Death Row Records

The Source Magazine Remembers Nate Dogg 12 Years Later

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Sending a 21 gun soldier salute Rest In Peace one of Hip Hop’s favorite crooners

There were many who tried, but nobody put R&B into Hip Hop the way it was supposed to sound better than the late, great Nate Dogg of the legendary Dogg Pound. The Source Magazine would like to send him a posthumous shout in recognition of his contributions to the game.

Besides his obvious links to Snoop Dogg and the original Death Row Family, Nathaniel Hale, born on this date in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1969, Nate appeared alongside several iconic artists in the game including 2Pac, 50 Cent, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z. The world lost a talented singer, actor and musician when Nate succumbed to multiple strokes on March 15, 2011. He was 41 years old.

Condolences go out to Warren G, Dr. Dre, Snoop and the entire 213 on the day an entire community lost a Hip Hop legend.

The post The Source Magazine Remembers Nate Dogg 12 Years Later appeared first on The Source.

DJ Quik Says Death Row Artists Had To Be Hood: “It Became The Streets”

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As some who boasts being a former Death Row artist, DJ Quik knows the ins and outs of the infamous record label. During its heyday, Death Row was the collective to beat; several of its artists were floating at the top of the charts, and the demand was unending. It was easy to flip through radio stations and find songs by Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, and more. However, with the success came stories of Suge Knight’s intimating ways. Quik remembered those Golden Era days on the All the Smoke podcast.

Expectedly, being a member of one of the hottest labels in Hip Hop came with its perks, but everything that glitters isn’t always gold. Quik had a front-seat look at Death Row’s downfall and blamed the ‘keep it real’ mentality. “Sometimes it was cool, and then it just became the streets,” he said. “All the stuff that I got away from, all the gang-banging and all that, just met me right there head-on at the office.”

DJ Quik Wanted To Do Business, Not “Hood Sh*t”

Suge Knight during 2005 MTV VMA – Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music Party in Association with Hennessy Paradis – Arrivals at Skybar at The Shoreclub in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. (Photo by Lawrence Lucier/FilmMagic)

For decades, people who knew Suge Knight during that time have shared frightening stories of their encounters. There are tales about him taking to music executives’ offices with threats and hanging artists over balconies. Knight’s presence would shake the room, and it didn’t benefit his artists. “It was hood sh*t,” Quik added. “You had to kind of be hood to deal with it because they were in there. Them n*ggas was detecting fear.”

“They just wanted to see if you were scared, make you feel some kind of way,” the rapper said. “It’s like, that energy doesn’t go with making the right songs. Songwriting is a beautiful process. You know what I mean? And it’s a lot of thought involved. You got guys in here gang-banging and sh*t and threatening you. Saying crazy sh*t.”

Things Could Have Been Different

Quik further noted that Death Row fostered a dangerous environment, but it didn’t have to be that way. “It was the greatest record company, at one point, in the world,” he said. “It was going to be the biggest thing in the game.”

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Snoop Dogg Welcomes The Return Of Death Row Catalog To DSPs

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Snoop Dogg’s acquisition of Death Row Records has been filled with highs and lows since the beginning of 2022. Before he hit the stage for the Super Bowl, he announced that he became the new owner of the label. Part of his decision was to modernize the label and brand for the digital era. You’d assume that meant that would make it more easily accessible. However, he began to plot out its debut in the Metaverse. Unfortunately, those plans have been stagnant for a while, though it’s still a possibility in the future.

After Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row, fans noticed that the albums released under the label went missing DSPs. This was no coincidence as Snoop later explained that he was unhappy with how streaming services paid out artists. “First thing I did was snatch all the music off those platforms traditionally known to people, because those platforms don’t pay,” he said on Drink Champs. “And those platforms get millions of millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels.”

Snoop Dogg Confirms Death Row’s Return

The catalog of Death Row Records is officially back on streaming services this week. Snoop confirmed the news following an announcement that he partnered with ex-Apple Executive Larry Jackson’s new company gamma. The partnership comes as no surprise as gamma helped reintroduce the Death Row catalog to TikTok last month. However, their partnership with Snoop will undoubtedly expand beyond social media and streaming services as gamma describes itself as a “one-stop-shop media company that creates, distributes, and markets content, from music to podcasts to films, offering resources and guidance to artists who want to build their brands and expand beyond music,” per Billboard.

Now, fans can enjoy some of their favorite records from Death Row including Snoop’s Doggystyle (sans “Gz Up, Hoes Down” and other skits), Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Tupac’s All Eyez On Me, and more. Additionally, the partnership with gamma will also include two future releases from Snoop Dogg (presumably Missionary with Dr. Dre and another project). Thankfully, Snoop delivered the series of iconic projects and soundtracks that will undoubtedly be perfect for 4/20 next month. 

Death Row Records’ Catalog Will Finally Return To Music Streaming Platforms Tonight

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After being removed from all digital streaming platforms last year, Death Row Records has announced that its legendary collection of hip-hop albums will once again be available for streaming tonight (March 9). The news arrives via an announcement on the label’s social media handles.

Among the classic Death Row albums are Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, Tupac’s All Eyez On Me, and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, the latter of which recently made a reappearance on DSPs. Much of the earlier Death Row projects were removed from streaming last year, following Snoop Dogg’s acquisition of the label.

Last year, in an interview on the Drink Champs podcast, Snoop revealed that he removed the masters after entertainment distributor eOne allegedly tried to pull him into a shady deal.

“They had the label, and for a year and a half two years I was trying to get my masters. All I wanted was Doggystyle. I was originally trying to say, ‘eOne, how can we work a deal where I can get my masters?’ Then Hasbro bought eOne so I was dealing with Hasbro and eOne. I was talking to eOne they were giving me the runaround so I said ‘Why don’t you let me come work for y’all so I can get my masters? I can blow your sh*t up make it go you can give me the Death Row Catalogue and let me get my masters’.”

The Death Row line-up will arrive to streaming platforms at 9 p.m. PST

Today In Hip Hop History: Tupac Shakur Dropped His Fourth LP ‘All Eyez On Me’ 27 Years Ago

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On this date twenty-seven ago, the Hip Hop legend Tupac Shakur officially released his fourth album, All Eyez On Me, on the Death Row/Interscope imprint.

The album featured five singles with two topping number one on the Billboard Hot 100; “How Do U Want It” and “California Love.” It made Hip Hop history the first double-full-length solo Hip-Hop studio album released. It was the second album from Tupac Shakur to hit number one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, selling 566,000 copies in the first week. Shortly after his untimely death, the album then won the 1997 Soul Train R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year Award. Shakur also won the Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the 24th Annual American Music Awards. The album was certified diamond by the RIAA on July 23, 2014.

All Eyez On Me, the biopic about Pac’s life with the same name, was released on June 16, 2017.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Tupac Shakur Dropped His Fourth LP ‘All Eyez On Me’ 27 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Dr. Dre’s 1992 Classic ‘The Chronic’ Has Returned To Streaming Services

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For a year, Dr. Dre’s groundbreaking solo debut record, The Chronic, has been unavailable to stream after being pulled down while Dre and his respective labels, Death Row Records and Interscope, wrangled over the rights behind the scenes. Today, though, it’s finally back as part of its 30th-anniversary celebration (it was released in December 1992, so it’s kinda borderline, but we’ll take it).

In a statement, Dre said, “I am thrilled to bring The Chronic home to its original distribution partner, Interscope Records. Working alongside my longtime colleagues, Steve Berman and John Janick, to re-release the album and make it available to fans all over the world is a full circle moment for me.”

The last time The Chronic was on streaming was in 2020, however, after Snoop Dogg secured the rights to the Death Row Records catalog early last year, several of the label’s seminal releases went missing from DSPs, with Snoop explaining that he wanted to create a new platform since DSPs pay reportedly minuscule royalties on streams.

There was also some confusion over just who owned the rights to The Chronic; while Snoop initially said it was part of the Death Row catalog, Dre’s lawyer denied that it was. Eventually, it seems they got things cleared up and the real winner in all this is the fans, who get to revisit the album that changed gangsta rap forever.

Check it out below.

