This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Artist News Brands & Merch Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
Snoop Dogg takes full control of Death Row, following new catalogue deal
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 28 February 2022
Snoop Dogg has completed a deal to buy the recordings catalogue of Death Row Records. This comes shortly after the rapper acquired the label’s brand rights earlier this month.
The deal sees Snoop Dogg take control of his first two albums, 1993’s ‘Doggystyle’ and 1996’s ‘The Doggfather’ – Death Row’s biggest sellers. However, according to Billboard, there are some notable omissions from the label’s wider catalogue in the new deal – including Tupac Shakur’s ‘All Eyez On Me’ and ‘The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory’, control of which has returned to the Shakur estate.
Another potential hole in the catalogue is Dr Dre’s 1992 debut solo album ‘The Chronic’. Although currently part of the Death Row catalogue, control is due to return to Dr Dre next year. This does, however, give Snoop a window of opportunity to convince his longtime collaborator to allow him to keep it.
Whether or not Dre is willing to leave ‘The Chronic’ on Death Row will rely on the producer being convinced by Snoop’s plans for the record company. Those plans are to turn it into “an NFT label” and become “the first major [label] in the metaverse”, he recently told fans.
Snoop Dogg has already had some success with this, releasing his new solo album, ‘Back On Death Row’, with a large-scale NFT package that netted him up tens of millions of dollars in a matter of days.
The Death Row brand and catalogue were previously owned by Blackstone-backed MNRK Music Group, having been through a variety of owners over the years. Billboard reckons that Death Row brought in about $6 million in revenues for MNRK last year, and that the catalogue deal is worth about $50 million – although no financial terms have been disclosed.
In other Snoop news, the rapper may face legal action over a rant about a food delivery on Instagram. The rapper posted to his 70 million followers as he failed to receive an Uber Eats delivery. Now the driver says that he fears his safety was compromised by having his personal information shared online.
The incident took place in January, and saw Snoop post a twelve second video showing text messages received from his delivery driver, named Sayd. In those messages, Sayd says that he’s arrived and asks where to leave the order. Eight minutes later he messages again, saying: “This is not a safe place”. In the video, Snoop says out loud: “Punk motherfucker. Give me my food”.
In a statement shortly afterwards, Uber Eats said: “We truly regret Snoop Dogg’s frustrating experience. We have reached to apologise and refunded him for the order”.
However, Sayd – who has not given his surname – now tells CBS Los Angeles that he feels let down by the company.
“When I read that [statement], I just felt like it’s not fair because I am the one that deserves an apology from Uber Eats, not Snoop”, he says.
He adds that he followed the company’s rules for deliveries, and feels let down that it did not support him. He also says that following Snoop’s video – which revealed his first name, face and car registration – he feared for his safety.
“I contacted the customer many times and I also followed the protocol by the book”, he says. “I have to fight for my rights and family’s rights. I just feel like I’m not treated well from this celebrity or Uber Eats”.
Snoop Dogg is the face of rival food delivery company Just Eat in the UK and Australia (where it is known as Menulog).
But if the rapper is planning to have a celebratory meal at home to mark taking full ownership of Death Row, maybe it would be best if he cooks something himself.
