Competition between
rival record companies
is natural, but when
it came to the premier
rap labels, Death
Row and Bad Boy, the
rivalry went from
nasty to vicious to
deadly in short order.
Despite many denials
and explanations issued
by both companies,
the antagonism between
the labels was at
least partly fueled
by their larger than
life founders, Suge
Knight of Death Row
and Puffy Combs of
Bad Boy.
Marion "Suge"
Knight was raised
on the same streets
in Compton, California,
where the infamous
street gang, the Bloods,
made their name. His
parents called him
"Sugar Bear"
as a child because
of his sweet nature,
and the nickname stayed
with him, later shortened
to "Suge."
He didn't run with
the gangs when he
was in high school,
preferring to play
sports and capitalize
on his extra large
size. He grew to be
six-foot-three and
weighed over 300 pounds,
and eventually played
professional football
with the Los Angeles
Rams during the strike-plagued
1988-89 season. He
worked as a bodyguard
for singer Bobby Brown,
then in 1990 started
promoting gangsta
rap acts. Two years
later he formed Death
Row Records in association
with Interscope Records.
But according to Ronin
Ro in his book Have
Gun Will Travel: The
Spectacular Rise and
Violent Fall of Death
Row Records, the seed
money for Death Row
came from a convicted
drug dealer named
Michael Harris who
put up $1.5 million.
Death Row went on
to make hundreds of
millions of dollars,
but allegedly Harris
never saw a return
on his investment.
As the prime mover
behind gangsta rap,
Suge Knight was able
to walk the walk,
reportedly doling
out beatings to whoever
crossed him. Though
he had avoided the
Bloods when he was
growing up, he embraced
them when he became
head of Death Row,
allying himself with
the Mob Piru Bloods
(named after Piru
Street in Compton)
and proudly wearing
the Blood color, red.
He had red suits and
fedoras made for himself
and even had his house
painted red.
Bad Boy founder Puffy
Combs was a straight
arrow by comparison.
Though Combs often
said that his father
was a Harlem drug
dealer, according
to Randall Sullivan
in his book LAbrynth,
Combs's father died
when Puffy was two
and a half years old.
Combs had attended
an all-white Catholic
school and became
an altar boy. At age
11, his family moved
to suburban Westchester
County, north of New
York City, where Combs
worked two paper routes.
He later went to an
all-boys prep school
in Manhattan, then
enrolled at Howard
University where he
majored in business
administration. His
drive to succeed and
knack for discovering
musical talent earned
him a job with Uptown
Records where at the
age of 22 he became
vice president for
A&R. Threatened
by the up-and-comer,
the president of Uptown
fired Combs, but the
young entrepreneur
bounced back a few
months later, signing
"a $15 million
distribution deal
with Arista Records."
(Combs would later
brag that his company,
unlike Death Row,
was founded with legitimate
money.)
The former altar boy
did have his problems
with the law, a condition
that became de rigueur
for anyone who was
anyone in the rap
world. In December
1999, Combs was arrested
and charged with gun
possession and bribery
after a shooting incident
at Club New York,
a Manhattan night
club. Victims testified
that they had been
shot by Combs who
fled the scene with
his then-girlfriend
singer/actress Jennifer
Lopez. He allegedly
offered his driver
a bribe if he would
claim that a gun found
in Combs's Lincoln
Navigator belonged
to him. Combs, who
was represented by
attorney Johnnie Cochran,
was ultimately acquitted
on all charges.
Over the years Bad
Boy Entertainment
has been rumored to
have an affiliation
with the Crips gang,
the arch rivals of
the Bloods, using
them for security
work, but Combs has
always denied any
official alliance
between his company
and the Crips.
The East Coast-West
Coast feud had largely
been a war of public
insults and nightclub
brawls until November
30, 1994. Death Row
superstar Tupac Shakur
and Bad Boy newcomer
Notorious B.I.G. had
been friends despite
the bitter rivalry
between their labels.
Shakur, a wiry bantam
weight, had been brought
up in New York, Baltimore,
and San Francisco,
and though he declared
his allegiance to
the West Coast, it
didn't keep him from
associating with East
Coast rappers. Notorious
B.I.G., as his name
implies, was a rotund
man who weighed over
300 pounds and was
known for his quick
wit and clever rhymes.
While Shakur was in
New York in November
1994 awaiting sentencing
on a sexual-assault
conviction, he'd been
invited to record
with another East
Coast friend, Little
Shawn, at Quad Studios
in Times Square.
Quad Studios, which
takes up five floors
of a midtown office
building, was a busy
place that night.
While Little Shawn
was recording on one
floor, Junior M.A.F.I.A.,
a teenage rap group
sponsored by Notorious
B.I.G., was recording
on another floor,
and B.I.G. and Puffy
Combs were working
on a video on yet
another floor. Tupac
and his entourage
arrived at the building
shortly after midnight
on November 30. As
they were getting
into the elevator,
three armed black
men ambushed them
and stole their jewelry.
Tupac's alone was
worth over $35,000.
Tupac lunged at one
of the gunmen in anger
and was shot five
times—in the
head, groin, and left
hand. Despite his
wounds, Shakur was
able to get upstairs
where he paced and
ranted that he'd been
set up. He was taken
to Bellevue Hospital
where he underwent
surgery.
The next morning Notorious
B.I.G. visited him
there. Against his
doctors' advice, Shakur
checked himself out
and continued his
convalescence at actress
Jasmine Guy's apartment.
He made it to court
for his sentencing
the next day and was
ordered to serve four
and a half years at
the Clinton Correctional
Facility in upstate
New York. While imprisoned,
Shakur had time to
think about the ambush
and came to the conclusion
that it was ordered
by Puffy Combs and
B.I.G. He went public
with his feelings.
B.I.G. defended himself,
calling the accusations
insane and offensive,
and demanded an apology
from Shakur, he didn't
get one. In the meantime,
Shakur's album Me
Against The World
became the number
one recording in the
country.
