Death Row Records

The Source Magazine Remembers Nate Dogg 11 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 11 Years Later appeared first on The Source.

Snoop Dogg Removes Most Of Death Row’s Catalogue From DSPs

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Last month, things began to take a futuristic turn for Death ROw Records, with former label signee Snoop Dogg taking ownership of the label and soon after said that the “world’s most dangerous recordlabel” would be made into an NFT. To further solidify that, the Dogg has now removed all of Death Row’s previous recordings from all streaming platforms.

Even though the report stems from a Wikipedia page, upon close examination of Death Row recordings on all DSPs including those from Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound, all of access to these songs and albums on public streaming platforms have been removed. Death Row labeled classic albums like Doggystyle, Dogg Food, the Above The Rim soundtrack, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and more are no longer available.

Snoop discussed the idea of bringing the Death Row label into the metaverse in a Clubhouse conversation, saying, “Death Row will be an NFT label,” he said.“We will be putting out artists through the metaverse. Just like we broke the industry when we was the first independent to be major, I want to be the first major in the metaverse.”

Even though Snoop hasn’t publicly addressed the disappearance of the Death Row projects, but fans have certainly expressed their displeasure in the absence of some of Hip Hop’s most revered classics.

One Clubhouse participant said, “So, thanks to Snoop Dogg promoting NFT shit and making Death Row Records an NFT record label, all the releases except 2Pac’s, will be removed from Spotify and so on. This is actually bullshit, that means no more Dre’s Chronic on Spotify. NFTs need to die, fucking stupid movement.”

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Today In Hip Hop History: Suge Knight Joked About Eazy-E’s AIDS-Related Death 19 Years Ago

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Today in 2003, former Death Row CEO Suge Knight appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! after his nine-year prison bid and made a shocking insinuation about the AIDS-related death of N.W.A. and Ruthless Records founder Eric “Eazy-E” Wright in 1995.

Kimmel and his crowd jeered and cringed as Knight chuckled at his cruel joke, while the late-night talk show host played it off with a one-liner about the terror level going up a notch after Knight’s mention of the gangsta rap pioneer.

The former Death Row CEO landed himself back in prison a decade following this interview. Karma is a bitch,

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Suge Knight Joked About Eazy-E’s AIDS-Related Death 19 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Dr. Dre’s Lawyer Denies Snoop Dogg’s Claim That He Now Owns The Rights To ‘The Chronic’

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Last month, Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row Records, the label where he began his rap career back in 1992. With the acquisition, Snoop owns the rights to the label’s vast catalogue, including albums by Daz Dillinger and Kurupt. However, titles like Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Tupac’s All Eyez On Me, and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory were originally said to be left out of the deal. But during a later interview with TIDAL’s Elliott Wilson, Snoop claimed that he did obtain the rights to at least one of them.

That album is The Chronic. But now Dre’s attorney, Howard King, is refuting Snoop’s claim. “There are false reports out regarding ownership by Death Row of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic,” King said in a statement that was obtained by Complex. “Dr. Dre owns 100 percent of The Chronic.”

Late last month, it was reported that Snoop was still negotiating for the rights of The Chronic. It was initially said that the classic album would not be returned to Snoop until 2023. However, after the statement that Dre’s lawyer gave, it appears that The Chronic will not be a part of Snoop’s Death Row acquisition.

This comes after Snoop recently shared his plans to make Death Row an NFT label adding that he wants it to be the “first major in the metaverse.”

ICYMI: Snoop Dogg And Diddy Tease Death Row/Bad Boy Collaboration

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Snoop Dogg and Diddy are teasing a possible collaboration. 

After acquiring Death Row Records, Snoop posted a short film that included a call from Diddy, giving praise to the rapper who he says taught him how to play “chess, not checkers.” 

“Congratulations king, great move, great move,” Diddy told the “Lodi Dodi” rapper, who responded, “You taught me how to play chess, not checkers.”

Snoop said they can do what they want now with Death Row and Bad Boy. 

READ MORE: Snoop Dogg to make Death Row Records the first NFT record label.

This epic moment would have seemed impossible at one time, as the east coast and west coast labels had beef with each other that went public on an airing of The Source Awards in 1995.

At the time Death Row’s owner Marion “Suge” Knight, took a blatant jab at Bad Boy Records founder Sean “Puffy” Combs aka Diddy after accepting the Best Movie Soundtrack of the Year award for the Above The Rim soundtrack.

With the awards taken place in NYC, the venue erupted with boos as Suge walked off the stage with Source’s coveted Mic and the momentum of the coastal beef only increased ten fold following this moment.

We’re glad to see things have come full circle in Hip Hop and this Death Row/Bad Boy collaboration will go down in Hip Hop history.

Share your thoughts with us on social media.

