S. Samuel
Former Death Row Records owner Marion "Suge" Knight may have to watch his back after making some dicey comments about the label situation fellow West Coast entertainers Game and Kendrick Lamar have.
During an appearance on “Arsenio” this week, Suge discussed today’s record label politics and singled out both rap stars.
“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–Game, Kendrick Lamar–got two of the worst deals in the industry. And when you look at it, it’s not so much the production company fault, but what people don’t realize is that if you’re on Universal, it’s the ship. Then Interscope get they cut, then Aftermath get they cut, then G-Unit get they cut. Then the guy who really has Game signed, it was another production company, then it came to Game. The reality is there’s more slavery now than ever.” (“Arsenio”)
Knight took things a step further by comparing the record contracts to slavery.
“When you were a slave you knew it was bad. When you was a slave, you was like ‘sh*t, 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.” (“Arsenio”)
Coincidentally, Game recently talked about not yet doing a new record deal with Cash Money Records.
“Right now, I’m just enjoying my free agency,” Game revealed in an interview. “I had talked to Birdman and we’re trying to figure out what it’s going to be, how it’s going to work. It definitely should work. I got a relationship with [Lil] Wayne, [Drake], Stunna, Slim, long relationship that goes back five, ten years. It’s just trying to figure out what’s best for Cash Money, what’s the best for Game at this point in his career. It’s pretty much family and that’s where I’m at, at this point. Of course nothing’s written in stone and that’s where I’m leaning.” (Civil TV)
Back in October, Suge said K. Dot embodied a lot of characteristics his former Death Row artists shared during their mid-1990’s run.
“Kendrick is a dude that’s an incredible artist. I’m not surprised because he’s from Compton. He grew up in Compton, that’s where he lived at, hung out at, and the guys he hangs with from his neighborhood, is p-folk. So there’s no way it wouldn’t rub off on him. There’s no way that his vision wouldn’t be aggressive or that he wouldn’t have the lyrics he has, if he didn’t grow up there. 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. But Kendrick by far is one of them guys that they can’t f*ck with. They can’t f*ck with that boy lyrically and they better not sleep. Kendrick got a whole army behind him. He got real love out here.” (Medium)
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Check out a portion of Suge Knight’s interview:
