Death Row Records Auctioned for $18 Million

Legendary gangsta rap record label Death Row Records was sold at auction today to Toronto-based Wide Awake Entertainment Group Inc. for $18 million, the San Jose Mercury reports.

The label's future had been in question since 2006, when a judge ordered the label to be seized by a bankruptcy trustee.

Other bids included a $24 million offer from New York-based Global Music Group, which was pulled back. According to the Los Angeles Times, both Warner and Koch Records also made significant bids that were later pulled. Most industry experts value the label at less than $5 million.

Death Row was founded in 1991 by hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight. During its heyday in the 1990s, the label released such landmark rap albums as Dr. Dre's The Chronic, Tupac Shakur's All Eyez on Me and Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle.

Currently, Wide Awake's only release is an album by Toronto-based R&B singer Sean Jones.