| Deathrow |
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"With
Deathrow You never
know", when Tupac
was sent to prison
for the alleged rape
alot of people had
disassociated themselves
from Tupac none more
so than his record
label. While Tupac
was behind bars his
Album Me Against The
World was number one
in the charts but
his record label Interscope
stayed in the shadows
unwilling to attempt
to free at the time
their top selling
artist. Step up Suge
Knight CEO of Deathrow
Records, who posted
the $1.4 million dollars
bail in exchange for
an album deal.
Deathrow Records at
the time was on top
of the game with main
hitters such as Dr
Dre and Snoop Doggy
Dogg enjoying success
with massive record
sales. So this for
Tupac was a good option,
not only was getting
out of jail he was
joining the countries
biggest hip hop label.
The first album Tupac
would release on Deathrow
would become his most
successful to date
and probably his overall
best work. The album
was a masterpiece
of modern music and
the first double disc
hip hop album, but
most notable was Tupacs
attitude change.
Me Against The World
was an excellent album
which showcased Tupacs
feelings on many subjects,
Tupac said once this
was his favorite album.
But All Eyez On Me
was different, it
was an angry more
thugged out Tupac
which was understandable
taking into consideration
the events which had
transpired between
making Me Against
The World and All
Eyez On Me. Deathrow
Records was almost
like a strangely near
perfect place for
Tupac to move to at
the stage in his life,
the emphasis in the
majority of his Deathrow
era tracks was attacking
his enemies who he
pointed the finger
at for the 1994 shooting,
and no other CEO of
a Record Label could
have been more fitting
for the situation
than Suge Knight. |
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| Above:
Suge
Knight and Tupac,
could any other
artist and CEO
challenge these
two? No chance! |
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Marion
'Suge' Knight is notoriously
known to be a ruthless
man, his business
handling has been
described as gang
like on many occasions
and putting him together
with Tupac at that
time was like mixing
gasoline and fire.
The two was like a
formidable duo with
taking down their
rivals on the east
coast the main objective,
however nobody can
doubt the standard
of music Tupac produced.
Yes Tupac was angry
as hell after prison
and Yes Suge is publicized
as somebody not even
the devil would f*ck
with but they did
make some music and
the record sales don't
lie.
Relations between
Tupac and Suge was
at an all time high
and nothing it seemed
would break up the
formidable duo, however
there was talk of
unrest at Deathrow.
In the last few weeks
of Tupacs life he
was said to have been
upset on a few occasions
at Deathrow and at
one stage had ordered
one of his family
members down to Deathrow
offices to collect
any unreleased material
with intent to leave
the label and take
whatever he owned
with him. Apparently
Deathrow owed Tupac
millions and Tupac
intended to have Deathrow
audited, then weeks
later came the Las
Vegas shooting. Was
it a hit taken out
by Suge Knight? I
think not but I do
find the chain of
events strange the
fact Tupac reportedly
had less than $1 million
dollars in his bank
account when he died
is very unorthodox.
After Tupacs death
Afeni Shakur his mother
acquired the rights
to all unreleased
Tupac material, Suge
still has the masters
to tracks placed on
released Tupac albums
released on Deathrow
and was heavily criticized
for releasing a remix
album in the last
few years. On the
recent Tupac documentary
Tupac Resurrection
Tupac says "when
I was on Deathrow
I was successful but
not happy" although
this was a voice edited
sentence it was made
up of what was said
Tupacs feelings that
he never publicly
aired about the label.
These days Deathrow
Records is struggling
to compete with other
Hip Hop labels in
the charts, they have
not released a solo
artist album now for
several years and
Suge Knight's regular
legal troubles has
seriously effected
the label. The last
Tupac album released
Loyal To The Game
had no Deathrow affiliation. |
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