VIDEO: Snoop Dogg says Death Row broke his spirit & tried to kill him

Snoop Dogg says Death Row broke his spirit & tried to kill him.

Snoop Dogg says that his spirit was “broken” by the time he departed Death Row Records in 1997 to sign with Master P’s No Limit Records.

Appearing on the 85 South Show, the 51-year-old touched on the impact that the death and turmoil surrounding Death Row had on him, which led to him seeking refuge elsewhere.

“See that’s what you gotta understand. Ni**as broke my spirit,” Tha Doggfather shared. “They broke me, man. They broke my spirit. Look, Doggystyle, workin’ on Doggfather, win my murder case, Dre leaves, Tupac get killed, Suge going to jail, Death Row want to kill me. That’s all in the same year.”

Snoop explained Master P showed him a different side of music industry during his early time with the label. However, C-Murder and Soulja Slim were still bringing him to the projects, despite Master P telling them not to.

“I’m violating but then I’m listening then I’m watching how they not listening then I said, ‘I’m not going to be a bad student. I’ma stop doing what they doing,’” Snoop said.

Though P put Snoop to work, he also provided opportunities to own property and get his money up. Snoop said that P told him he’d get paid for every album he appeared on until eventually, he brought the West Coast rapper to a gated community to purchase a house of his own and a car from the dealership. Snoop revealed it was the first time owning anything under his own name.

“This was the first time shit was in my name. Everything was in Suge Knight’s name,” he said.

Karlous Miller noted how Snoop was humble to have gone from a Death Row star to starting from the ground up on No Limit. “That was real humble of you just to — ’cause you was already Snoop Dogg,” Miller said.

“But I wasn’t,” Snoop responded. “My spirit wasn’t that. See that’s what you gotta understand. N***as broke my spirit. Thet broke me, man. They broke my spirit. Look, Doggystyle, workin’ on Doggfather, win my murder case, Dre leaves, Tupac get killed, Suge going to jail, Death Row want to kill me. That’s all in the same year.”

Snoop also gave insight into his tenure at No Limit and how it differed from his experience with Death Row. He credited Master P with exposing him to a side of the music industry that he’d never seen before, most notably having ownership over his possessions, which was never the case while working under Death Row CEO Suge Knight.

He describes his first impression of the tank that P built and the manner in which they operated, from the studio to elsewhere. “They was soldiers, for real. Organized. Structured,” he explained. “Them n***as didn’t play, and P was serious about his business.”

Snoop Dogg began his rap career on Death Row Records, famously debuting on Dr. Dre’s 1992 single “Deep Cover.” Later that year, he appeared on Dre’s solo debut The Chronic before releasing his own solo album Doggystyle in 1993. Following the release of his sophomore effort Tha Doggfather in 1996, Snoop jettisoned Death Row for No Limit, where he released three albums: Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told, No Limit Top Dogg, and Tha Last Meal.

During his recent appearance on 85 South Show, Snoop Dogg reflected on working with Master P following a tumultuous time at Death Row. Snoop said that Master P ran the program differently compared to Suge Knight, who owned everything that the Doggystyle rapper had.

“They was soldiers, for real. Organized. Structured,” he explained. “Them n***as didn’t play, and P was serious about his business…”