In the early 90s, rap music was coming of age with groups and solo acts popping up on both the East and West Coasts, and a few emerging in the Southern United States.
The genre had not yet gone mainstream, with only pockets of artists in different regions experiencing success. Many faced pushback from state legislators for creating what was deemed derogatory music. One meeting between Interscope label head Jimmy Iovine, Death Row CEO Suge Knight, and then-CEO of Warner Music Group Doug Morris changed the trajectory of street music forever.
Now, rap is among the top music genres in the world, competing with pop. Artificial intelligence is threatening rap’s longevity, but some speculate that hip-hop will return to its cultural roots. But how did it become mainstream in the first place?
The details were revealed in a candid discussion, with music industry titan Doug Morris, the only person to have been the CEO of the three major record labels—Warner, Universal, and Sony Music—recounting a defining moment in his career. He recalled a lunch meeting between the three executives to discuss a deal to distribute for California label Death Row Records as rap music was becoming more prominent.
“I had signed the first one, and I was first taken aback by the lyrics and the misogyny of rap music,” Morris in 2015, then head of Sony Music began, reflecting on his initial hesitations. “Then I saw all of the little independent record companies buying and selling them. Being a big advocate of the First Amendment, I started signing rap artists. The first one I signed was 2 Live Crew, which I got in a lot of trouble for – they actually got arrested in Miami for selling their music. We convinced Bruce Springsteen to let us turn ‘Born In The USA’ into ‘Banned In The USA,’ and it was a great moment and I really got taken up with it.”
The 2 Live Crew was a salacious rap group that started in 1984 with members Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, Brother Marquis, and Uncle Luke. Their first album with Atlantic Records, a Warner company was “Nasty As I Wanna Be” released in 1989. Federal judge declared the album obscene two days before the performance at a concert where they were subsequently arrested.
Nevertheless, Morris President of Atlantic Records journeyed into rap music as head of one of the biggest labels in the US, took a significant turn when Jimmy Iovine, renowned for his uncanny ability to predict industry trends, encouraged him to go waist deep into the world of gangsta rap. “Jimmy, who almost certainly got an ability to see round corners, called me up one day and said: ‘This stuff (rap music) is going mainstream, we really have to get into it…’ So I said, ‘What do you suggest?’ He said, ‘I’ve met this guy, I want you to come out and meet him with me. His name is Suge Knight.’”
Their meeting with Suge Knight took place at a well-known upscale seafood- Italian restaurant Los Angeles. “We met him in a fancy restaurant in California, The Ivy, for lunch. He was a former gangbanger out of Compton, a member of the Bloods. When I met him, I said: ‘This guy has the biggest chest I’ve ever seen, he is about 280, wore the cap pulled down.’”
Despite Knight’s intimidating presence, Morris recognized his brilliance as a record executive. “After everything else is said and done, [Knight] was a brilliant, brilliant record executive. He had this label, Death Row – I wasn’t crazy about the name – and the symbol was a guy being strapped into an electric chair. It was sort of out of our culture.” Morris admits. Adding he found the intervention between Iovine and Knight to be funny, “Jimmy weighs about 120lbs, Suge is a former football player for the LA Rams and he weighs about 280lbs. They were sitting next to each other and I was sitting across and I found it very funny because they twitch together.”
The meeting was not without its strategic nuances. “Jimmy said to me: ‘Listen, when I wink at you, it means I’m going to the bathroom. And I want you to tell Suge that I’m a genius.’ Because of that, what’s going to happen? ‘We’re going to sign Death Row Records.’ I said, ‘Because you are a genius?’ He said, ‘Yes.’”
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The plan unfolded seamlessly. “So Jimmy goes off to the bathroom and I’m sitting over the way from Suge. I say: ‘You know, you’re very fortunate.’ ‘Why?’ ‘You’re going to have the chance to work with a genius.’ He said, ‘Who is the genius?’ I said, ‘You are one of the geniuses but Jimmy is a genius.’ Finally, Jimmy comes back and, believe it or not, we made that deal.”
The result of this meeting was monumental. Interscope picked up the distribution for Death Row Records, which included iconic artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and a host of other influential rap figures to later include global rap superstar Tupac Shakur. “That was an incredible moment at the Warner Music Group,” Morris reflected. In another interview Audible titled “Captains of Industry: Doug Morris with Norman Pearlstine,” Morris admits that was how rap music became mainstream.
At its height, Death Row Records generated $150 million with the distribution partnership between Interscope seeing the release of The Chronic in 1992 by Dr. Dre, his first solo album after departing N.W.A.
The label followed up with Snoop’s debut Doggystyle (1993) which has sold 11 million units worldwide and spawned the singles “Gin and Juice” and “Who Am I?(What’s My Name)”, both peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
By the time Interscope and Death Row Records released and Tupac Shakur’s All Eyez On Me” in February 1996, rap music solidified its place in mainstream music culture around the world but Morris was fired six months before from Warner Music on Jun 1, 1995.
The company’s global music CEO Michael J Fuchs, relieved Morris of his duties as he was trying to negotiate an equity stake in Warner’s rap label Priority Records. It was the same time Warner was dealing with the public fallout for its support of gangsta rap music.
Several in and out of court events happened shortly after Morris left Warner, as he sued parent company Time Warner for $50 million in damages and in turn was sued for $10 million for how he handled record sales as head of the company.
Two weeks after leaving Warner, Morris was ushered into MCA Records and Geffen Records, thereby removing Al Teller, the company’s longtime top record executive who had signed hardcore rapper Ice -T.
In a turn of events, Time Warner Inc. also fired its global music chief Michael J. Fuchs, and Morris ascended to his new position within minutes of Fuchs’ firing, signaling a change of the guard for the music business.
MCA and Geffen eventually folded into Universal Music Group and as CEO and chairman of Universal Music Group Morris, whose motto is “It’s all about having hits,” oversaw the release of hip hop albums from Def Jam including Jay-Z, DMX, N.O.R.E., Ja Rule and other global rap stars. Cash Money Records also under the Universal label brought several major hip hop stars to international success including Juvenile, Lil Wayne, in the early 2000s to now when rappers Drake and Nicki Minaj are among the top streaming music acts in the world.
Watch Morris’s interview here.
