Suge Knight is perhaps Hip-Hop’s most infamous villain of all time. The former Death Row Records CEO is currently serving a prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter. Yet, this is just one of many instances of violence throughout Suge’s life. Knight’s career is marred in sadistic violence, much of which has been documented in interviews or writing. Many rappers, executives, and other people within the music industry have shared their own stories as the legend of Suge Knight continues to grow with time. Here’s a look at five of the craziest Suge Knight stories.
Sending Goons To Hawaii For Eminem, Dr. Dre, & Snoop Dogg
In an interview with Cam Capone News in 2019, Eminem’s former bodyguard, Big Naz, spoke about when Suge Knight sent goons to Hawaii for Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg. At the time, Snoop and Suge were engaged in a feud after Snoop left Death Row Records to sign with No Limit. While Snoop prepared for a show with Dr. Dre and Eminem in Hawaii, things went bad. According to Big Naz, Suge sent around 50 goons from Los Angeles to disrupt the event.
About the event, Big Naz stated, “The scariest moment is when we went to Hawaii. When the plane landed we are greeted by twenty Honolulu police officers, and they told us that Death Row is here — they tried to hem [Snoop Dogg] up. Suge Knight had sent fifty guys to try to break up the show. When we got there, vacation mode was over, we were lockin’-n-loading, putting on bulletproof vests with their wives and girlfriends sitting next to them. We had to have Interscope pick up the tab to put Honolulu police with each bodyguard because of how deep Suge was over there.”
Big Naz also mentioned that the goons were on the plane back to Los Angeles with them. Naz had a confrontation with some of them on the plane that did not get violent. Eminem also told one of them that he was not working with Suge while on the flight. The incident, fortunately, did not result in violence. However, it showed just how far Suge Knight would go to get what he wanted.
Napoleon’s Story About Standing Up To Suge Knight
Another Suge Knight story comes from Outlawz member Napoleon’s Bomb1st interview in 2022. In the interview, Napoleon told the story of the first time he stood up to Suge Knight. While in New York for Tupac’s Saturday Night Live performance, things almost got violent between Napoleon, Suge, and Tupac. Suge took one of Napoleon’s friends into a room for allegedly disrespecting him, and things escalated from there.
While speaking about the incident, Napoleon stated, “Suge took one of my homies in a room, and he was mad at something he said. I went in there, and I remember pushing Suge’s hand because he was pointing at one of my homies. And, when I pushed his hand, then Pac got mad at me.” Tupac expected Napoleon to fall in line and side with Suge, as he asked him to “bomb” on his homie. However, Napoleon refused, as he knew the violent extent Suge could have gone to.
According to Napoleon, he may have also saved Suge that night. His homie’s uncle, known as “The Reaper,” was pacing outside the room and ready to intervene. Thankfully, Napoleon was able to act first. However, as we’ll see in the next story, things could have worsened for Napoleon and his friend.
Allegedly Making A Promoter Drink His Urine
This Suge Knight story comes from excerpts published in the New York Times from Hip-Hop journalist Ronin Ro’s book Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records. The entire book examines the inner workings of Death Row Records, yet this story is particularly crazy. Ro claims that Suge made a promoter drink his urine after beating him with champagne bottles.
On Suge’s actions, Ro wrote, “If Suge felt someone was trying to cheat him, the offender would be dragged into a storeroom by his goons and pounded to a bloody pulp. Death Row employees went about their filing and faxing as bloodcurdling shrieks filled the office. They saw the doorknob jerking, knowing that people were desperately trying to escape a beating.”
Suge allegedly took it one step further with Mark Anthony Bell at a Christmas party in 1995. After refusing to reveal Diddy’s home address, Bell was dragged into a room for a beating. After being assaulted with champagne bottles, Suge allegedly forced Bell to drink his urine. Despite the insanity of this story, it is just one of many detailing how sadistic Suge could be.
Allegedly Spat In Lyor Cohen’s Face During Prison Visit
On an episode of the Boss Talk 101 podcast in 2023, former Death Row Records executive Reggie Wright Jr. alleged that Suge spit in Lyor Cohen’s face over Snoop Dogg’s deal. At the time, Lyor Cohen was the co-president of Def Jam Records. Cohen visited Suge in prison to negotiate an agreement for Snoop Dogg. However, his asking price was too high. This led to Suge allegedly spitting in his face while incarcerated.
On the incident, Wright Jr. said, “He comes and offers Suge $7 million. ‘Tell Lyor the most that I can get for Snoop is $7 million.’ Suge never really liked the East Coasters or labels or whatever. And I’m like, ‘Okay, Lyor, yeah, we got a deal.’ Suge goes and tells Lyor, ‘No.’ Spits in Lyor face. Spits in his face, because of however the conversation went. At the prison. At San Luis Obispo.”
Suge Cried Due To Ja Rule’s Similarities To Tupac
This Suge Knight story is crazy for reasons other than those mentioned before. While Suge’s image is filled with violence, Tupac seems to have held a soft spot in Suge’s heart. After Irv Gotti first told the story on VladTV, Ja Rule corroborated it with Toofab. Ja stated that Suge cried when he first met him because he reminded him so much of Tupac.
In the clip, Rule said, “It was an emotional moment for Suge because I think he’s seen qualities in me that I guess he’s seen in Pac. And then actually meeting me, we had, I guess, similar energy to him because he asked me a question, and when I answered, he said, ‘Yo, that’s exactly what Pac said.’ And he got real emotional. This is real sh*t.” He added, “Like when you’re around them, and the first thing you would say is, ‘This is the guy that is responsible and all these crazy stories are about? Because he is a sweetheart to people that are good to him.”
While Suge Knight has been portrayed as something almost inhuman, it is important to remember that he is, in fact, human. As Ja Rule mentioned, Suge could be ruthless, yet he was still a man at the end of the day. However, Suge may be more complex of a man than he is given credit for. More stories obviously exist, like the one about dangling Vanilla Ice off of a balcony. We’re sure more exist in the Hip-Hop-sphere, just waiting to be told.