Hip Hop Villain: Marion “Suge” Knight

A villain who has been known well throughout the hip-hop culture to me is Marion Knight, better known as “Suge” Knight. Suge Knight is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row records. This record label rose during the 90’s with artist such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur. The record label was stagnated with the incarceration of Knight after he violated his parole in September of 1996. Suge Knight was born in Compton, California and receives his nickname from “Sugar Bear” a childhood nickname. He graduated high school and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he played collegiate football for several years. After college he found work as a promoter and bodyguard for celebrities such as Bobby Brown. Knight began to have legal problems in 1987 when he faced auto theft, concealed weapon and attempted murder charges, receiving probation. One of Suge’s many villainous acts was when he was able to coerce Vanilla Ice into signing over royalties from his smash hit “Ice Ice Baby”. Knight then formed his own record label called Death Row Records and would sign artists Dr. Dre and The D.O.C., and Michel’le. According to N.W.A’s manager Knight and his henchmen threatened Heller and Eazy-E with lead pipes and baseball bats in order to secure Dre and the fellow artists. Dre and DOC cofounded Death Row with Knight and the record label began to take off. Knight was able to secure a distribution deal with Interscope, and Dre’s 1992 solo debut album, The Chronic, sold over three million copies. Snoop Dogg also produced a solo album that was another multi-platinum album for the record label. On the rise to fame Knight began to feud with East Coast impresario Sean Combs better known as P Diddy. At the Source Awards in 1995, Knight insulted the Bad Boy label saying that any rapper who wants to be a star and not worry about the executive producer all in the video’s dancing then they should come to Death Row. When Tupac Shakur was in jail, Knight offered to post bail for him if he would sign with Death Row records. Shakur agreed and the record was more infamous than any other label at the time. The label would take a turn for the worst when Dr. Dre was frustrated with the company’s increasingly thuggish reputation and Knight’s violent inclinations, so he decided to leave and create his own label. The label would take its biggest blow when Tupac Shakur was killed in September 1996 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas NV. When East Coast rival, Notorious B.I.G. was murdered in the same fashion, speculations immediately arose that Knight was involved and that his death was a revenge killing. Snoop Dogg later stated that Suge was involved in Tupac’s murder as well. Majority of clues that investigators found pointed both killings towards Suge Knight. Mario Ha’mmonds, a convicted felon who shared a cellblock with Knight quoted him saying “My people handled the business. They took care of him…” Snoop Dogg released a number of albums after Shakur’s death in which he openly blasted Suge Knight for the murder of Shakur. The murder remains unsolved but all the details point to Suge Knight. Did he arrange the death of Hip-Hop’s greatest rappers?