British pop singer Ed Sheeran now officially owns a solid gold Death Row chain following a recent conversation with Snoop Dogg backstage at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena. The pop-folk vocalist is far from a weed-smoking gangster rapper. However, the 32-year-old Brit was still happy to party with Snoop in Australia. After exchanging pleasantries, the emcee welcomed Sheeran to the Death Row family by endowing him with a gold pendant.
The now 51-year-old rapper (real name Calvin Broadus) as of last year is the certified owner of Death Row Records, and with all of the label’s masters under his belt, he plans on restoring the legendary establishment to its full glory. In a short clip shared on Instagram, Snoop is seen wrapping a hefty Death Row gold chain around the songwriter’s neck as he sits elated.
According to various publications, the solid gold pendant is worth approximately $6,500 (£5,300) and is only given to Death Row acts and its affiliates. The footage, posted by the rapper, reads, “Welcome to Death Row.” There have been many unofficial label initiations over the years. In 2015, Drake was unofficially announced as a Boy Better Know member, and in 2017 K Michelle received a Dream Chasers chain from Meek Mills.
In the video, as Snoop attached the chain, he told Sheeran, “We want to see all your videos, all your dressing rooms, all your drinks, smoking all your weed. Come to Death Row”, to which Sheeran replied, “Well, I’m in your dressing room, drinking all your drinks,” before the pair cheers. However, Sheeran wasn’t the only high-profile figure who found himself presented with a Death Row chain. Australian actor Russell Crowe was also seen partying with Snoop backstage. Endowing Crowe with another chain, Snoop told Crowe, “Come on, we’re waiting on you, Death Row need that, we need that look.”
Last year Snoop Dogg bought Death Row and quickly removed the label’s entire catalogue from streaming services. In an interview on the Drink Champs podcast, Snoop let it be known why he did so. Speaking with the host Noreaga, Snoop explained, “I was working for Def Jam, Executive Creative Consultant…so I was doing my little work over there, and I really wanted Death Row first, but eOne sh*tted on me, they tried to treat me like a h*e, they wanted me to come and work for them.”
He continued, “Then I hollered at them [Death Row owners] and said how much for the masters and I said not just mine I want all of them! Then there’s one piece missing. What about the publishing I need all of them. Then I snatched everything Death Row off traditional, iTunes, Apple, and Spotify. So I took the Death Row catalogue to Gala Games the company I f*ck with in the Metaverse, then build a Death Row app, so we can be like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and we have an app for all of our content!”
You can see Sheeran getting gifted with the Death Row chain in the video below.
