The two MCs who were conned by Dr Dre, according to Suge Knight
Dr Dre and Suge Knight were originally business partners, collaborators and even friends as the co-founders of Death Row. During the 1990s, the pair made a lot of money together thanks to hip-hop classics, The Chronic, Doggystyle and All Eyez On Me. However, since the formation of Aftermath Entertainment in 1998, the two have been distant.
In fact, since 1998, Knight has made it his mission to expose and bring down his former collaborator and, on numerous occasions, has made allegations about Dr Dre and his treatment of artists. The infamous figure has even suggested that Dre could be accused of defrauding his protégés.
In hip-hop, every aspiring rapper dreams of landing a record deal, especially one with a major label. Often, they are seen as the owners of the music industry, so for many, a deal is the key to success in the business. However, Knight believes differently.
Although he is incarcerated, Knight continues to air his grievances from behind bars and regularly speaks out on his podcast, Collect Call With Suge Knight. That said, during an episode of the podcast, Knight insisted that Kendrick Lamar and The Game were essentially conned in their deals with Dr Dre.
Although Top Dawg Entertainment manages him, Kendrick Lamar releases all of his music through Aftermath and is one of Dr Dre’s most successful apprentices. From Good Kid m.A.A.d City to How To Pimp A Butterfly, Lamar’s music has been incredibly successful and he has three platinum albums to his name. Furthermore, he is the most skilled lyricist in the game.
However, Suge believes that not only would it have made more sense for Lamar to sign with his former label, Death Row (before Snoop bought it), but he would have earned more money by doing so.
Explaining why it would have made more sense for Lamar to be Death Row, Knight detailed, “Kendrick know, anybody from Compton, that’s pretty much saying they’re a Death Row artist. That’s what they grew up to, that’s what they know, that was the people they’re involved with… they mimicked their stuff off of the blueprint I laid down.”
Speaking about the contracts that The Chronic creator presents to his MCs, Knight detailed, “The deals are still messed up. I think it’s unfair if you really look at it, if you look at Interscope, the two guys from Compton; The Game, Kendrick Lamar, got two of the worst deals in the industry.”
He continued, “When you were a slave, you knew it was bad! When you was a slave, you was like, ‘S***, it’s bad.’ But it’s worse when somebody make you be a celebrity and put you on a status, and you thanking a person for stabbing you in the back.”