8 Things To Be Learned From Suge Knight’s Doggystyle Interview With Rolling Stone - Page 7

This past Saturday (November 23) Snoop Dogg’s debut album, Doggystyle turned 20-years old. There were over a baker’s dozen reasons on why it was one of the most influential and riveting entries into Hip-Hop music.

One of the key figures of its creative process actually didn’t deal in any of the musicianship, however. Marion “Suge” Knight served as the album’s executive producer and his duties extended well past what MTV and BET allowed us to see in 1993. To build off Snoop Dogg’s buzz and anticipation for the LP, there had to be plenty of amenities to even get the album off the ground.

In a candid talk with Rolling Stone, the former CEO of Death Row Records spoke openly on his thoughts of Doggystyle and the events leading up to its release. He recounted the time he had nearly 1,000 trucks loaded with memorabilia to roll out during the street campaign fpr example.

The embattled music mogul has been within the law’s grasp several times in 2013 but he never puts his integrity on the line to sugarcoat a situation. For that we are thankful and what was probably started out as a routine interview turned into a revelation of “facts” according to Suge Knight.

Click through to see the eight highlights from the interview and read the entire scribe over at Rolling Stone.

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Photo: Tumblr

Photo: MTV

360° Deals Were Prevalent In The Good ‘Ol Days

I was the first person doing 360 degree deals with all the artists; the majors would tell the artists, “It’s the worst piece of sh*t deal in the world, don’t go for it.” And now they’re doing it.

Although it can be noted that all the big dogs got out of dodge before the entire label became a laughingstock of sorts.

Photo: XXL

Dr. Dre Was Ghost-Producing Even Back Then?

Everybody thought [Dr. Dre] would be doing the records, but Daz pretty much did the whole album. And at the end of the day, once Daz finished it, everybody wanted Andre to get the credit. Next thing I know Daz is having a meeting with Andre and them and came back and said, “It’s okay, give me a few bucks and I’ll sign anything over that says produced by Andre instead of me.”

Daz Dillenger’s work on albums such as Dogg Food and All Eyez on Me revealed that he was more than capable of churning out records that could stand the test of time. Maybe Dr. Dre was born to be a hustler?

Photo: Vibe

Death Row Mixed Red & Blue Like A DNA Molecule

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.

The house Suge built was definitely a gangsta’s haven but you never heard of anyone (artists or entourages) complaining of set-tripping. There was plenty money to be made.

He Put Everyone Up On The Classics

Tupac would hop in my whips to go grab a broad or something. It would be Al Green, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway. I’d give shit to everybody [and] because everybody heard it so much, everybody took took a liking to it, and adopted it.

2Pac’s “Old School” revolved around immortalized Hip-Hop figures. This sounds about right.

“Murder Was The Case” Was A Taxing Experience

A few times in court they asked him to stand up, and Snoop would actually get weak in the knees and fall back down. It was a lot of pressure.

Musically, Snoop never let his gangsta persona be compromised but a murder trial is nothing to scoff at. Perhaps that’s why he smokes so much weed?

Photo: Jewish Business

Snoop Could Have Been On Def Jam Records

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.”

Imagine the power Def Jam would have commanded if they had the biggest West Coast artist on their roster at a time when selling records came considerably easy. It would be a monopoly as we know it to this very day.

Photo: Instagram

Snoop & Suge Were Tight In The Beginning And The End

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.

In 2002, things could have come to a head when Snoop recorded the song “Pimp Slap” but nothing came from the diss. The photo above was taken earlier this year, as both men have let bygones be bygones.