Row produced multiplatinum sound tracks, includ-
ing music forAbove the Rim(1994) and Snoop Doggy
Dogg’sMurder Was the Case(1994).
With the label’s success and attention also came
criticism and concern. The label was blasted for glo-
rifying crime and violence. As the controversy in-
creased, Interscope’s parent company, Time Warner,
sought to disassociate itself with the label and sold all
of its shares in Interscope to MCA Music Entertain-
ment in 1995.
In 1995, Suge Knight posted bail for rap artist
Tupac Shakur in exchange for Shakur signing with
Death Row. The two joined forces against the newly
started New York-based Bad Boy Records and its
chief executive officer Sean Combs, later known as
Puff Daddy, and rapper Notorious B.I.G. The two la-
bels began a bicoastal feud, in which artists on both
labels would lyrically insult and antagonize one an-
other. Shakur’sAll Eyez on Me, released in 1996, sold
over ten million copies and became Death Row’s
most successful album to date.
In September, 1996, Shakur was shot and killed in
Las Vegas, Nevada, while driving in Knight’s car.
Knight was sentenced to nine years in prison after vi-
olating his parole by engaging in a fight prior to
Shakur’s death. Dr. Dre had left the label in 1996,
and with Knight’s incarceration, the label imploded.
In 1997, Interscope sold its interest in the label.
Death Row Records continued, but without its main
artists was never the same.
Impact Death Row Records is responsible for dis-
covering and producing some of rap’s most success-
ful acts. It provided encouragement, financial back-
ing, and distribution for artists who had no other
vehicle and elevated rap music by delivering it to the
masses.
Further Reading
Brown, Jake.Suge Knight: The Rise and Fall of Death
Row Records. Phoenix: Colossus Books, 2002. An
in-depth biography of Death Row cofounder
Suge Knight.
Ro, Ronin.Dr. Dre: The Biography. New York: Thun-
der’s Mouth Press, 2007. A complete examination
of Death Row cofounder Dr. Dre.
_______.Have Gun Will Travel. New York: Broadway
Books, 2000. A thorough account of the rise and
fall of Death Row Records.
Sara VidarSee also Censorship; Electronic music; Grunge
music; Hip-hop and rap music;In Living Color;Mu-
sic; Rock the Vote; Shakur, Tupac. Defense budget cuts
Definition Reductions in the budget of the U.S.
military
American militar y spending dropped dramatically in the
early and mid-1990’s because of reduced threats and obli-
gations. The change in the political landscape required a
reevaluation of American defense priorities, forcing the mil-
itar y to make serious decisions about its future force struc-
ture and equipment needs.
Changing political considerations forced the
United States to reconsider its defense needs for the
1990’s. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the244 Defense budget cuts The Nineties in America
Dr. Dre, seen here in 1995, founded Death Row Records with Suge
Knight in 1991. Dr. Dre left the rap label in 1996.(AP/Wide
World Photos)