THE DEATH ROW CONNECTION

As one of rap's heavyweight labels, 
the West Coast-based Death Row Records 
bagged a live one when they signed Tupac 
to the label. As time went on, however, 
Tupac knew with him be associated with 
Death Row Records will eventually lead to 
his downfall and it did. 	

One of the strongest connections that
Tupac Shakur had, which benefited his career 
immensely was his liaison with Death Row Records, 
a label that already boasted a slew of superstar 
rap talentin the artists of Snoop Doggy Dogg, 
Dr. Dre, The Lady of Rage and Tha Dogg Pound.

The question that many hip-hop fans asked 
when Tupac first signed on with Death Row Records 
was all of the stars that were already on the roster, 
where was he going to fit in, and why did he sign 
on with that label in the first place when he could've 
choosen other labels.



In the wake of the first attempt on Tupac's 
life in the lobby of a New York City recording studio 
in November 1995, there were bad feelings harbored by 
Tupac, particulary  when during his eight-month 
incarceration in upsate New York's Dannemora 
Correctional Faclilty, he became the object of rumors. 
"Everybody was saying I was such a bad boy, but look 
how bad they was," an understandly angry and hurt Shakur 
explained in a March 1996 issue of the Source magazine. 
"I'm locked down in jail...nobody wanted to touch me, 
nobody wanted to fuck with me. Niggaz on the radio talking 
about they was coming to visit me, but they wasn' coming 
to visit me. Only MC Lyte, April Walker, Neferttiti, and 
Jada Pinkett, that's it."

 
When days got dark and friends became few, 
Tupac reponded to overtures from Death Row's Suge 
Knight,the label's CEO ever on the prowl for top 
flight talent to add to his multi-million-dollar 
recording empire. As the one of the few people to 
actively seek him out atone of the lowest points 
in his career, Knight offered to take care of Tupac's 
personal and financial affairs and guaranteed Knight 
that he would "put Death Row in a position that 
nobody can take it to."

"I'll be a soldier for Death Row," he told 
The Source. " To show loyalty. Because he (Knight) 
was being real to me when nobody else was being real.
" In time, as his first double cd release, All Eyez on Me, 
blew up big time, Shakur's affillation with the label took 
on a whole new meaning to him that went beyond making 
music and selling millions of records. "Death Row can 
never be weak, no matter what ," Tupac declared in his 
final interview with Vibe magazine. "If we stop selling 
millions and all, we will always have our honor. We will 
always have our respect, and that's all I'm back in this 
rap game for. I already have famous records; I'm in this 
for shit for honor and respect. To be a family, to be 
known as something, to get this dark cloud off us as a 
race."