beating The Chronic in sales, and made Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records hip-hop's leading act by 1994. Also in 1994, Death Row released the multi-platinum soundtracks to Above the Rim and Snoop Dogg's Murder Was the Case.

With acclaim came criticism. While riding high on the commercial success of Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg, Death Row was blasted by several activist groups and public figures in the media for its glorification of the violence associated with the gangsta rap image that most of its artists promoted. The media criticism, meanwhile, grew louder by the summer of 1995, as dissenters zeroed in on Death Row's highly publicized forthcoming release, Dogg Food — the debut release by Tha Dogg Pound. The flak made the shareholders in Interscope Records' parent company, Time Warner, nervous. So much so that the company sold all of its shares in Interscope to MCA Music Entertainment. Dogg Food, meanwhile, was postponed from its intended July release date to October.

As the controversy with boycotters and Time Warner was adding fuel to Death Row's engine; Suge Knight, in the meantime, posted bail for the then-incarcerated Tupac ("2Pac") Shakur — in exchange for his signing with Death Row. At the time, Tupac and Death Row shared mutual disdain for the fledgling New York-based Bad Boy Records, along with its CEO Sean Combs and seminal star The Notorious B.I.G.

Upon Shakur's release from jail, he immediately went to work on his Death Row debut album, All Eyez on Me. The album, released in early 1996, topped the albums charts and going diamond ( 10x platinum) became the label's biggest commercial success to date. The escalating tension between Tupac and Biggie (as well as Death Row and Bad Boy), meanwhile, fueled what was eventually called the "East Coast/West Coast rap war." What was to follow would be a year-long dispute in which several Death Row artists fired verbal assaults at East Coast artists. Among those who took lyrical shots were: Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and Tupac (with his group, Tha Outlawz). The list of those dissed by Death Row included most famously (but is not limited to): Mobb Deep, Nas, Jay-Z, the Junior M.A.F.I.A., Puff Daddy and the Notorious B.I.G.

Death Row artists who acknowledged Bad Boy Records, or those who didn't support the feud, were looked down upon by Tupac. Lady of Rage commented in an interview that Tupac had once called her the "weakest link in Death Row" because she wouldn't insult Bad Boy. Tupac also spoke ill of Dr. Dre for having not testified for Snoop during his murder trial, discouraging the West Coast-East Coast tension, and for his having departed the label in early 1996. Tupac dissed Dr. Dre on KMEL radio in the Bay Area for not running the streets representing with him and the label and being too slow on producing beats for his album. Snoop Dogg eventually would fall out with Tupac shortly before his death because of an interview in which Snoop claims to like and respect B.I.G.'s music.

Despite the infamous feud, Suge Knight had planned to open a New York chapter of the label to be called Death Row East, even signing K-Solo, the only rapper that signed before the label disappeared. Eric B. was slated to head that label. In an interview, 2Pac named rappers they planned to sign, from Big Daddy Kane to the Wu-Tang Clan. The branch, however, was never formed.

Tupac was shot and killed in Las Vegas in September 1996, while riding on the passenger side in a car driven by Suge Knight. Soon after, Knight was sentenced to nine years in prison for a parole violation relating directly to a fight that both he and Tupac were involved in on the night of his death. As a result of Dr. Dre's having previously left the company, Tupac's death, and Knight's incarceration; Death Row Records imploded almost instantly.

In August 1997, Interscope Records sold its interest in Death Row Records and severed ties with the company. This forced the label to take up distribution with Priority Records. By 1998, Snoop Dogg, RBX, Jewell, and Kurupt had all left the label. Nate Dogg, The Lady of Rage, and Daz Dillinger soon followed. Death Row's saving grace was, and remains to be, the fact that they maintain ownership of the original master recordings its former artists produced while they were still under contract. These recordings continue to provide the label with the majority of its revenue.

Upon release from prison in 2001, Knight renamed the label "Tha Row Records" and revealed a new roster headed by gifted Long Beach rapper, Crooked I. Tha Row also signed Left Eye of TLC, under the name N.I.N.A., meaning New Identity Non-Applicable. Left-Eye, however, was later killed in a car accident before anything could come of the deal.

