The era when Death Row Records was running the music industry is hailed as one of the best for Hip Hop. Yet, when you ask people who lived through that time as they ran in label-affiliated circles, the Row’s intimidating approach to business dealings wasn’t always welcomed. Still, Suge Knight and his Death Row crew were one of the most respected, and successful, collectives in the industry, but it all began crumbling as legal troubles rolled in and, of course, with the callous murder of Tupac Shakur in 1996.
Those old Death Row stories feature an unlikely figure as Keyshia Cole was around 12 or 13-years-old when she began spending time with the label. Death Row producer Kurt Kobane recently said in an interview that even at that age, Keyshia was allegedly running things. Last August, Keyshia shared in an interview that she and Tupac were friends, and immediately prior to him being killed, he allegedly told her that he planned on leaving Death Row and working out a deal with Quincy Jones.
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“I actually did know [Tupac.] He wanted to sign me to Quincy [Jones] when he was with Kidada, Quincy’s daughter, and he was gonna leave Death Row and go to sign with Quincy. He wanted me to go over there because he said that Death Row was not the place for kids,” she said at the time. However, in a recent interview with The Art of Dialogue, Death Row singer Danny Boy calls foul on that statement.
“He ain’t told her sh*t,” said Danny. “Everybody was close to Pac when he died. Everybody. That’s all you hear. That’s what people do. But Keyshia went up—Pac went up to her. How old was she? Twelve, 13-year-old? He let her hear some sh*t that could have really got him hurt? He wasn’t just gon’ walk and say anything about anybody, especially, ‘I’m finna leave Suge’ in front of a 13-year-old.”
“He ain’t told her sh*t like that.” Danny Boy also said that Pac wouldn’t go to Quincy Jones because the legendary music producer has never entered into the Rap game. According to Danny, it wouldn’t have made sense for Pac to even entertain the thought. He did, however, co-sign Tupac’s love for Kidada and said he was convinced they would one day get married.
Check out the clip of Danny Boy’s interview below.