Death Row Records
Death Row Records:
A Rap Label That Changed the Music Industry
Rap Music Enters Society:
Before the 1980’s rap music was not very popular and was exclusively listened to by only a small portion of the black community. With pop rock and hair metal still in their prime from music legends such as Bon Jovi, Tears for Fears, and Reo Speed Wagon, the majority of youths in America were perfectly content with the rock and roll craze. Rap music was limited to only a few popular groups at the time such as The World Class Wreckin’ Cru and The Sugar Hill Gang, which prevented the genre from progressing very far until the new genre of “gangsta rap” came about in the 1980’s. This underground genre stayed dormant until “Straight Outta Compton” was released by the rap group N.W.A. in 1988. The release of this new “gangsta rap” genre displayed an entirely new element of society that no artist had ever focused their music on before. Drugs, murder, rape, and other social components that were deemed taboo in the music business were now introduced in full swing.
With the release of N.W.A.’s CD, the gangsta rap genre began exploding across the nation. The thirst for listening to something forbidden and against the rules was contagious. The youth of America craved the rebellious attitude that gangsta rap promoted. Since the easy listening lyrical content of older groups was not sparking the passion and excitement that this new genre was, a fresh craze for gangsta rap swept the popular culture.
Death Row Records Begins on Controversy:
Suge Knight, a young entrepreneur, and Dr. Dre, a rap artist and producer, met at a studio and decided to create a record label that would promote this new up and coming genre. When the pair wanted to get started finding clients and working with them to produce records, they realized they would need ample funding for their new company. To reflect the thug mentality of their...
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