Several out-of-print releases from Tha Row were re-released, such as: Snoop Dogg's Tha Doggfather and 2Pac's The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory. However, Tha Row's attempt at a comeback lagged, as their new releases were all compilations. With the exception of previously unreleased material by 2Pac, the label failed to release any solo records by any of its current roster. On the 2001 Too Gangsta For Radio compilation, several skits were aimed at Tha Row's many adversaries. The introduction had a Snoop impersonator waking up from a nightmare and making his wife phone the prison in which Suge Knight was serving time to verify that he was still behind bars. On the track "Fuck Dre", Tha Realest, Twist 2 D.V.S.(J. Gallardo not to be confused with Chicago rapper Twista) and Lil' C-Style (formerly of the LBC Crew) recorded a skit where Dr. Dre rapes a potential signee, and on K-9's "Gangsta'd Out", a skit portrayed Eminem as a tool of the Ku Klux Klan.

At 2:30 am on May 27, 2003, several bullets were fired by an unknown person, or persons, at Death Row Records Beverly Hills headquarters; damaging the front door, windows and wall of the offices. Earlier that year, a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. team raided the Death Row offices, looking for evidence of gang murders and drug dealing.

At some point, rumors circulated that rapper The Game was in talks with Suge Knight about signing with Tha Row. Supposedly, The Game was simultaneously considering a deal with rival Bad Boy Records. Regardless of the authenticity of these talks, they yielded nothing and The Game is currently under his own label named The Black Wall Street Records.

The year 2004 proved unfortunate for Suge. Crooked I, Tha Row's most promising artist, became frustrated that his album had failed to reach shelves after a period of five years and departed the label when his contract expired. Crooked I is now under his own label called Dynasty Entertainment. Similarly, R&B artist Danny Boy too left the label after a lengthy postponement, but as of now this is yet to be announced. Rapper Kurupt left in 2005 to reunite group Tha Dogg Pound with former partner Daz Dillinger. In the same year, Tha Row signed rapper Petey Pablo. Additionally, it is rumored that the company attempted to sign incarcerated rapper Shyne, but that didn't work out.

After weeks of speculation, Queens, NY bred rapper Lakey The Kid and Suge Knight recently revealed on New York radio station Hot 97 that Lakey The Kid is signed to Death Row East, and will be the flagship artist for the label. Death Row East was 2Pac's idea but didn't materialize until ten years after his death.

In 1998, Suge planned to launch the many rappers to come for the second generation of Death Row Records. Although he was incarcerated, he pushed rapper Top Dogg (also known as YGD) as his first new face making his television debut appearance in the video "All About U" on the 2Pac "Greatest Hits" album replacing Snoop Dogg. Top Dogg had generated a buzz from a hidden track on the "Gang Related Soundtrack" titled "Goin Back To Cali" aimed toward Puff Daddy. The video, "All About U," received heavy play and Suge followed in 1999 with "The Chronic 2000: Suge Knight Represents" album to introduce a brand new roster headed by Top Dogg, Tha Realest, and Soopafly, with Daz Dillinger as the veteran lead-producer.

In 2000, the video for Top Dogg's "Cindafella" track received minor airplay with an innovative concept produced by TC as many earlier videos and directed by K.C. Amos, and his album "Every Dog Has His Day" was shelved as his contract expired and he was not renewed. Soopafly shortly lived as the label's lead artist after generating a buzz off his single "Like It Or Not," but was released due to disputes over payments from the label. Tha Realest tookover as Tha Row's lead artist and made several albums which were never released, including the much anticipated "Witness Tha Realest" that featured a diss track towards Mobb Deep. He recorded tracks with Daz Dillinger, The Outlawz, Scarface, Richie Rich, and other big westcoast names along with labelmates Dre'sta, K9, J Valentine, PB, and his group, The Last Circle. After "Too Gangsta For Radio," Tha Realest was put on the back-burner for Crooked I. He went to court against Suge Knight's label to escape his contract. Daz Dillinger left the label as head-producer later that year due to money problems with Suge Knight and he used his Death Row tracks to release an independent album titled "R.A.W." His lead single for the Too Gangsta For Radio compilation titled "Gangsta Rap" was pulled and he was replaced with Scarface & Treach of Naughty By Nature. This track would later appear as the lead single for Knight's Tha Dogg Pound "2002" release. Big Hutch aka Cold187um from Above The Law became the label's lead producer. In September of 2001, with Knight being out of prison, Crooked I's debut "Say Hi To Tha Bad Guy" was supposed to be released with the lead single being "So Damn Hood" and guest appearances by Dru Hill, Jadakiss, Kurupt, Eastwood, Scarface, Juvenile, Too Short, and others marking the big return of the label. The album was never released and it became apparent Death Row Records had major marketing problems. Big Hutch parted the label and various producers tookover the position he held at the company.

