Thug Life Army

Remember the old’ days when rap was a meaningful area for the young voice to be heard?

When mainstream major labels shied away from certain rap artist because they could not control what they said?

When the truth could still be told?

Rap now is a sanitized version of what the major labels ‘ok’ for release.

Suge Knight and Death Row Records never had that ‘censorship and that is why Death Row did so well.

Rap artist like Tupac, Snoop and others could cut what they believed and be assured that it would be released. A good example is Tupac’s ‘Hit em Up’ track. What major label do you see today that would release that? None.

Rap has sunken to a point that the major labels want the artist to tell us how good it is out here. How the type of gym show or rims we floss are important.

Remember the Death Row Christmas album? Now we have everything except Snoop singing jingle bells; and if ya look hard enough, you can probably find that to.

The rap game needs to come back to the hip hop community. The hip hop community is in need of Suge Knight.

Love him or hate him, one thing is for real. Suge Knight knows rap. Sure their were others to but Suge laid some ground work and was always on point.

Eric ‘Easy E’ Wright was the same way. He, along with his Ruthless Records help lead the way for ‘gangsta rap’ to bloom and to be accepted world wide.

But Easy E is gone and many of the old school talents have sold out to the mainstream and have become part of the MTV crowd.

But then there is Suge Knight. Plagued by playa haterz, he is still an icon in hip hop and in the business field.

Many that don’t understand business have varied opinions on Suge Knight. First he is a business man who loves rap and hip hop. HE built the biggest black owned record company next to Motown.

He gave many artists their break and funded many projects that would have never seen the light of day at the ‘majors’.

When names like Berry Gordy are mentioned as innovators in the music industry, the name Suge Knight also is mentioned. I guess you could say Death Row was the Motown of the rap and hip hop community.

As Motown gave artist a chance and stood behind them, so did Death Row and Suge Knight, put many artist out and stood behind them.

From the first Death Row Release ‘The Chronic’ everyone knew Death row was going places. That album alone sold 5 million copies and is still selling.

With over 50 million units sold world wide and 750 million in revenue to his credits, Suge Knights Death Row Records was and should be a power to deal with.

Many ask if there will ever be another Tupac. We will never know if it is up to the major labels. The artist are so sanitized and most are worried about acceptance and securing their 401k’s that an artist like Tupac would have a hard time getting recognized now days.

Even some of the old school rappers have gone mainstream to ensure sales in their older age. But there are still some who put quality and substance before the glitter and flash.

Hip hop needs Suge Knight and Death Row Records. The misunderstanding and hate towards Suge Knight was again brought to light during the Vibe awards last week. Everyone assumed since Suge was there then he was involved because he has had some problems in the past. Of course the press failed to mention that the room contained many who have had problems in the past; both legal problems and with Dr. Dre. I mean Snoop was there and he was charged with murder at one time and he to had a beef with Dr. Dre at one time. But that is old history, but so are Suge Knight’s problems.

I see a place that is vacant in the hip hop community with out Suge Knight at the helm.

The days of a Death Row Christmas or a Dysfunktional Family soundtrack like album seem gone, and that is truly a waste.

We can look for Tupac albums that are nothing but mire mix tapes with Eminem and Shady Records. Where words are twisted so it appears Tupac says things that he could not have really said. The art form is suffering and we have no one to blame but ourself, for buying this stuff they feed us.

There are many good artists out there but you have to look for them. Most can not be bought at Goodies or Media Play. They are found on underground tapes and on street corners in hoods all across the world.

Everyone who loves hip hop and the days that were glory days for rap should get behind Suge Knight and get his input. I mean if your first 6 releases all go at least double platinum, you know something about how it ‘clicks’.

Let’s put all the hatred away and do what is best for hip hop and look toward Suge Knight and Death Row for some direction in this genre gone wild. Let’s put the past behind us and do what is right for the hip hop community.

December marks their 12^th anniversary of their first release.