Marion "Suge" Knight, a.k.a Sugar Bear, Suge Knight (IPA: [ˌʃʊg 'najt]) (born April 19, 1965), is a controversial entrepreneur in the hip hop music industry and co-founder of Death Row Records. The record label rose to dominate the charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough success The Chronic in 1992. After several years of incredible chart success for artists including Tupac Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound and at one time even MC Hammer, Death Row Records fell into a stagnant limbo after Knight's incarceration on parole violation charges and Tupac's death in 1996.
Controversy
While criminal charges have never been filed, Knight has been suspected of responsiblilty for the murders of both Tupac Amaru Shakur and Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.). Theories of possible motives for the murder of Shakur generally revolve around money. Knight is believed to have owed Shakur millions of dollars in royalties, and Shakur had expressed a desire to leave Death Row Records to further pursue his career through the alias "Makaveli.".
Theories of possible motives for Wallace's murder, which occurred a few months after Shakur's, are not as clear. Some have speculated that Knight orchestrated a hit on Wallace to make both deaths seem like the aftermath of an East Coast vs. West Coast feud, and the murders were in fact widely publicized by the media as a feud.
To this day, no charges have been filed in either case, which is also controversial. Theories for the lack of prosecution include that the shooters were corrupt LAPD officers who were associates of Knight, and the LAPD did not want this information to be leaked. However, the Las Vegas police were also criticized in their investigation of Shakur's murder.
Death Row Records and Jewish Defense League
During Dr.Dre’s defection from Ruthless Records (during which time Eazy-E was physically harmed by Suge Knight), there was a fear of further violence. Ruthless Records executives, Mike Klein and Jerry Heller sought assistance from the Jewish Defense League (JDL).[1] Mike Klein, former Ruthless Records director of business affairs said "The League offered to provide bodyguards to Eazy-E when Knight allegedly threatened him in the early 1990s." This provided Ruthless Records with muscle to enter into negotiations with Deathrow Records over Dr.Dre’s departure. While Suge Knight violently sought an outright release from Ruthless Records for Dr.Dre, the JDL and Ruthless records management were able to sit down with Deathrow and negotiate a release in which the record label would continue to receive money and publishing rights from future Dr.Dre projects. It was under these terms Dr.Dre left Ruthless Records and formed Deathrow with Suge Knight.
The FBI launched a money laundering investigation, assuming that the JDL was extorting money from Ruthless Records to fight their extremist causes. This led to JDL spokesperson Irv Rubin to issue a press release stating "There was nothing but a close, tight relationship" between Eazy-E and the League.
Jerry Heller has explained JDL’s involvement with Ruthless Records for even more reasons than the FBI investigated. Heller has acknowledged that Eazy E received death threats, and it was discovered that he was on hit list by some neo-Nazi skinheads. The FBI never bothered to inform Eazy that his life was in danger. Heller has speculated that it may have been because of F### Tha Police song. Heller said "It was no secret that in the aftermath of the Suge Knight shake down incident where Eazy was forced to sign over Dr Dre, Michele and DOC, that Ruthless was protected by Isreali trained/ connected security forces."[2] Jerry Heller maintains that Eazy E admired the group for their slogan Never Again, and that he had plans to do a movie about the group.
Further reading
- Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records, Ronin Ro, Doubleday, 1998, 384 pages, ISBN 0-385-49134-4
- Labyrinth: Corruption and Vice in the L.A.P.D.: The truth behind the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls by Randall Sullivan, Atlantic Monthly Press, April 2, 2002, 384 pages, ISBN 0-87113-838-7
- Suge Knight: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Death Row Records: The Story of Marion 'Suge' Knight, a Hard Hitting Study of One Man, One Company That Changed the Course of American Music Forever by Jake Brown, Amber Books, October 1, 2001, 218 pages, ISBN 0-9702224-7-5