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Snoop Dogg Now Owns Death Row’s Music Catalog — With Some Exceptions

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Earlier this month, it was reported that Snoop Dogg had acquired Death Row Records’ brand, but was still hammering out negotiations for the accompanying catalog. Today, Billboard reports that he’s officially completed those negotiations and now owns the masters for both of his albums under the label, Doggystyle and The Doggfather, as well as those for his 213 associates Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, along with Lady of Rage and the compilations and soundtracks Death Row released throughout the ’90s. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

However, that impressive collection of music does not include a few of the most well-known Death Row releases. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic is set to be returned to Snoop’s longtime collaborator sometime next year (August at the latest), while Tupac Shakur’s seminal classic All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (as Makavelli) have already reverted to Amaru Entertainment and the Tupac estate.

Snoop might not miss those exceptions much in the long run, as Billboard notes both of his albums are Death Row’s best sellers. Meanwhile, his newly released BODR (Bacc On Death Row) — his first release for the album in 25 years — is already generating revenue to the tune of 10,000 units, while Doggystyle alone was worth 169,000 units just in 2021. Billboard puts the total revenue for the catalog at around $6 million last year. Combined with the branding — which handles merch and licensing of the Death Row logo — Snoop’s adding about $50 million of value to his name. Billboard notes, however, that Snoop may not have paid that much to MNRK, which previously held the rights to Death Row, due to it no longer having an interest in the brand and having a tendency to return rights to artists, as it did with Dre and Pac.

Snoop says he wants to turn Death Row into an “NFT label,” which holds interesting prospects for the future, while his former protege Bow Wow revealed plans to release his own final album under the imprint earlier today.

Bow Wow Plans To Release His Final Album On The Snoop Dogg-Owned Death Row Records

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Bow Wow has been talking about releasing his final album for a long time now, but today, we at least found out part of his plans for its release. Now that Snoop Dogg has retained ownership of the legendary Death Row Records, Bow Wow, whose name was actually inspired by Snoop, his onetime mentor, wants to put out his swan song with the rapper who helped him start his rap career almost 30 years ago.

Bow Wow, who loves to participate in Twitter Q&A sessions (even though the app’s users haven’t always been so kind to him), revealed his plans when a fan asked him, “When you getting back in with uncle Snoop?” The younger rapper replied, “Spoke to snoop last week. Very soon. My plan is to put my final album on death row and close my music career out where it began.” He also compared himself to the recently retired future NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade. “Im tryna do the d wade and come home and close it out.” D Wade famously finished his illustrious NBA career in Miami, where he was drafted, after leaving to play for his hometown Chicago Bulls and reunite with LeBron James in Cleveland.

Over the years, Bow Wow has taken a lot of flak for some of his antics on social media, but he’s also recently begun to receive an increased acknowledgment from his peers and successors such as Drake, who said, “If it wasn’t for you, there wouldn’t be no me,” as well as Soulja Boy, who he joined for a raucous edition of the Verzuz battle series.

Snoop Dogg’s Death Row Deal Will Not Include Dr. Dre Or 2Pac Albums

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After the entire Hip Hop world and beyond were ecstatic for Snoop Dogg’s acquirement of his former label Death Row Records, but now according to a report from Billboard, the Dogg’s deal will bot include the most revered projects to be put out by “the world’s most dangerous label.”

The Billboard report states that Tupac is no langer a Death Row Records signee, which makes All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory exempt from the Death Row deal. Dr. Dre’s multi-platinum album The Chronic is not included but will make it to the Death Row catalog next year.

The Death Row catalog remains under MNRK Music and Blackstone’s ownership as the negotiation for the music is still in the air. Snoop’s Bacc On Death Row album was the first to be released post-signing.

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Snoop Dogg Is Still Negotiating For Albums By Tupac And Dr. Dre Despite His Acquisition Of Death Row

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February has been an active month for Snoop Dogg. He released his 19th album, BODR (Bacc On Death Row), and he joined Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, and Anderson .Paak at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Before either of these events, Snoop acquired Death Row Records, a label that he was previously signed to and which was founded back in 1991 by a group that included Dr. Dre and Suge Knight. After the deal, Snoop shared his plans to make Death Row an NFT record label.

However, it seems there are more aspects of the acquisition that still need to be finalized. According to Billboard, it appears that albums by Tupac and Dr. Dre won’t be included in the deal. A pair of Tupac’s Death Row albums, All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, are “no longer on the label,” which means Snoop does not have access to them. Additionally, Dre’s 1992 debut album The Chronic, which was also released on Death Row, would not be returned to him until 2023. According to the report from Billboard, the specifics of the deal are still under negotiation, so until things are finalized, Death Row’s previous owners (MNRK Music Group and investment firm Blackstone) still have the rights to the label’s catalog entries.

“It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members,” Snoop said after acquiring the label. “This is an extremely meaningful moment for me.”