Snoop Dogg has acquired Death Row Records, the label which helped the rapper-entrepreneur rise to fame in the 1990s. The ‘Gin and Juice’ singer takes over the label from MNRK Music Group, as per the announcement from investment firm Blackwell, which controls MNRK by private equity funds. 

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While the terms of the transaction have not been disclosed yet, Variety has reported that Snoop Dogg will acquire some of the music rights of the label, including his own and that of other unspecified artists. 

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Snoop Dogg, the new owner, released a statement saying, “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. 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”.

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Snoop and Dr Dre collaborated for the first time in ‘The Chronic’ which was released by Death Row. It featured iconic tracks such as ‘Let Me Ride’ and ‘Nuthin’ But a G Thang’. Previously, Snoop had indicated a wish to take control of Death Row Records and revive it.

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When it started out, Death Row had been one of the largest record labels, representing the West Coast hip hop by signing legendary artists like Tupac Shakur. However, it also had a lot of notoriety due to the control wielded by Suge Knight, one of hip hop’s most feared figures. 

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At present, Snoop will be seen in the Superbowl halftime show and has an album titled ‘BODR’ (Back on Death Row) slated to be released on Friday.