Suge Knight, who recently was in the news for getting into some trouble at a weed dispensary in L.A., hit up Arsenio Hall's talk show as a guest last night. He talked about the situation at the pot store, briefly, and also spoke on major labels all the issues he has with contracts from major labels. He even went so far as to compare contracts to slavery.
Suge explained how he first stepped foot into the industry, through rapper D.O.C., a Dr. Dre affiliate who lost his voice while his rap career was still on the rise, thus making it difficult to continue pursuing the game. As Suge tells it, D.O.C. had a really poor deal thanks to both Jerry Heller and Eazy-E, and that is what incited Suge to get in the business.
As Suge continues to discuss label deals, he references two Compton MCs, Kendrick Lamar and Game, saying that they have two of the worst deals in rap.
"The deals are still messed up," Suge said. "I think it’s unfair if you really look at it, if you look at Interscope, the two guys from Compton—Game, Kendrick Lamar—got two of the worst deals in the industry. And when you look at it, it’s not so much the production company fault, but what people don’t realize is that if you’re on Universal, it’s the ship. Then Interscope get they cut, then Aftermath get they cut, then G-Unit get they cut. Then the guy who really has Game signed, it was another production company, then it came to Game. The reality is there’s more slavery now than ever."
Arsenio Hall adjusted what he said, saying, "not quite slavery", to which Suge responded, "When you were a slave you knew it was bad. When you was a slave, you was like ‘shit, it’s bad.’ But it’s worse when somebody make you be a celebrity and put you on a status and you thanking a person for stabbing you in the back."
Watch the interview clip below. Do you agree or disagree with Suge's statements?