Suge Knight, is the founder and CEO of Black Kapital Records and co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Death Row Records rose to dominate the rap charts after Dr. Dre’s breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Outlawz and Tha Dogg Pound, Death Row Records stagnated after Knight’s incarceration onparole violation charges in September 1996.
On August 27, 2008, Knight was arrested on drug and aggravated assault charges after leaving a Las Vegas strip club. When police arrived on the scene, Knight was beating Melissa Isaac, his girlfriend of three years, and brandishing a knife. Reports also allege that he was under the influence of both ecstasy and hydrocodone. As of October 31, police and prosecutors had still failed to contact Isaac, and no formal charges have been brought against Knight. On December 5, 2008 Suge Knight was cleared of all charges. Knight’s attorney, David Chesnoff, said the prosecution had “discovery problems and witness problems.” Prosecutor Susan Benedict did not immediately return a call for comment. When Knight was asked about the positive verdict he replied “God is good, Happy Holidays.”
As part of an October 30, 2008 bankruptcy claim, Suge also filed a lawsuit against Kanye West and his associates. The lawsuit concerns an August 2005 shooting at Kanye’s pre-Video Music Awards party, where Knight suffered a gunshot wound to the upper leg. The lawsuit cites damages of mental and physical pain caused by the shooting, costs of surgery, loss of income and the theft of a 15-carat (3.0 g) $147,000 diamond earring.
In late March, 2009, Knight was implicated in the robbery of Akon producer, Noel “Detail” Fisher. According to Christopher Walker, an employee of Detail, on the morning of March 25, 2009, five armed men broke into Detail’s house, stating that they were collecting a debt on behalf of Knight. $170,000 worth of jewelry was stolen, along with a locked safe, stereo equipment and the key to a Mercedes vehicle. Walker claims the incident is related to the altercation at the W Scottsdale Hotel in February.
Knight started a new record label called Blackball Records, with its first artist Young Life and featured it in a reality show, Unfinished Business. The show was based on Knight dispelling long-standing rumors in sit down interviews, his days with Death Row and the artists he worked with, and finding new talent for his record label. As of April 2009, the show had not been picked up by any major network.
Remaining items from Knight’s personal property were auctioned in the first episode of Storage Wars on A&E, which aired on December 1, 2010.
On February 8, 2012, Suge Knight was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, on prior outstanding traffic warrants and after police found marijuana in his car. Knight was serving three years’ unsupervised probation for driving with a suspended license at the time of his Las Vegas arrest.
On February 24, 2013, an arrest warrant was issued after Knight missed a court date on charges of driving without a license while on three years of unsupervised probation. Knight was eventually arrested on September 11, 2013 after being pulled over initially for erratic driving.
