Small Toronto Firm Buys Death Row Records
Legendary rap record label which produced early albums from Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, has been bought.
According to an article in the Toronto Star, a small firm from Toronto placed the winning bid Thursday on the rights to the back catalogue of the recording label, Death Row Records.
The record label was founded by rapper Dr. Dre and Marion (Suge) Knight in 1991. After an $18 million bid, the label's records, music and publishing assets are in the hands of Toronto company WIDEawake Entertainment Group. Such assets include early albums from rap artists Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, and others. It is likely there are a number of unreleased albums now in their possession.
"It's a new year for Death Row and all the artists that made the label great," WIDEawake CEO Lara Lavi told the Canadian Newswire Group Monday. Until now, WIDEawake only had one artist on its roster, R&B singer Sean Jones.
Death Row Records was a pioneer in the West Coast rap genre, which offered more scathing, angry rap than the lighter East Coast rap alternative. The record label, through the enormous popularity of artists like Tupac and Snoop Dogg, helped define the sound of what is often called "gangster rap."
Death Row Records fell apart due to infighting, members leaving, and numerous lawsuits. Suge Knight declared bankruptcy in 2006 and was forced to auction the label's assets.
Two earlier bids for the label were reported in 2008. Knight turned both of them down.