Of Course, Snoop Dogg Is Bringing Death Row Records Into The Cannabis Business

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Snoop Dogg’s personal joint roller, Renegade PerRana, recently shared with The Kyle And Jackie O Show that she’s rolled “over 450,000” joints for Snoop, including 75 to 100 per day, since taking up the job. Her services might be extended to Death Row Records soon. Snoop Dogg acquired his formative label in February, and ownership over the Death Row catalog started taking shape later that month. The top of 2023 will feature another Snoop-driven Death Row move.

Today, December 29, Death Row Records posted a teaser clip to Instagram soundtracked by Kevin Gilliam (aka DJ Battlecat). “Death Row Cannabis coming January 2023,” the caption read. The Death Row logo is featured, but of course, now he’s holding up a joint. Death Row Cannabis also launched an Instagram account of its own,

As noted by Forbes, Death Row Cannabis’ first product will be cannabis flower and “will be on shelves in the California marketplace, to start,” next week.

The publication additionally relayed, “Death Row Cannabis says its offerings will be for craft connoisseurs, with cannabis cultivated by AK, a legendary West Coast grower who was personally brought on by Snoop Dogg to lead the cultivation for the brand. AK is best known in the cannabis world for his role alongside former partner WizardTrees in sprouting, selecting, and crafting unique phenotypes of strains including RS11, Studio 54, and Shirazi from exotic cannabis breeder DEO.”

The new year figures to be huge for Death Row and Snoop. November 2023 will mark the 30th anniversary of Doggystyle, Snoop’s debut album on Death Row. Snoop revealed in late September on Stephen A. Smith’s K(no)w Mercy podcast that he and Dr. Dre had been in the studio working on a commemorative Doggystyle album, aptly titled Missionary.

Snoop Dogg Launches Death Row Cannabis

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For over 30 years, through countless chart-topping hits and landmark artists, Death Row Records has stood as one of the music industry’s most iconic and culturally significant platforms.

MORE: Snoop Dogg Says Jay-Z Threatened to End NFL Partnership For Halftime Show

Today, it is under powerful new management. Recently acquired by Snoop Dogg, the infamous musical empire has reemerged as a multi-category cultural platform across music, fashion, entertainment, and cannabis, all united by the blockchain for a new generation. 

Today at 8AM PT, their first cannabis drop will be announced on social media at @DeathRowRecords and @DeathRowCannabis, using an animation of their globally recognized logo and reveal of their branded pre-roll tube. The teaser video was created by artist MylarMen with a soundtrack by Kevin Gilliam aka DJ Battlecat. The 22-second clip is sure to electrify the global fans of the label while being a buzzy beginning of Death Row Records’ domination of the weed nation.

Promising to return Death Row to its former glory, all elements of the former label are being refitted for today’s audience and their evolving tastes. The first drop debuts in limited edition commemorative metallic bags, featuring the iconic hooded prisoner figure seated in an electric chair on the front. Important to note: this is a brand new version of the prisoner that was designed for the launch of the cannabis brand – the main difference being he has one hand broken free and is smoking a fat doobie. 

MORE: [WATCH] F. Gary Gray Teams with Pepsi to Create Trailer for Hip-Hop’s Superbowl Halftime Show

Another especially exciting note for those cannabis connoisseurs is the man responsible for curating Death Row Cannabis. AK – hand-selected by Snoop himself – is a longtime West Coast legacy cultivator and industry insider, best known for his role alongside former partner WizardTrees in sprouting, selecting, and expertly growing the RS11, Studio 54, and Shirazi strains from exotic cannabis breeder DEO. He’s the man behind the IYKYK brand SMKRS, and he is also well known as the VP of Cultivation for TRP LLC, who owns a majority of the Cookies stores across the nation including their facilities in Florida.

AK’s reputation for growing “fire” weed and his palette when it comes to selecting winning strains, keeps people camped out in lines in front of their dispensaries.

Launching in-stores next week, Death Row Cannabis is not one to keep its fans waiting. The brand will soon make an announcement with an exact date and locations for their debut drop.

Select Cookies California stores (Brentwood, San Bernardino, and San Diego) will be the first locations to carry Death Row Cannabis, with other locations and more states to follow soon. 

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