Death Row Records has somewhat of a tarnished reputation in hip-hop. As much as it is loved, many know the hatred and poison some of its key figures polluted the genre with. The company has 2Pac sustaining a reign of terror on the West Coast and Suge Knight swindling artists like Snoop Dogg with dubious deals. As such, there is no denying the grave exploitation the label partook in. However, a new Death Row may be reaching Africa.
After the 1990s, the company changed hands a multitude of times. The once all-powerful label was churning out hits in 1996. However, by 2006, it declared bankruptcy. During its heyday, the label was home to artists like Tupac Shakur, The D.O.C., Warren G, and Kurupt. However, the label continuously dealt with legal and financial troubles.
Following Suge Knight’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2006, Death Row Records became a hot potato. No company could return it to its former glory, and labels such as Young Money and Maybach Music Group took its place concerning relevancy within hip-hop.
However, that all changed last year when former Death Row artist and Long Beach legend Snoop Dogg acquired the label from MNRK Music Group. In an interview with Noreaga and DJ EfN, the artist revealed that many individuals who were on the label when Dr Dre made The Chronic, such as Lady Of Rage and RBX, never saw any money from their contributions.
Snoop explained, “First thing I did was snatch all the music off those platforms traditionally known to people because those platforms don’t pay. Those platforms get millions and millions and millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels. So, what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, and then the music, in the meantime, will live in the Metaverse.”
According to multiple sources, while keeping tracks exclusively available as NFTsin the Metaverse, Snoop Dogg made approximately $40million, which went directly towards those integral players who never received a pay cheque for their work on The Chronic and other projects.
During an appearance on the 85 South Comedy Show last year, Snoop revealed he has big plans for international expansion as the music industry becomes evermore globalised. “I wanna do Death Row India, Death Row Africa, Death Row Asia — everything. I want to go global because you gotta look at it like this, that logo and that brand is so well known,” Snoop explained. “It’s so established that it’s time to start letting other countries give it a shot!”
Death Row was set to expand in the 1990s. In order to squash the East Coast West Coast feud, 2Pac spearheaded the Death Row East label but was murdered shortly after. Snoop is yet to expand to Africa but has been working to get the label back on top.
