“I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value,” Snoop said in a statement. “It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members. This is an extremely meaningful moment for me. I would like to personally thank the teams at Blackstone, MNRK and especially David Kestnbaum, who worked collaboratively with me over several months to make this exciting homecoming a reality. I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”
One has to truly understand the impact Snoop Dogg made on the country and the culture, when he dropped on Death Row Records. Before Snoop the west coast rappers were just considered odd with maybe a couple that could hang with the East Coast rappers in NY. The DOC, Dr Dre, EasyE, Ice Cube, basically NWA and a few more were seen as the exception to the rule that West Coast rappers could hold their own and gain the respect from the mecca of Hip Hop. It wasn't true but that was the east coast perspective. After Snoop took over the country, that perception was no more and the rivalry of East Coast West Coast not only officially began but his impact was so strong it even questioned if and how the East Coast would respond. This lead to an artist explosion on both coast to attempt to end the debate.
Death Row Records were blazing and breaking all statics. The end seemed almost inevitable with the signing of Tupac. The charts were never the same. But the challenges from within and the dangers surrounding the label locally were invisible to the public eye. However, Snoop with his ear always in the streets saw the writing on the wall early and left Death Row Records. This was the not just a wise move financially but likely saved his life.
Years go bye, decades even. Yet the DOGG grew larger and larger. The Cali King would become the CEO of the legendary East Coast famed Def Jam label. Bringing a new wrinkle to his understanding of the game and brought us to today. Always looking at the DRR's label that launched him to stardom, that impact and he's appreciation would never fade. Afew years back, Snoop began signaling publicly his desire to own Death Row Records on interview after interview.
Well today SNOOP DOGG did just that!!!
Only thing left now is to bring it to its rightful place of dominance in which he initially made it.
And we're here for it! All of it!!!
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