Death Row Records

Death Row Records was founded in early 1992 by Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and The D.O.C., with early assistance from Dick Griffey. The label emerged after Suge Knight used strong-arm tactics, reportedly threatening Eazy-E with a baseball bat, to secure Dr. Dre's release from Ruthless Records. The name was chosen to evoke a dangerous, outlaw image, and the label's logo, a stylized electric chair, reinforced that brand identity.

The label's first release, Dr. Dre's The Chronic in December 1992, sold over 6 million copies and established the G-funk sound. Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle followed in 1993, selling 800,000 copies in its first week. In 1996, Death Row signed Tupac Shakur, who released the double album All Eyez on Me, which sold over 5 million copies. At its peak, the label generated roughly $100 million annually.

Violence and legal troubles plagued Death Row. Suge Knight was convicted of manslaughter in 2015 for a hit-and-run death and is serving a 28-year sentence. The East Coast–West Coast rivalry with Bad Boy Records defined mid-1990s hip-hop and culminated in the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. After Dr. Dre left in 1996 citing unpaid royalties, the label declined. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 and changed hands several times before Snoop Dogg acquired it in 2022 for an estimated $10–50 million. He has since relaunched Death Row as a multimedia lifestyle brand, releasing his own album BODR and focusing on digital distribution and NFTs.[edit]