Suge Knight’s disdain for the East Coast apparently resulted in Lyor Cohen getting a loogie to the face. In a recent interview on the Boss Talk 101 podcast, former Death Row executive Reggie Wright Jr., recounted the time Def Jam tried to sign Snoop Dogg to the label. At the time, Island Def Jam Music Group recruited Lyor Cohen as co-president of the label and he tried to bring Snoop Dogg over to the label. However, first, he would have to go through Suge Knight.
Wright Jr. explained that Cohen paid a visit to Suge Knight in prison to negotiate a deal. Suge told Cohen that he would need to pay him $13M to sign Snoop to the label. Due to Columbia’s ownership of Def Jam, Lyor Cohen needed to run the number by the board. While Def Jam began to regain its footing, once again, thanks to Montell Jordan and Warren G, they were trying to flesh out their roster further. Jay-Z, Method Man, and Redman undoubtedly helped but the addition to Snoop was the next step to level up with the addition of a West Coast legend.
Suge Knight’s Response To Cohen
Wright Jr. said Def Jam was willing to enter a multi-million dollar deal to sign Snoop Dogg. However, they weren’t necessarily willing to cough up as much as Suge wanted. “He comes and offers Suge $7 million. ‘Tell Lyor the most that I can get for Snoop is $7 million.’ Suge never really liked the East Coasters or labels or whatever. And I’m like, ‘Okay, Lyor, yeah, we got a deal,’” Reggie Wright Jr. recalled in the interview.
Evidently, Suge wasn’t necessarily feeling the counteroffer. According to Wright Jr., he dished a repulsive response when he declined the $7M proposal. “Suge goes and tells Lyor, ‘No.’ Spits in Lyor face. Spits in his face, because of however the conversation went. At the prison. At San Luis Obispo,” Wright Jr. recalled. From there, Wright Jr. explained the moments leading up to Snoop Dogg inking a deal with No Limit Records following his tenure with Death Row. Check the full interview above.