SNOOP Dogg, one of West Coast hip-hop’s biggest legends, has acquired Death Row Records, the label that launched his career.
Snoop madea name for himself on the label back in 1993 with his debut album Doggystyle, which featured iconic tracks like Gin & Juice, Doggy Dogg World and Murder Was The Case.
In an Instagram post, Snoop said: “I am thrilled and appreciative of the opportunity to acquire the iconic and culturally significant Death Row Records brand, which has immense untapped future value.
“It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members.”
In a move that sees the rapper come full circle, Snoop will be the executive to take Death Row into the next era of its development.
The label was founded in 1992 by Dr Dre, Suge Knight, the DOC and Dick Griffey, with Snoop featuring heavily on early projects like Dr Dre’s The Chronic in 1992.
Both The Chronic and Doggystyle achieved huge commercial success and marked the daw of a new era of West Coast domination in hip-hop.
Snoop left the label in 1998 and explained: “There’s nothing over there. Suge Knight is in jail, the president; Dr Dre left and Tupac is dead. It’s telling me that I’m either going to be dead or in jail or I’m going to be nothing.”
Death Row went into decline not long after and became embroiled in controversy and legal issues, eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2006 and was auctioned off to WIDEawake Entertainment for $18m (£13.2m) in 2009.
The label was later sold to Entertainment One, after the owner of WIDEawake went bankrupt in 2012, and then became a division of Hasbro, until last year when One Music was sold to The Blackstone Group.
But Snoop has plans to reform Death Row and restore some of its former glory.
“This is an extremely meaningful moment for me,” the rapper’s statement continued. “I am looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”
Snoop releases his next studio album B.O.D.R. (Bacc on Death Row) this Sunday, the day he is also due to perform at the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, at what Pepsi has called “the most anticipated Super Bowl halftime show ever”.