Death Row Records formerly, "Future Shock" was an record label founded in 1992 by Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C., and Dick Dick Griffey. Death Row made more than $100 million per year at its peak. After the death of its star artist, Tupac Shakur, the imprisonment of co-founder Suge Knight, and the departures of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, the label began to decline in the late 1990s. Death Row Records declared bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned off to WIDEawake Entertainment on January 15, 2009 for $18 million. It was sold to Entertainment One in 2012, and then became a division of Hasbro until April 2021, when it was purchased by The Blackstone Group.
History[]
In the late-1980s, N.W.A's producer Dr. Dre, signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless label, felt underpaid and frustrated. Suge Knight andThe D.O.C. approached Dre about forming a record label with them, away from Ruthless. Allegedly using strong-arm tactics, Suge was able to procure contracts from Eazy for three of Dre's acts. By 1992 the name of the label changed to its eventual title of Death Row.
In anticipation of Dre's departure from Ruthless, The D.O.C. and Dick Griffey began the process of forming a record label and music partnership. Their new music venture was originally called "Future Shock", but by 1992, they had changed it to 'Death Row' (a play on the Def Jam label). Suge Knight approached Michael "Harry-O" Harris, a businessman imprisoned on drug and attempted murder charges, in July 1991, and together they formed Godfather, a parent company for the newly christened Death Row. In July 1991, Harry-O sold the naming rights to Dr. Dre and his partners, and by 1992, the name had been changed to Death Row.
See Also[]
- Suge Knight
- Tupac Shakur