Death row vibe magazine cover free#

Harris, who was originally staring at a 2028 release, is now a free man thanks to a president who during protests this past summer repeatedly emphasized the need for law and order. Which makes his pardon all the more fascinating. Meanwhile, the company he helped start in Death Row was forced into bankruptcy and is now owned by Hasbro (of My Little Pony fame). Most of his life has been spent in prison. Now 58, Harris is far removed from the street impresario he once prided himself on being. President Donald Trump announced 143 pardons and commutations as he left office, including the commutation of Michael Harris’ sentence. In the final moments of Trump’s presidency, it was one of the label’s flagship talents, Snoop Dogg, who quietly pushed the idea that Harris could be released after three decades locked down. In 2005, Knight was ordered to pay Lydia Harris $107 million for her 50% stake in Death Row and in unpaid royalties. As the years passed and Death Row’s influence plummeted, so did the acknowledgment of Harris’ role.

Dre’s departure, Shakur’s death, Snoop Dogg bolting to No Limit Records and Knight’s incarceration. Yet, almost simultaneously, it was hammered by Dr. It helped acquit Snoop Dogg of charges in a murder case and secured Tupac Shakur’s freedom following a sexual assault conviction. They initially refused to hang up, and Knight eventually caught assault charges for his punishment of both.įor a few years in the ’90s, Death Row was the symbol of Black power and dominance.

One night in 1992, Knight found two rappers using the phone. There was a specific phone in Death Row Records’ office dedicated to taking Harris’ calls. In the label’s earliest days, Harris’ influence was well known and enforced. Godfather Entertainment became known as Death Row Records. Dre’s promise to deliver as a solo artist.

Harris had money to invest and he believed in Knight’s vision and Dr. Through a mutual acquaintance, attorney David Kenner, Harris came to learn of the enterprising young Knight and an agreement was made. In 1988, he helped finance a show in which Denzel Washington made his Broadway debut. Harris was no stranger to the entertainment industry. “I knew the difference between having a record label and an organization,” Knight would later say in his record label’s historic 1996 VIBE feature. They needed money, yet Knight wasn’t interested in going to the expected corporate outlets for the resources.Ī 1994 release party given by Interscope/Death Row Records for Snoop Dogg’s (left, with Dr. Dre were working on a project that would define their new label. Dre’s split with N.W.A., influenced by an alleged physical altercation between Knight and Eazy-E, Knight and Dr. Harris had heard about Knight, a former college football player (and briefly an NFL scab) and bodyguard who had moved into the music industry. But by the time of Knight’s visit, Harris was in the early stages of a lengthy sentence for attempted murder and drug trafficking. He was there to see Michael Harris, better known on the streets as “Harry O.” Harris was a Bounty Hunter Blood who had amassed a fortune in the 1980s’ most lucrative and dangerous industry: cocaine. In 1991, Marion “Suge” Knight stepped into the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. One of the most interesting of the 143 people who Trump granted freedom is Michael “Harry O” Harris, whose story is tied to a business institution revered for both its unparalleled success and unmatched infamy. The list included political allies such as former chief strategist Steve Bannon and musicians such as Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, both of whom have expressed vocal support for the 45th president. In Donald Trump’s final act as commander in chief, the now-former president unleashed a flurry of pardons and commutations.

Death row vibe magazine cover