By 2002, Knight's fanbase became frustrated with a lack of new albums from active artists. Although Kurupt of Tha Dogg Pound had returned to be President of the label, the release of Tha Dogg Pound's 2002, Tupac Shakur's Until The End Of Time, and Snoop Dogg's Death Row: Snoop Doggy Dogg at His Best escalated the frustration of loyal fans that wanted to see the new roster. Although he had a great relationship with Suge Knight, it was apparent that Kurupt had very little power when it came to major label decisions, album releases, and recruiting power as the President and that the significant decisions ran through Knight.

By 2003, Kurupt was the label's new lead artist as Crooked I fought legal battles with Knight to escape his contract. He recorded with his brother Roscoe, Ray J, Eastwood, and Tri-Star.

By 2005, multi-platinum rapper Petey Pablo had signed on to become Death Row's new lead artist. Kurupt and Eastwood (Who is now a former artist) were the only ones left of the second generation of Tha Row artists because most had departed from the label. Kurupt's album "Against The Grain" dropped and Death Row claimed that distributor Koch dropped the album before it was finished and left off important tracks Kurupt recorded with Lil Jon and Ice Cube. Songs such as Vaseline 2 were dropped from the album. The album did poorly for sales and reminded everyone of the problems the label was having. As well as the poor sales Death Row did not endorse the album because of Koch's "mistake".

The second generation did not fail due to lack of talent, but rather, a lack of exposure. With poor promotion and missed album releases, several quality records were shelved that may have generated heavy sales. The label failed to release completed albums by Top Dogg, Soopafly, Tha Realest, Daz Dillinger (second album), Above The Law, Ray J, N.I.N.A., J. Valentine, Eastwood, Danny Boy, Crooked I, Dre'sta, Mac Shawn, and several others.

Later that year Kurupt and Eastwood both left the label. The only remaining artist would be Petey Pablo until 2006.

Sometime in early 2006 Suge Knight went on the DJ Kay Slay Hot 97 Radio Show and announced Death Row East and its first artist Lakey The Kid. Lakey had appeared on albums with Nas previously. Tha Row East has plans for one album. This album is Lakey's solo album called "The Big Ride" which, according to Tha Row East Vice President Delson, will be coming out sometime in 2007. Another artist named Warlord later signed to Death Row West. His mixtape "I Can Getcha Block Knocked Off Volume 1" aided by DJ Fokis aka "Bull Of Tha Industry" out of Chicago was released September 26, 2006. Warlord recently started working on "Still Can Get Cha Block Knocked off Volume 2". The mixtape is in its final stages and will soon be available worldwide on Apple’s iTunes. Apparently the mixtape is executive produced by Suge Knight and Big L.O.S. (Death Row's Former V.P.). There is a video being shot for this called Boss, which will be the main focus of the tape. It has also been reported that Suge Knight is doing a reality show pilot for a major cable channel. Recently Big L.O.S. left from Death Row Records & formed his own company. Petey Pablo was stated to have left from Death Row Records near the end of 2006. Petey Pablo plans on releasing a mixtape around the same time his new album drops.

Warren G, Dr. Dre's step-brother, left the label without releasing an album — claiming that he had been assaulted by Knight. The book "Have Gun will Travel" by Ronin Ro later claimed that he and his friends were publicly beaten at a boat party, and also details accusations of violence against Sam Sneed. Some employees were allegedly beaten and forced to strip after making a telephone call without permission.[2]

On his VH1 Behind the Music profile, Dr. Dre noted that the single incident that made him decide to leave the label for good was when he witnessed a studio engineer being assaulted, simply for rewinding a tape back too far.