The rise and fall of a Hip Hop villain
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Samantha Greaves
examiner
Suge Knight’s name alone for a decade has caused shivers to run up and down most people’s spines. Known for his large bearish physique, a very short temper, and a very heavy hand, Suge quickly gained a reputation as being that dude you didn’t want to have a bad relationship with. Whatever it was, he has had people scared to even mention his name on televised channels.
So what were they all afraid of you ask?
The general public got put on to who Suge Knight was after he gave a very taunting speech at the August 1995 Source Awards, it went a little something like this,
“Anyone out there who wanna be a recording artist and wanna stay a star, but don’t have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to Death Row”
This was a statement made to purposely ruffle Diddy’s feathers being that Diddy loved him some camera time in his artists’ videos. The real notoriety value that was Death Row’s ticket to the top was the 1992 release of Dr. Dre’s solo debut The Chronic which also brought Snoop Dogg to the attention of his future fans. Snoop would go on to release the smash hit album Doggystyle under Death Row as well.
he funny thing about it is Suge wasn’t always this “big time” label exec; he was once a football player hence his large size and once played for the NFL as a striker. Suge, who by the way got his name from a childhood nickname “Sugar Bear”, started his own music publishing company in 1989.
It was rumored that he got his first big fortune in the business by hanging Vanilla Ice from a 20th floor balcony to get him [Ice] to fork over royalties from his smash hit and claim to fame “Ice, Ice, Baby”; I know, small world. Vanilla Ice has said that this rumor is false and that it was more like a threat than an action; I’ll let you be the judge.
Are you still with me?
After years of putting out music that allowed listeners to always count on Death Row for gangster rap, Suge landed a chance of a lifetime when Tupac Shakur found himself in jail. Like the poignant business man Suge was, he offered Tupac a record deal with Death Row in exchange for a get out of jail free offer. Tupac accepted and that was the beginning of a very interesting and controversial relationship.
Pac of course went on to put out his album All Eyez On Me which turned out to be one of the rapper’s best albums to date and also allowed Death Row to stay at the top of it’s game. Dr. Dre eventually couldn’t take the labels bad reputation of being the thugs in the industry-that along with the fact that Suge busted everybody’s tail that dare say here to his there-and decided to skip out.
The beginning of the end occurred in 1996 when Tupac was gunned down in Las Vegas following an altercation that was caught on camera, it was reported that Suge was also shot but suffered minor wounds.
The following year, public attention was on Suge Knight after Notorious B.I.G.-friend turned coastal rival of Pac-was killed after his SUV was riddled with bullets while leaving a Vibe magazine party in Los Angeles. Snoop Dogg himself has said in the past that Suge was involved with what happened to Tupac. It was also revealed that allegedly the bullet wound that was inflicted on Suge the night Tupac was murdered wasn’t a gun shot at all, it was a puncture wound from shattered glass.
Investigations have also exposed that Death Row was in connection with gang members who worked at the offices along with having affiliations with LAPD officers. The officers were said to have worked security for label artists while not on company time. In 2005 while attending a pre-MtV VMA party thrown by Kanye West, Suge was shot in the leg. Death Row began to see the end of days in 2006 when Suge Knight filed for Bankruptcy due to Lydia Harris taking him to court in a claim that she had been cheated out of 50% of her piece of Death Row Records.
After financial records stated that Suge only had $11 to his name in his bank account as well as missed meetings with creditors, Suge filed Chapter 11 protection.
And if that wasn’t bad enough…
In 08’, Suge Knight made headlines again when he was knocked out cold for 3 entire minutes as a result of an altercation over a dispute regarding money. A month later, he sold Death Row Records to Global Music Group. Later that year he made headlines once again when he was arrested for beating his girlfriend of three years at a Vegas strip club while allegedly high on ecstasy and hydrocodone.
In a turn of events, in September of 2008, Suge was scheduled to appear in court for the incident that took place with he and his girlfriend, Melissa Isaac in Vegas but the proceedings were halted as a result of Melissa, who was said to testify, never showing up. Suge would once again make headlines in November 2008 for filing a law suit against Kanye for the lost of a $135,000 15-carot diamond earing and medical bills that included the charter of a private jet to trasport him from Miami to Los Angeles the night of Kanye’s pre-MTV VMA party incident.
In December of that same year, the charges were dismissed against Suge because Melissa never testified; she is still missing.
In January of this year, items found in the Death Row offices were auctioned off. The music cataol auctioned off for $18 million. Although 50 Cent was rumored to be interested in buying the Death Row catalog he ended up not being the buyer.
On February 16, 2009, Suge was taken by an ambulance to an Arizona Hospital for treatment for broken facial bones after Akon’s manager, Robert Carnes Jr and another gentleman beat him down. Akon’s publicist has denied that it was Akon’s manager that whipped Suge’s tail like cake batter but the story remains at large on numerous credible websites.
Many would say that the turn of events for Suge was just what he deserved, his Karma if you may. Suge created an empire off of threats, greed, and fear and now it has slipped through his hands with just a signature on a piece of paper. I guess the saying holds truth, “The bigger they are the harder they fall”.
Is this the last time we will hear about Suge Knight, definitely not; but until then, let’s see if the saga of Suge Knight continues.
