(GEMS RADIO)–It is now official – Snoop Dogg is the new owner of Death Row Records. This is according to a press release on Business Wire.
The rap icon acquired the company from MNRK Music Group, an enterprise controlled and managed by leading investment firm Blackstone. Snoop initially joined Death Row in 1993 and released his debut album, Doggystyle.
Snoop Dogg could not hide his excitement on acquiring the brand he terms as culturally significant.
“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,” the rap legend continued. “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. This is an extremely meaningful moment for me. I would like to personally thank the teams at Blackstone, MNRK and especially David Kestnbaum, who worked collaboratively with me over several months to make this exciting homecoming a reality. I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”
Death Row was founded in 1991 by Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, The D.O.C, and Dick Griffey. It became home to some of the most iconic West Coast rappers in hip hop history. Snoop Dogg is one of Death Row’s pioneer artists, and it only fits the bill that he takes the reins.
The transaction is rumored to be the beginning of his venture into music rights acquisition from the label.
Snoop Dogg had previously disclosed in an interview with GQ his desire to own the label, an offer initially turned down by then-owner eOne Music.
“eOne Music didn’t want to give me action at it. So then I asked could I buy it? And they acted like they didn’t want to sell it. Then they sold it and the man in me was hurt, but the businessman in me said, Okay, I got to find something else to do to take this energy of mine that I’m holding on to.”
Reacting to the news of the acquisition, Kanye West posted a screenshot of a tweet on Instagram that read
“Snoop acquiring Deathrow is black future month As F**k.”
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