March 10, 2023
Snoop Dogg Inks New Deal Reissuing Death Row Records’ Classic Catalog On Streaming Platforms
Snoop Dogg wasn’t going to disappoint his fans.
Billboard reports the iconic rapper has inked a new deal putting Death Row classic records back on streaming platforms. Dogg made a promise to fans a little less than a month ago that the music would be available and in a tweet, the 51-year-old dropped the announcement.
Yessir. Heard you. Death Row Records catalog is back streaming everywhere tonight 9pm pst. 💨 pic.twitter.com/oqnP4rDdT2
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) March 9, 2023
Black Enterprise reported news of the west coast legend acquiring his home record label last year, making a deal with MNRK Music Group. Shortly after the takeover, all music from the label, including 2Pac’s All Eyes On Me and his debut album, Doggystyle, saying “those platforms don’t pay.”
However, he says fans have been bugging him about making them available again. “Since I took Death Row off streaming almost a year ago, not a day goes by without people asking me to put it back up,” Snoop Dogg said. “As the Super Bowl rolled around, I knew fans would be looking for the music from our iconic performance in 2022, so I wanted to reintroduce the most historic catalog to the people.”
Other classic albums available include The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Lady of Rage’s Necessary Roughness and Kurupt’s Against the Grain. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic also returned after Dre sold his music assets to UMG and Shamrock Holdings for an estimated $200 million.
Lots of deals have been in the music industry. Dogg himself quietly sold a stake in the label’s catalog to Gamma, a new full-service music company led by former Apple Music executive, Larry Jackson. According to HypeBeast, the label will also house podcasts, films and provide mentorship and resources to up and coming artists. In a statement, the budding entrepreneur speaks on the partnership. “It made sense for two Black men to come together to change the face of the industry,” Dogg said. “I didn’t want to partner with a regular company because they respect me and fear me so much, they wouldn’t wanna give me ideas.”
Gamma is going to the company to keep an eye on. On top of rumors of Snoop dropping new music, Rick Ross and Usher have already secured deals to drop music with the label.