Death Row Records Founder Pardoned by Trump
Michael “Harry-O” Harris provided the funds to start the iconic label while incarcerated.
In the late 1980s, N.W.A and Ruthless Records drove a tank into the middle of the music world and staked their claim. The group’s success was presented as a product of controversy but was rooted in talent.
They were hungry and ambitious while also believing that any publicity was good publicity. The only problem at the time was that the group’s main contributors saw that they weren’t being properly compensated.
After main lyricist Ice Cube left, Dr. Dre dug into his own financial records and saw several discrepancies. The D.O.C. was a Ruthless Records solo artist who also wrote many of Eazy-E’s lyrics. He linked up with former bodyguard turned aspiring record executive Suge Knight to create their own label. To make their new company successful, they knew they needed the maestro of N.W.A., Dr. Dre.
The label was branded Death Row Records and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic was to be their launching pad. Knight learned a little bit from his time as a bodyguard and realized a lot of artists were getting screwed out of money by their labels.
It was not a new trend in the business as it had been happening since its inception, but Knight…
