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Death Row Records
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{{short description|American record label}} {{Use American English|date=December 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music --> | name = {{color|Black|Death Row Records}} | image = Death Row Records logo.svg | founded = {{start date and age|1991}} (original)<br />{{start date and age|2022|2|9}} (revival) | founder = {{Plainlist| * [[The D.O.C.]] * [[Suge Knight]] * [[Dr. Dre]] * [[Dick Griffey]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Death Row Records Co-Founder Involved in Fatal Hit-And-Run |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/01/30/382575023/death-row-records-co-founder-involved-in-fatal-hit-and-run |work=NPR |agency=Associated Press |date=January 30, 2015 |quote=It was founded by Tracy "The D.O.C." Lynn Curry, Andre "Dr. Dre" Young, Knight and Richard Gilbert "Dick" Griffey. |access-date=April 7, 2020 |archive-date=April 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407201310/https://www.npr.org/2015/01/30/382575023/death-row-records-co-founder-involved-in-fatal-hit-and-run |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Westhoff |first1=Ben |title=Straight Outta Dallas: How Texas Artist D.O.C. Helped Jump-Start Death Row Records |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/straight-outta-dallas-how-texas-artist-doc-helped-jump-start-death-row-records-8641580 |website=Dallas Observer |date=September 6, 2016 |quote=He, Dre and Suge did, in fact, soon quietly launch a label called Futureshock, named for a Curtis Mayfield song. Their fourth partner in the venture was Dick Griffey, the cofounder of Soul Train Records and founder of Solar Records. The name wouldn't stick. "Futureshock Records?" Suge said. "That sounds like some bullshit. It's gonna be called Death Row... Dick Griffey, also an original Death Row founder, later testified that Suge Knight "secretly incorporated" Death Row and "transferred into it all of the assets" from their original partnership. In 1997 โ with Suge behind bars โ Griffey and D.O.C. successfully sued Death Row, alleging that they'd been cut out of the label's profits. |access-date=April 7, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729042908/https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/straight-outta-dallas-how-texas-artist-doc-helped-jump-start-death-row-records-8641580 |url-status=live }}</ref> * [[Michael Harris (music executive)|Harry-O]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trumps-snoop-dogg-pardon-final-hours-president-1234969914/|access-date=2024-12-10|last=Suebsaeng|first=Asawin|title=Trumpโs Final Hours in Office Were Consumed With Fury at Snoop Dogg|website=Rolling Stone|date=February 19, 2024}}</ref> }} | status = Active | genre = {{hlist|[[Hip hop music|Hip-hop]]|[[West Coast hip-hop]]|[[G-funk]]|[[Contemporary R&B|R&B]]}} | distributor = {{Plainlist| * [[Interscope Records|Interscope]] (1992โ1997) * [[Priority Records|Priority]] (1992โ2003) * [[Koch Records|Koch]] (2003โ2007) * AMPED Distribution (physical, 2021โ2022) * [[Gamma (media company)|gamma.]] (2023โpresent)<ref>{{cite web|author=Dawn Chmielewski|url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-backs-new-music-startup-2023-03-08/|title=Apple backs new music startup|publisher=Reuters|date=March 8, 2023|access-date=March 10, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Murray Stassen|url=https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/snoop-dogg-returns-death-row-catalog-to-streaming-services-label-to-sign-new-artists-in-partnership-with-larry-jacksons-gamma/|title=SNOOP DOGG RETURNS DEATH ROW CATALOG TO STREAMING SERVICES, LABEL TO SIGN NEW ARTISTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LARRY JACKSON'S GAMMA|publisher=Music Business Worldwide|date=March 10, 2023|access-date=March 10, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Shirley Halperin, Jem Aswad|url=https://variety.com/2023/music/news/larry-jackson-launches-gamma-new-music-company-usher-rick-ross-1235545233/|title=Former Apple Executive Larry Jackson Launches Gamma, New Music Company With Usher, Rick Ross on Roster|publisher=Variety|date=March 8, 2023|access-date=March 10, 2023}}</ref> *[[Create Music Group|Create]] (digital)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://snoopdogg.com/news/snoop-dogg-releases-latest-album-b-o-d-r-bacc-on-death-row-out-today/|title=SNOOP DOGG, RELEASES LATEST ALBUM, B.O.D.R. (BACC ON DEATH ROW) OUT TODAY|publisher=[[Snoop Dogg|snoopdogg.com]]}}</ref> }} | country = United States | location = [[Beverly Hills, California]] | website = {{URL|deathrowrecords.com}} }} '''Death Row Records''' is an American [[record label]] that was founded in 1991 by [[The D.O.C.]], [[Dr. Dre]], [[Suge Knight]], and [[Dick Griffey]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60330421|title=Snoop Dogg acquires Death Row Records|date=February 10, 2022|publisher=BBC News|access-date=February 10, 2022}}</ref> The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by [[West Coast hip hop|West Coast]]-based artists such as Dr. Dre (''[[The Chronic]]''), [[Snoop Dogg]] (''[[Doggystyle]]'') and [[2Pac]] (''[[All Eyez on Me]]'') during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row made over US $100 million annually.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ro|first1=Ronin|title=Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records |year=1999 |publisher=Broadway Books|isbn=0385491352}}</ref> By the late 1990s, the label began to decline after the death of its star artist, 2Pac, imprisonment of Suge Knight, and the departures of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Although Death Row was enjoying financial success, it was embroiled in controversies, lawsuits, and violence by its artists and associates. Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18 million on January 15, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6351/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150125165154/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6351/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 25, 2015|title=Warner to Acquire Death Row Records?|date=February 6, 2008|work=HipHopDX|access-date=September 22, 2018}}</ref> The owner of WIDEawake went bankrupt in 2012; the label was sold to [[Entertainment One]], and it then became a division of [[Hasbro]] until April 2021, when [[MNRK Music Group|eOne Music]] was sold to [[the Blackstone Group]].<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Comic Book Resources|CBR]]|date=April 28, 2021|title=Hasbro No Longer Owns Death Row Records|url=https://www.cbr.com/hasbro-sells-death-row-records-wu-tang-clan/|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513154922/https://www.cbr.com/hasbro-sells-death-row-records-wu-tang-clan/|url-status=live}}</ref> Snoop Dogg bought Death Row from [[MNRK Music Group]] in February 2022, intending to revive the label.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/music/snoop-dogg-acquires-death-row-records|title=Snoop Dogg Now Officially Owns Death Row Records|publisher=Complex Magazine|access-date=February 9, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/snoop-dogg-acquires-death-row-records/ |title=Snoop Dogg Acquires Death Row Records |publisher=Pitchfork |date=2022-02-09 |accessdate=2022-02-15 |archive-date=February 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210013632/https://pitchfork.com/news/snoop-dogg-acquires-death-row-records/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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