The side of Suge Knight people don’t know, according to MC Hammer
Suge Knight is one of the most infamous figures in hop-hop. His cut-throat business dealings and reputation for violence are known the world over, but, from MC Hammer’s perspective, that doesn’t quite capture the full story of the man.
Hammer signed with Suge’s Death Row Records for a spell in 1995, but he knew the record executive for several years before that. Hammer understood perfectly well what his reputation was, but, as he insisted during a 1997 interview with Davey D, he also knew he had a softer side.
During the conversation, Hammer characterised Suge as being like the “big man” of a neighbourhood. The person that, to his enemies, is feared, but to those who know him is beloved.
“Suge Knight had a lot of people fear him,” Hammer admitted, “and I’m not gonna sugar coat him and say he didn’t have his altercations and handle his business and what not. That was Suge as well, but with MC Hammer, we were friends. We were even closer than friends.”
The reason why Hammer admired Suge so much is, in part, because of what the Death Row boss did for Hammer’s mother. He helped her “in a situation,” which Hammer explained wasn’t financial in nature. Suge, claimed Hammer, “defended my mom out on the streets.”
Outside a gig one night, a group of people started getting rowdy and things spiralled. Hammer’s mother found herself getting caught up in the kerfuffle, so Suge rushed to her aid. Hammer said he “had to knock people out” to get there, but, once he did, he took Hammer’s mother to her car and made sure she was safe.
Naturally enough, Hammer admired him for this act. It gave him a different perspective on the man with such a reputation for violence, and it wasn’t the only positive part of Suge’s character that he’d ever witnessed.
Hammer claimed that the Suge he knew was the sort of person who provided “mother’s day dinners to all of the mothers in the heart of the inner city.” He was a person who looked after the young talent under his watch. That’s the Suge Knight that Hammer considered to be his friend.
Hammer’s time with Death Row was ultimately short-lived, and he ended up leaving the label again. Clearly, though, he retained his respect for the label’s boss.