During Marion "Suge" Knight’s incarceration, his Death Row label remained largely inactive, and it was quickly stripped of its marquee acts. Dr. Dre fled long before Knight went away, pride damaged but body intact. Lethargic rapper Snoop Dogg, the label’s most promising rhymer, dropped the "Doggy" and extricated himself as well. But anyone who was counting Knight out was making a big mistake. Like a don doing deals from the slammer, Knight made a few faltering attempts to maintain Death Row’s relevance while he was locked up. His best move was forging a friendship (or at least a business relationship) with Tupac Shakur’s mother, Afeni Shakur, that paved the way for several posthumous releases of the rapper’s recordings. Death Row also marketed a collection of early Snoop Dogg material (against the rapper’s wishes), and it licensed its back catalogue for distribution through DNA (in November, DNA and its parent company filed for bankruptcy).
Knight has always cut an imposing figure. And he’s built a notorious legend to back it up, with actions like his infamous verbal assault on Puff Daddy at the Source Awards, and a thuggish persona that’s made stories like Vanilla Ice’s tale of being terrorized into signing away the publishing rights to "Ice Ice Baby" believable. Now that he’s been out of jail for six months, Knight is once again cultivating a high profile. In January, he landed in NYC for an extended press tour that included several radio and television appearances where he touted the label now renamed Tha Row. On Carson Daly’s new late-night TV show, he proved that he hasn’t lost his knack for stirring up controversy (not to mention bi-coastal bad blood) when he intimated that Jay-Z had been tied up and robbed on a recent trip to LA. And on Hot 97, NYC’s pre-eminent hip-hop station, he held court on the subjects of hip-hop violence, snitching, and, of course, Tha Row’s latest signings.
For the most part, Knight has accumulated a stable of relatively unknown talent — artists like Crooked I and J. Valentine. True, there have been rumors that he’s made overtures to more-established names. In October, singer Ray-J, brother of Brandy, boasted of his affiliation with Tha Row in an interview with King magazine. But Ray-J’s current label, Atlantic, refused to comment, as did Sonja Norwood, Ray-J’s mother and manager. And in a subsequent radio interview, Knight acknowledged of Ray-J that "he’s not connected with me. He’s on Atlantic."
Long-time LA underground icons Above the Law were loosely affiliated with Death Row throughout Knight’s incarceration, and their new album, Diary of a Drug Dealer, does figure to be among the Tha Row’s first releases. Unfortunately, that title has proved prophetic: group member Total K-Oss recently pled guilty to drug charges in connection with the seizure of a significant amount of cocaine, a crime for which the rapper faces up to nine years in prison.
Stranger still has been Knight’s wooing of TLC’s Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Lopes has made a name for herself with bizarre off-stage behavior, like burning down the house of former boyfriend Andre Rison of the Atlanta Falcons a few years ago. And she’s given interviews in which she insists she’s splitting from TLC, only to call back and rescind the statement. Knight and Lopes have been spotted together at Lakers games, and Tha Row’s Web site lists her as an artist under the nom de rap N.I.N.A. According to TLC’s label, Arista, Lopes remains under contract, both as a member of TLC and as a solo artist. Nevertheless, rumors persist that Lopes is recording with an eye toward a release on Tha Row.
Knight has also been seen in the company of rapper Kurupt, formerly of the Death Row group Tha Dogg Pound, who split acrimoniously with Death Row before Knight’s imprisonment. On January 8, an announcement was posted on tharow.com that read in part, "The contract is signed and Kurupt is once again fuckin’ with tha real niggaz in the game!" The posting was pulled the next day, and Kurupt went MIA. Intense industry speculation followed; meanwhile Kurupt’s former Dogg Pound associates, including noted West Coast producer Daz Dillinger, took to the airwaves and the Internet, both to search for their friend and to distance themselves from Tha Row.
A couple days later, Kurupt resurfaced with Knight, the two appearing as harmonious guests on NYC’s Hot 97. Says Primus Robinson, vice-president of production for Kurupt’s label, Antra, "We have legal rights to Kurupt’s career. . . . We would talk to them [Tha Row], but only through legal channels." When they were asked on the air about their relationship, Knight and Kurupt avoided any legal specifics. The rapper referred to his need to provide for his family; Knight boasted, "I think I can break any contract ever written." Knight has definitely re-emerged, re-energized but not necessarily reformed.
