![dr dre albums 1995 dr dre albums 1995](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ukSTv6jeJKk/maxresdefault.jpg)
That’s the key to the game,” Kurupt said. In many ways, the arrival of “Christmas on Death Row” coincided with the beginning of the label’s final chapters. That way of doing business tends to implode upon itself eventually.”
![dr dre albums 1995 dr dre albums 1995](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/de/5f/00425fde.jpg)
“Looking tough and looking scary was a huge part of Death Row’s mystique. “He was an entertainment executive who liked to look hard and play hard,” Charnas said of Knight. Dre was a devastating setback for the label because his musical credibility and hit-making acumen provided a balance for Knight. The writer Dan Charnas, author of “The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop,” agreed that the loss of Dr. There were only three weeks for the album to sell before the holiday, and the label’s team, mourning Shakur, was in no position to promote it. When “Christmas on Death Row” arrived on Dec. In October, Knight went to jail for a probation violation tied to an altercation with a rival in Las Vegas. Dre, the rapper and producer responsible for blockbusters like Snoop Dogg’s “Doggystyle” and his own showcase “The Chronic,” left the label in March after clashing with Knight over contracts and personnel issues. In 1996, Shakur’s death wasn’t the only blow that shook Death Row. There’s gospel, there’s R&B, there’s all kinds of stuff.” “There was a whole lot going on that people never realized,” he said. Payne was part of the founding team at Death Row in 1991, and he believes the label became “one-dimensional” by focusing on hip-hop at the expense of the other talent it signed. “Death Row was very versatile,” John Payne, known as JP, said in an interview. “I saw others were releasing Christmas albums and thought we should too,” he said in an interview. Death Row, with its mystique built on beefs and gang associations, was different, but a holiday release likely seemed a safe bet.ĭaz Dillinger, half of the duo Tha Dogg Pound (with Kurupt), claims credit for the idea.
#DR DRE ALBUMS 1995 FULL#
The full album “A LaFace Family Christmas” arrived in 1993 with Outkast’s first single, “Player’s Ball.” “West Coast Bad Boyz: High fo Xmas,” a compilation from Master P’s label No Limit, came the following year. Kurtis Blow’s “Christmas Rappin’” was the first hip-hop record on a major label when Mercury released it in 1979, and the Treacherous Three’s “Xmas Rap,” the Juice Crew’s “Cold Chillin’ Christmas” and Run-DMC’s touchstone “Christmas in Hollis” followed. Rap songs about the holidays had come out before. “Christmas on Death Row” has more going on than its title suggests - and the story of its creation reveals a lot about a pivotal chapter in the history of one of hip-hop’s most storied labels.īut first: How did this record even get made? While the LP wasn’t a success, it shouldn’t be reduced to a novelty. and Tha Dogg Pound surrounded by seasonal favorites performed by the artists who sang the hooks on Death Row’s hip-hop releases - didn’t even go gold when it was released in 1996. The LP - featuring rap tracks with Snoop Dogg, O.F.T.B. Dre’s “The Chronic” in 1992, every album released by Death Row Records went at least platinum, but the gangster rap label’s holiday album wasn’t exactly a huge hit. “Christmas on Death Row” broke the streak.