For the third time now, Suge Knight has hopped on a call from prison with Dave Mays, founder of hip-hop magazine The Source, to record a new episode of his Collect Call podcast. In previous conversations with Mays, Knight has given his thoughts on touchy subjects in the hip-hop community, whether it be Snoop Dogg’s 1996 murder case, Akon’s alleged statutory rape allegations, or Dr. Dre’s gun charge in the ’90s.
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Though these dialogues have rubbed many in rap the wrong way, Knight’s son Suge J Knight spoke with The Sun recently and advocated for the continuance of Collect Call. In this interview, Suge Jr. was glad that his father could finally speak for himself.
“I think he just finally is using his platform correctly the best of his advantage, because, you know he’s still a CEO, still a boss, and you know the fans still want Suge,” he said. “A lot of people spoke about him when he didn’t have a chance to platform. He created his own platform. He’s the first to do it. And now people are hating he’s telling the truth. It’s the way.”
For episode 3, titled Nostalgia, Knight kept up the good work that his son talked about, discussing topics such as Tupac’s mass appeal as an artist, Eazy-E’s family dealings, and rappers deserving financial aid in retirement. The incarcerated mogul did what he does best: speak his mind. Read more about some of the key talking points below.
Tupac
To open the episode, Knight was fired up about people speaking ill of his deceased buddy Tupac. Telling Mays that he didn’t want anyone talking bad about Pac after his death, Knight laid out why hating on the iconic MC is nonsensical.
“You can ask a female artist, who’s your favorite rapper? Lot of ’em gonna say Tupac. Ask a male artist. Most of ’em gonna say Tupac. That’s a big, big plus,” Knight said, emphasizing the wide array of audiences Tupac influenced.
Additionally, Knight told the story of Pac being arrested for shooting at off-duty police officers in Atlanta in 1993. Demonstrating how Pac would walk the walk as well as talking the talk, particularly when it came to his street lifestyle and advocacy for social justice, Knight says the rapper shot at the cops because they were assaulting an unarmed Black man.
Though the charges against Pac were eventually dropped, each of the two off-duty officers would later file suits against Pac and his estate.
[RELATED: 3 Movies Every Tupac Fan Should See]
Eazy-E’s Estate
Next on the docket, Knight revealed new information about Dr. Dre’s exit from N.W.A and Easy-E’s Ruthless Records to join Knight’s Death Row Records. What is widely believed to be the case is that Knight intimidated the now-deceased Eazy into letting Dre out of his contract. But on the podcast, Knight suggested to Mays that he offered Eazy a deal at first to make sure he would be compensated for Dre’s services even after his departure from Ruthless.
“I did a deal for [Eazy],” he said. “He gets a dollar off of anything that Dre does. In other words, [that’s] if he do a movie, if he do a beat, [or] if he promote some type of merchandise. If he do a commercial, if he produce… Off of his part, [Eazy] gets a dollar.”
Suge Knight further alleged that Eazy-E’s wife Tomica met with Interscope. “Interscope said, ‘Hey, why you want to get a dollar off of everything Dre does? Me and you could do business later on. Sign off and just let Dre out of it. We’re gonna do business later.’ She signed off. They ain’t did no business with that b***h later. And guess what? That f***ed Eazy’s kids, his momma, at the time his father was still living. It’s f***ed his family.”
Pensions for Rappers
“They got one [with] retirement and health care and dental for basketball players, football players, even truck drivers, police. Why hip-hop don’t have one?” Knight said. “[Look at] all these billions and billions and billions of dollars that hip-hop brings. Look at all the executives at these major companies that are billionaires because of hip-hop — not because they put the time into it, not because they work harder than people like myself or Ruff Ryders or Bad Boy or any other label.”
“What they contributed to Hip Hop, they should get checks every month, at least 20-30 grand a month.”
Listen to Episode 3 of Collect Call HERE.
Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage
