SheerExcellence
New member
In the aftermath of the riots, what was Los Angeles like for you?
Snoop was from the West Coast. We lived out here and we was black, even though it was dominated and ran by red and blue. People wanted to see people grow. The riots had a big role in this because they showed we could stand up and stick together and make a difference. People came together and built something and The Chronic. . . all the Death Row material, period, it was like the vibe of the struggle of success. Of saying that, shit, you don't have to water yourself down to be rich and successful. You don't have to lie and say you didn't come from Compton to be rich and successful. Just because you come from the ghetto don't mean you can't be a businessman and understand what you need to do.
Do you think Doggystyle solidified Death Row as a label?
When we put out The Chronic people felt there's no way in the world somebody can ever do an album and it come out that well. When The Chronic was out, even Snoop will tell you, if he came on the Interscope side, he didn't see Jimmy [Iovine] any of those guys call Snoop in the office, chop it up with him… because he wasn't the one. And then when Doggystyle came out, shit, he couldn't walk in there without them trying to give him some weed. People thought it couldn't get no better. But the Dogg Pound came in and done well. And then came Tupac. It wasn't Tupac because he was a new artist. Tupac was on Interscope the whole time. They couldn't break a record on him. They couldn't make him a superstar. But the minute I got Pac out of prison…
Snoop's shown you a lot of love recently, said many positive things. There was that photo of you guys at a club together last February. What's your relationship like with him?
My relationship with him is where it's supposed to be. It's respectful on both ends. I could never turn around and say I hate this mothafucka, because he's a part of my life and I'm a part of his life. There was times starting this business with Death Row that some people were scared to go out of town, scared to go to New York. I'd come grab him, we'd go straight to the airport, just me and him, no entourage, not one person with us. We'd get our room, we'd go hang out, we'd be everywhere. We would go there, post up, enjoy the city, respect the city, and that went so far. Therefore, I owe a lot of credit, and a lot of other people owe a lot of credit, because if Snoop's not gonna hit the road with me and hit all those spots, I couldn't have did it, because I'm the business man. I'm not the artist, I'm not the talent. And pretty much everyone else was scared to go.
Go on.
[Snoop] played a role and built a lot of things. Built the West and built hip-hop. I think the things that happen in any relationship in business when you both come from the ghetto, it's just [because of] the people that are your distributors. It might be a guy who's not black, but he's in the same business with you, and you're gonna have a relationship. And they can never have a relationship with Snoop the way I have a relationship with him because you out four o'clock in the morning in different states, different countries, different streets, through good and bad. And the next person, they can only offer you a check. If you're Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen, you can't say "[Snoop], you got the best deal in the world." You're gonna say, "You got the worst fucked up deal in the world and I can make it better for you." And that's what Russell and them did. Russell went to Snoop and flew him to New York and said, "I want to do a deal with you for Doggystyle."
So Russell Simmons tried to steal Snoop from you?
They figured if they could work it out with Snoop, they could work it out with Jimmy [Iovine], and where that leave me? So then that's when people turned around and said, "Oh, Death Row mothafuckas is some fucked up motherfuckas, and Suge Knight's an aggressive mothafucka." Because somebody had to put their foot so far up Russell's ass he thought he was in the hot tub with the guys he usually be with. [Laughs.] We had to go out there and literally smash them. If not, they'd take your shit. I still give Snoop the credit; he still sat down with Death Row and we made it happen. We all more mature now.
Any last thoughts on Doggystyle?
Snoop is an artist that is a great artist. So it's good to give him his props about how great Doggystyle was. What made Doggystyle historic is the work on it. If you look at the album cover, everybody sued us and said it was degrading women. But even the guys who did the artwork, who wrote songs, who participated in videos, they were guys who were either wearing red or wearing blue. . . and it was a situation where they all got along. We'd go places and you might see twenty blue rags and twenty red rags. And that was never before seen.
Snoop was from the West Coast. We lived out here and we was black, even though it was dominated and ran by red and blue. People wanted to see people grow. The riots had a big role in this because they showed we could stand up and stick together and make a difference. People came together and built something and The Chronic. . . all the Death Row material, period, it was like the vibe of the struggle of success. Of saying that, shit, you don't have to water yourself down to be rich and successful. You don't have to lie and say you didn't come from Compton to be rich and successful. Just because you come from the ghetto don't mean you can't be a businessman and understand what you need to do.
Do you think Doggystyle solidified Death Row as a label?
When we put out The Chronic people felt there's no way in the world somebody can ever do an album and it come out that well. When The Chronic was out, even Snoop will tell you, if he came on the Interscope side, he didn't see Jimmy [Iovine] any of those guys call Snoop in the office, chop it up with him… because he wasn't the one. And then when Doggystyle came out, shit, he couldn't walk in there without them trying to give him some weed. People thought it couldn't get no better. But the Dogg Pound came in and done well. And then came Tupac. It wasn't Tupac because he was a new artist. Tupac was on Interscope the whole time. They couldn't break a record on him. They couldn't make him a superstar. But the minute I got Pac out of prison…
Snoop's shown you a lot of love recently, said many positive things. There was that photo of you guys at a club together last February. What's your relationship like with him?
My relationship with him is where it's supposed to be. It's respectful on both ends. I could never turn around and say I hate this mothafucka, because he's a part of my life and I'm a part of his life. There was times starting this business with Death Row that some people were scared to go out of town, scared to go to New York. I'd come grab him, we'd go straight to the airport, just me and him, no entourage, not one person with us. We'd get our room, we'd go hang out, we'd be everywhere. We would go there, post up, enjoy the city, respect the city, and that went so far. Therefore, I owe a lot of credit, and a lot of other people owe a lot of credit, because if Snoop's not gonna hit the road with me and hit all those spots, I couldn't have did it, because I'm the business man. I'm not the artist, I'm not the talent. And pretty much everyone else was scared to go.
Go on.
[Snoop] played a role and built a lot of things. Built the West and built hip-hop. I think the things that happen in any relationship in business when you both come from the ghetto, it's just [because of] the people that are your distributors. It might be a guy who's not black, but he's in the same business with you, and you're gonna have a relationship. And they can never have a relationship with Snoop the way I have a relationship with him because you out four o'clock in the morning in different states, different countries, different streets, through good and bad. And the next person, they can only offer you a check. If you're Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen, you can't say "[Snoop], you got the best deal in the world." You're gonna say, "You got the worst fucked up deal in the world and I can make it better for you." And that's what Russell and them did. Russell went to Snoop and flew him to New York and said, "I want to do a deal with you for Doggystyle."
So Russell Simmons tried to steal Snoop from you?
They figured if they could work it out with Snoop, they could work it out with Jimmy [Iovine], and where that leave me? So then that's when people turned around and said, "Oh, Death Row mothafuckas is some fucked up motherfuckas, and Suge Knight's an aggressive mothafucka." Because somebody had to put their foot so far up Russell's ass he thought he was in the hot tub with the guys he usually be with. [Laughs.] We had to go out there and literally smash them. If not, they'd take your shit. I still give Snoop the credit; he still sat down with Death Row and we made it happen. We all more mature now.
Any last thoughts on Doggystyle?
Snoop is an artist that is a great artist. So it's good to give him his props about how great Doggystyle was. What made Doggystyle historic is the work on it. If you look at the album cover, everybody sued us and said it was degrading women. But even the guys who did the artwork, who wrote songs, who participated in videos, they were guys who were either wearing red or wearing blue. . . and it was a situation where they all got along. We'd go places and you might see twenty blue rags and twenty red rags. And that was never before seen.
